Saotes, in Greek mythology, was the preserver. 1. A surname of Jupiter, apjilied to him in Thespiae. A monstrous dragon devastated that territory, and the oracle had directed that a youth be given the monster each year. When the lot fell on Cleostratus, his friend Menestratus caused a brazen coat of mail to be studded with barbed hooks and points, in which the victim went out to meet his fate. He lost his life, but so did the dragon, and Thespiaj erected a bronze statue to its deliv- erer Jupiter. 2. A surname of Bacchus, under which he was worsliipped at Troezene and about Lerna.
Sapandoniad, in Persian mythology, was the genius of the earth, a female angel of the highest per- fection, who, as one of the Amshaspands created by Ormuzd, is engaged in an incessant warfare with Astu- shad, one of the d;T3mons of Ahriman.
Saph (Heb. id, SD, a threshold, or dish, as often; Sept. 2fc0 V. r. St^O) a Philistine giant of the race of Rapha, slain by Sibbechai the Ilushathite (2 Sam. xxi, 18). B.C. cir." 1050. In 1 Chron. xx, 4 he is called
SiPPAI.
Sa'phat (Snij&rtr), Sapliati'as (Soi^wWoc v. r. So^orifit), and Sa'pheth {^acpi^ v. r. Sfi^nSi, ^a- (pvi), Greek forms (respectively 1 F^sdr. v, 9; viii, 34; and V, 33) of the name Shephatiaii (q. v.) in tlie cor- responding Heb. lists (respectively Ezra ii, 4 ; viii, 8 ; and ii, 57).
Sa'phir (Heb. Shaphir', T'Bd./aiV,- Sept. trans- lates as adverl), KaXiog), a place in the kingdom of .Tn- dah, named only in Mic. i, 11. By Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s. v. " Saphir") it is described as " in the moun- tain district between Eleutheropolis and Ascalon." But in this descrijjtion Dr. Robinson thinks that the Ono-
SAPP
351
SARA
masticon incorrectly takes it for one of the Razors of Josh. XV, 25, in the south of Jiulah (Bibl. Res. ii, 370). Oil the way from Jerusalem to Gaza, at Kuratiyeh, Kobinson saw a place called bj- tlie Arabs es-Smuafir, N. 32° W., which seems to be a i»hiral form for Saphir (comp. (iesenius, Thesaur. s. v. "T^S'J). Es-Sawatir lies seven or eight miles to the north-east of Ascalon, and about twelve west of Beit-Jibrin, to the right of the coast-road from Gaza (Van de Velde, Syr, and Pal. p. 159). Tobler prefers a village called *SV(6e/-, close to Sawafir, containing a copious and apparently very an- cient well (Drifte lVande?un(/,p.i7). "In one imjjor- tant respect, however, the position of neither of these agrees with the notice of the Onnmasticon, since it is not near tlie mountains, but on the open plain of the Sliefelah. But as Beit-Jibrin, tlie ancient Eleutherop- olis, stands on the western slopes of the mountains of Judah, it is difficult to understand how any place could be westward of it (i.e. between it and Ascalon), and yet be itself in the mountain district, unless that expression may refer to places which, tliough situated in the plain, were for some reason considered as belonging to the towns of tlie mountains. See Keilah ; Nezib, etc. iSchwarz, though aware of i;he existence of Sawafir (p. IIG), suggests as a more feasible identification the village of ISdJiriyth, a couple of miles north-west of Lydda (^Palest, p. 136). The drawback to this is, that the places mentioned by Micah appear, as far as we can trace them, to be mostly near Beit-Jibrin, and, in ad- dition, that Safiriyeh is in clear contradiction to the notice of Eusebius and Jerome" (Smith). Van de Velde inclines to identify Saphir with one of the two other villages named es-SaivdJir south by east of Esdrid, and nearer to it {Memoir, p. 346).
Sapp, Kesin, a minister of the Methodist Epis- copal Cliurch, was born in Mt. Vernon, O., Feb. 9, 1816. He was licensed to preach in 1837; and in 18d8 he was admitted to the Michigan Conference, then embracing a part of Ohio. For more than thirty- four years Sapp served the Church, twenty-three of which were spent in the regular pastorate, and ten in the presiding eldership. His last sermon was preached at Alaska, Mich., Jan. 12, 1873, and on May 5 he died, in holy triumph, at Grand Rapids. He was a laborious and able member of the (Jeneral Conferences held at Boston, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Brooklyn. He was also a valuable contributor to the periodical literature of his Church. — Minutes of Annual Conf. 1873, p. 96.
Sapphi'ra {"SlaTctpitpt], a sapphire stone, or beauti- ful), the wife of Ananias, and his accomplice in the sin for which he died (Acts v, 1-10). A.D. 30. Unaware of the judgment which had befallen her husband, she entered the place about three hours after, probablj' to looic for him; and, being there interrogated by Peter, repeated and persisted in the " lie unto the Holy (ihost" wliich had destroj'ed her husband; on which the grieved api)stle made known to her his doom, and pronounced her own — " Beliold, the feet of them who have buried tliy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out." On hearing these awful words, she fell dead at his feet. The cool obstinacj^ of Sapphira in answering as she did the questions which were probably designed to awaken her conscience deepens the shade of the foul crime com- mon to her and lier husband, and has suggested to many the probability that the plot was of her devising, and that, like another Eve, she drew her husband into it. — -Kitto. The interval of three hours that elapsed between the two deatlis, Sapphira's ignorance of what had happened to her liusban<l, and the ])redictive lan- guage of Peter towards her are decisive evidences as to the supernatural character f)f the whole transaction. The history of Sapphira's death thus supplements that of Ananias, which might otherwise have been attrib- uted to natural causes. — Smith. See Ananias.