scorching heat signifies persecution and destruction. Sa in JMatt. xiii, 6, 21, and Luke viii, 6-13, heat is tribula^ tion, temptation, or jjersecution ; and in 1 Pet. iv, 12, burning tends to temptation. A gentle heat of the sun, according to the Oriental interpreters, signifies the favor and bounty of the prince ; but great heat denotes pun- ishment. Hence the burning of the heavens is a por- tent explained in Livy (iii, 5) of slaughter. Thus in Psa. cxxi, 6 : " The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night," is in the next place explamed thus : " Jehovah shall preserve thee from all evil ; he shall pre- serve thy soul."— Wemyss. See Fire.
Heath 0""l?) area-', Jer. xvii, 6 ; Sept. djpiofivpi- „ //, ^'ldg. myricd ; or "iSJi"!?., aroer', Jer. xlviii, 6 ; Sept. vi'oQ dypioc, peril, by reading Ti"l^', a wild ass; Vulg. myricce) has been variously translated, as myrica, tania- isl; tamurin,\\\iiQ\\ is an Indian tree, the tamarind; ■etama, that is, the broom ; and also, as in the French and English versions, hiilere, heath, which is, perhaps, the most incorrect of all, though Hasselquist mentions finding heath near Jericho, in SyTia, Gesenius, how- ever, renders it ruins in the latter of the above pas- sages (as in Isa. xvii, 2), and 7ieedy in the former (as in Psa. cii, 18). As far as the context is concemed, some of the plants named, as the return and tamarisk, woidd answer very well [see Tamarisk] ; but the Arabic name, arar, is appUed to a totaUj^ different plant, a spe- cies of juniper, as has been clearly sho^vn liy Celsius {Jlierohot. ii, 195), who states that Arias jMontanus is the only one who has so translated the Hebrew in the first of the passages in question (Jer. xvii, G): "For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited." Both the Heb. words are from the root ^'^T, " to be naked," in allusion to the bare nature of the rocks on which the juniper often grows (comp. Psa. cii, 17, r^SPl ~i""l^"n, " the prayer of the destitute," or ill-clad). Sev- eral species of juniper are no doubt fomid in SjTia and Palestine. See Cedar ; Juniper. Dr. Robinson met with some in proceeding from Hebron to ivadj^ IMusa, near the romantic pass of Nemela : " On the rocks above we foimd the juniper-tree, Arabic ar'ar ; its berries have the appearance and taste of the common juniper, except that there is more of the aroma of the pine. These trees were ten or fifteen feet in height, and hung upon the rocks even to the summits of the cliffs and nectUes" (Bibl. Researches, ii, 506). In prf)ceeding S.E. he states : "Large trees of the juniper become quite common in the wadys and on the rocks." It is mentioned in the same situations by other travellers, and is no doubt com- mon enough, particidarly in wild, uncultivated, and of- ten inaccessible situations, and is thus suitable to Jer. xlviii, 6 : " Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness." — Kitto. This appears to be the Ju- niperiis Sabina, or savin, M'ith small scale-like leaves, which are pressed close to the stem, and which is de- scribed as being a gloomy-looking bush inhabiting the most sterile soil (see English Cyclop. N. Hist, iii, 311) ; a character which is obviously well suited to the naked or destitute tree spoken of by the prophet. Rosenmiiller's explanation of the Hebrew word, which is also adopted by iMaurer, "qui destitutus versatur" {Schol. ad Jer. xvii, G), is very unsatisfactory. Not to mention the tamtness of the comparison, it is evidently contradicted by the an- tithesis in ver. 8: "Cursed is he that trusteth in man ... he shall be like the juniper that grows on the bare rocks of the desert : Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord ... he shall be as a tree plnnted by the wa- ters." The contrast between the shrub of the arid des- ert and the tree growing by the waters is very striking; but Kosenmuller's interpretation appears to us to spoil the whole. Even more unsatisfactory is IMichaelis {Supp. Lex. Heb. p. 1971), who thinks "Guinea-hens" {Nuniida meleagris) arc intended! Gesenius {Thes. p. 1073-4) understands these two Heb. terms to denote
HEATH
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HEATHEN
"parietinte, jedificia eversa" (ruins); but it is more in accordance with the scriptural passages to suppose that some tree is intended, which explanation, moreover, has the sanction of the Sept. and Vidgate, and of the mod- ern use of a kindred Arabic word.— Smith. Modern travellers do not mention the species; but those which liave been named as growing in Palestine are the riue- nician juniper, the common savin, and the brown-l)er- ricd juniper. The first of these is a tree of about twen- ty feet high, growing with its branches in a pyramidal form. Kosenmiiller states that "Forskal found it fre- quently in the sandy heaths about Suez. The caravans use it ibr fuel." The species best kno\\-n in America are the conmion red cedar {Jun.Virrjiniana) and the Ber- muda cedar, from which the wood of lead-pencils is man- ufactured. They all have long, narrow, prickly leaves, and bear a soft, piilpy bern,-, from which a carminative oil is extracted. The wood is light, highly odorous, and verj' durable. See Junipek.