MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ (13 oy Shy πὰρ ‘spoil speedeth, prey hasteth’; LXX, v.1 τοῦ ὀξέως προνομὴν ποιῆσαι σκύλων, ν.3 ταχέως σκύλευσον ὀξέως προνόμευσον ; 15 81" 5).---Α symbolical name given to one of Isaiah’s sons to signify the speedy destruc- tion of the power of the allied kings Rezin and Pekah by the king of Assyria. The prophecy was fulfilled in the invasion of the North in the follow- ing year (734) by Tiglath-pileser, who entirely tiushed Rezin, and took many cities of Israel and
devastated the country (2 K 15” 16°), though the actual capture of Samaria did not take place till 13 years later (721). F. H. Woops.
MAHLAH ()7>; as a proper name it is thus vocalized in order to distinguish it from the common noun 39> ‘sickness’; but some of the LXX forms show that this distinction was not observed in the living language, and doubtless the meaning is identical; LXX Madd, Maadd, Maedd, Moodd).—1. In Nu 268 27! 36", Jos 17%, the name of one of the five daughters of the Manassite Zelophe- had. Probably she was the eldest, for the MT always puts her at the head; and although B of the LXX reverses the order in Nu 36", A and F retain the ordinary arrangement. P, to whom all the passages in question belong, states that Zelophe- had left no sons, and consequently the daughters came before Moses and claimed their father’s in- heritance, lest his name should become extinct. By the divine direction their claim was allowed, the only condition being that they were obliged to marry within the limits of their tribe. Accord- ingly Mahlah and her sisters married their cousins. The narrative illustrates the well-known Israelite law that property was inherited in the male line, and could descend to females only if they married within tribal limits. This has been variously accounted for, by some on the ground that women were incapable of performing one of the duties which property involved, that of offering sacrifice to dead ancestors (Schwally, Leben nach dem Tode, Stade, Geschichte, i. 388-391), by others in accord- ance with the Arab maxim that ‘none can be heirs who do not take part in battle, drive booty, and protect property’ (W. R. Smith, Kin- ship and Marriage). In the Midrash Rabba on Numbers the conduct of Mahlah and her sisters serves as a text for the doctrine that ‘the women of that generation builded up what the men broke down,’ the two other instances being that the women took no part in making the golden calf, and that they did not share the pusillanimity of the men after the alarming report of the spies been received.
2. In 1Ch 718 the RV has Mahlah, the AV Mahalah. The former is correct, the Heb. being abnp as above. The Vulg., which has Maala for Zelophehad’s daughter, here employs Mohola or Moola. Most likely the Mahlah of this passage is a female name. The Chronicler is dealing with the genealogy of Manasseh’s descendants, tracin, them, unlike Nu, along the female line, an stating that Hammolecheth, granddaughter of Manasseh, bare ‘Ishhod and Abiezer and Mahlah,’ Ishhod and Abiezer are names of men: for this and other reasons it is impossible to identify the Mahlah of Nu with the same name in Chronicles.
J. TAYLOR.
MAHLI (n> ‘a sick or weak one,’ from adn; LXX Μοολεί, Μοολί, Μολί, Model, Μοολλεί ; Vulg. Moholi, Mooli).—4. In Ex 6 (AV Mahali), Nu 3”, 1 Ch 9.435. 38. it is the name of a son of Merari, Levi’s youngest son. 2. In 1 Ch 23% 24 a son of Mushi, Mahli’s brother, bears the same name. Ezr 818 informs us that whilst Ezra was waiting beside the river Ahava, he secured for the service of the house of God, amongst others, ‘a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi ... and Sherebiah,’ etc. 1 Es 8 drops the ‘and,’ thus identifying this son of Mahli with Sherebiah. It is more likely, either that the name has dropped out, or that it was something like Ish-sechel (rendered in our versions ‘a man of discretion or understanding’). See ISHSECHEL.
Mahlites (Sne7).—In Nu 3* (Vulg. rete 26° (Vulg. Moholi) Mabli’s descendants are call ‘the family of the Mahlites.’ According to 1 Ch
MAHLON
23% these Mahlites were deszended from the daughters of Eleazar, the elder son of the Mahli mentioned in Ex 6. Eleazar left no male off- spring. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, therefore took them in marriage, and prevented the extinc- tion of their father’s name. It is a little curious that in the enumeration of the families derived from Levi, Nu 2055, the LX X omits ‘the family of the Mahlites.’ J. TAYLOR.
MAHLON.—See Cuinion.
MAHOL (inp, A Μαούλ, B Μάλ, Luc. Μααλά, *"Hudwv, Jos. Ant. vim. ii. 5)—Named in 1 Καὶ 4% (Heb. 5"] as the father of certain sages with whom Solomon is compared. The expression ‘sons of Mahol’ has been referred to the four sages, Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, as well as to the last three or the last two only. The Midrash to the Bk. of Proverbs gives it an independent application (Wiinsche, Bibl. Trabe. p- 2). It isimprobable that all the typical wise men whose names occur to the writer should be regarded as the sons of one man. The Lucianic Sept. (and B?) reads, ‘D. son of Mahol.’ But this may not be original. In 1 Ch 28 Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda are sons of Zerah. Unless ‘son’ be taken in the general sense of descendant (see DARDA), this conflicts with the statement in Kings, whether that be limited to Darda or not. It may be supposed that the Chroni- cler inferred the ancestry of Zerah (nq) from the expression Ethan the Ezrahite (*77187), 2.e. directly or indirectly from this passage. This is, perhaps, evidence that the phrase ‘sons of Mahol’ was not in his text of the verse. The appellative signifi- eance of Mahol suggests an explanation of its appearance. The word is late rather than early,