In (Jol. ii. 13, 14, <4i,c law of commandments con- tained 11. onhnances" (Ephcs. ii, 15) is designated "the
handicriting of ordinances that was against us," which Jesus blotted out, and took away, nailing it to his cross ; phraseology which indicates the abolition, on the part of the Saviour, of the Mosaic law (Wolfius, Curie Philo- lo(j. in N. T. iii, 16).
Hand-breadth (Heb. ns;:, te'phach, or nsb, to'- jjhac/t), tlie palin, used as a measure of four fingers, equal to about four inches (Exod. xxv, 25; xxxvii, 12; 1 Kuigs vii, 2G ; 2 Chron. iv, 5 ; Ezek. xl, 5, 43 ; Jer. hi, 21). In Psa. xxxix, 5, the expression "Thou hast made my days palm-breadths," signifies ve?-i/ short.
Handel, Geokg Friedrich, one of the greatest of musical composers and musicians, was born at Halle, in the Prussian province of Saxony, F^eb. 24, 1684. He manifested in early youth an extraordinary passion for music, and at the age of seven was a good player on the piano and the organ. At the age of nine he began to compose for the Churcli service, and continued doing so every week until he was thirteen. In 1G98 he was sent to Berlin, where he enjoyed the instruction of Attilio. An offer by the elector of Brandenburg was declined by his father. On the death of the latter in 1703, he went to Hamburg, where he played a violin in the orchestra of the opera, and composed his first opera, Almira. He next visited Italy, where he wrote operas for F^lorence, Venice, and Eome. On his return from Rome he was, in 1709, appointed chapel-master by the elector of Han- over. In 1710 he paid a short visit to England, and in 1712 he took up his permanent abode in that country. He composed, in honor of the peace of Utrecht, his cele- brated Te Benin and Jubilate, and numerous operas. A Royal Academy was established (1720) and jdaced under his management, but his violent temper involved him in many troubles ; an opposition house was started, and soon both failed, with a loss to Handel of £10,000, Soon after he quitted the stage altogether, in order to de- vote himself wholly to the composition of oratorios. His oratorio Esther had appeared as early aie 1720; in 1732 it was produced at the Haymarket Theatre ten nights in succession. In 1733 he produced at Oxford the ora- torio Athalia; in 1736, AleTdnder's Feast; in 1738, Is- rael in Egypt and V allegro ed ilpenseroso. On the r2th of April, 1741, the Messiah, the most sublime of his compositions, was produced for the first time in London, where it met, however, with no favor; while in Dublin, on the other hand, it was received with the greatest applause. Handel remained in Dublin for nine months, and met there with a generous support. On his return to London he composed his Samson, and for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital again produced the Messiah, which now secured to him a general admiration ; and, being repeated annually, brought to the Foundling Hos- pital, from 1749 to 1777, £10,300. In 1751 Handel be- came blind, but he still continued to compose and to play on the piano. He died, as he wished, on Good Friday, April 13, 1759, "in hopes," he said, "of meeting liis good (iod, his sweet Lord and Saviour, on the day of his resurrection." Among his works, which are in the queen's library, are 50 operas— 8 German, 26 Ital- ian, K! English ; 20 oratorios, a great quantity of Church music, cantatas, songs, and instrumental pieces. He was a wonderful musician, and his compositions are often full of grandeur and sublimit}'. His operas are seldom performed, but his oratorios hold the same place in music that in the English drama is accorded to the plays of Shakspeare ; and the Hiindel festivals, lasting several days, in which they are performed by thousands of singers and musicians, are the grandest musical ex- hiliitions of our times. See Y. Schcilcher, The Life of Handel (London, 1857) ; Chrysander, G. F. Hmidel (L\iz. IXM); (iervinus, J/dndel mid Shakspeare (Lpz. 1868); Contemporary Review, April, 1869, p. 503. (A. J. S.)
Handful, a representative in the A. Vers, of several Heb. terms and phrases: prop. ?? N^T3, the Jill of the hand (1 Kings xvii, 12), or E]? N^ia, to Jill the hand
HANDICRAFT
59
HANDICRAFT
("take a handfii]," Lev. ix, 17); also 'fcp, a Jisf-hiU. (Lev. ii, 2; v, 12; vi, 15; but sheaf in Gen. xli. 47), or yap, to press, sc. the fist full (^" take a handful," Numb. V, 2(1); and byiT, the hollow palm itself (Isa. xl, 12), hence its fill (1 Kings xx, 10; Ezek. xiii, 19) ; less prop. tD^22n (Exod. ix, 8), the two fsfs (as rendered Prov. XXX, 4; elsewhere '-hands") improp. "I^T?;? (Jer. ix, 22), and TS^ (Ruth ii, 16), which denotes a sheaf (as the former is elsewhere rendered), the one as standinf/ uncut, and the other as cut and housed; falsely i^23, abundance (Psa. Ixxii, IG).
Handicraft, a general term (not occurring, how- ever, in the Bible) for any manufacture. See Artii'i- CKH. Altliougii the extent cannot be ascertained to which those arts were carried whose invention is as- cribed to Tubal-Cain (Gen. iv, 22), it is probable that this was proportionate to the nomadic or settled habits of the antedihivian races. Among nomad races, as the Bedouin Arabs, or the tribes of Northern and Central Asia and of America, the wants of life, as well as the arts Avhich supply them, are few ; and it is only among the city dwellers that both of them are multiplied and make progress. The following particulars may be gath- ered respecting the various handicrafts mentioned in the Scriptures. See Ckaftsmax.