PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 1
James Hastings · 1,192,276 words · 1189 reading sections
Section 361
A. Henderson. BEEROTH-BENE-JAAKAN (isj^: •;? nix?), in Dt 10« KV ; ' Beeroth of the children of Jaakan,' AV, LXX BijpuS. The place is called Bene-jaakan in the list of stations, Nu 33"-". From Gn 36-'', 1 Ch 1** the Bene-jaakan are descendants of Seir the Horite, and the name of the adjacent station, Hor-haggidgad (wh…
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* A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man, la not 80 estimable, profitable neither. As flesh of muttons, beefs, or Koiits.' Shaks. M. of V. I. lil. 68. RV retains all but Lv 22", AV ' a free-will otler- ing in beeves or sheep,' RV 'a free-will otlering of the herd or of the Hock.' The sing, does not occur in AV or …
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* Oa^. Eni;. Dirt, and Century Diet, sav behalf la used only with on or in, (orgettin); Dn ills AV ' a pfince/or his own b." t Except where the meaning is * in the oame of,' when either form waa used. 30'), refers to the animal of Job, and that the south was Egypt. But negeb refers to Egypt only in one other context …
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gone, that the king shall see the floor sieved with ne ashes. Next morning the seals are intact, but the floor shows marks of naked feet, and the secret door ie revealed by which the food has been taken away. After this the priests are pat to death and the image destroyed. Theod. 's task was to revise LXX. In the case…
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Gaster (PSBA, Nov. Dec 1804) announces thediscover>' of an Aram, text of the story of the Dragon in the Chritnulrv of .1 iTTah- mffl. This he claims to be the very text used hj H in revising LXX. It is certainly a striking ilocumunt. Its dialect, both in vocabu- lary and gniminalicul tonus, is that of Unkelos. It is a …
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Apparently Bela, the first Edomite king, was not a native of Edom. Possibly we liave in these n.aniea the preservation of an old tradition respecting the succession of dynasties and their royal residences. Of Dinhabah nothing is known ; but, according to Knobel, the name Danaba is found in connexion with I'almyrene Syr…
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BELIE. — To belie la to tell lies about a person or thing, as Wis 1" ' the mouth that belieth slayeth the soul' (Kara^ti/So^iai, in ref. to icara- XaXIa 'backbiting' mentioned before). Then 'to give the lie to,' ' contradict,' as Jer 5" ' They have belied the Lord ' (^oj, RV ' denied '). J. Hastings. BELIEF occurs in…
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the name U as foUows : J M^ >JJ ^ ("^^ Bel-iarra-usur, 'may Bel protect the king.' He was thus tlie prince-regent of the throne. The authority for these statements is the following (in Rawlinson's W. Asiatic Inscr. i. 68, col. ii. line 24 f . ) : 'and as for Bel-5arra-u?ur, the exalted son, the offspring of my body, d…
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G. Walker. BEN (13 ' son ').— A Levite, 1 Ch 15'*, omitted in parallel list in v.» in both MT and LXX. The latter omits it also in the first-named passage. BEN-ABINADAB (3-;r5>n?. AV 'son of Abina- dab'). — One of Solomon's commissariat officers (1 K 4"). BENAIAH ("TJ3, n;j? 'J" hath built up').— 1. Son of Jehoiada,…
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H. E. Kyle. BEN-DEKER (-iR^'I? 'son of Deker'; t/lAs PiJxaj B, i'i6j Pi7xa/3 Luc, vlb^ .iaicdp A. Deker perhaps means sharp, piercivij in.itrument , as in Talniua). — Patronymic of one of Solomon's twelve com- misRariat officers (1 K 4»). C. F. BuRNEY. BENE-BERAK (pi? -js), Jos 19".— A town of Dan near Jeliud (el-Yehu…
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Five years later Dad-idri was again defeated by Shalmaneser, and in B.C. 845 Shalmaneser entered Syria with 120,000 men and overthrew the com- bmed forces of Dad-idri, Irkhulini, and ' the twelve kings of the coast of the upper and lower sea.' Professor Schrader is doubtless right in thinking that by the latter express…
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The character of the country was fitted to breed a race of hardy warriors rather than peaceful agriculturists. The level of the country was more than 2000 ft. above the sea, and it was studded with many hills. G. A. Smith has thus described it : 'A desolate and fatiguing extent of rocky platforms and ridges, of moorlan…
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2. A great-grandson of Benjamin (1 Ch 7'°). 3. One of those who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10", prob. same as B. of Neh 3" 1'2"). A. S. Peake. BENJAMIN, GATE.— See Jerusalem. BENO CiJ? * his son ').— In both AV and RV a proper name in 1 Ch 24*' ", but we shoiild perhaps render, ' of Joaziah Aw ton, even the sons…
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Beriites. — See under 1 above. W. H. Bennett. BERITES (D-!3) occurs only in the account of Joab's i>ursiiit of the rebel Sheba, in the obscure and doubtful i)assage 2 S 20"-" 'Joab . . . went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethiiiaacah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and wen…
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Treating both forms as one word, then, b. is either an adv. or a prep., and the meaning is ' by the side of.' But the side may be reached either from a position that is farther off or from one that is still ne.irer. Compare Ps 23° ' He leadeth me b. {^]i) the still waters,' Is 32-'" ' Blessed are ye that sow b. (Sy) al…
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BETANE (BaiTdi/T)), Jth 1».— A place apparently south of Jerusalem, and not Bethany. It may be the same as Bethanoth. C. R. Conder. BETEN (IB3), Jos 19«>. — A town of Asher, noticed next to Achshaph. The site is doubtful. In the fourth century (Onomasticon, s.v. Batline) it was sho\>'n 8 Roman miles east of Ptolemais …
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C. R. CONDER. BETH-BIRI Cioa ■•»), 1 Ch 4". — A town of Simeon, perhaps textual error for n^nj^ ns Jos 19' = Lebaoth, Jos 15". The ruin Bireh on the west slopes of the Debir bills may be intended. See iirP vol. iii. sheet xxiv. C. R. Condkh. BETH-CAR (Tj tt'Z), • place of a lamb," 1 S 7". — The Peshitta reads Beth-ja…
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It is ditlicult to account for these divergences. Some authorities, such as Wellhausen.t suppose that J contained an independent narrative ; others, as Kuenen,§ hold that we have here, not the work of J, but a passage expanded and modified from E bv 'a follower of j'; according to the latter scholar, J probably carried…
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t So Noldeke, ZD},ia ilii. p. 4lS2 ; bat see Benzinger, HOyr. AreJiaolotjie, p. 12'>. t Wellhanseii, Omjioiitim, p. 82 ; W. B. Smith. «eJ. ofSemUa, p. 110: Benzinger, ib. p. 376. I W. R. Sin th, ib. 4, 187 ; Benzinger, ii. pp. 57, S80 ; NowBCk, Bebr. Archd^l. L p. 91 il. p. 9 ; Stade, Geschichle, I. p. 456. Thus htm-…
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The prophets' dennnciations were soon fulfilled, for Bethel must have been involved in the general overthrow of the N. kingdom by tlie Assyrians in ~22 ; of. Jer 48'^. According to .Jewish tradition, Shalmaneser 'carried off the golden calf which was in Bethel, and departed to set it up.' t During the Captivity Bethel…
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C. R. Cu.Ni)i:;i{. BETH-EZEL (''SS? ~'?), Mic P'.— Perhaps ' place near,' .see AVm: mentioned with Zaanan and Shaphir. It .seems to have been a place in the Philistine plain, but the site is unknown. Accord- ing to some it is= Azel of Zee 14^ C. K. CONDKlt. BETH-GADER (i^J p'3), 1 Ch -J", mentioned with lletliUlii I…
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Literature. — Robinson, BRP iit 69, with references there to patristic and other writers; Siiiitb, Hi^t. Gtog. of the Holy Land, 210, 213, 264 ; Baedeker, FaL and Syria, 142 ; Stanley, Sin. and Pal. 212. Battles of Bethhoron. — The Gibeonites, being besieged by the five kings, had summoned Joshua to their relief. By a…
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Some scholars suppose Bethlehem to take it« name from Lakhmu, a deity noticed in the Assyrian account of the Creation, but it is not known that he was adored in Palestine. Under the name Ephrath, B. is noticed in Jacob's time (Gn 35'«- " 48', if the gloss ' the same is B.' is correct), but it is not mentioned in the Bo…
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In the added verse of the LXX, after Jos 15», a Peor In Judah is noticed. This was also known in the 4th cent. A.D. {Onomasticon, s.v. Fogor) as near Bethlehem. It is the present ruin Faghur, north-west of Bethlehem, and, though named from the same deity, is quite a distinct site. LlT»RATTTRR.— 3fm». Ecust Poi. Surve…
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B. Jnlias has usually been identified with et-Telt, a considerable ruin situated £. of the Jordan, just where the river leaves the hills, and enters the plain of el-Bateiha. In the absence of any definite proof, however, it is natural to suppose that the city, ' Fisher-home,' stood much nearer tlie lake. This suppositi…
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LiTBEATURB.— For description of the site — SWP Ii. 101-114 ; Robinson, Later Bli 32(i-332. For liistory — Schiirer, HJP u. i. IlOil.; Joe. Ant. and Jeufuh Warg. G. W. Thatcher. BETH-SHEMESH {tf-i? n-j 'temple of the sun'). — Three places so named occur in the OT in Pal. 1. Jos 15'" 21'«, 1 S «'•'", 1 K 4», 2 K 14", 1…
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BETOLION (B BeroKui, A B^r-, AV Betolius), 1 Es 5^. — 52 persons of this place returned from captivity with Zerub. (See Bethel.) Ezr 2-* has ' the men of Bethel and Ai ' 223, and the number 52 belongs to the next named place, Nebo. 1 Es has perhaps dropped a line in the Hebrew. H. St. J. Thackkrat. BETOMASTHAIM {BaiT…
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LiTKRiTtrRil. — Green. Higher Critieium of the Pent. p. 60 : Douplaa, Why 1 still believe that Stogee wrote Deut. p. 3u, and Lex ilosaica, p. 95 ; Perowne, Contemp. Kev. Jim. 18&i, p. 148 f.; Driver, Veut. p. zlU t. ; Harper, Deut. p. 4(. 2. To go beyond=to circumvent, 1 Th 4' 'that no man go b. and defraud his brothe…
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C. R. CONDER. BIBLE.— A, Internal ReUtiona o( the Bible. I. Names. 11. Onjpnal Languages. III. Division and Arrangement. IV. Canon. i. OT Canon and Criticism ii. NT Canon. V. Text. VI. Versions. B. External Relations of the Bible. I. The Literature of other Religions. IL The Bit>le in relation to this Literatur…
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The term ' Testament,' in the expression ' Old and New Testaments,' applied to the two greal divisions of the B., has an interesting history. There can be no doubt that it is due to an acci- dental mistranslation of SiaeiJKri, which, originally meaning 'arrangement' or 'disposition,' came to signify a testament or w il…
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The follo^vinj? haa been ^iven (Cambridge Companion, p. 7) aa a useful clasaitu-atiori of the OT booka accordiri^f to subject- matter. A. /iwfon<:ni ; ^1) Pentateuch and Joshua, the oritjin of the people, the foundation of the IsraeUte constitution, and the settlement in Palestine ; (2) Jg, S, K, the history of the peo…
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Turning to MSS of the NT, there Is fonnd even so early as the Codex Vaticanus (4th cent.) a marginal indication of sections divided according to the sense, and apparently constructed for purposes of reference. It bears traces of having been copied from a yet more ancient document. A division of the Gospels into larger …
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BIBLE BIBLE 289 the literature recognised as s<icred when Ezra read the Torah in the hearing of the whole peojjle (Neh 8). To this would ere long be added such records of Israel's history and such portions of the writings of Israel's prophets as survived, forming the second of the great divisions. Then, finally, the…
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'a.e no n.ce to be disposed of by a gen-l^appeal answered by the q--^",?'"'-" ^,,'=^,feu, [^ the n ' God made tlie rocks, He nuide the *' ells in v Ki, tat .A fc>i'~" »;,,?",;•'. ^S 5 •■"'Ts. 1.'". r.sr£.'';..!. ^- v« wa^iBdependently developed Vl-^'''''^" h Praf ffi'Ilisis ..r,w .1.™ to «;. '.£«/2°J le^ibiaMou V…
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one of wliich, the third Council of Carthage, held in the yeai 397, the books of NT recognised 'are exactly those which arc generally received at present.* Some of the chief points of this development can alone be indicated here ; further information will be found in the special article (New Testa ■ MENT Canon). Justi…
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ii. Greek.— Many ancient MSS contain the LXX version of OT along with the text of NT. It seems, therefore, more convenient to divide MSS into Hebrew and Greek than into OT and NT. Two facts in the early history of NT Scriptures are worthy of note. The one is the wholesale destruction of the sai^red books during the per…
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Of the multitude of modem VSS of the B. it is impossible here to speak. Our own English 15. has a long and interesting history {see under art. Versions). Most modern V.SS difl'er from the ancient in the extent of the critical apparatus on which they are based. They do not depend upon a single AIS or a single version in…
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294 BIBLE BIBLE compilations and selections by him from pre-exist- ing literature, with possibly, to some small extent, later additions. In character they range from extremely dry chronicles to the interpretation of magical formulas, rules of conduct, and sacred songs. The Li-Ki contains laws for domestic and social…
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The religion specially identified with Persia is Zoroastrianism, and the B. of Zoroastrianism ia commonly kno«Ti as Zend-Avesta. Properly, how- ever, 'Avesta' is the text, — like the Indian 'V'eda' it means 'knowledge,' — and 'Zend' is the com- mentary or annotation upon it. The commentary is in a diflerent language fr…
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BIBLE 295 for the traces of its thought which are to be found in the teachings of other faiths ; but even in the portions which have come down to us, it shows Itself, like the literature of Brahmanism, a mixture of diverse views and standpoints. Its mainly liturgical character, and the view presented in it of tlie su…
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ii. Inspiration. — The Christian doctrine of In- spiration was largely an inheritance from the Jews along with the OT, to which alone it at first applied. After the disappearance of Prophetism, and the reconstitution of the ' Church-people ' of Israel on the basis of the written law, it is not surprising that rigid and…
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BIBLE BIBLE 297 U necessary to Balvation. 3. Perspicuitat. The B. i< self-tipIaDatory. Passages may be more or less obscure, out these must be explained by means of the simpler and clearer declarations. Rightly used, it requires no other interpreter. 4. Efficacia. The B. is a means of grace, having the power of conv…
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On the one hand, full weight must be given to that remarkable testimony of history wliicli West- cott, in the passage quoted al)ove, signalises. But a still more remarkable phenomenon of tlie same kind is apparent in the pages of the B. itself. From one point of view, nothing can be more un- systematic and fragmentary …
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The subject of Inspiration and the B. is in our time canvassed mainly in two connexions — the rights of criticism, and the question of authority in matters of faith. Christianity as a historical religion cannot be exempted from the application of the principles of historical inquiry, nor can the B. as literature be ex…
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BIBLE BIGVAI 299 rather than the nspinition. The reality of the Utter is a small matter apart (ri'in the character of the former. 'The essential function of inspiration is the formation of the personalities — both the minds for the thought and the thought for the minds — through whom the religion is to be realised ;…
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LiTKRATtmK. — The Literature relating to the first part of this article will be found in connexion with the several special articles (Ca>'ON, Tk.\t, etc.) to which reference is made. On the subjects of Revelation and Inspiration, any of the great dog- matic works, or any History of Doctrines, may be consulted, as well …
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W. H. Bennett. BILHAH, Place (.1,7^3, A BaXaa, B 'ABeWd, Bala). —A Simeonite city, 1 Ch 4=»= Baalah (rh^i), Jos IS-* ; Balah {n'?2), Jos 19', and (?) Ba<alath (nSj), Jos 19", 1 K 9", 2 Ch 8«. Site uncertain. Kittcl {Sacred Books of OT, 1 Ch 4^) proposes to point .1.7^3 Balhah ; cf. VSS and parallel passages. W. H. Be…
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BIRTHDAT. — The custom of observing a birth- day as a festival seems to have been widely spread in ancient times. Herodotus (i. 133) speaks of this practice among the Persians. In Gn 40''" we hear of the celebration of the birthday of the king of E^pt, and in the times of the Ptolemies the inscriptions of Rosetta and C…
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In NT we have fairly frequent mention of bishops and elders (passages collected in art. ChiteCH GoVERNiMENT), and the two olfices seem much the same. This is proved thus : — (1) Bishops and elders are never joined together, like bishops and deacons, as separate classes of officials. (2) Ph 1' ' to bishops and deacons '…
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Under this head we may place the sliare taken by the elders (a) at Jerus. , in the deliberations oi the apostles (Ac 15") and in the reception held by James (Ac 21"); (6) elsewhere, in the laying of hands on Timothy, 1 Ti 4". (2) Teaching. — 1 Th 5" irpoiaTiiievoi admonishin" Ln the Lord, 1 Ti 3^ the bishop apt to tea…
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BITHIAH (n.-ns 'daughter,' i.e. worshipper, 'of J"). — The daughter of a Pharaoh, who became the wife of Mercd, a descendant of Jmlah (1 Ch 4"). Whether Pharaoh is to be taken here aa the Eprp. royal title or as a Ileb. proper name, it is difficult to determine. The name li. may indicate one who had become a convert to…
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iv. Finally, there is to be noted the term, techn. ' the water of bitterness that causeth the curse ' Nu S""- RV (cf. Kautzsch's tr! : das fluchbringende Wasser des bitteren Wehs), which plays so im- portant a part in the ordeal there described. A. R. S. Kennedy. BITTER HERBS (DnhD mSrCrim, viKplSes, lactucae agreste…
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BITUMEN (Gn 11* lan, i<r<pa\Tot, EV ■slime,' RVm 'bitumen').— The mineral substance which has given to the Dead Sea the name Lai~iis Asphnl- tites (Jos. Ant. I. ix.), in which case it is mineral pitch of the group of the hydrocarbons. This mineral is abundant in several Eastern countries, and was used in verv early tim…
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According to the teaching of Christ in the Synoptists (Mt 12"'-, Mk 3-«'-, Lk 12'»), the 'blas- phemy against the Holy Ghost ' was a sin of such surpassing heinousness that it was unpardonable. Not so. He says, the blasnlieray against the Son of Man. Now, the Son of Man was God's Messiah, His pre-eminent representative…
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BLAZE Mk 1« 'to blaze abroad the matter' (RV ' sjiread abro.ad,' Gr. Jia^Ti^ffw, in Mt aff" tr"" 'commonly reported,' liV 'was spread abroad'; in Mt 9^' 5ie<f>ri^i(rav aiirhv, ' they sjiread abroad his fame'). This verb /)lrize = to 'blow,' then 'pro- claim,' ' publish,' is to be distinguished from blaze = bum. See Ox…
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BLESSING (i?13, eu\oyla). — Throughout the Bible we meet with two forms of blessing. (1) Blesnina by Gud. This is either (a) a direct and immediate act of God in conferrin}: some boon, as expressed by the phrase, ' The Lord blessed Obed- edom and all his household ' (2 S 6") ; or (6) a di\-ine utterance expressing the …
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Akin hereto is the cathartic or purificatory use of blood in the Jewish ceremonial system for cases of uncleanness of the highest degree, such as leprosy (Lv 14"- ""'•), the discussion of which belongs to the art. on Purification (which see al.so for the uncleanness caused by blood in the cases enumerated in Lv 12"'- I…
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ties he was the same as Ibzan of Jg 12'""* (se« Moore, Judges, p. 310). The difiiculties of the chronology of the genealogy from Perez to David have not yet been satisfactorily cleared up. The narrator of B.'s marriage does not hint at any irregularity in it such as we should expect if Ezr 9'- ' and Neh 13* or even Dt …
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f point in the temple. Klostermann {Komm.) trans- ates and explains by ' Stand-halter und der Trotz- bieter,' the ' firm and defying one,' referring to God. Thenius (Knmm.) joins both words to make the expression ' He will establish by strength ' ; but the text is against it, and so is the fact that there are two pilla…
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Eerat. 'take courage,* 'fear not,* etc. Thus, Sir 101° ' If tluiu ost heard a won!, let it die u-ith thee ; and he bold (().>p<ri,), It will not burst thee' ; Mt \i'^ ' He of (food cheer' ifittpffurt). 'The only compound of these verbs in NT is tLvortktAMm, Ho lOw only, ' Isaiab is very bold,' lit. ' is bold by himself…
941 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1898–1905); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.