The English words 'swaddle 'and 'swathe 'are merely diflerent spellings of Anglo-Sax. swethel or swethd. a strip of cloth for wrapping a child, or for bandaging in any way. Cf. Purchas, Pilgrirrutge, 446, ' Their feet to this end so straitly swadled in their infancie that they grow but little.'
G. M. Mackie.
SWALLOW.— Two words are tr'' 'swallow' in AV, and a third in KV. 1. iS-n dir6r (Ps 84« LXX rpvyuv ; Pr 26* LXX (TTpovBbt = ' sparrow ' or other small bird). The allusion to the nesting of this bird in the sanctuary and its swift (unalighting)
SWAN
SWORD
633
flight fit the swallow. 2. ii:v 'a^ur (Is 38" LXX irfpiffTtpd =' pigeon ' ; Jer 8' LXX (rTpou9/o>' = ' spar- row' or other small bird). 'Agiir (see CRANE) seems to be an adjective, and )ierhaps signilies 'twitterer' instead of 'crane' (UV), and is ex- planatory of ?!(.« or f!'^ ; see, further, Dillm.-Kittel on Is 3b". 3. oo fu^, O'c sis, should be tr* as in KV (Is 38'*, Jer 8'), 'swallow' insteud of 'crane' (AV; see Ckane). If ^i!* or sU be the swallow, or better, the swift or martin, the twittering could only refer to its note in its nest. The allusion to the migratory habits of the bird would suit the swallow. The following swallows and swifts or martins are common in the Holy Land : — Hirundo Savygnii, Steph., the Oriental swallow ; II. rustica, L., tiie common swallow (Arab. siiniinU, or sUs or fts); H. rufuhi, Temm., the red-rumpcd swallow ; Chelidon urbica, L., the martin ; Cutyle riparia, L., the sand martin; C. rupestris. Scop., the crag martin; C. obsoleta. Cab., the pale crag martin; Cypselus apus, L., the black martin or swift; C. melba, L., and C. Galileensis, would be included under the popular conception of the swallow or twift. Any or all of them would sometimes be calltd fiJ.f or f?f. G. E. Post.
SWAN.— The AV tr° (twice) of ncrjn tinshemeth, a word which occurs thrice in the list of unclean creatures, once at the end of a list of lizards (see Mole, 1 (6)), and twice among the birds (Lv II" LXX )rop0up(uii'=' water-hen,' Vulg. porphyria, RV ' horned owl,' m. ' swan ' ; Dt U" LXX r;3is, Vulg. ibis, RV ' horned owl '). The arguments agaiii.st the swan are — (1) There is no reason why the swan should have been held unclean. (2) The swan is very rare in the Holy Land and Egypt, and therefore would have been little recognized. (3) The ancient VSS are against it. The gallinule or water-hen (Purpkyrio) and the ibis are, however, birds which would have been lield unclean, which are quite common, and each of which has the support of one passage in the VSS. Porphyriu cttruleus, Vandelli, the Purple Gallinule, and Jbis rtligiosa, L., or /. falcinelta, L., the (jlossy Ibis, would suit the requirements of the passages.
G. E. Post.
SWEARING See Oath.
SWEAT,— See Medicine, vol. iU. p. 330*.
SWEET CANE.— See REEm.
SWINE (Tiq Mzir). — This word is cognate to the Arab, kidnzir. ' The LXX tr. hiizir in Ps 80" a6% (AV and RV 'boar'), Lv II', Dt 14», Pr 11» Os (AV and RV 'swine') There is no question as to the identity of the animal intended. The NT word for it is xoj/x"- The eating of swine's liesh is for- bidden in Israel (Lv 11', Dt 14*), hence the in- fringement of this rule was one of the practices to which the Hellenizing party sought to compel the faithful (2 Mac 6'»). The flesh (Is 65' 06") and blood (6(i') of swine are described as characteristi- cally heathen and repulsive oll'erings (cf. 1 Mac !■"). A jewel of gold in a swine's snout is used as a ■imile of a fair woman of doubtful character (Pr 11'"). A wild boar appears as lig. of the foes of Israel (Ps80'*). The ancient Egyptians and Phoen- icians, as well as the Jews, regarded swine as nnclean. Mohammedans are, if possible, more intense than the Jews in their disgust for them. To call a man a hog is worse than to call him a dog. This feeling is shared by most of the Chris- tians in Palestine. Rut a considerable number of them breed swine and eat their flesh. .Swine's flesh ii sold in a number of shops in Beirut. The writer has seen native Christians in Amanus bunting wild swine, which are very abundant in
that range, as also in the Jordan Valley, and in the higher regions of Lebanon and Anlilebanon. It would appear that, in the time of Christ, Jews had come lo raising swine in large herds (Mt 8*" etc., Lk 15">). G. E. Post.
SWORD in OT is the rendering of several Hebrew words : — 1. .^^;^ mekhirdh. On 4;i' RV 'weapons of violence are their swords' (better RVni 'compacts'). The word is of very doubtful meaning, the VSS being at fault ; cf. Dillinann, Genesis, ad loc. 2. n^y shelah, Jl 2' AV (bettei RV 'weapons'). 3. pT? kidvn. Sir 40=, through the l)Ofj.<pala of LXX (better ' spear' as Jos 8"- ^ or ' javelin '). i. 3-in herebh (the usual word, occurring with great frequency in OT), which can nearly always be tr'' 'sword or 'dagger' (Jg 3"), but once had a more general meaning ; cf. the Arab, /uirb 'war.' Thushereb/i is 'tool' Ex 20=», 'axes' Ezk26», and 'mattocks' 2 Ch 34" AV (RVm 'axes'; RV, following a difl'erent reading, ' in their ruins' ; the text is quite dubious), and in Jos 5" D-iis nu-ir) harbhCth ziuim is ' knives of flint.' Probably therefore herebh denoted originally the primitive flint implement, which, according to its varying shape and size, might serve the purpo.se of spear- head, arrow-head, axe, hammer, or knife, buch implements have been found during the excava- tion of Tell el-llesy (Lachish). The ' blade ' of a sword and the ' head ' of a spear are alike called 3ii^ lahabh.