SOBRIETY
841
SOCIALISM
plants in Syria and Palestine which yield alkaline salts. HasseUiuist considered one of them to be a Meaembry- anthemnm. Forskal has enumerated several plants as being bnrned for the barilla which they attbrd, as Me- sembryunthemum (jenicvlatuni and nodijiorum, both of which are called (/IkisuI. iSaLtola kali and his tSuada moiwica, called usnl, are other plants, especially the -^ast named, which yield sal-alkali. So on the coasts of the Indian peninsula, Salicornia Indica and Salsola nndijlora yield barilla in great abundance and purity, as do Salsola satica kali, and irafftis, and also Salicor- ma annua on the coasts of Spain and of the south of France. — Kitto. In Palestine we maj' especially notice the j)lant named htibeibeh (the Salsola kali of bota- nists), found near the Dead Sea, with glass-like leaves, the ashes of which are called el-Kuli from their strong alkaline properties (Robinson, Bibl. Res. i, 505) ; the ajram, found near Sinai, which when pounded serves as a substitute for soap (ibid, i, 8-1) ; the gilhi, or "soap plant" of Egypt (Wilkinson, Anc. Ei/ypt. ii, lOG) and the heaths in the neighborhood of Joppa (Kitto, Phys. Jlist. p. 267). From these sources large quantities of alkali have been extracted in past ages, as the heaps of ashes outside Jerusalem and Nabliis testify (Robinson, Bibl. Res. iii, 201, 299), and an active trade in the article is still prosecuted with Aleppo in one direction (Russell, Aleppo, i, 79) and Arabia in another (Burck- hardt, Trav. i, 66). We need not assume that the ashes were worked up in the form familiar to us, for no such article was known to the Egyptians (Wilkinson, ^4 ?ic. Egypt, i, 186).
The uses of soap among the Hebrews were twofold —
(1) for cleansing either the person (Jer. ii, 22; Job ix, 30, where for "never so clean" read "with alkali") or the clothes; (2) for purifying metals (Isa. i, 25, where for "purely" read "as through alkali"). Hitzig sug- gests that bori/h should be substituted for beril/i, "cov- enant," in Ezek. xx, 37 and jMal. iii, 1. — Smith.
Sobriety, freedom from any inordinate passion — that quiet self-possession which enables one to devote himself to the matter in hand, whether prayer, medita- tion, study, forming schemes, laboring to carry them out, and which keeps the individual from undue eleva- tion in prosperity or depression in case of failure. The necessity of sobriety is especially obvious: (1) In our inquiries after truth as opposed to presumption ; (2) in our pursuit of this world as opposed to covetousness ; (3) in the use and estimate of the things of this world as opposed to excess: (4) in trials and afflictions as op- posed to impatience; (5) in forming our judgment of others as opposed to censoriousness ; (6) in speaking of one's self as opposed to egotism. Many inotives might be urged to this exercise, as (1) the general language of Scripture (1 Pet. iv, 7 ; v, 8 ; Phil, iv, 5 ; Tit. ii, 12) ;
(2) our profession as Christians; (3) the example of Jesus Christ; and (4) the near approach of death and judgment. — Buck, Theol. Diet. s. v.
Sochereth. See Marble.
So'cho (Heb. Soko', lllb.for 'isib, bvsJiy; Sept. Sw^^wv; Vulg. Sorho), the name of a town, which oc- curs in this form, among those settled by the sons of Ezra of the tribe of Judah (1 Chron. iv, 18). It appar- ently was the same as the town of Socoh (q. v.), in Judah, probably the one in the lowland, which was better known than the other, and in the vicinity of the associated places. It appears from its mention in this list that it was colonized by a man or a place named Heber. "TheTargum, playing on the passage after the custom of Hebrew writers, interprets it as referring to Moses, and takes the names Jered, Soco, Jekuthiel, as titles of him. He was ' the rabba of Soco because he sheltered (^3D) the house of Israel with his virtue'" (Smith). See Shoco; Shocho.
So'choh (Heb. Sokoh', n2b, i.q. Socho and Socoh ; Sept. Sw^w V, r. 2w;;^Xw ; Vulg. Socho), a town in Solo-
mon's commissariat assigned to Ilepher (1 Kings iv, 10) ; probably the same as the Socoh (q. v.) in the low- land of Judaii (Josh. XV, 35).