A third solution of both the above difficulties is to transfer from the 35th verse to the 38th of Num. xxvi the clause, " Of Becker the family of the Backrites," in- serting it in its natural place between Bela and his family and Ashbel and his family; the 38th verse would then stand thus: uThe sons of Benjamin, after their families : of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Becher, the family of the Bachrites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites," etc. This conjectural emendation is in part confirmed by the reading of the Sept. Thus, in the case before us, we have the tribe of Benjamin described (1) as it was about the time when Jacob went down into Egypt, or rather at his death ; (2) as it was just before the entrance into Ca- naan : (3) as it was in the days of David; and (4) as it was eleven generations after Jonathan and David, i. e. in Hezekiah's reign. — Smith. See Genealogy.
2. (Sept. omits.) The second son of Ephraim ; his posterity were called Bachrites (Num. xxvi, 35). In 1 Chron. vii, 20, Bered seems to have" been his nephew rather than the same person, as the margin Bupposes. B.C. post 1874. There is some reason, however, for identifying him with the preceding (see above).
Becho'rath (Heb. BehoratV, STrtiaa, first-born ; Sept. Bj xwpaS v. r. li,i\in), the son of Aphiah, and the great-grandfather of Ner, the grandfather of King Saul (1 Sam. ix, 1). B.C. long ante 1093.
Becker for Bekkeu), Balthasar, was born Mar. 30, 1634, in Friesland, and became a minister at Am- Btefdam. He was a zealous ( !artesian, and was charged wiib Socinianism. His reputation chiefly rests upon a work in Dutch, entitled />< Betooverdt Wereld,"The Enchanted World" (Amst. 1691-93), which undertakes to show that the devil never inspires men with evil thoughts, nor tempts them, and that men have never iessed will, devils, etc. His views of damion- i ical possession, etc., arc in Bubstance those of the mod- i ni I: itionalists, of whom ho was a forerunner in other doctrines aswel] asinthi . The Consistory of Amster- ,1:"" deposed him i„ LG92. The above work was trans- 1,1 '' ""■■ I rench | i vols. Amst. 1694), into German (by Schwager, Amst. 1693, new ed. by Sender, Leipz. ■ and into English. Backer died June 11,1698. S-- /.;/: bySchwabe(Kopenh.l780); Mos- beim, <t. Uiti. cent, xvii, pt. ii, ch. ii. s< 35; Hagen- bach, Hist, of /' ■<■;, ;,„ . § 225 : Landon, Eccl. Diet ii 116; \\uv,\. J/;,/., f /:,,;,,„„!;
Becker, Karl Ludwig, D.D., a minister of
| the German Reformed Church, was born in Anhalt- Coethen, Germany, Nov. 17th, 1750. He pursued his preparatory studies in a gymnasium near his native place, and at eighteen entered the University of Halle, where he studied four years. Thence he went to Bremen, where he spent fourteen years as a candidjtits theolorjice, preaching occasional!}' for the pastors of that city, and devoting part of his time to preparing young men for the universities. "While at Bremen he pub- lished An Eapzsition rf the bM Chapter of Isaiah, a Treatise on the btst Mode of Converting the Jews, and two volumes of Sermons — all able works. In 1793 he em- igrated to America, bearing with him the most flatter- ing testimonials from the ministerium of Bremen. He immediately received a call from several German lie- formed congregations in Northampton Count}-, Penn. In March, 1795, he became pastor of the German Re- formed congregation in Lancaster, Penn. In 180G he took charge of the church in Second Street, Baltimore, Md. In 1810 he published a volume of Ser?nons, which was well received. He died suddenly, July 12th, 1818. There being in Dr. Becker's time as yet no theological seminary in the German Reformed Church in America, many of its ministers pursued their theological studies with him. He possessed a strong mind, and was thor- oughly educated. Ardent and impulsive, he was fre- quently "caught up," while preaching, into an over- whelming strain of impassioned eloquence and tender feeling, swaying the congregation as the Mind moves a forest. He wrote and preached only in the German language.
Becker, Jacob Christian, D.D., a German Re- formed minister, son of Dr. C. L. Becker, of Baltimore, Md. He was born Jan. 14th, 1790. lie studied the- ology with his father, and was licensed in 18< 8. He labored as pastor about three years in Manchester, Md., and the rest of his life in Northampton County, Penn. In 1839 he was elected by the synod of the German L'eformed Church as Professor of Theology in its seminary, which call he declined, preferring to re- main a pastor. Many German Reformed ministers studied with him. He was a learned man and an elo- quent preacher. He died August 18th, 1858.
Becket, Thomas a (properly Thomas Becket, as he was not of noble birth), was the son of a London tradesman, and was born in London in 1117. He re- ceived a collegiate education at Oxford, completed by the study of the civil and canon law at Bologna, un- der the patronage of Theobald, archbishop of Canter- bury, and was early carried to preferment by his un- doubted abilities, aided by a handsome person and re- fined manners, but still more by the jealousy which divided the civil and ecclesiastical powers at that time. On his return from Italy, Becket was appointed arch- deacon of Canterbury by his patron, and soon after the accession of Henry II in 1154, was raised to the dig- nity of high chancellor, doubtless by the influence of the prelacy favoring his own ambition. At this time, it should be remarked, the power of the popes had risen to an arrogant height, and the dispute about investi- tures, the subjection of the clergy to lay jurisdiction in criminal matters, and various alleged abuses on either side, were subjects of continual and bitter strife between the Church and the crowned heads of Europe.! It is not likely that Becket was ever undecided in his own views on any of these subjects, or on the part he was destined to play in the polities of the period; but it is easy to imagine that each party would sec the means of advancing its own pretensions in the splendid abilities, the acknowledged purity of life, and the court- ly manners of the young churchman. As chancellor he served the king so faithfully, and was so pleasant a companion to 1dm, both in his business and in his pleasures, that he had his thorough confidence and af- fection. On the death of Theobald in 1162, the king was urgent for his elevation to the see of Canterbury ; but many of the bishops opposed it, on account of