Dil^e^ (Eeb. Dilan^ ^i^^t & gowrd-Jield or cuatm- her-patchy suggestive of a rich soil ; Sept. £ia\aav v. r. La\dB, Yulg. Delean), one of the cities of Judah, situ- ated in the *' valley" or maritime plain, and mention- ed between Migdal-gad. and Mizpeh (Josh, xv, 88). Van de Velde {Narrat. ii, 160) suggests that it may be the modem place Tina (Beit Tttno, a Mussulman vil- lage, according to Smith, in Robinson's Researches, 1st edit, iii. Append, p. 118), about three miles north of Tell es-iSafieh, in the maritime plain of Philistia, south of Ekron. Schwarz (Palest, p. 108) combines the name with Mizpeh following, against the text.
Dilherr, JoHAinrES Michakl, a German theolo- gian, was bom Oct 14, 1604, at Themar, in Henne- berg. His father having lost his property, the young man supported himself by his own efforts, chiefly in proof-reading at Leipsic. After studying at Nurem- berg and Altdorf, he became professor at Jena, first of eloquence in 1681, of history in 1634, and of theology in 1640. In 1642 he became professor of theology at Nuremberg, and in 1666 he was also made preacher at St Sebaldus*s church. He died in that town April 3, 1669. Besides a Latin history of the Augsburg Con- fession and some philosophical writings, he published Edogce Sacrm N. Test., Syriac., Gr., Lot., cum observed, philol., cum Rudimentis Grammat. Syriac. (Halle, 1638, 1046):-^ Atrium Lingum Sanctm (1660, 8vo) :— £2ecfo- rum libri ires, in qwbus rituum sacr, et prof an. farrago continetur (NOm. 1644). — Adelung, Supp. to J6cher, al^em, Gelehrt,-Lexikon ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gin. s. v.
Dill, the marginal and correct rendering at Matt xxiii, 23, for dvtji^ov, where in the text our translators have *' anise"— misled, perhaps, by the similarity of anethum and anise. Pliny, however (xix, 52), careful- ly distinguishes between anethum and anisum (comp. Theqphr. PkuUt. vii, 1 ; Dbscor. iii, 461). The A nethum
DnaSSORT LETTERS
802
DINAH
p-aveolaiUf or, as it is otherwise called, Anethm dege- tum^ on the aasamption that there are two species, is a native of the warmer regions of the sontli, and is some- times cultivated in English gardens onder the name of " dill." It belongs to that very common natural fam- ily the UmbellifercB, which abounds with genera and species tliat are warmed by a savor of aromatic pun- gency. The seeds are the parts that are used, wheth- er it be for the purpose of soothing the alimentary sys- tem with a warm medicine, or of pleasing the palate with an agreeable condiment. Among the Cossacks, and in other parts of the Russian dominions, the plant is cultivated for the same use as the caraway is among us. Dill, caraway, coriander, 'and cummin belong to the same natural assemblage of plants, and though the seeds differ in form, and a little in flavor, yet they are employed for the same purposes, and possess virtues very nearly allied to each other. The flowers are yel- low, like those of the parsnip ; the leaves decompound- ed into hair-like divisions. The Talmudists describe the plant nn'j, thabcOh^ as ** called in the Boroaa language anethum," and add that it was tithed whether gathered green or ripe. It was tithed also both as to the sMd and the herb itself. That the herb was tithed implUpthat it was eaten as well as the seeds, and, in- deed, this is expressly said ; and we are told^ that it was to be eaten raw, after meat, and not boQed (Kitto, Pict. BibUj note in loc.). See Anisb.
DimiSBOiy Letters {EpUtola dimistoriai), (1.) In the ancient Church it was customary for any one about to travel to take with him letters of credence from his own bishop, if he wished to communicate with a Church in another country. These letters were of different sorts, according to the occasions or quality of the persons who carried them. Episto- Ub oommendatoria were granted to persons of quali- ty, or to persons whose reputation had been called in question, or to clerg3mien who had occasion to trav- el in foreign countries. Eputoke communicatorve sig- nified that their bearers were in the peace and com- munion of the Church, and hence were called />ar»/Sc(v, and ecdenasticoB, and sometimes canomca. Epistoue di- missoria, at a later period, were only given to the cler- gy when they were to remove from their own diocese and settle in another : they were to testify that they had the bishop's leave to depart. AU these went under the name of ybrroote, because they were written in a peculiar form, with some particular marks, which dis- tinguished them from counterfeits. They were grant- ed by the bishop's sole prerogative. (2.) In the Church of England, dimissory letters are such as are used when a candidate for holy orders has a title in one diocese and is to be ordained in another : in such a case, the proper diocesan sends his letters, directed to the ordaining bbbop, giving leave that the bearer may be ordained by him. In the Protestant Episcopal Church, certifi- cates, or testimonials answering to the Epistolee dmis- soriaj are required of clergymen passing from one dio- cese to another (Canon v of 1844). Similar provisions exist in other Protestant denominations. — Bingham, Orig. Eccles. book ii, chap, v ; Hook, Church Dictionary (Am. ed.), s. v.