THE NEW SCHAFF-HER20G
pp. 389 sqq.; A. Wiinsche, Die Leiden des Measiaa, Leipsic, 1870; M. Vernes, Hist, del idees mesaianiques, Paris, 1874; F. Weber, System der altsynagogalen palastinischen Theologie, Leipsic, 1880; J. Hamburger, Realencyklopadie fur Bibel und Talmud, vol. ii., Strelitz, 1883; G. Dalman, Der leidende und sterbende Messiaa der Synagoge, Berlin, 1888; J. Wellhausen, Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, part vi., Berlin, 1899; E. Huhn, Die messianischen Weissagungen, Tubingen, 1899; W. Wrede, Das M essiahgeheimniss in den Evangelien, Gottingen, 1901; Schurer, Geschichte, vols, ii.-iii., and the Eng. transl. The articles in DB, EB, and JE are also to be used on the Biblical side.
MESTREZAT, mes"tre"z<I', JEAN: French Reformed; b. in Geneva 1592; d. in Paris May 2, 1657. He studied in Saumur, then accepted a call from the church at Charenton, and remained there till his death. He was a learned theologian, a distinguished preacher, and one of the main supports of the French Reformed Church in the seventeenth century. He was active in its synods, in its disputations with the Jesuits, and in its negotiations with the court. He published many sermons, which are interesting to the historian of the Reformed preaching because of their expository character (e.g., Exposition de I'epUre aux Hebreux, 5 parts, Geneva, 1653-55). His other writings are polemical; a treatise, De la communion a Jesu Christ au sacrement de Veucharistie (Sedan, 1624), was translated into German (Frankfort, 1624), English (1631), and Italian (Geneva, 1638).
(C. ScHMIDTf.) Bibliography: Andre\ Essai sur lea ceuvrea de J. Mestrezat, Strasburg, 1847; A. Archimard, in Memoires et documents, xv. 29-72, published by the Society of History, Geneva; Lichtenberger, ESB, ix. 113-121.
METALS, HEBREW USE OF.
Mineral Poverty of Palestine (§ 1).
Gold (§1).
Silver and Copper (§ 3).
Iron (§ 4).
Other Metals (§ 5).
The mountains of Palestine show strata of the Upper Cretaceous formation, older deposits occur only sporadically, and the coast plains and valley of the Jordan contain fluvial deposits; all these formations are notably poor in metals. The reference in the latter part of Deut. viii. i. Mineral 9, where the Holy Land is extolled as Poverty of a " land whose stones are iron, and Palestine, out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper," can not be to [modern] oreless Palestine; while in the first clause the author may have had in mind the black basaltic rocks east of the Jordan. It is furthermore probable that he consolidates with the promised land a large portion of Lebanon, where mining was practised. The neighboring regions are in this respect more favorably endowed. On Mt. Sinai, mining (of copper) dates back into the fourth dynasty (c. 3000 B.C.). And in the north, Lebanon yields ore, though in small quantities. Traces of old copper mines and iron mines occur north of Beirut in the Kesravan range, described in the annals of Sargon as one that contains mines. The Septuagint of I Kings ii. 46c of Swete's ed. ( = ii. 48 of Lagarde) has a passage bearing on this point, which is wanting in the Hebrew and reads: " And Solomon began to open up the mighty riches of Lebanon." Jeremiah (xv. 12)
also speaks of " iron from the north." On the other hand, the mines which so strongly impress the poetical Job sheuld be sought in the Sinaitic peninsula or in Nubia. At all events the Israelites for the most part derived their metals from the neighboring peoples, but they soon learned the art of working them. It was known that the ores must be cleansed of their impure ingredients, a result mainly achieved by the smelting-process. In order to accelerate the separation of metals in fusion, they added some such vegetable alkaline salt (bar) as the carbonate of potash obtained from wood ashes, or a mineral alkaline salt (nete; cf. Isa. i. 25; Ezek. xxii. 18-22).
Gold (zahabh, paz, " fine gold," Ps. xix. 10, xxi.
3; Isa. xiii. 12; chiefly in poetical passages; kethem
and haruz almost exclusively in poetic style:
Isa. xiii. 12; Jobxxviii. 16, etc.; Zech.
2. Gold. ix. 3; Ps. Ixviii. 13; Prov. iii. 14), according to the Old Testament, comes principally from Ophir (I Kings ix. 26 sqq.), Havilah (Gen. ii. 11) and Sheba (I Kings x. 2). The gold of Ophir was deemed peculiarly fine (Job xxviii. 16; Ps. xlv. 9). During Solomon's reign, the gold from those countries reached the Israelites in course of the king's direct mercantile operations; otherwise through the Phenicians. Early narratives ascribe wealth in gold to the patriarchs (Gen. xiii. 2, xxiv. 22, 53). Solomon's ships are supposed to have brought from Ophir gold to the amount of 420 talents (about $25,000,000) — an enormous sum for those times, yet consistent with legendary embellishment (cf. I Kings x. 21). It was the Phenicians, recognized as expert goldsmiths, who served as guides to the Israelites in the goldsmith's art, and from them the Israelites obtained the finer products of the metal. Nevertheless, the goldsmith's craft was early plied among the Israelites (cf. Judges viii. 27, xvii. 4) . For gold as a medium of exchange see Money of the Bible. The earliest gold coin in Palestine was the daric. Yet even in early times the gold employed as money had its fixed forms in the shape of bars ["wedges" or "tongues"; see Gezer] and rings of defined weight. Otherwise, gold was chiefly wrought into objects of adornment — rings, chains, jewels, drinking-vessels, cups (see Dress and Ornament, Hebrew). The account of the building of the Temple says much of the golden utensils for use there (I Kings x. 21) and of overlaying the walls and doors with gold-leaf (I Kings vi. and vii.). Possibly this belongs to the later legend (cf. Benzinger on I Kings vii. 48 sqq.); the Temple in later times had great treasures, which in seasons of necessity served as a state reserve (cf. II Kings xii. 14; Ezrai. 7 sqq.; I Mace. i. 21 sqq.). In special favor stood the art of inlaying with goldleaf; idolatrous images were overlaid with gold (Judges viii. 27; Isa. xxx. 22); Solomon's throne was of ivory, "overlaid with the finest gold" (I Kings x. 18); and his officers had "targets of beaten gold" (I Kings x. 16; cf. I Mace. vi. 2). Textures interwoven with gold threads were much esteemed (Ps. xlv. 13; Judith x. 21; Ecclus. xlv. 10).
Silver (keseph) also came to the Israelites by way of the Phenicians, and principally from Tarshish