Sortes Biblicae. See Soothsaying,
Sortes Sacrae {holy lots), a species of divination
which existed among some of the ancient Christians.
See Soothsaying.
Sortilegi, a name for those among the ancient heathens who foretold future events by the sortes, or lots.
Sosano Vono Mikoto, in Japanese mythology, is the moon-god, who begot of the sun -goddess, Inada- hime, eight children, generally symbolized under the figure of an eight-headed dragon. Temples were erect- ed to these two deities in the sacred garden of Miako, and in them a number of festivals are held each year in their honor. — Vollmer, Wurterb. d. Mythol. s. v.
Sosiaiius, in Greek mythology, is a surname of Apollo at Seleucia, or, according to others, at Rome, where the name was derived from the statue of that god which the quajstor C. Sosius brought from Seleucia (Cicero, Ad A it. viii, 6 ; Pliny, //. .V. xiii, 5 ; xxxvi, 4).
Sosip'ater (^loai^n-arpog, sewer of his fathei; a common Greek name), the name of two men in the Apocrypha and New Test.
1. A general of Judas Maccabfeus who, in conjunc- tion with Dositheus, defeated Timotheus and took him prisoner (2 Mace, xii, 19-24). B.C. cir. 164.
2. A kinsman or fellow-tribesman of Paid, mentioned as being with him in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans (xvi, 21). A.D. 54. He is probably the same person as Sopatek (q. v.) of Beroea (Acts XX, 4).
Sosipolis, in Grecian mythology, was a patron-god of the State, venerated among the Eleans. His wor- ship originated, as it is fabled, at a time when the Ar- cadians had invaded Elis. A woman appeared among the Eleans, and related that in a dream the child at her breast had been pointed out to her as the savior of the State. The leaders thereupon placed the child naked before their ranks, and when the battle began it was metamorphosed into a serpent, which frightened the Arcadians and won the victory. After the battle the snake disappeared, and on the spot where it was last seen a temple was erected to the child and his mother, Eileithyia (Pausan. vi, 20, 2; iii, 25, 4). — Smith, Diet, of Bioy. and Mythol. s. v. ; Vollmer, Worterb. d. Mythol. s, V.
Sospita, in Roman mythology, was a surname of Juno, especially at Lanuvium.
Sos'thenes (Swo-^jj'jjc. perhaps for '2(x}m-i^vr\Q, saver of his nation; a not infrequent Greek name) was a Jew at Corinth who was seized and beaten in the presence of Gallio, on the refusal of the latter to enter- tain the charge of heresj' which the Jews alleged against the apostle Paul (see Acts xviii, 12-17). A.D. 49. His precise connection with that affair is left in some doubt. Some have thought that he was a Christian, and was maltreated thus by his own coinitrj'men because he was known as a special friend of Paul. But it is improba- ble, if Sosthenes was a believer, that Luke would men- tion hira merely as " the ruler of the synagogue" {ap- XKTVvdyuiyog}, without any allusion to his change of faith. A better view is that Sosthenes was one of the bigoted Jews, and that " the crowd" (ndi'Teg simply, and not irdprtg o'l "EWrjvig, is the true reading) were Greeks who, taking advantage of the indifference of Gallio, and ever ready to show their contempt of the Jews, turned their indignation against Sosthenes. In this case he must have been the successor of Crispus (ver. 8) as chief of the synagogue (possibly a colleague with him, in the looser sense of df>X"^vvdYwyoi, as in Mark v, 22), or, as Biscoe conjectures, may have be- longed to some other synagogue at Corinth. Chrysos- tom's notion that Crispus and Sosthenes were names of the same person is arbitrary and unsupported.
Paul wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians joint- ly in his own name and that of a certain Sosthenes whom he terms "the brother" (1 Cor. i, 1). A.D. 54. The mode of designation implies that he was well known to the Corinthians; and some have held that he was identical with the Sosthenes mentioned in the Acts. If this be so, he must have been converted at a later period (Wettstein, A'. Test, ii, 576), and have been at Ephesus, and not at Corinth, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians. The name was a common one, and but little stress can be laid on that coincidence, Eusebius says (//. E. i, 12, 1) that this Sosthenes (1 Cor. i, 1) was one of the sev- enty disciples, and a later tradition adds that he became bishop of the Church at Colophon, in Ionia. — Smith.
Sos'tratus (Sw^rparoc, probably a contraction flir 2(ti(Ticrrparoe, a common (ireek name), a commander of the Syrian garrison in the Acra at Jersusalem (o Ttjg dKpoTToXfwg tnap^og) in the reign of Antiochus Epiph- anes (2 Mace, iv, 27, 29), B.C. cir. 172,
Sotah, See Talmud.
So'tai (Ileb, Sotay', "'V'^^, my turners, or change-
SOTAMTAMBU
888
SOTO
ful; Sept. Swrof, Soitm, v. r. SoiTtti in Neh.), a per- son whose •• chiKlren" were a family of the lUscendants of Solomon's servants that returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra ii, 56; Neh. vii, 77). B.C. ante 53G,
Sotamtambu, in Lamaism, is a re^'ion in hell whtrr ihi- (lanirnd are tormented with unbearable cold. Soteira {ihe surinij ijihUUss) was a surname in (ire- cian m>tholiij;y of Ditiitd at \\%:v in Mef^aris. at Trte- zene, at IVia- in Laconia, and near I'ellene; a^ Pruser- piiu- in Laconia and Arcadia ; and of Minerva and Eu- uuinui.