* And sythen his blissed body was in a ston byried. And descended a^ioune to the dark belle ' ;
and by Coverdale in Is 51' 'Take hede unto the stone, wherout j'e are liewen, and to the grave wherout ye are digged.' 3. In Ezk 11'* 36-"" and Sir 17'" ' stony ' means ' hard as stone,' as in Shaks. Merch. of Venice, IV. i. 4 —
•Thou art come to answer A stony adversary.'
J. Hastings. STOOL.— 1. A chair of honour for a guest, 2 K 4" ' Let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool.' (So RV, thougli the Ileb. is nbj, which elsewhere means a rojal throne or other .seat of state : the LXX gives Sl<ppo^, which is tr"* ' stool ' in AV of 2 Mac 14-'', but in RV ' chair of state ').
In older English 'stool' was used freely for any kind of seat, as in Chaucer, Wife of Hath' s ProL 287, 'Spones and stoles, and al swich housbotKlrye' ; Mk ll^^Tind. 'the stoles of them that sold doves' (xacth^ptt?, AV 'scats'); 1 S 1^ (Jov. 'Eli the prest sat upon a stole by the poste of the temple of the I.orde ' (A V ' upon a seat ') ; Job 20^ Gov. 'lie holdeth back his stole, that it cannot be seen' (n?3-*^D, AV and RV 'the face of his throne'): Jer 17^ Gov. 'Then shal there ^o thorow the ^ates of this cite, kinges and prynces, that shall syt ui>on the stole of David ' (k;3, AV and RV 'throne ') ; 29iii Co'v. ; 3317 Cov. ' David shal never want one, to syt upon the stole of the house of Israel ' (k;:?'^^, AV arid RV ' upon the throne,' which is Cover- dale's own tr. of the same Heb. in v.^).
2. Mother's bearing stool (but see Holzinger in loc, and Expos. 'Times, xii. I()5), Ex 1'° 'upon the stools,' RV 'upon the birtlistool ' (Ileb. o-j^Nrr-Sv, found only in dual, its only other occurrence being .ler IS', where it describes the potter's wheel, 'two discs revolving one alnive the other' ; cf. vol. iii. p. 3G7'). J. IIa.stings.
STORAX.— See MvRiiii, Poplar, Stacte.
STORK (ii'cq /i(T.vW(i/0.— Although one of the comn^onest and the largest birds of liible lands, the LXX translators do not seem to have known its name, as they render hitsiildh in the si.\ jiassages where it occurs bv four dill'erent words (Lv II'-', Ps 104" (^pwSiis, l)t 14"* we\(K6.i>, Jer 8', Job 39" offiW [transliterated], Zee 5" Ino^jj). There is, how- ever, no doubt as to its identity. Two species arc found in the Holy Land — the lilack stork, Ciiania nigra, L., and the white stork, C. alba, L. The
* In the text of Neh 4' It is ' their stone wall,' tlie form ' tluii •tony wall ' being from Coverdale and the Geneva Bibla
622
STORY
STRANGE, STRAKGER
former is a little smaller than the latter, and less common in the soutliern and western districts. It is more common towards the north-east. Its colour is black, and it is a shy bird, fre<iuenting the desert, where it lives in flocks. The wliite stork is 44 in. lonf; and has black wings, but the coverts and rest of its phimaye are white. The beak, leps, and skin about the eyes are red ; the iris is dark brown.
Few as are the passages in which the stork is mentioned, we can gather from them some of its chief traits : (1) It was an unclean bird (Lv. and T)t. I.e.); this corresponds to its food, which con- sists of reptiles, aiiipliibians, and garbage. (2) In the ob.scure passage {Job 39'-') there may be a reference to the contrast between the supposed indifference of the ostrich to its young and the proverbial affection of the stork. This, however, IS uncertain ; see the Cumm. ad loc. (3) The stork nests in fir trees (Ps 104"). Most storks in Pales- tine now nest in the tops of ruins. In many places in otlier countries they build on chimney tops. But there is abundant evidence that tliey even now sometimes nest in trees in the Holy Land, as well as in other countries. It has been well observed by Tristram that, in ancient times, ■when there were fewer ruins and more trees, storks must perforce have resorted to the trees and rocks. He says that the black storks still always prefer trees. (4) The migrations of the stork at definite times (jer 8') did not escape notice. At such times it flies high 'in the heaven.' There are abundant illustrations of the regularity with whicli these birds return to their old haunts year after year, and repair the very nests which they had before occupied both as otispring and parents. (5) Their power of wing and the sound as of wind made by their flight are alluded to (Zee 5'). The spread of their wings is nearly 7 feet.
G. E. Post.
STORY.— In older Eng. 'story' and 'history' (of which ' story ' is an aphetic form) were used interchangeably. We accordingly find ' history ' applied to romance, and ' story ' to continued his- torical narrative. In Pref. to AV the translators even use the word 'story' of history in general, ' This will easily be granted by as many as know storie, or have any e.xperience. The word 'story' occurs in AV (outside the Apocr.)only in 2 Ch 13-- 24", for which see art. Commentary in vol. i. p. 459^ In the Apocr. it is used as tlie tr. of IcTopia in 2 Mac 2"''- *'• "'y of oi);77;<ris in 2^-, and of (TiJrrafis in 15^- '", and in 1 Es 1^ ^ /3//3\ot tQiv Ioto- aov^4v(jjv Tepl TuJc ^offiK^wv ttjs 'lovSaias is tr** 'tlie book of the stories of the kings of Judah.' Cf. Rheraish NT, note on Jn 5^ ' The force of divers waters in the world is justly attributed by our forefathers and good stories to the prayers and presence of Saincts, which profane incredulous men referre onely to nature.' Tindale says (Expos. 201) 'We believe not only with story faith, as men believe old chronicles.'