Stra'W Cl^P, teben [once " stubble," Job xxi, 18 ; once "chaff," Jer. xxiii, 28]; once the cognate "3rip, mithben, Isa. xxv, 10; Sept, a^npoi' ; Vulg. palea). Both wheat and barley straw were used by the ancient Hebrews chiefly as fodder for their horses, cattle, and camels (Gen. xxiv, 25 ; 1 Kings iv, 28 ; Isa. xi, 7 ; Ixv, 25). The straw was probably often chopped and mixed with barley, beans, etc., for provender (see Harmer, Obs. [Lend. 1797 ], i, 423, 424; Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt. [ibid. 1854], ii, 48). There is no intimation that straw was used for litter; Harmer thinks it was not so em- ployed. The litter the people now use in those coun- tries is the animal's dung, dried in the sun and bruised between their hands, which thej' heap up again in the morning, sprinkling it in the summer with fresh water to keep it from corrupting (Harmer, Obs. p. 424). Straw was employed by the Egyptians for making bricks (Exod. V, 7, 16) ; it was chopped up and mixed with the clay to make them more compact and to prevent their cracking (Wilkinson, ^??«>w< Egypt, u, 194). See Brick. The ancient Egyptians reaped their corn close to the ear, and afterwards cut the straw close to the ground {ibid. p. 48) and laid it by. This was the straw that Pharaoh re- fused to give to the Israelites, who were therefore com- pelled to gather "stubble" (Up, kash) instead, a matter of considerable difficulty, seeing that the straw itself had been cut off near to the ground. The stubble (q. v.) frequently alluded to in the Scriptures may denote ei- ther the short standing straw mentioned above, which was commonly set on tire (hence the allusions in Isa. v, 24 ; Joel ii, 5), or the small fragments that would be left behind after the reapings (hence the expression "as the kash before the wind" [Psa. Ixxxiii, 13; Isa, xli, 2; Jer. xiii, 24]). — Smith. See Agricultuke.
Straw Day, a term used in many parts of England to ilesignate SI. Stephen's J>ay, because on that day straw was anciently blessed.
Strawbridge, Korert, an early local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born at Druinmer's Nave, near Carrick-on-Shannon, County of Leitrim, Ire- land, and came to the United States some time between !7(i(» and 1765, scllling on Sam's Creek, Frederick Co., IMd. He began to |)reacli in his own house, and in 1769 was joined in his labors by Robert Williams, and in the year following by John King. In 1773 his name ap- pears on the Minutes as one of the preachers assisting Mr. Asbury, but there is no evidence that he contiiuied in the work. In 1775 his name again a()])ears as second preacher on Frederick Circuit, but he does not seem to have had niucli regard for Church order, and claimed the right to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's sujjper. In 1776 he moved his I'amily to the
STREAM
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farm of captain Ridgely, who presented to him the use of it during life. He took charge of the society at Sam's Creek, and at Bush Forest, Hartford Co., and continued to be their preacher for tive years. He died in the summer of 1781. See Sprague, .1 «««/« of the Amei: Pulpit, vii, 3; Simpson, Cyclop, of Methodism, s. V.
Stream is the rendering in the A. V. of the fol- lowing words in the original. See Topoguapiiical Terms.
1. p'^SX, aphilc (.Job vi, 15; Psa. cxxvi, 4; "brook," xlii, 1 [2]; "channel," 2 Sam. xxii, 16; Psa. xviii, \h [16]; Isa. viii, 7; elsewhere "river"), properly de- notes a violent torrent, sweeping through a mountain gorge, like a. pipe. It occurs only in the poetical books, and is derived from a root uphuk, signifying " to be strong." See Channel,
2. TllJX, eshed (Numb, xxi, 15), literally an outpour- ing, is a place where the torrents from the mountains flow down into the vallev's and plains, i. e. a ravine. See Valley.
3. "lIX^, yeor (Isa. xxxiii, 21 ; "brook," xix, 6, 7, 8; xxiii, 3, 10 ; " flood," Jer. xlvi, 78 ; Amos viii, 8, 9 ; else- where " river"), is an Egyptian word, generally applied to the Nile, or to the canals by which Egypt was wa- tered. The only exceptions to this usage are found in Dan. xii, 5, 6, 7. See Nile.
4. 53"', yabdl (Isa. xxx, 25; "course," xliv, 4), de- notes strictly a deluging rain ; hence an overflowing riv- er. See Flood.
5. Stb, nozel (Psa. Ixxviii. 16; Cant, iv, 15; "flood," Exod. XV, 8; Psa. Ixxviii, 44; Isa. xliv, 3; elsewhere "running" or "flowing" water), signifies a trickling rill, and is hardlj' a denominative at all.
G. ^n3, ndchal (Psa. Ixxviii, 20; Isa. xi, 15; xxvii, 12 ; xxx, 28, 33 ; xxxiv, 9; xxxv, 6 ; xxxvii, 6 ; Ixvi, 12 ; Amos v, 24 ; elsewhere " river," " brook," or " valley," occasionally " flood"), is a term applied both to the dry torrent-bed (Numb, xxi, 12 ; Judg. xvi, 4) and to the torrent itself (1 Kings xvii, 3). It corresponds with the Arabic wddy, the Greek x^i/iappovc, the Italian ^'«- mara, and the Indian nullah. See Valley,
7. ni^n^, nachldh (only found in Psa. cxxiv, 4), is merely the fem. of the preceding. See Bkook.