has its tower (Pahnijra and Zenobia, p. 332 f.). A representation is given in that work (p. 279) of a stone tower in the ^Jauran constructed of black basalt, with a stone loft at the height of 14 feet, reached by a spiral staircase (see also Porter, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Bethany, p. 18; Stanlej', Sinai and Palestine, 421).
LiTRRATiRE. — Besides the authorities cited above, see Heber- Percy, Bashan and Argob, p. 123 £f. ; Swete on Mk 12.
W. Taylor Smith. TRACHONITIS.--A Roman province of Eastern Palestine over which Herod Philip held rule when John the Baptist entered upon his public ministry (Lk 3^). The Greek word Tpaxi^vlns or rpdxi^" sig- nifies a ' rough or stony place,' and its identifica- tion with the wild and rugged volcanic region within the limits of ancient Bashan, which the Arabs designate cl-LcJd (' the refuge"), is unques- tioned. This was the heart, as well as the most notable portion, of the province, and gave to it its distinctive name. The phrase rpaxi^viTiSos x^P°-^ ('the Trachonite region," Lk 3^) implies an extent of territory beyond the limits of the Trachon, or lava-bed section. The name does not occur else- where in the NT, but the boundaries of the province can be approximately defined, fi-om state- ments concerning it in the works of Josephus, Ptolemy, Strabo, and other writers. Josephus informs us that its N.W. limit extended to the districts of Ulatha and Paneas, at the southern base of Mount Herinon ; and also that it bordered on Auranitis (cn-ISukra) and Batana?a (Ant. XV. X. 3, XVII. ii. I ; BJ i. xx. 4). The line of the western border is not definitely given, but it probably extended to the eastern limit of Gaulan- itis (Jaulan), wluch is frequently alluded to as a separate district of Herod Philips dominion.
Literature.— Burckhardt, Travels in Syria, 110 ff. ; Wetz- stein, lieiseberielit iihcr Hauran, etc., 110 £E. ; de Vogu6, Si/rie Centrale, 89 ff.; Schumacher, Across the Jordan; Porter, Damascus, ii. 26S-272, Giant Cities of Bashan, 24-97 ; Graham in Jour. Royal Geog. Soc. 1858, p. 256 ff. ; Ewing in PEFSt, pp. 41 ff., 60ff., ISlff., etc. ; Merrill, East of the Jordan; Stewart, Land of Israel; G. A. Smith, UGUL ; Tristram, Topog. of the Holy Lund; Baedeker's Pal.^ pp. 193-194; Hastings'" DB, articles 'Argob' and 'Trachonitis.'
R. L. Stewart. TRADE AND COMMERCE.— 1. The terms.—
The terms used in the NT in its allusions to mer- cantile transactions give but little indication of the remarkable developments Avhich had taken place in the trade and commerce of Palestine since OT times.
Schurer((rJ^F3ii. 50-61) gives a considerable list of trading terms which had been borrowed from the Greek, and were in ordinary use among Palestinian Jews, but few of these appear in the NT. The o'nlv term, e.n., for 'merchant' is iu.Topti; (Mt 13-i-'>, Rev 1S3. n."i5.23), this being the equivalent etymo- logically of the two terms which are common in OT — "mb and 7ri — both of which seem to have the root -idea of travel, whether by land or sea. WTiat is, however, significant is the frequencv of the words a.ye/>a. and iyepaZu (Mt 20^ 23", Mk G^ -* ; Mt 21i2 1415, Jik 145 1546, Lk 1419, jn 48 etc.), which, when it is remembered that in the OT, with the exception of Is 233,* there is no mention of markets properly so called, shows that the old conception of the merchant, as one who travels with his goods, is giving place to a more settled and organized system of trade. But the NT indications of a busy and complex commercial life are mostly indirect and general, e.g., in such terms as ipya.Xou.111.1, Sit 2527 ; Tpa.yu.a.Ti-jofjua.i, Lk Ifli-' (see context in both places) : TpxTi^iTr,; and roxo;. Sit 25-" : cf. the apocryphal saying of Jesus, ' Show yourselves tried bankers ' (vaT!?;Va/, see West- cott, Introd to Gospels, p. 458). Though general references of this kind are fairly numerous, technical names for traders, such as ToofufioTuXii (Acts 161-*), are very rare. Even in the graphic description of the trade of the Roman Empire in Rev lsn-20 there is no word more specific than luTspo;, the various trades of the merchants being described simply by mentioning the article in which they deal.
2. The status of the trader. — There is consider- able evidence that in Herodian times the occupa-
* In Ezk 2712-25 the words translated (AV) ' fairs ' and ' market ' will not bear that meaning ; see RV.
TRADE A:N']J commerce
TRADE AXD COMMERCE
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tioii (jf a merchant was held in more repute than had formerly been the case among the Jews. Sucli a statement as that of Josephus — ' We have no taste for commerce or for the relations with strangers which it establishes ' (c. Apion, i. 12), must not be taken too literally (cf. Herzfeld, Ilandelsgesrh. der Judcn, p. 80). Josephus him- self makes numerous references to the widespread trade carried on by Alexandrian Jews, without any implication tli.it they incurred disparagement thereby ; he mentions the ' Upper Market-place ' of Jerusalem ; the Valley of the Cheesemongers (BJ V. iv. 1), the wool-merchants, the cloth-mart (V. viii. 1), the timVjer-niarket (II. xix. 4) ; he tells us of the exportation of corn from Judaea to Arabia (Ant. XIV. V. 1), and through Joppa to Phoenicia (XIV. X. 6) ; he mentions the influence which a Jewish trader, Ananias, exercised at the court of Adiabene (XX. ii. 3, 4) ; he relates how John of Giscala made himself ricii by obtaining the monopoly of exporting oil from Galilee (BJ II. xxi. 2) ; and in various jdaces indicates the grow- ing prosperity and aflluence of the Jews (e g. Ant. XII. iv. 10, Vit. 26, etc.). In no case do we dis- cover any indication that the fact of engaging in trade was a reflexion upon a true Jew, so long as he took care not to defile himself by such contact as the Law forbade (cf. Mk 1* 'when they come from the market-place, except they wash them- selves they eat not'). There can be little doubt that the encouragement which high priests like John Hyrcanus gave to trade, and the fact that Herodian princes themselves engaged in it, tended to raise the status of the Jewish trader. Priests were sometimes themselves traders. Josephus de- scribes the high priest Ananias as a keen monej^- leiider (Ant. XX. ix. 2) There were, of course, diflerent grades of traders recognized. Sirach (26^) distinguishes tetween a merchant and a huck- ster. Between the merchant-prince and the mere pedlar there was a vast variety of persons who found no difficulty in reconciling their commerce Avith their religion, and perhaps we may infer from the following that even the humblest trade was not despised : ' Rabbi Jehudah the Nasi called Elazar b. Azariah a huckster's basket, and com- pared him to a huckster who, taking his basket, goes alx>ut the country, and the people come flock- fng around him, inquiring for various articles, and find he has everj'thing ' (Aboth, 2). In the Gospels the allusions to persons engaged in trade take it for granted that merchants have a responsible and even an honourable place in the national economy. In the parable of the Pounds (Lk 19'^'^), a man of noble birth carries on trade through tiie agency of his servants, and there seems to be no sufficient reason for A. B. Bruce's supjKjsition (Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 219) that such a transaction was ' a most unu.sual one for a nobleman.' In the East, indeed, royalty from early times had associ- ated itself closely with the development of trade.* The teaching of Je.sus is ' full oi appreciation of the bigness of the methods of trade and of the brave tempers required in it.' t