Sabaism. See Sab^an.
Sabanus (aa(iavoQ, classical aal'iarov, a linen
cloth'), a white cloth with which the infant was covered in baptism. This was an ancient practice. From the 4th century we tind frequent mention of clothing the newly baptized in white garments. These garments, as emblems of purity, were delivered to them willi a solemn charge to keep their robes of innocence unspot- ted till the day of Christ. The neophytes wore this dress from Easter eve until the Siniday after Easter, which was hence called iJominica in albis, that is, "the Sunday in white." This garment was usually made of white linen, but sometimes of more costly materials. — VaiTa.T,£ccles.l>ict.s.v. See Alb ; CmusosiK.
Sab'aoth [some Saba'oth] {ffal3aojSr,a Griscized form of the Heb. fsebaoth', DiNi^, armies), a word oc- curring in this form only in the A. Y. in Pom. ix, 29; James v, 4; but in the Heb. of frequent occurrence in the phrase "Jehovah of hosts," or "Jehovah, God of hosts." "It is familiar through its occurrence in the Sanctus of the Te Deum, ' Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.' It is often considered to be a synonym of, or to have some comiection with, iSabhath, ami to ex- press the idea of rest, and this not only popularly, but in some of our most classical writers. Thus Spenser, Faery Queeiie, canto viii, 2 :
' But thenceforth all shiill rest eternally With Uim that is the God of Sabaoth liight: 'O that great Sabaoth God, gnmt lue thiit Sabaoth's sight;'
also Bacon, Adrancement oj" Learning, ii, 24: : '. . . sa- cred and inspired divinity, the Sabaoth and port of all men's labors and peregrinations;' Johnson, in the lirst edition of whose Dictionary (1755) Sabaoth and Sab- bath are treated as the same word; W'tlter Scott, Ivan- hoe, vol. i, ch. xi (1st ed.) : 'a week, aye the space be- tween two Sabaoths.' But this connection is quite fictitious. The two words are not only entirely differ- ent, but have nothing in common" (Smith). The Heb. term tsaba, Si!i, signifies an aimy (see Dent, xxiv, 5; Exod. vi, 2(5). The plural is used in the sense of ar- mies (Exod. vii, 4, and often). The singular is some- times applied to the company' of angels which surround the throne of Jehovah, who are called D"^^!;-'!! N!2^, tsaba hash-shanidyim, "the host of heaven." The same phrase is also applied to the stars, for the most part as objects of idolatrous worship ; indeed, the expression appears to include everything in heaven, both angels and heavenly bodies. Isaiah uses the phrase X— it nilBri, tsaba ham-marom, "the Host on High," in op- position to the kings of the earth. God is called nin^ mxaiJ "^"T^i Jehovah elohey' fsebaoth, " Jehovah God of hosts." which most commentators regard as synony- mous with " God of heaven" (see Zenkei Be Synonymis nix3:i et ")'i"'^3.|. Lips. 1763), though others assert that it should be taken in a military sense, as the God of armies or wars. " It designates him as the supreme head and commander of all the heavenly forces; so that the host of Jehovah is all one with the host of heaven (1 Kings xxii, 19), and must be understood strictly of the angels, who are ever represented as the Lord's im- mediate and fitting agents, ready on all occasions to ex- ecute his will (Psa. ciii, 21 ; cxlviii, 2). It is never applied to God with reference to the army of Israel. Once, indeed, the companies composing this are called 'the hosts of the Lord' (Exod. xii, 41), because they were under bis direction and guardianship; but when employed with the view of heightening the idea of God's greatness a)ul majesty, as the term ' hosts' is in the phrases in question, the hosts can only be those of the angelic or heavenly world (see Gesenius, Thesaur. s. V.)" (Fairbairn). See Host.
Sa'bat (2o/3(fr, v. r. in Esdr. 'S.a(p(iT and Sa0oy), the Grwcized form of three names in the Apocrypha,
1. The head of one of the families of " Solomon's ser- vants" who returned from the captivity with Zerubba-
SABAT^AS
190
SABBATH
bel, according to 1 Esdr. v, 34 ; but the Heb. lists (Ezra ii, 67 ; Neh. vii. 59) have no corresponiUng name.
2. The Jewish month Siiebat (q. v.) (_1 Mace, xvi, 14).
Sabatae'as {^aftaralag v. r. 2rt/3/3arrt('«c and 2rtf3t(rnroc). a Gr:\?cized form (1 Esdr. ix, 48) of the Heb. name (Neh. vii, 7) Shabbethai (q. v.).
Sabatuiki, a sect of Russian Sabbatarians, or " Sab- bath-honorers," which arose in Novgorod (cir. A.D. 1470), where some clergy and laity were persuaded by a Jew of Kiev, named Zacharias, into a belief that the Mosaic dispensation alone was of divine origin. They accepted the Old Testament only, of which, being un- acquainted with Hebrew, they used the Slavonic trans- lation. Like the Jews, they were led to expect the ad- vent of an earthly jMessiah. Some of them denied the Kesurrection ; and, being accused of practicing several cabalistic arts, for which points of Jewish ceremonial may have been mistaken, were regarded by the common people as soothsayers and sorcerers. They were grad- ually becoming a powerful sect, one of their number, named Zosima, having even been elected archbishop of Moscow, when in A.D. 1490 they were condemned by a synod, and a tierce persecution nearly obliterated them. But here and there, in remote parts of Russia, travellers have within the last century discovered fragmentary communities holding Jewish views, which have been thought to be relics of the older sect of Sabatniki. In Irkutsk they continue to exist under the name of Seles- newschschini. See Platon, Present State of the Greek Church in Russia (Pinkerton's transl.), p. 273. — Blunt, Diet, of Sects, s. v.