• If bdellium b« the correct translation for b/dfilah. then, according to Jonephiu, tt wal 'one of the «weet apicca,' Ant. m. I. e.
t The LXX rende™ ft hy iiS^acl In On and by xft/rroLkXtt in Nu. The tranHlatonl, therefore, conBldered it to he a pri-''ion9 ■tone, but leave tlie readier a choice i)ctween two veiy dilTerent •jMX-ii'S. This view \» opponcd by Uocliart lUitna. U. 674-683, 111. f.W).
t Mniurn Seitnef in HiliU handt, p. IM).
I O. N. Ouraon, ferna, IL 4I>6
BEAM
259
in those of the rivers entering from the north, such as the Euphrates, Tigris (Hiddekel), and the two other streams descending from the highlands of Persia. Probably those obtained from the Pison (the modem Karun ?) were of peculiar beauty and value. Fresh - water mussels producing pearls frequent many rivers in both hemispheres, as for example tho.se of the British Isles, Saxony, Bohemia, Bavaria, United States and Canada, Japan and China; the rivers in which the pearl mussels breed are chiefly those descending from mountainous regions in temperate and sub-tropical climates j in the case of the Pison the waters descending from the mountains at high altitudes would have atlorded the conditions of tempurature required for their vitality.
LrrERATURE. — Oclitzsch, Neuer Com. Uber die Otn. p. 84 (Eng. tr. i. 127) ; DiUniann, iiciw9ut, p. 57 ; Spurrell, Notts on Gm. p. 30 ; Tristram in Expos. Tit/u'S, Iv. 259 ; Dawson, itod. .Seiem-e in Bihle Lands, p. 116; ftlao in Sxpot. tfrd ser. ill. 201, and Hx/JOl. Timti, iv. 869. E. HULL.
BE is frequent for 'are' in the pres. indie, pi. of all persons, but not invariable, nor can any system be discovered : cf. Ps 107*" ' Then are they glad because they be quiet'; and Mt 9^' 'thy sins be forgiven thee' with the parallel passage Lk 5" ' thy sins are forgiven thee." Eng. RV occasionally, Amer. KV always, gives ' are ' for 'be.'
The verb ' to be,' in one or other of its parts, translates a great variety of Heb. and Gr. expres- sions, some of which are highly idiomatic, and should be attended to. In N'l the commonest word, after did, is ylro/iat, which is probably never identical withei>I, since it expresses coming into the state rather than being in it, but cannot always be distin^ii.slied from it in English. (It is precisely the distinction between sein and werden.) RV wherever possible gives ' become,' as Jn 10" ' thev shall become one flock' for AV 'there shall be one fold.'
Observe also — 1. 'To be ' in its primal lense of ' to exist,' as in Hamlet's famous line —
' To be, or not to be, that is the question.'
Gn 5" ' And Enoch walked with God ; and he was not, for God took him ' ; Wis 13' ' out of the good tilings that are seen know him that is'; He 11' ' he that cometli to God must believe that he is.' 2. ' To be the case,' esp. in the phrase ' be it that,' .lob 19' 'And be it indeed that I have erred.' 3. ' To belong to,' esii. in ' peace be to,' 'grace be to,' etc.. Sir 25" ' Well is him that hath found prud- ence.' 4. 'To happen,' Ac 21" ' So it was (<rw^/3ij) that he was borne of the soldiers.'
J. Hastings.
BEACH.— In Mt 13' ", Jn 21*, Ac 21» 27»» « tliat is, wherever the Gr. in NT is aiytaXit, RV changes ' sliore ' into 'beach,' leaving 'shore' for xeiXos ( = .n?;'=' lip '). The beach is properly the part of the shore washed by the tide.
J. Hastings.
BEALIAH (i.-^va ' J" is lord ').— A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Ch 12»).
BEALOTH (n'lSv?), Jos 15".— An unknown town in the extreme south of Judah. See Balau.
BEAM is the tr. of several Heb. words, 1. j-iK 'eregh, Jg 16'*, a weaver's hand-loom (to whicii Samson's hair was fastened), not Bimjily
• In 1611 the two forms seem to be still equally acceptable, and for the most part AV follows previous versions. The nrevinus Torsions do not always ajrree, however. Thus in Mt 22l«Tindale hoA, * For many are calle<i, but feawe be chosen ' ; hut tiie (Jrcat Dible, ' For many be called, hut feaw are chosen.* About the middle of the 17th cent, 'are' ((enerally replaces 'be,* an may be Been by CAimimriii^ the PraverlioolcB of lt]04 and of 1U62 («.y. Kceiintf'B LiiurgiiZ Dritannioa, pp. xxii, 6, SS, 03, vlo.).
260
BEANS
BEAST
the beam. The same word is tr* ' shuttle ' Job 7'. 2. I'ljp mAnOr, a weaver's beam, to which the web is attached. Goliath's spear liandle is compared to it, 1 S 17' and 2 S 21'» ; his brother Lahmi's, 1 Ch 20° ; and that of an Egyptian slain by Benaiah, 1 Ch 1 !». 3. n-fp MraJi, 2 K 6»- », 2 Ch 3', Ca 1", a beam to be used as the rafter of a house ; hence the roof itself used fig. for the house, Gn 19* ' they are come under the sliadow of my roof.' 'Beam' in older Eng. was used for the tree before it was squared into a beam ; this use is found in 2 K 6*- * 'as one was felling a b.' 4. 23 gcbh, 1 K 6' for the beams supporting the roof of Solomon's temple ; but the meaning (per- haps the reading) is uncertain. 6. vi"* zel(C, 1 K 7' in ref. to Solomon's own house. In 6* the same word is tr* ' chambers,' which seems to be its meaning in 7* also. See RVm. 6. o'jj k&phU, Hab 2'' ' the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the b. out of the timber shall answe- it ' — a girder probably (o connectendo, says Ges. Thes. s.v.).