610
SPEAEMEN
SPICE
2. The lance (n-h romah, cf. Arab, ntinh), perliaps a lighter weapon than the spear proper. In 1 Iv lS'-«"roma/i. is tr" in AV 'lancets' (' lancers in the earlier editions). See, further, Driver's note on
Jl 3'".
3. The spear (proper)— once a tr. of i:s kayin (2 S 21'« where H. P. Smith accejjts the emendation V3\s' kobhd 'helmet'); generally, however, the rende'rinn- of n-jn hanith. This (heavy) spear was used probably in close array, when an army was drawn up shield touching sliield, and with spears at the charge to repel a threatened attack. * roiu this array champions advanced to issue their challenges (1 S IT'^'- «), and back to it upon occasion they retreated. In Ps 35- » the Psalmist seems to think of himself as such a champion defeated and retiring. The hanttk was used by Saul (IS 22'=) as a ' sceptre ' (b3? shebhct, the shepherd s staff). • The cutting up of the spear (Ps 46») is a sign of the end of wa?. The two parts of .t'je spear were the
'staff' or butt (yj. '<? 'wood,' 1 s 1'' f '-;•;.;,", ,^
0119 • or rn hez ' arrow ' or ' shaft,' 1 S 17' KcthM) and 'the 'head' (nanS lahebheth or 2^ lahahh
'flame,' Job 39-»). , ,, ,n34r*i, ^,,w I
In NT 'spear' represents Xi-zXI (Jn 19" [the on y occurrence]: Vulg. lancca). In Jr. 19=» F tieW (Notes on the Translation of the A T, pp. lOo-l'.*' points out that iaaiir-f irepie.^.'res corresponds with the Trepi^fis K^\6.^f of Mt 27«; accordingly, re- vivin" an old conjecture, he suggests mtv ^repi- eivT^Z ' putting [a sponge] upon a spear (^,T<ros_ pilum); certainly 'a sponge upon hyssop is a diflacult phrase to explain.
^ W. Emery Barnes.
SPEARMEN.— 1. Incorrectly for njp /aineh, ' reeds,' in the phrase njij n;- hayyath kcineh ' the company Df spearmen," Ps 68=" [G7-"] AV (similarly Pj. Bk.) ; RV ' the wild beast of the reeds' [LXX tois flTjpiois ToO Ka\i,xov], i.e. probably the crocodUe or the hipitopotamus (cf. Job 40-') as the symbol of t-gypt. 2. For 5e^oXd;3ow (Ac 23'^ EV ; \ ulg. laiiccnru), Lachmann, following cod. A and the Peshitta (1 1 . Vn . o ^^), reads here SeJio^dXout, 'right- handed slingers.' E. Egli {ZWTh xxvii. pp. 20, 21) proposes to take the word in a passive sense (o^'o- XaSos, sic proparoxytone, ' recta captus ), lelt- handed slingers ' (cf . Jg 20>»). See Blass in loc. " \V. Emery Barnes.
SPECKLED BIRD Jer 12' (only). If the MT
of this passage (.7-!?^ 3-39 ^'^'^ '7 'f^HJ 5!'3> B-y:t) is correct, the tr. can hardly be other than ' Is niine heritage unto me (i.e. to my sorrow, a datinus ethicus [Cheyne, ad loc.]) (as) a speckled bird of prev ? Are (the) birds of prey against her round about?' (so, substantially, KV). The people of Israel is compared to a bird of prey, just as, on account of its hostility to Jehovah, it is compared in v » to a lion. But as a speckled (yiny, cf. Jg 5*') bird attracU the hostile attention of other birds (Tac. Ann. vi. 28; Suet. Casar, 81; Pliny, U^ X 19) Israel becomes a prey to the heathen (so Cheyne, Eeuss, et al.). Cornill (in SBOT) alters the text slightly, changing •'? into •? (originally proposed by Graf) and pointing the n of the second D-yn as the art. instead of the interrogative particle. This does not seriously affect the tr., which would now be ' Is niv heritage a speckled bird of prey, that the birds of prey are against her round about ? It need scarcely be said that the rendering ' mine herita"e ia unto me t/u. ravenons hycena (see art. Hy.En'a) cannot be obtained from the present text. It is a fair question, however, whether the M 1 is correct. The LXX has, B ari,\o.ioo i-a(^7,s (' liyiena s den'? = i''3» mj;?), A <riri)\aioi' XTjcrTiii- ('robbers den''). Siegfried - Stade suggest viK nsio 'torn (prey) of the hyiena.' J- A. SELlilE.
• C(. Pauaanias, ix. 40. 11, where it 1» said that Agamemnon's fcncestnil cKY.Trftt waa also called iipv.
SPELT.— See Rye.
SPICE SPICES.— Three Heb. words are so
translated in OT. 1. D-sp sammim. This is a treneric word (peril, loan-word from Arabic) for Odoriferous substances. It is used alone in Ex SO*- (LXX 7,SiV/«ira), and with n-ap ;.c<(/re<A= 'incense' in Ex 30' (<rw9eTos) 40", Lv 4' 16'». Nu4"'etc. i<Tvi'eeai.i = ' composition ). In tlie nrst na^sa-e cited is a list of three of the substances included under this heading. Of these, two are known, qalbanum, a gum resin, and onycha, the operculum of a Strombus: for the third see
2. D^= basam (Ca 5^ RVm ' balsam ' LXX dpu- adro), cVa bosem, c^ bescm, pi. o-^p besaimm. A list of some of the aromatics included under this .generic name is given in Ex 30^ (LXX 7,6.»7.aTa) : nivrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia, and mtn two of them, cinnamon and calamus, besem and bosem are construed as adjectives, to denote swee^ ness Such are spoken of as a sign of wealth (2 It '>0'* 2 Ch 32-''), and were given as tokens ot royal favour (1 K 10^ etc.). They were objects of com- merce (Ezk 27=2). Asa was laid in a bed of spices ('>Ch IG" AV- RV 'sweet odours'). Some nave supiiosed that the expression ' and they made a vev "reat burning for him' mdicates that Asa was cremated. As the previous part of the verse says, however, that they buried hmi in t e sepulchre, and laid him in a bed of spices, the better explanation of the burning is that it was a bonlire m his honour. Such hres are favourite expressions of popular enthusiasm on least days m Bible lands. Spices were stored in the temple (1 Ch 9-n, and used for the purifying of wonien (Esf^'- Ca4"'etc.). ' Mountains ot spices (La, 8 ) may refer to the hillsides around Jerusalem, ^vhere were Solomons Botanical Gardens, containing beds of spices (5" 6;). Bcscn and bosem m^y have signified originally the same as their Arab. cogn.ate 6«^AAm = the Balsam ot ^I<^;>^.«'-V t-^^e .^„f : saZwdendron Opobalsamum, Kth., which is defined in the Arab, lexicons as ' a certain kind of odor- iferous tree, of sweet taste, t''^ ''^•'^y;!;«„f. ^'^'?^. pounded and mixed with henna, blacken the hair 'Phis confines it to a single tree or group of trees (see Balm). But the analysis of the use of bosem and 6escm given above, with the fact that a specia word =5ri is used for Mecca Bals.aui, makes it evident that these two words are not to be taken L any such restricted sense, but to be understood crenerally of aromatics, which would be a better translation than that of our Eng. VSS '^Piees.