The Greek word ^17(1;, rendered '•leaven,''^ is used with precisely the same latitude of meaning as the Hebrew seor'. It signifies leaven, sour dough (Matt, xiii, 33; xvi, 12; Luke xiii, 21). Another quality in leaven is noticed in the WWAq, viz., its secretly penetrating and dif- fusive power ; hence the proverbial saying, " a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (1 Cor. v, 6 ; Gal. v, 9). In this respect it was emblematic of moral influence generally, whether good or bad, and hence our Saviour
LEBANA
309
LEBANON
adopts it r.s illustrating the growth of the kingdom of heaven in the individual heart and in the world at large (Matt. xiii,33). Leaven, or ferment, is therefore used tropically for corruptness, perverseness, of life, doc- trine, heart, etc. (Matt, xvi, 6, 11 ; Mark viii, 15 ; Luke xii, 1 ; 1 Cor. v, 7, 8 ; couip. Col. iv, 6 ; Eph. iv, 29). The idea seems to have been faraOiar to the Jews ; compare Otlio, Lex Rahhin. Talm. p. 227. They even employed leaven as a figure of the inherent corruption of man : " K. Alexander, when he had finished his prayers, said, Lord of the universe, it is clearly manifest before thee tliat it is our will to do thy will : what hinders that we do not thy will ? The leaven which is in the mass {GL, The evil desire which is in thGhea.rty\BabijL Beradiotk, xvii, 1 ; ap. JMeuschen, X. T. ex Talmude ill.). We tind the same allusion in the Roman poet Ver&ms, {Sat. i, 24 ; compare Casaubon's note. Comment, p. 74). See Werns- dorf. Be fermento llerodis (Alt. 1724). See Unleav-
ENIiD BUEAD.
'■ The usual leaven in the East is dough kept till it becomes sour, and which is kept from one day to an- other for the purpose of preserving leaven in readiness. Tluis, if there should be no leaven in all the country for any length of time, as much as might be required coidd easily be produced in twenty-four hours. Sour dough, however, is not exclusively used for leaven in the East, the lees of wine being in some parts employed as yeast" (Kitto, Pictorial Bible, i, 161). In the Talmud mention is made of leaven formed of the D^ISIO b',!3 '^^p, bookmakers'' paste {PesacJi, iii, 1). As the process of producing the leaven itself, or even of leavening bread when the substance was at hand, required some time, unleavened cakes were more usually jiroduced on sudden emergencies (Gen. xviii,G; Judg.vi,19). — Kitto; Smith. See Bake ; Bread, etc.
Leb'ana (Neh. vii, 48). See Lebanah.
Leb'anah (Heb. Lebanah', nsib, the moon as be- ing white, as in Cant, vi, 10, etc.; Sept. in Ezra ii, 45 AajSaiHo ; Chaldaistically written Lebana', N53b, in most MSS. in Neh. vii, 48, Sept. Aafiava, Auth. Vers. "Lebana"; Yulg. in both passages Lebana), one of the Nethinim whose posterity returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. B.C. ante 536.
Leb'anon, the loftiest and most celebrated moun- tain range in Syria, forming the northern boundary of Palestine, and running thence along the coast of the Mediterranean to the great pass which opens into the plain of Hamath. The range oi Anti-Lebanon, usually included by geographers under the same general name, lies jiaraUel to the other, commencing on the south at the fountains of the Jordan, and terminating in the plain of Hamath. In the following account we adopt in part the article by Dr. J. L. Porter, in Kitto's Cyclo- pcediu, s. v. See Palestine.
I. The Name. — In the O. Test, these mountain ranges are always called '1335, Lebanon', to which, in prose, the art. is constantly prefixed, "iiS^^rt ; in poetry the art. is sometimes prefixed and sometimes not, as in Isa. xiv, 8, and Psa. xxix, 5. The origin of the name has been variously accounted for. It is derived from the root '^b, "to be white." 'ISiiil "ilH is thus emphati- cally " The White ^Mountain" of Syria. It is a singular fact that almost uniformly the names of the highest mountams in all countries have a like meaning — Mont Blanc, Himalaija (in Sanscrit signifying " snowy"), Ben Neris, Snowdon, perhaps also Alps (from alb, "white," like the Latin albus, and not, as commonly thought, from aJp, "high"). Some suppose the name originated in the white snow by which the ridge is cov- ered a great part of the j'car (Bochart, Opera, i, 678 ; Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 741 ; Stanley, .S'. and P. p. 395). Others derive the name from the whitish color of the limestone rock of which the great body of the range is comiiosed (Schulz, Leitunr/en des Hochsten, v, 471 ; Kob- inson, Biblic. lies, ii, 493). The former seems the more
natural explanation, and is confirmed by several circum- stances. Jeremiah mentions the "snow of Lebanon" (xviii, 14) ; in the Chald. paraphrase ni^Pi "1^13, " snow mountain," is the name given to it, and this is equiva- lent to a not uncommon modern Arabic appellation, Je- bel eth-ThelJ (Gesenius, Thesaurus, 1. c. ; Abulfeda, Tab. Si/r. p. 18). Others derive the name Lebanon from XiliavojTog, " frankincense," the gum of a tree called Mfiavog Qleland, PalfEst. p. 312; Herod, i, 183), which is mentioned among the gifts presented by the magi to the infant Saviour (Matt, ii, 11). This, however, is in Hebrew HJinb, Lebonah (Exod. xxx, 34; Isa. Ix, 6). The Greek name of Lebanon, both in the Septuagint and classic authors, is uniformly AifSavog (Strabo, xvi, 755 ; Ptol. V, 15). The Septuagint has sometimes 'Aiti- XijiavoQ instead of Aijiat'og (Deut. i, 7 ; iii, 25 : Josh, i, 4; ix, 1). The Latin name is LJbunus (Phny, v, 17), which is the reading of the Yidgate. It would appear that the Greek and Roman geographers regarded the name as derived from the snow. Tacitus speaks of it as a remarkable phenomenon that snow should lie where there is such intense heat {Hist, v, 6). Jerome writes, " Libanus XevKaafioc — id est, condor interpretatur" (Adi-ei-sus Jorianum, in Ojjera, ii, 286, ed. Migne) ; he also notes the identity of the name of this mountain anA franhincense {in Osee, in Opera, yj, ICO). Arab ge- ographers call the range Jtbel Libndn (Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. p. 163 ; Edrisi, p. 336, edit. Jaubert). This name, hoAvever, is now seldom heard among the people of Syria, and ivhen used it is confined to the western range. Different parts of this range have distinct names — the northern section is called Jtbel Alkdr, the central Sun- nin, and the southern J, ed-JJruze. Other local names are also used.