PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 5
James Hastings · 1,128,046 words · 1137 reading sections
Section 121
82 RACES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT that the writer intends to have us take a leap over to the African coast (see Peters, Das Land Ophir, 1902, who has made out a strong case for locating Ophir in the district near the Zambesi river in southern Africa). Roughly speaking, the twofold division of the Shemites corresponds to t…
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In this survey, necessarily defective, of the important tenth chapter of Genesis, the chief aim has been to present the view taken of the races of the ancient world by a Hebrew writer, or, more exactly, by Hebrew writers. Two features stand out prominently in this view—firstly, the breadth of the writers’ horizon ; sec…
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* Gebal, Damascus, and Helbon also occur in ch. 27, but as names merely of cities, and need not therefore be taken into consideration. So Zidon (278) is covered by Canaan and by Tyre in Gn 10. from the fact that an SEMITES 33 | group. The distribution being controlled largel by the geographical factor, it was not to…
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i, CLASSIFICATION OF THE SEMITES.—The surest token of racial affinity is ordinarily the possession of a common language or of closely related idioms. It is not an infallible test ; for it may happen that through inherent weakness or stress of fortune a tribe or a nation may be absorbed by another, and lose its own form…
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SEMITES east and south. According to Gn 2518, the tents of Ishmael were pitched as far east as Havilah on the south-west border of Babylonia (Gn 24), In the west, however, their several routes intersected and their pasture-grounds were contiguous. Dumah (Is 214) and Massa, Ishmaelites, lay in the path of the Keturites…
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(B) THz NORTHERN SEMITES.—Of far more importance to the Bible student than the Arabians and Abyssinians is the Northern branch of’ the Semitic family. Fortunately, it is also not very difficult to indicate the several divisions of the Northern Semites, and their local distribution. Taking them up in the order of their …
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(6) The Arameans.—The second great division of the Northern Semites, the biblical ‘Aram,’ had as its proper home a much larger range of country than any of the others. Within historical times the Aramzeans had their settlements at various points on both sides of the Lower Tigris, to the west of the Lower Euphrates, in …
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It may be added that the various tribes men- tioned in the Hexateuch as inhabiting Palestine are in all probability merely local subdivisions of the Canaanites, and not co-ordinate independent races. An exception is made of the HITTITES by those who hold them to have been immigrants from Syria, where they preceded the …
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Canaanites, must have lived longer together with the speakers of the latter, or the Babylonians, than did the Arameans. 88 SEMITES It is not yet certain whether the transit was made across the Isthmus or over the lower entrance of with a strong and persistent Sem. element. the Red Sea. Recent discoveries of remains…
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The next stage was that in which individual cities began to extend their dominion widely and to form little empires of their own. One city after another thus arose to power, until there came to bea few independent kingdoms instead of many. These, however, could not all survive in the rivalries and ambitions of that tim…
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But the Bab. idea of Western dominion, inherited SEMITES 89 by Assyria, was at length realized. Assyria was the first of Sem. nations to learn how to govern as well as to subdue the territory of its rivals. After intermittent attempts at conquests, progress west- ward was surely made and maintained from the 9th cent.…
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iii, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEMITES.—It has been stated above that the Sem. civilization is essentially of nomadic origin. We may go further, and assert that the character of the people was vitally affected by their early habitual mode of life. Probably no race in the world’s history has had such a prolonged experience…
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DIASPORA vocabulary there are few qualifying or restrictive terms. In their view of the universe they refer everything to direct supernatural agency. “Hence they leave little scope to the individual human will, and a circumscribed choice of action to them- selves. They know of but two types of govern- ment, the one a …
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The enormous extent of the Jewish Diaspora in comparison with the petty mother country presents an enigma to historical inquiry which it is unable to solve with certainty. In any case, various factors must have co-operated to bring about the result in question. In the time of the Assyrians and the Chaldzeans forcible d…
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A fresh deportation was carried out by Arta- xerxes Ochus, who about the year B.C. 350 trans- ported Jewish prisoners to Hyrcania(Euseb. Chron., ed. Schoene, ii. 112, ad ann. Abr. 1657; Orosius, iii. 7), probably because they had taken part in the revolt of the Phceenicians against the Persian sway. DIASPORA All thes…
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4, ASIA M1INOR.—Here we have numerous testi- monies, and are able to demonstrate the presence of Jews in almost every quarter. They were most thickly settled in Phrygia and Lydia, and we know further how they came there. Antiochus the Great transplanted two thousand Jewish families from Mesopotamia and Babylonia to Lyd…
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94 DIASPORA DIASPORA h. Jralles: incidental mention in a despatch from the Laodiceans (Jos. Ané. XIV. x. 20). i. Caria: see, in general, 1 Mac 15%, and cf. also the above remarks. j. Miletus: a despatch of the proconsul to the city authorities, bearing on the religious freedom of the Jews (Ant. XIV. x. 21). k. Jas…
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s. Antioch of Pisidia: a Jewish synagogue men- tioned in Ac 13", t. Lycia and the city of Phaselis: see 1 Mac 15%, with the above remarks on that passage. u. Korykos in Lycia: a tomb-inscription of late date (REJ x. 76). y. Zlos in Lycia: a tomb-inscription from some- where about the end of the Ist cent. A.D. (Erano…
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Wissowa’s RE, art. ‘Abu-Simbel’]. The J ewish | migration to Egypt in the time of the Persians is Ct. DIASPORA 95 not regarded by pseudo-Aristeas as a voluntary one ; cf. §35, ed. Wendland). See also ‘ Additional Note’ at end of this article. Whether as early as the time of Alexander the Great any considerable numb…
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b. Middle Egypt. 'The more recent papyrus ‘finds’ have furnished information regarding the early settlement of Jews in Middle Egypt. Accord- ing to a document of the 3rd cent. B.C. discovered in the nome of Arsinoé (the modern Fayum), there had to be paid for the possession of slaves in the village of Psenyris a duty e…
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lates vii-xi; Kaufmann, RJ xiii. [1886] 45-61; einach, 26. 217-223; CIL viii. Suppl. No. 12457). At Oea in Tripolis the Christian bishop in the time of Augustine consulted the Jews there about a passage in Jerome’s new translation of the Bible (Augustine, Epist. xxi. 3, 5). On the Peutinger Table there is mention of a…
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The earliest witness to the existence of a Jewish colony in Italy (i.e. probably in Rome) is Cicero, pro Flacco, 28, from whom we learn that already in the time of Flaccus (i.e. B.C. 62-61) Italy was one of the places from which Jewish money was It was just then that the Jewish community at Rome received a 98 DIASP…
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10. THE REST OF ITALY, AND SPAIN, GAUL, GERMANY.—The presence of Jews in these locali- ties is not for the most part demonstrable before the period of the later empire. Relative antiquity belongs to the Jewish community at Puteoli (Dikee- archia), the principal port for the trade between Italy and the East. In addition…
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* In the above account no regard is paid to a passage in the Letter of Aristeas, which, if its terms were more precise, would supply us with information regarding the organization of the Alexandrian Jews about the year B.c. 200. The assage (Aristee Hpist., ed. Wendland, § 310) reads: oréyres of bepeis x02} ray épunviay…
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An isolated occurrence of another designation for the Jewish corporation of a city has yet to be mentioned, namely, the ‘Universitas Judzorum qui in Antiochensium civitate constituti sunt.’ This is found in an Imperial statute of the year A.D. 213 (Codex Justin. I. ix. 1). 2. A pretty extensive uniformity appears to h…
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DIASPORA 101 named side by side as distinct (CIG 9906 ; Garrucci, Cimitero, 67; CIL x. No. 3905; Ac 142 [according to the text of D: oi 6é apxiovvdywyou Tuy "Lovdalwy kal of Gpxovtes ris cuvaywyfs]). Since we meet with a yepovordpyys side by side with the apxouvd- ywyos in the tomb-inscriptions of Rome and Venosa, th…
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1. The nearest analogy is that of the settlements of foreigners, especially Orientals, in the great trading cities of the Greco-Roman world. In all the great seaports of the Mediterranean, during the era of Hellenism we meet with Egyptian, Pheenician, Syrian traders, who not only carry on their business in passing, but…
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+ Cf., on the friendly disposition of the early Ptolemies to the Jews, in general, Jos. ¢. Apion, ii. 4, 5.—A Ptolemy once actually granted the right of asylum to a Jewish proseuche (CIL iii. Suppl. No. 6583 Baosreds . Trorcwocias Kvepyirns viv xporevyiy &ovacy. The monarch referred to is probably Ptolemy ul., for had…
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A jurisdiction of their own in criminal cases, in the complete sense of the expression, was certainly not conceded to the Jews in most places. On the other hand, not only do we meet with undoubted instances of the exercise of a correctional police authority (see Mommsen, Zeitschrift fiir die Neutest. Wissenschafé, ii. …
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A alent shock to the existing condition of things was given by the great Jewish revolts under Trajan and Hadrian. The latter was due, not wholly but partially, to Hadrian’s prohibition of circumcision (Spartian, Hadrian. 14). This prohibition, so far as we can learn, was quite a general one, issued on grounds of humani…
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DIASPORA 105 —— organization of the cities in Western Asia Minor the Jews amongst others received the rights of citizenship. It is wrong, indeed, to refer the atrois in the above quotation to the Jews; it really stands for the Ionians. But the context of the passage makes it probable that at the same time with the Io…
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The social standing of the Jews must have varied greatly in different places. They appear to have been most favourably situated in Egypt, especially at Alexandria. Owing to their pro- sperity and culture they here played an important réle in public life, and under some of the Ptolemies they even rose to high offices in…
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DIASPORA SS ae ee nemo Christianorum presbyter non mathematicus, non haruspex, non aliptes’). Side by side with syneretistic mixture we find also philosophic in- difference to the literal sense of the Law. There were Jews with an education in philosophy who, on the basis of the allegorical interpretation of Scripture,…
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Amongst the most important obligations which the Law imposed upon the Jews was that of paying the manifold dues to the priests and to the temple at Jerusalem: firstfruits, heave - offering, tithe, firstlings, dues in connexion with baking and killing, offerings on divers occasions, and finally the two drachme tax. So f…
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While the Jews scattered all over the world thus held fast to the religion of their fathers, and that in the legal form it had received through the Restoration under Ezra, they had become in other respectsGreeks. Greek culture asserted its suprem- acy in a decisive fashion here, as elsewhere. In Asia Minor, Greece, Eg…
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RELIGION OF GREECE AND ASIA MINOR.— Introduction. A. PRIMITIVE ANATOLIAN AND PRE-HELLENIC RELIGION. I. Sacred Stones and other Inanimate Objects: (1) stones, pillars, columns, etc.; (2) thrones; (3) weapons; (4) wooden posts. II. Sacred Trees. Ill. Sacred Animals: (1) animals as parts of the god; (2) the bull; (3)…
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* On the meaning which we attach to this term ‘half-Greek,’ see the following paragraph. 110 RELIGION OF GREECE other views. It is also necessary to explain that the writer’s views are founded on a far from com- plete survey of the facts, and are liable to correc- tion, doubtless, in many details, if the opportunity …
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J. SACRED STONES AND OTHER INANIMATE OpsEctTs.—As a preliminary, we may ask what traces of the worship of inanimate things can be observed in Asia Minor or Greece, and what is the idea involved in this worship? Many examples are known ‘of such things being regarded with deep religious veneration. (1) Stones, Pillars, …
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In a more developed state of society, roads lead- ing from city to city were probably put under Divine protection in a similar way ; and the sacred stones were commonly made useful to human re- quirements by having distances engraved on them, thus becoming milestones.* But such stones * Curtius, Gesch. des griech. Weg…
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(2) Thrones.—The ancients mention many stones in Greece which were said to derive their sacred character from having been the seat of deities or heroes (who in these cases may usually be regarded as deities degenerated in popular legend). Such were the Agelastos Petra at Eleusis (or at Athens) on which Demeter sat sorr…
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* The Pontic oath by Men Pharnakes (Strabo, p. 557) is later (cf. p. 128) ; but see Roscher, Selene, p. 122. t On the shrine see § V (3); on the sacred cave, § IV (2). t See Perrot, Histowre del?Art dans lAntiquité, iv. pp. 642, 647; Chantre, Voyage en Cappadoce, gives the latest account. § Hellenized as Zeus Labrau…
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The sacred tree was the pledge of the presence and favour of the god, and on it therefore depended the prosperity of the family, tribe, or State which worshipped it. Such belief is seen in reference to the fig tree in the Roman forum, or the olive in the Acropolis at Athens; and when the latter put forth a new shoot af…
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The question of sacred animals is always liable to be mixed up with the question of Totemism. There are, indubitably, certain facts in the re- ligious ceremonial and symbolism of the Greek peoples which can be most easily and naturally explained as survivals of Totemism. But we can- not think that Totemism held any pla…
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The conception of the Sat, 7, « half-human half- bestial form, belongs origina ly to Asia Minor, and was developed, first in Ionian; and then in general Greek art. The more strictly Greek conceptions of Thessalian Centaur and Arcadian Pan are funda- mentally the same in character. The Satyr-type varies between human mi…
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(6) The swine.—Most difficult and obscure are the questions connected with the swine. There is good evidence to show that the swine was sacred in the Anatolian religion. In Crete, which was in strong religious sympathy with Asia Minor, the swine was sacred, and played an important part in the Mysteries and the birth of…
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Out of these facts a very elaborate theory that men abstained from the sacred animal as being holy can be spun. But the abstaining from swine’s flesh in the ritual of Men Tyrannos was merely a very brief temporary act of purificatory prepara- tion, as is obvious from the context,* and did not amount to a permanent rule…
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(8) The sacredness attaching to domesticated ani- mais.—It is obvious that the sacred character of the animals which have hitherto been mentioned rests ultimately on their domestication and their useful- nesstoman. This suggests that some of the arts of domestication may have originated on the great Anatolian plateau, …
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* Nic. Damase. in Dindorf, Hist. Gree. Min. i. p. 148. +The accounts of the ceremony vary a little as regards details : see Mr. J. G. Frazer's Golden Bough, vol. ii. p. 294f. | { This sense of the plural is typical and common: Asos yovei, ‘the circumstances connected with the birth of Zeus,’ and so on. A false interp…
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The worship of the god-serpent at Hierapolis and Laodicea in the Lycus valley+ has played some part in the formation of Christian legend : the sacred serpent is there called the Echidna, and is described as the powerful enemy of St. John and St. Philip. The belief in the sacredness of the serpent was practically disre…
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In the rock-temple at Boghaz-Keui, one of the figures, evidently a personage of great importance on account of his size,{] is represented as standing, or rather striding, with his feet on the summits of two mountains. The Divine nature rests on the mountains, and is at home on their summits, just as, in other represent…
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The rock-temple at Boghaz-Keui, which has been so often mentioned above, was of this class. A mile away from the great city, up a gorge in the side of a rocky hill, two chambers with vertical walls cut in the rocks (the human hand haying assisted the natural formation of the recesses), entirely open to the sky, and con…
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(4) Development of the sacred place into a re- ligious centre or Hieron.—Naturally, some of the sacred places became much more famous and im- portant than others. The circumstances that pro- duced such fame and importance belong to the history of each individual locality. It was the needs, the numbers, and the nature o…
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Similarly, we must recognize that from the earliest stage the germs of image-worship and anthropomorphism were not wanting. (2) Votive images and representations of the Deity. —The need for some outward and material repre- sentation of religious conceptions seems to have been felt especially in approaching the Divine …
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That conception of the Divine power was prompted and strengthened by the physical char- acter of the land. The great plateau, where the religion had its ancient home, was separated from the sea by broad and lofty mountain walls (and it is on the sea that the sense of personality and individual initiative are most encou…
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* See above, § IV (2). RELIGION OF GREECE g ; | evidence, to the earliest forms of these sacred myths and of the cult usages with which they are connected, it seems only reasonable to suppose that they began in a simple and self-consistent form. The view which forces itself on us is that the drama of the Divine life…
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The myths in their older form, as distinguished from the fanciful variations, are obviously in the closest relation to the ritual: they are simply descriptions of the drama as represented in the sacred rites. At other times the union of the two Divine natures is pictured after the animal world: Demeter as the mare mee…
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In accordance with this principle various reliefs are to be explained, in which the representation is grouped in different zones: in the upper zone the Divine figures appear in their own proper circle of circumstances ; in the lower zone the Divine figures appear as brought into relations with mankind, their worshipper…
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(3) Nature of the Mysteries.—In the Anatolian religion, either originally or at some stage in its history (whether through contact with some other race or through some other educational influence), the idea of the recurring death and new birth of the natural world—regarded, of course, as the annual death and rebirth of…
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The details of the Mystic drama set before the worshippers cannot here be described. A very * That the kid is here the mystic form of Dionysos, as the God-Son in the Divine nature, is generally recognized: see S. Reinach, Rev. Avch., Sept. 1901, p. 205 (though we cannot go with him beyond what we have adopted from him…
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in the Lydian Katakekaumene, otherwise called Meonia. Here an old Meonian or Lydian popula- tion was mixed with a body of colonists introduced by the Persian kings five centuries B.c.; and in the Roman inscriptions six or seven hundred years later the goddess is called Artemis Anaitis, the first name being her ordinary…
1,043 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.