LlTERATCRE. — In all accounts of Jewish history at the time of the seeond temple, as well as in the Histories of NT times, the Sanhedrin is treated of in more or less detail. The sources aro the wriliups of Josephus and the NT on the one band, and the Jewish tradition-literature on the other. Amongst the latter the name Sanhedrin is attached to the tracts of the Mishna and Tosefta dealinf^ with .iustice and its administration, as well as to the correspondinj; tracts of the Jems, and Bab. Talmuds. Of the Literature cited by SchCircr tfrVP' ii. ISsf.) the following works and treatises, dealing specially with the .Sanhedrin, may be selected for mention : Selden, rf« 5i/w#rfri/« et Prcefecturi8J\iri<licU veterum Ehrwornm. Lond. 1650-65; .Sachs, ' Ueber die Zeit der Kntstehung des Synhedrins' (in Frankel's ZeitHclirift, 1&45, pp. 801-3K') ; Levy, 'Die Pra'si- deutur iai Synedrium ' (in Krankel's Momi/i.M-fn'ifi. 1S55) ; Langen. 'Das jfidische Synedrium und die ri'Miische Procura- turin Judiia' (in Tuhlng^r Theofoffische Quaytalsvhrift. 1S62, pp. 411—1(1.3); Kuenen, ' T'eber dieZusammensetzung des Sanhe- drin ' {Gesam. Ahhaiidl. z. bihl. WiKSciiSfh., Budde's tr. pp. 4!l-SIl; D. Hoffmann. 'Der ober.sle tterichtshof in der Stadt des Ileiligthums ' {Profinn/tm deft lidlihiiier'Semintires zu BeyUn for 1 s7T-TS); ,IeUki. Die in lu re Ein richtuu'jdefi grottsen Siftiedrionft zu Jernyiihin niid Hire Entt^efzuiiu i)/t yjiuteren piildxtinenHitichen Lehrhatffte bin zitr Zeit des Jl. Jehuda ha- Xusi. Breslau. 1S04. Not mentinned by Schurer is a work in Hebrew by the well-known Jakob lleif'mann, entitled piinjD ^01 iwges)," published at Berditsehcw In ISSS. W. BACKER.
SANSANNAH (^•°.?°; B I;eO€VfiK, A Sawrdi-m; Seii.<!cniia). — A town in the Negeb (RV 'the South') allotted to Judah (Jos 15^'). It is not mentioned amongst the towns in the Negeb that belonged to Simeon. But, comparing the list in Jos l.")3i with the parallel lists in Jos 19^ and 1 Ch 4'ii, it. will be seen that its place is taken in the one case by llazar-susah, and in the other by Hazar-susim. There is no indication of its posi- tion, a question upon which authorities differ. Tristram iilentifies it with Beit Siis'iii on the road from Gaza to Egypt; Schwarz {Heil. Land, p. 72), with Simsim on a height N.E. of Gaza ; and Gu6rin, with Sttsich, E.N.E. of es-Semu'a (Esh- temoa). C. W. WILSON.
SAPH (1?; B 2d0, A 2c0Oi called in Chronicles Sippai (■??; B ^atpovr, A ^e<f><pl).- — One of four I'hilistine champions of whom it is related that they were born to the giant in Gath, and that they were slain by David's heroes (2 S 21'*, 1 Ch •20*). There is no difficulty in supposing tliat he was a son of the (Joliath whom David slew, but it is perhaps more natural to understand the term 'the giant' as a collective, making him merely of the same giant stock with Goliath. See Giant. W. J. Beechek.
SAPHAT.— 1. (B So0d7, A 2o0dT, AV Sabat) 1 Es 5^^. His sons are named among the sons of Solomon's sen'ants who returned with Zerubbabel. There is no corresponding name in the lists of I'^zr and Neh. 2. (B» om., A i:o0dT, B'^ ™e'A(rd0) 1 Es 5« = Shephatiah, Ezr 2<.
SAPHATIAS (B 2o0ot/os, A om.), 1 Es 8»« = Sheiihatiah (cf. EzT 8*); called Saphat in 6".
SAPHUTHI (B Sa4>v(l, A Za4,vet, AV Sapheth),
SAPPHIRA
SARAH
403
I Es5'' = Slie|iliatiah, one of the sons of Solomon's gervaiits, Ezr 2".
SAPPHIRA (Sair(^6/p7().— The wife of Ananias. She lull dead, like her liusband, at the rebuke of St. Peter, Ac 5'*-. bee Anaxias, No. 7.
SAPPHIRE (Heb. tsb, LXX <r(£«-0e.po5, Vuls. lapphiiuji) is mentioned eleven times in the UT, once in the Ajiocr. (To 13'°), and once in the NT (Kev 21"). It is one of the stones in the high priest's brtastplate (Ex 28'* 39"), and one of the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21"'), the latter thought arising, no doubt, from Is 54". It was of considerable value (Job 28'", Ezk 28'^). From it was fashioned the throne of Ezekiel's visions (Ezk 1» 10'; cf. also Ex 24'", where the pavement under the feet of the God of Israel is of 'sapphire'). The consistency with which the VSS adhere to a uniform transliteration of the name is remarkable ; Ezk 28'* is no exception, for altliou<;h t?5 is here seventh in order, and aair- ^fi/joi fifth, this is due to the Greek following the arrangement of Ex 28'^
The etyniology of the Heb. word throws no liglit on the nature of the stone. Probably tsd is Semitic, but neither of the roots nro or -so tells us anything as to colour or structure. It is, how- ever, dithcult to believe that a sapphire was one of the gems in the high priest's breastplate, for this stone is not easy to engrave, the diamond being the only stone that will scratch it. A similar objection might be brought aj^aiiist the lapis lazuli [Petrie's identification in SroXES (Peecious)], which was not deemed verj" suitable for engraving because of the hard points in it. But the olijection has not quite so much force in this case ; the lapis lazuli was sometimes engraved. And there are good reasons for thinking that this is the stone referred to in the Bible. Theophrastus (Arr;?. 23) evidently has in view the deep-blue mineral which is 'usually mottled with white, and contains gold- like specks of iron i)yrites,' wljcn he describes the aiiripdpot, ixTTTtp xpi'ff4Ta<r7-05. Pliny (i/A'^ 37, 119), writing of the cyano.i, states: inesi ei aliguando et aureus pulvis qualis sappiris ; by the sappirus ho clearly means the lapis lazuli. And if we identify it with the Heb. Tsc, the requirements of all the biblical i)a-ssages will be fairly met.