PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 3
John McClintock & James Strong · 1,405,961 words · 1366 reading sections
Section 361
Epoch. 1. The point of time, usually marked hy some important event, from which a series of _years, termed an (era, is computed or dated ; although "epoch" and "sera" are often used synonymouslj' for either a chronological period or date in general (see Penny Cyclopmdia, s. v. ^ra). An a;ra properly so called the ancie…
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EQUITIUS 276 EQUIVOCATION The following simimary shows the correspondence cf the principal epochs, leras, and periods \vitli that of the birth of Christ, or Christian ara. (A valuable treatise on .Evas of ancient and modern Times may be found in the Cumininion to the Almanac, 1830.) — Kitto, s. V. Chronology. See al…
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Equivocation ^^(eeqiie, voco, to use one word in difterent senses). ' How absolute the knave is ! We must speak bj' the card, or equivocaiie,n will undo us' Qlamlet, act v, scene 1). In morals, to equivocate is to offend against the truth by using language of double meaning, in one sense, with the intention of its bein…
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-^^-. Statue of Erasmus at Eotterdum. mus barely support- ed himself, by taking pupils, and he suffer- ed greatly from sick- ness and poverty. He afterwards attrib- uted his weakness of constitution to his wretched food and un- wholesome lodgings in Paris. After a short visit to Cam- bray and to Holland for his healt…
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The litei'ary industry of Erasmus during his whole life was prodigious. He early imljibed a love for the ancient classics, and contributed largely to increase the taste for ancient culture by his writings in praise of them, by his editions of classic authors, and by his attacks on the scholastic theology and on the ign…
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ERASMUS 2T9 ERASTUS for gold than for the safety of souls ; who think they do eiioiigh if they dress themselves in theatrical cos- tamo, and under the name of the most reverend, most hol_v, and most blessed f.ithers in God, pronounce a blessinj; or a curse ; and, lastly, she boldl}' assails the court of Rome and the…
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Erastianism, the title generally given to "that system ' which would rest the government of the Church spiritual as well as civil altogether in the Christian magistrate.' This, however, 'was far from being an invention of Erastus, since in every kingdom of Europe the Roman claims had been resisted on the like principle…
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ment or communion of the Lord's Supper^ — was not vice or immorality, but a ditterence in theological opinion with the church from which he sought the privilege. The church was to decide who were its members, and thereby' entitled to partake in its privi- leges, but was not entitled to take upon itself the pun- ishment…
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Eremite (Jm)poq, desert), one who lives in a wil- derness, or other solitude, for purposes of religious con- templation. The name was given in the ancient Church to those Christians who flad from the persecu- tors of Christianity into the wilderness, and there, iso- lated from all other men, gave themselves up to a lif…
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Erdge (Epwy/y), a place " before the city" (jrpu tT^q TToAfwc) Jerusalem, according to , I osephus (.1m<. ix, 10, 4). where the mountain (Mt. of Olives) split asunder for a space of half a mile, filling the king's gardens with the detritus of the avalanche : an account which is evidently an embellishment of the prophet…
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ERSKINE 28? ESAR-HADDON sion, the General Assembly decided that he should be 'rebuked and admonished,' confirming a decision of the inferior ecclesiastical courts. Against this decis- ion Mr. Erskine entered a ' protest,' in which he was joined by several of his brethren. He was afterwards suspended from his functio…
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E'sar-had'don (Heb. Esar' -Iladdon' , 'inrT-'nax, perhaps akin with Pers. Athro-dani, gift of fire; Sept. ' Adoooav [in Ezra ' X(ju[)ac(!iov\ v. r. 'Affnp«^«j', in Tob. i, 21, Sapxr/Covof ; Josephus, Ant. x, 1, 5, ' Aryaa- ()axoC>()ac), the son and successor of Sennacherib (2 Kings xix, 37 ; Isa. xxxvii, 38). The date …
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took part in the ornamentation. - ASSYKI.V. •Smith, s. V. E'sau (Heb. Esav', lb", hairy [see Gen. xxv, 25; his surname Edoji was given him from the red pot- tage. Gen. xxv, 30] ; Sept. and N. T. Hcrai;), the eldest son of " Isaac, Abraham's son" (Gen. xxv, 19) by Re- bekah, "the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, of Pa…
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Arrived now at forty j'ears of age, Esau married two wives in close succession. B.C. cir. 1963. Some unhappy feelings appear to have previously exist- ed in the ftimily; for while Esau was a favorite with his fatlier, in consequence, it appears, of the presents of venison which the j'outh gave him, Jacob was re- garded…
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ESAU 286 ESAU Isaac, however, had lost his sight — indeed, all his j senses were dull and feeble. It was therefore not ver}' diflioult to pass off Jacob upon him as Esau. Reliekah takes her measures, and, notwithstanding ! Jacob's fears, succeeds. Isaac, indeed, is not without suspicion, but a falsehood comes to aid…
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It does not appear that the brothers again met until the death of their father, about twenty j'ears after- waids. Mutual interests and mutual fear seem to have constrained them to act honestly, and even gen- erously towards each other at this solemn interview. They united in laying Isaac's body in the cave of Machpelah…
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E'SAU ('H(Trti'', Vulg. Sel), given (1 Esd. v, 29) as the name of the head of one of the families of " Temple servants" or Nethinim that returned from the captiv- ity; in place of the ZiiiA (q. v.) of the Hebrew text (Ezra ii, 43). E'say ('HrT«i'ac,Vulg. Isaia, Tsaias), the form in which the name of the propliet Isaia…
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Manj^ place at the end of Matt, xxiv, 28 the transi- tion to the final judgment; but it is difficult to extend the intimations of consecutiveness that follow ("[But] i.umediatel}' after," "But in those daj's") over such a chasm. It is true, the description ensuing in verses 29-31 is unusuall}' allegorical for a prose d…
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In illustration of the angds spoken of in connection with these incidents (Matt, xxiv, 31 ; Mark xiii, 27), it should be borne in mind that the .lew natural!}' asso- ciated a retinue of angelic servants with the advent of the Messiah in his triumphant career, and this idea Christ here accommodates, in order to assimila…
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Escobar y Mendoza, Antonio, a Spanish Jea- uit and noted casuist, was l)orn at Valladolid in 1589, and took the vows of the order of Jesuits in 1604. He became very eminent as a preacher, and is said to have preached daily (sometimes twice a day) for fifty 3"ears. He was also a prolific writer, leaving more than forty …
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Two things are worthy of special notice in the plain of Esdraelon : 'i. Its ironder/ul richness.— Its unbroken expanse of verdure contrasts strangelj' with the gray, bleak crowns of Gilboa, and the rugged ranges on the north and south. The gigantic thistles, the luxuriant grass, and the exuberance of the crops on the …
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ESDRAS, First Book of. This is the first of the apocrj'phal books in the English translations of the Bible (viz., Coverdale, Mattliews, Taverner, the Ge- neva Bible, Cranmer's Bil)le, the Bishops' Bible, the A. v.), which follow Luther and the translators of the Zurich version, who were the first that separated the apo…
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1. Chap, i corresponds to 2 (Ihron. xxxv and xxxvi, giving an account of Jo.~iah's magnificent celebration of the Passover- feast ill the eighteenth month of his reign, and continuing the history till the Babylonian captivity. 2. Chap, ii, 1-15, corresponds to Izra i, 1-11, recording tlie re- turn of the Jews from Bab…
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As to its original language, this compilation is un- doubtedly made directly from the Hebrew, and not from other parts of the present Sept. This is evi- dent from the rendering of C^'tl '^33^ by tjUTrpocrSfj/ ToiJ Xaov, reading "^SSb (compare i, 11 with 2 Chron. xxxiv, 12), andof n-^'n^n;? ibs bbl hy kuI rrvvirkXt- aav…
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rivers,'' for the purj^se of "robbing and stealing," ; is the work of Daniel Cramer, and the Protestant EbDxiAS :03 ESDRAS Church generally has treated it with great contempt, because it contradicts the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah. On the other hand, Josephus, as we have seen regards it as a great authorit…
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3. Second Revelation (v, 16-vi, 34, A.V. ; iii, 24-iv, 37, Eth.). — Having fasted seven days according to the command of the angel, and against the advice of the prince of the Jews (ver. 16-21), Ezra again appeals to God, asking why he does not punish his sinful people himself rather than give them over to the heathen …
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2, G, 40 ) ; and the succession of kings quoted by Hil- genfcld to represent "the twelve wings," preserves only a faint resemblance to the imager}^ of the vision. But when it is established that the interpretation of the vision is to be sought in the history of Rome, the chief difficulties of the problem begin. The sec…
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ESDRAS 295 ESDRAS The three versions were all made directly from a Greek text. This is evidently the case with regard to the Latin (Liicke, Versuch einer voVst. Einkitung, i, 149) and the Ethiopic (Van der Vlis, Disputaiio critica de Ezrce lib. ajjocr. p. ; 5 sq.), and apparently so with regard to the Arabic. A clea…
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IV. Author and Date. — The greatest divergency of opinion prevails on this subject. Tlie author lias suc- cessively been described as a true prophet wlio lived B.C. 336; an impostor who flourished A.D. 160; a Jew, a Christian, a converted Jew, and as a Monta- nist. The whole complexion of the book, however, incontestab…
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V. Canonicity and Importance. — Bj' many of the fa- thers this book was inidoubtedly regai'ded as canoni- cal. The quotation from it in the epistle of Barnabas is described as the saying of n prophet (ch. xii) ; the quotaticm b}' Clemens Alexandrinus is introduced in the same manner ("Ecrrortc o Troo(p)jTi}Q Xtytt, Str…
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ESEBON 297 ESHEAN in ctisi N. T. p. 48 sq.) ; Ewald, Das vierte Ezrahuch (Giitt. 18G4) ; Calinet, Sur le quatrieme litre d'J-Jsdras (ill liis Commentaire, iii, 253 sq.) ; Greswell, Second Book of Esdras (in his Par(ibles,Y, ii, 280 sq.). The book has been the subject of a prolonged discussion, especiallj'^ by Hilgen…
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Esh'ean [some E'sheiin'] (Heb. Eshan', '1' — !??, a prop; Sept. 'Eadv v. r. 2o/<a, Vulg. Esann'), a city in the mountains of Judah, mentioned between Dumali and Janum (.losh. xv, 52), situated in the group west l)y soutli of Hebron (Keil, Comment, in loc). Van de Velde thinks {Memoir, p. 310, 311) the place may be the …
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Esh'taiilite [many Esh' taulite'] (Heb. collect, with the art. ha-Eshtaiili' , ""SXPl'^Nil, Sept. oi 'Ecr.raojXaloi V. r. v'loi 'Eff^ao/ijVulg. Esthaolitce, A.V. " the Eshtau- lites"), the designation of the inhabitants of Eshtaol (q. v.), who, with the Zareathites, were at a later pe- riod among the families of Kirjat…
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Esnig (or Esnag, Eznig, Eznag), one of the most prominent men of the Armenian Church. He was born in 397, at Gochp or Golp, a place near Mount Ararat, and was one of the pupils of the pa- triarch Isaak and of Saint Mesrop. As he was ac- quainted with the Syrian language, he was sent in 425, together with Joseph of Pali…
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Sspousals. 1. Among the Jews this was the cer- emony of betrothing, or coming under oldigation for the ]iurpose of marriage, and was a mutual agreement between the parties which usually preceded the mar- riage some time. The espousals frequently took place years before the parties were married. See Betroth- al; Marriag…
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Ess, Leander van, a Rcanan Catholic theologian of German}', and cousin of the preceding one, was born a; Warburg, in Westphalia, Feb. 15, 1772. At an early age he entered the Benedictine abbey of Marienmiiu- stei", in the diocese of Paderborn. In 1813 he was appointed pastor at Marburg, and extraordinary pro- fessor at…
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ders "jdri, the high-23riest's breastplate, for which the Sept. has Xoytiov, by taai'^v, or directly from y^U^ in the sense oiXoytiov or \6yiov, endowed with the gift of prophecy. S. Epiphanius (Hmr. xix) takes it to be the Hebrew 'ppH^OTi/jopov y'tvoc,, the stout race. 4. Suidas (s. v.) and Hilgenfeld (Diejud. Apohal.…
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As contact with an}- one who did not practise their self-imposed Levitical laws of purit}', or with anything belonging to such a one, rendered them impure, tlio Essenes were, in the course of time, obliged to with- draw altogether from general society, to form a sepi- rate communitj'^, and live apart from the world. Th…
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ESSENES 303 ESSENES the mysteries connected with the cosmogonj' (mi^"T2 ri"iwN13) which played so important a part both among the Essenes and the Cabbalists. III. Origin and Relalionship to Judaism and Christ i- anitij. — Tlie origin of this sect has been greatly nnsti- fied by Philo and Josephus, who, being anxiou…
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But the best .".mong the Jews felt the peril of Esse- nism as a system, and combined to discourage it. They shrank with an instinctive dread from the danger of connecting asceticism with spiritual power, and cher- ished the great truth which lay in the saying, " Doc- trine is net in heaven." The miraculous energy which…
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longed to such bodies as had not yet withdrawn from intercourse with their fellow-men. But the practice of the extreme section was afterwards regarded as characteristic of the whole class, and the isolated com- munities of Essenes furnished the tj'pe which is pre- served in the popular descriptions. The character of E…
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Essenius, Andrew, a Dutch theologian, was born at Bommel in Februarj', 1618, and was educated at Utrecht, where he became pastor in 1651. In 1653 he was made professor of theology in the University' of Utrecht. He died May 18, 1677. Among his writings ire Trlumphus Crucis (Amst. 1649): — De Hforalitate {^Sabbati 1658) …
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ESTABLISHMENT 306 ESTHER and suffered in consequence of estalilisbments will al- ways form an argument aicainst them. Under estab- lislimants also, it is said, corriij)tion cannot lie avoided. Emolument must be attached to the national church, ■which may be a strong inducement to its ministers to defend it, be it ev…
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2. History. — She was the daughter of Abihail (who was probably the son of Shimei), a Benjamite, and uncle of Mordecai (q. v.). Her ancestor Kish had been among tlie captives led away from .Jerusalem (part of which was in the tribe of Benjamin) by Nebu- chadnezzar when Jehoiachin was taken captive. Tlie fiimily did not…
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It may be convenient to add that the .^d ye r of Xerxes, in which the banquet that was the (^cciision of Yashti's divorce was held, was B.C. 488, his 7th, B.C. 479, and his 12th, B.C. 474 (Clinton, F. L .), and that the simultaneous battles of Platiea and Jlycale, which frightened Xerxes from Sardis (Diod. Sic. xi, 36)…
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II. rrtnon/'r//;/.— Among the Jews this book has al- ways been held in the highest esteem. There is some ground for believing that the feast of Purim was hy some of the more ancient Jews opposed as an unli- censed novelty (Talm. Hieros. Meffillotk, fol. 70; Light- foot, Hor. Jfeb. ad Jt)h. x, 22) ; but there is no tra…
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The objections urged against the canonicity of the book resolve themselves principally into these three — 1. That it breathes a spirit of narrow, selfish, national pride and vindictivencss, very much akin to tliat dis- played by the later Jews, but wholly alien from the spirit which pervades the acknowledged books of t…
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ESTHER 310 ESTPIER probable than that a writer of any intelligence should bj' mistalce have made a statement of tliis kind ; indeed, a fiction of this sort is exactly what a faliulist would have licen most certain to liave avoided ; for, knowing it not to he in accordance with fact and usage, he must have been sure …
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VI. CommenfiiriPS. — The following are separate ex- egotical W(n'ks on the canonical portion of tlie book of Esther, in addition to the formal Introductions to tliat portion of Scripture, and exclusive of the purejy rabl)inical treatises on the Jewish usages referred to in the book; the most important have an asterisk …
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II. Desif/ii and Contents. — The object of these addi- tions is to give a more decidedly religious tone to the record contained in the book of Esther, and to show more plainlj' how wonderfiill}' the God of Israel inter- posed to save his people and confound their enemies. This the writer has effected by elaborating upo…
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I\. Author, Date, and original Language. — From 1 what has been remarked in the foregoing section, it will at once be apparent that these apocryphal addi- tions were neither maiuifiictured hy the translator of the canonical Esther into Greek, nor are they the pro- duction of the Alexandrian nor of any other school or …
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ESTHER, Fast of (IRpX Sn^??.!?), so called from the fact tliat it was ordered b}' Esther to avert the impending destruction which at that time threatened the whole Jewish population of the Persian dominions (conip. Esther iv, 16, 17). The Jews to this tXny keep this fast on the 13th of Adar, the day which was ap- point…
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Eternal is in general the rendering in the A. V. of the Hel). cbi", olam' , and the Greek niutv or aiw- vioQ (both frequently "everlasting," "ever," etc.), ETERNAL 314 ETERNAL LIFE besides occasionally of O'lJ!?, h/dem (strictly early, of yore, referriiit; to the past, Deut. xxxiii, 27, elsewhere "ancient," "of old…
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2. In the N. T. it is of frequent occurrence. In the first three evangelists we iind Zon) alwvioQ (eternal life), or sometimes only 4'w/; (life), represented as the object and destiny of man, e. g. iMatt. vii, 14 ; xviii, 8, 9; Luke x, 28; comp. ver. 25, and xviii, 18. The resurrection of the dead precedes it (Luke xiv…
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This eternal life, with its divine course and its vic- torious power, finds its ground in the communion of life with Christ, which is the result of faith. For wiiile God as the absolute being is He whose life is "of himself" (Jolin vi, 57), and is Himself "eternal life" (1 Jolm v, 20), the source of all life, yet the c…
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(3.) The divines of the Middle Ages brought to light no new truths on this point, but assembled those ETERNAL LIFE 316 ETERNAL LIFE already recognised into a system. They also estab- lished a doctrinal distinction between vitu crtcrna (eter- nal life) and bentitudo (happiness), detining tiiem both. Anselni (Z>e sim…
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7. Later Vievs. — The evangelical Protestant church- es probably would all agree that eternal life com- ETERNAL LIFE 317 ETHAN mences m Christian experience in this world. So Wesley (Sermons, ii, ISO): "This is the testimony, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hat…
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TALITY ; EeSUREECTIOK ; HeAVEN. Eternity of God. See God. E'tliam (Heb. Etham' , CrX, supposed by Jablon- sky [Ojnisc. ed. te Water, ii, 157] to be i. q. Coptic atiom, i. e. "boundary of the sea;" Sept. 'O^w/y, but omits in Num. xxxiii, 8 ; Vulg. Etham'), the third sta- tion of the Israelites when thej^ left Egypt ; …
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Eth'anim (Ileb. Eijtlmnim' , CJ^'^S;, perennial streams; Sept. 'Xaainv), another name for tlie month TiSRi (q. V.) ; so called from the fulness of the hruohs at that time of the j'ear, being swelled with the au- tumnal rains (1 Kings viii, 2). See Calendar. Eth'baal (Heb. Ethbadl, ^?2rX, with Baal, i. e. enjoying his …
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ETHERIDGE 319 ETHICS leading to the inference that it was once an extensive town (Robinson, Researches, iii, 10). Etheridge, John Wesley, Ph.D., a Methodist minister and eminent scholar, was born at Grange- woods, Isle of Wight, February 24, 1804, and died at Camborne May 24, 18G6. His parents were Methodists, and …
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Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; 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.