H. A. Redpath.
PUTHITES (T'irn, B Mei0ci(*eiM, A 'U<pi$dv).— One of the families of Kiriath-jearim, 1 Ch 2^. See Genealogy, iv. 38.
PUTIEL ('jK'cis, *owi^X).— The father-in-law of Aaron's son Eleazar, Ex 6-^ (P). About Putiel we liear nothing more in the 0 T, and the meaning of the name is uncertain. Gray (IIPN 210) classes it amongst the late and artilicial names character- istic of the lists of P and the Chronicler. It may be half -Egyptian half-Semitic ( = 'he whom El gave,' see Dillm. -Ryssel, Exodus, ad loc), but even if so, it will not bear all the weight of the argument that Hommel (^-I/?2'293, 295) builds upon it in regard to the early history of Israel and the character of the Priests' Code. J. A. Selbie.
PUYAH.— See PuAH.
PYGARG (fc'T dishon). — Dishon occurs only once
(Dt I4=). It is the fifth name in the Heb. list. In B of the LXX it comes third in order (iri'yapyos), yalimilr and 'a/,7,d being left out, although AF reproduce these by /3oi'<(3aXo! and TpayiXat/io^. Both l'"iig. VSS have adopted ' pygarg ' for dishon, but AVra h.^s 'dishon or bison.' We have no certain knowledge of the animal intended by dishon, ex- cept that it is to be inferred, from its jiosition in the list, that it was an antelope. If, of the four antelopes found in the deserts contiguous to Pal., Gnzella Dorras, L., corresponds to zibi, Antilope Ic.ucori/x, Pall., to tffo, Ave may adopt A. Addax, Licht., for dishon. This species is over 3J feet high at the shoulders, and sha])ed like the rein- deer. Its horns are spiral, 2i feet long. Its colour is white, \vith tlie exception of a black niane, and a tawny colour on the shoulders and back. It is uncertain whether the fourth antelope, Alci-jilinlus bubalis, Pal]., is mentioned in Scripture (see Unicorn). G. E. Post.
whether the PtHit-yaman mentioned In the fragmentary annals of Nehiiehadnezzar does not come in here. This ' Oreek-Putu ' is nieritionctl ainontj remote counlries in the midst of the sea, wliich aided Kfrypt under Ania-sis aj^ninst the Babylonians, and this reminds Wiiioltler of Xali 3i>. But tlie nerpssary addition yainan (Greek) shows that this countrj- (Winrkler supposes Lesbos, suitably to his restoration of the name of the prince, viz. [PUta]ktt(»), or Caria) is to be distinj^uished from the ordinary Pfit of the Bible, the Persians and Babylonians. Perhaps the Put of Ezk 271» [ch. SS^) mij;ht be explained after Winckler, so that we should have two countries called Put — one in Alrica, another ki the north.
PYRAMID. — Simon the Maccabee is said to have erected a magnificent monument to his parents and his (four) brothers at Modein. This consisted partly of seven pyramids (irvpa/jildas), si.x set up one opposite another, with the seventh (intended apparently for Simon's own monument) probably standing by itself at one of the ends, 1 Mac 13^ (cf. Jos. Ant. Xlll. vi. 6). Pyramid-graves are, of course, most familiar to us in Egypt, but they were not un- common elsewhere. There is probably a reference to such graves in Is 14" 'all the kings of the earth, all of them, lie in honour, each one in hia own house.' The Bible contains no certain special allusion to the pyramids of Egypt, the reference in Job 3''', which has been conjectured, being very doubtfiil (see Dillm. ad loc).
PYRRHUS {Uippos : lit. ' fiery-red ').— Amongst the companions of St. Paul who accompanied him on his last journey to Jerusalem from PhUippi was Sopater of Beroea, who in the RV is described as •son of Pyrrhus' (Ac 20^). The word Iluppov is omitted in TR in accordance with the later authorities, but it is read by all the diflerent classes of older documents (X-'^BDE vulg. boh. sah. Or.), and must clearly have formed part of the original te.xt. Blass {ad loc.) points out that this is the only case in the NT in which a patronymic is added after the Greek fashion, and that perhaps it implies that Sopater was of noble birth. A. C. Headlam.
PYTHON The reading iriiflui-a in Ac 16" is
attested by the overwhelming evidence of kABC* D*. The inferior reading irvSoivos, found in C^D' EHLP, is easily expl.ained. The accusative form was not understood. Hence the more intelligible construction with the genitive (cf. Lk 4-"). The reading irvdwi'a is obviously the right one (so Lachm. Tisch. WH, Blass)
The name llidiiiv as a Greek term must be con- nected with that of the district llvddi in Phocis, which lay at the foot of Parnassus where the town Delphi was situated. Its geographical asso- ciation with the Delphic oracle over which Apollo presided gave rise to the adjective noffios as an epithet of Apollo. His priestess was called ii Jli'dia. Also the name HvSuiv, derived from this local connexion, was bestowed on the serpent whom the god was believed to have slain when he took possession of the Delphic oracle. Accord- ing to Apollodorus (L iv. 1) this oracle was formerly in possession of the goddess Themis, and the mysterious chasm, from which the intoxicating and inspiring exhalations issued, was guarded by this serpent, whom Apollo destroyed. The con- nexion of the serpent with wisdom and sooth- saying is based on demonology (see Magic in vol. iii. pp. 2(J9 (footnote), 210). Cf. Gn 3', Mt 10'«.