A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 6

John McClintock & James Strong · 1,371,720 words · 1335 reading sections

SECTION 1081

Section 1081

But if Protestantism has had its Mystics, Romanism hfis not been altogether wanting in these religious en- thusiasts. In France, in the Kith century, appeared St, Francis de Sales, and in Spain, St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross; all of them making their mystical doc- trines subservient to tlie interests of the IMo…

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SECTION 1082

Section 1082

MYSTICS 803 MYSTICS also, was one of the most bitter persecutors of Madame Giiyoii, and succeeded iu procuring the public condem- natioa of her writings. Feneloii was for a time con- joined with Bossuet in opposing Guyon, but all the while he was conscious that his own opinions did not differ from hers. At length, i…

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SECTION 1083

Section 1083

In England we see it espoused in the spiritualizing of Solomon's Temple by Bunyan, and Brown's parallels of O.-T. facts with the history of the Jews, etc. INIr. Will- iam Law (author of the iSerious Call, etc.), and the very able opponent of bishop Hoadly, degenerated in the lat- ter part of his life into all the singu…

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SECTION 1084

Section 1084

See Danz, Univvrsuhviirterhnch d. Theolog. Literatur, p. 6<S1 ; Malcom, Theoltrjical Index, \\ 317 sq. ; Winer, JIamlbnch, i, 501 sq. ; Herzog, liial-Kiicjiklop. x, 152 sq. ; Bretschneider, Sijstematische /■Jnlirickiliiiir/, p. 2"2 ; Tho- luck, Sitsismus sen T/ieosojj/iin Pi rsiirum jxiiitkeigtica (Berlin, 1821); Berge…

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SECTION 1085

Section 1085

No satisfactory definition of the word " myth" has ever been given, partly because of the manifold varieties of myths, and partly because the word has been used in several distinct senses. In Homer it is equivalent to Xoyoc (II. xviii, 253), and Eustathius remarks that in later times it came to mean xfyivSi'ig Xoyoc (J…

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SECTION 1086

Section 1086

"Sunbeams npon distant hills, Gliding apace with shadows in their train. Might, with small help from fancy, be transferred Into fleet Oreads sporting visibly." Wordsworth, Excursion, bk. iv. Thus the manifold aspects of nature, imaginatively conceived and metaphorically described, furnished at once a large mythology;…

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SECTION 1087

Section 1087

rect, but generally becoming obscured in the course of time by additions and embellishments added to it. In modern times the distinction has become still more marked; as myths are made to be fables resting on an idea only, and developed as if they were truth, though generally connected either with persons, places, or c…

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SECTION 1088

Section 1088

"It was at this point tliat Strauss conceived the auda- cious idea of applying the mythical theory to the whole structure of the evangelical history. All Germany has been more or less infected with the mytho-mania since the new school of archseologers have gone so deeply into the heathen mythology. "'A mythis omnis pri…

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SECTION 1089

Section 1089

"Besides the general impulse given by Strauss to the study of the four Gospels, he has done theology another good service. His book has given a deadly blow to ra- tionalism properly so called. Its paltry criticism and beg- garly interpretations of Scripture are nowhere more ef- fectually dissected than in his investiga…

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SECTION 1090

Section 1090

Mythology (from fiv^oc, a tale, and Xoyor, a word) is, according t<) I*t)cocke (India in Greece, p. 2, note), intended strictly as a term synonymous with "inven- tion," liaving no historical basis. Vet by usage the word is confined to fictions made in the early periods of a people's existence, for the purpose of j)rese…

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SECTION 1091

Section 1091

We mention (1) that the divine power or life-giving energy in nature was divided up in heathenism into many separate powers, which were personified, and even became to the heathen mind persons, endowed with sep- arate wills, desires, and intelligence. (2) These divine powers, or gods, cast off their connection with the…

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SECTION 1092

Section 1092

MYTHOLOGY 810 MYTHOLOGY with him (Stesich. Frarj. in Bcrgk, 29 ; Herm. Prcpf. in Eurip. Hel. ; Bernhardy, Gesch. Griech. Lit. ii, 473). (4) The tragic poets indulged in still greater liberties. jEschylus and Sophocles, being religious believers, still respected the myths ; while Euripides, an unbeliever, cared littl…

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SECTION 1093

Section 1093

of secondary, physical laws. Take a single instance, that of Apollo. We assume here that Apollo was at first a sini-god; this, although no traces of such an identilication appear in the poets before /Eschylus, and although it has been denied by some writers on my- thology (as by Voss, Mythol. Briefe, ii, 378 sq.), is n…

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SECTION 1094

Section 1094

Not all nations are equally mythological, and some ■which have historical myths to show are not rich at all in religious myths. The Arj^an race had in most of its divisions, as among the Hindus, the Greeks, the Ger- mans and Northmen, and the Slavonians, a great rich- ness of conception and imagination in this respect …

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SECTION 1095

Section 1095

MYTHOLOGY 812 MYTHOLOGY drawn from Moloch), prior to that of Zeus, cannot be made out. Nor is there any proof that the Greeks held to a dualism something like that of the Chinese. On the contrary, the Yedic gods, worshipped seven or eight centuries before Ilesiod, show that in that early age a polytlieism had alread…

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SECTION 1096

Section 1096

There is, however, another class of myths that have to do with the great fact of the flood, which no local phenomena, happening here and there over the world, can account for, and which could not be originated by the reflecting or observing mind. Traditions of a flood are very numerous, and confined to no one or two ra…

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SECTION 1097

Section 1097

Nothing remains, according to our plan, but to say a few words on the explanations of the myths of heathen- dom, especially by the ancients. Great difficulties and uncertainties attend such explanations, because in A-ery many cases the myths are not homogeneous, and be- cause the minds that created them were in a condi…

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SECTION 1098

Section 1098

Another method of explanation may be called the alkfjnrical, which was generally a way of conveying moral or philosophical truth, without necessarily assert- ing in all cases that the old mytliology meant just what tlie philosophers made it to mean. Philo deals willi the history of the Old Testainent just in the same w…

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SECTION 1099

Section 1099

NAAM 815 NAAMAN the enlargement of philosophical survey. In the most recent times, by uniting the excursive method of Creu- zer with the correction supplied by the more critical method of O. Miiller and his successors, the science of comparative mythology has been launched into exist- ence ; and specially the compar…

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SECTION 1100

Section 1100

NAAMAN 816 NAARxVTH or Iladad. We may compare this request with the custom which once prevailed among Christians of car- rying away water from the holy ' river Jordan ; and, perhaps more aptly, wirh a custom still practiced by many Jews of burj-ing a portion of earth from Jerusa- lem with every one of their number w…

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SECTION 1101

Section 1101

Na'amite (Heb. Xud7in', "^"C"} ; Sept. 'Soefiavi), a title of the family descended from Naaman (q. v.), the grandson of Benjamin (Numb, xxv, 40). The name is a contraction, of a kind which does not often occur in Hebrew. Accordingly the Samaritan Codex presents it at length — '• the Naamanites." Na'arah (Heb. Xadiah',…

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SECTION 1102

Section 1102

VI.— F F F brought back their sheep from the wilderness for shear- ing— with eating and drinking "like the feast of a king" (xxv, 2, 4, 36). It was on one of these hilarious occasions — the harvest-seasons of the shepherd — that Nabal came across the path of the man to whom he owes his place in history. Ten youths wer…

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SECTION 1103

Section 1103

Nabari'as (SaiSaplnc, Vulg. Xiihiirids), appar- cntlv a ciirruption (1 Esdr. x, 44) for the ZiitiiAiiiAii of Xeh.viii.4. Nabathaeans (Sa(3ara7oi. [but ATroraToi, Ptol. vi, 7 ; see below], XabuUei), mentioned in Isa. Ix, 7, un- der the name " Nebaioth," as a pastoral tribe of Arabia, in coiniection with Kedar (comp. Pl…

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SECTION 1104

Section 1104

NABOTH 819 NACHMANIDES plies that his objection was mingled with a religious scruple at forwariUng the acquisitions of a half-heathen king : ' Jehovah forbid it to me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.' Ahab was cowed by this reply; but the proud spirit of his wife, Jezebel, was roused. She …

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SECTION 1105

Section 1105

Nabuchodono'sor (Naj8owxo^oj/6(Top),the Grae- cised form in the Apocrvpha (1 Esdr. i, 40. 41, 45, 46; Tob. xiv, 15; Jud. i, 1, 5^7, 11, 12; ii, 1,4, 19; iii, 2, 8; iv, 1 ; vi, 2. 4 ; xi, 7, 23 ; xii, 13 ; xiii, 18) of the name of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (q. v.). Nacchianti (Latin Naclantus'), Gl\como, an It…

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SECTION 1106

Section 1106

erudite Steinschneider, Xachmanidis Dupututio publica book Jezirah (Mantua, 15G2, and often) and was incorporated in Frankfurter's Great Rabbinical Bible (Amsterd. 1724-27). See Fhaxkfirteij. But that Nachmanides was not the author of this commen- tary has been proved by Dr. Frankel, in his Monais- schrift, 18G8, p. 4…

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SECTION 1107

Section 1107

Na'chon (Heb. Kakon', Tl-S, 7^re;ja?-efZ; Sept. Nax^j', V. r. 'Sax'^p and even 'Qcdc'), a name given only as identifying a threshing-floor near which Uzzah was slain, for laying his hand upon the ark (2 Sam. vi, 6). It is doubted whether this be a proper name, de- noting the owner of the floor, or merely an epithet ap-…

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SECTION 1108

Section 1108

NADABATIIA 822 K^XIA injunction given (I^v. x, 9, 10) immediately after their j death, it has been inferred (Koscnm tiller, ad loo.) that the brothers were in a state of intoxication when they | committed the offence. The spiritual meaning of the injunction is drawn out at great length by Origcn, flum. vii, in Levit…

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SECTION 1109

Section 1109

Nadasdy, Tiicmas, a Hungarian Protestant divine of some note, flourisheil during the Reformation move- ment of the 16tli centurj-. But little is known of his personal historj-. He was distinguished by unusual at- tainments, power, wealtli, zeal, and generosity in sup- porting the cause of tlie Gospel. He died in 15,53.…

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SECTION 1110

Section 1110

Nagdilah, Samuel ben -Joseph, ha -Levi, sur- named Han-nagid (the prince or chief), a Jewish writer, was born at Cordova in 993. He was a pupil of Chajug (q. v.), and a contemporary of Ibn-Ganach (q. v.). When in 1015 rabbi Chanoch, under whose instruction he -ac- quired extensive Talmudical learning, died, R. Samuel s…

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SECTION 1111

Section 1111

Nagpur or Nagpore, an extensive inland province of British India, belonging m its civil administration to the Bengal, and in its militar3' to the Madras presiden- cy, extends immediately north-east of the Nizam's do- minions, in lat. 17° 15'l23o 5' N., long. 78° 3'-83o 10', and has an area of 7G,432 square miles, with …

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SECTION 1112

Section 1112

Na'halal (Ileb. XahaM', Vsn:. posture ; Sept. NnnXoA v. r. 'SaiiaaX, and even l'f,\,\.f ; Vulg. Xadlol ; Auth. Vers, once " Naliallal," Josh, xix, 15), a city, in the tribe of Zebulun. on the border of Issachar (Josh, xix, 15), but inhabited by Canaanites tril)utary to Israel (Judg. i, 30, where the name is '• Nahalol"…

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SECTION 1113

Section 1113

Mention is made in the history of Davnd's flight from the presence of Absalom of a " Shobi. the son of Na- hash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon," coming along with others to David at Mahanaim, with food and refreshments (2 Sam. xvii, 27-29). It is possible that this was a son of Nahash, the former king, though it ca…

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SECTION 1114

Section 1114

name from his native place, Nahavend, in ancient Me- dia. He not only immortalized his name by effecting a reformation and consolidation in the opinions of his sect, and by being next in importance to Anan, the founder of this sect, but he greatly distinguished him- self as an expositor of the Hebrew Scriptures. He wro…

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SECTION 1115

Section 1115

I I Plldash. Jidluph. Bethuel I Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, Maacah. Laban I Leah. Rachel. Kebekali to Isaac I Esau. Jacob. Nachrein, which, however, seems to lie out of Mesopo- tamia to the east. Others have mentioned Naarda, or Nehardea, a town or district in the neighborhood of the above, celebrated as the si…

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SECTION 1116

Section 1116

I exiles, and so named by them in memory of Elkosh in their own country. Tradition, as usual, has usurped I the province of historj-. According to pseudo-Epipha- nius {De Vitis Proph. in Opp. ii, 247), Nahum was of the tribe of Simeon, " from Elcesei, beyond the Jordan, at Begabar (li/;yn/3<:ip; C'ftroji. Pasch. 150 B…

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SECTION 1117

Section 1117

prophecy of its destruction. The existence of Phraortes at the period to which he is assigned is now beUeved to be an anachronism. See Medes. Junius and Tre- mellius select the last years of Josiah as the period at which Nahum prophesied; but at this time not Nineveh, but Babylon, was the object of alarm to the Hebrews…

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SECTION 1118

Section 1118

As to the above attempt to fix the date of Nahum's prophecy by comparing parts of it with similar passages in the ^>Titings of Isaiah (viz., Nah. iii, 5 with Isa. xlvii, 2, 3 ; Nah. iii, 7, 10 with Isa. Ii, 19 sq. ; Nah. ii, 1 with Isa. Iii, 1,7; Nah. ii, 3 with Isa. hi, 8), the re- semblance between these passages, it…

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SECTION 1119

Section 1119

4. The fjenuineness of this prophecy has never been called in question. The words in the inscription, X-l iT'3'^5, have been subjected to su.spicion by some on the ground that, as the proper commencement of the writing follows, they are probably a later addition ; but, as Htivemick remarks, there is nothing unfit in t…

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SECTION 1120

Section 1120

Nahum of Gimso (the present Jimzu, near Lydda), a rabbi noted for his great exegetical knowledge, was a disciple of Jochanan ben-Zachai (q. v.), and one of the most prominent Tanaite teachers. He had a school of his own, and is reported as the hero of many wonderful adventures, and even the name of his native place was…

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SECTION 1121

Section 1121

ITail [for fastening] is the rendering of two Heb. words in the A. V. 1. "^T}"^. yatked {(rom piercing), -which usually denotes a (wooden) peg, pin, or nail (of any material), as driven into a wall (Ezek. xv, 3; Isa. xxii, 2.5); and more es- pecially a tent-pin driven into the earth by a mallet to fasten the tent (Exo…

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SECTION 1122

Section 1122

In Jer. xvii, 1 the same Heb. word occurs in the sense of the "point" of a stylus or metallic pen, which was often tipped with adamant or diamond (Pliny, IJist. \at. XXX vii, 4, 15). See Pen. In Dan. iv, 33; vii, 19, the cognate Chald. "iSIJ, (e- phar', occurs of the claws of a bird or beast. Nail, Nicholas, a French…

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SECTION 1123

Section 1123

VI.— G G G Saulcy \^Dead Sea, i, 75], Nayin, pronounced by the Arabs exactly as 'iiaiv), which contains remains of very ancient buildings, with a fountain (Tristram, Land of Is7-ael, p. 130). It stands on a bleak, rocky slope, on the northern declivity of Jebel ed-Duhy (the"" hill Mo- reh" of Scripture, and the " Litt…

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SECTION 1124

Section 1124

Nakdan, Sajisom or Simson, a Jewish writer noted for his mastery of the Hebrew tongue, and hence surnamed " the Grammarian," flourished about 1240. He was familiar with the best works of his Spanish co- religionists, such as those of Chajug (q. v.), Jona ibn- Ganach (q. v.), Parchon (q. v.), Aben-Ezra (q. v.), and othe…

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SECTION 1125

Section 1125

Naldini, Battista, an Italian painter who devoted himself to religious subjects, was born at Florence in 1537. He first studied under Jacopo Carrucci, called II Pontomio, and afterwards under Angiolo Bronzino. Ac- cording to Baglioni, he visited Kome during the pon- tificate of Gregory XHI, and painted several altar-pi…

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SECTION 1126

Section 1126

Namaquas. See Namaqualand. Name (Heb. shem, dD; Gt.ovufia). On the names of persons in Oriental countries, and especially in ancient Israel, the following particulars may be noticed. (See Hauptmann, De Hehrmor. oPOfxaToSritria [Gera, 1757] ; Schwarz, De nomin. V. T. propriis [Gott. 1743].) (1.) A name among the Hebre…

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SECTION 1127

Section 1127

senius (Tsa. i, 278), a person in earlier times was some- times accosted or described as the son of this or that man, in order to disparage him, either because the father was obscure, or because the personal merit of the son would thus be questioned. But, besides, there are many Hebrew proper names which cainiot be cla…

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SECTION 1128

Section 1128

Name of God. By this term we are to understand : 1, God himself (Psa. xx, 1) ; 2, his titles peculiar to him- self (Exod. iii, 13, 14) ; 3, his word (Psa. v, 11 ; Acts ix, 15) ; 4, his works (Psa. viii, 1) ; 5, his worship (Exod. XX, 24) ; 6, his perfections and excellences (Exod. xxxiv, 6 ; John xvii, 26). The propert…

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SECTION 1129

Section 1129

NANCE 838 NANTES, COUNCIL OF the Anais or Anaitis of the Armenians, all uniting in the worship of the power which represented maternal productiveness. . . . Antiochus, it seems, paid little or no regard to this idol" (Commentary on Dan. ad loc). In 2 Slacc. ix, 1, 2, tliere appears to be a different ac- count of the…

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SECTION 1130

Section 1130

Nanok or Nannuk, the founder of the sect of the Seikhs, which has now grown into a powerful Specimen of the Codex Xaniaiius (containing Mark vi, IS : ndi/- nation, was originally a Ilindtt of (he Khetore caste, I £i(r T<i 7rX6io- 1 naf>tK,i\et uv | tou 6 Sacfj-o | nff^eia a„,i ,^.a8 born, in 1469, at Talawandy (now …

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SECTION 1131

Section 1131

it had been abolished during the late troubles; viz. Beam, La RocheUe, Nismes, Montauban, etc. "Now that it had pleased God to grant repose to the kingdom from the destruction of civil war, the king felt it his duty to make provisions for the public worship and ser- vice of God among all classes of his subjects; and if…

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SECTION 1132

Section 1132

Naiiteuil, Celkstix, a French artist noted for his contriliutions to sacred art. was born at Rome in 1813. He studied under Langlois and Ingres, and exhibited his first work, a IIoli/ Family, in 1833, followed by .1 Heffnar (1834), and Christ J/ealinf/ the ,Sick (1837) ; but he was mainly employed as a lithographer, an…

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SECTION 1133

Section 1133

NAPHTALI, Tribe of. The blessing pronounced by Jacob upon Naphtali was ver\' short; but the lan- guage is obscure, and its interpretation has occasioned considerable controvers)-. In the English version it reads thus, "Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words" (Gen. xlix, 21). The Septuagint trans- lates th…

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SECTION 1134

Section 1134

NAPHTxVLI 842 NAPIITALI signify the region by the Lake of Galilee and the mountains to the north of it. Both the Sept. and Viil{;ate render C "the sea" (see also the Chaldee rabbi Salomon, Bochart, Ainsworth, Montanus, and others). The possessions allotted to Naphtali are de- scribed in Josh, xix, 32-39. The lot of …

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SECTION 1135

Section 1135

NAPHTALI 843 NAPIITALI rich in noble and ever-varying prospects as any coun- try in the world ■ (ii, 407). As it is thus described by one of the few travellers who have crossed its mountains and descended into its ravines, so it was at the time of the Christian sera — " the soil," says Josephus ( \Va): iii, 3, 2), "…

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SECTION 1136

Section 1136

But though the history of the tribe of Naphtali ends here, and the name is not mentioned again except io NAPHTHAR 844 NAPHTUHIM the well-known citation of Matthew (iv, 15), and the mystical references of Ezekiel (xlviii, 3, 4, 34) and of the writer of the Apocalypse (liev. vii, G), yet under the title of Galilee — …

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SECTION 1137

Section 1137

BlTlJlEX Naph'tuhim (Ileb. Xaphtuhim', n'^finSJ, prob. of Eg_\-ptian origin, but of uncertain meaning [see be- low] ; Sept. N(05aXf ()(, Gen. x, 13 ; 'Si(p2!a\ifi, 1 Chron. i, II, V. r. 'SKp^ojaedft, 'St(p^oviip; Vulg. Xephtheim and Xephthuim), a Ilamitic tribe of ]\Iizraim's descend- ants (Gen. X, 13; 1 Chron. x, 11)…

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SECTION 1138

Section 1138

Napkin, the rendering in the A. V. of aovSapiov, Vulg. sudarium in Luke xix, 20; John ii, 44; xx, 7; which, however, is rendered "handkerchief' in Acts xix, 12, where it is associated with aprons, aipiicivBia : they are classed together, inasmuch as they refer to objects of a very similar character. Both words are of …

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SECTION 1139

Section 1139

In ancient times this territory was divided into nu- merous petty states independent of each other, and its inhabitants were of various races. Many of the ancient Italian states arose from Greek colonies which had been founded previous to the 7th centur\^ IJ.C. The ancient historical importance of Naples is attested by…

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SECTION 1140

Section 1140

1 Ferdinand retired with his court to Sicily, and for a brief period enjoyed the restoration of his sovereign j rights in Naples; but a second invasion by Napoleon (180G) ended in the proclamation of his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as king of Naples; and on this latter assum- j ing the Spanish crown, in 1808, tliat of…

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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.