Assyria, Asshur

was a great and powerful country lying on the Tigris, (Genesis 2:14) the capital of which was Nineveh. (Genesis 10:11) etc. It derived its name apparently from Asshur, the son of Shem, (Genesis 10:22) who in later times was worshipped by the Assyrians as their chief god.

+ Extent.-- The boundaries of Assyria differed greatly at different periods, Probably in the earliest times it was confined to a small tract of low country lying chiefly on the left bank of the Tigris. Gradually its limits were extended, until it came to be regarded as comprising the whole region between the Armenian mountains (lat. 37 30') upon the north, and upon the south the country about Baghdad (lat. 33 30'). Eastward its boundary was the high range of Zagros, or mountains of Kurdistan; westward it was, according to the views of some, bounded by the Mesopotamian desert, while according to others it reached the Euphrates. + General character of the country.-- On the north and east the high mountain-chains of Armenia and Kurdistan are succeeded by low ranges of limestone hills of a somewhat arid aspect. To these ridges there succeeds at first an undulating zone of country, well watered and fairly productive, which extends in length for 250 miles, and is interrupted only by a single limestone range. Above and below this barrier is an immense level tract, now for the most part a wilderness, which bears marks of having been in early times well cultivated and thickly peopled throughout. + Original peopling.--Scripture informs us that Assyria was peopled from Babylon, (Genesis 10:11) and both classical tradition and the monuments of the country agree in this representation. + Date of the foundation of the kingdom.--As a country, Assyria was evidently known to Moses. (Genesis 2:14; 25:18; Numbers 24:22,24) The foundation of the Assyrian empire was probably not very greatly anterior to B.C. 1228. + History.--The Mesopotamian researches have rendered it apparent that the original seat of government was not at Nineveh, but at Kileh-Sherghat, on the right bank of the Tigris. The most remarkable monarch of the earlier kings was called Tiglath-pileser. He appears to have been king towards the close of the twelfth century, and thus to have been contemporary with Samuel. Afterwards followed Pul, who invaded Israel in the reign of Menahem (2 Kings 15:29) about B.C. 770, and Shalmaneser who besieged Samaria three years, and destroyed the kingdom of Israel B.C. 721, himself or by his successor Sargon, who usurped the throne at that time. Under Sargon the empire was as great as at any former era, and Nineveh became a most beautiful city. Sargon's son Sennacherib became the most famous of the Assyrian kings. He began to reign 704 B.C. He invaded the kingdom of Judea in the reign of Hezekiah. He was followed by Esarhaddon, and he by a noted warrior and builder, Sardanapalus. In Scripture it is remarkable that we hear nothing of Assyria after the reign of Esarhaddon, and profane history is equally silent until the attacks began which brought about her downfall. The fall of Assyria, long previously prophesied by Isaiah, (Isaiah 10:5-19) was effected by the growing strength and boldness of the Medes, about 625 B.C. The prophecies of Nahum and Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:13-15) against Assyria were probably delivered shortly before the catastrophe. + General character of the empire.-- The Assyrian monarchs bore sway over a number of petty kings through the entire extent of their dominions. These native princes were feudatories of the great monarch, of whom they held their crown by the double tenure of homage and tribute. It is not quite certain how far Assyria required a religious conformity from the subject people. Her religion was a gross and complex polytheism, comprising the worship of thirteen principal and numerous minor divinities, at the head of all of whom stood the chief god, Asshur, who seems to be the deified patriarch of the nation. (Genesis 10:22) + Civilization of the Assyrians.-- The civilization of the Assyrians was derived originally from the Babylonians. They were a Shemitic race originally resident in Babylonia (which at that time was Cushite) and thus acquainted with the Babylonian inventions and discoveries, who ascended the valley of the Tigris and established in the tract immediately below the Armenian mountains a separate and distinct nationality. Still, as their civilization developed it became in many respects peculiar. Their art is of home growth. But they were still in the most important points barbarians. Their government was rude and inartificial, their religion coarse and sensual, and their conduct of war cruel. + Modern discoveries in Assyria.-- (Much interest has been excited in reference to Assyria by the discoveries lately made there, which confirm and illustrate the Bible. The most important of them is the finding of the stone tablets or books which formed the great library at Nineveh, founded by Shalmaneser B.C. 860, but embodying tablets written 2000 years B.C. This library was more than doubled by Sardanapalus. These tablets were broken into fragments, but many of them have been put together and deciphered by the late Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum. All these discoveries of things hidden for ages, but now come to light, confirm the Bible.--ED.)


Asuppim, And House Of

(1 Chronicles 26:15,17) literally house of the gatherings. Some understand it as the proper name of chambers on the south of the temple others of certain store-rooms, or of the council chambers in the outer court of the temple in which the elders held their celebrations.


Asyncritus

(incomparable), a Christian at Rome, saluted by St. Paul. (Romans 16:14)


Atad

(thorn), The threshing-floor of, called also Abel-mizraim, (Genesis 50:10,11) afterwards called Beth-hogla, and known to have lain between the Jordan and Jericho, therefore on the west side of Jordan.


Atarah

(a crown) a wife of Jerahmeel, and mother of Onam. (1 Chronicles 2:26)


Ataroth

+ One of the towns in the "land of Jazer and land of Gilead," (Numbers 32:3) east of the Jordan, taken and built by the tribe of Gad. (Numbers 32:34) + A place on the (south?) boundary of Ephraim and Manasseh. (Joshua 16:2,7) It is impossible to say whether Ataroth is or is not the same place as + ATAROTH-ADAR, or -[208]Addar, on the west border of Benjamin, "near the 'mountain' that is on the south side of the nether Beth-horon." (Joshua 16:5; 18:13) Perhaps the modern Atara, six miles northeast of Bethel. + "ATAROTH, THE [209]House OF [210]Joab," a place(?) occurring in the list of the descendants of Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:54)


Ater

+ The children of Ater were among the porters or gate-keepers of the temple who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:42; Nehemiah 7:45) + The children of ATER OF [211]Hezekiah to the number of 98 returned with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:16; Nehemiah 7:21) and were among the heads of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:17)


Athach

(lodging place). (1 Samuel 30:30) As the name does not occur elsewhere, it has been suggested that it is an error of the transcriber for Ether, a town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 15:42)


Athaiah

(whom Jehovah made), a descendant of Pharez, the son of Judah, who dwelt at Jerusalem after the return from Babylon, (Nehemiah 11:4) called [212]Uthai in (1 Chronicles 9:4)


Athaliah

(afflicted of the Lord) daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and introduced into that kingdom the worship of Baal. (B.C. 891.) After the great revolution by which Jehu seated himself on the throne of Samaria she killed all the members of the royal family of Judah who had escaped his sword. (2 Kings 11:1) From the slaughter one infant, named Joash, the youngest son of Ahaziah, was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba wife of Jehoiada, (2 Chronicles 23:11) the high priest. (2 Chronicles 24:6) The child was brought up under Jehoiada's care, and concealed in the temple for six years, during which period Athaliah reigned over Judah. At length Jehoiada thought it time to produce the lawful king to the people, trusting to their zeal for the worship of God and their loyalty to the house of David. His plan was successful, and Athaliah was put to death.


Athens

(city of Athene), the capital of Attica, and the chief seat of Grecian learning and civilization during the golden period of the history of Greece. Description--Athens is situated about three miles from the seacoast, in the central plain of Attica. In this plain rise several eminences Of these the most prominent is a lofty insulated mountain with a conical peaked Summit, now called the Hill of St. George, and which bore in ancient times the name of Lycabettus . This mountain, which was not included within the ancient walls, lies to the northeast of Athens, and forms the most striking feature in the environs of the city. It is to Athens what Vesuvius is to Naples, or Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh Southwest of Lycabettua there are four hills of moderate height, all of which formed part of the city. Of these the nearest to Lycabettus and at the distance of a mile from the latter, was the Aeropolis, or citadel of Athens, a square craggy rock rising abruptly about 150 feet, with a flat summit of about 1000 feet long from east to west, by 500 feet broad from north to south. Immediately west of the Aeropolis is a second hill of irregular form, the Areopagus (Mars' Hill). To the southwest there rises a third hill, the Pnyx, on which the assemblies of the citizens were held. South of the city was seen the Saronic Gulf, with the harbors of Athens. History.--Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominence given to the worship of the goddess Athena (Minerva) by its king, Erechtheus. The inhabitants were previously called Cecropidae, from Cecrops, who, according to tradition, was the original founder of the city. This at first occupied only the hill or rock which afterwards became the Acropolis; but gradually the buildings spread over the ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not till the time of Pisistratus and his sons (B.C. 560-514) that the city began to assume any degree of splendor. The most remarkable building of these despots was the gigantic temple of the Olympian Zeus or Jupiter. Under Themistocles the Acropolis began to form the centre of the city, round which the new walls described an irregular circle of about 60 stadia or 7 1/4 miles in circumference. Themistocles transferred the naval station of the Athenians to the peninsula of Piraeus, which is distant about 4 1/2 miles from Athens, and contains three natural harbors. It was not till the administration of Pericles that the walls were built which connected Athens with her ports. Buildings.--Under the administration of Pericles, Athens was adorned with numerous public buildings, which existed in all their glory when St. Paul visited the city. The Acropolis was the centre of the architectural splendor of Athens. It was covered with the temples of gods and heroes; and thus its platform presented not only a sanctuary, but a museum containing the finest productions of the architect and the sculptor, in which the whiteness of the marble was relieved by brilliant colors, and rendered still more dazzling by the transparent clearness of the Athenian atmosphere. The chief building was the Parthenon (i.e. House of the Virgin), the most perfect production of Grecian architecture. It derived its name from its being the temple of Athena Parthenos, or Athena the Virgin, the invincible goddess of war. It stood on the highest part of the Acropolis, near its centre. It was entirely of Pentelic marble, on a rustic basement of ordinary limestone, and its architecture, which was of the Doric order, was of the purest kind. It was adorned with the most exquisite sculptures, executed by various artists under the direction of Phidias. But the chief wonder of the Parthenon was the colossal statue of the virgin goddess executed by Phidias himself: The Acropolis was adorned with another colossal figure of Athena, in bronze, also the work of Phidias. It stood in the open air, nearly opposite the Propylaea. With its pedestal it must have been about 70 feet high, and consequently towered above the roof of the Parthenon, so that the point of its spear and the crest of its helmet were visible off the promontory of Sunium to ships approaching Athens. The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares (Mars), is described elsewhere. [[213]Mars Hill' HILL] The Pnyx, or place for holding the public assemblies of the Athenians, stood on the side of a low rocky hill, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile from the Areopagus. Between the Pnyx on the west) the Areopagus on the north and the Acropolis on the east, and closely adjoining the base of these hills, stood the Agora or "Market," where St. Paul disputed daily. Through it ran the road to the gymnasium and gardens of the Academy, which were situated about a mile from the walls. The Academy was the place where Plato and his disciples taught. East of the city, and outside the walls was the Lyceum, a gymnasium dedicated to Apollo Lyceus, and celebrated as the place in which Aristotle taught. Character.--The remark of the sacred historian respecting the inquisitive character of the Athenians (Acts 17:21) is attested by the unanimous voice of antiquity. Their natural liveliness was partly owing to the purity and clearness of the atmosphere of Attica, which also allowed them to pass much of their time in the open air. The Athenian carefulness in religion is confirmed by the ancient writers. Of the Christian church, founded by St. Paul at Athens, according to ecclesiastical tradition, Dionysius the Areopagite was the first bishop. [[214]Dionysius] Present condition.-- (The population of Athens in 1871 was 48,000. Its university has 52 professors and 1200 students. Educational institutions are very numerous. A railway connects the Pirzeus or port with the city and its terminus stands in the midst of what was once the Agora.--ED.)


Athlai

(whom Jehovah afflicts), one of the sons of Bebai, who put away his foreign wife at the exhortation of Ezra. (Ezra 10:28)


Atonement, The Day Of

I. The great day of national humiliation, and the only one commanded in the Mosaic law. [[215]Fasts] The mode of its observance is described in Levi 16, and the conduct of the people is emphatically enjoined in (Leviticus 23:26-32) II. Time.-- It was kept on the tenth day of Tisri, that is, from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth of that month, five days before the feast of tabernacles. Tisri corresponds to our September-October, so that the 10th of Tisri would be about the first of October. [[216]Festivals] III. How observed.-- It was kept by the people as a high solemn sabbath. On this occasion only the high priest was permitted to enter into the holy of holies. Having bathed his person and dressed himself entirely in the holy white linen garments, he brought forward a young bullock for a sin offering, purchased at his own cost, on account of himself and his family, and two young goats for a sin offering, with a ram for a burnt offering, which were paid for out of the public treasury, on account of the people. He then presented the two goats before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle and cast lots upon them. On one lot "For Jehovah " was inscribed, and on the other "For Azazel ." A phrase of unusual difficulty. The best modern scholars agree that it designates the personal being to whom the goat was sent, probably Satan. This goat was called the scapegoat . After various sacrifices and ceremonies the goat upon which the lot "For Jehovah " had fallen was slain and the high priest sprinkled its blood before the mercy-seat in the same manner as he had done that of the bullock. Going out from the holy of holies he purified the holy place, sprinkling some of the blood of both the victims on the altar of incense. At this time no one besides the high priest was suffered to be present in the holy place. The purification of the holy of holies and of the holy place being thus completed, the high priest laid his hands upon the head of the goat on which the lot "For Azazel " had fallen and confessed over it all the sins of the people. The goat was then led, by a man chosen for the purpose, into the wilderness, into "a land not inhabited," and was there let loose. The high priest after this returned into the holy place bathed himself again, put on his usual garments of office, and offered the two rams as burnt offerings, one for himself and one for the people. IV. Significance. In considering the I. meaning of the particular rites of the day, three points appear to be of a very distinctive character.

+ The white garments of the high priest. + His entrance into the holy of holies. + The scapegoat. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 9:7-25) teaches us to apply the first two particulars. The high priest himself, with his person cleansed and dressed in white garments, was the best outward type which a living man could present in his own person of that pure and holy One who was to purify his people and to cleanse them from their sins. But respecting the meaning of the scapegoat we have no such light to guide us, and the subject is one of great doubt and difficulty. It has been generally considered that it was dismissed to signify the carrying away of the sins of the people, as it were, out of the sight of Jehovah. If we keep in view that the two goats are spoken of as parts of one and the same sin offering, we shall not have much difficulty in seeing that they form together but one symbolical expression; the slain goat setting forth the act of sacrifice, in giving up its own life for others "to Jehovah;" and the goat which carried off its load of sin "for complete removal" signifying the cleansing influence of faith in that sacrifice.


Atroth

(crowns), a city of Gad. (Numbers 32:35)


Attai

+ Grandson of Sheshan the Jerahmeelite through his daughter Ahlai, whom he gave in marriage to Jarha, his Egyptian slave. (1 Chronicles 2:35,36) His grandson Zabad was one of David's mighty men. (1 Chronicles 11:41) + One of the lion-faced warriors of Gad, captains of the host, who forded the Jordan at the time of its overflow and joined David in the wilderness. (1 Chronicles 12:11) (B.C. 1060.) + Second son of King Rehoboam by Maachah the daughter of Absalom. (2 Chronicles 11:20) (B.C. 975.)


Attalia

(from Attalus), a coast-town of Pamphylia, mentioned (Acts 14:25) It was built by Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, and named after the monarch. All its remains are characteristic of the date of its foundation. Leake fixes Attalia at Adalia, on the south court of Asia Minor, north of the Duden Su, the ancient Catarrhactes.


Augustus

(venerable) Cae'sar, the first Roman emperor. He was born A.U.C. 691, B.C. 63. His father was Caius Octavius; his mother Atia, daughter of Julia the sister of C. Julius Caesar. He was principally educated by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, and was made his heir. After his murder, the young Octavius, then Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was taken into the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and, after the removal of the latter, divided the empire with Antony. The struggle for the supreme power was terminated in favor of Octavianus by the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. On this victory he was saluted imperator by the senate, who conferred on him the title Augustus, B.C. 27. The first link binding him to New Testament history is his treatment of Herod after the battle of Actium. That prince, who had espoused Antony's side, found himself pardoned, taken into favor and confirmed, nay even increased, in his power. After Herod's death, in A.D. 4, Augustus divided his dominions, almost exactly according to his dying directions, among his sons. Augustus died in Nola in Campania, Aug. 19, A.U.C. 767, A.D. 14, in his 76th year; but long before his death he had associated Tiberius with him in the empire.


Ava

(ruin), a place in the empire of Assyria, apparently the same as Ivan. (2 Kings 17:24)


Aven

+ The "plain of Aven" is mentioned by (Amos 1:5) in his denunciation of Syria and the country to the north of Palestine. This Aven is by some supposed to be the once magnificent Heiropolis, "city of I the sun," now Baalbek (Bal'bek) of Coele-Syria, whose ruins are one of the wonders of the ages. It was situated in a plain near the foot of the Anti-Libanus range of mountains, 42 miles northwest of Damascus. It is famous for the colossal ruins of its temples, one of which with its courts and porticos, extended over 1000 feet in length. The temples were built of marble or limestone and granite. Some of the columns were 7 feet in diameter and 62 feet high, or including capital and pedestal, 89 feet. Some of the building-stones were 64 feet long and 12 feet thick. The temples are of Roman origin. + In (Hosea 10:8) the word is clearly an abbreviation of Bethaven, that is, Bethel. Comp. (Hosea 4:15) etc. + The sacred city of Heliopolis or On, in Egypt. (Ezekiel 30:17)


Avim

+ A people among the early inhabitants of Palestine, whom we meet with in the southwest corner of the seacoast, whither they may have made their way north-ward from the desert, (2:23) probably the same as the Hivites. + The people of Avva, among the colonists who were sent by the king of Assyria to reinhabit the depopulated cities of Israel. (2 Kings 17:31)


Avith

(ruins), the city of Hadad ben-Bedad, one of the kings of Edom before there were kings in Israel. (Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:46)


Awl

a tool of which we do not know the ancient form. The only notice of it is in connection with the custom of boring the ear of the slave. (Exodus 21:6; 15:17)


Azal

a name only occurring in (Zechariah 14:5) It is mentioned as the limit to which the ravine of the Mount of Olives will extend when "Jehovah shall go forth to fight."


Azaliah

(whom the Lord reserved), the father of Shaphan the scribe in the reign of Josiah. (2 Kings 22:3; 2 Chronicles 34:8) (B.C. before 641.)


Azaniah

(whom the Lord hears), the father or immediate ancestor of Jeshua the Levite, in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:9)


Azareel, Or Azareel

+ A Korhite who joined David in his retreat at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:6) (B.C. 1060.) + A Levite musician of the family of Heman in the time of David, (1 Chronicles 25:18) called [218]Uzziel in (1 Chronicles 25:4) (B.C. 1050.) + Son of Jeroham, and prince of the tribe of Dan when David numbered the people. (1 Chronicles 27:22) + One of the sons of Bani, who put away his foreign wife on the remonstrance of Ezra. (Ezra 10:41) (B.C. 459.) + Father or ancestor of Maasiai, or Amashai, a priest who dwelt in Jerusalem after the return from Babylon. (Nehemiah 11:13) comp. 1Chr 9:12 (B.C. about 440.)


Azariah

(whom the Lord helps) a common name in Hebrew, and especially in the families of the priests of the line of Eleazar, whose name has precisely the same meaning as Azariah. It is nearly identical, and is often confounded, with Ezra as well as with Zerahiah and Seraiah. The principal persons who bore this name were--

+ Son of Ahimaaz. (1 Chronicles 6:9) He appears from (1 Kings 4:2) to have succeeded Zadok, his grandfather, in the high priesthood, in the reign of Solomon, Ahimaaz having died before Zadok. (B.C. About 1000.) [[219]Ahimaaz] + A chief officer of Solomon's, the son of Nathan, perhaps David's grandson. (1 Kings 4:5) + Tenth king of Judah, more frequently called Uzziah. (2 Kings 14:21; 15:1,6,8,17,23,27; 1 Chronicles 8:12) + Son of Ethan, of the sons of Zerah, where, perhaps, Zerahiah is the more probable reading. (1 Chronicles 2:8) + Son of Jehu of the family of the Jerahmeelites, and descended from Jarha the Egyptian slave of Sheshan. (1 Chronicles 2:38,39) He was probably one of the captains of hundreds in the time of Athaliah mentioned in (2 Chronicles 23:1) (B.C. 886.) + The son of Johanan. (1 Chronicles 6:10) He must have been high priest in the reign of Abijah and Asa. (B.C. 939.) + Another Azariah is inserted between Hilkiah, in Josiah's reign, and Seraiah who was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar, in (1 Chronicles 6:13,14) + Son of Zephaniah, a Kohathite, and ancestor of Samuel the prophet. (1 Chronicles 6:36) Apparently the same as Uzziah in ver. 24. + Azariah; the son of Oded, (2 Chronicles 15:1) called simply Oded in ver. 8, was a remarkable prophet in the days of King Asa, and a contemporary of Azariah the son of Johanan the high priest, and of Hanani the seer. (B.C. 939.) + Son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. (2 Chronicles 21:2) (B.C.910.) + Another son of Jehoshaphat, and brother of the preceding. (2 Chronicles 21:2) + In (2 Chronicles 22:6) Azariah is a clerical error for Ahaziah. + Son of Jeroham, one of the captains of Judah in the time of Athaliah. (2 Chronicles 23:1) + The high priest in the reign of Uzziah king of Judah. The most memorable event of his life is that which is recorded in (2 Chronicles 26:17-20) (B.C. 810.) Azariah was contemporary with Isaiah the prophet and with Amos and Joel. + Son of Johanan, one of the captains of Ephraim in the reign of Ahaz. (2 Chronicles 28:12) + A Kohathite, father of Joel, in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:12) (B.C. 726.) + A Merarite, son of Jehalelel, in the time of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:12) + The high priest in the days of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:10,13) He appears to have co operated zealously with the king in that thorough purification of the temple and restoration of the temple service, which was so conspicuous a feature in his reign. He succeeded Urijah, who was high priest in the reign of Ahaz. + Son of Maaseiah who repaired part of the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:23,24) (B.C. 446-410.) + One of the leaders of the children of the province who went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:7) + One of the Levites who assisted Ezra in instructing the people in the knowledge of the law. (Nehemiah 8:7) + One of the priests who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:2) and probably the same with the Azariah who assisted in the dedication of the city wall. (Nehemiah 12:33) + (Jeremiah 13:2) (Jezaniah). + The original name of Abednego. (Daniel 1:6,7,11,19) He appears to have been of the seed-royal of Judah. (B.C. 603.)


Azaz

(strong), a Reubenite, father of Bela. (1 Chronicles 5:8)


Azaziah

+ A Levite musician in the reign of David, appointed to play the harp in the service which attended the procession by which the ark was brought up from the house of Obed-edom. (1 Chronicles 15:21) (B.C. 1048.) + The father of Hoshea, prince of the tribe of Ephraim when David numbered the people. (1 Chronicles 27:20) + One of the Levites in the reign of Hezekiah, who had charge of the tithes, and dedicated things in the temple. (2 Chronicles 31:13)


Azbuk

(strong devastation), father or ancestor of Nehemiah, the prince of part of Bethzur. (Nehemiah 3:16)


Azekah

(dugover), a town of Judah, with dependent villages, lying in the Shefelah or rich agricultural plain. It is most clearly defined as being near Shochoh, (1 Samuel 17:1) but its position has not yet been recognized.


Azel

(noble), a descendant of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:37,38; 9:43,44)


Azem

(bone), a city in the extreme south of Judah, (Joshua 15:29) afterwards allotted to Simeon. (Joshua 19:3) Elsewhere it is [220]Ezem.


Azgad

(strength of fortune). The children of Azgad, to the number of 1222 (2322 according to) (Nehemiah 7:17) were among the laymen who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:12; 8:12) With the other heads of the People they joined in the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:15) (B.C. 536.)


Aziel

(whom God comforts), a Levite. (1 Chronicles 15:20) The name is a shortened form of Jaaziel in ver. 18.


Aziza

(strong) a layman of the family of Zattu, who had married a foreign wife after the return from Babylon.


Azmaveth

a place to all appearance in Benjamin, being named with other towns belonging to that tribe. (Ezra 2:24) The name elsewhere occurs as BETH-AZMAVETH.

+ One of David's mighty men, a native of Bahurim, (2 Samuel 23:31; 1 Chronicles 11:33) and therefore probably a Benjamite. (B.C. 1060). + A descendant of Mephibosheth, or Merib-baal. (1 Chronicles 8:36; 9:42) + The father of Jeziel and Pelet, two of the skilled Benjamite slingers and archers who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 10:3) perhaps identical with No. 1. + Overseer of the royal treasures in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:25)


Azmon

(strong), a place named as being on the southern boundary of the Holy Land, apparently near the torrent of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish). (Numbers 34:4,5; Joshua 15:4) It has not yet been identified.


Aznothtabor

(the ears (i.e. possibly the summits) of Tabor), one of the landmarks of the boundary of Naphtali. (Joshua 19:34) The town, if town it be, has hitherto escaped recognition.


Azor

(a helper), son of Eliakim, in the line of our Lord. (Matthew 1:13,14)


Azriel

+ The head of a house of the half tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan, a man of renown. (1 Chronicles 5:24) (B.C. 741.) + A Naphtalite, ancestor of Jerimoth, the head of the tribe at the time of David's census. (1 Chronicles 27:19) (B.C. 1015.) + The father of Seraiah, an officer of Jehoiakim. (Jeremiah 36:26) (B.C. 605.)


Azrikam

+ A descendant of Zerubbabel, and son of Neariah of the royal line of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:23) + Eldest son of Azel, and descendant of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:38; 9:44) (B.C after 1037.) + A Levite, ancestor of Shemaiah, who lived in the time of Nehemiah. (1 Chronicles 9:14; Nehemiah 11:15) (B.C. before 536.) + Governor of the house, or prefect of the palace, to King Ahaz, who was slain by Zichri, an Ephraimite hero, in the successful invasion of the southern kingdom by Pekah king of Israel. (2 Chronicles 28:7) (B.C. 738.)


Azubah

+ Wife of Caleb, son of Hezron. (1 Chronicles 2:18,19) + Mother of King Jehoshaphat. (1 Kings 22:42; 2 Chronicles 20:31) (B.C. 950.)


Azur

+ A Benjamite of Gibeon, and father of Hananiah the false prophet. (Jeremiah 28:1) + Father of Jaazaniah, one of the princes of the people against whom Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy. (Ezekiel 11:1)


Azzah

(the strong). The more accurate rendering of the name of the well-known Philistine city Gaza. (2:23; 1 Kings 4:24; Jeremiah 25:20)


Azzan

(very strong), the father of Paltiel prince of the tribe of Issachar, who represented his tribe in the division of the promised land. (Numbers 34:26)


Azzur

(one who helps), one of the heads of the People who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:17) (B.C. 410.) The name is probably that of a family, and in Hebrew is the same as is elsewhere represented by [222]Azur.


Baal

geographical. This word occurs as the prefix or suffix to the names of several places in Palestine, some of which are as follows:

+ BAAL a town of Simeon, named only in (1 Chronicles 4:33) which from the parallel list in (Joshua 19:8) seems to have been identical with BAALATH-BEER. + [223]Baalah (mistress). A. Another name for [224]Kirjath-JEARIM, or [225]Kirjath BAAL, the well-known town now Kuriet el Enab . (Joshua 15:9,10; 1 Chronicles 13:6) b. A town in the south of Judah, (Joshua 15:29) which in Josh 19:3 Is called [226]Balah, and in the parallel list, (1 Chronicles 4:29) [227]Bilhah. + [228]Baalath (mistress), a town of Dan named with Gibbethon, Gath-rim-mon and other Philistine places. (Joshua 19:44) + BAALATH-BEER (lord of the well). BAAL 1, a town among those in the south part of Judah, given to Simeon, which also bore the name of RAMATH-NEGEB, or "the height of the south." (Joshua 19:8) + BAAL-GAD (lord of fortune), used to denote the most northern, (Joshua 11:17; 12:7) or perhaps northwestern, (Joshua 13:5) point to which Joshua's victories extended. It was in all probability a Phoenician or Canaanite sanctuary of Baal under the aspect of Gad or Fortune. + BAAL-HAMON (lord of a multitude), a place at which Solomon had a vineyard, evidently of great extent. (Song of Solomon 8:11) + BAAL-HAZOR (village of Baal), a place where Absalom appears to have had a sheep-farm, and where Amnon was murdered. (2 Samuel 13:23) + [229]Mount, [230]Mount, Mountain BAAL-HERMON (Lord of Hermon), (Judges 3:3) and simply Baal-hermon. (1 Chronicles 5:23) This is usually considered as a distinct place from Mount Hermon; but we know that this mountain had at least three names (3:9) and Baal-hermon may have been a fourth in use among the Phoenician worshippers. + BAAL-MEON (lord of the house), one of the towns which were built by the Reubenites. (Numbers 32:38) It also occurs in (1 Chronicles 5:8) and on each occasion with Nebo. In the time of Ezekiel it was Moabite, one of the cities which were the "glory of the country." (Ezekiel 25:9) + BAAL-[231]Perazim (lord of divisions), the scene of a victory of David over the Philistines, and of a great destruction of their images. (2 Samuel 5:20; 1 Chronicles 14:11) See (Isaiah 28:21) where it is called [232]Mount, [233]Mount, Mountain [234]Perazim. + BAAL-SHALISHA (lord of Shalisha), a place named only in (2 Kings 4:42) apparently not far from Gilgal; comp. (2 Kings 4:38) + BAAL-TAMAR (lord of the palm tree), a place named only in (Judges 20:33) as near Gibeah of Benjamin. The palm tree (tamar) of Deborah, (Judges 4:5) was situated somewhere in the locality, and is possibly alluded to. + BAAL-ZEPHON (lord of the north), a place in Egypt near where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. (Numbers 33:7; Ezekiel 14:2,9) We place Baal-zephon on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, a little below its head, which at that time was about 30 or 40 miles northward of the Present head.

the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their supreme female divinity. Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashtoreth Venus. There can be no doubt of the very high antiquity of the worship of Baal. It prevailed in the time of Moses among the Moabites and Midianites, (Numbers 22:41) and through them spread to the Israelites. (Numbers 25:3-18; 4:3) In the times of the kings it became the religion of the court and people of the ten tribes, (1 Kings 16:31-33; 18:19,22) and appears never to have been permanently abolished among them. (2 Kings 17:16) Temples were erected to Baal in Judah, (1 Kings 16:32) and he was worshipped with much ceremony. (1 Kings 18:19,26-28; 2 Kings 10:22) The attractiveness of this worship to the Jews undoubtedly grew out of its licentious character. We find this worship also in Phoenician colonies. The religion of the ancient British islands much resembled this ancient worship of Baal, and may have been derived from it. Nor need we hesitate to regard the Babylonian Bel, (Isaiah 46:1) or Beaus, as essentially identical with Baal, though perhaps under some modified form. The plural, [235]Baalim, is found frequently, showing that he was probably worshipped under different compounds, among which appear--

+ BAAL-BERITH (the covenant Baal), (Judges 8:33; 9:4) the god who comes into covenant with the worshippers. + BAAL-ZEBUB (lord of the fly), and worshipped at Ekron. (2 Kings 1:2,3,16) + BAAL-HANAN. a. The name of one of the early kings of Edom. (Genesis 36:38,39; 1 Chronicles 1:49,50) b. The name of one of David's officers, who had the superintendence of his olive and sycamore plantations. (1 Chronicles 27:28) + BAAL-PEOR (lord of the opening, i.e. for others to join in the worship). We have already referred to the worship of this god. The narrative (Numb 25) seems clearly to show that this form of Baal-worship was connected with licentious rites.

+ A Reubenite (1 Chronicles 5:5) + The son of Jehiel, and grandfather of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:30; 9:36)


Baalis

king of the Ammonites at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. (Jeremiah 40:14) (B.C. 588.)


Baana

+ The son of Ahilud, Solmon's commissariat officer in Jezreel and the north of the Jordan valley. (1 Kings 4:12) (B.C.1000.) + Father of Zadok, who assisted in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:4) (B.C. 446.)


Baanah

+ Son of Rimmon, a Benjamite, who with his brother Rechab murdered Ishbosheth For this they were killed by David; and their mutilated bodies hung up over the pool at Hebron. (2 Samuel 4:2,5,6,9) (B.C. 1046.) + A Netophathite, father of Heleb or Heled, one of David's mighty men. (2 Samuel 23:29; 1 Chronicles 11:30) (B.C. before 1066.) + Accurately Baana, son of Hushai, Solomon's commissariat officer in Asher. (1 Kings 4:16) (B.C. 1012.) + Aman who accompanied Zerubbabel on his return from the captivity. (Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7) Possibly the same person is intended in (Nehemiah 10:27) (B.C. 536.)


Baara

(brutish) one of the wives of Shaharaim, a descendant of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 8:8)


Baaseiah, Or Basseiah

(work of Jehovah), a Gershonite Levite, one of the forefathers of Asaph the singer. (1 Chronicles 6:40), [ 1Chr 6:25 ]. (B.C. 1310.)


Baasha

(wicked), B.C. 953-931, third sovereign of the separate kingdom of Israel, and the founder of its second dynasty. He was son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar and conspired against King Nadab, (1 Kings 15:27) and killed him with his whole family. He appears to have been of humble origin. (1 Kings 16:2) It was probably in the 13th year of his reign that he made war on Asa, and began to fortify Ramah. He was defeated by the unexpected alliance of Asa with Ben-hadad I. of Damascus. Baasha died in the 24th year of his reign, and was buried in Tirzah, (Song of Solomon 6:4) which he had made his capital. (1 Kings 16:6; 2 Chronicles 16:1-6)


Babel

(confusion), Bab'ylon (Greek form of Babel), is properly the capital city of the country which is called in Genesis Shinar, and in the later books Chaldea, or the land of the Chaldeans. The first rise of the Chaldean power was in the region close upon the Persian Gulf; thence the nation spread northward up the course of the rivers, and the seat of government moved in the same direction, being finally fixed at Babylon, perhaps not earlier than B.C, 1700. I. Topography of Babylon--Ancient description of the city.--All the ancient writers appear to agree in the fact of a district of vast size, more or less inhabited having been enclosed within lofty walls and included under the name of Babylon. With respect to the exact extent of the circuit they differ. The estimate of Herodotus and of Pliny is 480 stades (60 Roman miles, 53 of our miles) of Strabo 385, of Q. Curtius 368, of Clitarchus 365 and of Ctesias 360 stades (40 miles). (George Smith, in his "Assyrian Discoveries," differs entirely from all these estimates, making the circuit of the city but eight miles.) Perhaps Herodotus spoke of the outer wall, which could be traced in his time. Taking the lowest estimate of the extent of the circuit, we shall have for the space within the rampart an area of above 100 square miles--nearly five times the size of London! It is evident that this vast space cannot have been entirely covered with houses. The city was situated on both sides of the river Euphrates, and the two parts were connected together by a stone bridge five stades (above 1000 yards) long and 30 feet broad. At either extremity of the bridge was a royal palace, that in the eastern city being the more magnificent of the two. The two palaces were joined not only by the bridge, but by a tunnel under the river. The houses, which were frequently three or four stories high, were laid out in straight streets crossing each other at right angles. II. Present state of the ruins.--A portion of the ruins is occupied by the modern town of Hillah . About five miles above Hillah, on the opposite or left bank of the Euphrates occurs a series of artificial mounds of enormous size. They consist chiefly of three great masses of building,--the high pile of unbaked brickwork which is known to the Arabs as Babel, 600 feet square and 140 feet high; the building denominated the Kasr or palace, nearly 2000 feet square and 70 feet high, and a lofty mound upon which stands the modern tomb of Amram-ibn-'Alb . Scattered over the country on both sides of the Euphrates are a number of remarkable mounds, usually standing single, which are plainly of the same date with the great mass of ruins upon the river bank. Of these by far the most striking is the vast ruin called the Birs-Nimrud, which many regard as the tower of Babel, situated about six miles to the southwest of Hillah. [BABEL, [241]Tower OF] III. Identification of sites.--The great mound of Babel is probably the ancient temple of Beaus. The mound of the Kasr marks the site of the great palace of Nebuchadnezzar. The mound of Amram is thought to represent the "hanging gardens" of Nebuchadnezzar; but most probably it represents the ancient palace, coeval with Babylon itself, of which Nebuchadnezzar speaks in his inscriptions as adjoining his own more magnificent residence. IV. History of Babylon.--Scripture represents the "beginning of the kingdom" as belonging to the time of Nimrod. (Genesis 10:6-10) The early annals of Babylon are filled by Berosus, the native historian, with three dynasties: one of 49 Chaldean kings, who reigned 458 years; another of 9 Arab kings, who reigned 245 years; and a third of 49 Assyrian monarchs, who held dominion for 526 years. The line of Babylonian kings becomes exactly known to us from B.C. 747. The "Canon of Ptolemy" gives us the succession of Babylonian monarchs from B.C. 747 to B.C. 331, when the last Persian king was dethroned by Alexander. On the fall of Nineveh, B.C. 625, Babylon became not only an independent kingdom, but an empire. The city was taken by surprise B.C. 539, as Jeremiah had prophesied, (Jeremiah 51:31) by Cyrus, under Darius, Dan. 5, as intimated 170 years earlier by Isaiah, (Isaiah 21:1-9) and, as Jeremiah had also foreshown, (Jeremiah 51:39) during a festival. With the conquest of Cyrus commenced the decay of Babylon, which has since been a quarry from which all the tribes in the vicinity have derived the bricks with which they have built their cities. The "great city" has thus emphatically "become heaps." (Jeremiah 51:37) Ba'bel, Tower of. The "tower of Babel" is only mentioned once in Scripture, (Genesis 11:4,5) and then as incomplete. It was built of bricks, and the "slime" used for mortar was probably bitumen. Such authorities as we possess represent the building as destroyed soon after its erection. When the Jews, however, were carried captive into Babylonia, they thought they recognized it in the famous temple of Beaus, the modern Birs Nimrod . But the Birs-Nimrrud though it cannot be the tower of Babel itself; may well be taken to show the probable shape and character of the edifice. This building appears to have been a sort of oblique pyramid built in seven receding stages, each successive one being nearer to the southwestern end which constituted the back of the building. The first, second and third stories were each 26 feet high the remaining four being 15 feet high. On the seventh stage there was probably placed the ark or tabernacle, which seems to have been again 15 feet high, and must have nearly, if not entirely, covered the top of the seventh story The entire original height, allowing three feet for the platform, would thus have been 156 feet, or, without the plat-form, 163 feet.


Babylon

in the Apocalypse, is the symbolical name by which Rome is denoted. (Revelation 14:8; 17:18) The power of Rome was regarded by the later Jews as was that of Babylon by their forefathers. Comp. (Jeremiah 51:7) with Reve 14:8 The occurrence of this name in (1 Peter 5:13) has given rise to a variety of conjectures, many giving it the same meaning as in the Apocalypse; others refer it to Babylon in Asia, and others still to Babylon in Egypt. The most natural supposition of all is that by Babylon is intended the old Babylon of Assyria, which was largely inhabited by Jews at the time in question.


Babylonians

the inhabitants of Babylon, a race of Shemitic origin, who were among the colonists planted in the cities of Samaria by the conquering Assyrian. (Ezra 4:9)


Babylonish Garment

literally "robe of Shinar," (Joshua 7:21) an ample robe, probably made of the skin or fur of an animal, comp. (Genesis 25:25) and ornamented with embroidery or perhaps a variegated garment with figures inwoven in the fashion for which the Babylonians were celebrated.


Baca

(weeping), The Valley of, A valley in Palestine, through which the exiled Psalmist sees in vision the pilgrims passing in their march towards the sanctuary of Jehovah at Zion. (Psalms 84:6) That it was a real locality is most probable from the use of the definite article before the name. The rendering of the Targum is Gehenna, i.e. the Ge-Hinnom or ravine below Mount Zion. This locality agrees well with the mention of became (Authorized Version "mulberry") trees in (2 Samuel 5:23)


Bachrites, The

the family of [242]Becher, son of Ephraim. (Numbers 26:35)


Badger Skins

There is much obscurity as to the meaning of the word tachash, rendered "badger" in the Authorized Version, (Exodus 25:5; 35:7) etc. The ancient versions seem nearly all agreed that it denotes not an animal but a color, either black or sky-blue. The badger is not found in the Bible lands. The Arab duchash or tufchash denotes a dolphin, including seals and cetaceans. The skins referred to are probably those of these marine animals, some of which are found in the Red Sea. The skin of the Halicore, one of these, from its hardness would be well suited for making soles for shoes. (Ezekiel 16:10)


Bag

is the rendering of several words in the Old and New Testaments.

+ Charitim, the "bags" in which Naaman bound up the two talents of silver for Gehazi. (2 Kings 5:23) They were long cone-like bags of the size to hold a precise amount of money, and tied or sealed for that amount, as we stamp the value on a coin. + Cis, a bag for carrying weights, (25:13) also used as a purse (Proverbs 1:14) + Celi, in (Genesis 42:25) is the "sack" in which Jacob's sons carried the corn which they brought from Egypt. + The shepherd's "bag" used by David was for the purpose of carrying the lambs unable to walk. (Zechariah 11:15; 16:5) + Tschar, properly a "bundle," (Genesis 42:35) appears to have been used by travellers for carrying money during a long journey. (Proverbs 7:20) + The "bag" which Judas carried was probably a small box or chest. (John 12:6; 13:29)


Bahurim

(low ground), a village, (2 Samuel 16:6) apparently on or close to the road leading up from the Jordan valley to Jerusalem, and near the south boundary of Benjamin.


Bajith

(the horse), referring to the "temple" of the false gods of Moab, as opposed to the "high places" in the same sentence. (Isaiah 15:2) and comp. (Isaiah 16:12)


Bakbakkar

(admirable), a Levite, apparently a descendant of Asaph. (1 Chronicles 9:15) (B.C.588.)


Bakbuk

(bottle). "Children of Bakkuk" were among the Nethinim who returned from captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:51; Nehemiah 7:53) (B.C. before 536).


Bakbukiah

(wasting of Jehovah), a Levite in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 11:17; 12:9) (B.C. before 536.)


Bake

Reference to baking is found in (Leviticus 26:26; 1 Samuel 8:13; 2 Samuel 13:8; Jeremiah 7:18; 37:21; Hosea 7:4-7)


Balaam

(B.C. 1451), the son of beor, a man endowed with the gift of prophecy. (Numbers 22:5) He is mentioned in conjunction with the five kings of Midian, apparently as a person of the same rank. (Numbers 31:8) cf. Numb 31:16 He seems to have lived at Pethor, (23:4; Numbers 22:5) on the river Euphrates, in Mesopotamia. Such was his reputation that when the Israelites were encamped in the plains of Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for Balaam to curse them. Balaam at first was prohibited by God from going. He was again sent for by the king and again refused, but was at length allowed to go. He yielded to the temptations of riches and honor which Balak set before him; but God's anger was kindled at this manifestation of determined self-will, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. See (2 Peter 2:16) Balaam predicted a magnificent career for the people whom he was called to curse, but he nevertheless suggested to the Moabites the expedient of seducing them to commit fornication. The effect of this is recorded in (Numbers 25:1) ... A battle was afterwards fought against the Midianites, in which Balaam sided with them, and was slain by the sword of the people whom he had endeavored to curse. (Numbers 31:8)


Balah

(Joshua 19:3) [[245]Baal, Geogr. No. 2, b]


Balak

(spoiler), son of Zippor, king of the Moabites, who hired Balaam to curse the Israelites; but his designs were frustrated int he manner recorded in (Numbers 22:24) (B.C. 1451.)


Balances

Reference to balances is found in (Leviticus 19:36) They were in common use, gold and silver being paid out and received by weight. Reference is also made in (Micah 6:11; Hosea 12:7) to the dishonest practice of buying by heavier and selling by lighter weights.


Baldness

Natural baldness seems to have been uncommon, since it exposed people to public derision. (Leviticus 13:29; 2 Kings 2:23; Isaiah 3:24; 15:2; Jeremiah 47:5; Ezekiel 7:18) Artificial baldness marked the conclusion of a Nazarite's vow, (Numbers 6:9; Acts 18:18) and was a sign of mourning.


Balm

(from balsam, Heb. tzori, tezri) occurs in (Genesis 37:25; 43:11; Jeremiah 8:22; 46:11; 51:8; Ezekiel 27:17) (It is an aromatic plant, or the resinous odoriferous sap or gum which exudes from such plants.) It is impossible to identify it with any certainty. It is impossible to identify it with any certainty. It may represent the gum of the Pistacia lentiscus, or more probably that of the Balsamodendron opobalsamum, allied to the balm of Gilead, which abounded in Gilead east of the Jordan. The trees resembled fig trees (or grape vines), but were lower, being but 12 to 15 feet high. It is now called the BALM OF [247]Gilead, or Meccabalsam, the tree or shrub being indigenous in the mountains around Mecca. [[248]Incense; [249]Spice, Spices] Hasselquist says that the exudation from the plant "is of a yellow color, and pellucid. It has a most fragrant smell, which is resinous, balsamic and very agreeable. It is very tenacious or glutinous, sticking to the fingers, and may be drawn into long threads." It was supposed to have healing as well as aromatic qualities.


Bamah

(high place). Found only in (Ezekiel 20:29) applied to places of idolatrous worship.


Bamothbaal

(heights of Baal), a sanctuary of Baal in the country of Moab (Joshua 13:17) which is probably mentioned in (Numbers 21:19) under the shorter form of Bamoth, or Bamoth-in-the-ravine (20), and again in (Isaiah 15:2)


Band

The "band of Roman soldiers" referred to in (Matthew 27:27) and elsewhere was the tenth part of a legion. It was called a "cohort," and numbered 400 to 600 men. [See [250]Army]


Bani

+ A Gadite, one of David's mighty men. (2 Samuel 23:36) (B.C. 1046.) + A Levite of the line of Merari, and forefather to Ethan. (1 Chronicles 6:46) + A man of Judah of the line of Pharez. (1 Chronicles 9:4) + "Children of Bani" returned from captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:10; 10:29,34; Nehemiah 10:14) 1 Esd. 5:12. [[251]Binnui; MANI] + An Israelite "of the sons of Bani." (Ezra 10:38) + A Levite. (Nehemiah 3:17) + A Levite. (Nehemiah 8:7; 9:4,5; 10:13) + Another Levite, of the sons of Asaph. (Nehemiah 11:22)


Banquets

among the Hebrews, were not only a means of social enjoyment, but were a part of the observance of religious festivity. At the three solemn festivals the family also had its domestic feast. (16:11) Sacrifices, both ordinary and extraordinary, (Exodus 34:15; Judges 16:23) includes a banquet. Birthday banquets are only mentioned (Genesis 40:20; Matthew 14:6) The usual time of the banquet was the evening, and to begin early was a mark of excess. (Ecclesiastes 10:16; Isaiah 5:11) The most essential materials of the banqueting room, next to the viands and wine, which last was often drugged with spices, (Proverbs 9:2) were perfumed unguents, garlands or loose flowers, white or brilliant robes; after these, exhibitions of music singers and dancers, riddles, jesting and merriment. (Judges 14:12; 2 Samuel 19:35; Nehemiah 8:10; Ecclesiastes 10:19; Isaiah 5:12; 25:6; 28:1; Matthew 22:11; Luke 15:25) The posture at table in early times was sitting, (1 Samuel 16:11; 20:5,18) and the guests were ranged in order of dignity. (Genesis 43:33; 1Sam 9:22 Words which imply the recumbent posture belong to the New Testament.


Baptism

It is well known that ablution or bathing was common in most ancient nations as a preparation for prayers and sacrifice or as expiatory of sin. In warm countries this connection is probably even closer than in colder climates; and hence the frequency of ablution in the religious rites throughout the East. Baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is the rite or ordinance by which persons are admitted into the Church of Christ. It is the public profession of faith and discipleship. Baptism signifies--

+ A confession of faith in Christ; + A cleansing or washing of the soul from sin; + A death to sin and a new life in righteousness. The mode and subjects of baptism being much-controverted subjects, each one can best study them in the works devoted to those questions. The command to baptize was co-extensive with the command to preach the gospel. All nations were to be evangelized; and they were to be made disciples, admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, by baptism. (Matthew 28:19) It appears to have been a kind of transition from the Jewish baptism to the Christian. The distinction between John's baptism and Christian baptism appears in the case of Apollos, (Acts 18:26,27) and of the disciples at Ephesus mentioned (Acts 19:1-6) We cannot but draw from this history the inference that in Christian baptism there was a deeper spiritual significance.


Barabbas

(son of Abba), a robber, (John 18:40) who had committed murder in an insurrection, (Mark 15:7; Luke 28:18) in Jerusalem and was lying in prison the time of the trial of Jesus before Pilate.p


Barachel

(God has blessed), father of Elihu. (Job 32:2,6) [[253]Buz]


Barak

(lightning), son of Abinoam of Kedesh, a refuge city in Mount Naphtali, was incited by Deborah, a prophetess of Ephraim, to deliver Israel from the yolk of Jabin. Judges 4. He utterly routed the Canaanites int eh plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon). (B.C. 1291-1251.)


Barbarian

"every one not a Greek is a barbarian" is the common Greek definition, and in this strict sense the word is sued in (Romans 1:14) It often retains this primitive meaning, as in (1 Corinthians 14:11; Acts 28:24)


Bariah

(fugitive), a descendant of the royal family of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:22) (B.C. before 410.)


Barkos

(painted). "Children of Barkos" were among the Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:53; Nehemiah 7:55) (B.C. 536.)


Barley

is one of the most important of the cereal grains, and the most hardy of them all. It was grown by the Hebrews, (Leviticus 27:16; 8:8; Ruth 2:17) etc., who used it for baking into bread chiefly among the poor, (Judges 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42; John 6:9,13) and as fodder for horses. (1 Kings 4:28) The barley harvest, (Ruth 1:22; 2:23; 2 Samuel 21:9;10) takes place in Palestine in March and April, and in the hilly district as late as May. It always precedes the wheat harvest, in some places by a week, in others by fully three weeks. In Egypt the barley is about a month earlier than the wheat; whence its total destruction by the hail storm. (Exodus 9:31)


Barnabas

(son of consolation or comfort) a name given by the apostles, (Acts 4:36) to Joseph (or Jose), a Levite of the island of Cyprus, who was early a disciple of Christ. In (Acts 9:27) we find him introducing the newly-converted Saul to the apostles at Jerusalem. Barnabas was sent to Jerusalem, (Acts 11:19-26) and went to Tarsus to seek Saul, as one specially raised up to preach to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:17) He brought him to Antioch, and was sent with him to Jerusalem. (Acts 11:30) On their return, they were ordained by the church for the missionary work, (Acts 13:2) and sent forth (A.D. 45). From this time Barnabas and Paul enjoy the title and dignity of apostles. Their first missionary journey is related in (Acts 13:14) Returning to Antioch (A.D. 47 or 48), they were sent (A.D. 50), with some others, to Jerusalem. (Acts 15:1,36) Afterwards they parted and Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, his native island. Here the Scripture notices of him cease. The epistle attributed to Barnabas is believed to have been written early in the second century.


Barsabas

(son of Sabas or rest). [[258]Joseph BARSABAS; [259]Judas BARSABAS]


Barsabbas

Revised Version of (Acts 1:23) for BAR'SABAS.


Bartholomew

(son of Tolmai), one of the twelve apostles of Christ. (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13) It has been not improperly conjectured that he is identical with Nathanael. (John 1:45) ff. He is said to have preached the gospel in India, that is, probably, Arabia Felix, and according to some in Armenia.


Bartimaeus

(son of Timeus), a blind beggar of Jericho who, (Mark 10:46) ff., sat by the wayside begging as our Lord passed out of Jericho on his last journey to Jerusalem.


Baruch

+ Son of Neriah, the friend, (Jeremiah 32:12) amanuensis, (Jeremiah 26:4-32) and faithful attendant of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 36:10) ff. (B.C. 603.) He was of a noble family, comp. (Jeremiah 51:59) Bar. 1:1, and of distinguished acquirements. His enemies accused him of influencing Jeremiah in favor of the Chaldaeans, (Jeremiah 43:3) cf. Jere 27:13 And he was imprisoned until the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 586. By the permission of Nebuchadnezzar he remained with Jeremiah at Mizpeh, Jos. Ant. x.9, 1, but was afterwards forced to go down to Egypt. (Jeremiah 43:6) Nothing is known certainly of the close of his life. + The son of Zabbai, who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:20) (B.C. 446.) + A priest, or family of priests, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:6) (B.C. 410.). + The son of Col-hozeh, a descendant of Perez or Pharez, the son of Judah. (Nehemiah 11:5) (B.C. 536.)


Baruch, Book Of

One of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament. The book was held in little esteem by the Jews, and both its date and authorship are very uncertain.


Barzillai

+ A wealthy Gileadite who showed hospitality to David when he fled form Absalom. (2 Samuel 17:27) (B.C. 1023.) He declined the king's offer of ending his days at court. (2 Samuel 19:32-39) + A Meholathite, whose son Adriel married Michal, Saul's daughter. (2 Samuel 21:8) (B.C. before 1062.) + Son-in-law to Barzillai the Gileadite. (Ezra 2:61; Nehemiah 7:63,64) (B.C. before 536.)


Bashan

(fruitful), a district on the east of Jordan. It is sometimes spoken of as the "land of Bashan," (1 Chronicles 5:11) and comp. Numb 21:33; 32:33 And sometimes as "all Bashan." (3:10,13; Joshua 12:5; 13:12,30) It was taken by the children of Israel after their conquest of the land of Sihon from Arnon to Jabbok. The limits of Bashan are very strictly defined. It extended from the "border of Gilead" on the south to Mount Hermon on the north, (3:3,10,14; Joshua 12:5; 1 Chronicles 5:23) and from the Arabah or Jordan valley on the west to Salchah (Sulkhad) and the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites on the east. (Joshua 12:3-5; 3:10) This important district was bestowed on the half-tribe of Manasseh, (Joshua 13:29-31) together with "half Gilead." This country is now full of interesting ruins, which have lately been explored and from which much light has been thrown upon Bible times. See Porter's "Giant Cities of Bashan."


Bashanhavothjair

(Bashan of the villages of Jair), a name given to Argob after its conquest by Jair. (3:14)


Bashemath

(fragrant, pleasing), daughter of Ishmael, the last married of the three wives of Esau. (Genesis 26:34; 36:3,4,13) (B.C. after 1797.) In (Genesis 28:9) she is called Mahalath.


Basin

Among the smaller vessels for the tabernacle or temple service, many must have been required to receive from the sacrificial victims the blood to be sprinkled for purification. The "basin" from which our Lord washed the disciples' feet was probably deeper and larger than the hand-basin for sprinkling.


Basket

The Hebrew terms used in the description of this article are as follows: (1) Sal, so called from the twigs of which it was originally made, specially used for holding bread. (Genesis 40:16) ff. (Exodus 29:3,23; Leviticus 8:2,26,31; Numbers 6:15,17,19) (2) Salsilloth, a word of kindred origin, applied to the basket used in gathering grapes. (Jeremiah 6:9) (3) Tene, in which the first-fruits of the harvest were presented. (26:2,4)

(4) Celub, so called from its similarity to a bird-cage. (5) Dud, used for carrying fruit, (Jeremiah 24:1,2) as well as on a larger scale for carrying clay to the brick-yard, (Psalms 81:6) (pots, Authorized Version), or for holding bulky articles. (2 Kings 10:7) In the New Testament baskets are described under three different terms.


Basmath

(fragrant, pleasing), a daughter of Solomon, married to Ahimaaz, one of his commissariat officers. (1 Kings 4:15) (B.C. after 1014.)


Bastard

Among those who were excluded from entering the congregation, even to the tenth generation, was the bastard. (23:2) The term is not, however, applied to any illegitimate offspring, born out of wedlock, but is restricted by the rabbins to the issue of any connection within the degrees prohibited by the law.


Bat

(Leviticus 11:19; 14:18) Many travellers have noticed the immense numbers of bats that are found in caverns in the East, and Mr. Layard said that on the occasion of a visit to a cavern these noisome beasts compelled him to retreat.


Bath, Bathing

This was a prescribed part of the Jewish ritual of purification in cases of accident, or of leprous or ordinary uncleanness, (Leviticus 15; 16:28; 22:6; Numbers 19:7; 19; 2 Samuel 11:2,4; 2 Kings 5:10) as also after mourning, which always implied defilement. (Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20) The eastern climate made bathing essential alike to health and pleasure, to which luxury added the use of perfumes. (Esther 2:12) Judith 10:3; Susan 17. The "pools," such as that of Siloam and Hezekiah, (2 Kings 20:20; Nehemiah 3:15,16; Isaiah 22:11; John 9:7) often sheltered by porticos, (John 5:2) are the first indications we have of public bathing accommodation.


Bathrabbim

(daughter of many), The gate of, One of the gates of the ancient city of heshbon. (Song of Solomon 7:4,5)


Bathsheba, Or Bathsheba

(daughter of the oath), (2 Samuel 11:3) etc., also called Bath-shua in (1 Chronicles 3:5) the daughter of Eliam, (2 Samuel 11:3) or Ammiel, (1 Chronicles 3:5) the son of Ahithophel, (2 Samuel 23:34) and wife of Uriah the Hittite. (B.C. 1035.) The child which was the fruit of her adulterous intercourse with David died; but after marriage she became the mother of four sons, Solomon, (Matthew 1:6) Shimea, Shobab and Nathan. When Adonijah attempted to set aside the succession promised to Solomon, Bath-sheba informed the king of the conspiracy. (1 Kings 1:11,15,23) After the accession of Solomon, she, as queen-mother, requested permission of her son for Adonijah to take in marriage Abishag the Shunammite. (1 Kings 2:21-25)


Batteringram

(Ezekiel 4:2; 21:22) a large beam with a head of iron which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and balanced so as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. In attacking the walls of a fort or city, the first step appears to have been to form an inclined plane or bank of earth, comp. (Ezekiel 4:2) "cast a mount against it," by which the besiegers could bring their battering-rams and other engines to the foot of the walls. "The battering-rams," says Mr. Layard "were of several kinds. Some were joined to movable towers which held warriors and armed men. The whole then formed one great temporary building, the top of which is represented in sculptures as on a level with the walls, and even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs the battering-ram is without wheels: it was then perhaps constructed upon the spot and was not intended to be moved."


Battlement

Among the Jews a battlement was required by law to be built upon every house. It consisted of a low wall built around the roofs of the houses to prevent persons from falling off, and sometimes serving as a partition from another building. (22:8; Jeremiah 5:10)


Bavai

son of Henadad, ruler of the district of Keilah in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:18) (B.C. 446.)


Bay Tree

A species of laurel. Laurus nobilis . An evergreen, with leaves like our mountain laurel. (Psalms 37:35)


Bazlith

(asking). "Children of Bazlith" were among the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:54) In (Ezra 2:52) the name is given as [262]Bazluth. (B.C. 536.)


Bdellium

(bedolach). (Genesis 2:12; Numbers 11:7) It is quite impossible to say whether bedolach denotes a mineral or an animal production or a vegetable exudation. Bdellium is an odoriferous exudation from a tree which is perhaps the Borassus flabelliformis, Lin., of Arabia Felix.


Beacon

A signal or conspicuous mark erected on an eminence for direction. (Isaiah 30:17)


Bealiah

(Jehovah is lord), a Benjamite who went over to David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:5) (B.C. 1062.)


Bealoth

(ladies) a town in the extreme south of Judah. (Joshua 15:24)


Beans

(2 Samuel 17:28; Ezekiel 4:9) Beans are cultivated in Palestine, which produces many of the leguminous order of plants, such, as lentils, kidney-beans, vetches, etc.


Bear

(1 Samuel 17:34; 2 Samuel 17:8) The Syrian bear, Ursus syriacus, which is without doubt the animal mentioned in the Bible, is still found on the higher mountains of Palestine. During the summer months these bears keep to the snowy parts of Lebanon, but descend in winter to the villages and Gardens. It is probable also that at this period in former days they extended their visits to other parts of Palestine.


Bearbel

(house of God's court), named only in (Hosea 10:14) as the scene of a sack and massacre by Shalman.


Beard

Western Asiatics have always cherished the beard as the badge of the dignity of manhood, and attached to it the importance of a feature. The Egyptians, on the contrary for the most part shaved the hair of the face and head, though we find some instances to the contrary. The beard is the object of an oath, and that on which blessing or shame is spoken of as resting. The custom was and is to shave or pluck it and the hair out in mourning, (Ezra 9:3; Isaiah 15:2; 50:6; Jeremiah 41:5; 48:37) Bar. 6:31; to neglect it in seasons of permanent affliction, (2 Samuel 19:24) and to regard any insult to it as the last outrage which enmity can inflict. (2 Samuel 10:4) The beard was the object of salutation. (2 Samuel 20:9) The dressing, trimming, anointing, etc., of the beard was performed with much ceremony by persons of wealth and rank (Psalms 133:2) The removal of the beard was a part of the ceremonial treatment proper to a leper. (Leviticus 14:9)


Bebai

+ "Sons of Bebai," 623 (Nehe 628) in number, returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:11; Nehemiah 7:16) (B.C. 536), and at a later period twenty-eight more under Zechariah, son of Bebai, returned with Ezra. (Ezra 8:11) Four of this family had taken foreign wives. (Ezra 10:28) The name occurs also among those who sealed the covenant. (Nehemiah 10:15) + Father of Zechariah, who was the leader of the twenty-eight men of his tribe mentioned above.


Becher

+ The second son of Benjamin, according to the list in both (Genesis 46:21) and 1Chr 7:6 But omitted in (1 Chronicles 8:1) (B.C. about 1690.) + Son of Ephraim, (Numbers 26:35) called [264]Bered in (1 Chronicles 7:20) Same as the preceding.


Bechorath

(first-born), son of Aphiah or Abiah, and grandson of Becher according to (1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Chronicles 7:8) (B.C. before 1093.)


Bed

The Jewish bed consisted of the mattress, a mere mat, or one or more quilts; the covering, a finer quilt, or sometimes the outer garment worn by day, (1 Samuel 19:13) which the law provided should not be kept in pledge after sunset, that the poor man might not lack his needful covering, (24:13) the pillow, (1 Samuel 19:13) probably formed of sheep's fleece or goat's skin with a stuffing of cotton, etc.; the bedstead, a divan or bench along the side or end of the room, sufficing at a support for the bedding. Besides we have bedsteads made of ivory, wood, etc. referred to in (3:11; Amos 6:4) The ornamental portions were pillars and a canopy, Judith 13:9, ivory carvings, gold and silver, and probably mosaic work, purple and fine linen. (Esther 1:6; Song of Solomon 3:9,10) The ordinary furniture of a bedchamber in private life is given in (2 Kings 4:10)


Bedad

(solitary), the father of Hadad king of Edom. (Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:46) (B.C. before 1093.)


Bedan

+ Mentioned in (1 Samuel 12:11) as a judge of Israel between Jerubbaal (Gideon) and Jephthah. The Chaldee Paraphrase reads Samson for Bedan; the LXX., Syriac and Arabic all have Barak. Ewald suggests that it may be a false reading for Abdon. (B.C. about 1150.) + The son of Gilead. (1 Chronicles 7:17)


Bedeiah

one of the sons of Bani, in the time of Ezra, who had taken a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:35) (B.C. 458.)


Bee

(deborah). (1:44; Judges 14:8; Psalms 118:12; Isaiah 7:18) Bees abounded in Palestine, honey being a common article of food (Psalms 81:16) and was often found in the clefts of rocks and in hollow trees. (1 Samuel 14:25,27) English naturalists know little of the species of bees that are found in Palestine, but are inclined tn believe that the honey-bee of Palestine is distinct from the honey-bee (Apis mellifica) of this country. The passage in (Isaiah 7:18) refers "to the custom of the people in the East of calling attention to any one by a significant hiss or rather hist ." We read, (Judges 14:8) that "after a time," probably many days, Samson returned to the carcass of the lion he had slain, and saw bees and honey therein. "If any one here represents to himself a corrupt and putrid carcass, the occurrence ceases to have any true similitude, for it is well known that in these countries, at certain seasons of the year, the heat will in the course of twenty-four hours completely dry up the moisture of dead camels, and that, without their undergoing decomposition their bodies long remain like mummies, unaltered and entirely free from offensive odor."--Edmann .


Beeliada

(the Lord knows); one of David's 9 sons, born in Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 14:7) In the lists in Samuel the name is [265]Eliada. (B.C. after 1045.)


Beelzebul

(lord of the house), the title of a heathen deity, to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; Satan, the prince of the devils. (Matthew 10:25; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15) ff. The correct reading is without doubt Beelzebul, and not Beelzebub .


Beer

+ One of the latest halting-places of the Israelites, lying beyond the Arnon. (Numbers 21:16-18) This is possibly the BEER-ELIM of (Isaiah 15:8) + A place to which Jotham, the son of Gideon, fled for fear of his brother Abimelech. (Judges 9:21)


Beera

(a well), son of Zophah, of the tribe of Asher. (1 Chronicles 7:37) (B.C. after 1450.)


Beerah

prince of the Reubenites, carried away by Tiglath-pileser. (1 Chronicles 5:6) (B.C. 738).


Beerelim

(well of heroes), a spot named in (Isaiah 15:8) as on the "border of Moab." (Numbers 21:16) comp. Numb 21:13


Beeri

+ The father of Judith, one of the wives of Esau. (Genesis 26:34) [[267]Anah] (B.C. 1797.) + Father of the prophet Hosea. (Hosea 1:1) (B.C. before 725.)


Beerlahairoi

(a well of the living), a living spring, Authorized Version, fountain, comp. (Jeremiah 6:7) between Kadesh and Bered, in the wilderness. (Genesis 24:62)


Beeroth

(wells), one of the four cities of the Hivites who deluded Joshua into a treaty of peace with them. (Joshua 9:17) It is now el-Bireh, which stands about 10 miles north of Jerusalem.


Beeroth Of The Children Of Jaakan

the wells of the tribe of Bene-Jaakan, which formed one of the halting-places of the Israelites in the desert. (10:6) In (Numbers 33:31) the name is given as BENE-JAAKAN only.


Beersheba, Or Beersheba

(well of the oath), the name of one of the old places in Palestine which formed the southern limit of the country. There are two accounts of the origin of the name. According to the first, the well was dug by Abraham, and the name given to Judah, (Joshua 15:28) and then to Simeon, (Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28) In the often-quoted "from Dan even unto Beersheba," (Judges 20:1) it represents the southern boundary of Canaan, as Dan the northern. In the time of Jerome it was still a considerable place, and still retains its ancient name--Bir es-Seba . There are at present on the spot two principal wells and five smaller ones. The two principal wells are on or close to the northern bank of the Wady es-Seba . The larger of the two, which lies to the east, is, according to Dr. Robinson, 12 1/2 feet in diameter, and at the time of his visit (April 12) was 44 1/2 feet to the surface of the water. The masonry which encloses the well extends downward 28 1/2 feet. The other well is 5 feet in diameter, and was 42 feet to the water. The curb-stones around the mouth of both wells are worn into deep grooves by the action of the ropes of so many centures. These wells are in constant use today. The five lesser wells are in a group in the bed of the wady. On some low hills north of the large wells are scattered the foundations and ruins of a town of moderate size.


Beeshterah

(house of Ashterah), one of the two cities allotted to the sons of Gershon out of the tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan. (Joshua 21:27) Probably identical with Ashtaroth. (1 Chronicles 6:71)


Beeves

Same as cattle. (Leviticus 22:19) [See [269]Bull, Bullock]


Beggar, Begging

The poor among the Hebrews were much favored. They were allowed to glean in the fields, and to gather whatever the land produced in the year in which it was not tilled (Leviticus 19:10; 25:5,6; 24:19) They were also invited to feasts. (14:29) and Deuteronomy 26:12 The Israelite could not be an absolute pauper. His land was in alienable, except for a certain term, when it reverted to him or his posterity. And if this resource were insufficient, he could pledge the services of himself and family or a valuable sum. Those who were indigent through bodily infirmities were usually taken care of by their kindred. A beggar was sometimes seen, however, and was regarded and abhorred as a vagabond. (Psalms 109:10) In later times beggars were accustomed, it would seem, to have a fixed place at the corners of the streets, (Mark 10:46) or at the gates of the temple, (Acts 3:2) or of private houses, (Luke 16:20)


Behemoth

(great beasts). There can be little or no doubt that by this word, (Job 40:15-24) the hippopotamus is intended since all the details descriptive of the behemoth accord entirely with the ascertained habits of that animal. The hippopotamus is an immense creature having a thick and square head, a large mouth often two feet broad, small eyes and ears, thick and heavy body, short legs terminated by four toes, a short tail, skin without hair except at the extremity of the tail. It inhabits nearly the whole of Africa, and has been found of the length of 17 feet. It delights in the water, but feeds on herbage on land. It is not found in Palestine, but may at one time have been a native of western Asia.


Bekah

[[270]Weights And Measures AND [271]Measures]


Bela

+ One of the five cities of the plain which was spared at the intercession of Lot, and received the name of Zoar, (Genesis 14:2; 19:22) [[273]Zoar] + Son of Beor, who reigned over Edom in the city of Dinhabah, eight generations before Saul. (Genesis 36:31-33; 1 Chronicles 1:43,44) + Eldest son of Benjamin, according to (Genesis 46:21) (Authorized Version "Belah"); (Numbers 26:38,40; 1 Chronicles 7:6; 8:1) and head of the family of the Belaites. + Son of Ahaz, a Reubenite. (1 Chronicles 5:8)


Belial

The meaning of this word as found in the Scriptures is worthlessness, and hence reckless, lawlessness. The expression son or man of Belial must be understood as meaning simply a worthless, lawless fellow. The term as used in (2 Corinthians 6:15) is generally understood as an appellative of Satan, as the personification of all that was bad.


Bellows

The word occurs only in (Jeremiah 6:29) where it denotes an instrument to heat a smelting furnace. Wilkinson in "Ancient Egypt," iii. 338, says, "They consisted of a leather, secured and fitted into a frame, from which a long pipe extended for carrying the wind to the fire. They were worked by the feet, the operator standing upon them, with one under each foot, and pressing them alternately, while he pulled up each exhausted skin with a string he held in his hand."


Bells

In (Exodus 28:33) the bells alluded to were the golden ones 72 in number, round the hem of the his priest's ephod. The object of them was so that his sound might be heard." (Exodus 28:34) Ecclus. 45:9. To this day bells are frequently attached, for the sake of their pleasant sound, to the anklets of women. The little girls of Cairo wear strings of them around their feet. In (Zechariah 14:20) "bells of the horses" were concave or flat pieces of brass, which were sometimes attached to horses for the sake of ornament.


Belshazzar

(prince of Bel), the last king of Babylon. In (Daniel 5:2) Nebuchadnezzar is called the father of Belshazzar. This, of course, need only mean grandfather or ancestor. According to the well-known narrative Belshazzar gave a splendid feast in his palace during the siege of Babylon (B.C. 538), using the sacred vessels of the temple, which Nebuchadnezzer had brought from Jerusalem. The miraculous appearance of the handwriting on the wall, the calling in of Daniel to interpret its meaning the prophecy of the overthrow of the kingdom, and Belshazsar's death, accorded in Dan. 5.


Belteshazzar

(favored by Bel .) [[276]Daniel, [277]Daniel, The Book Of]


Ben

(son), a Levite, one of the porters appointed by David for the ark. (1 Chronicles 15:18)


Benaiah

+ The son of Jehoiada the chief priest, (1 Chronicles 27:5) of the tribe of Levi, though a native of Kabzeel, (2 Samuel 23:20) set by David, (1 Chronicles 11:25) over his body-guard. (2 Samuel 8:18; 20:23; 1 Kings 1:38; 1 Chronicles 18:17) One of the mighty men. (2 Samuel 23:22,23; 1 Chronicles 11:25; 27:6) The exploits which gave him this rank are narrated in (2 Samuel 23:20,21; 1 Chronicles 11:22) He was captain of the host for the third month. (1 Chronicles 27:5) Benaiah remained faithful to Solomon during Adonijah's attempt on the crown, (1 Kings 1:8,10,32,38,44) and was raised unto the place of Joab as commander-in-chief of the whole army. (1 Kings 2:35; 4:4) (B.C. 1005.) + Benaiah the Pirathonite, an Ephraimite, one of David's thirty mighty men, (2 Samuel 23:30; 1 Chronicles 11:31) and the captain of the eleventh monthly course. (1 Chronicles 27:14) + A Levite in the time of David, who "played with a psaltry on Alamoth." (1 Chronicles 15:18,20; 16:5) + A priest in the time of David, appointed to blow the trumpet before the ark. (1 Chronicles 15:24; 16:6) + A Levite of the sons of Asaph. (2 Chronicles 20:14) + A Levite in the time of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:13) + One of the "princes" of the families of Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:36) + Four laymen in the time of Ezra who had taken strange wives. (Ezra 10:25,30,35,43) + The father of Pelatiah. (Ezekiel 11:1,13)


Benammi

(son of my people), the son of the younger daughter of Lot, and progenitor of the Ammonites. (Genesis 19:38) (B.C. 1897.)


Beneberak

(son of lightning), one of the cities of the tribe of Dan, mentioned only in (Joshua 19:45)


Benejaakan

(sons of Jaakan), a tribe who gave their name to certain wells in the desert which formed one of the halting-places of the Israelites on their journey to Canaan. [[278]Beeroth Of The Children Of Jaakan BENE-JAAKAN] Also given in (Genesis 36:27) as [279]Akan.


Benekedem

(the children of the East), an appellation given to a people or to peoples dwelling to the east of Palestine. It occurs in (Genesis 29:1; Judges 6:3,33; 7:12; 8:10; Job 1:3)


Benhadad

(son of Hadad), the name of three kings of Damascus. BENHADAD I., King of Damascus, which in his time was supreme in Syria. He made an alliance with Asa, and conquered a great part of the north of Israel. (1 Kings 15:18) His date is B.C. 950. BEN-HADAD II., son of the preceding, and also king of Damascus. Long wars with Israel characterized his reign. Some time after the death of Ahab, Benhadad renewed the war with Israel, attacked Samaria a second time, and pressed the siege so closely that there was a terrible famine in the city. But the Syrians broke up in the night in consequence of a sudden panic. Soon after Ben-hadad fell sick, and sent Hazael to consult Elisha as to the issue of his malady. On the day after Hazael's return Ben-hadad was murdered, probably by some of his own servants. (2 Kings 8:7-15) Ben-hadad's death was about B.C. 890, and he must have reigned some 30 years. BEN-HADAD III., son of Hazael, and his successor on the throne of Syria. When he succeeded to the throne, Jehoash recovered the cities which Jehoahaz had lost to the Syrians, and beat him in Aphek. (2 Kings 13:17,25) The date of Ben-hadad III is B.C. 840.


Benhail

(son of the host, strong), one of the princes whom King Jehoshaphat sent to teach in the cities of Judah. (2 Chronicles 17:7)


Benhanan

(son of the gracious), son of Shimon, in the line of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:20)


Beninu

(our son), a Levite; one of those who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:13,14)


Benjamin

+ The youngest of the children of Jacob. His birth took place on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, near the latter, B.C. 1729. His mother, Rachel, died in the act of giving him birth, naming him with her last breath Ben-oni (son of my sorrow). This was by Jacob changed into Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16,18) Until the journeys of Jacob's sons and Jacob himself into Egypt we hear nothing of Benjamin. Nothing personal is known of him. Henceforward the history of Benjamin is the history of the tribe. + A man of the tribe of Benjamin, son of bilhan, and the head of a family of warriors. (1 Chronicles 7:10) + One of the "sons of Harim," an Israelite in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:32)


Benjamin, The Land Of

The proximity of Benjamin to Ephraim during the march to the promised land was maintained in the territory allotted to each. That given to Benjamin formed almost a parallelogram, of about 26 miles in length by 12 in breadth, lying between Ephraim, the Jordan, Judah and Dan. The general level of this part of Palestine is not less than 2000 feet above the Mediterranean or than 3000 feet above the valley of the Jordan, the surrounding country including a large number of eminences--almost every one of which has borne some part in the history of the tribe--and many torrent beds and deep ravines.


Benjamin, The Tribe Of

The contrast between the warlike character of the tribe and the peaceful image of its progenitor comes out in many scattered notices. Benjamin was the only tribe which seems to have pursued archery to any purpose, and their skill in the bow, (1 Samuel 20:20,36; 2 Samuel 1:232; 1 Chronicles 8:40; 12:2; 2 Chronicles 17:17) and the sling, (Judges 20:16) is celebrated. The dreadful deed recorded in Judges 19 was defended by Benjamin. Later the tribe seems, however, to assume another position, as Ramah, (1 Samuel 9:12) etc., Mizpeh, (1 Samuel 7:5) Bethel and Gibeon, (1 Kings 3:4) were all in the land of Benjamin. After the struggles and contests which followed the death of Saul, the history of Benjamin becomes merged in that of the southern kingdom.


Beno

(his son), a Levite of the sons of Merari. (1 Chronicles 24:26,27)


Benon

(Numbers 32:3) [BETH-BAALMEON] Comp. ver. 38.


Benoni

(son of my sorrow). (Genesis 35:18) [[281]Benjamin, [282]Benjamin, The Tribe Of]


Benzoheth

(son of Zoheth), a descendant of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:20)


Beor

+ The father of Bela, one of the early Edomite kings. (Genesis 36:32; 1 Chronicles 1:43) + Father of Balaam. (Numbers 22:5; 24:3,15; 31:8; 23:4; Joshua 13:22; 24:9; Micah 6:5) He is called [283]Bosor in the New Testament. (B.C. before 1450.)


Bera

(son of evil) king of Sodom. (Genesis 14:2) also (Genesis 14:17,21)


Beraa

+ A city of Macedonia, mentioned in (Acts 17:10,13) It is now called Verria or Kara-Verria, and is situated on the eastern slope of the Olympian mountain range, and has 15,000 or 20,000 inhabitants. + The modern Aleppo, mentioned in 2 Macc. 13:4. + A place in Judea, apparently not very far from Jerusalem. 1 Macc. 9:4.


Berachah

(blessing), a Benjamite who attached himself to David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:3) (B.C. 1054.)


Berachah, Valley Of

a valley in which Jehoshaphat and his people assembled to "bless" Jehovah after the overthrow of the hosts of Moabites. (2 Chronicles 20:26) It is now called Bereikut, and lies between Tekua and the main road from Bethlehem to Hebron.


Berachiah

(blessed of Jehovah), a Gershonite Levite, father of Asaph. (1 Chronicles 6:39) [[284]Berechiah]


Beraiah

(created by Jehovah), son of Shimhi, a chief man of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 8:21)


Berechiah

+ A descendant of the royal family of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:20) + A man mentioned as the father of Meshullam, who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:4,30; 6:18) + A Levite. (1 Chronicles 9:16) + A doorkeeper for the ark. (1 Chronicles 15:23) + One of the tribe of Ephraim in the time of Ahaz. (2 Chronicles 28:12) + Father of Asaph the singer. (1 Chronicles 15:17) [[285]Berachiah] + Father of Zechariah. (Zechariah 1:1,7)


Bered

+ A place in the south of Palestine, near the well Lahairoi. (Genesis 16:14) + A son or descendant of Ephraim, (1 Chronicles 7:20) possibly identical with Becher in (Numbers 26:35)


Beri

(a well), son of Zophah, of the tribe of Asher. (1 Chronicles 7:36)


Beriah

+ A son of Asher. (Genesis 46:17; Numbers 26:44,45) + A son of Ephraim. (1 Chronicles 7:20-23) + A Benjamite. (1 Chronicles 8:13,16) + A Levite. (1 Chronicles 23:10,11)


Beriites, The

A tribe of people who are named with Abel and Beth-maachah, and who were therefore doubtless situated in the north of Palestine. (2 Samuel 20:14)


Bernice, Or Berenice

(bringing victory), the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1) etc. She was first married to her uncle Herod, king of Chaleis, and after his death (A.D. 48) she lived under circumstances of great suspicion with her own brother, Agrippa II., in connection with whom she is mentioned, (Acts 25:13,23; 26:30) as having visited Festus on his appointment as procurator of Judea.


Berothah

(toward the wells), Bero'-tha-i (my wells). The first of these two names is given by Ezekiel, (Ezekiel 47:16) in connection with Hahlath and Damascus as forming part of the northern boundary of the promised land. The second is mentioned, (2 Samuel 8:8) in the same connection. The well-known city Beirut (Berytus) naturally suggests itself as identical with one at least of the names; but in each instance the circumstances of the case seem to require a position farther east. They were probably in the vicinity of the springs near the present Hasbeya.


Berothite, The

(1 Chronicles 11:39) [[287]Beeroth Of The Children Of Jaakan]


Beryl

(tarshish) occurs in (Exodus 28:20) It is generally supposed that the tarshish derives its name from the place so called, in Spain. Beryl is a mineral of great hardness, and, when transparent, of much beauty. By tarshish the modern yellow topaz is probably intended, while in (Revelation 21:20) a different stone is perhaps referred to, probably the mineral now called beryl, which is identical with the emerald except in color, being a light green or bluish-green.


Besai

(sword). "Children of Besai" were among the Nethinim who returned to Judea with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:52)


Besodeiah

(n the secret of the Lord) father of one of the repairers of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:6)


Besom

a brush or broom of twigs for sweeping (Isaiah 14:23)


Besor, The Brook

(cool), a torrent-bed or wady in the extreme south of Judah. (1 Samuel 30:9,10,21)


Betah

(confidence), a city belonging to Hadadezer king of Zobah, mentioned with Berothai. (2 Samuel 8:8) In the parallel account, (1 Chronicles 18:8) the name is called Tibhath.


Beten

(height), one of the cities on the border of the tribe of Asher. (Joshua 19:25)


Beth

the most general word for a house or habitation. It has the special meaning of a temple or house of worship Beth is more frequently employed in compound names of places than any other word.


Bethabara

(house of the ford), a place beyond Jordan, in which according to the Received Text of the New Testament, John was baptizing. (John 1:28) If this reading be correct, Bethabara is identical with Beth-barah (fords of Abarah) the ancient ford of Jordan on the road to Gilead; or, which seems more likely, with Beth-nimrah, on the east of the river, nearly opposite Jericho. The Revised Version reads [288]Bethany, which see below.


Bethanath

(house of echo or reply), one of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali, named with Beth-shemesh, (Joshua 19:38) from neither of them were the Canaanites expelled. (Judges 1:33)).


Bethanoth

(house of echo), a town in the mountainous district of Judah, named with Halhul, Beth-zur and others in (Joshua 15:58) only.


Bethany

In the Revised Version for [289]Bethabara, (John 1:28) where Jesus was baptized by John. It was probably an obscure village near Bethabara, and in time its name faded out and was replaced by the larger and more important Bethabara.

(house of dates, or house of misery), a village which, scanty as are the notices of it contained in Scripture, is more intimately associated in our minds than perhaps any other place with the most familiar acts and scenes of the last days of the life of Christ. It was situated "at" the Mount of Olives, (Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29) about fifteen stadia (furlongs, i.e. 1 1/2 or 2 miles) from Jerusalem (John 11:18) on or near the usual road From Jericho to the city, (Luke 19:29) comp. Mark 11:1 comp. Mark 10:46 And close by the west(?) of another village called Bethphage, the two being several times mentioned together. Bethany was the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and is now known by a name derived from Lazarus--el-Azariyeh or Lazarieh . It lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, fully a mile beyond the summit, and not very far from the point at which the road to Jericho begins its more sudden descent towards the Jordan valley. El-'Azariyeh is a ruinous and wretched village, a wild mountain hamlet of some twenty families. Bethany has been commonly explained "house of dates," but it more probably signifies "house of misery." H. Dixon, "Holy Land," ii. 214, foll.


Betharabah

(house of the desert), one of the six cities of Judah which were situated down in the Arabah, the sunk valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea, (Joshua 15:61) on the north border of the tribe. It is also included in the list of the towns of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:22)


Betharam

(house of the height), accurately BETH-HARAM, one of the towns of Gad on the east of Jordan, described as in "the valley," (Joshua 13:27) and no doubt the same place as that named BETH-HARAN in (Numbers 32:36)


Bethaven

(house of nothingness, i.e. of idols), a place on the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel, (Joshua 7:2; 18:12) and lying between that place and Michmash. (1 Samuel 13:5; 14:28) In (Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5) the name is transferred to the neighboring Bethel,--once the "house of God" but then the house of idols of "naught."


Bethbaalmaveth

(house of Azmaveth). Under this name is mentioned, in (Nehemiah 7:28) only, the town of Benjamin which is elsewhere called [290]Azmaveth and BETH-SAMOS.


Bethbaalmeon

(house of Baalmeon), a place in the possessions of Reuben, on the downs (Authorized Version "plain") east of the Jordan. (Joshua 13:17) At the Israelites' first approach is name was BAAL-MEON, (Numbers 32:38) or, in its contracted form, BEON (Numbers 32:3) to which the Beth was possibly a Hebrew addition. Later it would seem to have come into possession of Moab, and to be known either as Beth-meon, (Jeremiah 48:23) or Baal-meon. (Ezekiel 25:9) The name is still attached to a ruined place of considerable size a short distance to the southwest of Hesban, and bearing the name of "the fortress of Mi'un, " or Makin .


Bethbarah

(house of the ford), named only in (Judges 7:24) It derived its chief interest in the possibility that its more modern representative may have been Beth-abara, where John baptized. It was probably the chief ford of the district.


Bethbirei

(house of my creation), a town of Simeon, (1 Chronicles 4:31) which by comparison with the parallel list in (Joshua 19:6) appears to have had also the name Of BETH-LEBAOTH. It lay to the extreme south.


Bethcar

(house of the lamb), a place named as the point to which the Israelites pursued the Philistines, (1 Samuel 7:11) and therefore west of Mizpeh.


Bethdagon

+ A city in the low country of Judah, (Joshua 15:41) and therefore not far from the Philistine territory. + A town apparently near the coast, named as one of the landmarks of the boundary of Asher. (Joshua 19:27)


Bethdiblathaim

(house of fig-cakes), a town of Moab, (Jeremiah 48:22) apparently the place elsewhere called ALMON-DIBLATHAIM.


Bethel

(the house of God) well known city and holy place of central Palestine, about 12 mlles north of Jerusalem. If we are to accept the precise definition of (Genesis 12:8) the name of Bethel would appear to have existed at this spot even before the arrival of Abram in Canaan. (Genesis 12:8; 13:3,4) Bethel was the scene of Jacob's vision. (Genesis 28:11-19; 31:13) Jacob lived there. (Genesis 35:1-8) The original name was Luz. (Judges 1:22,23) After the conquest Bethel is frequently heard of. In the troubled times when there was no king in Israel, it was to Bethel that the people went up in their distress to ask counsel of God. (Judges 20:18,26,31; 21:2) Authorized Version, "house of God." Here was the ark of the covenant. (Judges 20:26-28; 21:4) Later it is named as one of the holy cities to which Samuel went on circuit. (1 Samuel 7:16) Here Jeroboab placed one of the two calves of gold. Toward the end of Jeroboam's life Bethel fell into the hands of Judah. (2 Chronicles 13:19) Elijah visited Bethel, and we hear of "sons of the prophets" as resident there. (2 Kings 2:2,3) But after the destruction of Baal worship by Jehu Bethel comes once more into view. (2 Kings 10:29) After the desolation of the northern kingdom by the king of Assyria, Bethel still remained an abode of priests. (2 Kings 17:27,28) In later times Bethel is named only once under the scarcely-altered name of Beitin . Its ruins still lie on the righthand side of the road from Jerusalem to Nablus.

+ A town in the south part of Judah, named in (Joshua 12:16) and 1Sam 30:27 In (Joshua 15:30; 19:4; 1 Chronicles 4:29,30) the place appears under the name of [291]Chesil, [292]Bethul and [293]Bethuel. Hiel the Bethelite is recorded as the rebuilder of Jericho. (1 Kings 16:34) + In (Joshua 16:1) and 1Sam 13:2 Mount Bethel, a hilly section near Beth-el, is referred to.


Bethemek

(house of the valley), a place on or near the border of Asher, on the north side of which was the ravine of Jiphthah-el (Joshua 19:27)


Bether

(depth), The mountains of. (Song of Solomon 2:17) There is no clue to guide us as to what mountains are intended here.


Bethesda

(house of mercy, or the flowing water), the Hebrew name of a reservoir or tank, with five "porches," close upon the sheep-gate or "market" in Jerusalem. (John 5:2) The largest reservoir - Birket Israil - 360 feet long, 120 feet wide and 80 feet deep, within the walls of the city, close by St. Stephen's Gate, and under the northeast wall of the Haram area, is generally considered to be the modern representative of Bethesda. Robinson, however, suggests that the ancient Bethesda is identical with what is now called the Pool of the Virgin, an intermittent pool, south of Birket Israil and north of the pool of Siloam.


Bethezel

(neighbor's house), a place named only in (Micah 1:11) From the context it was doubtless situated in the plain of Philistia.


Bethgader

(house of the wall), doubtless a place, though it occurs in the genealogies of Judah as if a person. (1 Chronicles 2:51)


Bethgamul

(camel-house), a town of Moab, in the downs east of Jordan. (Jeremiah 48:23) comp. Jere 48:21


Bethhaccerem

(house of the vine). (Nehemiah 3:14; Jeremiah 6:1) A beacon station near Tekoa, supposed to be the Frank Mountain, a few miles southeast of Bethlehem.


Bethharan

(Numbers 32:36) It is no doubt the same place as BETH-ARAM. (Joshua 13:27)


Bethhogla

(partridge-house), and Holg'lah a place on the border of Judah, (Joshua 15:6) and of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:19,21) A magnificent spring and a ruin between Jericho and the Jordan still bear the names of Ainhajala.


Bethhoron

(house of caverns), the name of two towns or villages, an "upper" and a "nether," (Joshua 16:3,5; 1 Chronicles 7:24) on the road from Gibeon to Azekah, (Joshua 10:10,11) and the Philistine plain. 1 Macc. 3:24. Beth-horon lay on the boundary line between Benjamin and Ephraim, (Joshua 16:3,5) and Josh 18:13,14 Was counted to Ephraim, (Joshua 21:22; 1 Chronicles 7:24) and given to the Kohathites. (Joshua 21:22; 1 Chronicles 6:68) (1Chr 6:53) The two Beth-horons still survive in the modern villages of Beit-ur, et-tahta and el-foka .


Bethjeshimoth

(house of deserts) or Jes'imoth, a town or place east of Jordan, on the lower level at the south end of the Jordan valley, (Numbers 33:49) and named with Ashdod-pisgah and Beth-peor. It was one of the limits of the encampment of Israel before crossing the Jordan. Later it was allotted to Reuben, (Joshua 12:3; 13:20) but came at last into the hands of Moab, and formed one of the cities which were "the glory of the country." (Ezekiel 25:9)


Bethlebaoth

(house of lionesses), a town in the lot of Simeon, (Joshua 19:6) in the extreme south of Judah. [ (Joshua 15:32) [294]Lebaoth] In (1 Chronicles 4:31) the name is given BETH-BIREI.