Tooth CiTIJ, shen, oSovc). The Hebrew word is by some derived from n3'i.\ " to change" or " repeat," be- cause the teeth are changed, or replaced by others; but it better comes from "jST, to sharpen. So likewise the Greek oSovc is said to be quasi tSovg, from 'iSw, " to eat;" and the Latin deits. quasi edens, "eating." But the three words are probably all primitives, and the latter two at least are etymologically connected with the English tooth.
I. In the sinrjular this term occurs first with refer- ence to the literal member itself in man, the loss of which, by violence, is specified by Moses, in illustra- tion of his law concerning taliones, "tooth for tooth'" (Kxod. xxi, 24). This outrage occurring between free- men (or between an Israelite and a foreigner, Lev. xxiv, 22) admitted, like other cases of maiming, most proba- bly of a pecuniary compensation, and under private ar- rangement, unless the injured part}' proved exorbitant in his demand, when the case was referred to the judge, who seems addressed in Deut, xix, 21. The Targnm of Jonathan renders the words, " the price of a tooth for a tooth," in Exod. xxi, 24, Lev. xxiv, 20, and Dent, xix, 21 (corap. Josephus, Ant. iv, 8,35, and see the art. Punishment in this Cyclopedia) ; but if a master inflict- ed this irreparable damage upon a servant, i. e. slave, of either sex, he was punished by the absolute loss of the slave's services (Exod. xxi, 27). The same law ap- plied if the slave was a Gentile, notwithstanding the national glosses of the Jewish doctors (Selden, De .Jure jXat. et Gent, iv, 1, 468). Our Lord's comment upon the law (Matt. V, 38), which was much abused in his time (Horne, /h6'o(/. ii, 377, 6th ed.), prohibits no more than retaliation upon the injurer {jc^ Troyr]p(p), not such a
defence of our innocence as may consist in words, but private revenge, and especially with such a disposition as actuated the aggressor, with impetuous rage or ha- tred. His exhortations relate rather to those injuries which cannot be redressed by the magistrate or by course of law; these we should bear rather than resort to revenge (see KosennUiller, Grotius, and Whitby, «(/ loc). Indeed, the hermeneutics of our Lord's precepts in his Sermon on the Mount require much knowledge, care, and discrimination, in order to avoid a prima facie interpretation of them, which has often been given, at variance with his intention, subversive of the principles of natural justice, and productive of false ideas of Chris- tian dut}-.
In Psa. iii, 7 we have "^TO, for the human jawbone; for that of an ass (Judg. xv, 15-17, (riayova, " maxillam, i. e. mandibulam ;" which becomes ll."ri2'2 in ver. 19, Toi> \aKK0v TOP iv Ty aiayovi, " molarem dentem in maxilla asini") [see Sajison]; and for that of levia- than (Job xl, 14, TO x^i^oQi miixillam). See Jaw. A " broken (or rather " bad," fl""!, that is, decayed ; Vulg. dens putridus) tooth" is referred to in Prov. xxv, 19, as furnishing an apt similitude of "confidence in an un- faithful man in the time of trouble." "The teeth of beasts," or rather " tooth," I'd, is a phrase expressive of devastation by wild animals; thus, "I will send the tooth of beasts upon them" (Deut. xxxii,24), Pa-ia"")^ (oSovTat; ^ijpiwv, denies bestiarum; comp. 2 Kings xvii, 25).
The word is sometimes used metaphoricallj' for a sharp cliff or summit of a rock (Job xxxix, 28); thus, "The eagle dwelleth and abideth upon the tooth of the rock," "pD"'!'^"?^' (f tt' i^o^y TzeTpag, inaccessis rupi- biis). So also (1 Sam. xiv, 4), "a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side," "bBrt"")!:? {oSoi'C TTSTpag, quasi in modum dentium scopuli); these eminences were named Bozez and Seneh.
II. Teeth, n'^STl), shinnd'yim {oSoi'Tsg), is found in the dual number oidy, referring to the two rows, yet used for the plural (1 Sam. ii, 13). The word occurs first with reference to the literal organs in man (Gen. xlix, 12), "His teeth shall be white with milk," which the Sept. and Vulg. understand to mean " whiteness greater than milk"(»') ya\a, lacte candidiores; Numb. xi, 33 ; Prov. x, 26 ; Cant, iv, 2 ; vi, 6). Although W;ys be the general word for teeth, yet the Hebrews had a distinct term for the molars, or jaw teeth, especially of the larger animals; thus, rn"2P73 [Jobxxix, 17; Psa. Ivii, 4; Prov. xxx, 14; Joel i. 6); and by transposition m"Fi5'2 (Psa. Iviii, 6, jui'Aai, J'jote and 7Ho/«/'e«). The appitrent teeth of the leviathan (f/>/rus dentium) are, however, called D"^2iy (Job xli, 14). Ivory, "elephants' teeth," 1 Kings X, 22, is simply CSIT (Sept. omits; Vulg. denies elephantorum') \ dens in Latin is sometimes so used. In 2 Chron. ix, 21 the word is C^ariDd {oSovriQ i\i(pavTivoi, ebur), where \i^ evidently denotes a tooth ; but the signification of the latter part, C^Sri, is un- known, and Gesenins thinks that the form of the word may be so corrupted as to disguise its original meaning. ]May it not be of foreign origin, imported with the ma- terial from ttphir? See Ivouv.
In other passages the reference to teeth is metaphor- ical; thus, "a flesh-hook with three teeth," that is, prongs (1 Sam. ii, 13). See Hook. " The teeth of lions" is a symbol of the cruelty and rapacity of the wicked (Job iv, 10). "To take one's flesh into one's teeth" signifies to gnaw it with anguish (xiii, 14; comp. IJev. xvi, 10). ' "The skin of his teeth," with which Job says he had " escaped" in his afiliction, is understood by the Vulgate, of the lips — "derelicta sunt tantummodo labia circa dentes meos;" but Gesenins understands it as a prover- bial expression, meaning, I have scarcely a sound spot