W. M. RAMSAY.
DERISION. — With one exception, all instances of the phrase ' have in derision represent a simide verb : either ill'; l&'agh, ' mock,' Ps 2» 59*, Ezk 2:P''; pn-f sAImIc 'laugh at,' Job 30'; p^n tu'liz, ' deride ' ; or livimjpi^oi, 1 Es 1" (RV ' mocked '). The exception is Wis 5' ' This was he whom we had sometimes in derision ' (S* (axo/Uv rare ds yiXurra, Vulg. habuimus in derisum).
J. Hastino.s.
DESCRIBE.— In Jos 18*- ••"'*'" to describe ' is to map out, or divide into lots, as Jos 18' ' Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.' This is Coverdale's tr., from Vulg. describere (in Jos 18* •• '■ •"", in • divisei-unt, scribentes). In Jp 8" the same Ilcb. (3?; 'write') is again tr. 'describe' (Vulg. describere), but the meaning is ' write a list of.' In this passage the LXX gives ypitpui, the word used in Ro 10° ' Aloses describeth the righteousness wbi.li is of the law' (RV ' writeth that,' etc.); wliile in 4' ' descrilietli the blessedness ' the vb. is \(yu (RV ' pronounceth blessing upon ').
IJesides Jos 18' (above), where there is no eorrcsp. Heb., description occurs only 1 Es 5^ with the meaning of ' list ' : the descrijition of ' the kindred ' (t^j ycfiKris ypa(pTJs, i.e. the genealogy').
J. Hastings.
DESCRY. — 'Describe' and 'descry' are both from Lat. d'scribcre, tlie former immediately, the lattei through the old Pr. dc.irrire. And in earlier Eng. their meanings were often very close, to 'descry' being to 'reveal, 'even as late as MiIton,Con)U(,141—
And to the tcll-tnic Sun deiory Our concealed Bolcmiiity.'
596
DESERT
DEUTERONOMY
But Milton uses the word also in the sense of re- connoitre, as Par. Lost, vi. 530^
* And scouts each coast light-armed Booar, Each quarter, to descry the distant foe.'
This is the meaning of ' descry ' in AV, where it occurs only .Ig 1-^ ' And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel ' ('i'n;l, RV ' sent to spy out ').
J. Hastings. DESERT.— See Wilderness.
DESIRE.—' To desire,' says Trench {Sel. Gloss. 56), ' is only to look forward with longing now : the word has lost the sense of regret or looking back upon the lost but still loved. This it once possessed in common with desiderium and desiderare, from which more remotely, and dfsirer, from which more immediately, we derive it.' And he quotes as an example 2 Cn 21™ ' and [Jehoram] departed without being desired.' Now this sense of ' desire ' b certainly found, as Bemers (1533), ' Of the death of suche an entierly desyred husbande ' ; Jer. Taylor, ' she shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when the dies.' But it is not so certain that 2 Ch 21*" is an example. The Heb. is lit. ' he went [or walked] without desire ' (^Dij rfVa Tihn ; LXX xal iiropcvffri oiK iv iraifif ; Vulg. Amhulavitque non recte, whence Gov. ' and walked not well '), and the tr. of AV is taken from Gen. Bible, which has ' and lived without being desired,' with the gloss ' he was not regarded, but deposed for his wickedness."
J. Hastings.
DESOLATE. — An example of the primary mean- ing (de-solus, alone) ' left alone,' 'solitary,' is Ad. Est 14' ' help me, d. woman, which have no helper but thee ' ; and an example of the obsolete constr. with ' of,' is Bar 2^ ' the whole land shall be d. of inhabitants' (RV ' d. without inh. '). So I Ti 5» Wye. ' sche that is a widewe verili, and desolate ' ; ana Ru 1' Gov. ' the woman reraayned desolate of both hir sonnes and hir huszbande. For Desolation see Abomination of Desolation.
J. Hastings.
DESPITE is now only a prep., though as a subst. it is still used in poetry. The subst. ( = 'contempt' actively shown, 'dishonour,' from Lat. d- spicere, to look down on) occurs Ezk 25' ' rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel ' (c»5J3 -f^K-^-^^^, RV ' with all the d. of thy soul ') ; and He 10^ ' hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace' {iyvfipWai ; 'doith dispit' is Wyclif's word; Tin., Gov., Gran., Gen. 'doth dishonour'; Rhem. ' hath done contumelie '). Of. Jer. Tajlor, ' Liberality . . . consists in the de- spite and neglect of money.' As a vb. 'd.' occurs in Pref. to AV, 'The Romanists . . . did no lesse then despite the spirit of grace,' that is, ' treated with contempt.' Despiteful is found Ezk 25'» 'a d. heart,' 3G* 'd. min.ls"; Sir 31" 'give him no d. 'V7crd5 ' (Xi>70»' dvuStap-ov, RV ' a word of reproach ') ; and Ro l* (v^purral, RV ' insolent '). Despitefully, 1 Mac 9* ' used them d.' (Mvatfov oiVois); Mt 5", Lk 6" 'which d. u.se J'ou' (^tpt;- peo'fw) ; Ac 14' ' to use them d.' {u^pi<rai aiVot't, RV 'to entreat them shamefully'). Despitefulness, Wis 2" ' Let us examine him with d. and torture ' (D/3pei, Vulg. contumelin, RV 'outrage'). Here, and in the passage.s where 'despitefully' occurs, the idea is cruelty more than contempt ; but the meani-ig of ' spite,' ' spitefulness,' is never present in these words. In Est 1" Gov., ' thus shall there aryse despytefulness and wrath ynough,' d. = con- tempt, as AV and RV. J. Hastinqs.