Mil'cah (llnh.Milkah', T^'zh-q, advice ; Sept, MsX- Xa), the name of two women.
1. The daughter of Haran, and sister of Lot and Is- cah (or Sarah) ; she married Nahor (Gen. xii, 29), by whom she had eight sons (Gen. xx, 20, 23), one of whom was Bethuel, the father of Rebekah (Gen. xxiv, 15, 24, 47). She was thus Abraham's sister-in-law, and the grandmother of Isaac's wife. B.C, cir, 2047.
2. The fourth named of the five daughters of Zelophe- had, of the tribe of Manasseh (Numb, xxvi, 33), who became heiresses for the want of brothers (Numb, xxvii, 1), and, having married members of the same tribe (Numb, xxxvi, 11), were assigned portions in Giiead (Josh, xvii, 3). B.C, 1619-1612.
Mircom (Heb. Milkoni', U'sh'O, their king, 1 Kings xi, 5; Sept. MfAj^wju and M£\;(;('iju, Yulg. Moloch; 2 Kings xxiii, 13, MoXd^, Melchom ; also Malciiam, Heb. Malkam', DSb^, id., Jer. xlix, 1,3, Sept. MtXxoX.Vulg. Melchom, " their king ;" but this last is the proper ren- dering in Amos i, 15 ; Zeph. i, 5, in which latter passage the Auth.Yers. has "Malcham"), the principal deity of the Ammonites (Jer. xlix, 1, 3), for whose worship Solo- mon erected altars on the ISIount of Olives, hence called the Hill of Offence (2 Kings xxiii, 13), Milcom is usu- ally regarded as the same .is J/oA <■// 1 ir Moloch, although the latter was worshipped in a different place and man- ner, namely, by the offering of children in the flames of the valley of Hinnom (see Keil, Comment, ad loc. Kings ; Movers, Phon. p. 324 sq. ; Ewald, Is?: Gesch. iii, 100). See Moloch.
Mildevs" ("ip"'.'', yerakon', greenness, i. e. pallor, as the "paleness" by affright, Jer. xxx, 6) is properly a species of fungus or parasitic plant generated by moist- ure, and corrosive of the surface to which it adheres. In Scripture it is applied to grain, and refers to the jjale green or yellowish color indicative of fading or wither- ing of plants (Deut. xxviii, 22; 1 Kings viii, 37; 2 Chron. vi, 28 ; Amos iv, 9 ; Hag. ii, 17 ; in all which pas- sages it is connected with " blasting"). The Arabic ap- plies the word yerakon to human beings as well as to corn, and thus describes the disease called in Europe yellow jaundice. Forskal was informed in Arabia by a Jew that it was the general opinion there that it is a mild breeze, dangerous to the corn, by which the ears are turned yellow. See Leprosy.
Mile (jxiXiov, the Greek form of the Latin milliari-
MILES
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MILETUS
um, from milk, a thousand, Matt, v, 41), a Roman meas- ure of 1000 geometrical paces (pussuaj of five feet each, and tlierefore equal to 5000 IJoman feet (sec Smith's Diet, of Greek and Ronum A titiq. s. v. Milliare). Tak- ing the Roman foot at ll.G4'J(J English inches, the Ro- man mile would be 1G18 English yards, or 142 yards less tnan the English statute mile (see Penny Cyclopce- diu, s. v.). By another calculation, in which the foot is taken at 11.62 inches, the mile would be little more than 1G14 yards. The number of Roman miles in a de- gree of a large circle of the earth is little more than 75 (sec Ukcrt, Gevgr. d. Griech. I, ii, 75), The mpst com- mon Latin term for the mile is mille passuum, or only the initials M.P. ; sometimes the vn)rA jmssuum is omit- ted. The Roman mile contained eight Greek stadia (I'liny, ii, 21), Hence it is usual with the earlier writers on Hililicalgeography to translate the Greek '"stade" into the English "furlong" in stating the measurements of Eusc'liiiis and Jerome, who, like the early itineraries, always reckon by Roman miles. See FiTKLO.NG, The Talmudists also em- ployed this measure (which they call iiT3, Otho, Lex. Rahb. p, 421), but es- timate it at 7J stadia {Baba Mezici, xxxiii, 1), as also the Roman histo- rians frequently reckon it, without ge- ographical or mathematical accuracy (Forbiger, I/uiidbuch d. alt. Geof/r. i, 655), Mile-stones were set u]) along the roads constructed by the Romans in Palestine (Reland, J'ul<est. p. 401 sq.), and to this day they may be seen, here and there, in that country (Robinson, Bib. Res. ii, ICl, note ; ii, 306). The mile of the Jews is said to have been of two kinds, long or short, dei)endcnt on the length of the pace, ■which varied in different parts, the long ])ace being double the length of the short one (Carpzov, Appurat. p. 679). See M ethology.
Miles, Henuy G., a Presbyteri- an minister, was born in Amsterdam, N. Y,, about the year 1811, He was educated in Hud- son, Ohio, studied theology in the Union Theological Seminary, New York ; was licensed by the New York Third Presbytery, and ordained by the Rochester Pres- bytery in 1851. He received and accepted a call to the Church at Dover, Ohio, and subsequently preached at Hublinsbury, Pa., and Parma Centre and 'Woodhull, N. Y., where he died, July 21, 1860. Mr. IMiles had to struggle with many difficulties, but in all his duties he was conscientious and zealous. As a preacher he was clear and practical. See I'resb. Hist, Almanac, 1862, p. 189. (J.L.S.)
Mile 'turn (2 Tim. iv, 20). See Miletus.
Mile'tus (.Mi/\j;roc, from the name of a fabled son of ApoUii, who is said to have founded the city, Apollod. iii. 1, 2). a city and seaport of Ionia, in Asia Minor, abiiut thirty-six miles south of Ephesus (Cramer's Asia Minor, ii, 385 sq.). The apostle Paul touched at this port on his voyage from Greece to Syria, and delivered to the elders of Ephesus. wlio had come to meet him there, a remarkable and aftVcting address (Acts xx, 15- 38). " In the context we have the geograjdiical rela- tions of the latter city brought out distinctly, as if it were Luke's purpose to state them. In the first place, it lay on the coast to the south of Ephesus. Next, it was a day's sail from Trogyllium (ver. 15). Moreover, to those who are sailing from the north, it is in the di- rect line for Cos. We should also notice that it was near enough to Ephesus by land communication for the message to be sent and the j)resl)yters to come within a very narrow space of time. All these details correspond Willi the geograpliical facts of the case. As to the last point, Ephesus was by land only about twenty or thirty