3. The cleansing properties of water were in- creased, as among other nations, by the use of a
• This simple distinction (Hvea the key to the often misunder- ■tood n&ssoKe Jn 1310 (see Westcott in Spfaker*t Com.),
t It IH tii(!refore somewhat niisleaclint; to apply such expres ■Ions as* bathohimself in the water' {Lv pmisim) to the ablutlonj required by the Levitlcal le^nslation In certain specified catn't (see Purification). The preposition In o'lJJ has in tliese orUi nances throughout the meaning of 'with,' not 'in,* as ir B^Kp 'with fire,' *wa*hed with milk,* 3^n3 (see below). In ■ few pttiisoifes AV gives the correct renderintj * ho shall wash hii flesh ttnth water,' which has been unwarrantably departed from In HV (BOO Lt 22«, Dt 23"). Even in the ritual of the Day ol Atonement there was no provision in 'the holy place* of th< (abernocle for the high priest 'bathing bis flesh In water' (Lv m*- 3* iiv), the nroccss In question being ablution by applying water from a oosin or other vessel, as may be seen in various representations on Greek vases. See illustration in Oartlnor and Jevons' Manuai qf Or, Antupiiiiff, 18M, p. 316 (trmn Gerhard's Auierttt, Vatenbilder, pi. 277). Of. also Wilkinson's woodcut of an Egyptian lady at bar ablutloaa. vol. U. (pop. ed. lg(>4) p. 34iL
258
BATH-KABBIiM
BAVVAI
vegetable alkali (n-jS Jer 2", RV 'soap'), natron, a mineral alkali (inj Jer 2-', RV ' Ij-e '), and 'washing-balls' (Sus " <rnriyiJ.aTa, on which see reff. in Iw. Sliiller's Hdbuch d. klnss. AUcrlh. etc., bd. iv. p. 444c). To wash with milk was con- sidered, as at tlie present day, highly beneficial to the complexion (Ca5''); and it seems to have been a popular suiiev^tition that royal blood possessed similar properties, which explains the curious note (1 K 22**) that the harlots of Samaria bathed in the pool in which Ahab's chariot had been washed (so KV, see Speaker's Commentary in loc. and Additional Note B, p. 624).
4. Public baths are first met with in the Greek period. The yvfimaioi' erected by the Hellenizing party in Jerus. in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Mac 1", 2 Mac 4'- '') must have contained the usual hot and cold baths. Remains of baths from the Roman period exist in various parts of the country. In 1895 a Roman bath was discovered a short distance from the Pool of Siloam (PEFSt, Oct. 1895, p. 30611".). That some even of the most respected Jewish doctors frequented the public baths (fpion, Sriiuiaioii' pi. rivt^w^ Abod. Zar. 1. 7) is shown by the anecdote told of Gamaliel bathing in the bath (XT\7, pl- f^'^i'T!") of Aphrodite in Acco (Acre, Abod. Zar. iii. 4, Strack's ed.). In Herod's temple, as we might expect, there was a bath-room ('iVjan n'3) for the priests (Yoma iii. 2). With the increasing stringency in the observation of the ceremonial requirements of the law (cf. Mk 7*), the bath became, for the laity as well, an all-important factor in the religious life of the community, as may be seen from the number of treatises oi the Talm. devoted to the various aspects of this subject (see PUEIFICATION).
9. In the Roman period, also, we first find a reference to the medicinal value of the hot springs in various localities. Thus Herod the Great, near the end of his life, was sent to take the warm baths at Callirrhoe, E. of the Dead Sea (Jos. Ant. XVII. vi. 6). Those of Tiberias {Ant. XVIII. ii. 3) and Gadara were also celebrated. On this part of the subject see Hamburger, RE.f. Bibel u. Tal. vol. ii. •Heilbader'; Leop. Low, Zur Medezin, etc., in Gesammelte Schriften, iii. 1893, p. 367 tT.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
BATH-RABBIM (D-jTnj 'daughter of multi- tudes,' Ca '*). — A gate of Heshbon near fish pools. Perhaps the rock cutting on the edge of the slope, above the stream west of Heshbon, by which the main road approaches the city on the plateau immediately to the east. The stream is lull of small fish. See SEP vol. i. s.v. HesbAn.
C. R. CONDER.
BATHSHEBA (yj^^-nj).— The wife of Uriah the Hittite, and afterwards of David, and the mother of Solomon. Tlie tragic story of David's adultery with her, and of his treachery towards her husband, is recounted in 2 S 11. Katlislieba is variously described as the daughter of Eliam (2 S 11'), or of Ammiel (1 Ch 3', where, moreover, her name is written Bathshua). It has been suggested with some probability that the father of r.athsheba is to be identified with the Eliam of 2 S 23", who was a son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. This miglit explain the latter's desertion of David as an act of revenge for the seduction of his grand<laughter and the murder of her husband. Once introduced into the palace as the wife of David, Batlislieba seems to have quickly accommodated herself to her new rank, and to liave gained a coniTnanding influence at court. Slie displayed considerable skill and not a little ambition upon the occasion when, in conjunction with Nathan the prophet, she bent the aged David to her will, and secured the
* For tbe Identity of the two worda see Fleiecber's note tub ■;p}>^ In Levy, CkcUd. WOrterb. Cf. |^3. ^aXsuxV, etc.
succession to tbe throne for her son Solomon (1 K 1"-"). J. A. Selbie.