SABA {St.), Monastery of, now called Deir Mar Saba, still exists on the brink of Wady Nar, the exten- sion of the valley of the Kidron, near the Dead Sea. The surrounding scenery is of the wildest and most ro- mantic character. See Kidron. The convent hangs on the precipitous side of the ravine, being partly ex- cavated out of the rock, and surrounded by a strong wall, accessible only on one side. The edifices within are extensive and commodious, being occupied b)- about sixtj' monks of the Greek rite, who are said to be quite rich. The original cell of the founder is shown, said to have been a cave occupied by a lion, which voluntarily relinquished it to the saint. Tiie convent was plunder- ed by the Persians in 533, and forty-four of the monks were then massacred; but it has survived all the vicis- situdes of the Hoh' Land, of which it is one of the ear- liest monastic relics. No women are ever admitted with- in its portals, although the monks are hospitable to male visitors, provided they are furnished with the proper credentials. For a full description, see Robinson, Re- searches, i, 382, 621 ; Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 435; Porter, Handbook for Pal. p. 229.
Sabach'tliani [many sabachfha' ni] (aafiax^civi , a Grwcized form of the Chaldee shehakta'ni, "^Srip^"'^) thou hast left me), quoted by our Lord upon the cross
Convent of Mar Saba (fioin a photograph by the Editor).
SAB^AN
189
SABAT
(Matt, xvii, 46 ; Mark xv, 34) from the Targum on Psa. xxii, 2 (where the Heb. has azabta'ni, "^jrinTS", "thou hast forsaken me"). See Petersen, Erjorschimg des Wurtes ffiifiax^nvi (s. 1. 1701). Comp. Agony.
Sabae'an. As much confusion has been introduced by the variety of meanings which the name iSal/wans has been made to bear, it may be proper to specii'y in this place their distinctive derivations and use. In our Authorized Version of Scripture the terra seems to be applied to th7-ee different tril)es.
1. The Stbuim (D"^5<-p, with a xdmec/i), the descend- ants of Seba or Saba, son of Cusli, who ultimately set- tled in I'^thiopia. See Seba.
2. The iSkebaiin (D"i!<2i:3, with a shin), the descend- ants of Sheba, son of .Joktan, tlie Subcei of the Greeks and Romans, who settled in Arabia FeHx. They are the " Sabieans" of Joel iii, 8, to whom the .lews were to sell the captives of Tyre. Tiie unpubhshed Arabic Version, quoted by Pocock,-has " the peojile of Yemen." Hence they are called " a people alar off," the very des- ignation given in Jer. vi, 20 to Slieba, as the country of frankincense and the rich aromatic reed, and also by our Lord in Matt, xii, 42, who says the queen of Sheba, or " the south," came t k tCjv TrtpuTuiv rijg yijc, " from the earth's extremes." See Shkba.
3. Another tribe of Shebans (Heb. shebii', H'Z'^, also with a s/iin), a horde of Bedawln marauders in the days of Job (i, lo) ; for wliether we place tlie land of Uz in Iduma3a or in Ausitis, it is by no means likely tliat the Arabs of the south would extend tlieir excursions so very far. "We must therefore look for tiiis tribe in Des- ert Arabia; and it is singidar enough tliat, besides the Seba of Cush and the Shaba of Joktan, there is another Sheba, son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham, by Keturah (Gen. xxv, 33) ; and his posterity appear to have been " men of the wilderness," as were their kins- men of Midian, Ephah, and Dedan. To them, how- ever, the above-cited passage in tlie prophecy of Joel coukl not apply, because in respect neither to the lands of Judah nor of Uz could they be correctly described as a people '' afar off." As for the Sabaim of Ezek. xxiii, 42 (which our version also renders by Sabieans"), while the Keri has Sabaii/nm' , C^Nl^D, the Kethib has Sobe- 17)1', C^XDID, i. e. "drunkards," which better suits the context. See Shaba.
4. Yet, as if to increase the confusion in the use of this name of " Sabieans," it has also been applied to the ancient star-worshippers of Western Asia, though they ought properly to be styled Tsabian.i, and their religion not Sabaism, but Tsabaism, the name being most prob- ably derived from the object of their adoration, tseba', NHIJ, the host, i. e. of heaven (see an excursus by Gese- nius in his translation of Isaiah, On the Astral Wo7-ship of the Chakkeum, and Sabaoth).
5. The name of Saboeans, or Sabians, has also been given to a modern sect in the East, the Manda'ites, or, as they are commonly but incorrectly called, the " Chris- tians" of St. John ; for they deny the Messiahship of Christ, and pay superior honor to John the Baptist. They are mentioned in the Koran under the name of Sabionna, and it is probable that the Arabs confounded them with the ancient Tsabians above mentioned. Nor- berg, however, says that they themselves derive their own name from that which they give to the Baptist, which is Abo Sabo Zaiirio ; from Abo, "father;" Sabo, "to grow old together;" and Zakrio, e. g. Zechariah. "The reason they assign for calling him Sabo is be- cause his father, in his old age, had this son by his wife Aneshbat (Elizabeth), she being also in her old age (see Norberg's Codex Nasdnens, IJbei- Adnmi Appella- tus, and Silvestre de Sacy, in the Journal des Savans for 1819). — Kitto. See Sabianism,