From the words of 1 S 23'" ' the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah, on the south of the desert' (Jeshimon), it seems that the term Arabah, which ' is applied to at least a portion of the great valley whicli stretches from the Gulf of Akabah into the Jordanic ba-sin ' (see art. Araiuii, vol. i. p. 13t<*), here includes that portion of the valley in whicli the Dead Sea is situated. A. T. CUAPMAN.
JESHISHAI (X-t; 'old,' ' venerable'?). — The epoiiym of a Gadite family, 1 Ch 6". See Gene- alogy.
• AV render* thla word generally by ' wilderness,* hut In 12 places has 'descrU* KV has altered these into 'wilderness except In HI Si'", Job«4». Kx 18' « is an Instance of AV Iwine nit-l- .iihng in some words of frequent occurrence (sec R'-viscrs^ I'r. : I ■ 1 The reftilrr of AV would s»ipi>o«c that the original ol ' >1. ,-,. r: III V.3 was dilTerenl from that of ' wildenicsa ' In rv.'-«j but i'ii>y/i/Mtr is the Heb. etiuivalent of both, which la LndicatM by Uie uliange to ' wlMamcM ' In KV.
602
JESHOHAIAIl
JESSE
JESHOHAIAH (i.ijW-).— The eponym of a SLmeon- Ito family, 1 Ch i". See GENEALOGY.
JE8HDA (yie': 'J' is salvation' or 'J' is opulence ' [see Ox/. Bcb. Lex.], 'Ii/croOs), another form of Joshua, is used of — 1. Joshua tlie son of Nun once only (N'eh 8"). 2. The head of the ninth course of priests (ICh 24"). AV has Jesliuah. 3, A Lovite in the time of Hezekiah, who had to do with the distribution of the free-will otlorings (2 Ch 31"). 4. A man of the house of Pahath-moab whose de- scendants returned with Zembbabel (Ezr 2* 'IijiroCe, Nell 7"). This J. is perhaps identical with No. 2 above. 5. A Leriticaf house or its successive heads in the times of Zerub., Ezra, and Neliemiah. J. is mentioned in connexion with the building of the temple (Ezr 3*), the explanation of the law to the peoi)le (Neh 8', cf. 9^'-), and the sealing of the cove- nant ( 10»). Cf . also Ezr 2^° 8", Neh 7" 12»- ■< 'It/ctou. 6. The high priest who along with Zerub. headed tlie first band of exiles that returned. In Ezr uud Nell he is called Jeshua {]i't>:), in Hag and Zee Joshua (l-f'i'i;). His grandfather Seraiah, who was high priest at the time of the capture of Jems., was executed at Kiblah by Nebuch., and his father Jehozadak carried captive to Babylon, where J. was probably born (2 K 25"^-, 1 Ch 6'° ; see, how- ever, Kosters, Het herstel v. Isr. 48f.). On the arrival of the caravan at Jerus., J. naturally took a leading part in the erection of the altar of bumt-oli'ering and the laying of the foundations of the temple (Ezr 3^*), in Hag and Zee he is frequently coupled with Zerub. after these pro- phets had begun to stimulate the people to under- take building operations in earnest (Hag !'• '-• ", Zee S'"'' 6'°- ") ; lie supplies a figure to the imagery of the latter prophet (Zee 3'"), and even receives a crown at his hands (&'"•). He is eulogized in Sir 49". For further details see Zechariah, Zeuubbabel, and refer to the Literature at the end of the latter article. J. A. Selbik.
JESHUA (yis*:).— A town in the south of Judah, Neh U". The site is possibly at the ruin Sdiri west of Tdl Arad and south of 'Attir, as Beer- sbeba is mentioned with it. See PEF Mem. iii. 409 f. Jeshua of Neh 11" appears to correspond to Shema (wh. see) of Joa IS*" 19* (?). See Dillm. ad loc. C. R. CONDEB.
JESHURDN (\iti') occurs four times in OT as a designation for Israel (Dt 32" 2,?fi- *>, Is 44'). Gesenius at one time held that pis'; was a shorter form of p^N-iy: (Cod. Gr., Ven. 'lo-patXicr/cos), a dimin. of ^V)f. (Israel), while at the same time there might be an allusion to the idea of rectitude or upriglit- ness contained in the root if*;. Latterly he adopted a derivation simply from this last root, making J. = the rightecrus little people. The same derivation is accepted by Reuss and Comill, the latter of whom (with Cheyne) finds light thrown upon the meaniug of J. by the references in OT to the 'Book of Jashar,' where Jashar ('the upright') may be a name for Israel. (Cf. Nu 23'° ' Let me die the death of the righteous,' in which D'lfi; ' righteous ' seems to allude to Sx-;^: of the preceding clause). The Sept. in aU the four passages cited above, renders J. by iryairrnxivo^ (' beloved '). Jerome has dilectus in Dt 32", but elsewhere rectissi/niis, corresponding to eiOvt or euSwaros of Aq. Symm. and Theoa., who manifestly connect J. with the root i^;. Delitzsch {Is.' ii. 189) admits that pt?; is a secondary form of ly;, but declines to regaro it as a diminutive, because a ' diminutive of affection corresponds little to the language of di\'ine love' (sic). In spite of this dictum, Schultz' explana- tion of J. as 'a pet name from if*; ' seems a peculiarly happy one [OT TAeol. ii. 29 n.). Driver
(Dt 32") agrees with Dillmann that J. is a poetical title of Israel, pointing allusively to Sij-iif: but derived from ■!»•;, and accordinglj' designating the nation under its ideal character (cf. Ex 19*, Dt 14' etc.) as ' the upright one.' J. A. Selbik.