(1(;22) : Institutiones loyicce (1623) ■.—Compendium dia-
krliac succindiim (1623; 12th ed. lV>6(j) •.—Compeiulium Mslorl'Z eccles. (1649) : — Commentar z. Hehrder uml den Kntholisckm Brirfiii (1654) : — CompeiuHum theolof/iw (Rrunsv.-. 1 G55). — Fierer, Unieersal-Lexikon, \'m, 542; Ilcrzog, Fral-Juici/khp. vi, 265; Gass, Dotjmengesch. ii, 147, 159, 210 ; Kurtz, Ch. Hist, ii, 201.
I
Hornet or -wasp (i1>"i:J, fsirah', Exod. xxiii, 28 ; Dcut. vii, 20; Josh, xxiv, 12; Sept. arpijK'ui, Yu]g. cra- bro). The Heb. term appears to be indicative oi siinrj- imj ; and the ancient versions with the Rabbins fsivor tlie interpretation of " hornet" rather than " wasp," as appears from the application of the above Greek and Latin words (comp. Aristotle, J list. Anim. v, 19, 017 ; ix, 65, 66 ; Pliny, Hist. Nut. xi, 24). The above passages in which the word occurs refer to some means of expul- sion of the Canaanites before the Israelites. Not only were bees exceedingly numerous in Palestine, but from the name Zoreah (.Josh, xv, 33) we may infer that hor- nets in particular infested some parts of the country : the frequent notices of the animal in the Talmudical writers (Lewysohn, Zool. § 405) lead to the same con- clusion. Gesenius, however, maintains that the term is not to be taken in a literal sense, but metaphorically, as the symbol of the panic with which God would inspire the inhabitants, adducing the expressions "terror of God" (Gen. xxxv, 5), "mighty destruction" (Deut. vii, 23), and the antithesis of the angel to defend them (Exod. xxiii, 20, etc.), in favor of this interpretation (see Thesaur. Heb. p. 1186). Indeed, the following ar- guments seem to decide in favor of a metaphorical sense : (1) that the word "hornet" in Exod. xxiii, 28 is parallel to " fear" in ver. 27 ; (2) that similar expressions are un- doubtedly used metaphorically, e. g. " to chase as the hees elo" (Deut, i, 44 ; Psa. cxviii, 12) ; (3) that a simi- lar transfer from the literal to the metaphorical sense may be instanced in the classical astrtis, originally a " gatl-fly," afterwards terror and madness ; and, lastly (4), that no historical notice of such inter\'ention as hor- nets occurs in the Bible. We may therefore regard it as expressing under a vivid image the consternation with which Jehovah would inspire tlie enemies of the Israelites, as declared in Deut. ii, 25 ; Josh, ii, 1 1. Among the moderns, i^Iichaelis has defended the figurative sense. In addition to other reasons for it, he doubts whether the expulsion of the Canaanites could be effected by swarms of (T(j>}]Kiai, and proposes to derive the Hebrew from a root signifying "scourges," "plagues," scutica, j)laf/(v, etc. (^Supph'm. ad Lexic. llebr. vi, 2154) ; but his reasons are ably refuted by Iloscnm idler, apud Bochart (Ilicroz. Lips. 1790, iii, ch."l3, p. 402, etc.). In favor of the possibility of such an event, it is observed that yEli- an relates that the Phaselitre were actually driven from their locality by such means {<i>afftj\irag ce a(pi'iKig k. r. X. Hist. Anim. ix, 28), and Bochart has shown tliat these Phaselita! were a Phanician people (ut sup. p. 412). For a parallel case of an army being seriously molested by hornets, see Ammian. Marcell. xxiv, 8. Even Kosen- miiller himself adopts the figurative sense in his Scholia on Exod. xxiii, 28 ; but on Josh, xxiv, 12 he retracts that opinion, and amply refutes it. His reasonings and refutations have been adopted by numerous writers (among others, see Paxton's Illustrations of Sci-ipture, i, 303, etc., Edinb. 1819). jMichaelis's doubt of the ab- stract possibility seems verj' unreasonable, when the irre- sistible power of bees and wasps, etc., attested by nu- merous modern occurrences, and the thin and partial clothing of the Canaanites, are considered. It is ob- sers^able that the event is represented by the author of the apocryphal book of Wisdom (xii, 8) a^ a merciful
dispensation, by which the Almighty, he says, " spared as men the old inhabitants of his holy land," and "gave them place for repentance." If the hornet, considered as a Ji^, was in any way connected with their id(}latry, the visitation would convey a practical refutation of their error. Ewald {Gesch. d. V. Israel, 3d ed. GiJtting. 1864-8, ij, lie sq.) connects the word (reading ^Vy.^ i. q. ri"i<i:J) with :Manetho's story (Joscphus, Apion, i, 26) of the expulsion of the Israelites from Egypt on account of a disease. See Baalzkbub.
Tho hornet (Tc^ja crahro) is a hymenopterous insect with fix legs and four wings. It bears a general resem- blance to the common wasp, but is of a darker color, and much larger. It is exceedingly fierce and voracious, especially in hot climates, but even in Western countries its sting is frequently dangerous. Roberts observes on Deut. vii, 20, " The sting of the hornet and wasp of the East is much more poisonous than in Europe, and the insect is larger in size. I have heard of several who died from having a single sting ; and not many days ago, as a woman was going to a well ' to draw water,' a liornet stung her in the cheek, and she died the next day. The god Siva is described as having destroyed many giants by hornets." It may be remarked, that the hornet, no less than the whole species of wasps, ren- ders an essential ser^'ice in checking the multiplication of flies and other insects, which v.-ould otherwise become intolerable to man ; and that in regard to their archi- tecture, and especially their instincts and habits, they do not yield to their more popidar congener, the bee, but even, in several respects, greatly excel it. The hornet, in common with the other social wasps, displays great ingenuity in the manufacture of its nest. It is made of a coarse'gray paper, mucli like the coarsest wrapping- paper, but less firm. This is arranged in several globose leaves, one over the other, not unlike the outer leaves of a cabbage, the base of which is attached by a small footstalk to the upper part of the cavity in -which it ii inclosed. Within this protecting case the combs arc built in parallel roivs of cells, exactly like those of the bee, but made of \)a.\ic,T, and ranged horizontally instead of vertically, and in single series, the entrances always being downwards. Each story is connected with that above it by a number of pillars of the common paper, thick and massive. These cells do not contain honey, but merely the eggs, and, in due time, the young, being in fact nursing cradles. The paper with wliich the hor- net builds is formed either from decayed wood or the bark of trees, the fibres of v/hlch it abrades by means of its jaws, and kneads into a paste with a viscid saliva. When a morsel as large as a pea is prepared, the insect flies to the nest and spreads out the mass in a thin layer at the spot where it is required, moulding it into shape with the jaws and feet. It is soon dry, and forms real paper, coarser than that of the common v,asp. (Kirby and Spcnce, Introduct. to Knl<>,uuli><iij. .Svo, Loud. 1828, i, 273,274; Reaumur, /y/.^-/"//-' <h^ /„..,,/,..', vol vi, Mem. 6, 4;o, Par. 1734-42 ; Wood, r.lhle Ammah, Lond. 1869, p. 614 sq.).— Kitto; Smith; Fairbairn. See Wasp.