• Budde (Richter u. Samuel, 00) thinks that the person of Barak was the link which connected the two, and that tndl- tioD ascribed both victories to hlni (cf. Jo*. Ant. 7. T <X
t)52
SISINNES
SLANDER
the right bank of tlie Kishon, commanding tlie road from the Central Plain to the sea. Perhaps 41s. 16 imply tliat I;Iaroshetli was at some distance from the battlefield ; so the identification cannot be called certain, and the resemblance of the names, thou^li philologically correct, may be ac- cidental (see Buhl, GAP 2^). See arts. DEBORAH and Jaiiin.
2. A family of the Nethinim, Ezr 2'^ (B om., A ^Kepad, Luc i^KTapd), Neh 7" (B ^mtipdO, A ^eaiapid,
Luc. om.). G. A. Cooke.
SISINNES [Zi<Thp7,s).—The governor (firopxos) of Coele-SjTia and Phoenicia under iJarius, and a contemporary of Zerub., 1 Es o^-'-' 7'. In Ezr 5', etc., he is called Tattenai, 'the governor (nri?) be- yond the river,' i.e. satrap of the whole of Syria west of the Euphrates.
SISMAI {'zw, BA 2offo/io{, Luc. 2aaa/te/).— A Jerahmeelite, 1 Ch 2*'>.
SISTER See Family.
SITH. — The Anglo-Sax. prep, sith (originally an adverb= ' after ') with tlie pron. dam = them, formed siththan ' after that ' ( = Ger. seitdcm). Then siththan was contracted to sithen, which again became sometimes Hth and sometimes sin. The adv. suffix s being added to sithen gave middle Eng. sitheiis, afterwards spelt sithence to keep the s sharp in pronunciation, like pem-c for pens, dice for dies ; and this was contracted to since, the contraction being helped by the form sin. 'Sith' was used as a prep., an adv., or a conjunction. Thus as adv.. Wye. Works, iii. 114, ' Ffyrst they trow in the Ffadyr, for he ys fyrst persone ; aftyr they trow in Jesus Crist, be dyvers artyclys ; and svtthe they trow in the Holy Gost'; as prep., Knox, Works, iii. 278, ' Transubstantiation, the byrde that the Devel hatched by Pope Nicolas, and sythe that time fostered and nurryshed by al his children'; and as conj., Berner, Froissart, Pref., 'Among all other I read diligently the four volumes or books of sir John Froissart of the country of Hainault, written in the French tongue, which I judged commodious, necessary and profit- able to be h.ad in English, sith they treat of the famous acts done in our parts.'
'Sith' occurs in AV 1611 in Jer 15' 23'«, Ezk 35«, Zee 4i°'°^-, 2 Es 7'"', and Ko 5'"»""''«, and ' sitheuce ' in 2 Es lO''. As early as 1616 ' sith- ence' was changed into 'since,' and 'sith' was in time changed (by Paris or Blayney) into the same mod. form in all places except fizk 35", Ko 5 bead For ' sithence ' of. Lk 20'= Khem. 'In the resurrection therefore, whose wife shal she be of them ? sithens the seven had her to wife.' 'Sith' often occurs in the Psalms in metre, viz. 16» 22' ai* 33=1 50" (both versions) 73"' S(i^ 100-> IIQ'"', always as a conjunction. J. Hastings.
SITHRI (-i,iD ; B 2e7pd, A -ZaOpd, Luc. 2£T/.I).— A grandson of Kohath, Ex 0~ (P).
SITNAH (n;?i7 ' enmity' ; 'Ex^pia ; Inimiciticc).— The second well dug by the servants of Isaac, and for which they strove with the herdmen of Gerar (Gn 26-'). The name of the well is derived by J from the disputes over its construction. The site is unknown, but it is supposed to have been in the valley of Gerar, though this is not distinctly stated in the narrative. Palmer (PEFSt, 1871, p. 35) finds a reminiscence of the name in Shutnct er-Rnkeiheh, a small valley near Kuheibeh (Reho- both). Riehm {HWB) apparently means the same place, which he calls Wddy ah-Shetein.
C. W. Wilson.
SIYAN
-The third month, according to th»
later (Babylonian) mode of reckoning. See TI.ME.
SKILL. — Skill comes from a Scand. root meaninj to separate, discern, and means discernment, under- standing. The verb to skill, i.e. to discern or understand, has now gone out of use, but occurs in AV in 1 K 5^ ' There is not among us any that can skill (so RV, Amer. RV ' knoweth how ') to hew timber,' 2 Ch 2'- " (all vi; to know), and 2 Ch 34'- ' all that could skill of (Amer. RV ' were skilful with ') instruments of musick ' (\'Z7t to be skilled in, Hiphil of ps to separate, under- stand). Cf. Milton, Areopag. (Hates' ed. p. 39), ' A wealthy man addicted to his pleasure and to his profits finds Religion to be a traitick so entangl'd and of so many piddling accounts, that of all mj'steries he cannot skill to keep a stock going ujion that trade'; Elyot, Goccrnour, ii. 181, ' Whether he be a gentyll man or yoman, a r3-che man or a poore, if he sitte nat suerly and can skill of ridynge, the horse casteth him quickely ' ; and Lk 12'* Tind. ' Ypocrites, ye can skyll of the fassion of the erth and of the skye.'
J. Hastings.
SKULL, PLACE OF A.— See Golgotha.
SLANDER or EVIL-SPEAKING (noun ny\, from i-'ii] 'glide'; verbs [i?'^], lit. 'use the tongue'; ^y~i, lit. 'slink about,' and other roots. Greek p\a(T<prip.4u, 'speak injuriously'; adj. and subst. fSXdaipiji^os ; subst. f}\a<T(pTip.ia ; Sta^dWu, ' throw over,' ' slander' ; 5id}io\os, adj., and subst. 6 Sio^oXos = ;2i;n). — This sin, of which the tongue is the organ (Pr 18-', Ja 3®"), springs from the heart, as the seat of inner life (Mt l^^^- ^ 15i», Mk 7-', Lk 6«). As a rule, its mental feature is falsehood (Pr 10" 12" 14=- 25) and its emotional hate (1 P 2') ; but even truth may be circulated from motives of malice, and falsehood may be told simply from a perverse pleasure in lying. Hence all tale-bearing, whether false and ill-tempered or not, is blameworthy and injurious (Lv 19", Pr 11'^ 26™ 18», Ezk 22"). Against slander and evil - speaking, from which arises much strife (Pr 16-'''^ 30'°), warnings abound in the OT (Ps 34'^ Pr 15=« 302= 24=^) as in the NT (Eph 431, Col 3s, Ja 4", 1 P 3"), and threats of punishment are not wanting, alike from God (Pa 50'»--2 109-'» 140", Pr S'^ 21-") and from man (Ps lOP, Pr 19' ; cf. Ro 3*). Slander is a sign of moral corruption (Jer &^ 9*, 2 Ti 3^). As angels abstain from all reviling (2 P 2", Jude *), so proneness to slander is regarded as disqualifying for citizenship in the Hebrew commonwealth (Ps 15^ 24^) and for membership or office in the Christian Church (Tit2^ 1 Ti 3"). Instances of slander are recorded (2 S 19", Dn 3^ Neh 6", Ezr 4'') against persons, and even against a land (Nu 13^- 14*'). Among other forms of persecution to which the pious in Israel were exposed was slander (Ps 31'^ 41' 27" 35", Jer 20'°), from which also the members of the Christian Church (1 P 2" 4''), and especially the apostles, suffered (Ac 19" 24' 28", 2 Co 6*), even aa Christ Himself did (Lk 2**, Mk 9'\ Mt 11"'), and as He foretold tliat they would (Mt 5'|, Lk 6--). Christians are Avarncd to give no occasion for it (Tit 2» 3=, 1 P 3"), as thereby they may bring discredit on the gospel and the Church (Ro 14'* ; cf. Ro 2^, 2 P 2-, Tit 2», 1 Ti G'). Among charges later brought against them falsely were cannibal- ism, incest, atheism, hatred of human race, licen- tious orgies. When sufl'ering from such slander innocently, they are urged to bear with patience (1 P 3"; cf. 1 Co 4'2) even as Christ did (1 P 2^; cf. Mt 27*", Mk 15**, Jn 9-"), and even to rejoice therein (1 P 4").