While, however, it must be admitted that the rite of the presence-bread had its origin in the circle of ideas just set forth, it is not less evident that, a.s taken up and preserved bj' the religious guides of Israel, the rite acquired a new and higher signilicance. Tlie bre.ad was no longer thought of as J"'8 food (" Dn^) in the sense att.achcd to it in an earlier age, but as a concrete exjire.ssion of the fact that .J" was the source of every materi.tl blessing. As the 'continual bread ' (Tsn cn^ Nu 4'), it became the 'taiiding expression of tlie nation's gratitude to the Giver of all for the bounties of His provi- dence. The number twelve was later brought into connexion with the number of the tribes of Israel (cf. Lv 248), and thus, Sabb.ath by Sabbath, the priestly representatives of the nation renewed this outward and visible acknowledgment of man's wontiiiual dependence upon God. The jucsence of the shewbread in the developed ritual, therefore, was not without a real and worthy signilic.ance. It may here be added, in a word, th.at the explana- tion ot the shewbread hitherto in vogue among the disciples of Hiihr, according to which the ' bread of the face ' was so named because it is through par- faking thereof that man attains to the sight of Gud, accords neither with the true sigiiilication of the term, nor with the historv of the rite.
A. K. S. Kknnedv.
SHIBAH (■ly??'! LX.X apKos[U.L. iuramentum]; Aq. Symm. irXTjcr/toi'^s [Vulg. aliuni/dntui]). — 'I'he well du;,' by I.saac, from which IJeer-sheba took its name, tin 26'^' (.1, who apparently makes r[]iiv = "Vrr 'oath'). The well, according to this view, derived its name from the ' swearing' (v.") of the vou IV. — 32
oath by which I.saac, on the one part, and Abimelech, with his friend Ahuzzath, and his chief captain Phicol, on the other, ratilied the covenant they had made (vv.-*-*"). According to another account, Gn 2r---^' (E), the well was dug by Ahraham, and Beer-sheba was so called because it was there that he and Abimelech ' sware both of tliein.' In the latter pas.sage there is also manifestly a \i\iiy upon the word I'sy ' seven,' seven lambs having been used (v.^"') in the ceremony. l'"or a description of the existing wells see DEElt-.silEBA, and add to Literature : Gautier, Expos: 'Times, 1S91», pp. 328 f., 478 f. ; and esp. ti. L. Robinson, Bihl. World, Apr. 1901, pp. 247-255 (with jilan and photo.s.): an abstract at the end of Driver's Joel and Amos*.
C. \V. Wilson. SHIBBOLETH (n^Sp), Jg 12«.— The Ephraimite fugitives at the Jordan-fords betrayed themselves by pronouncing this word sibbolcth (nSnp) — an interesting proof of the dill'erence in dialect which distinguished the western tribes from those on the east of Jordan. 15y confusion of sounds shibboleth (nSns) would become sibboleth {rh'io), and so ^ibbnleth (nVno) ; see \\'right, Comp. Gram. p. 58. Etj'inologicaily D (i) is quite distinct from l7 («),* but the two are not infrequently confounded in Heb., e.a. i:>v_3 and oys, :id; I's 44''' arid j'li?} 2S 1'-'^, mSp;' for mS^o Ec 1" etc. ; by using D (.y) rather than to (s), the author of Jg 12* simply wished to make the sound as distinct from a {sh) as possible. In illustration of tliis peculiarity of the Ephraimite speech, it may be noted that the Heb. a {sh) as a
mle = the Arab, ^/w (*), e.g. yj:^, «_a_: ; and vice
versa, the Heb. t (.s) = Arab. (i {sh), e.g. «ir,
^-v.i. tiimlii, in his commentary, in ?oc., mentions
another local peculiarity in the pronunciation of the .sibilant : the people of Sarejjta sounded e> (sh)
as n (</i); so frequently Heb. b> («A) =Arab. •■ *• ' ((/t) = Aram. L{th). The Cr. versions of the passage are interesting : B (*t« iii
Koc'i xetTvi^Ovirai/ x.r.\. In both, the Kphr.'iiniites' reply is omitted. ' hucian ' (ed. Lagarde): nVari h^ ^{/*Uriu^. nttt tl-n* "^rocxut X.T.K. Codd. 54, 59, 75, 82 (Moore, M): hVkti Ot ri^OmfjM x^i
yiyortt ffuitlr.fjuc et/ xxTriulJuvKii K.r.K By tri/*Si^fMt is meant 'watchword,' 'countersign'; see 2 Mac 8^ 13'^. The Or. versions, of course, could not imitate the change of the Heb. sibilants, as the 'i'arg. and Syr. do. Vulg. Die ergo: .Scibboleth, aiiod interpretatur spica. Qui rftpondebat : Sibboleth, Mdejn liltera spicam ezprimere non vaUiu.
The meaning of the word is unimportant ; it may be either 'ear of wheat' (Assyr. .sii/niltu), Gn 41°"-, Is 17" etc., or 'Hood,' 'stream,' Is '27", Ps 69"- '^ In the latter sense, which is suitable to the context, the \vord appears only in late passages; in this ancient story it would probably be understood 'ear.'
JIarquarl (7.ATW, 1888, 161 fT.) attempts to prove that the Ephraimites did not pronounce V {sh) as £7 («) (cf. the name of their chief town p"lDt7 Shvmerdn, Samaria), and that t? (*) could not pass into 0 (f) in old Hebrew. He thinks that t)te Qileodites said nSju* {ahibhClfth) and meant ' Hood,' but the Ephraimites said n'^zn (tliiblwlcth) and meant 'ear' (cf. KSain Jerus. Targ. Gn 41'*"'-). This n (f/0 was represented by C (cf. 'I and Bib]. Aram, '"l) for want of a closer equivalent. But jMarquart's arguments are not eon\ incing, and bavj not gener- ally been accr-pteri. We have no means of kuowi'..^ what the Ephraimite dialect was.