Masclef, Francois, a noted Roman Catholic divine and Orientalist, was born at Amiens in the year 1662. He very early de\'oted himself to the study of Oriental languages, and attained in them an extraordinary de- gree of proficiency. Educated for service in the Church, he became first a curate in the diocese of Amiens, but afterwards obtained the confidence of De Brou, bishop of Amiens, who placed him at the head of the theologi- cal seminary of the district, and made him a canon. De Brou died in 1706, and Masclef, -whose opinions on the Jansenistic controversy were not in accordance with those of the new prelate Sabbatier, was compeUod to re- sign his place in the theological seminary and retire from public life. From this time he devoted himself to study with such close application as to bring on a disease, of which he died, on Nov. 24, 1728, when only in his prime. Though austere in his habits, he was amiable and pious. Masclefs chief work is the Grammatica Jlebraica, a punctis (diisque inveniis Massorethicis libera, still con- sidered one of the best -works of the kind ; it embodies an elaborate argument against the use of the vowel- points. The first edition was published in 1716, and speedily called forth a defence of the points from the abbe Guarln, a learned Benedictine monk. In tlie year 1731 a second edition was published at Paris, containing an answer to Guarin's objections, with the addition of grammars of the SjTiac, Chaldee, and Samaritan lan- guages. Other works of Jlasclef are. Ecclesiastical Con- ferences of the Diocese of A miens : — Catechism of A miens: — and in manuscript. Courses of Philosophy and Divin- ity ; not printed because it is thought to contain Jansen- istic opinions. — English Cyclop, s. v.
Mash (Heb. ic7. d^, signif. unknown ; Sept. Moaux, Vulg, J/es), the last named of the four sons of Aram (B.C. post 2513), and a tribe descended from him, who gave their name to a region inhabited liy (hem (Gen. x, 23) ; probably, therefore, to be sought in Syria or Meso- potamia. In the parallel passage (1 Chron. i, 17) the
MASHAL
858
MASON
name of Mesiiecii has been erroneously substituted. Jtisephus (Ant. i, G, 4) imderstands the Mesancei {Mrj- aai'dioi), and states that tlieir locality "is now called Cliarax of Spasinus,^'' evidently the same place (Xn- f)ciS, Ua(7ivov, Ptol. vi, 3, 2), situated, according to others, at tlie junction of the Tigris and Euphrates (Plin. vi, 26, and 31, ed. Hardouin). Most interpreters, however, following Eochart {Phaleg, ii, 11), understand to be meant the inhabitants of Mount JIasius, which lies north of Nesibis, and forms part of the chain of Taurus separating Media from Mesopotamia (Strabo, xi, 527 ; I'tol. V, 18, 2), of which latter the Shemites occupied the southern part (jMichaelis, Spicileg. ii, 140 sq.). — Winer. " Knobel ( VulkertaJ\4, p. 237) seeks to reconcile this view with that of Josephus by the supposition of a mi- gration from the north of Blesopotamia to the south of Babylonia, where the race may have been known in later times under the name of Meshech : the progress of the population in these parts was, however, in an op- posite direction, from south to north. Kalisch (Comm, on Gen. p. 286) connects the names of ]\Iash and ]\[ysia : this is, to say the least, extremely doubtful ; both the Mysians themselves and their name (^Alcesia') were prob- ably of European origui" (Smith). " It is remarkable that among the Asiatic confederates of the Kheta or Sheta, i. e. Hittites, who are enumerated as conquered by liameses II at Kedesh on the Orontes, is found the prince of Maso or Masa (Brugsch, Hist, de VEgypte, i, 140, 142)" (Kitto). See Ethnology.
Ma'shal (1 Chron. vi, 74 [59]). See Mishal.
Masliam, Lady Damaris, a lady celebrated for her attainnients in divinity, daughter of the celebrated Cud- worth, >vas born at Cambridge, England, in 1658. Her lather, jierceiving the bent of her genius, took particular care of her education, so that she was early distinguish- ed for piety and uncommon learning. She became the second wile of Sir Francis Masham, of Gates, in Essex ; and repaid her father's care of her in the admirable pains she took in the education of her only son. In the study of divinity and philosophy she was greatly assisted by Locke, who lived in her family most of his last years, and who died in her house. She died in 1708. Lady IMasham •vnotQ a discourse concerning the Love of God (1691, 12mo); and Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Virtuous or Christian Life (1700, 12mo); and drew up the account of Mr. Locke published in the great Historical Dictionary. See Lord King, Life of Locke; AUibone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer, Auth. s. v.
Masi'as (Mnc/oe v. r. Mio-ai'ac), one of the "ser- vants of Solomon" whose descendants returned with Zo- Tobbabel from Babylon (1 Esdr. v, 34). Nothing corre- sponding to the name is found in the Heb. text (Ezra v, 55 sq.).
Masius, Andre, a very learned Orientalist, was born near Brussels in 1516. He was a man of excellent parts, an accomplished lawyer, and counsellor to the duke of Cleves. He died in 1573. INIasius translated a variety of articles from the Syriac, which may be found in the Supplement to the Critica Saci-a, compiled a Syi'iac Lexicon and Grammar, and a learned Gomnnentary on Joshua and part of Deuter- onomy. The former con- tains the readings of the Syriac llexaplar version. See Hoefer, Xour. L'iog. Generale, s. v.