1. A musician "of the second degree" in the arrange- ment of the choral services by David (1 Chron. xv, liS), playing "with psalteries on Alamoth" (ver. 20), and harps (xvi, 5). B.C. 1043.
2. One of those sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law liiroughout the land (2 Chron. xvii, 8). B.C. 909.
Shemitic Languages. I. Xame. — Among the peoples of iliiher Asia lay tlie root-stem of those lan- guages which are now denominateil "Shemitic," or "Se- mitic" according to the French, which is supposed to have been spoken by the descendants of Shem. The ordinary denomination of these languages, in earlier times, was "the Oriental languages." This was em])loved by Je- rome, and is still used to some extent in mocU'ru limes. As long as the other languages of the Kast, whicli do ni>t belong to the Shemitic stock, were not known in the AVest, this term was perfectly satisfactory, and the more 8« when Heljrew was viewed as the mother of all lan- guages. Now, however, that an aci|uaiutance with the Eastern languages is more developed, and a scientilic study of them has spread so widely and extended itself, especially in the academies, not only to tlie Persian, but also to the Kgyptian, Cliinese, Armenian, and especially the Indian (Sanscrit), it naturally follows that all these languages belonging todifl'iTenl stems are comprehend- ed under the name " Oriental," so that this has now become an unsuitaiile term. The necessity arose to find a proper ap))ellatiou which would distinguish that stem, forming now the Sheniilic languages, from the otiier t )ricntal languages; and thus dillereiil suggestions were made. Leibnitz, e. g., suggested "Arabic ;" llu|)- feld (llilir. (Iraui. ]>. 2) pro|)osed " Ililher-Asiatic" lan- guages; Kenan thinks that, in analogy to Indo-Kuro- peaii, " Le vi-ritable iiom des langues (pii nous occupent serait •Si/ro-urubes," Neither of these suggestions pre-
vailed; but the term "Shemitic," proposed by Schlfizer in 1781, and recommended by Eichhorn {AUfjem.Eibl.der bib. Lit. vi, 50, 772 sq.), has come into use. This latter term is based on the fact that in (ieii. x, 21-31 the He- brews, together with the other tribes belonging to this stem, are derived from Shem. But, like the former terms, the latter was also opposed, especially by Stange in his Theol. Symmikta (1802), pt. i, p. 1-39. " And, in- deed," says Bleek, "it must be acknowledged that if we regard this catalogue of nations as its groundwork, there is not (jiiite so much to be said in favor of it. A\'e there read (Gen. x, 22) ' The children of Shem : Elam, and Assliur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and xVram.' Of these, Arphaxad is described as the graiulfather of Eber, and Eber as the father of Peleg and Joktan, the latter of whom is mentioned in the following verses as the head of many Arabian tribes; while Peleg is spoken of in ch. xi as the great-great-grandfather of Terah, the father of Abraham, so that Aridiaxad may be regarded as the progenitor of the Hebrews and of other tribes related to them by language. Aram, also, as the progenitor of the Aramseans, would belong to this language -stem. On the other hand, Elam certainly does not belong to it, but to the same stem as the Persians; the same may probably be said of Asshur and also of Lud, whom we may, with Josephus, regard as the parent of the Lydi- ans. On the other side, however, we find the Canaan- ites and PhaMiicians (x, 15-19), the Ethiopians (Cush [ver. 6, 7 J), and several Arabian tribes traced up to Ham, although there is no doubt that so far as language is concerned they belong to the same stem as the Hebrews and Aramaeans." From Bleek's statement it will be seen that the term " Shemitic" does not serve all purposes. True as this is, yet, in default of a better term, the name Shemitic lanf/nafjes has been retained, and is now current, with the distinct understanding of its being a false and merely conventional expression.
n. Division. — Viewing the Shemitic languages from a geographical point of view, they may be divided into three principal branches. Thus we have : (</) The Northern or North-eastern branch, the A ramaic ; (b) The Southern, among which the A rubic is the chief dialect, and with which tlie Ethiopic is also connected; (c) The jNIiddle, the flebreir, with which the Canaan- itis/i and I'hcenichtn (Punic) nearly coincide. With this division, Penan says, corresponds the one which we may call the historical, according to which the Hebraic would assume the first place, extending from the earli- est times of our knowledge of it down to the fith centu- ry B.C., wlien the Aramaic begins to take the lead, and the field of Hebrew and Plueiiician (the chief repre- sentatives of Hebraic) becomes more and more restrict- ed. The Aramaic, again, would be followed by the Ara- bic period, dating from the time of IMohanimed, when the Islam and its conquests sjiread the language of the Koran, not merely over the whole Shemitic territory, but over a vast ]iortion of the inhabiied globe. But this division, asM. Penan remarks,"nedoii eire |n'isequedans un sens geiu-ral, ct avec trois restrictions importantes. 1. Les idiomes remplaces par nn autre, I'llebreu par I'Arameen, le Syriaipie par I'Aralie, ne disparaissent pas pour cela entierement: ils restent langue savante et sa- crc'C, et, iv ce litre, contiuuent d'etre cultives longteinps ajires avoir cesse d'etre vulgaires. 2, Cette succession des trois langues Semitiipies ne pent signifier (pie chacune d'elles ait et(' parlt-e en nieme temps dans toiite I'eten- due des paysoccupes par la race S('miti(|ne; elle signifie seulcment que chacun de ces trois ilialectes bit tour a tour dominant, et refiresenta, a son jour, le plus haiit dc'velop- (lemeiit de I'esprit Semitiipie. Tonle I'liistoire iiitellec- tuelle des Semites, en eflet, se partage, comnie I'liistoire des langues Si'milicpies elles-memes, en trois ])iiases — Ili'braiipie, Chal(l(M)-Syriaiiue, et Arabe. 3. Celie divi- sion, enfin, ne doit point etre entendiie d'liiie maniiTe ab- solue, mais seulement par rapport a I'etat de nos counais- sances" (//islaire des Iaiii;/. Seiii. p. 108). The writer of the art. Shemitic lAimjiiaijes in Kilto's Ci/clajxi'dia, Mr.