Sommer- or Summer-beam, a main beam or girder in a tloor. etc. ; a name now seldom used except in the compound breast-summer.
Sommer, Pkteij Niciioi.as, a Lutheran minister, was born in Hamburg. (Jermany, .Ian. 9. 1709. He re- ceived a thoroMgh cl.'issical and professional education, and on the com|iletion of his course was licensed as a
SOMMIER
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theological candidate. He received a call from a Church in Schoharie County, N. Y., left for America Oct. 24, 174-2, and arrived at his destination. May 25, 1743. Here for nearly fifty years he labored, having a wide field, often travelling from thirty to fifty miles to care for destitute Lutheran settlements. In 1708 he was suddenly smitten with blindness, but still continued to serve the Church for about twenty years, when his sight was as unex- pectedly restored. In 1788 he retired from the active ministry and removed to Sharon, Schoharie Co., N. Y., where he remained until his death, Oct. 27, 1795. " Mr. Summer held a high rank in his denomination, as an able, earnest, laborious, and successful minister." See S[>rague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, ix, 13.
Sommier, Jean Claude, a French prelate, was born July 22, 1661, at Vauvillers, and studied at Besan- (jon, where he became doctor in theology and law. He was first curate of Girancourt, and afterwards (1606) at Champs. He became preacher to Leopold I of Lorraine, anil was engaged in several important negotiations of state. Benedict XIII made him archbishop of C;«sarea and jirothonotary apostolic in 1725, and the same year he received the provostship of St. Die and other ecclesias- tical honors. His zeal for clerical privileges involved him in a controversy with the bishop of Toul, which continued till his death, (Jet. 3, 1737. He is the author of several works on local Church history, for which see Hoefer^ Xuuc. Biog. Generale, s. v.
Sommonacodom, in Siamese mythology, was a most wise legislator, who was conceived by his virgin- mother from the sun. He traversed the world, passing thniugh repeated births until he had occupied five hun- dred and fifty bodies, and blesses the world with his teachings until his mission is accomplished and the earth is free from sin. He trained many pupils, and died from eating the tlesh of a hog which contained the soul of an evil genius whom he had once conquered. Temples and numerous statues were erected in his hon- or throughout Siam. — Yollmer, Wurtetb. d. Mythol. s. v.
Somnia {dreams), in Roman mythology, were chil- dren of Krebus and Night, whose palace in Tartarus had two gates, the one of ivory and the other of bone. From the latter issued the truthful, from the former the fan- ciful and deceptive, dreams.
Somnists, a name for those who maintain that the soul is in an unconscious state from the time of death until the resurrection ; called also Soul Sleepers (q. v.).
Somiius, or Hvpnos. in Koman and Grecian my- thology, ^^■as the god of sleep.
Somoda, in Hindu mythology, is one of the most attractive of female genii, lielonging to the race of the Gantharvas; a servant of tiie holy Tshuli.
Somovansham, in Hindu mythology, is the fa- mous family of kings which claimed descent directly from the moon (Soma or Chandra), and assumed the title of Children of the Moon.
Sompnour (i. e. summone?-), a term found in Chau- cer and other of our older writers to designate the officer who is now called an apparitor, whose duty it is to sum- mon delinquents to appear in ecclesiastical courts.
Son, properly "2, hen (often rendered in the plural " children"), tniif . From the root nj3, to build, are de- rived both '3, son, as in Ben-hanan, etc., and PS, diiuijh- ter, as in Bath-sheba. The Chald. also "13, son, occurs in the Old Test., and appears in the New Test, in such words as Barnabas, but which in the plural "p33 (Ezra vi, 16) resembles more the Hebrew. Cognate words are the Arabic Beni, sons, in the sense of descendants, and Benat, daughters (Gesenius, Thes. Hebr. p. 215, 286; Shaw, Travels, p. 8). See Bar- ; Ben-.
1. The word " son" is used with a great variety and latitude of significations both in the Old and the New Test., especially in the former, some of which often dis-
appear in a translation. The following is a summary of these applications: It denotes (1) the immediate off- spring. (2.) Grandson: so Laban is called son of Nahor (Gen. xxix, 5), whereas he was his grandson, being the son of Bethuel (xxiv, 29) ; Mephibosheth is called son of Saul, though he was the son of Jonathan, son of Saul (2 Sam. xix, 24). (3.) Remote descendants : so we have the sons of Israel, many ages after the primitive ances- tor, (4.) Son-in-law: there is a son born to Naomi (Ruth iv, 17). (5.) Son by adoption, as Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob (Gen. xlviii). See Adoption. (6.) Son by nation : sons of the East (1 Kings iv, 30 ; Job i, 3). (7.) Son by education, that is, a disciple : Eli calls Samuel his son (1 Sam. iii, G). Solomon calls his disciple his son in the Proverbs often, and we read of the sons of the prophets (1 Kings xx, 35, et «/.), that is, those under a course of instruction for ministerial service. In nearly the same sense a convert is called son (1 Tim. i, 2; Titus i, 4; I'hilem. 10; 1 Cor. iv, 15; I Pet. V, 13). See Prophet. (8.) Son by dispo- sition and conduct, as sons of Belial (Judg. xix, 22 ; 1 Sam. ii, 12), unrestrainable persons; sons of the mighty (Psa. xxix. 1), heroes; sons of the band (2 Chron. xxv, 13), soldiers, rank and file; sons of the sorceress, who study or practice sorcerj' (Isa. Ivii, 3). (9.) Son in ref- erence to age : son of one year (Exod. xii, 5), that is, one year old ; son of sixty years, etc. The same in ref- erence to a beast (Micah vi, 6). (10.) A production or offspring, as it were, from any parent : sons of the burn- ing coal, that is, sparks which issue from burning wood (Job v, 7). " Son of the bow," that is, an arrow (iv, 19), because an arrow issues from a bow ; but an arrow may also issue from a quiver, therefore, son of the quiver (Lam. iii, 13). " Son of the floor," threshed corn (Isa. xxi, 10). " Sons of oil" (Zech. iii, 14), the branches of the olive-tree. (11.) Son of beating, that is, deserving beating (l)eut. xxv, 3). Son of death, that is, deserving death (2 Sam. xii, 3). Son of perdition, that is, deserv- ing perdition (John xvii, 12). (12.) Son of God (q. v.), by excellence above all ; Jesus the Son of (iod (Mark i, 1 ; Luke i, 35; John i, 34; Rom. i, 4; Heb. iv, 14; Rev. ii, 18). The only begotten ; and in this he differs from Adam, who was son of Goil In- immediate creation (Luke iii, 18). (13.) Sons of God (q. v.), the angels (Job i, 6 ; xxxviii, 7), perhaps so called in respect to their ])ossessing power delegated from God; his dep- uties, his vicegerents; and in that sense, among others, his offspring. (14.) Genuine Christians, truly pious per- sons; perhaps also so called in reference to their posses- sion of principles communicated from God by the Hoi)' Spirit, w hich, correcting every evil bias, and subduing every perverse propensity, gradually assimilates the par- ty to the temper, disposition, and conduct, called the im- age, likeness, or resemblance of God. Believers are sons of God. (See John i, 12; Phil, ii, 15; Rom. viii, 14; 1 John iii, 1.) (15.) Sons of this world (Luke xvi. 8) are those who, by their overweening attention to the things of this world, demonstrate their principles to be derived from the world; that is, worldly-minded persons. Sons of disobedience (Eph. ii, 2 ; v, 6) are persons whose con- duct proves that they are sons of Belial, of unrestrain- ableness, sons of libertinism. Sons of hell (Matt, xxiii, 5). Sons of the devil (Acts xiii, 10).