Galilee, nor exactly the frientfs of Home ; but those among the Jews who, in more or less veiled opposition to the Roman procuratorship, as well as to the idea of a pure theocracj', desired the restora- tion of the national kingdom under one or other of the sons of Herod. Their alliance with the Pharisees in opposition to our Lord was not due to religious or political sympathy, but to the recogni- tion by both parties that Jesus was their greatest common foe. The question regarding the tribute paid to Cavsar (Mt 22", Mk 12'-') was skilfully calculated to draw from Him an answer that would cither lead to His being accused of sedition against Home (Lk 20-"), or discredit Him among the people. In order to get rid of Jesus, tlie Pharisees, who combined even with the Sadducees, would not scruple to enter into a temporarj' alli- ance with the Herodians, however much they were opposed to their religious and political sentiments. (See Keim, Jesus of Nazara, iii. 157 fl'., and in Schenkel's Bibellex. iii. 65 If. ) D. EatON.
HERODIAS.— See Herod, pp. 353, 360''.
HERODION (HpwSLuv, WH-pyo-).— A Christian mentioned Ro 16", apparently a Jew (avyyeviji), and perhaps a freedman of the Herods. See A_RIS- TOBULUS, vol. 1. p. 148*.
HERON (nsjK 'dndpkdh, xopaSpiis, charadrion).— This word designates an unclean bird (Lv 11", I)t 14"*), not otherwise mentioned in the Bible, but suf- ficiently well known to be taken as a type of a class. The LXX rendering simply means a swamp bird. The fact of the occurrence of this name immediately after .Ti'pn stork, and followed by the expression ' after her kind,' gives the only clue we have to the bird intended. Of the birds suggested bv various authorities, as the eagle, parrot, and swallow, none would go in a group with the stork. Tlie heron, on the other hand, belongs to the same group, and, unlike the stork, of wliicli only one species is found iti the Holy Land, has no fewer than six species of the genus Ardea alone. The most common of these is A. cinerea, L., the Grey Heron (Arab. dunkeleh and ghiirr,*!/:). Less common \a A. pur- vurea, L., the Purple Heron; A. alba, L., the White Egret; A. garzetta, L., the Lesser Egret; A. bubulcus, Audouin, the Buff-backed Heron or
Wliite Ibis (Arab. Abu-Bckr) ; A. raUoidcs, Scop., the Squacco Heron. There are also three otbei genera 'after their kind,' Ardetta ininuta, L., the Little Bittern; Nycticorax griseus, L., tlie Night Heron ; and Botaurus stellaris, L., the Bittern. In the absence of a better we may retain the rendering of EV ' heron.' RVm (Lv ll'*) gives ' ibis.'
G. E. Post.
HESHB0N(|^3-.f'n, LXX'E«;3iii',E(r^iiv,Jos21«>B) ('device' or 'reckoning'; note play on the word in Jer 48" ' in H. they have devised . . . '). — The chief city of Sihon king of the Amorites, captured by the Israelites on their way to the Jordan. The defeat of Sihon is related I*;u 2r-'-'' (E), Dt 2"-*', referred to brielly Dt 1^ 3" 4« 29', Jos O'" 12=^ • 1321.27^ Nell 9-'^, more fully in Jephthah's me.ssage to the king of the Ammonites, Jg II""''-. In these passages Sihon is sjioken of as ' king of ' or ' dwell- ing in' lleshbon. In the distribution of the laud II. is assigned to Keuben by Moses, Nu 32^'-'' (E), and Joshua, Jos IS'"- "■ -'. 'riie inheritance of Gad extended from H. to Ramath-mizpeh, Jos 13'-" (P) ; and in the list of Levitical cities (Jos 21** (P), 1 Ch 6*') H. is reckoned as belonging to Gad.
In the prophecies of Isaiab and Jeremiah (Is 15* 16'- », Jer48-»'« 4<>') H and cities in its neigh- bourhood are mentioned as cities of Moab. For these passages, and the reference to H. in the song quoted Nu 2r-'"-, see Moab and SlllON. The Jews are again in possession of H. in the time of Alexander Jann.'eus (Jos. Ant. XIII. xv. 4, where H. is described as in the country of Moab), and the surrounding district is called in Herod's time Essebonitis {Ant. xv. viii. 5) and Sebonitis (BJ II. xviii. 1). Whether in the account of places taken by Judas Maccaba;u3 (1 Mac o-"-^, Jos. Ant. XII. viii. 3) H. is mentioned, is doubtful [see notes on passage in 1 Mac (Camb. Bible for Schools) and the various rcadin<js in Niese's Josephtis].
In the Onomn.it iron H. ('Eff/SoDs) is described as 'urbs iusi^nis' in tlie mountains, 20 miles (Roman) from the Jordan. The name occurs as the seat of a bishopric in the acts of the Council of Chalcedon. St. Sylvia of Aquitania describes Esebon as visible from Mt. Nebo, which is eonli nied by modem travellers, and adds that it is now called Exebon — an interesting piece of evidence as to the pro- nunciation of the name in her tiiue (Palestine Pilgrims Text Society, vol. i. 28). In the life of Saladin in the same series (vol. xiii. p. 97) occurs the modern name IlesbSn, and Abulfcda mentions it as inhabited (Geographif, Arabic text, edited by Schieis, p. 129, and translated by Lestrange, Pat. under the Mo.ilems, p. 456). I'lie site is now covered with extensive ruins, chieHy Roman, and by the side of the plateau on which these are situated runs a stream issuing from a cave, at which the tribes in the neighbourhood obtain water for themselves and their cattle. From the stream a steep winding mountain-path leads up- wards to the city, and at the top of tlie ascent passes through a sort of passage cut through the rocks, about 3 or 4 yards wide. Buhl (Paldstina,