F. HOMMEL.
BABYLONISH GARMENT n}^' ^V'*, <A'Xi to<- kIXt], RV Bab. mantle). — The Heb. means, liter- ally, 'mantle of Shinar' (Jos 7-i), the name by which Bab. was known to the ancient Hebrews. Naturally, it is not an ea.sy matter to decide, even approximately, what kind of garment this can have been. Jos (Ant. v. i. 10) gives rein to his Imagination, and describes it as 'a royal .garment woven entirely of gold,' or ' all woven with gold.' There is no doubt that a dress of this description would be ' goodly ' in the extreme. The probability is that it was a garment of em- broidered stuff, such as Babylon was famed for (cf. Pliny, viii. 74, and Martial, Ep. viii. 28) ; and the statement in the Bereshith Ilabba (§ 85, fol. 75. 2), that it was a robe of purple (an opinion which R. Chanina bar R. Isaac also shared ; cf. Kimchi on .Jos 7-1), is just as likely to be correct as any other. There were probably many centres of the weaving industry in ancient Babylon, that of Sip|iar being niiLst likely the chief. Many tablets referring to woven stuffs have been found on the site of that city, and testify to the extent of the industiy ; and long lists of dress material and garments bear testimony to the diversity of the work and tlie patterns used. The common expression Iithnlti hirme is generally taken to mean stuffs woven in patterns of various designs, like embroidery, the weaver of such cloth being called l^par (or ulhar) hirmi. T. G. PiNCUES.
BACA, THE VALLEY OF (x??^ P^V.).— A valley through which pilgrims pass to Zion (Ps 84" AV; RV has ' weeping,' m. 'balsam-trees'). Ancient versions, including I>XX and Vulg., render vallei/ of weepimi, possibly from confusion between '7? ('weeping') and i*;?, whose plural (2 S 5-^, 1 C\\ J414, 15) designates a tree, varioiLsly identified with the mnlherr;/ (AV and RV), the pear tree (LXX 1 Ch 14), the balsam (Gesenius), and the poplar or napen (Tri,strain, Nat. Hist.).
If an actual valley (the article is not quite con- clusive; .see Ec 3"', where two undouhledly ideal places have the article), it may he identified eitlier with 'the valley of Achor, i.e. trrntble' (Jos 7-''- -'' etc.) ; ' the valley of Rephaim ' (2 S 5"'- --, Is 11^) ; a Sinaitic valley with a similar name (Burckliardt); or the la.st station of the caravan route from the north to Jerusalem (IJenan, IVe de Jesus, c. iv.).
Perseverance and trust not only overcome diflB- culties, but turn them into blessings; this is the lesson, whether the valley be real or only (as the Vulg. i'<(//is lacriimarum has become) an emblem of life. " A. S. Aglen.
BACCHIDES (linKxlSri!) is first mentioned as a friend of Antiochus Epi]ihanes (Jos. Ant. XII. x. 2). Under Deiiictrius Sntcr he held the gover- norship of Mcsoiiiitamia, and w;is sent to est<ablisli Alcimus in the lii.oh priesthood (see Al.ci.MUS). Upon the death of Judas he drove .lonathan across the .Ionian, garrisoned a number of positions in Jud;Ba, and, having thus pacified the country, returned to Demetrius (B.C. HiO), or more probably was recalled by direction of the Romans. Two years later he was sent back in response to an
BACCHURUS
BAG
231
appeal from the Syrian faction, who imagined that Jonathan in his fancied security might be taken unawares. .lonathan, however, threw himself into the fortress of liethbasi, not far from Jericho. To this B. laid siege; but, when his own peril in- creased through the success of the sallies against him and the rising of the country in his rear, he accepted Jonathan's proposal for a treaty of peace. Jonathan was invested (li.C. 158) with the governor- ehip of Judiea, and B. covenanted to withdraw the Syrian forces (but not comiiletely, see 1 Mac 10'^), and he himself finally left the country (1 Mac 7*""° 9'", Jos. Ant. XII. x.-xiii. i.). R. W. Moss.
BACCHURUS (Bd/f^wpo?), 1 Es 9".— One of the 'holy singers' (iepoi/.!iXToi), who jiut away his ' 8tranr;e ' wife. There is no corresponding name in the list of Ezr 10", where there are three porters and one singer to answer to two porters and two singers of 1 Es. The name here may be a cor- ruption of Uri (Tk) in Ezra.
H. St. J. Thackeray.
BACCHUS.— See Dionysus.
BACENOR (Ba/ti5»aip, 2 Mac 12*'), a Jewish otUcer, apparently a captain of horse, in the army of Judas Maccaba'us which went to attack Gorgias, the commandant of Idomeea (or Jamnia, 1 Mac 6", Jos. Ant. XU. viii. 6).
BACKBITE To bite behind the back. Pa 15»
only, ' He that b'"" not with his tongue' ('jj^, RV ' slandereth '). Backbiter, Ro 1*" only (KardXaXos) ; cf. (in Rushw. Hist. Coll. 1659, i. 492) 'Diogenes being asked what beast bit sorest, answered, Of wilde beasts, the Back-biter; of tame, the Flatterer.' Backbiting is found as an adj. Pr 25-'* 'The north wind bringeth forth rain : so doth a b. tongue an angry countenance ' ("ini; ]ia^ ' a tongue of secrecy '), Sir 28'^-'»; and as a suljst.. Wis 1", 2 Co 12« (xaraXaMa, tl'' in 1 P 2' 'evil speakings').
J. Hastings.
BACKSIDE is used in AV as tr. of three words : —1. irx 'ahar, Ex 3' ' he led the flock to tlie b. of the desert ' ; RV ' back ' ; but the Heb. is a prep. here, ' behind the desert' (cf. 11' ' the maidservant tliat is behind the mill '), that is, to the pasture- lands on the other side of the desert from the Midianite encampments. 2. Tni< Vi/i^r, Ex 2(i'^ ' the b. of the tabernacle,' RV ' back ' ; the Heb. is a subst. in the plu., ' hinder parts,' as in 33-' ' thou shall see my back parts,' 1 K 7-* ( =2 Ch 4'') ' hinder parts,' Ezlc 8'" ' backs.' 3. tTtcBev, Rev 5' ' a book written witliin and on the b.' ; RV ' back ' : but the back of a book is not tlie same as the re- verse side of a roll. St. John was struck, not only with the fact that the roll was sealed, but also with the amount of writing it contained. Like Ezekiel's (2'") ' roll of a book . . . written within and witliout,' it had writing on both sides, which was as unusual with an ancient roll as w ith modern printer's manuscript. J. Hastings.