the well-known nation of the Metles. Pn^l«bly. there- fore, all that the writer intends to assert in Gen. x. 2 is that the Jlede-s as well as the Gomerites. Greeks. Til«- reni. Moschi, etc.. descendeil frv>m Japhet. Minlem science has found that, both in physical t>-pe and in language, the Meiles belong to that family of the human
Ketikah] that many of the Keturahite tribes seem to have merged iu early times into the Ishmaelite tril>es. The mention of • Ishmaelite" as a convertible term with 'Midianite.' in Gen. xxxvii, 28, 36, is remarkable; but the MiiUauite of the A, V. in ver. 28 is Meilanite in the Hebrew (bv the Sept. rendereil MaoujraToi. and in the Yulij. Ism'atHtir and Madianitiv) ; and we mav have ra^-e which embrai-es the Cymr>- and the Gre^x>-Komjui3
here a trace of the subject of this article, though Mid- ianite appears on the whole to be more likely the cor- rect reading ui the passages referred to" ^Smith). See MiniAx.
Medard, St., bishop of Xoyon, in France, was bom alxnit 450, in the village of Sallencv, near Xovon,
(^see Prich.Hnl"s Phi/s, Hist, of Maitkimi. iv. 6-5<^ : chap. X. § 2-4 : and conip. the article on Medi.v)" (Smith). For •• Darius the Metle," see Dahus.
Mede. Joseph. RD., a lesnied English divine, was descender! frem a resi>ectable family at l>enlen. iu Essex, and was Kmi in 1586. When but a Kn- ten-vears old
Through his father. Xe\.>tanlus, he belonged to a noble he lost his father, but his cilucation was previdetl for by
Frank family: his mother. lV>tagia. a Giiili>-Roman. also friends. He liecame a ivmmoner of Christ Chun-h,
claimed high ciMuiections. He was educatetl in the s*.hool Cambridge, in 1602. where he tiKik the degree of luas-
of his native city, and early rajuiifestetl that zeal and ter of arts in 1610. having made such pregress ir. .ill charity for which he .at^erwanls bectime distingnishetl. , kinds of learning that he was universally esteotr.ed .<ui
He enteretl the Chureh under the guidance of the bishop aiwunplishetl si-holar. He was appointed tJreck lect-
of Verm.and. and on the death of the latter, in 530. was urer on Sir W.ilter Mildmay's foundation, and ivirticu-
apjxunteil his suct-essor. In ivnsequence. however, of karly einployetl himself iu studying the history of the
the fret^ueut invasions which desolateil that district, he Chaldieans and Egypti.ws. He appears to ha>-e had
exchanged this see for Xoyon, a stnnigly-fortifietl town, mjuiy otlers of preierment, but unhesi: -.i-igly declimni
When St, Eleutherns. bishop of Tournay, dieil. in 532, them all in favor of this jx>sition, whi> U affonle*! him
Metlanl w.is iuviteil to join this see to that of Xoyon; leisure for favorite stuihes. He die^l in 1638. "Mr.
MEDEBA
14
:media
Mede," says his biographer, " was an acute logician, an accurate philosopher, a skilful mathematician, an excel- lent anatomist, a great philologist, a master of many languages, and a good proticient in history and chronol- ogy." Ilis principal imiduction, worthy the labors of a lifetime, he sent forth in 1027, under the title Clavis Aporii/i/j)lica (Cambridge, 1027, 4to) ; to which he added in l(j."!2, In iSdiicti Jourmis Apocalt/psin Commentariiis, ad aiiuigsiin Cluvis Apocali/pticw. An English transla- tion of this celebrated work was published in London in 1(550, entitled The Key of Revelation searched and dem- onstrated out of the natural and proper Characters of the Visions, etc.; to which is added a Conjecture concerninrj Gog and Mugorj. This work has been honored with liigh commendation from the learned Dr. Hurd, in his Introdurtlon to the Study of the Prophecies (ii, 122, etc.), where Jlede is spoken of as "a sublime genius, without vanity, interest, or spleen, but with a single, unmixed love of truth, dedicating his great talents to the study of the iirojihetic Scriptures, and unfolding the myste- rious prophecies of the lievelation." A collection of the whole of IMede's writings was published in 1G72, in 2 vols, folio, by Dr. Worthington, who added to them a life of the author. He was a pious and profoundly learned man ; and in every part of his works the talents of a sound and learned divine are eminently cons]>icu- ous. He was distinguished for his meekness, modesty, and prudence, and for unbounded liberality towards the needy. A very full account of Mede is given in AUi- bone's /-'/(•/. Brit, and Amer. Authors, s. v. See also J-lngli.-ih Ci/i-hip. s. v.; Gen. Biog. Diet. s. v.; Darling, Cyclnp. lilhliog. i, 2028 ; Home, Bihl. Bill. 1839, p. 331 ; Orme, Bihlioth. Biblia, s. v. ; limit, Hist, of Religious Thought in England, i, 107.
Med'eba (llcb. Metjdeha', Nr"!"p, iraler of quiet; Sept. 'S\i]i:aj^a in Chron., "MauaSd in .lo.-li., ^lioaft m Nimib., and 'SWafilriQ v. r. ^hicujia, Mijcai^a, M(t«/3« in Isa. ; Vulg. Medaba ; Joseph. M»;o«/3n and 'Mecajiri), a town east of the Jordan, in a plain of the same name in the southern border of the tribe of Keuben (Josh, xiii, 9, 10), before which was fought the great battle where Joab defeated the Ammonites and their allies (1 Chron. xix, 7 ; comp. with 2 Sam. x, 8, 14, etc.). In the time of Ahaz, Medeba was a sanctuary of Moab (Isa. xv, 2) ; but in the denunciation of Jeremiah (xlviii), often par- allel with that of Isaiah, it is not mentioned. It origi- nally belonged to the Moabitcs (Numb, xxi, 30), from whom it was concpiered by Sihon the Amoritish king (.Io.-( |iliii<. . I lit. xiii, 1, 2, and 4) ; but upon the captivity of tlic iriljrs beyond the Jordan, the Jloabites again took jiossession of it (Isa. xv, 2), and retained it after the return from exile (1 JIacc. ix, 30). See Jambui. It was the scene of the capture and possibly the death of John Maccalwus, and also of the revenge subsequently taken by Jcjnathan and Simon (Josephus, Ant. xiii, 1, 4; the name is omitted in JIaccabees on the second occa- sion, see ver. 38). About B.C. 110 it was taken, after a long siege, by John Hyrcaiuis {^Ant. xiii, 9, 1 ; War, i, 2, 4), and then appears to have remained in the posses- sion of the Jews for at least thirty years, till the time of Alexander Jannjcus (xiii, 15, 4) ; and it is mentioned as one of the twelve cities by the promise of which Arc- tas, the king of Arabia, was induced to assist Hyrcanus II to recover .Icriisalem from his brother, Aristobulus {Ant. xiv, 1,4). Ptolemy calls it Medaua (Miicava), in Arabia I'etnca, in long^ 08^ 30', lat. 3(P 45' (v, 17, 0). Stephen of Hyzantiitm (p. 500) assigns it to Nabatene. The (hiomitslicim places it near Heshbon ; and it was once the seat of on<! of the thirty-five bishoprics of Ara- bia (Kcland, J'alaslinii, p. 217, 223, 220). The jilace, altliiiugh in ruins, still retains the name .\fadtba, and is situated upon a round hill seven miles south of Hesh- bon. The ruins are about a mile and a half in circuit, but not a single edilice remains perfect, although the remains of the walls of [irivate houses are traceable, and an immejisc tank (Irby and Mangles, p. 471) is visible