brid.il pair safe home. Before taking his leave Raphael assures Tobias that when he seemed to them to eat and drink, they were under an illusion. To 12". (5) The chief characteristic of Raphael was as a herder oj men's mrdadies. Tobias, the father of Tobit, was atllicted with leucoma in the eyes ; and Sarah was jjossessed by the demon Asmodseus, who h.ad, on the lirst night of marriage, slain seven husbands who had been married to Sarah. By the fumes of the heart and liver of a fish burnt on embers, Raphael instructed Tobit how to expel the demon, and to use the gall of the same lish to cure Toliias' blimlness.
In Enoch 10 Raphael and Michael both receive a commission from God to punish the fallen angels, who had married human wives. The reason why Raphael was bidden to cast the angels into cavities, aiul cover them for ever with rugged stones, was, that he might heal the earth, which had been deliled bj' the enormities of the ' watchers.' Jewish tradition names Raphael as the third of the .angels who appeared to Abraham in Gn IS, his duty being to im|iart to Sarah 'strength to conceive seed,' cf. He 11", Ro 4'». The Midrash speaks of a Book of Noah (see vol. iii. p. 557"), which was one of the earliest treatises on medicine. The origin of this book is said to have been that after the Flood men were atllicted with various diseases, and (jlod sent the angel liaphael to disclose to Noah the use of curative plants and roots (Ronsch, Buck der Juhilcien, 3S5 f . ). Thus was Raphael true to his name, 'El has healed.' J. T. Marshall.
RAPHAIM (A 'Paipah, K 'Paipadf, B om.).— An ancestor of Juditn, Jth 8'.
RAPHON ('Pa0(iv).— A city in R.ashan, ' bevond the wjidy ' {ir^pav tov x^'M^ippoi'), near which 1 imo- theus sustained a defeat at the hands of Judas Maccabaius ( 1 Mac 5^). It is no doubt the Itnphana of Pliny (HN v. 16), but the site has not yet been identified. C. R. CoNDER.
RAPHU (msT ' healed ' ; "Pa^oi'/).— The father of Palti, the spy selected from the tribe of Benjamin, Nu 13".
RASSES (BA 'Pofforis, N 'Pao<r(rf(?, Lat. Cod. corb. and Vulg. Thnrsis [ = "Tarsus], OM Lat. Tyrru et 2in.n.i, Syr. Thirds (Gn 10'-) and Jinimifes (Ex 1")). — Among the peo])le3 which Holofcrnes subdued are mentioned 'the children of Rasses' (Jtli 2-^). Some think the Vulg. Tarsus is original, the Greek a corruption, the Old Lat. and Syr. a union of the two. Fritzsche suggested Uhosos, a moun- tain chain and city south of Amanos, on the Gulf of Issus. Ball adds the possibility of Rosh (Ezk 38'^-' 39'). Eastern Asia Minor seems to be the general region which the connexion suggests.
P. C. Porter.
RATHUMUS CPdeiz/ios), 'the story- writer' or 'recorder,' 1 l';8 o'"- "■ ^- *•, is the same as ' Rehum the chancellor ' of Ezr 48- »• "• ^. The LXX of Ezra has merely transliterated the Aramaic title j 1 Es has either taken it as a proper name (itoi \',ei\Teeij.o-i, "), or tr'' it as a title (4 [7(>d<^u>'] rA 7r/)o(r7rl7rTo^Ta "), or combined both these render- ings (*>). See Beeltetumus, Chancellor.
RAVEN (■^-ly'orebh, /c6pa{, corvus, Arab, ghur&h). — Both the Ileb. and Arab, roots mean 'to be black.' The Arab, root also contains the idea of leaving home. From these two meanings the raven has come to bo a bird of specially evil omen to the Arabs, who attribute to his presence the worst of presages of death and disaster. They are esiiecially superstitious about the ijhttrdb el- bi'.n, wliich they say is marked with white on hit
202
EAVEN, RAVIN
EEBEKAH
black coat, or has a red beak and legs. What bird is meant by these descriptions is not quite dear. It is probably fabulous.
The raven is the first bird mentioned by name in the Bible (Gn 8'). The lleli. inijilies tliat the raven went out and stayed, probably feeding on carca.sses. The LXX ami V ulg. ^eeiu to imply that it went out and stayed until the waters were dried up, and then returned. But there would have been no reason for its returning then. The raven was unclean (Lv 11", Dt 14'''). It is in part a carrion bird, and therefore uneatable. Kavens were commanded to feed Elijah, and did so (I K 17^"). See article Elijah in vol. i. p. 6SS\ tiod is twice said to provide for young ravens (Job 3S-", Ps 147^). There is nothin" especially significant in this. It is implied in tlie previous and succeeding verses that God provides for other wild animals. The stories that ravens neglect their young are fabulous. The allusion to the eanion-eating propensities of ravens (Pr 30") is true to nature. Ihey are always found among the birds and animals which assemble around a carcass in Palestine. They, however, capture and eat lizards, bares, mice, etc. Their black colour is compared with that of the hair of the Shulam- mite's lover (Ca 5")- They are among the ill- omened creatures which symbolize the desolation of Edom (Is 34"). Ravens are not wholly flesh- eaters. On the contrary, they are very fond of chick peas and other grains, by devouring which tliey do vast damage to the farmers.