5. Jason of Tiiessalonica was the host of Paul and Silas at that city. In consequence, his house was assaulted by the Jews in order to seize the apostle, but, not finding him, they dragged Jason and other brethren before the ruler of the city, who released them on secu- rity (Acts xvii, 5-9). A.D. 48. He appears to have been the same as the Jason mentioned in Kom. xvi, 21 as one of the kinsmen of Paul, and probably accompa- nied him from Thessalonica to Corinth (A.D. 54). He was not one of those who accompanied the apostle into Asia, though Lightfoot conjectures that Jason and Se- cundus were the same person (Acts xx, 4). Alford says Secundus is altogether unknown (Acts, 1. c). Accord- ing to tradition, Jason was bishop of Tarsus (Fabricius, Lux Emngelii, p. 91, 92).
Jasper (iltiV'^,i/ashe2)keh', itroh. polished or glitter- in/), (rt(77ric), a gem of various colors, as purple, ceriUean, but mostly green like the emerald, although duller in hue (Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvii, 8, 9 ; Epiphanius, Be Gem- mis, § 6 ; Braun, De Vest. Sacerdof. ii, 19). " It was the last of the twelve inserted in the high-priest's breast- plate (Exod. xxviii, 20 ,- xxxix, 13), and the first of the twelve used in the foundation of the new Jerusalem (Rev. xxi, 19) : the difference in the order seems to show that no emblematical importance was attached to that feature. It was the stone employed in the superstruct- I ure (tri^vftrjuKj') of the wall of the new Jerusalem (Rev. xxi, 18). It further appears among the stones which I adorned the king of Tyre (Ezek. xxviii, 13). Lastly, it is the emblematical image of the glorj^ of the divine Being (Rev. iv, 3). The characteristics of the stone, as I far as they are specified in Scripture (Rev. xxi, 11), are
JASPIS
(90
JAVA
precious,' and ' like crj'stal' (KpvaraX- tlv ' clear as crystal,' as in the A. V.,
that it was ' most Xi^tov) ; not exact _ but of a crystal hue : the term is applied to it in this sense by Dioseorides (v. 100 : Xi0og iaaniq 6 n'tv tiq iari afi'apayOiZwv, 6 de Kpv(yTa\\<^Br]t;). We may also infer from Rev. iv, 3 that it was a stone of brilliant and transparent Ught" (Smith). The ancient jasper thus apjiears to have been frequently translucent, but the modern is opaque. A brown variety existed in EgjT>t, The jasper of the ancients, therefore, compre- hended various precious stones not readily identifiable (Kosenmiiller, Bibl. Altherthum. IV, i, 42 ; Moore's Anc. Jlin. p. 163). What is now properly called jasper by mineralogists is a sub-species of rhomboidal quartz, of several varieties, mostly the common, the Er/ypiian, and the striped; of different colors— whitish, yellow, green, reddish, etc., sometimes spotted or banded ; occurring either in masses or loose crystals, and susceptible of a fine polish (see the Lond. EnajclojjcBdia, s. v.). See Gem.
Jaspis, Gottfried Siegmuxd, a German theolo- gian, was born at Meissen April 8, 17C6. He was edu- cated at the University of Leipzig, and entered the ministry in 1792 as pastor at Piichau. In 1814 he was called to the Nicolai church at Leipzig, where he died, Feb. 15, 1823. AVhile he distinguished himself greatly as a preacher, it is particularly as a writer in Biblical literature that Jaspis's name deserves to be mentioned here. He published an excellent Latin translation of the apostolic epistles (Lips. 1793-95; new ed. 1821, 8vo). His polemical and homiletical works are now no longer regarded as of any value, "lie was a man of pure aims and cheerful piety, and a good scholar and preach- er."— Kitto, Cijdop. s. V. ; Adelung's Addenda to Jocher, Geleh rtea Lcxikon, s. v.
Jassasa, Al (or the Spy), a Mohammedan name for a beast which is to be one of their signs of the approach of the day of judgment : When the sentence shall he ready to fall upon them, u-e ivill cause a beast to come forth unto them out of the earth, which shall speak unto them. It is supposed by them that it will ajjpear first in the temple of Mecca, or on Blount Safa, or in the territory of Taycf. She is to be a monster in size, and so swift that no human being shall be able to pursue her in her rapid flight through this world, marking the believers j from the unbelievers, " that every person may be known at the day of judgment for what he really is." See Sale, Prelim. JJisseii. to the Koran, p. 79; Broughton, Biblioth. Hist. Sac. i, 506.
Jasu'bus ('lao-oi'/Sof), the Grjecizcd form (1 Esd. Lx, 30) of the Heb. name (Ezra x, 29) Jasiiub (q. v.).
Jataka (literally relatinrj to birth) is the name of a Buddhistic work consisting of a series of books which contain an account of 550 previous births of Sakya Mu- ni, or the Buddha. Several tales that pass under the nai7ie of yEsop's fables are to be found in this collection of legends. See Bu'DDHisjr.
Ja'tal (Ardp v. r. 'laroA), a corrupt Greek form (1 Esd. V, 28) of the Heb. name (Ezra ii, 42 ; Neh. vii, 45) Atek (q. v.).
Jath'niel (Ileb. Yathniel', bsiir;;!, given by God, otherwise imiiser of God; Sept. No^nvn v. r. \ia^a- vni)\, 'laSravm'iX), the fourth son of Meshelemiah, one of the Levitical (Korhite) gate-keepers of the Temple (I (Jliron. xxvi, 2). B.C. 1014.