Pelai'ah [some Pelai'cth'] (Heb. Pelayah' ^^^X^Q [and briefly IT'SQ, "^eh.], distinguished of Jah, i.e. Je- hovah ; Sept. <taXf(iflc, (paXata, <PtXeia, etc.), the name of two Jews.
1. A Levite who aided Ezra in instructing the peo- ple (Neh. viii, 7). B.C. 445. He afterwards joined in the covenant with Nehemiali (Neh. x, 10).
2. Son of Elioenai and a descendant of David (1 Chrou. iii, 24). B.C. post 400.
PELALIAH
876
PELETHITE
Pelali'ah (Ileb. Pelulyah', il'^hXi, judged of J ah, i, e. Jehovah : Sept. ^ctKaXiu), son of Arazi, a priest, and father of Jcroham (Neh. xi, 12). B.C. ante 445.
Pelati'ah(IIeb./'e?«^?/o/«', tT^i2?5, delivered of Je- hovah ; also ill the prolonged form I'elatya'hu, W^IibQ, Ezek. xi, 1, 13 ; Sept. <ia\tTia, <t>nX(TTia, Neh. (paXria, in Ezek. ^aXriag'), the name of four Jews.
1. Son of Ishi, of the tribe of Simeon, and one of the captains of the live hundred men who made a success- ful attack on the Amalekites in Mount Seir, in the reign of Hezekiah (I Chron. iv, 42). B.C. cir. 700.
2. The son of Bcnaiah, and one of the princes of the people against whom Ezekiel was directed to utter the words of doom recorded in Ezek. xi, 5-12. The proph- etin spirit saw him stand at the east gate of the Tem- ple, and, as he spoke, the same vision showed him Pe- latiah's sudden death (Ezek. xi, 1, 13). B.C. cir. 592.
3. The first named of two (three) sons of Hananiah, among the descendants of David (1 Chron. iii, 21). B.C. post 536.
4. One of the heads of the people who joined in the covenant with Nehemiah (Neh. x, 22). B.C. cir. 440.
Pelayo, a noted mediaeval royal character, and a convert to Christianity, is said to have been the first Christian king in Spain after the conquest of that country by the Arabs. Contemporary historians make no mention of him, but this may be accounted for on the ground of the insignificant size of his kingdom, which comprised only the mountainous district of As- turias. He is said to have been a scion of the royal Visigothic line, and to have retired before the conquer- ing Arabs to the mountains of Asturias, where he main- tained himself against the armies which were sent to attack him, defeating them in various pitched battles, and in numberless minor engagements. One of his most famous exploits was the destruction of a large army sent against him by Tarik, near Cangas-de-Onis. His men were posted on the heights bounding the val- ley through which the Arabs were to pass, and, waiting till the enemy had become involved in the defile, at a given signal overwhelmed them with enormous masses of rock. This great success caused Pelayo to be recog- nised as sovereign by the surrounding districts, and the Christians flocked to him from all parts of Spain. He was much engaged in contests with the Arabs, but nev- ertheless found time to reanimate agriculture, superin- tend the reconstruction of churches, and the establish- ment of a civil administration. He died in 737. Such is the account given us by later historians, who trace from him the genealogy of the royal family of Spain.
Pelbart, Oswald, a Hungarian Franciscan monk, noted for his learning and as a pulpit orator, flour- ished near the opening of the IGth century at Tem- esvar. We possess the following works of his, Avhich are mostly homiletical, and have passed through nu- merous editions: Ponmriuni sermonum de tempore (Nor- imb. 1483, fol. et al.) : — Pomarium sermonum de Sanctis (Hagenov. 1475, 1498, 1501, 2 vols. M.):— Quadra fjesi- male triplex de pa'nitentia, de vitiis, de p7-ceceptis jjeca- lofji (ibid. 1475, fol. et al) ■.—Stellariujn coronm r/lorio- sissima: Virf/inis seu Pomcerium sermonum de b. Virr/ine (Argentin. 149G, fol. et a\.) : — L'xposilio compcndiosa sensum Utteralem et mysticuni complectens libri Psalmo- rum, scilicet Psalterium, liber l/ymnorum, liber soliloqui- orum regii Prophetw., item Expositio Canticorum V. T., Canticorum N. T., Si/mholi A Ihenasii, Hymni universalis creaturw (ibid. 1487, fol. et n\.):—Aurei rosarii Theo- logim ad sentenliarum I V libros jwrformitor quadrijmr- titi libri /F (Hagenov. 1504, et al.). See AVadding, An- nul 0. Min. a. 1483 and Script. O. M. p. 274; Czwittin- ger, Ungar. lift. p. 301 ; Fabricius, Bibl. vied, et inf. Lat. V. 224, s. V. Pelbartus.
Pe'leg (Heb, id. 553, division; Sept. <I>aX£y v. r, ^aXiic, 'PaXix; Josephus, ^dXtKOf, Ant, i, G, 5), the son
of Eber, and father of Reu (Gen. xi, lG-19). B.C. 2415- 217G. He was the elder brother of Joktan, and the fourth in descent from Shem. This name is said to have been given him "because in his days was the earth divided" (Gen. x, 25; 1 Chron. i, 19). This no- tice is usually thought to refer, not to the general dis- persion of the human family subsequently to the Del- uge, but to a division of the family of Eber himself, the 3'ounger branch of whom (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in Mes- opotamia. The name Phaliga occurs for a town at the junction of the Chaboras with the Euphrates; but the late date of the author who mentions the name (Isidorus of Charax) prevents any great stress being laid upon it. The separation of the Joktanids from the stock whence the Hebrews sprang finds a place in the Mo- saic table, as marking an epoch in the age immediateh' succeeding the Deluge. According to others, how- ever, the name indicates a mere earthquake, or at most an actual division of the earth in some geological con- vulsion, in which islands and continents were separated and formed by volcanic agency, and followed by ex- tensive emigrations (Gen. ix, 19; x, 32; Deut. xxxii, 8, 9). Peleg is called Phalec {<PaXiK) in the New Test. (Luke iii, 35). See Dispp;rsion of Nations.