Pendent ive is an archi- tectural term used to designate the portion of a groined ceiling supported by one pillar or im- post, and bonniled by the apex of the h)ngitudinal and trans- verse vaidts; in (Jothic ceilings of Ibis kind the ribs of the vaults descend from the apex to the impost of each penden- tive, where they become united. It also denotes the portion of a domical vault wliich desceutls
Pendnnt (Henry VIPs Chap- ehWcstminster, A.D. 1510).
Gothic Peudeniive.
PENDLEBURY
889
PENINGTON
Byzantine Peudeu- tive.
into the corner of an angular build- ing Avhen a ceiling of this descrip- tion is placed over a straight-sided area; pendentives of this kind are common in liyzantine architect- ure, but nut in Gotliic.
Pendlebury, Henry, a Non- conformist divine, was born near the beginning of the 17th century. He was a minister at Holcomb, Lancashire, in IGul, and was eject- ed for nonconformity in 1GG2. He died in 1G95. His works are, Traiisubstaniiution: — Barren Fir/- tree: — The Books Opened, on Kev. xx, 12: — Invisible Realities, etc., containing an account of his life: — Sacri- jicium Missaticuin, Mysterium I niquitatis, on the mass, with the author's life (Lond. 17G8, 8vo). See Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer. A uth. ii, 1549.
Peneius, a river-god among the ancient Thessali- ans, said to be tlie son of Oceanus and Tethys.
Penensus, F., an engraver, probably an Italian, by whom there are some spirited etchings of devout sub- jects after Italian masters and from his own designs, marked with his name, among which are the Holy Fam- ily, with St. Catharine and an angel in the air, after Par- miggiano, and the Marriage of St. Catharine, from his own design. There is a fine expression in his heads, but he was negligent and incorrect in designing the ex- tremities. See Spooner, Bioy. Hist, of the Fine A lis, ii, C70.
Penetralis, a surname applied to the different Ro- man divinities who occupied the penetralia or inner parts of a house. These deities were Jupiter, Vesta, and the I'enates.
Penfielci, Thomas, an American Christian philan- throi)ist, was born at Savannah, (Georgia. He died in 1834. His benefactions laid the foundation of tlie Mer- cer Institute, Green County, Georgia. Another monu- ment of his charity is the Pentield Mariner's church, in Savannah, erected at a cost of eight thousand dollars. He also left a large property to other Christian chari- ties, such as education, foreign and domestic missions, etc. — Xew York Baptist Repos. 1834.
Peni'el (llch. Peniel', hVi'^iQ^faceofCod; Samar. PX '33 ; Sept. eleoQ Beoii ; Vulg. Phamiel, and so also the Peshito), the name which Jacob gave to the place in which he had wrestled with God : " He called the name of the place ' Face of El,' for I have seen Elohim face to face" ((ien. xxxii, 30). With that singular cor- respondence between the two parts of this narrative which has already been noticed under Mahasaim, there is apparently an allusion to the bestowal of the name in xxxiii, 10, where Jacob says to Esau, " I have seen thy face as one sees the face of Elohim." In xxxii, 31, and the other passages in which the name occurs, its form is changed to Penukl (bx"?, Pcnuel', appar- ently of the same signification). On this change the lexicographers throw no light. It is perhaps not im- jiossiblc that Penuel was the original form of the name, and that the slight change to Peniel was made by Ja- cob or by tlie historian to suit his allusion to the cir- cumstance under which the patriarch first saw it. The Samaritan Pentateuch has Penn-el in all. The prom- ontory of the Has-el-Shukah. on the coast of Syria above Beirut, was formerly called Theouprosopon, probably a translation of Peniel, or its Phcenician equivalent. — Smith. Tlie scene of Jacob's vision was evidently some spot on the north bank of the Jabbok, between that tor- rent and Succoth (conip. xxxii, 22 with xxxiii, 17). This is in exact agreement with the terms of its next occurrence. It docs not appear that there was any town or village upon the spot at the time of this wondrous event; but it was probably then marked by some rude cairn or stone to serve as a record of the divine preseucc.
We hear no more of it for five hundred years. After the defeat of the Midianites in the valley of Jezreel, Gideon pursued them to their home in the eastern dis- trict. (Jn reaching the fords of the Jordan at Succoth, he asked the people of that city to' supply food to his fainting followers: thej' refused, "and he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise" (Judg. viii,8). He probably ascended from the valley of the Jordan through the glen of the Jabbok, which falls into the Jordan a few miles below Succoth. This would bring him direct to the site of Peniel, on which a city appears to have been built in the interval. It was natural, and in accordance with Eastern custom, that a holy place such as Penuel should become the nucleus of a town. In the time of Gideon there was a tover (bT:\'0) at Pen- iel, which Gideon destroyed on his return from the con- quest of the Midianites. It would seem too that the city was then completely depopulated (ver. 17). It may have remained a ruin till the days of Jeroboam, of whom we read that after taking up his abode in Shc- chem, he "went out from thence, and built Penuel" (1 Kings xii, 25). This Avas done, no doubt, on account of its commanding the fords of Succoth and the road from the east of Jordan to his capital city of Shechem, and also, perhaps, as being an ancient sanctuary. We hear no more of Peniel in Scripture. Josephus merely repeats the Scripture notices {Aiif. i, 20, 2 ; viii, 8, 4), as do Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s. v. Fanucl). They do not appear to have known the exact site : and, in- deed, Jerome represents the Penuel of Jacob, Gideon, and Jeroboam as distinct places. — Kitto.