Snow is an emblem of refreshment in Scripture. It may be the glowing aspect of the distant moun- tain tops that is in the mind of the psalmist when, speaking of the scattering of Jeliovah's enemies and the consequent elation of the people, he says, 'Then fell snowonZalmon ' (PsBS" ; see Delitzscli, in lor.). Lebanon and Ilermon with their snowy sides have a dcliglitfully refreshing aspect as the inhabitants of the siiltrj' lowlands look up to thera from afar. ' The cold of snow in the time of har- vest' (Pr 25'') may refer to the sight of snow upon the mountain, but more likely to the snow wliich is preserved and stored to m.'ike cooling drinks in the heat of summer. Jn.st as snow from Lebanon and Hermon was carried as a luxury in Jewish times to Tj're and Sidon and Tiberias, so it is to- day used in Bovrout and Damascus for mixing with beverages. ' AV'ater like snow ' is still the beverage most grateful to the fcUahln or to the tliirsty traveller. Snow-water is mentioned for its cleans- ing properties (Job EP : but the text is doubtful, see Dav. ad loc); and the rapidity with which
SXUFFERS, SNUFFDISH
SOAP, SOPE
557
the snow disappears in the heat of the sun is aotieeil by tlio sacred writers (Job 0'" 24"). Snow by reason of its rarity and beauty is one of the wonders of God's power (Job 37", Ps 147'°) ; tlie hail and the snow are conceived to be stored in the heavens for use by God in the productiveness of nature (Is So'"), and in tlie accomplishment of moral ends (Job 3S-- == ; of. Jos 10" and 1 Mac 13-). To he prepared against its coming, seeing that it keeps its season so precisely, is one of the virtues of the ideal woman (I'r 31-' 2C'). Snow is taken to ex- press whiteness in the realm of nature — the \\ hite- nes.s of wool, hoary hairs, leprosj', milk (Rev I''', cf. l)u 7", Ex 4", Nu 12'», 2 K 5-', La 4'). Snow is the chosen Scripture emblem of stainless moral purit3\ We are perhajis not at liberty to say it is used of the transli^jured Christ (Mk ir), because the best MSS omit ws x"^"- But it is taken to describe the purity of the Nazirites of Zion (La 4'), of the Ancient of Da3-s (Dn 7-'), of the Angel of the Resur- rection (Mt 2S'), of the Risen Lord (Rev 1"). As against the dehlement and condemnation and per- sistence of sin, it describes the righteousness, for- giveness, and complete acceptance of the penitent believer (Ps 51', Is l'»).
LiTERATrRE. — Mackie, BtliU Manners and Customt, v. p. 8 ; Condtr. /laiiMook to the Bible, p. 221 ; O. A. Smith, IIGUL p. 64 (., y^KM, 1SS3, p. 32. T. NiCOL.
SNUFFERS, SNUFFDISH.— In three passages of the Priests' Code mention is made of two utensils connected with the K'l'flen caudlestick, named respectively Dirfj^a melkuluiijim, and nnr? muhtUh, and rendered by AV in E.'c 37"^ ' snutlers ' and ' snutldishes,' in 25* Nu 4' ' tongs ' and ' snufl'dishes ' (so IIV also in Ex I.e.).* Tlie -nuih- tilth bear the same name, and were prolialily of the .same shape, as the censers or lireiiaiis (so Tindale, 1530, ' snutlers and fyrepanns'). In them were deposited and removed from the sanctuary the burnt portions of the wicks (see Censer and TAnERNACLi;, section on the Candlestick). The nullcdhdijim, as the etymology and the dual form show, was clearly a snutlers (Vulg. emitnrtoria, forcipe.% LXX, Ex 38", Nu 4» Xo/3I5£s),t resembling in shape a pair of tongs, like the Roman fun-cps (illiistrs. in Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Itum. Ant.' i. 87'J), since the same word is used of the tongs with wliicli, in Isaiah's vision, the live coal was lilted from the altar-hearth (Is 6"). It was used to trim and adjust the wicks of the lamps, like the acun (the pin for pushing up tlie wick) which figures in representations of Roman lamps. In later times we hear of a wool or llax coml), re- du(i!d to a single tooth, being used for this purpose (Mishna, Krlitn xiii. 8 end). The same instrument (mdkulidijim) is mentioned (I K 7*") in connexion with the lamps of Solomon's temple, in a lale addition to 1 K 7 (for 7*'""' see Kings, vol. ii. p. 8G4\ the commentaries of Kittel and Benzinger, and esp. Stade's essay cited there), and its ijarallel 2 Ch 4-', in both passages tr^ ' tongs ' in A V and RV. It will thus he seen that in RV 'tongs' is now the uniform rendering of mclh'ihdyim in all llie passages where it occurs, ' snullers ' being reserved for another word ni:j;p mezrimmcriJth (from it; to prune, trim), also mentioned among the temple furniture (1 K 1'"=2 Ch 4", 2 K 12'>r5iTn]^ 25'' = Jer 52"). Thi.s, as the etymology again shows, also denotes some species of scissors or snullers for trimming the lamp-wicks. Prom a survey of the passages cited in this art. it would ai)pear that mizummirCth is the older term of the two, mcllinh. dijim being found first in P, and in the later addi-
* The .\mericftii Revisers, however, prefer •snufleni* In all three )»a«sni;e8.
t Hut lix '.i5^ and elsewhere iwtifivfrri^ ami itttfiurtpit, a (UDDel o.» other appliance tor (ceding the lanii)8 with oil.