PROPHETS, Schools of nn, These were places where young men were educated under the care of a master, who was commonly, if no( always, an inspired prophet. Godwin observes that for the propagation of learning colleges and schools were in diver- places
erected for the prophet-. The lir.-t intimation we have
in Scripture of these scl Is is in l Sam. x, 5, where we
read of "a company of prophet- coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them: and they shall prophesy." They are supposed to be the students in a college of prophets at Gibeah of God, or. as we render it. •• the hill of God," which is another name for < iibeah of Benjamin il Sam.xiii, 15; xi,4). This place seems to have been reel, oied among the ancient sanctuaries of Palestine. We afterwards read of such another company of the prophets at Naioth in Kamah "prophesying, and Sam- uel standing as appointed over them" i 1 Sam. xix. 19, 20). The students in these colleges were called "sona
of the prophets." We read of the " sons of the proph- ets that were at Bethel;" and of another school at. Jericho; and of the sons of the prophets at Gilgal (2 Kings ii, 3 5; iv,88). It appear- that these sons of the
prophets were very numerous; tor of tins sort were probably the prophets of the Lord whom Jezebel cut oil'; "lint Obadiah took a hundred of them, anil hid
them by fifty in a cave" (1 Kiuu's xviii, 4). In these schools young men were educated under a proper master in the knowledge of religion and sacred music il Sam. \.o; xix, 20), and were thereby qualified to be public preachers, which seems to have been pan of the
VO) : Kunad. Commentarius business of the prophets on the Sabbath-day- and fes- eil. Explicatio (Lond. 1681), tivals (2 Kings i\. 23\ It would seem that God gen-
PROPHETS
655
PROPITIATION
erally chose the prophets whom he inspired out of these schools. Amos, therefore, speaks of it as an extraordi- nary case that though he was not one of the sons of the prophets, but a herdsman, "yet the Lord took him as he followed the flock, and said unto him, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel" (Amos vii, 14, 15). That it was usual for some of these schools, or at least for their tu- tors, to be endued with a prophetic spirit, appears from the relation of the prophecies concerning the ascent of Elijah, delivered to Elisha by the sons of the prophets, both at Jericho and at Bethel (2 Kings ii, 3, 5). See Bible Educator, iii, 64. See Pedagogics ; School.
PROPHETS, Sons of the. The disciples, or schol- ars, of the prophets were thus called, agreeably to the Hebrew idiom; they were instructed in the knowledge of religion and in sacred music, and were thus quali- fied to become public teachers (1 Sam. x, 11). See Prophet.
PROPHETS, Tombs of the. '-The excavations commonly known under this name," Professor Robin- son observes, " are situated on the western declivity of the Mount of Olives, a little south of the footpath lead- ing over from St. Stephen's gate to Bethany. Pococke describes them as ' verj' large, having many cells to de- posit bodies in; the farther end of them they call the Labyrinth, which extends a great way ; I could not find the end of it;' this part seems to have been a quarry. Doubdan compares them with the tombs of the judges and kings ; but says the chambers are not square, as in these, but consist of two large and high galleries, cut strictly one within the other in a continued curve ; the holes or niches for the bodies being on a level with the floor" (Bibl. Res. i, 529 ; comp. Later Res. p. 233). See De Saulcy, Dead Sea, ii, 107; Williams, Holy City, ii. 215. See Olivet. It is ordinarily supposed (but with no good reason) that it is of these tombs our Lord speaks when he says : " Woe unto you ! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them" (Luke xi, 47). See Tomb.
Propitiation. The Greek word Waarffpioi' (or (Xaoyioc), rendered propitiation (Rom. iii, 25; 1 John ii, 2 ; iv, 10) and mercy seat (Heb. ix, 5), is used in the Septuagint as the translation of the Hebrew word rHBS, i. e. covering, properly the lid or cover of the ark of the covenant in the most holy place, which was over- laid with pure gold, over which the cherubim stretched out their wings, and where Jehovah communed with the representatives of his people (Exod. xxv, 17-22; xxxvii; in the Sept. Exod. xxxviii, 6-9). Into the holy place the high-priest entered but once a year, when he sprinkled upon the mercy seat or covering of the ark the blood of an expiatory victim, in order to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Lev. xvi, 11-15). In the common Greek idiom, WaaTi'ipiov properly designates an expiatory or propitiatory victim [see Pro- pitiatory Sacrifices] ; and in Rom. iii, 25; 1 John ii, 2; iv, 10, Christ is represented as the propitiatory sac- rifice for the sin of the world. His blood alone atones for and covers our guilt. When faith is exercised in the blood of this sacrifice, its propitiatory effect is pro- duced. In other words, Christ makes expiation which is effectual for such, and only such, as trust or put confi- dence in his atoning blood. The idea of the legal rec- onciliation of God and all sinners who cordially receive the Gospel plan of salvation is presented under two as- pects. 1. Expiation: this denotes the doing of some- thing which shall furnish a just ground or reason in a judicial administration for pardoning a convicted of- fender. 2. Propitiation : anything which shall have the property of disposing, inclining, or causing the judicial authority to admit the expiation — i. e. to assent to it as a valid reason for pardoning the offender. Expiation, therefore, regards the condition of the offender; propiti- ation, that of the judge or sovereign. " We can con- ceive cases," says Dr. J. Pye Smith, " in which an expi- ation, good and reasonable in its kind, might be offered,