PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 3
James Hastings · 1,187,003 words · 1191 reading sections
Section 661
LireRATURE.—Tobler, ‘ Nazareth,’ in Palestina, 1868 ; Guérin, Galilée, 1880; Robinson, BRP iii. 183 ff., 1841; G. A. Smith, HGHL 432ff., 1894; Buhl, GAP 216f.,1896 ; Socin in Baedeker's ke and Syria, where a full account of the modern town be found. G. W. THATCHER. NAZIRITE (1; LXX in Nu 6%” εὐξάμενος ; in vy.18- 192…
1,107 wordsSECTION 662Section 662
Whether the lifelong or the temporary Nazirate was the original form, it is impossible to deter- mine. The case of Samson merely proves that tradition was acquainted with Nazirites for life at a comparatively early period. The law in Nu, as already remarked, refers only to the temporary Nazirate ; and the hair of a dea…
991 wordsSECTION 663Section 663
eriod of his vow is over, it must be offered to the rd along with the peace-offerings (ν.}8). In Samson’s case it is also the seat of his personal strength; as soon as it is cut off, his special relation to Jehovah ceases, and he becomes weak as other men (Jg 167"), The general idea under- lying this restriction is th…
1,017 wordsSECTION 664Section 664
uences of his state of positive consecration. Nor id his vow compel him to withdraw from fellow- ship with his fellow-men ; there is nothing in the OT to indicate that the Nazirites generally either lived apart by themselves or in guilds like ‘the sons of the prophets.’ The Nazirite was originally a zealot for the na…
928 wordsSECTION 665Section 665
* Samuel, if we rightly regard him as a Nazirite, was also a priest. the example of Absalom (25S 14"), whom they regarded as a Nazirite), while the latter permitted him to come into contact with a dead body, with- out having in consequence to go through the legal process of purification. But even in these days genuine…
908 wordsSECTION 666Section 666
siderably west of Neah. C. R. CONDER. NEAPOLIS (Νέα Πόλις, ‘new city’) was the port at which St. Paul landed, when, in accordance with his vision at Troas (Ac 16"), he sailed thence for Macedonia (Ac 16") to begin his ministry in Europe. It was the seaport of Philippi, which lay bout 10 miles inland. Its position has …
1,073 wordsSECTION 667Section 667
NEBO NEBO, MOUNT Merodach of Babylon. influence in Western Asia (B.C. 3800-1400) the name and worship of Nebo were carried into Syria In the period of Bab. with those of other Babylonian deities. Hence we find a Mount Nebo in Moab (Dt 32, Is 153), and a town of Nebo in Reuben (Nu 32%) ; see the follow- ing two arti…
994 wordsSECTION 668Section 668
. of the north-east end of the Dead Sea. From it Western Palestine is in sight ; but the view to the E. is shut out by the higher edge of the Mishor, and to the S. by the ridge running out from el- Maslubiyeh. Passing westward from Neba along the ridge to its western summit Sidghah, a dis- tance of about 14 mile, the w…
929 wordsSECTION 669Section 669
ears (B.C. 586) Jerus. was taken, the palace and ὑπὸ destroyed, and the upper classes carried into exile (2 K 25'"). Zedekiah, who had escaped from the city, was captured near Jericho, and ng the above objection assumes that these compe igns are historical. For a discussion of this point see HGHL, App. TL p. 662. * A…
936 wordsSECTION 670Section 670
ossess, command, and direct (Dt 31”, Jer 7%, Roh 3°). 2. The foot on the neck was an emblem of complete subjection, borrowed from military conquest (Jos 10%, Ro 164, ef. Ps 110!). It is fre- quently seen on the Egyptian monuments. RV correctly tr. 2S 22" (a 18”) ‘Thou hast made mine enemies turn their backs to me,’ for…
942 wordsSECTION 671Section 671
* Augustus subsequently turned his attention to this canal; hence, suggests Lumbroso (/'Egitto dei Greci, 23), the name of the eastern province, Augustamnica. + Cauer in Pauly-Wissowa, RE 810, ‘statue.’ t Maspero still (letter to present writer, 1899) holds this the most probable. § Josephus (Ant. x. v. 1), it is tr…
964 wordsSECTION 672Section 672
NEGEB (2330, lit. ‘the dry’; LXX vdye8, ἡ ἔρημος) was a name specially applied to that district south of Judah which in comparison with the rest of Pal. was waterless.* From the fact that this region did lie to the south of Judea rose the later use of the word to indicate that point of the compass.+ This use became so …
978 wordsSECTION 673Section 673
* Those indomitable road-makers, the Romans, did not shun even these hills,as the Peutinger tables and broken milestones prove. 1 Contrast the conduct of Nebuchadnezzar, who on his way to Egypt detailed a force to reduce Jerus., but led his prin- cipal army by a route clear of these barren hills. NEGO from the wild…
1,027 wordsSECTION 674Section 674
N. J. D. WHITE. NEHEMIAH (2;07;).—1. One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community, Ezr 23 (Β Νεέμιος, A -as) =Neh 77 (BA Neewd), 1 Es 58 Nehemias. 2. The son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth- zur, who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem, Neh 38 (Νεεμίας). 3. See the following article. NEHEMIAH (…
1,131 wordsSECTION 675Section 675
* On the cupbearer see Rawlinson, Ezra and Neh. (Men of the Bible), 86; Ewald, HJ ν. 148; Xen. Cyrop. . 3. 8; and art. CUPBEARER. t From the queen's presence Cheyne and others suppose that Neh. was a eunuch (/ntrod, to Js. $11), Some hold that Ps 13° was directed against Nehemiah. t On the motives of Artaxerxes see S…
1,070 wordsSECTION 676Section 676
Another form of trouble now required the leader’s attention. The people who were labouring at the walls had been obliged to abandon their usual occupations, many of them to leave their homes and fields. The enemy overran the country dis- tricts at will, and very likely plundered the homes of those who were working at t…
904 wordsSECTION 677Section 677
king, twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat the governor's bread.’ But in 185 Neh. says, ‘ While all this was going on I was * ‘The prophets of the time were opposed to Neb. and appar- ently inh e with the hostile neighbours,’ Montefiore, 312; see also Wellh. Gesch.2194. But these prophets, inferior as they were…
988 wordsSECTION 678Section 678
fontefiore, Hib. Lect. 351; Ryle, Can. 92). In spite of the effort of the author of the beautiful story of Ruth to soften the harsh spirit of the leaders, Ezra and Neh. held the same decided view against foreign marriages, though from different motives. The great offence in Ezra’s eyes was the * Monteflore regards t…
1,011 wordsSECTION 679Section 679
Neh. rendered a great service to his eople, and its effect was more enduring than that of Ezra. He was magnanimous in his generosity towards his subjects. He even purchased the li erty of many Jews held as slaves in strange lands (5%); he had refused the remuneration which belonged to his office ; and he entertained at…
954 wordsSECTION 680Section 680
* It seems to us safer not to hazard any further conjecture as to the form of the word. Both Néldeke's and Klostermann’s attempts in this direction are open to serious objection. The former (ZDM@ xlii. p. 482, note) suggests that [ΓΦ ΠΣ may be sompounded of W}+]5 (=]'2B, see the Lexx.), while the latter asserts categor…
958 wordsSECTION 681Section 681
NEKODAN (Nexwidv, AV Necodan), 1 Es 57= Nekoda, Ezr 2®, Neh 7%. The name is Noeba in 1 Es 5", NEMUEL.—See JEMUEL. Gray, Heb. Prop. Names, 307, considers Jemuel the corruption and Nemuel the original form. ‘Either form is ety- mologically obscure.’ Nemuelites, the patronymic of the family of Nemuel, occurs in Nu 26". …
948 wordsSECTION 682Section 682
NEPHTHAR the sacrifice. On the sun shining out from behind a cloud, a great fire was kindled on the altar. When the sacrifice had been consumed, the re- mainder of the liquid was poured, by Nehemiah’s orders, upon great stones. It again ignited, but its flame soon spent itself, while that on the altar continued to bur…
997 wordsSECTION 683Section 683
C. R. CoNDER. NEPHUSHESIM, NEPHUSIM.—See Napuisu. NER (3; B Νηρεί, Νήρ, A Nip).—The son of Abiel and father of Abner, and therefore the uncle of Saul (1S 14-5). According to 1 Ch 88=9%, Ner was the father of Kish, and therefore the grandfather of Saul: the same authority (9%) ives Jeiel (ὅπ, AV Jehiel) as the name o…
1,015 wordsSECTION 684Section 684
NERI (Χηρεί Tisch. Treg. WH; Νηρί TR).—An ancestor of Gimnk, Lk 3”. See next article. NERIAH (77). — The father of Baruch, Jer 32 [Gr. 39] 13.156 36 [43] * δ § 43 [60] "ὁ 45 [51]? 51 [28] ὃ In Bar 1 the Greek form of the name, Neriag (Nnp(e)las), is retained. The same name appears in another Greek form Neri (Νηρ(ε)) i…
1,069 wordsSECTION 685Section 685
* Corbulo and Suetonius Paulinus, the two ablest generals of their day, were sent, the former in 55 to repel the Parthians, the latter in 58 to complete the subjugation of Britain. ¢ Apart from this incident, there is no actual evidence that the ancient Romans were acquainted with any poison which, after double diluti…
1,047 wordsSECTION 686Section 686
itterness engendered in many thousands of ruined and homeless sufferers, led to the em- peror, either spontaneously, || or at the suggestion of PoppeaT or some malignant courtier, imput- ing the conflagration to the Christians.** Some I eh ve * Seneca, however, who had probably not yet retired, may have been an asses…
1,037 wordsSECTION 687Section 687
* The earliest writer who asserts an extension of the imperial persecution to the provinces is Orosius (Hist. vii. 7), who wrote δ. 400 4.D. Regarding a mutilated inscription found at Pompeii, of doubtful interpretation, but supposed to refer to a bloody persecution of Christians there, prior to 4.0. 79, see Aubé, Per…
1,077 wordsSECTION 688Section 688
he last ministries to the dead were performed by two nurses* of his innocent childhood, and by an early cast-off mistress (Acte) whom he had once sincerely loved (i. 50). The obscurity of Nero’s death led to the wide- spread belief that he had not really died, but was in concealment or had escaped to Parthia, and woul…
921 wordsSECTION 689Section 689
| Fritzsche, Annal, iii. 1 (1831); Reuss, l.c. ; Renan, p, 415 ff. ; Farrar, vol. ii. 292 ΠΥ, - Zéckler, Com. on Apoc. and others. Jewish Christians were familiar with Gematria, the numerical indication of names (Farrar in Hapos. 1879, ν. 369). The non-identification, however, of Nero with the 666 by any early writer i…
940 wordsSECTION 690Section 690
Lida, but in some places omits ; at 1 Ch 95 it has an eee at Ezr8” 901.) Tyco Ὁ» (af the men whom David gave), at Neh 10% — (servants), and at Neh 117 OTL DS (their servants). Josephus (Ant. ΧΙ. y. 1) calls them lepé- δουλοι, and this agrees well with the obvious deri- vation of the word from }n}=‘to give’: they were…
1,031 wordsSECTION 691Section 691
We hear but little concerning the Nethinim subsequently to this period. It is easy to trace the gradual incorporation of the singers and the doorkeepers with the Levites. It is practically certain that the Nethinim, who are so often men- tioned immediately after these two classes, obtained the same privilege. In the po…
985 wordsSECTION 692Section 692
NETOPHAS (Β Νετέβας, & Nerw¢aé).—1 Es δ᾽8-- NETOPHAH of Ezr 253} Neh 7%, NETTLE.—Two Heb. words are tr4 in AV anc. RV ‘nettle.’ (1) by hard occurs twice (Job 30°, Zeph 2), and in the plural form on hdrilim once (Pr 24%), (2) winp kimmédsh (Is 3438), or vin kimésh (Η 5 95. The pl. form onwap kimméshinim (Pr 24%) is tr4…
1,053 wordsSECTION 693Section 693
The prevalence of routine, and the mystery con- nected with anything unusual, coupled with the excitable nature of the people, cause everything new to be attractive. Throughout the Bible there are many instances of the astonishment, attractiveness, and authority connected with strange occurrences and new be- ginnings.…
984 wordsSECTION 694Section 694
As to the manner in which the New Moon was observed, there were other features besides the sacrifices. There was no ‘solemn convocation’ on the New Moon, but it is usually inferred from 2 Καὶ 4° that visits were paid to the prophets on that day. The servants and asses were available for longer journeys than on the days…
919 wordsSECTION 695Section 695
Liverature.—Besides the works cited in the course of this article, see Schirer, HJP 1. ii. Appendix ifi.; Dillmann, NEW TESTAMENT Exodus and Leviticus, p. 577t.; Pineles, Darcha shel Torah, p. 251ff.; Epstein, Alterthuemer; Poznanski, JQR x. p. 152ff. ae writer holds that the New Moon was also fixed empirically y…
921 wordsSECTION 696Section 696
oints of contact between the NT and heathen iterature are extremely few,* the LXX, on the other hand, was familiar to most of the NT writers, their OT quotations being generally derived from it and not from the Heb. ; a the inflaence of several es books contained in it, notably the Bk. of Wisdom, can be discerned in a …
923 wordsSECTION 697Section 697
ii. HIsTORY OF THE NT, INCLUDING ITs RELA- TION TO THE CHURCH FATHERS AND THE CHRIS- TIAN APocRYPHA.—As already indicated, a New Testament in our sense of the term was something which the apostles never dreamt of. The charge which they had received from their Master was to preach the gospel, and the as of the Spirit wa…
1,080 wordsSECTION 698Section 698
This decree (which seems to have reflected the general mind of the Church, and which has been prac- tically acquiesced in ever since,* notwithstanding occasional controversies regarding individual books, and amid conflicting theories as to the authority of Scripture) had the effect of excluding from the Canon not only …
1,106 wordsSECTION 699Section 699
* We have an early example of this in what Eusebius tells (HE vi. 12) of the obscurity into which the once popula of Peter’ (used apparently by Justin as one of Memoi had fallen in the time of Serapion, bishop of Antioch (c. a.p, 200 u . i * The Oxyrhynchus fragment containing Mt 119 may date from the end of the Srd…
1,152 wordsSECTION 700Section 700
Christ. Speaking generally, we may say that, while the First Gospel sets forth Christ’s life and teaching with reference to the past, as the fulfil- ment of the OT, the Gospel of St. Mark exhibits that life in the present, as a manifestation of the activity and power so congenial to the Roman mind; St. Luke, as a Gree…
907 wordsSECTION 701Section 701
3. The Pauline Epistles and the Ep. to the Hebrews.—One of the characteristics of the NT, as compared with all other sacred books, is the ereiary character of a large part of ite contents. * though most of the Epistles were written at an earlier period than the Gospels in their present form, they represent in general …
1,193 wordsSECTION 702Section 702
4. The Catholic Epistles.—There are 7 Epistles which from the 4th cent. have gone under this name, viz. Ja, 1 and 2 P, 123 Jn, and Jude. bes were so called in contradistinction to St. Paul's Epistles, which, with the exception of the Pastoral Epp. and Philem, are addressed to indi- vidual Churches, also 7 in number.* I…
970 wordsSECTION 703Section 703
(d) The Ep. of Jude.—This Epistle is in the name of ‘Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. The James whom the writer here claims as his brother was the well-known head of the Church at Jerusalem, one of our Lord’s brethren, and the writer of the Ep. that bears his name ; and therefore Jude is not to b…
937 wordsSECTION 704Section 704
On the whole subject of this article, reference may be made, further, to such articles as BIBLE, CANON, CATHOLIC EPISTLES, GOSPELS, NEW TESTA- MENT CANON, PAUL, etc., as well as to the separate articles on the various books of the NT, and the Literature appended to these. J. A. M‘CLYMONT. “NEW TESTAMENT CANON.— Intr…
957 wordsSECTION 705Section 705
NEW TESTAMENT CANON 531 nature of Gospels continued so to express them- selves. And there is a survival of it to this day in the titles of our Gospels—rd εὐαγγέλιον κατά, ‘the Gospel according to,’ this or that evangelist. i. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE, i.e. the generation immediately following that of the apostles. As be…
1,087 wordsSECTION 706Section 706
For further parallelisms with the language of the Gospels and for allusions to incidents in the life of Christ in the two writings so far considered, see among other passages—Clem. Rom. xvi. end (Mt 11%-®), xxiv. (Mt 138, Mk 48, Lk 8°); Polyc. v. (Mk 935, Mt 2078), xii. (Mt 5). Ignatius was led by his controversy with…
920 wordsSECTION 707Section 707
of composition within the reign of Vespasian, 7.e. before A.D. 79. Ramsay (Church in the Roman Empire, p. 307) has adopted Lightfoot’s theory | with some modification, but not so as to affect | the date. Harnack, however, in his recent work, has made a yery ingenious suggestion for over- coming some of the chief diffic…
903 wordsSECTION 708Section 708
The Fragments of Papias.—There cannot be any very serious differences of opinion as to the approxi- mate time at which Papias put forth the work from which some few fragments have been preserved to us. He had conversed with men of an older gene- ration than his own who could give first-hand information as to what the o…
978 wordsSECTION 709Section 709
Eusebius makes the following statement at the end of his section on Papias: ‘The same (writer) has made use of testimonies from the former Ep. of Jn and from that of Peter likewise. He has, moreover, also set forth another narrative, con- cerning ‘a woman charged before the Lord with many sins, which the Gospel acc. to…
925 wordsSECTION 710Section 710
NEW TESTAMENT CANON Apology was written soon after the First. The Dialogue was written after the Apologies, but how long after cannot be determined. We shall not be far wrong if we say that all three writings were composed c. A.D. 150. The Apologies were written in Rome, as was also probably the Dialogue, though it ma…
931 wordsSECTION 711Section 711
In his summaries of or allusions to the Gospel history, Justin introduces a limited amount of matter—a certain number of touches and incidents —not found in our Gospels. From the presence of this element it has been argued that he did not use our Gospels. But to reason thus is to defy every principle of sound criticism…
1,068 wordsSECTION 712Section 712
NEW TESTAMENT CANON physical power ; and if the writer from whom they are taken, partly in his own words, was not Basil- | eides himself, he may probably have been Isidore, Basileides’ eminent son and disciple, whom Hip- polytus names along with his father. Even in this case we should haye to do here with a writing …
963 wordsSECTION 713Section 713
Much attention has of late been directed to this phenomenon. It has been discussed in particular from opposite points of view by Zahn (Kan. i pp. 220-262) and Harnack (NT um d. J. 200, pp. 58-70, and Chronol. i. pp. 670, 671) ; see also Light- foot (Clem. Rom. ii. p. 894) and Sanday (Inspiration, p. 14f.). The chief …
914 wordsSECTION 714Section 714
We may here suitably refer to the Ep. ad Diognetum, a work of similar aim, the birthplace and date of which cannot be fixed with certainty, but which may with most probability be assigned to about the same time. In ec. xi. the writer enumerates ‘ the fear of the Jaw,’ ‘the grace of the prophets,’ ‘the faith of the Gosp…
920 wordsSECTION 715Section 715
As regards the history of the Canon of the Syrian Church, it may suffice here to allude to the strange hold which Tatian’s Diatessaron obtained there. It was popularly used as a substitute for the Gospels, to the neglect of the reading of them in public worship—an abuse which had to be dealt with by authority as late a…
1,166 wordsSECTION 716Section 716
NEW TESTAMENT CANON 539 writings of the NT held in the last two or three decades of the 2nd cent. in the common view of the chief Churches of Christendom, and approxi- mately, at least, of the Church throughout the Roman Empire, i.e. of by far the larger part of the Church, is a more remarkable fact than any recollect…
1,022 wordsSECTION 717Section 717
Of two other of the writings which for a time were not reckoned in this class, it may likewise be said that they deserve to be so on the evidence afforded at the period now under review, considered by itself—2 Jn and Ep. of Jude. Ireneus twice cites words from the former as John’s (adv. Her. i. 9. 3; iii. 17. 8), thou…
930 wordsSECTION 718Section 718
The testimony of Origen confirms the evidence of the preceding period—within which, indeed, half his life fell (A.D. 186-253) —as to the writings about NEW TESTAMENT CANON which there was practically universal agreement in the Greek-speaking and Latin-speaking Church. He accepts all that have been enumerated under th…
1,140 wordsSECTION 719Section 719
With the exception of this statement, we know nothing of the Canon of the Church of Rome and the Churches dependent upon her, or of the Church of N. Africa, during the period under considera- tion. C. CONCLUDING PERIOD.—In the age ushered in by the victory of Constantine, many causes were at work tending to fix the Ca…
957 wordsSECTION 720Section 720
had a bearing on the subject of the Canon of NT. Aiming as they did at a complete reconstruction of Christian history, they subjected the ks of NT and the remains generally of early Christian literature to a criticism which was compre- hensive and penetrating, though seriously biassed. At the same time, their attack up…
953 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.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.