SIBBOLETPI
722
SIBMAH
tine giant, in the battle at Gezer, or Gob (2 Sam. xxi, 18; 1 Cliron. xx, 4). In 2 Sam. xxiii, 27 his name is written JIi;iu'nnai by a mistake of the copyist. Jose- lihus says that he slew "many" who boasted that they were of the descent of tlie giants, ajjparently reading D^2"l for ""SO in 1 Chron. xx, 4. — Smith.
Sib'boleth (Heb. Sihbo'kth, nbaO, for Shibboleth [q. v.] ; the Sept. does not represent it, the Greek hav- ing no aspirate for c; Vulg. SibboleUi), the Ephraim- itish (text " Ephrathite") pronunciation of Shibboleth (Judg. xii, 0).
Sibbs (or Sibbes), Richaiu), D.D., a learned Eng- lish Puritan divine, was born at Sudbury, Suffolk, in lo77, and was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree with great applause, and obtained a fellowship. Taking orders, he was chosen lecturer of Trinity Church, Cambridge, the living of which he held during the last two years of his life. He became preacher lo the Society of (iray's Iini in 1618, and in 1625 was chosen master of Katlierine Hall, Cambridge, which, though a Puritan, he held with little molestation until his death. Dr. Sil)l)s died Jidy a, 1635. His works are very numerous, chiefly sermons and jjious treatises. An incomplete edition of these was published (Lond. 1809; Aberdeen, 1812) entitled Sibbs's Work,':. Mr. Pickering published several of his treatises (1837-38,2 vols. 12mo), viz. The SouVs Conflict and Victoi-y, etc.: — The Inward JJutquietmenIs of Distressed Spirits, etc.: — The Bruised Heed and Smokin/f Flax: — The Fountain Sealed: — and Description of Christ. Still later we have Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D.. ed. by R. A. B. Grosart (Edinb. 1862, 7 vols, 8vo). Richard Baxter tells us that he in a great measure owed his conversion to The Bruised Reed. As a commentator, his principal work is his Commentary on 2 (Jur. i (1655). See Chalmers, Bior/. Diet. s. v.; Neal, IJist. of the Puritans, ii, 294.
Sibel, Caspar, a learned Calvinist and active par- ticipant in the controversy of the Dutch Church with Arminianism, which eventuated in the Synod of Dort, was born near Elberfeld, June 9, 1590, and was reared in the practice of piety and study, and educated at Her- born and Leyden. When scarcely nineteen years old he assumed the pastorate of the communes Randerath and Geilenkirchen, in the duchy of Juliers, and, in the midst of the discouragements and dangers growing out of the war of succession to the ducal throne in which the country was then involved, he obtained remarkable success. A price of 3000 thalers was offered for his ap- j)rehension as one of the evangelical pastors of the neighborhood, and he thrice narrowly escaped the troops of the im|)erial party; but he nevertheless added three hundred and sixty adult members to his Church in the brief term of two years. In 1611 he became pastor of the military Clnircli in the fortress of Juliers, and was again successful in adding to the strength <if its mem- bershij), besides obtaining from the States-tieneral the grant of a regular appropriation for the support of its pastor. A visitation of the plague in 1616 afforded op- portunity for the display, on his part, of indomitable courage and unflagging zeal. A call to one of the churches at Nimeguen was declined by him because of the op|)osition raisttd by (he other pastors of that town, who were adherents of the Remonstrant party; but the inciiient turned tlie attention of a ("hurch in Deventer, the important metropolis of the |)rovince of Overyssel, towards him, and he was installed its ])astor in the au- tutnn of 1617. In this position he spent the last thirty years of his life. His labors extended into many tiel<ls and gave evidence of tlie ipialities which constituted his Htrengih, e. g. a narrow orthodoxy which placed the Iteformed (Confession on an ei|ual footing with the Bible. an intoh'rant and energelii^ spirit, great learning, con- summate skill as a controversialist, a profoinid devotion to duty, and a fervent piety. He assumed charge, for a time, of an orthodo.x band in the town of Campen, who
were dissatisfied with the ministry of their resident Re- monstrant pastors. In 1(!I8 he was delegated to the Synod of Dort, and took an active part in its delibera- tions until an attack of fever compelled his return to Deventer, ilay 19, 1619. At the same time he evinced a liveh- interest in the cause of education by the direct part he took in the fotniding and development of a pisd- agogium, and subseipiently of an academical gymna- sium. It was by his motion that the Synod of Overys- sel adopted tlie canons laid down by the (ieneral Synod of Dort; and it was on his motion that a nimiber of Re- monstrants were suspended or expelled from their min- istry by the latter authority. In the preparation of a new version of the Scriptures, as ordered by the Synod of Dort, Sibel rendered to the Church the most impor- tant service of his useful life. One of the revisers for the province of Overyssel having died, he was chosen to till the vacancy, and subsequently was made vice- secretary of the board of revisers. Eleven months — from Oct. 30, 1634, to Oct. 10, 1635 — were given b}' the board to the final revision of the translators' work. (On the version thus prepared, see Kist en Royaard, A rchief voor Kerkelyke Geschiedenis, pt. ii, p. 57-176.) To these varied labors must be added the constant care for the temporal welfare of numerous churches and individuals which was imposed on him by the incessant wars of the time. Sibel married INIaria Kliicker, a daughter of the burgomaster of Randerath, and became the father of a daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to the pastor Lubbert Van Goor. In 1648 a stroke of paralysis com- pelled his retirement from active life. The magistracy of the town and the presbyterj' of his Church continued to him the salary and honorary rights of an active pas- tor, and when he died, Jan. 1, 1658, they voted an ade- quate pension for the support of his widow, and civil protection and guardianship for his grandson.