A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 1

James Hastings · 1,192,276 words · 1189 reading sections

SECTION 901

Section 901

History properly so called opens with Dyn. 3. Yet here still we have knowledge of only one or two out of half a dozen kings. Some fragments on which the name of Nbk' (Nebka) occurs are held to belong to his time ; Dsr (Zezer), his suc- cessor, in all probability built (possibly usurped) the step-pyramid of Sakkara. He …

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SECTION 902

Section 902

The period between the6th and the 1 1th Dynasties is one of the most obscure in Egypt's history ; yet tlie complete dearth of monuments can scarcely be fnrtuitous. Manetho localizes the 7th and 8th Dynasties still at Memphis, and we may indeed suppose tliat there was no sudden break with the past. The provincial nobles…

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SECTION 903

Section 903

The obscurity which gradually follows the ex- tinction of the 12tli Dynasty is no less impenetrable than that which follows on the Dynasties of the Old Kingdom. On some sides, indeed, the decline is scarcely perceptible ; the outward aspect of the kingdom is little changed ; the southern conquests are maintaineii, comm…

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SECTION 904

Section 904

Tlie decisive strokes in the war of liberation irere fought under the first king of the 18th Dynasty, F hms- Amoais, who seems to have been the lineal descendant of his predecessors. The relationships and sequence of the kings and queens — the latter, heiresses in their own right — who followed him are much disputed. …

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SECTION 905

Section 905

The marriages, domestic relations, and foreign history of this period can be followed in excep- tional detail owing to the records dei>osited at el-Amama, where a portion of the correspondence between the Egyptian court and its allies, envoys, and vassals in Syria lay stored until its discovery in 1887. The corresponde…

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SECTION 906

Section 906

His son, Ramses il. — the best known of Egyptian Pharaohs, because the most industrious in record- ing his own glory,— succeeded young, and reigned for 67 years. Of these the first score were occupied in the war with the Hittites, till it became eviaent that a peace, similar to that of the last rei^, could alone end a …

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SECTION 907

Section 907

(d) The Foreign Dominion. — But the 21st Dynasty does not, according to Manetho, consist of the priestly successors of Ifrhr. The legitimate Pharaohs he held to be the Tanite princes (S'mntw- Smendes, P'«6Vnn<-Psousennes, etc.) who rebelled against this usurpation, and were acknowledged first in the North, then also in…

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SECTION 908

Section 908

(e) Tlie Restoration. — Incited by Gyges, king of the last country, P«niA;-Psammiticlius of Sais (663-610), son of Necho, whom the Assyrians had reinstated, seized this opportunity to raise a fresh insurrection. He was himself of either Libyan or Nubian descent, and the success of his policy depended wholly on the fore…

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SECTION 909

Section 909

2 lie Macedonians. — The rule of Alexander's suc- cessors, the Ptolemies, brought Egypt again into the advantageous position attained for her in some degree by the 26th Dynasty. Now, however, the Greek element became the dominant factor in her prosperity ; tlie ancient native culture gradually faded and retreated from …

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SECTION 910

Section 910

The votive inscriptions, in which the 18th and 19tli Dyntisties recorded their conquests, have pre- served the names of many towns, etc., in SjTia, of which, however, the majority are still unidentilied. The campaigns of Thutmosis III. furnish the best of such material ; the lists of his successors are often mere copie…

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SECTION 911

Section 911

X. Kklioion. — Our sources of information on this subject are very numerous, but at the same time very inadequate. Egyptian texts not bear- ing, even indirectly, upon some aspect of the religion are in an extremely small minority; yet some primary questions remain un.solved for lack of explanatory documents. Since it i…

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SECTION 912

Section 912

Not all cosmic doctrines, however, were con- cerned with the Heliopolitan gods; various local fods had once been regarded as creators, e.ff. ^rn772ic-Chnoubi3 who, in the clay districts near the Cataracts, had formed the world upon a potter's wheel ; and Ptah of Memphis was a similar artisan god. Other and very ancien…

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SECTION 913

Section 913

ref. to OT; Mahafly, Emp. of Ptolt. (1895): For Herodotus, Wiedemann, U^rod.'e 2. Buck (1890). Hist^ Geography, Diim- ichen, Geogr. d. Alt. jEg. (1878). (J) Ublations with Asia :— \V. Mux Muller, Asien u. Kuropa (1893, cf. Jensen in Z. Ass. x.). For relations with OT, Ebers, ^Hg. u. Buck. Stone's (1868) ; do. iJiirch G…

903 words
SECTION 914

Section 914

LiTRRATTRK. — Jos. Ant. XX. viii. 6 ; BJ n. xiii. 5 ; Schurer, EJP L iL 180 ; Kreakel, Josephua und Lucas, p. 240. A. C. Headlam. EGYPTIAN YERSIONS.— The various Egyptian dialects and the Versions contained in them are a Bubject of so much confusion that it will be well for the sake of distinctness to deal in this ar…

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SECTION 915

Section 915

We may sura up these results as follows ; — Sahidic = Dialect of Southern (or Upper) Egypt ; sometimes called ' Thebaic' « Quatremfere, op. eit. p. 22. 0 lb. p. 147 ff. y See Y&kOt, i. «S4. i (^uatrem^re, op. cit. p. 214. 1 lb. p. 217. C Sometimes It very closely resemblefl Bohalrio. See the dialect of the Fragme…

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SECTION 916

Section 916

i Ouatrem^re, op. cit. p. 41 f. I Krall, op. cH. Ii.-iii. 430., iv. lajS. C Krall, op. eil. I. (H. n Kmll, op. cU. i. 61, it es I. f ZAS, 1884, p. 140 S. of documents is concerned, we have fragments in Middle Egyptian (earlier and later) and Sahidic, some of which take us back to the 4th or 5th centuries.o But as …

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SECTION 917

Section 917

4. Date of Versions.— The earliest evidence for the existence of a Coptic version is usually said to be afforded by the Life of St. Antony, com- monly attributed to St. Athanasius. We are there de I-ndoU Versionit Novi TestameTiti Sahidicce^ Copenhagen, 1789, p. 78 ff.). Maspero has published Mt 5M-61»«. a Bouriant, …

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SECTION 918

Section 918

• Athan. Vit Ant. 1 (Migne, PO, xxvi. 840 f.X 0 Tb. 2. The Syriac version of the Life has : ' There was the reading in the church ; and at the end of all the Scriptures the Gospel was read ' (see Schulthess, Probe einer Syrinchen Version der Vita St. Antonii (Leipzig, 1894), Syriac text, p. 6, Unes 12 f. y Vit. Ant. …

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SECTION 919

Section 919

w between the ^vears c. 212-216 A.D. we find Alexander, bishop tt Jerusalem, wnting to the Antinoites and exhorting them to I the Great — has given in his letters a vivid picture of the Alexandrian Church of his time, but has told us little of the rest of Egypt. In his day no imperial edict was needed to start a pers…

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SECTION 920

Section 920

It wiB be evident from this brief study of the subject, that but little is known of Egyptian Christianity outside of Ale.xandria before the tune of Pachomius. The state of the Church in his time — the history and legends of the Diocletian persecution — the increase of the Egyptian epis- copate under Demetrius and Herac…

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SECTION 921

Section 921

• Of. tlamack, Texte u. Untrrt. xiii. 1, 75 fl. ^ In the biliiiLiial MS described by Amelineau (Notice de» iISS Coptu de la Bib!. Xalionale, Paris, 189.1) the Or. runs thus : xm ^»,Ter xvreu iwitlriKot* t*. uyr,u,,v kiOov fj^ycct n uayir ux»ri »*ifiu tKvXiti. The corresponding Sahidic is not published. * Other intcri…

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SECTION 922

Section 922

Forbes Robinson. EHI (■"!<). — The eponym of a Benjamite family, Gn 46-', where, however, cjo biii; 'ntj must be corrected after Nu 26'"- to c;5-'i dtck. ' The cor- ruption was perhaps prior to the adoption of the square character ; o and c in the old script being similar and liable to confusion. It may, however, be d…

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SECTION 923

Section 923

See also Smith, HGHL 193, 218). Ekronite A citizen of Ekron. The word is used in the singular in Jos 13', where ' the Ekronite ' is spoken of, meaning the people of Ekron collectively, and in the plur.al in 1 S 5'°, where the citizens are siioken of individually. W. J. Beecher. EL.— See GoD. ELA CnXci). 1. 1 Es 9»'=…

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SECTION 924

Section 924

To the east is the plain of Mai-Amir, where there are sculptures and cuneiform inscriptions, from which we learn that here was another kinj;- dom called Apirti, the ' Apharsites' of Ezr i'. In the agglutinative language of the second transcript of the Acha>menian texts the name is written Khapirti, and it has there tak…

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SECTION 925

Section 925

676 ELASA ELDER statues of the kings were carried to Assyria, as well as the images of all the Elamite deities — Sosinak, the god who delivered oracles, and whose image was concealed from the sight of the laity, Sumudu, Lagamar, Part'kira, Araman-Kasinias, Udiiran, Sapak, Ra^ba, Sungursara, Karsa and Kirsamas, Sudan…

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SECTION 926

Section 926

LiTERATtmB. — FabriciuB, Cod^ pteudep. V.T. 1. 801-804; Schurer, Il./P ll. iii. 29; Zdckler, Apoc da A.T. 439; Weber, Lehren det Talm. 18S6, p. 370 (who, however, mistranslates tht Targ. Jeru*. i. in the line cited); Holtzman';, Kinlritung, 55S. J. T. Mar-shall. ELDER (IN OT).— In ancient days the institution of Elder…

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SECTION 927

Section 927

ELEALEH (n^vS in Nu 32" m _ '), Nu 32»- ", Is 15* 16", Jer 48=".— A town of the Moabite plateau, conquered by Gad and Reuben, and rebuilt by the latter tribe. The expression (v.**), ' their names being changed,' referring to this and other towns, is rendered by Knobel (following the LXX), 'en- closing them with walls' …

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SECTION 928

Section 928

The thought of ' election ' has formed so promi- nent a feature in all the most important attempts that have been made in We.stem Christendom for the last 1500 years to provide a complete and formulated scheme of Christian doctrine, that it is peculiarly hard for us to approach the considera- tion of the original meani…

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SECTION 929

Section 929

And if we are met at this point l)y the warning, that as men our powers of apprehending ind expressing truth are limited, and that there most ELECTION ELECTION 679 be infinite depths of mystery in the divine nature which we are powerlesa to fathom, we sliall hope to learn humility and patience from tlie caution. Bu…

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SECTION 930

Section 930

Such in outline are the diflcient classes described as ' elect ' in Holy Scripture. We must consider next what can be learnt with regard to the liurjiose for which they were chosen. We must not, of course, assume that the purpose is the same, or even in all points analogous in the dillbrent cases. Still it is not unnat…

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SECTION 931

Section 931

iii. We pass on now to the last stage in our inquiry, the consideration of the efiect of election. We aak what influence does the fact that they have been chosen by God exert over the elect? May we assume that the divine purpose working through election must of necessity attain its goal ? Can we, granting this assumpti…

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SECTION 932

Section 932

In the face of these utterances no scheme of election which assumes the doctrine of everlasting puuislnnent as one of its fundamental postulates, can claim to rest on the authority of St. Paul. Leaving, then, on one side the attempt to con- sider the effect of election in its relation to the elect in the narrower sens…

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SECTION 933

Section 933

ELECT LADY. -See John (Epistles). EL-ELOHE-ISRAEL ("-v-p: 'rhs Vx).— Upon the 'parcel of ground' whicii he had bought from the RCnd-Hamor, Jacob erected a. Tna^fibdh (so W vW. , 682 EL ELYON ELEMENT Kautzsch - Socin, Ball, Dillm., etc.), and built an altar, giving to the latter the name El-elohe- Israel, 'El, the …

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SECTION 934

Section 934

The impression in favour of the pliysical inter- pretation (the interpretation of the word in Clem. Mom. X. 9) is confirmed by the context of the passages. In Col 2" wliat is referred to is not an elementary knowledge from which a moral and spiritual advance could be made, not a circumcision and a ceremonial law with w…

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SECTION 935

Section 935

3 ; II. i. 3), and was thus on a level lower than the new dispensation ; He 2^ ' For not to angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak.' Angels were the media of God's government ; and, havin" 'a certain independence in the discharge of their functions, could stand (to use Ritschl's phrase) in " relative…

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SECTION 936

Section 936

ELI ('^y) belonged to the house of Ithamar, the fourth son of Aaron, and was apparently the first high priest of that line ; cf. 1 Ch 24", where Ahi- melech the son of Abiathar (2 S 8"), who escaped from the massacre at Nob (1 S 22*), is expressly stated to be one 'of the sons of Ithamar.' It is owing to this fact that…

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SECTION 937

Section 937

J ELIAB ELIAKIM 685 lama or lammn (so in Mark the Geneva version of 1557, and Rlieims), representing the Heb. (?), even some modem translators read lema, after the Aramaic. Tlie Aram, shebaktani reappears in o-o/So- rrord or aa^aKOaul (so Laclimann in Matt.): — the substitution in the majority of texts of x for « b…

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SECTION 938

Section 938

E. appears to have been a disciple or political ally of tlie prophet Isaiah, who predicts in glowing terms his succession to the office of prefect in place of his unworthy predecessor (Is 22-"''). At his institution lie is to be invested with long tunic and girdle, the insignia [uoper to his office, and is to receive a…

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SECTION 939

Section 939

• Xote on the gmuinenesi of the name. — The name occure but twice in MT ; in one case (2 S IP) all VSS except the Vulg., and In the other the LXX. show a different name. In spite of this a close comparison of the VSS conflrms the correctness of the Maaaoretic tradition of the rare name Eliam, which certainly ocoun in P…

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SECTION 940

Section 940

ELIHD (Kn-i-K, LXX 'EXioOs, 'my God is He,' cf. Elijah, 'my God is J"'). — Described in Job 32- as 'son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram ' ; he would therefore be descended from Nahor, brother of Abraham (Gn 22'-', J). E. is introduced as an interlocutor in the Book of Job, speaking after the three friends …

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SECTION 941

Section 941

The spiritual danger which E. was called to avert arose out of a political alliance formed between Israel and Phoenicia, and cemented by the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel, the son and the daughter of the allied kings. A covenant between two Semitic peoples was always supposed to imply a friendship between their gods. It…

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SECTION 942

Section 942

When the brook Cherith dries up in the long drought, the prophet goes, under divine direction, to Zarephath, a city of heathen Tyre (17*), where he is hospitably received by a poor widow whom the famine has reduced to her last meal (v.'^). The prophet finds a well-spring of kindness in the heart of a heathen ccuntry. H…

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SECTION 943

Section 943

VOL, I. — ii miracles, but through quiet human agencies and in the slow movements of history. E. is therefore 8ho%vn that J" has still a great work for him to do : he must shape the destinies of two great nations, and provide for the continuance of the prophetic succession. Three commands are laid upon him : to anoint…

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SECTION 944

Section 944

According to the narrative in 2 K 1, Ahaziah, son of Ahab, having injured himself by falling from a balcony of his palace, sends messengers to the shrine of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, to inquire if he shall recover. On their way they are inter- cepted by Elijah, who indignantly asks them if there is not a God in Israel …

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SECTION 945

Section 945

ELIJAH ELIJAH 691 ing with his master to the end, and lookinjr without fear on the dread messengers of the invisible world, his request will not be denied. They now enter the dark mountains of Moab. Somewhere here J" Himself laid His servant Moses to rest. No man knew the exact place. 'The whole region is a sepulchr…

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SECTION 946

Section 946

No OT hero tills a larger place in Jewish tradi tion than Elijah. How he impressed the mit;ds of his own people in after-ages is shown by the striking eulogium pronounced upon him by the son of Sirach (Sir 48'"). It became a li.\-ed belief that E. would appear again for the deliverance and restoration of Israel. This i…

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SECTION 947

Section 947

It should be remembered, however, that grave doubts have been cast upon the poptilar identifica- tion of Mt. Sinai (see SlNAl); and as these doubts turn, in part, upon the identification of Elim and of the encampment by the sea, we must be careful not to fall into a toi)ogra|)hical reasoning in a circle, so as to ident…

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SECTION 948

Section 948

ELISEUS.— See Elisha. ELI8HA (jy-^K ' God is salvation' ; LXX 'E\ei<raU ; NT 'E\i(ratot, AV Eliseus). — Tlie son of SImphat, of the tribe of Issachar, the disciple and 8Ucces.sor of the proi]het Elijah. He is first mentioned in the threefold commission with whicli Elijah is charged by J" at Horeb (1 K I'.t'"). Obeying…

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SECTION 949

Section 949

694 ELISHA ELISHA Several of E.'s recorded words and deeds seem to show how much he profited by the chastening experience — and it may be by the direct teaching — of Elijah. He has learned the lesson of tolera- tion : when Naanian inquires if it is possible to reconcile the homage due to Rimmon with loyalty to J", E…

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SECTION 950

Section 950

oil, she pays her debt, and lives with her sons on the surplus (2 K 4'-'). (4) The next reminiscence (2 K 4*"") gives a charming picture of private life in Israel. As E. chances to pass the village of Sliunem (now S61am, three miles from Jezreel.on the slopes of little Hermon), be is pressed to accept hospitality by a…

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SECTION 951

Section 951

and all the country is tilled with water. (2) The a very pleasing light, fearless though an host next narrative ( itry IS 111 2 K G"-^ presents the iirophet in encamps against him, conlident though war rises against him, and magnanimous in his treatment of his ballled enemies. Marauding bands of Syrians have made n…

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SECTION 952

Section 952

There is one other tradition regarding E., and tliat the most marvellous of all. His wonder- working power does not terminate with his life. In the spring of the year after his decease a burial is taking place in the cemetery which contains his sepulchre, when it chances that a band of maraud- ing Moabites comes in si…

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SECTION 953

Section 953

It \B tempting to identify E., on the phonetic Bide, with the Greek Helhus. We might assume that the Egyptian form of the name, Alsa, was taken from the cuneiform Alasia, in which the initial aspirate of the Greek would not be expres-sed. But the Homeric poems seem to show that the name of Hellas could not have migrate…

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SECTION 954

Section 954

• For this mtme see »rt. RAUATnAiM-iornni. In I Oh e*^" and **>fi Samuel is repre»ented as a Invite, and the three nanieo, Klihu, Tohu, Zu|>h, appear as Eliub, NahaUl, Zophai ((1»H") ; Eliel, Toah, Zupli {Kflhihh Zlph) (IP^SO). It ia noliceolile that in the first of tiiese places there is no connectintr link twtwei-n t…

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SECTION 955

Section 955

ELTEKON (Ipn^?), Jos 15™.- A town of Judah, noticed with Maarath and Beth-anoth. It was in the mountains. The site is unknown. Possibly Tekoa. ELTOLAD (i'?'iB^Si). Jos 15".— A town in the ex- treme S. of Judah, given to Simeon (W*) ; probably Tolad (1 Ch 4^). The site is unknown. ELUL (S)^g, 'EXoi/X, Elul, Neh 6", 1 …

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SECTION 956

Section 956

LiTKRATURE. — Wilkinson, Ane. Egyp. U. 81 ; Moore on Jg 5iW; Hartriiann, tlebraerin, i. 401 ff., iii. 138 ff.; tfcliroeder, be le^titu inulu'rum, :':ll t. ; Braun, De vestUu sacerdutum, ;j()l ff. ; Knob.- Dillm. on Ex -261 31 28H. G. M. MaCKIE. EMEK-KEZIZ (j-vi? P^y), Jos 18", AV ' Valley of Keziz,' mentioned among th…

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SECTION 957

Section 957

2. Emmaus Nicopolis is not mentioned in OT, but appears as a place of importance in the time of the Maccabees. It was in the neighbouring plain that the Syrian army was defeated by Judas (I Mac 3«- n 4»--»). Emmaus was one of the towTis fortified by Bacchides in order to 'vex' Israel (1 Mac 9*"-, Jos. Ant. XIII. i. 3).…

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SECTION 958

Section 958

ENCHANTMENT.— See Divination. END. — The nses of this word are not so often obsolete as bihlintl, and demand attention from their very familiarity. 1. The end as opposed to the beginning. To the Heb. mind, e87>ei;ially in the later and more rij^orous dnyH of the liistory of Israel, the most pen^Iexiti}^ problem wa3 t…

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SECTION 959

Section 959

Like Lat. finis (and probably owing to it), ' end ' is used in ling, for the pur)iii.fe, as in Tomson's NT (1570) Heading of Ep. to lie, 'The drift and end of this Epistle is.' In AV this meaning is found only in the phrase ' to the end ... or ' to this end . . . ,' and once ' to what end ' ? (.■\m 5'"). In old Eng. th…

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SECTION 960

Section 960

EN-DOR (■i'nj*y Jos 17", -in 'p 1 S 28', iiJi 'p Ps 83'°.— A town in Issachar belonging to Manasseh, mentioned with Dor as one of ' three countries ' (AV; the text nj: is undoubtedly corrupt) which appear to have been in the Jordan Valley (Beth- shean and Ibleam), in the Esdraelon plateau (Dor and En-dor), and in the l…

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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.