Maiafoschi, Prospero, an Italian prelate, was born Sept. 2'J, ItioS, at Macerata; entered the priesthood while yet a youth ; became canon of St. Peter's at Rome, and later bishop in partibus of Cyrene. He enjoyed the favor and ('ontidence of several of the incumbents of the jiapal iliair. Clement XI, in 1721, gave him the archie- piscopal sec of Ciesarea and Cappadocia; Benedict XIII created him cardinal in 1724, and in 1726 made him vicar-general of Rome. He died Feb. 24, 1732. — Hoefer, Nouv. Uiixj. Gcni'rale, xxiii, 347.
Ma'rah (Hebrew Marak', rTl^, hitterness, from the taste of the water; Sept, Mippa, UtKf>la,y\\\g. Mara), a brackish fountain, forming the sixth station of the Israelites, three days distant from their passage across the Red Sea (Exod. xv, 33; Numb, xxiii, 8). Finding here a well so l)itter that, thirsty as they were, they could not drink its water, they murmured against Mo- ses, who at the divine direction cast in "a certain tree," by which means it was made palatable. " It has been suggested (Burckhardt, iSip-ia, p. 474) that Moses made use of the berries of the plant Ghurkud (Robinson .says [i, 2GJ the Pef/amim 7-etusuiH of ForskalJ Flora ^K<j. A rab. p. Ixvi; more correctly, the A'tV/y/w/ tridentata of Des- fontaincs, /■Yon; .l/Af«^ i, 372), and which stiE.it is im- plied, would be found to operate similarly. Robinson,
however (i, 67), could not find that this or any tree was now known by the Arabs to possess such properties ; nor would those berries, he says, have been found so early in the season as the time when the Israelites reached the region. It may be added that, had any such resource ever existed, its eminent usefulness to the supply of hu- man wants would hardly have let it perish from the tra- ditions of the desert. Further, the expression ' the Lord showed' seems surely to imply the miraculous character of tlie transaction" (Smith). With regard to the cure of the water, it has been well argued (Kitto, Pictorial History of Palestine, p. 209) that no explanation of the phenomena on natural grounds has proved consistent or satisfactory ; neither is there &\\y tree in that region or elsewhere now known which possesses such virtue in itself, or which is used for a similar purpose by the Arabs. We are therefore compelled to conclude, as, in- deed, the narrative spontaneously suggests, that the shrub selected was indifferent, being one nearest at hand, and that the restorative property ceased with the special occasion which had called for its exercise, leav- ing the well to resume its acrid taste as at present found.
The name Marah, in the form of Amarah, is now borne by the barren bed of a winter torrent, a little be- yond which is still found a well called Hoicarah, the bit- ter waters of which answer to this description. Camels wiU drink it, but the thirsty Arabs never partake of it themselves — and it is said to be the only water on the shore of the Red Sea which they cannot drink. The water of this well, when first taken into the mouth, seems insipid rather than bitter, but when held in the mouth a few seconds it becomes exceedingly nauseous. The well rises within an elevated mound surrounded by sand-hills, and two small date-trees grow near it. The basin is six or eight feet in diameter, and the water about two feet deep. (See Burckhardt, Trav. in Syria, p. 472; Robinson, Researches, i, 96 sq. ; Bartlett, /■o?Vy Days in the Desert, p. 30 ; and other travellers.) "Wi- ner says {Ilandwb. s. v.) that a still bitterer well lies east of Marah, the claims of which Tischendorf, it ap- pears, has supported. Lepsius prefers wady Ghurundel. Prof. Stanley thinks that the claim may be left between this and Ilowarah, but adds in a note a mention of a spring south of Howarah ' so bitter that neither men nor camels could drink it,' of which ' Dr. Graul (ii, 2u4) was told.' The Ayoun J/o!«(/, 'wells of Moses,' which local tradition assigns to INIarah, are manifestly too close to the head of the gulf, and probable spot of crossing it, to suit the distance of ' three days' journey.' The soil of this region is described as being alternately gravelly, stony, and sandj'; under the range of the Gebel Wardan chalk and flints are plentiful, and on the direct line of route bet^veen Ayoun jMousa and Howarah no water is found (Robinson, i, 67)" (Smith). See Exode.
Mar'alah (Heb. ^faralah', flb""!^, a tremUing ; Sept, MrtpnXo), a place on the southern boundary of Zebnlon, but api)arently within the bounds of Issachar, west of Sarid and east of Dabbasheth (Josh, xix, 11). These indications point to some locality not far from the present Miijeidil, although the name would seem to agree better with that of the neighboring site, jStelul. The latter place agrees with the identification ofl'orter, who remarks that IMalul is a little village about four mUes south-west of Nazareth, on the top of a hill, con- taining the ruins of a tcmiilc, and other vestiges of an- tiquity. In the surrounding rocks and cliffs are some excavated tombs (^I/inidbook, ]\ 385).
Maran-a'tha (Mapav dBci, from the Aramsean nrx "TC, maran' athah', our Lord comes, i. e. to judg- ment, Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. col. 1248, and so found in the Peshito version), a phrase added to the sentence of ex- communication byway of appeal to the divine Head of the Church for ratification (1 Cor. xvi, 22). See Anath- EJiA. " In the A. Y. it is combined with the preceding ' anathema,' but this is unnecessary ; at all events it can only be regarded as adding emphasis to the pre^•iou3