CHARIOT
214
CHARIOT
tares. There has been some specnlatioa m to any dif- | ferenoe of meaning between the above word and the briefer (maac.) form 33*^Q, merhab', which occurs in three passages only. In 1 Kings ▼, 6, the latter obvi- ously means chariots, taken collectively. But in Lev. XV, 9 (Auth. Vers. " saddle'*), and Cant iii, 10 ("the covering**), it has been understood by some to denote the seat of a chariot. To this view there is the fatal objection that ancient chariots had no seats. It ap- pears to denote the seat of a litter (the only vehicle that had a seat), and its name meriab may have been derived from the general resemblance of the body of a litter (distinguished fh>m the canopy, etc.), both in form and use, to that of a chariot. Another still sim- pler form* the word SS'J, re^heb (with the analogous forms Ha3*n, rfifcftoA', Ezek. xxvii, 20, and ni3*J, rs- kob', FbaI civ, 8), from the same root, appears to signi- fy a carriage of any kind, and is especially used with reference to large bodies of carriages, and hence most generally of war-chariots ; for chariots were anciently seldom seen together in large numbers except in war. It is applied to the war-diariots of the Egyptians (Exod. xiv, 9), the Canaanites (Josh, xvii, 18 ; Judg. i, 19 ; iv, 8), the Hebrews (2 Kings ix, 21, 24 ; x, 16), the Syrians (2 Kings v, 9), tl|p Persians (Isa. xxi, 7, 9). To this corresponds the pidri of Bev. x viii, 18 ; the Latin rheda^ a carriage with four wheels, an im- provement of later times. By a comparison of these references with those passages in which merhabah oc- curs, we find the two words applied to all sorts of car- riages indifferently and interchangeably. Just as we should say either ** carriage** or "coach** — neither of which is specific, and both of which diffiBr more from each other than the Hebrew words in question— to de- note the same vehicle. Indeed, there are passages in which both words are manifestly applied to the same identical vehicle, as in 2 Kings v, 9, 21, and 1 Kings xxii, 85, 88, where some have endeavored to make out a difference between the Heb. terms. There is anoth- er word once rendered chariot, viz. l^^J^ (agcdak\ Psa. xlvi, 9), but it denotes a plauttrwn, cart, or wag- on drawn by oxen. See Cabt. The only other words rendered " chariot** in the Bible are ')i"'*nilK ((^r- yon' J Cant iii, 9), which the etymol., as well as the rendering Ln the Sept. and Vulg., sln*wa to have l^-<in a portable sedan orpahn^tt [see U-rrF.n], and ^^H, (ht}%i^i only in Etck* xxiu, 2i\ vhich, aecortlinij to etymology and thi! Rabliinp, tn«Arva irfopon^ or di;fen- sive annor. It is demonstrated that the wonl n jb^, rendered ^* Lorseinen/- does not niean ^* cavalry/' Imt merely riders in the choriots— in other wortU, cbariot- wamora ; for Enod. xiv, 7^ which givej? the first nc- cotint of the Ej^yptinn arm}% Mva, ''he took hx htm- drcd chosen churlota, and all the chariots of Fg;^'pt, and captainfl over cveiy one of them'' (or in each). The **liorfi*;meii" in vers* & and the sabMquent verses
Aackat Egypfciiip Wiir Cmr itnti Hof>*pp, dwinmsdfipoin a com- piirliai of different Motmnieiiti.
UfeeraUy ''riders,** not 191011 the hcnes, bat ta the chuiots. Hence, though Moses's song of trinmpk mentions the '' horse and his rider" (Szod. xv, 1), yet ver. 4 clearly indicates that by rider chariot-rider is understood: *' Pharaoh's chariots and hia host hath be cast into the sea; his chosen captaina also (chariot- warriors) are drowned ui the Bed Sea." See Hobie.
The earliest mention of chariots in Scripture Is in Egypt, where Joseph, aa a mark of distinctian, wss plaoed m Pharaoh's second chariot (Gen. xU, 48), and later when he went in his own chariot to meet his fa- ther on his entrance intoEgypt from Canaan (xlvi, 89). In the Ainersl prooeasion of Jacob chariota also fonaed a part, possibly by way of eeoort or aa a guard of lien- or (1, 9). The next mention of Egyptian cJiariots is for a warlike purpose (Exod. xiv, 7). In this point of view chariots among some nations of antiquity, as el- ephants among others, may be regarded as fillhig the place of heavy artillery in modem timea, so that the military power of a nation might be estimated by the number of its chariots. Thus Pharaoh, in pursuing Is- rael, took with him 600 chariots. The Canaanitea of the valleys of Palestine were enabled to resist the Is- raelites successfUly in consequence of the number of their chariots of iron, i. e. perhaps armed with iim scythes (Josh, xvii, 18 ; Judg* i, 19 ; see Schickendanz, De currOmifakaiu, Zerbst. 1764). Jabin, king of Cs- naan, had 900 chariots (Judg. iv, 8). The Philistines in Saul's time had 80,000, a number which seems ex- cessive (1 Sam. xiii, 5; but comp. Uie Sept. and Jo- seph. AfU, vi, 6, 1). David took from Hadadeser, king of Zobah, 1000 charioto (2 Sam. viii, 4), and from the Syrians a little later 700 (x, 18), who, in order to re- cover their ground, collected SS^OOO chariots (1 Cbrva. xix, 7). Up to this time the Israelites poesesaed few cr no chariots, partly, no doubt, in consequence of the the- ocratic prohibition against multiplying horses, for fesr of intercourse with Egypt, and the regal despotism im- plied in the possession of them (Deut. xvii, 16 ; 1 Sam. viii, 11, 12). But to some extent Davi^ (2 Sam. viii, 4), and in a much greater degree Solomon, broke through the prohibition from seeing the necessity of placing his kingdom, under its altered circumstances, on a footing of militar}' equality or superiority toward other nations. He raised, therefore, and maintained a force of 1400 chariots (1 Kings x, 25) by taxation on certain cities, agreeably to Eastern custom in such mst- ters (1 Kin^ ix, 19; x^ 25; Xenoph. Anab. i, 4, 9). The chariots themselves, and also the horses, were im- ported chiefly from Eg}'pt, and the cost of each chariot was 600 shekels of silver, and of each horse 150 (1 Kings X, 29). See Shbuel. From this time chariots were regarded as among the most important arma of wsr, though the supplies of them and of horses appear to have been still drawn from Egypt (1 Kings *-rii^ $4 ; 2 Eangs ix, 16, 21 ; xiii, 7, 14 ; xviii, 24 ; xxiii, 80; Isa. xxxl, 1). The prophets also allude frequently to char- iots as tjrpical of power (Psa. xx, 7 ; civ, 8 ; Jer. U, 21 ; Zech. vi, 1). Chariots of other nations are likewiM mentioned, as of Assyria (2 Kings xix, 28 ; Ezek. xxiii, 24X Syria (2 Sam. viH, and 2 Kings vi, 14, 15), Ptei^ sia (Isa. xxii, 6) ; and, lastly, Antiochus Enpator is said to have had 800 chariots armed with scythes (2 Mace xiii, 2). In the N. T. the only mention made of a chariot, except in Bev. ix, 9, is in the case of the Ethi- opian or Abyssinian eunuch of Queen Candace, who is described as sitting in his chariot reading (Acts viii, 28, 29, 88). See Bideb.