Rautenstrauch, Franz Stephax. a German the- ologian of the Romish Church, was born at Flatten, Bo-
RAY AX A
930
RAVEN
hernia, in 1734, became a Benedictine monk at Bran- nan, and was there teacher of philosophy, theology, and canon law. In 177.'i be was made prelatua of the con- venl and director of the theological faculty at Prague, and in the following year was called to Vienna to assist in the Ministry of Education. He died at Erlau, Hun- gary, in 17s">. He was a more than ordinary man. and as a Romanist enjoyed the confidence of all liberal- minded men. He was a favorite al the courl of the scholarly emperor, and was the intimate friend of Hont- lieim (q. v.), whose liberal ideas he favored; but on these V r\ are,. mil- he had much to -idler from the en- mity of the Jesuits. He prepared the scheme for the course of instruction lor the theological faculty in the Austrian universities, and published several minor works. On the occasion ol the visil ol pope Pius VI in Vienna, lie wrote Patriot Betrachtungen, etc.; bul he is besl known by bis Synopsis Juris Ecclesiastici (Vienna, 1776). See Sabrockh, Kirchengesch. sett der Reforma- tion, vii, 1 1 1 si). Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s. v.
Ravana (from the causal of the Sanscrit ru, cry, alarm; hence literally be who causes alarm) i> the name of the Edkshasha (q. v.) who. at the time of Kama, ruled over Lanka or ( 'eylon. and. having carried oil' Slta, the wile of Kama, to bis residence, was ulti- mately conquered and slain by the latter. Ravana is as having been a giant with ten faces, and. in consequence of austerities and devotion, as having ob- tained from Siva a promise which bestowed upon him unlimited power, even over the gods. As the promise of Siva could not lie revoked, Vishnu evaded its efficacy in becoming incarnate as Kama, and hence killed the daemon-giant. — Chambers's Encyclop.s.v. See Vishsu.
Ravanel, Pierre, a French Protestant theologian, was horn about 1680. He was a descendant of the cel- ebrated Jean Mercier. lie was pastor of a church at Souzet. His works are. Biblioiheca Sacra, sive The-
simus (Geneva, 1650, «/r/ Bibliothecam Sa-
saurus Scriptural Canonica Ampli 1660, 2 vols.) : A ddit amenta Novo
cram (ibid. 1G85).
Raven t~~". 'oreb'; Sept. and New Test Kopa%, Vulg. corvus), the well-known bird of that name which is mentioned in various passages in the Bible. There is no doubt that the Heb. 'oreb i> correctly translated, the old versions agreeing on the point, and the etymol- ogy, from a root (-"^') signifying "to he black," favor- ing this rendering. A raven was sent out by Noah from tic ark to see whether the waters were abated (Gen. \iii. 7 i. This bird was not allowed a- food by the Mosaic law (Lev. \i. I'm: the word 'oreb is doubt- less used in a generic sense, and includes other species of tic genus Corvns, such as the crow (C. coror, . and the hooded crow (ft comix). Ravens were the means, under the divine command, of supporting the prophet Elijah at the brook Cherith il Kings wii. 4,6). They arc expressly mentioned as instances of God's protecting love and goodness (.lob xxxviii. II ; Luke \ii. 24; Psa. cxlvii, 9). They are enumerated with the owl. the bit- tern, etc., as marking the desolation ofEdom (Isa.xxxiv,
11). "The locks of the beloved" are compared to the
flossy blackness of the raven's plumage (Cant.v, 11).
The raven's carnivorous habits, and especially bis read- iness h, attack the eye. arc alluded to in l'rov. xxx, 17. See I 'i B. I he ■sept, and Vlllg. differ materially from the Hebrew and our A.V. in Gen. viii. 7: f,.r whereas in the Hebrew we read "that the raven went forth to
and fro j fi the ark | until the waters were dried up."
in the two old versions named above, together with the Syriac, the raven is represent,,! ;1s •• not returning until the water was dried from off the earth." On this sub- jecl the reader may refer to Houbigant (Not. Crit. i. 12), Bocharl (ffieroz. ii, 801), RosenmMller (Schol in V. /.\ Kalisch (Genesis), and Patrick (Commentary), who -hows the manifest incorrectness of the Sept. in representing the raven as keeping away from the ark
while tbe waters lasted, but as returning to. it when they wen- dried up. 'the expression " to and fro" clearly proves that the raven must have returned to the ark at intervals. The bird would doubtless have found food in the floating carcasses of the deluge, hut would require a more solid resting-gronnd than ih,y could afford. See I 'i i i ,.i . The subject oi Elijah's sustenance at Cherith by means of ra\ ens has given oca-ion to much fanciful speculation. It has been attempted to show that the 'orebim ("ravens") were the peopli of Orbo, a small town near Cherith : this theory has been well answered by Poland (Palcest. ii. 913). Others have found in the ravens merely merchants: w bile Michaelis has al tempt- ed to show that Elijah merely plundered tbe ravens' nests of hans and other game! Keil (Comment, on 1 Kings xvii I makes the follow ing just observation: -The text knows nothing of bird-catching and nest-robbing, I mi acknowledges the Lord and Creator of the creatures, who commanded the ravens to provide his servant with bread and llesh." It has also keen well replied that an animal unlit for food or sacrifice did not necessarily defile what it touched. "An ass was as unclean as a raven; yet no one was polluted by riding on an ass. or by eat- ing that which an ass had carried." An objection more to the point would hi' that the flesh which ravens would bring would leave the prophet no opportunity ot being satisfied that it was such a- he could lceally receive; either that it was the flesh of a clean beast, or, if SO, that it bad not died with the blood undrained. But to this, too, the answer is obvious; if Jehovah could so restrain and overrule the instincts of these voracious birds as to make them minister to bis servant, he could also take care that they should select nothing hut what was lit. and he could give Elijah confidence that it was