PILLAR
212
FILLMORE
in the East, especially in traversing an unknown region (Curt. iii. 3, 9; v, -. 7: l mt the passages Bometimes quoted, Veget, 3fiL iii. 5; Frontin. Strateg. ii. 25, do nol re -t'.-r to this. Comp. esp. on the custom, Faber, Ar- ckaol. p. -11 sq.; Wolfenb. Fragm, p. 103 sq.; Bauer, Hebr. Mythol. i. 28] sq.). Meanwhile we must nol for- gel thai it is the evidenl intention of the historian t>> narrate a miracle (comp. also Psa. lxxviii. 11: cv, 39; comp. Diod. Sic. x\i. 66; Clem. Alex. Strom, i. 150). Th( follow ing monographs "it this Bubject arc unimpor- tant : Krause, De columna ignis </<■ nubis (Viteb. 1707); Friderici, /'• col. ign. el nub. (Leips. 1689); Salmi. /'■ . ign. ac nub. (Gedan. 1702); Munden, Di co- b.etigm (Goslar, 1712), and many othi lowing tbi.s national recollection, Isaiah (iv, 5) has em- ployed the figure of a cloud of smoke and tire hovering over Zion and the Temple as a symbol of the presence of Jehovah, in bis picture of the blessedness of the the- ocracy (comp. Ewald, Tsr. Gesch, ii. 167 sq.). Winer, ii. 696. See Sheklnah.
Pillar, Plain of the (3Stt "p^Sj Sept. r;} @a- \av(fi rg eupery ttjq vt&oswc ; Alex, omits ry evptry : Vulg.guercum qua stabat), or rather "oakoftkt pfflw" - thai being the real signification of the Hebrew word elon; a tree which stood near Shechem, and at which trfl meu of Shechem and the house ofMillo assembled,
to crown Abimelech, s. i Gideon (Judg. i\. 6).
There is nothing said by which its position can be as- certained. It possibly derived its name of Mutstsdb from a stone or pillar set up under it ; and reasons lia\ e already been adduced for believing thai this tree may
i av< been the same with thai under which Jacob buried the idols and idolatrous trinkets of his household, and under which Joshua erected a stone as a testimony of the covenant there re-executed between the people and Jehovah. Sec Meonenim, There was both time and opportunity during the period of commotion which fol- lowed the death of Joshua for this sanctuary to return into the hands of the Canaanites, and the stone left standing there by Joshua to become appropriated to
idolatrous purposes as one of the mulstsi Ix'ilis in which
the religion of the aborigines of the Holy Land delight- ed. See Idolatry. The terms in which Joshua speaks of this very Btone (Josh, x.xiv, 27) almost seem to overstep the bounds of mere imagery, and would suggest and warrant its being afterwards regarded as en. towed with miraculous qualities, and therefore a tit object for veneration. Especially would this be the case if the singular expression, " It hath heard all the words of Jehovah our God which h spah to us" were intended to indicate thai this stone had been brought fr sinai, Jordan, or some other scene of the commu- nications of Jehovah with the people. The Samaritans still show a range of stones on the Bummil of Gerizim as iln.se broughl from the bed of Jordan by the twelve tribes. — Smith. Sec Oak.
Pillar of Salt. See Lot.
Pillar Saints, devotees who 9tood on the tops of lofty pillars for many year- in fulfilment of religious vows. The lir-t who originated this practice was Sim- eon, a native of Syria, who was born about A.D. 390. In early youth he entered a monastery near Ailtioch,
where he devoted himself to the most rigid i of mortification and abstinence. Having been expelli d from the monastery for bis excessive austeri retired to the adjacent mountain, where he took up his residence first in a cave, and then in a little cell,
Wbl re he immured himself I bl I Next he
removed to the top of a mountain, where he chained himself to a rock for several years. His fame had now become s.. great thai crowds of visitors thronged to see him. •• Incommoded by the pressure of the crowd," we are told. •• he erected a pillar on winch he mighl stand. elevated at first six cubits, and ending with forty. The top of tin pillar was three feel in diameter, and sur- rounded with a balustrade. Here he Btood dav and
night in all weathers. Through the night, till 9 A.M., he was constantly in prayer, often spreading forth his
ban.!- and bowing so low that hi- forehead touched bis
toes. A bystan ler once attempted t.. count the number of these successive prostrations, and lie counted till they
amounted to 1244. At :• ..'clock A.M. hi began t.. ad- dress 'I"- admiring crowd below, to hear and answer their questions, to send messages and write letter-, etc.. for he took concern in the welfare of the churches, and corresponded with bishops, and even emperors. To- wards evening he suspended his intercourse with this world, and betook himself again to converse with God till the following day. He generally ate hut once a week, never slept, wore a long sheepskin robe, and a cap of the same. His beard was very long, and his frame- extremely emaciated. In this manner he i- re- ported to have spent thirty-seven years, and at last, in hi- sixty-ninth year, to have expired unobserved in a praying attitude, in which no one ventured t.> disturb him till after three .lays, when Anthony, his disciple and biographer, mounting the pillar, found that his spirit bad departed, and his holy body was emitting a de- lightful odor. His remains were borne in pomp to An- tiocb, in ..r.ler to be the safeguard of that unwalled town, and innumerable' miracles were performed at his shrine'. Hi- pillar also was so venerated that it was literally enclosed « ith chapels and monasti ries for some ages. Simeon was so averse to women that he n.vu allow.,! one t,. come within the si. red precincts of his pillar. Even his own mother was debarred this privi- lege till after her .bath, when her corpse was brought to him, and he now restored her to life for a short time that she might see him. and converse with him a little before she ascended io heaven." Another Simeon Sty- lit, s is mentioned by EvagrfuS as having lived ill the