OREB and ZEEB (ἦν, 3x) ‘raven,’ ‘ wolf,’ Ὡρήβ, Z48).—Two Midianite princes captured and slain by the Ephraimites after Gideon's victory, Jg 7* 55, Ps 834, Is 10, cf. 9. The places where they fell were remembered by the Rock of Oreb and the Wine-press of Zeeb, pee near the point where the Wady Far'ah in Ephraim falls into the Jordan (Moore); Osh el-Ghurab in Judah (Conder) seems too far south. It is noticeable that Oreb and Zeeb are animal names, such as occur in the totem stage of society. In times when totemism prevailed, clans were often named after animals; so it has been suggested that Oreb and Zeeb were names of Midianite clans (Stade, GVJ i. 189): if they were individuals, the names would belong to the stage when the totem tribe was passing into a national organization of society (Gray, Heb. Prop. Names, 114). According to Is 10% the slaughter of Midian, not of the chiefs alone, took place at the rock of Oreb; but this divergence from the narrative in Jg is merely an inaccuracy of tradition, and need not imply a different account. The narrative, Jg 7-85, is assigned to E; parallel to this is another account, Jg 8**! J, in which the Midianite chiefs are kings, and their names Zebah and Zalmunna (wh. see). See art. GIDEON and note +t.
G. A. COOKE.
OREN (nk ‘fir-tree’; B ᾿Αραιὰ καὶ ᾿Αμβράν, A "Apdv).—A son of Jerahmeel, 1 Ch2™. The correct- ness of the MT vocalization is doubtful ; perhaps it should be x=‘ wild goat’ (cf. Gn 36%=1 Ch 1, and Stade, GVJ i. 409).
ORGAN.—See Music.
ORION.—The common noun késil is of frequent occurrence in OT, especially in the Wisdom litera- ture, and is regularly tr‘ ‘fool’ or ‘foolish.’ At Am δ᾽, Job 9° 38% our Versions have correctly treated it as a proper noun, and rendered it by ‘Orion.’ At Is 13! the true tr® of the same word is ‘and the Orions thereof,’ i.e. the great constella- tions such as Orion. It has also been suggested that at Job 15” késil (Orion) should be substituted for kegel (flanks); but this is very doubtful. Sa‘adya, Abulwalid, and others have thought that késil is Canopus in Argo, the second brightest star in our heavens [cf. Am 58). The evidence of the ancient VSS is strongly in favour of the identification with Orion. The LXX has ὁ Ὠρίων at Is 13%, Job 38%; Jerome, ‘Orion’ at Am 58, Job 99; the Targ. x53 (giant) at Is 13", Job 99 3851. the Pesh. gabara (giant) at Am 5%, Job 99 3881, The devia- tions, such as Ἕσπερος (LXX, Job 99) and ‘ Are- turus’ (Jerome, Job 38%), do but illustrate the admitted fact that absolute certainty on these
ints is unattainable. The literal meaning of the Heb. word falls in with the evidence just adduced, if késil=‘tleshy,’ ‘fat,’ and, as overloaded with fat, ‘foolish and arrogant.’ It would therefore easily become the name of a giant who was sup- ies to have rebelled against God, and after his
eath was punished by being chained in the
heavens. Job 38%! seems to sanction this; the word méshékoth having, indeed, been rendered oe by Hitzig, but more probably meaning, i
e the cognate Arabic word, ‘ bands’ or ‘ fetters.’ On this interpretation the stars which we call the Belt are looked on as a chain which none but the Almighty can unloose, and the poet’s thought was that God alone can ‘release the earth from It must, however, be
Winter’s sterile bands.’
admitted that there is no other proof of the
Hebrews having conceived of this constellation as
a chained figure. The attempt to show that Orion
and Nimrod are identical must be pronounced a
failure. The Chron. Pasch. says that in Orion
the Persians saw Nimrod. Josephus (Ant. I. v. 2)
makes the latter a rebel against God [ef. Dante,
Inferno, xxxi. 41-81, Purg. xii. 33-35]; the later
Arabic writers speak of him as chained in heaven
for haughtiness, But these witnesses are too late
to be of much value. The Bab. Talmud (Bera- choth 58b) refers to the visibility of Orion during the hot season,—our dog-days,—saying that but for the heat of Orion the world Benin not stand the cold of the Scorpion, and but for the cold of the
Scorpion could not stand the heat of Orion. In
this connexion it should be remembered that in
Syria this constellation is visible during a greater
part of the year than with us, and rises 17° higher
above the horizon.
The mythological fancy of many nations has played around these brilliant stars. New Zea- anders called the Belt the Elbow of Maui or the Stern of Tamererete’s canoe. Norsemen saw in it Frigga’s Spindle. To the Esquimaux these stars were seal-hunters who lost their way home. In classic legend Orion is a handsome Beeotian giant and hunter. The Odyssey, xi. 309, 310, says of Otus and Ephialtes—
οὖς δὴ μηχίς Opis ζείδωρος ἄρουρα pelle raphy ΠΝ Τα ΣΕΥ ΠΝ
Again, xi. 572-575—
Τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ "Opie πελώριον εἰσινόησαω θήρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα κατ᾽ ἀσφοδιλὸν λειμῶνα, τοὺς αὑτὸς χατιπιεῷνεν ἐν οἰοτόλοισιν δρέσσιν χερσὶν ἔχων ῥόπαλον ταγχάλχιον, ally ἀαγίς,
In the Iliad, xviii. 486, the σθένος ᾿Ωρίωνος forms art of an enumeration of important star groups he Egyptians recognized in Orion (whom they
called Sahu) the soul of Horus. The constellation