After the capture of Samaria by Sargon in B.C. 722, some of the Israelites were transported to ‘the cities of the Medes’ (2K 17° 18"). This probably took place after Sargon’s campaign against the Medes (B.C. 713), when he penetrated as far as the distant land of Bikni. Isaiah (13 21°) calls on the Medes and Elamites to overthrow Babylon (cf. Jer 25) ; and Jeremiah (51+ *) speaks of the ‘kings’ of the Medes combining with Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to destroy the Bab. empire. At this time it would seem, therefore, that the Medes were still governed by a number of different chiefs. Im Elam we must see Anzan, the ancestral kingdom of Cyrus, which an Assyr. tablet states was equivalent to ‘Elam’; the in- vasion of Babylonia, referred to by Jeremiah, may have been one which took place in the reign of Nergal-sharezer, not that of Cyrus. ieee ever, united the Medes and Persians under his sway ; Gobryas, the governor of Kurdistan, whom he made the first governor of Babylonia after its conquest, was a Mede, according to the classical writers; and Mazares and Harpagos, who con- Vash Ionia for Cyrus, were both of Medic
escent. Hence the Ionian Greeks spoke of ‘ Medes’ rather than of ‘ Persians.’ Gomates, who pretended to be Bardes (Smerdis), the son of Cyrus, and usurped the throne of Cambyses, was a Magian, and therefore also of Median origin ; and, in the troubles which followed his murder, Media endeavoured to secure her independence under Frawartish or Phraortes. Frawartish, how- ever, was at length defeated in a pitched battle, and, after being taken prisoner near Rhages, was impaled at Ecbatana. ter the destruction of the Persian empire, Media was divided into Media Atropaténé (so named from the satrap Atropates), which corresponded with the modern Azerbijan, and included the Parsuas of the Assyr. monuments, and Media Magna to the south and east of it. Here were Ecbatana (now Hamadan), and Bagistana (now Behistun) in the ancient territory of Ellipi. Bagistana is probably the place called Bit-ili or Bethel by Sargon. Media had thus come to ex- tend widely beyond its limits in the Assyr. age, when the Medes inhabited little more than Mati- éné and the district to the E. of it, and S. of the Caspian, in which Raga or Rhages (now Ra) was situated. They were, in fact, mountaineers, and
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hence had the reputation of being brave and war- like, delighting in arms, in brilliant clothing, and in carrying off booty from their more settled neighbours. From the Persian monuments we gather that they let the beard grow, and wore Caps, long robes with full sleeves, and shoes. Their religion was a form of Zoroastrian fire-worship, and they left the bodies of the dead to be devoured # wild beasts or birds of prey. (See J. V. Prasek, Medien und das Haus des Kyaxares, 1890). A. H. SAYCE. MEDIA.—See MEDEs.
MEDIATOR, MEDIATION.—
INTRODUCTION. 1. Meaning and use of the term ‘ Mediator.’ 2. The idea of mediation in religion, i, Ix Paganism. 1. Savage notions. 2. Civilized ideas. ii, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 1. In OT history. 2. Priestly mediation. 8. Prophetic mediation. 4. Mediation in the Wisdom Literatare. 5. The mediation of angels. fii. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 1. Christ as Mediator. 2. The teaching of Jesus on mediation. a. In the Synoptics. b. In the Fourth Gospel. 8. Apostolic teaching. a. Speeches in Acts. b. St. Paul and 1 Peter. 6. Epistle to the Hebrews. d. St. John («) in the Gospel and the Epistles; (9) in the Apocalypse. Literature. INTRODUCTION.—l. Meaning and use of the term « Mediator.’—The word ‘mediator’ (Gr. μεσίτης) is found only in NT, namely at Gal 3%, 1 Ti 2°, He 8° 916 12%.* The verbal form (μεσιτεύω) occurs once, in He6!”, The derivation from the adjective μέσος ‘in the middle’ merely suggests the idea of one who is found in the midst, or who enters into the middle. But usage gives a more specific meaning to the term. Thus we always find it standing for a person who in some way inter- venes between two. This intervention is of two kinds: (1) in order to bring about a reconcilia- tion where there has been division or enmity— the thought in Job, and in St. Paul’s use of the word; (2) quite apart from any notion of a previous quarrel, with the idea of drawing two together into a compact or covenant—the mean- ing in Hebrews in each of the three cases where it occurs. Moses was regarded as a mediator in a generel sense, as coming between God and Israel, th to shield the people from the Divine severity, and to introduce God’s law to their notice and effect their union with Him as a covenant people. The first of these ideas appears in Dt 5°, where, while the word ‘mediator’ is not used, the idea is suggested by a cognate adverbial form (ἀνὰ μέσον, Heb. }'3). Philo uses the word ‘mediator’ (μεσίτης) for Moses in the same connexion (Vit. Moys. iii. 19). Elsewhere Philo refers to speech as a ‘mediator and intercessor’ (de Somn. 1. 22). Josephus writes of Agrippa being a mediator be- tween the people of Ilum (Ant. XVI. ii. 2). Ὁ 2. The idea of mediation in religion.—While the word ‘mediator’ is rarely met with, the idea con- tained in it is one of the most vital and influen- tial thoughts in religion. Nearly vere religion bears witness to it. Both ase and prophecy rest upon the conception of mediation—priesthood in the selection of certain men for approach to God and the reconciliation of the people with Him by means of sacrifice ; prophecy in the sending of Divine messengers who are to deliver to the people the oracles they have received from heaven. The * The LXX employs μεσίτης in Job 983 as rendering of 0°10, which AV and BV tr. ‘daysman’ (wh. see).