Cheese (in 1 Sam. xvii, 18, "ikm ''2t'»*in, charU- 9e/ he^halab'f slices of the [curdled] mUk; Sept. rpi;- ^aXidic Tov yaXaKroQj Vulg./ormetta casei; in 2 Sam. xvii, 29, nifi^ shtphoth'^ according to the Rabbins, so called from being ^ereJ from the whey ; Sept. 2a^<ad, Yvdg.pinguesf in Job x, 10, •^J'^^fi gdmah', oooffuUt- ted milk; Sept. rvp6c). It is difficult to decide how fa these terms correspond with our notion of cheese^ for they simpler express various degrees of coagulation (see Gesenius, 'Thes. Heb, p. 26, 626). It may be ob- served that cheese is not at the present day common among the Bedouin Arabs, butter being decidedly pre- ferred ; but there is a substance, closely corresponding to those mentioned in 1 Sam. xvii ; 2 Sam. xvii, con- sisting of coagulated buttermilk, which is dried until it becomes quite hard, and is then ground: the Arabs eat it mixed with butter (Burckhardt, Notes on the Bed- ouinSy i, 60). It is noticeable that tiie ancients seem generally to have used either butter or cheese, but not both : thus the Greeks had in reality but one expres- sion for the two, for /3own;f)ov=/3owc, rvpoQ, ** cheese of kine." The Romans used cheese exclusively (see Beroald, ad Apulej, Meiam, p. 26), while all nomad tribes preferred butter. The distinction between cheese proper and coagulated milk seems to be referred to in Pliny, xi, 96. See Butteb.
The most Important passage in which this prepara- tion from milk is mentioned in Scripture is that where Job (x, 10), figuratively describing the formation of the foetus in the womb, says :
Ib it not like milk thou wooldst poor me out, Even like cheese irouldst curdle me? This text alludes to that progressive solidification which is common to all cheese, which is always soft
when new, thou^ it hardens when it becomea old. Undoubtedly the Orientals do eat curds, or curdled milk, but that, therefore, their cheese consists of ear- died milk is not the ooirect inference. We alao eat curds, but do not regard curds as cheese; neither do they. The other passages describe ** cheese" in 4be plural, as parts of military provision, for whicfa' the most solid and compact substances are always pteler- red. Persons on a march would not like to enc«imber themselves with curdled milk (2 Sam. xvii, 29). See
CURDLB.
There is much reason to conclude that the cheese used by the Jews differed in no respect from that stiU common in the East, which is usually exhibited is small cakes about the size of a tea-saucer, white in color, and excessively salt It has no rind, and soon becomes exceedingly hard and dry,-being, indeed, not made for long keeping. It is best when new and com- paratively soft, and in this state large quantities are consumed in lumps or crumbs not made np into cakes. All cheese in the East is of very indifferent quality, and the natives infinitely prefer English or Dutch cheese when they can obtain it. In making cheese the common rennet is either buttermilk or a deeoction of the great-headed thistle or wild artichoke. The curds are afterwards put into small baskets made of rushes or palm leaves, which are then tied up ckce and the necessary pressure applied. (See Kitto, Piet, liible^ note on 1 Sain, xvii, 19.) See Milk.
There are several decisions in the Mishna relative to the pressure by whic)i cheese was made (Cho^n, viii, 2). This proves that, as observed before, no prepara- tion of mUk was regarded as cheese while in a fluid state, or before being subjected to pressure. In anoth- er place (Aboda SarOj ii, 5) it is decided that cheese made by foreigners could not be eaten, from the fear that it might possibly be derived frY>m the milk of some animal which had been offered in sacrifice to idols. It is therefore certain that cheese was known to the Jews (comp. Philo, 0pp. ii, 887; Otho, Lex, RaU. p. 120), and there was even a valley at Jerusalem called the Tyropceon (q. v.), i. e. cAeese-mahers* valley (^ofwyC Tojv Tvpoiroiiov)y doubtless from its being occupied by persons of this craft (Josephus, ITor, v, 6, 1). See Bazaar. An instrument for cutting firm cheese is even named in the Mishna (ShabiK xvii, 2). (See gen- erally Ugolini, De re rvsUca vet. Bebr. [in his 71s- saur. xxix], ii, 15.) See Food.
Cheke, Sir Johk, was bom at Cambridge June 16, 1514, and was educated at the University there, devoting himself especially to the study of Greek, then much neglected in England. When the first professorship of Greek was founded in Cambridge by king Henry VIII, about 1540, Cheke was appointed professor. He was made tutor of the prince, afterwards Edward VI, but when queen Maiy came to the throne his proper- ty was confiscated. He fled to the Continent, but was arrested at Brussels by order of Philip II, and sent back to London. He abjured Protestantism, but this act preyed on his mind, and he died in the followmg year, September 18, 1657. His writings were very nu- merous and learned ; among them are De Obitu Marim Bvoeri (Loud. 1551, 4to); De Prommdaiione JJmgtm Gneca (Basil, 1555) ; Translation of Matthew (from the Greek, edited by Goodwin, Cambridge). — Gem. Biog. Did. ui, 801 ; Strype, Life of Cheke (Lond. 1706, dfo); Kippis, Biog. BritasimcOj iii, 484.