4. rn-ij'aroth (Is 19') is tr'' in AV 'paper reeds,' RV more properly 'meadows,' see art. Mkauow in vol. ii. I). 307 note t ; LXX x^wp<5s. There is no authority for identifjing this with the papyrus.
G. E. I'OST.
REED GRASS (Gn 41«'8). _RV for mx, AV • meadow.' The same word is tr'' in Job 8" ' flag,' RVm ' reed grass.' See Flag 1.
REELAIAH.— See Raamiah.
REELIAS (A 'PffXfas, B BopiXem or -tlas, AV Reelius), 1 Ea 5", corresponds in position to Bigvai in Ezr 2', Neh 7' ; but the form of the name is nearer to Reelaiah (A 'PeeXIas) in the same verse of Ezra, or Raamiah in that of Nehemiah.
REFINER, REFINING.— 1. The verb ppi in Qal is used in Job 28' of gold, and in 36" of rain (see Bill m. ad loc. ) ; in Piel it is used in 1 Ch 28" of gold, in 29* (cf. Ps 12*) of silver ; and in Pual of settled wine, Is 25'. 2. The most usual word for ' refine ' is l?f. The only occurrence in AV of ' refiner ' is Mai 3-- ' (■riKP). i-iy occurs both in a literal, Ps 66'°, Jer 6^, Zee 13", and in a metaphorical sense, Ps 26', Is 1»>48'», Dn 11» (cf. Driver, Par. Psalt. 458 f.). 3. rvpomecL Rev l'» 3" (RV 'be refined'); cf. 1 P 1', with Hort's note.
The ancient Egyptians, as described by Wilkin- •on, purified n;oId by putting it into earthen crucibles with lead, salt, a little tin, and barley bran, sealing the crucibles with clay, and then exposing them to the heat of a furnace for five daj's and nights. Refining silver by cupellation is a veiy old process. The silver mixed with lead is put into a crucible made of bone earth, and placed in a reverberatory furnace. As the oxide of lead fonns, it is blown on by bellows, and towards the end of the process the thin covering of oxide becomes iridescent and soon disappears, and the pure bright surface of the silver flashes out. This process of refining silver is re- ferred to in Jer 6'^. The reference in Mai 3 is to the purifying influence of atlliction on the people of CJod ; their sinful impurities gradually disappear, and at last the Divine image is reflected from the (oul, as the face of the refiner from the surface of the purified silver. W. Carslaw.
REFRAIN. — The verb 'to refrain' is now used only intransitively, to abstain from. This use is found twice in AV, Ec 3' ' A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing ' ; and Ac b^ ' Refrain from these men.' * But the primitive meaning of 'refrain' is to curb or restrain (Old Fr. rcfrener, Lat. refrcnare, from re back, and frennm a bridle, a curb), and this is the usual meaning of the word in AV. So Udall, Erasmus Paraph, i. 97, ' Jesus refreyned them, saying. Why be ye grieved with this woman ? ' ; Ex 32'* Tind. ' And the Lorde refrayned him selfe from that evell, which he sayde lie wolde do unto his people' ; Ja 1-' Wye. ' If ony man gessith hym silf to be relegious and refreyneth not his tunge' (AV 'bridleth not'); Elyot, Governour, ii. 215, ' Injurie apparaiint and with powar Inforced eyther may be with Ivke powar resisted, or with wisedome eschued, or with entreatie refrained.' J. Hastings.
REFUGE, CITIES OF (s^p-: "iv, 'en rs, or, more fully ~)i'l^ £:';,"" Ty ; LXX (al) ttAXcis (twv) ^vya- SevTTiplav, or the cities are said to be ijivyaonrrqpin, or eis (pvyaSeirrripiov ; a fuller description (Jos 21-'' ^) is i) jrAXis ToO ipvyaoeimipLov (tj) toD ^ovevffai^os ; Vulg. civitates confugii, civitates (iirbei) ad con/iigicndum, urbcs fufjitirorum (in funitirorum anxilia OT prw- sidia, ad fugitivnrum subsidia). — Nnmcs and loca- tion.— The names and location of these cities are given with great definiteness, and their distribution was such an would best accommodate the entire country. There were three on the west of the Jordan — Hebron in the mountains of Judah, Shechem in Mount Epliraim, Kedesh in Mount Naphtali ; and three on tlie cast of the river — Bezer in the plain belonging to Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to Gad, t;olan in Baslian belonging to Manassen (Jos 20'-*). See under each of these names. There is every reason to believe that the early Jewish tradition (Neubauer, Gfoq. du 7'almud, p. 55), which placed these cities in pairs nearly opjiosite each other on the east and on the west of the Jordan, is correct, so that Bezer should be found near Dhiban, Ramoth in Gilead at Gerasa, — the modern Jerash with which it has been identified (East of the Jordan, pp. 284-290),— and Golan, not yet located with certainty, about due east from Kedesh. For greater convenience there seems to have been a provision (Dt 19') that the principal roads to these cities should be kept open, and the inference is, although this is not stated, that they were likewise properly marked The distance to be travelled could hardly have exceeded 30 miles at most, and was easily passed over in a day.
Origin and purpose. — In the state of society then existing, the appointment of such places of refuge was wise and wholly in the line of justice. If a man took the life of another, he himself must be slain by the nearest relative. No other law was known ; justice could be satisfied in no other way. It was seen, however, that if this law were carried out hastily in every case, men might suffer death who were really innocent. Hence a trial must be had, and meantime asylums provided where alleged criminals Avould be safe until their case could be properly adjudged. The plan did not result, as might be sujiposed, in giviii" these