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isbe[6401]='Nicodemus, Gospel of``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCRYPHAL+GOSPELS">APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS</a>`1';
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isbe[6402]='Nicolaitans`nik-o-la\'-i-tanz Nikolaitai):<P>1. The Sect:<P>A sect or party of evil influence in early Christianity, especially in the 7 churches of Asia. Their doctrine was similar to that of Balaam, "who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,14,15);">Re 2:14,15</a>). Their practices were strongly condemned by John, who praised the church in Ephesus for "hating their works" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,6);">Re 2:6</a>), and blamed the church in Pergamum for accepting in some measure their teaching (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,15);">Re 2:15</a>). Except that reference is probably made to their influence in the church at Thyatira also, where their leader was "the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,20);">Re 2:20</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,14);">Re 2:14</a>), no further direct information regarding them is given in Scripture.<P>2. References:<P>Reference to them is frequent in post-apostolic literature. According to Irenaeus (Adv. Haer., i.26,3; iii.10,7), followed by Hippolytus (Philos., vii.36), they were founded by Nicolaus, the proselyte of Antioch, who was one of the seven chosen to serve at the tables (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,5);">Ac 6:5</a>). Irenaeus, as also Clement of Alexandria (Strom., ii.20), Tertullian and others, unite in condemning their practices in terms similar to those of John; and reference is also made to their Gnostic tendencies. In explanation of the apparent incongruity of such an immoral sect being founded by one of "good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,3);">Ac 6:3</a>), Simcox argues that their lapse may have been due to reaction from original principles of a too rigid asceticism. A theory, started in comparatively modern times, and based in part on the similarity of meaning of the Greek "Nikolaus," and the Hebrew "Balaam," puts forward the view that the two sects referred to under these names were in reality identical. Yet if this were so, it would not have been necessary for John to designate them separately.<P>3. Nicolaitan Controversy:<P>The problem underlying the Nicolaitan controversy, though so little direct mention is made of it in Scripture, was in reality most important, and concerned the whole relation of Christianity to paganism and its usages. The Nicolaitans disobeyed the command issued to the Gentile churches, by the apostolic council held at Jerusalem in 49-50 AD, that they should refrain from the eating of "things sacrificed to idols" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',15,29);">Ac 15:29</a>). Such a restriction, though seemingly hard, in that it prevented the Christian communities from joining in public festivals, and so brought upon them suspicion and dislike, was yet necessary to prevent a return to a pagan laxity of morals. To this danger the Nicolaitans were themselves a glaring witness, and therefore John was justified in condemning them. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul gives warning against the same evil practices, basing his arguments on consideration for the weaker brethren (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',8,\'1-\');">1Co 8</a>).<P>LITERATURE.<P>Simcox, "Revelation" in the Cambridge Bible; H. Cowan in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible (five volumes), article "Nicolaitans"; H.B. Swete, The Apocalypse of John, lxxff, 27, 28, 37.``88';
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isbe[6403]='Nicolaus; Nicolas`nik-o-la\'-us (English Versions of the Bible), nik\'-o-las (Nikolaos): One of "the seven" chosen to have the oversight of "the daily ministration" to the poor of the church in Jerusalem (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,5);">Ac 6:5</a>). He is called "a proselyte of Antioch"; the other 6 were therefore probably Jews by birth. This is the first recorded case of the admission of a proselyte into office in the Christian church. Some of the church Fathers (Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Pseudo-Tertullian) state that he was the founder of the sect called <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NICOLAITANS">NICOLAITANS</a> (which see) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,15);">Re 2:15</a>). Other Fathers seem to suggest that this was a vain claim made by this sect in seeking apostolic authority for their opinions. It may be that the opinions of this sect were an antinomian exaggeration of the preaching of Nicolaus.``78';
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isbe[6404]='Nicopolis`ni-kop\'-o-lis (Nikopolis): A city in Palestine, half-way between Jaffa and Jerusalem, now called Ammas, mentioned in 1Macc 3:40,57 and 9:50. The earlier city (Emmaus) was burnt by Quintilius Varus, but was rebuilt in 223 AD as Nicopolis.<P>The Nicopolis, however, to which Paul urges Titus to come (pros me eis Nikopolin, ekei gar kekrika paracheimasai (<a onClick="return mV(\'Tts\',3,12);">Tit 3:12</a>)) is probably the city of that name situated on the southwest promontory of Epirus. If this view is correct, the statement made by some writers that from Eastern Greece (Athens, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth) Paul\'s labors extended to Italy, that he never visited Western Greece, requires modification. It is true that we do not hear of his preaching at Patras, Zacynthus, Cephallenia, Corcyra (the modern Corfu), which, as a way-station to and from Sicily, always held preeminence among the Ionian islands; but there can be little doubt that, if his plan of going to Nicopolis was carried out, he desired to evangelize the province of Epirus (as well Acarnania) in Western Greece. Indeed, it was in this very city of Nicopolis, probably, that he was arrested and taken to Rome for trial<61>during one of the winters between 64-67 AD.<P>Nicopolis was situated only a few miles north of the modern Prevesa, the chief city of Epirus today, the city which the Greeks bombarded in 1912 in the hope of wresting it from the Turks. The ancient city was founded by Augustus, whose camp happened to be pitched there the night before the famous fight with Antony (31 BC). The gulf, called Ambracia in ancient times, is now known as Arta. On the south side was Actium, where the battle was fought. Directly across, only half mile distant, on the northern promontory, was the encampment of Augustus. To commemorate the victory over his antagonist, the Roman emperor built a city on the exact spot where his army had encamped ("Victory City"). On the hill now called Michalitzi, on the site of his own tent, he built a temple to Neptune and instituted games in honor of Apollo, who was supposed to have helped him in the sea-fight. Nicopolis soon became the metropolis of Epirus, with an autonomous constitution, according to Greek custom. But in the time of the emperor Julian (362) the city had fallen into decay, at least in part. It was plundered by the Goths, restored by Justinian, and finally disappeared entirely in the Middle Ages, so far as the records of history show. One document has Nikopolis he nun Prebeza, "Nicopolis], which is now Prebeza." In the time of Augustus, however, Nicopolis was a flourishing town. The emperor concentrated here the population of Aetolia and Acarnania, and made the city a leading member of the Amphictyonic Council. There are considerable ruins of the ancient city, including two theaters, a stadium, an aqueduct, etc.<P>LITERATURE.<P>Kuhn, Ueber die Entstehung der staate der Alten.``71';
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isbe[6405]='Niger`ni\'-jer (Niger).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SIMEON">SIMEON</a>`1';
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isbe[6406]='Nigh`ni.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NEAR">NEAR</a>`1';
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isbe[6407]='Night`nit.<P>1. In the Old Testament:<P>Figurative uses: The word "night" (laylah or layil is sometimes used figuratively in the Old Testament. Thus, Moses compares the brevity of time, the lapse of a thousand years, to "a watch in the night" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,4);">Ps 90:4</a>). Adversity is depicted by it in such places as <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',35,10);">Job 35:10</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,20);">Isa 8:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',15,9);">Jer 15:9</a>. Disappointment and despair are apparently depicted by it in the "burden of Dumah" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',21,11,12);">Isa 21:11,12</a>); and spiritual blindness, coming upon the false prophets (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',3,6);">Mic 3:6</a>); again sudden and overwhelming confusion (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',5,8);">Am 5:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',59,10);">Isa 59:10</a> the King James Version, nesheph, "twilight" as in the Revised Version (British and American)).<P>2. In the New Testament:<P>On the lips of Jesus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',9,4);">Joh 9:4</a>) it signifies the end of opportunity to labor; repeated in that touching little allegory spoken to His disciples when He was called to the grave of Lazarus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',11,9,10);">Joh 11:9,10</a>). Paul also uses the figure in reference to the Parousia (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',13,12);">Ro 13:12</a>), where "night" seems to refer to the present aeon and "day" to the aeon to come. He also uses it in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Th\',5,5,7);">1Th 5:5,7</a> where the status of the redeemed is depicted by "day," that of the unregenerate by "night," again, as the context shows, in reference to the Parousia. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',21,25);">Re 21:25</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',22,5);">22:5</a>, the passing of the "night" indicates the realization of that to which the Parousia looked forward, the establishment of the kingdom of God forever. See also Delitzsch, Iris, 35.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DAY+AND+NIGHT">DAY AND NIGHT</a>`42';
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isbe[6408]='Night Hawk`nit\'-hok (tachmac, "tachmas"; glaux, but sometimes strouthos, and seirenos; Latin camprimulgus): The Hebrew tachmac means "to tear and scratch the face," so that it is very difficult to select the bird intended by its use. Any member of the eagle, vulture, owl or hawk families driven to desperation would "tear and scratch" with the claws and bite in self-defence. The bird is mentioned only in the lists of abominations (see <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',11,16);">Le 11:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',14,15);">De 14:15</a>). There are three good reasons why the night-hawk or night-jar, more properly, was intended. The lists were sweeping and included almost every common bird unfit for food. Because of its peculiar characteristics it had been made the object of fable and superstition. It fed on wing at night and constantly uttered weird cries. Lastly, it was a fierce fighter when disturbed in brooding or raising its young. Its habit was to lie on its back and fight with beak and claw with such ferocity that it seemed very possible that it would "tear and scratch the face." Some commentators insist that the bird intended was an owl, but for the above reasons the night-jar seems most probable; also several members of the owl family were clearly indicated in the list.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HAWK">HAWK</a>`167';
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isbe[6409]='Night-Monster`nit\'-mon-ster (lilith; Septuagint onokentauros; Vulgate (Jerome\'s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) lamia):<P><b>I. THE ACCEPTED TRANSLATION</b><P class="in15">1. Professor Rogers\' Statement<P class="in15">2. Exception to the Statement<P><b>II. FOLKLORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT</b><P class="in15">1. Paucity of References<P class="in15">2. References in Highly Poetical Passages<P class="in15">3. The References Allusive<P class="in15">4. Possibility of Non-mythological Interpretation<P class="in15">5. The Term Lilith.<hr /><P>I. The Accepted Translation.<P>The term "night-monster"\' is a hypothetical translation of the Hebrew term lilith, used once only, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,14);">Isa 34:14</a>. The word is translated in the King James Version "screech-owl," margin "night monster," the Revised Version (British and American) "night-monster," margin "Lilith." The term "night-monster" is also an interpretation, inasmuch as it implies that the Hebrew word is a Babylonian loan-word, and that the reference indicates a survival of primitive folklore.<P>1. Professor Rogers\' Statement:<P>Concerning this weird superstition, and its strange, single appearance in the Book of Isaiah, Professor Rogers has this to say: "The lil, or ghost, was a night-demon of terrible and baleful influence upon men, and only to be cast out with many incantations. The lil was attended by a serving maid, the ardat lili ("maid of night"), which in the Semitic development was transferred into the feminine lilitu. It is most curious and interesting to observe that this ghost-demon lived on through the history of the Babylonian religion, and was carried out into the Hebrew religion, there to find one single mention in the words of one of the Hebrew prophets" (Religions of Assyria and Babylonia, 76, 77).<P>2. Exception to the Statement:<P>Exception is to be taken to this statement, admitting the etymological assumption upon which it rests, that "lilith" is a word in mythology, on the ground that the conception of a night-demon has no place in the religion of the Hebrews as exhibited in the Scriptures. It is certainly worthy of more than passing notice that a conception which is very prominent in the Babylonian mythology, and is worked out with great fullness of doctrinal and ritualistic detail, has, among the Hebrews, so far receded into the background as to receive but one mention in the Bible, and that a bald citation without detail in a highly poetic passage.<P>The most that can possibly be said, with safety, is that if the passage in Isaiah is to be taken as a survival of folklore, it is analogous to those survivals of obsolete ideas still to be found in current speech, and in the literature of the modern world (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=LUNATIC">LUNATIC</a>). There is no evidence of active participation in this belief, or even of interest in it as such, on the part of the prophetical writer. On the contrary, the nature of the reference implies that the word was used simply to add a picturesque detail to a vivid, imaginative description. All positive evidence of Hebrew participation in this belief belongs to a later date (see Buxtorf\'s Lexicon, under the word "Talmud").<P>II. Folklore in the Old Testament.<P>Attention has been called elsewhere to the meagerness, in the matter of detail, of Old Testament demonology (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DEMON,+DEMONOLOGY">DEMON, DEMONOLOGY</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=COMMUNION+WITH+DEMONS">COMMUNION WITH DEMONS</a>). A kindred fact of great importance should be briefly noticed here, namely, that the traces of mythology and popular folklore in the Bible are surprisingly faint and indistinct. We have the following set of items in which such traces have been discovered: "Rahab" (rachabh), mentioned in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',9,13);">Job 9:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',26,12);">26:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',51,9);">Isa 51:9</a>; "Tanin" (tannin), <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',27,1);">Isa 27:1</a>; "Leviathan" (liwyathan), <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',3,8);">Job 3:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',74,14);">Ps 74:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',27,1);">Isa 27:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',29,3);">Eze 29:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,\'1-\');">Job 41</a> passim; the "serpent in the sea," in <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',9,3);">Am 9:3</a>; "Seirim" (se\'irim), <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',11,15);">2Ch 11:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',17,7);">Le 17:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',23,8);">2Ki 23:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',13,21);">Isa 13:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,14);">34:14</a>; "Alukah" (\'aluqah), <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,15);">Pr 30:15</a>; "Azazel (\'aza\'zel) <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',16,8,10,26);">Le 16:8,10,26</a> "Lilith" (ut sup.), <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,14,15);">Isa 34:14,15</a>.when disturbed in brooding or raising its young. Its habit was to lie on its back and fight with beak and claw with such ferocity that it seemed very possible that it would "tear and scratch the face." Some commentators insist that the bird intended was an owl, but for the above reasons the night-jar seems most probable; also several members of the owl family were clearly indicated in the list.<P>A review of these passages brings certain very interesting facts to light.<P>1. Paucity of References:<P>The references are few in number. Rahab is mentioned 3 times; Tannin (in this connection), once; Leviathan, 5 times; the serpent in the sea, once; Seirim, 5 times (twice with references to idols); Alukah, once; Azazel, 3 times in one chapter and in the same connection; Lilith, once.<P>2. References in Highly Poetical Passages:<P>These references, with the single exception of Azazel to which we shall return a little later, are all in highly poetical passages. On general grounds of common-sense we should not ascribe conscious and deliberate mythology to writers or speakers of the Bible in passages marked by imaginative description and poetic imagery, any more than we should ascribe such beliefs to modern writers under like circumstances. Poetry is the realm of truth and not of matter of fact. In passages of this tenor, mythology may explain the word itself and justify its appropriateness, it does not explain the use of the term or disclose the personal view of the writer. 3. The References Allusive:<P>All these references are in the highest degree allusive. They exhibit no exercise of the mythological fancy and have received no embroidery with details. This is most significant. So far as our specific references are concerned, we are dealing with petrified mythology, useful as literary embellishment, but no longer interesting in itself.<P>4. Possibility of Non-mythological Interpretation:<P>Every one of these words is sufficiently obscure in origin and uncertain in meaning to admit the possibility of a non-mythological interpretation; indeed, in several of the parallels a non-mythological use is evident. Bible-Dict. writers are apt to say (e.g. concerning lilith) that there is no doubt concerning the mythological reference. The reader may discover for himself that the lexicographers are more cautious (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, in the place cited.). The use of "Rahab" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',26,12);">Job 26:12</a> is not mythological for the simple reason that it is figurative; the use of "Leviathan" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',27,1);">Isa 27:1</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',29,3);">Eze 29:3</a> comes under the same category. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',40,\'1-\');">Job 40</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,\'1-\');">41</A>, if the identification of behemoth and leviathan with hippopotamus and crocodile be allowed to stand and the mythological significance of the two be admitted, we have the stage where mythology has become a fixed and universal symbolism which can be used to convey truth apart from the belief in it as reality (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=LEVIATHAN">LEVIATHAN</a>; "Job," New Century Bible, p. 335; Meth. Rev., May, 1913, 429ff). The sea serpent of <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',9,3);">Am 9:3</a> is not necessarily the dragon or Tiamat, and the use of the term is merely suggestive. The term se\'ir is in literal use for "he-goat" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,24);">Nu 15:24</a>, et al.) and is doubtful throughout. Ewald translates it "he-goat" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,14);">Isa 34:14</a> and "Satyr" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,21);">13:21</A>. It means literally "shaggy monster" (Vulgate, pilosus). We do not hesitate on the basis of the evidence to erase "Alukah" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,15);">Pr 30:15</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "horse-leech," by some translated "vampire") and "Azazel" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',16,8);">Le 16:8</a>, etc.), interpreted as a "demon of the desert," from the list of mythological words altogether. As ripe a scholar as Perowne ("Proverbs," Cambridge Bible) combats the idea of vampire, and Kellogg ("Leviticus," Expositor\'s Bible, in the place cited.) has simply put to rout the mythological-demonic interpretation of Azazel. Even in the case of Lilith the derivation is obscure, and the objections urged against the demonic idea by Alexander have not altogether lost their force (see Commentary on Isaiah, in the place cited.). There is a close balance of probabilities in one direction or the other.<P>5. The Term Lilith:<P>One further fact with regard to Lilith must be considered. The term occurs in a list of creatures, the greater part of which are matter-of-fact animals or birds. A comparative glance at a half-dozen translates of the passage <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,\'11-14\');">Isa 34:11-14</a> will convince any reader that there are a great many obscure and difficult words to be found in the list. Following Delitzsch\'s translation we have: "pelican," "hedge-hog," "horned-owl," "raven," "wild-dog," "ostrich," "forest-demon" (se\'ir), "night-monster." This is a curious mixture of real and imaginary creatures. Alexander acutely observes that there is too much or too little mythology in the passage. One of two conclusions would seem to follow from a list so constructed: Either all these creatures are looked upon as more or less demonic (see Whitehouse, Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible (five volumes), article "Demon," with which compare West M. Alexander, Demonic Possession in the New Testament, 16), or, as seems to the present writer far more probable, none in the list is considered otherwise than as supposed literal inhabitants of the wilderness. The writer of <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,14);">Isa 34:14</a>, who was not constructing a scientific treatise, but using his imagination, has constructed a list in which are combined real and imaginary creatures popularly supposed to inhabit unpeopled solitudes. There still remains a by no means untenable supposition that none of the terms necessarily are mythological in this particular passage.``169';
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isbe[6410]='Night-Watch`nit\'-woch (\'ashmurah ba-laylah, "watch in the night"): One of the three or four divisions of the night.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=WATCH">WATCH</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TIME">TIME</a>`1';
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isbe[6411]='Nile`nil (Neilos, meaning not certainly known; perhaps refers to the color of the water, as black or blue. This name does not occur in the Hebrew of the Old Testament or in the English translation):<P><b>I. THE NILE IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY</b><P class="in15">1. Description<P class="in15">2. Geological Origin<P class="in15">3. The Making of Egypt<P class="in15">4. The Inundation<P class="in15">5. The Infiltration<P><b>II. THE NILE IN HISTORY</b><P class="in15">1. The Location of Temples<P class="in15">2. The Location of Cemeteries<P class="in15">3. The Damming of the Nile<P class="in15">4. Egyptian Famines<P><b>III. THE NILE IN RELIGION</b><P class="in15">1. The Nile as a God<P class="in15">2. The Nile in the Osirian Myth<P class="in15">3. The Celestial Nile<hr /><P>A river of North Africa, the great river of Egypt. The name employed in the Old Testament to designate the Nile is in the Hebrew ye\'or, Egyptian aur, earlier, atur, usually translated "river," also occasionally "canals" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',78,44);">Ps 78:44</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',29,3);">Eze 29:3</a>). In a general way it means all the water of Egypt. The Nile is also the principal river included in the phrase nahare kush, "rivers of Ethiopia" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',18,1);">Isa 18:1</a>). Poetically the Nile is called yam, "sea" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,31);">Job 41:31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,8);">Na 3:8</a>; probably <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',18,2);">Isa 18:2</a>), but this is not a name of the river. shichor, not always written fully, has also been interpreted in a mistaken way of the Nile (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SHIHOR">SHIHOR</a>). Likewise nahar mitsrayim, "brook of Egypt," a border stream in no way connected with the Nile, has sometimes been mistaken for that river.<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=RIVER+OF+EGYPT">RIVER OF EGYPT</a>.<P>I. The Nile in Physical Geography.<P>1. Description:<P>The Nile is formed by the junction of the White Nile and the Blue Nile in latitude 15 degree 45\' North and longitude 32 degree 45\' East. The Blue Nile rises in the highlands of Abyssinia, latitude 12 degree 30\' North, long. 35 degree East, and flows northwest 850 miles to its junction with the White Nile. The White Nile, the principal branch of the north, rises in Victoria Nyanza, a great lake in Central Africa, a few miles north of the equator, long. 33 degree East (more exactly the Nile may be said to rise at the headwaters of the Ragera River, a small stream on the other side of the lake, 3 degree south of the equator), and flows north in a tortuous channel, 1,400 miles to its junction with the Blue Nile. From this junction-point the Niles flows north through Nubia and Egypt 1,900 miles and empties into the Mediterranean Sea, in latitude 32 degree North, through 2 mouths, the Rosetta, east of Alexandria, and the Damietta, west of Port Said. There were formerly 7 mouths scattered along a coast-line of 140 miles.<P>2. Geological Origin:<P>The Nile originated in the Tertiary period and has continued from that time to this, though by the subsidence of the land 220 ft. along the Mediterranean shore in the Pluvial times, the river was very much shortened. Later in the Pluvial times the land rose again and is still rising slowly.<P>3. The Making of Egypt:<P>Cultivable Egypt is altogether the product of the Nile, every particle of the soil having been brought down by the river from the heart of the continent and deposited along the banks and especially in the delta at the mouth of the river. The banks have risen higher and higher and extended farther and farther back by the deposit of the sediment, until the valley of arable land varies in width in most parts from 3 or 4 miles to 9 or 10 miles. The mouth of the river, after the last elevation of the land in Pluvial times, was at first not far from the latitude of Cairo. From this point northward the river has built up a delta of 140 miles on each side, over which it spreads itself and empties into the sea through its many mouths.<P>4. The Inundation:<P>The, watering of Egypt by the inundation from the Nile is the most striking feature of the physical character of that land, and one of the most interesting and remarkable physical phenomena in the world. The inundation is produced by the combination of an indirect and a direct cause. The indirect cause is the rain and melting snow on the equatorial mountains in Central Africa, which maintains steadily a great volume of water in the White Nile. The direct cause is torrential rains in the highlands of Abyssinia which send down the Blue Nile a sudden great increase in the volume of water. The inundation has two periods each year. The first begins about July 15 and continues until near the end of September. After a slight recession, the river again rises early in October in the great inundation. High Nile is in October, 25 to 30 ft., low Nile in June, about 12 1/2 ft. The Nilometer for recording the height of the water of inundation dates from very early times. Old Nilometers are found still in situ at Edfu and Assuan. The watering and fertilizing of the land is the immediate effect of the inundation; its ultimate result is that making of Egypt which is still in progress. The settling of the sediment from the water upon the land has raised the surface of the valley about 1 ft. in 300 to 400 years, about 9 to 10 ft. near Cairo since the beginning of the early great temples. The deposit varies greatly at other places. As the deposit of sediment has been upon the bottom of the river, as well as upon the surface of the land, though more slowly, on account of the swiftness of the current, the river also has been lifted up, and thus the inundation has extended farther and farther to the east, and the west, as the level of the valley would permit, depositing the sediment and thus making the cultivable land wider, as well as the soil deeper, year by year. At Heliopolis, a little north of Cairo, this extension to the east has been 3 to 4 miles since the building of the great temple there.<P>At Luxor, about 350 miles farther up the river, where the approach toward the mountains is much steeper, the extension of the good soil to the east and the west is inconsiderable.<P>5. The Infiltration:<P>The ancient Egyptians were right in calling all the waters of Egypt the Nile, for wherever water is obtained by digging it is simply the Nile percolating through the porous soil. This percolation is called the infiltration of the Nile. It always extends as far on either side of the Nile as the level of the water in the river at the time will permit. This infiltration, next to the inundation, is the most important physical phenomenon in Egypt. By means of it much of the irrigation of the land during the dry season is carried on from wells. It has had its influence also in the political and religious changes of the country (compare below).<P>II. The Nile in History.<P>1. The Location of Temples:<P>Some of the early temples were located near the Nile, probably because of the deification of the river. The rising of the surface of the land, and at the same time of the bed of the river, from the inundation lifted both Egypt and its great river, but left the temples down at the old level. In time the infiltration of the river from its new higher level reached farther and farther and rose to a higher level until the floor of these old temples was under water even at the time of lowest Nile, and then gods and goddesses, priests and ceremonial all were driven out. At least two of the greatest temples and most sacred places, Heliopolis and Memphis, had to be abandoned. Probably this fact had as much to do with the downfall of Egypt\'s religion, as its political disasters and the actual destruction of its temples by eastern invaders. Nature\'s God had driven out the gods of Nature.<P>2. The Location of Cemeteries:<P>Some prehistoric burials are found on the higher ground, as at Kefr \'Amar. A thousand years of history would be quite sufficient to teach Egyptians that the Nile was still making Egypt. Thenceforth, cemeteries were located at the mountains on the eastern and the western boundaries of the valley. Here they continue to this day, for the most part still entirely above the waters of the inundation<6F>and usually above the reach of the infiltration.<P>3. The Damming of the Nile:<P>The widening of the cultivable land by means of long canals which carried the water from far up the river to levels higher than that of the inundation, farther down the river was practiced from very early times. The substitution of dams for long canals was reserved for modern engineering skill. Three great dams have been made: the first a little Nile of Cairo, the greatest at Assuan, and the last near Asyut.<P>4. Egyptian Famines:<P>Famines in Egypt are always due to failure in the quantity of the waters of inundation. Great famines have not been frequent. The cause of the failure in the water of inundation is now believed to be not so much a lack of the water of inundation from the Blue Nile as the choking of the channel of the White Nile in the great marsh land of the Sudan by the sud, a kind of sedge, sometimes becoming such a tangled mass as to close the channel and impede the flow of the regular volume of water so that the freshet in the Blue Nile causes but little inundation at the usual time, and during the rest of the year the Nile is so low from the same cause that good irrigation by canals and wells is impossible. A channel through the sud is now kept open by the Egyptian government.<P>III. The Nile in Religion.<P>One of the gods of the Egyptian pantheon was Hapi, the Nile. In early times it divided the honors with Ra, the sun-god. No wonder it was so.<P>1. The Nile as a God:<P>If the Egyptians set out to worship Nature-gods at all, surely then the sun and the Nile first.<P>2. The Nile in Osirian Myth:<P>The origin of the Osirian myth is still much discussed. Very much evidence, perhaps conclusive evidence, can be adduced to prove that it rose originally from the Nile; that Osiris was first of all the Nile, then the water of the Nile, then the soil, the product of the waters of the Nile, and then Egypt, the Nile and all that it produced.<P>3. The Celestial Nile:<P>Egypt was the Egyptian\'s little world, and Egypt was the Nile. It was thus quite natural for the Egyptians in considering the celestial world to image it in likeness of their own world with a celestial Nile flowing through it. It is so represented in the mythology, but the conception of the heavens is vague.``93';
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isbe[6412]='Nimrah; Beth-Nimrah`nim\'-ra (nimrah; Codex Vaticanus Nambra; Codex Alexandrinus Ambram), or (beth nimrah; Codex Vaticanus Namram; Codex Alexandria Ambran (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',32,36);">Nu 32:36</a>); Codex Vaticanus Baithanabra; Codex Alexandrinus Bethamna (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',13,27);">Jos 13:27</a>)): These two names evidently refer to the same place; but there is no reason to think, as some have done, from the similarity of the names, that it is identical with <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NIMRIM">NIMRIM</a> (which see). On the contrary, the indications of the passages cited point to a site east of the Jordan valley and Nimrah of the Dead Sea. About 11 miles northeast of the mouth of the Jordan, where Wady Nimrin, coming down from the eastern up-lands, enters the plain, stands a hill called Tell Nimrin, with tombs and certain traces of ancient building. This may be certainly identified with Nimrah and Beth-nimrah; and it corresponds to Bethnambris of Eusebius, Onomasticon, which lay 5 Roman miles Nimrah of Livias.``54';
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isbe[6413]='Nimrim`nim\'-rim (me nimrim; Codex Vaticanus Nebrein; Codex Alexandrinus Ebrim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',48,34);">Jer 48:34</a>); to hudor tes Nimreim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',15,6);">Isa 15:6</a>)): The meaning appears to be "pure" or "wholesome water." The name occurs only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',15,6);">Isa 15:6</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',48,34);">Jer 48:34</a> in oracles against Moab. In each case it is mentioned in association with Zoar and Horonaim. It is therefore probably to be sought to the southeast of the Dead Sea. Eusebius, Onomasticon, places a town, Bennamareim, to the Nimrim of Zoar, and identifies it with the Old Testament "Nimrim," as it seems, correctly. The name is still found in Wady Numeireh, opening on the sea at Burj Numeirah, Nimrim of Ghor es-Safiyeh. The waters of Nimrim may be sought either in Moiyet Numeirah or in the spring higher up, where lie the ruins of a town in a well-watered and fruitful district (Buhl, GAP, 272).``54';
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isbe[6414]='Nimrod`nim\'-rod (nimrodh; Nebrod): A descendant of Ham, mentioned in "the generations of the sons of Noah" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,\'1-\');">Ge 10</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',1,10);">1Ch 1:10</a>) as a son of Cush. He established his kingdom "in the land of Shinar," including the cities "Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,10);">Ge 10:10</a>), of which only Babel, or Babylon, and Erech, or Uruk, have been identified with certainty. "The land of Shinar" is the old name for Southern Babylonia, afterward called Chaldea (\'erets kasdim), and was probably more extensive in territory than the Sumer of the inscriptions in the ancient royal title, "King of Shumer and Accad," since Accad is included here in Shinar. Nimrod, like other great kings of Mesopotamian lands, was a mighty hunter, possibly the mightiest and the prototype of them all, since to his name had attached itself the proverb: "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,9);">Ge 10:9</a>). In the primitive days of Mesopotamia, as also in Palestine, wild animals were so numerous that they became a menace to life and property (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',23,29);">Ex 23:29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,22);">Le 26:22</a>); therefore the king as benefactor and protector of his people hunted these wild beasts. The early conquest of the cities of Babylonia, or their federation into one great kingdom, is here ascribed to Nimrod. Whether the founding and colonization of Assyria (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,11);">Ge 10:11</a>) are to be ascribed to Nimrod will be determined by the exegesis of the text. English Versions of the Bible reads: "Out of that land he (i.e. Nimrod) went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh," etc., this translation assigning the rise of Assyria to Nimrod, and apparently being sustained by <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',5,5,6);">Mic 5:5,6</a> (compare J. M. P. Smith, "Micah," ICC, in the place cited.); but American Revised Version, margin renders: "Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh," which translation is more accurate exegetically and not in conflict with <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',5,6);">Mic 5:6</a>, if in the latter "land of Nimrod" be understood, not as parallel with, but as supplemental to, Assyria, and therefore as Babylon (compare commentaries of Cheyne, Pusey, S. Clark, in the place cited.).<P>Nimrod has not been identified with any mythical hero or historic king of the inscriptions. Some have sought identification with Gilgamesh, the flood hero of Babylonia (Skinner, Driver, Delitzsch); others with a later Kassite king (Haupt, Hilprecht), which is quite unlikely; but the most admissible correspondence is with Marduk, chief god of Babylon, probably its historic founder, just as Asshur, the god of Assyria, appears in verse 11 as the founder of the Assyrian empire (Wellhausen, Price, Sayce). Lack of identification, however, does not necessarily indicate mythical origin of the name.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ASTRONOMY">ASTRONOMY</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BABYLONIA+AND+ASSYRIA,+RELIGION+OF">BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MERODACH">MERODACH</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ORION">ORION</a>`109';
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isbe[6415]='Nimshi`nim\'-shi (nimshi): The grandfather of Jehu (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',9,2,14);">2Ki 9:2,14</a>). Jehu\'s usual designation is "son of Nimshi" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',19,16);">1Ki 19:16</a>).``1';
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isbe[6416]='Nineveh`nin\'-e-ve (nineweh; Nineue, Nineui; Greek and Roman writers, Ninos):<p><b>I. BEGINNINGS, NAME, POSITION</b><P class="in15">1. First Biblical Mention<P class="in15">2. Etymology of the Name<P class="in15">3. Position on the Tigris<P><b>II. NINEVEH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS</b><P class="in15">1. Its Walls<P class="in15">2. Principal Mounds and Gateways<P class="in15">3. Extent and Population within the Walls<P class="in15">4. Extent outside the Walls<P class="in15">5. Calah, Resen and Rehoboth-Ir<P class="in15">6. Khorsabad<P class="in15">7. Sherif Khan and Selamieh<P class="in15">8. Nimroud<P><b>III. PALACES AT NINEVEH PROPER</b><P class="in15">1. The Palace of Sennacherib<P class="in15">2. The Palace of Assur-bani-apli<P><b>IV. SENNACHERIB\'S DESCRIPTION OF NINEVEH</b><P class="in15">1. The Walls<P class="in15">2. The Gates<65>Northwest<P class="in15">3. The Gates<65>South and East<P class="in15">4. The Gates<65>West<P class="in15">5. The Outer Wall: the Plantations<P class="in15">6. The Water-Supply, etc.<P class="in15">7. How the Bas-Reliefs Illustrate the King\'s Description<P class="in15">8. Nineveh the Later Capital<P><b>V. LAST DAYS AND FALL OF NINEVEH</b><P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Beginnings, Name, Position.<P>1. First Biblical Mention:<P>The first Biblical mention of Nineveh is in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,11);">Ge 10:11</a>, where it is stated that <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NIMROD">NIMROD</a> (which see) or Asshur went out into Assyria, and builded Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah, with the addition, "the same is the great city." Everything indicates that these statements are correct, for Nineveh was certainly at one time under Babylonian rule, and was at first not governed by Assyrian kings, but by issake or viceroys of Assur, the old capital. To all appearance Nineveh took its name from the Babylonian Nina near Lagas in south Babylonia, on the Euphrates, from which early foundation it was probably colonized. The native name appears as Ninua or Nina (Ninaa), written with the character for "water enclosure" with that for "fish" inside, implying a connection between Nina and the Semitic nun, "fish."<P>2. Etymology of the Name:<P>The Babylonian Nina was a place where fish were very abundant, and Ishtar or Nina, the goddess of the city, was associated with Nin-mah, Merodach\'s spouse, as goddess of reproduction. Fish are also plentiful in the Tigris at Mosul, the modern town on the other side of the river, and this may have influenced the choice of the site by the Babylonian settlers, and the foundation there of the great temple of Ishtar or Nina. The date of this foundation is unknown, but it may have taken place about 3000 BC.<P>3. Position on the Tigris:<P>Nineveh lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris, at the point where the Khosr falls into that stream. The outline of the wall is rectangular on the west, but of an irregular shape on the east. The western fortifications run from northwest to southeast, following, roughly, the course of the river, which now flows about 1,500 yards from the walls, instead of close to them, as in ancient times.<P>II. Nineveh and Its Surroundings.<P>According to the late G. Smith, the southwestern wall has a length of about 2 1/2 miles, and is joined at its western corner by the northwestern wall, which runs in a northeasterly direction for about 1 1/3 miles.<P>1. Its Walls:<P>The northeastern wall, starting here, runs at first in a southeasterly direction, but turns southward, gradually approaching the southwestern wall, to which, at the end of about 3 1/4 miles, it is joined by a short wall, facing nearly south, rather more than half a mile long.<P>2. Principal Mounds and Gateways:<P>The principal mounds are Kouyunjik, a little northeast of the village of \'Amusiyeh, and Nebi-Yunas, about 1,500 yards to the southeast. Both of these lie just within the southwest wall. Extensive remains of buildings occupy the fortified area. Numerous openings occur in the walls, many of them ancient, though some seem to have been made after the abandonment of the site. The principal gate on the northwest was guarded by winged bulls (see Layard, Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd series, plural 3; Nineveh and Babylon, 120). Other gates gave access to the various commercial roads of the country, those on the east passing through the curved outworks and the double line of fortifications which protected the northeastern wall from attack on that side, where the Ninevites evidently considered that they had most to fear.<P>3. Extent and Population within the Walls:<P>According to G. Smith, the circuit of the inner wall is about 8 miles, and Captain Jones, who made a trigonometrical survey in 1854, estimated that, allotting to each inhabitant 50 square yards, the city may have contained 174,000 inhabitants. If the statement in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',4,11);">Jon 4:11</a>, that the city contained 120,000 persons who could not discern between their right hand and their left, be intended to give the number of the city\'s children only, then the population must have numbered about 600,000, and more than three cities of the same extent would have been needed to contain them.<P>4. Extent outside the Walls:<P>It has therefore been supposed<65>and that with great probability<74>that there was a large extension of the city outside its walls. This is not only indicated by <a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',3,3);">Jon 3:3</a>, where it is described as "an exceeding great city of three days\' journey" to traverse, but also by the extant ruins, which stretch southeast along the banks of the Tigris as far as Nimroud (Calah) while its northern extension may have been regarded as including Khorsabad.<P>5. Calah, Resen and Rehoboth-Ir:<P>Concerning the positions of two of the cities mentioned with Nineveh, namely, Calah and Resen, there can be no doubt, notwithstanding that Resen has not yet been identified<65>Calah is the modern Nimroud, and Resen lay between that site and Nineveh.<P>The name Rehoboth-Ir has not yet been found in the inscriptions, but Fried. Delitzsch has suggested that it may be the rebit Ninua of the inscriptions, northeast of Nineveh. If this be the case, the Nineveh of Jonah contained within it all the places in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,11,12);">Ge 10:11,12</a>, and Khorsabad besides.<P>6. Khorsabad:<P>Taking the outlying ruins from north to south, we begin with Khorsabad (Dur-Sarru-kin or Dur-Sargina), 12 miles northeast of Kouyunjik, the great palace mound of Nineveh proper. Khorsabad is a great enclosure about 2,000 yards square, with the remains of towers and gateways. The palace mound lies on its northwest face, and consists of an extensive platform with the remains of Sargon\'s palace and its temple, with a ziqqurat or temple-tower similar to those at Babylon, Borsippa, Calah and elsewhere. This last still shows traces of the tints symbolical of the 7 planets of which its stages were, seemingly, emblematic. The palace ruins show numerous halls, rooms and passages, many of which were faced with slabs of coarse alabaster, sculptured in relief with military operations, hunting-scenes, mythological figures, etc., while the principal entrances were flanked with the finest winged human-headed bulls which Assyrian art has so far revealed. The palace was built about 712 BC, and was probably destroyed by fire when Nineveh fell in 606 BC, sharing the same fate. Some of the slabs and winged bulls are in the Louvre and the British Museum, but most of the antiquarian spoils were lost in the Tigris by the sinking of the rafts upon which they were loaded after being discovered.<P>7. Sherif Khan and Selamieh:<P>Another outlying suburb was probably Tarbicu, now represented by the ruins at Sherif Khan, about 3 miles north of Kouyunjik. In this lay a temple<6C>"palace" Sennacherib calls it<69>dedicated to Nergal. In ancient times it must have been a place of some importance, as Esarhaddon seems to have built a palace there, as well as a "seat" for his eldest son, Assur-bani-apli. The site of Resen, "between Nineveh and Calah," is thought to be the modern Selamieh, 12 miles south of Nineveh, and 3 miles north of Nimroud (Calah). It is in the form of an irregular enclosure on a high mound overlooking the Tigris, with a surface of about 400 acres. No remains of buildings, sculptures or inscriptions have, however, been found there.<P>8. Nimroud:<P>After Nineveh. itself (Kouyunjik), the ruins known as Nimroud, 14 or 15 miles southeast, are the most important. They mark the site of the ancient Calah, and have already been described under that heading (see p. 539). As there stated, the stone-faced temple-tower seems to be referred to by Ovid, and is apparently also mentioned by Xenophon (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=RESEN">RESEN</a>). The general tendency of the accumulated references to these sites supports theory that they were regarded as belonging to Nineveh, if not by the Assyrians themselves (who knew well the various municipal districts), at least by the foreigners who had either visited the city or had heard or read descriptions of it.<P>III. Palaces at Nineveh Proper.<P>The palaces at Nineveh were built upon extensive artificial platforms between 30 and 50 ft. high, either of sundried brick, as at Nimroud, or of earth and rubbish, as at Kouyunjik. It is thought that they were faced with masonry, and that access was gained to them by means of flights of deep steps, or sloping pathways. Naturally it is the plan of the basement floor alone that can at present be traced, any upper stories that may have existed having long since disappeared. The halls and rooms discovered were faced with slabs of alabaster or other stone, often sculptured with bas-reliefs depicting warlike expeditions, the chase, religious ceremonies and divine figures. The depth of the accumulations over these varies from a few inches to about 30 ft., and if the amount in some cases would seem to be excessive, it is thought that this may have been due either to the existence of upper chambers, or to the extra height of the room. The chambers, which are grouped around courtyards, are long and narrow, with small square rooms at the ends. The partition walls vary from 6 to 15 ft. in thickness, and are of sun-dried brick, against which the stone paneling was fixed. As in the case of the Babylonian temples and palaces, the rooms and halls open into each other, so that, to gain access to those farthest from the courtyard entrance, one or more halls or chambers had to be traversed. No traces of windows have been discovered, and little can therefore be said as to the method of lighting, but the windows were either high up, or light was admitted through openings in the roof.<P>1. The Palace of Sennacherib:<P>The palace of Sennacherib lay in the southeast corner of the platform, and consisted of a courtyard surrounded on all four sides by numerous long halls, and rooms, of which the innermost were capable of being rendered private. It was in this palace that were found the reliefs depicting the siege of Lachish, with the representation of Sennacherib seated on his "standing" throne, while the captives and the spoil of the city passed before him. The grand entrance was flanked by winged bulls facing toward the spectator as he entered. They were in couples, back to back, on each side of the doorway, and between each pair the ancient Babylonian hero-giant, carrying in one hand the "boomerang," and holding tightly with his left arm a struggling lion (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 137) was represented, just as at his father Sargon\'s palace at Khorsabad. The upper part of these imposing figures had been destroyed, but they were so massive, that the distinguished explorer attributed their overthrow not to the act of man, but to some convulsion of Nature.<P>2. The Palace of Assur-bani-apli:<P>In the north of the mound are the ruins of the palace of Assur-bani-apli or Assur-bani-pal, discovered by Hormuzd Rassam. His latest plan (Asshur and the Land of Nimrod, Cincinnati and New York,1897,plate facing p. 36) does not give the whole of the structure, much of the building having been destroyed; but the general arrangement of the rooms was upon the traditional lines. The slabs with which they were paneled showed bas-reliefs illustrating the Assyrian campaigns against Babylonia, certain Arab tribes, and Elam. As far as they are preserved, the sculptures are wonderfully good, and the whole decorative scheme of the paneled walls, of which, probably, the greater part is forever lost, may be characterized, notwithstanding their defects of perspective and their mannerisms, as nothing less than magnificent. The lion-hunts of the great king, despite the curious treatment of the animals\' manes (due to the sculptors\' ignorance of the right way to represent hair) are admirable. It would be difficult to improve upon the expressions of fear, rage and suffering on the part of the animals there delineated. The small sculptures showing Assur-bani-apli hunting the goat and the wild ass are not less noteworthy, and are executed with great delicacy.<P>IV. Sennacherib\'s Description of Nineveh.<P>1. The Walls:<P>In all probability the best description of the city is that given by Sennacherib on the cylinder recording his expedition to Tarsus in Cilicia. From ancient times, he says, the circuit of the city had measured 9,300 cubits, and he makes the rather surprising statement that his predecessors had not built either the inner or the outer wall, which, if true, shows how confident they were of their security from attack. He claims to have enlarged the city by 12,515 (cubits). The great defensive wall which he built was called by the Sumerian name of Bad-imgallabi-lu-susu, which he translates as "the wall whose glory overthrows the enemy." He made the brickwork 40 (cubits) thick, which would probably not greatly exceed the estimate of G. Smith, who reckoned it to have measured about 50 ft. The height of the wall he raised to 180 tipki, which, admitting the estimate of Diodorus, should amount to about 100 ft.<P>2. The Gates<65>Northwest:<P>In this enclosing wall were 15 gates, which he enumerates in full. Three of these were situated in the short northwest wall<6C>the gate of Hadad; the gate of Uru or Hadad of Tarbisu (Sherif Khan), and the gate of the moon-god Nannar, Sennacherib\'s own deity. The plans show five openings in the wall on this side, any of which may have been the gate used when going to Tarbicu, but that adorned with winged bulls probably furnished the shortest route.<P>3. The Gates<65>South and East:<P>The gates looking toward the south and the east were the Assur-gate (leading to the old capital); Sennacherib\'s Halzi-gate; the gate of Samas of Gagal, the gate of the god Enlil of Kar-Ninlil, and the "covered gate," which seems to have had the reputation of letting forth the fever-demon. After this are mentioned the Sibaniba-gate, and the gate of Halah in Mesopotamia. This last must have been the extreme northeastern opening, now communicating with the road to Khorsabad, implying that Halah lay in that direction.<P>4. The Gates<65>West:<P>The gates on the west or river-side of the city were "the gate of Ea, director of my watersprings"; the quay-gate, "bringer of the tribute of my peoples"; the gate of the land of Bari, within which the presents of the Sumilites entered (brought down by the Tigris from Babylonia, in all probability); the gate of the tribute-palace or armory; and the gate of the god Sar-ur<75>"altogether 5 gates in the direction of the west." There are about 9 wide openings in the wall on this side, 2 being on each side of the Kouyunjik mound, and 2 on each side of that called Nebi-Yunus. As openings at these points would have endangered the city\'s safety, these 4 have probably to be eliminated, leaving 2 only north of Nebi-Yunus, 2 between that and Kouyunjik, and one north of Kouyunjik. Minor means of exit probably existed at all points where they were regarded as needful.<P>5. The Outer Wall: the Plantations:<P>To the outer wall of the city Sennacherib gave a Sumerian name meaning, "the wall which terrifies the enemy." At a depth of 54 gar, the underground water-level, its foundations were laid upon blocks of stone, the object of this great depth being to frustrate undermining. The wall was made "high like a mountain." Above and below the city he laid out plantations, wherein all the sweet-smelling herbs of Heth (Palestine and Phoenicia) grew, fruitful beyond those of their homeland. Among them were to be found every kind of mountain-vine, and the plants of all the nations around.<P>6. The Water-Supply, etc.:<P>In connection with this, in all probability, he arranged the water-supply, conducting a distant water-course to Nineveh by means of conduits. Being a successful venture, he seems to have watered therewith all the people\'s orchards, and in winter 1,000 corn fields above and below the city. The force of the increased current in the river Khosr was retarded by the creation of a swamp, and among the reeds which grew there were placed wild fowl, wild swine, and deer(?). Here he repeated his exotic plantations, including trees for wood, cotton (apparently) and seemingly the olive.<P>7. How the Bas-Reliefs Illustrate the King\'s Description:<P>Sennacherib\'s bas-reliefs show some of the phases of the work which his cylinder inscriptions describe. We see the winged bulls, which are of colossal dimensions, sometimes lying on their sledges (shaped like boats or Assyrian ships), and sometimes standing and supported by scaffolding. The sledges rest upon rollers, and are dragged by armies of captives urged to action by taskmasters with whips. Others force the sledges forward from behind by means of enormous levers whose upper ends are held in position by guy-ropes. Each side has to pull with equal force, for if the higher end of the great lever fell, the side which had pulled too hard suffered in killed and crushed, or at least in bruised, workmen of their number. In the background are the soldiers of the guard, and behind them extensive wooded hills. In other bas-reliefs it is apparently the pleasure grounds of the palace which are seen. In these the background is an avenue of trees, alternately tall and short, on the banks of a river, whereon are boats, and men riding astride inflated skins, which were much used in those days, as now. On another slab, the great king himself, in his hand-chariot drawn by eunuchs, superintends the work.<P>8. Nineveh the Later Capital:<P>How long Nineveh had been the capital of Assyria is unknown. The original capital was Assur, about 50 miles to the south, and probably this continued to be regarded as the religious and official capital of the country. Assur-nacir-Apli seems to have had a greater liking for Calah (Nimroud), and Sargon for Khorsabad, where he had founded a splendid palace. These latter, however, probably never had the importance of Nineveh, and attained their position merely on account of the reigning king building a palace and residing there. The period of Nineveh\'s supremacy seems to have been from the beginning of the reign of Sennacherib to the end of that of Assur-bani-apli, including, probably, the reigns of his successors likewise<73>a period of about 98 years (704-606 BC).<P>V. Last Days and Fall of Nineveh.<P>Nineveh, during the centuries of her existence, must have seen many stirring historical events; but the most noteworthy were probably Sennacherib\'s triumphal entries, including that following the capture of Lachish, the murder of that great conqueror by his sons (the recent theory that he was killed at Babylon needs confirmation); and the ceremonial triumphs of Assur-bani-apli<6C>the great and noble Osnappar (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',4,10);">Ezr 4:10</a>). After the reign of Assur-bani-apli came his son Assur-etil-ilani, who was succeeded by Sin-sarra-iskun (Saracos), but the history of the country, and also of the city, is practically non-existent during these last two reigns. The Assyrian and Babylonian records are silent with regard to the fall of the city, but Alexander Polyhistor, Abydenus and Syncellus all speak of it. The best account, however, is that of Diodorus Siculus, who refers to a legend that the city could not be taken until the river became its enemy. Arbaces, the Scythian, besieged it, but could not make any impression on it for 2 years. In the 3rd year, however, the river (according to Commander Jones, not the Tigris, but the Khosr), being swollen by rains, and very rapid in its current, carried away a portion of the wall, and by this opening the besiegers gained an entrance. The king, recognizing in this the fulfillment of the oracle, gathered together his concubines and eunuchs, and, mounting a funeral pyre which he had caused to be constructed, perished in the flames. This catastrophe is supposed to be referred to in <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',1,8);">Na 1:8</a>: "With an over-running flood he (the Lord) will make a full end of her place (i.e. of Nineveh)," and <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',2,6);">Na 2:6</a>: "The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved." The destruction of the city by fire is probably referred to in <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,13,15);">3:13,15</A>. The picture of the scenes in her streets<74>the noise of the whip, the rattling wheels, the prancing horses, the bounding chariots (<a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,2);">3:2</A>ff), followed by a vivid description of the carnage of the battlefield<6C>is exceedingly striking, and true to their records and their sculptures.<P>LITERATURE.<P>The standard books on the discovery and exploration of Nineveh are Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains (two volumes, 1849); Nineveh and Babylon (1853); Monuments of Nineveh, 1st and 2nd series (plates) (1849 and 1853); and Hormuzd Hassam, Asshur and the Land of Nimrod (Cincinnati and New York, 1897).``136';
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isbe[6417]='Nineveh, Library of`<b>I. THE DISCOVERY</b><P><b>II. THE LIBRARY</b><P><b>III. WRITING-MATERIALS</b><P><b>IV. CONTENTS</b><P class="in15">1. Philology<P class="in15">2. Astronomy and Astrology<P class="in15">3. Religious Texts<P class="in15">4. Law<P class="in15">5. Science<P class="in15">6. Literature<P class="in15">7. History and Chronology<P class="in15">8. Commerce<P class="in15">9. Letters<hr /><P>I. The Discovery.<P>In the spring of 1850, the workmen of Sir A.H. Layard at Nineveh made an important discovery. In the ruins of the palace of Assur-bani-pal they found a passage which opened into two small chambers leading one into the other. The doorway was guarded on either side by figures of Ea, the god of culture and the inventor of letters, in his robe of fishskin. The walls of the chambers had once been paneled with bas-reliefs, one of which represented a city standing on the shore of a sea that was covered with galleys. Up to the height of a foot or more the floor was piled with clay tablets that had fallen from the shelves on which they had been arranged in order, and the larger number of them was consequently broken. Similar tablets, but in lesser number, were found in the adjoining chambers. After Layard\'s departure, other tablets were discovered by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, and then the excavations ceased for many years. The discovery of the Babylonian version of the account of the Deluge, however, by Mr. George Smith in 1873 led the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph to send him to Nineveh in the hope that the missing portions of the story might be found. He had not been excavating there long before he came across a fragment of another version of the story, and then once more the excavations came to an end. Since then expeditions have been sent by the British Museum which have resulted in the recovery of further remains of the ancient library of Nineveh.<P>II. The Library.<P>The tablets formed a library in the true sense of the word. Libraries had existed in the cities of Babylonia from a remote date, and the Assyrian kings, whose civilization was derived from Babylonia, imitated the example of Babylonia in this as in other respects. The only true booklover among them, however, was Assur-bani-pal. He was one of the most munificent royal patrons of learning the world has ever seen, and it was to him that the great library of Nineveh owed its existence. New editions were made of older works, and the public and private libraries of Babylonia were ransacked in search of literary treasures.<P>III. Writing-Materials.<P>Fortunately for us the ordinary writing-material of the Babylonians and Assyrians was clay. It was more easily procurable than papyrus or parchment, and was specially adapted for the reception of the cuneiform characters. Hence, while the greater part of the old Egyptian literature, which was upon papyrus, has perished that of Babylonia and Assyria has been preserved. In Babylonia the tablets after being inscribed were often merely dried in the sun; in the damper climate of Assyria they were baked in a kiln. As a large amount of text had frequently to be compressed into a small space, the writing is sometimes so minute as to need the assistance of a magnifying glass before it can be read. It is not surprising, therefore, that in the library-chambers of Nineveh Layard found a magnifying lens of crystal, which had been turned on the lathe.<P>IV. Contents.<P>1. Philology:<P>The subject-matter of the tablets included all the known branches of knowledge. Foremost among them are the philological works. The inventors of the cuneiform system of writing had spoken an agglutinative language, called Sumerian, similar to that of the Turks or Finns today; and a considerable part of the early literature had been written in this language, which to the later Semitic Babylonians and Assyrians was what Latin was to the European nations in the Middle Ages. The student was therefore provided with grammars and dictionaries of the two languages, as well as with reading-books and interlinear translates into Assyrian of the chief Sumerian texts. Besides this, long lists of the cuneiform characters were drawn up with their phonetic and ideographic values, together with lists of Assyrian synonyms, in which, for example, all the equivalents are given of the word "to go." The Assyrian lexicographers at times attempted etymologies which are as wide of the mark as similar etymologies given by English lexicographers of a past generation. Sabattu, "Sabbath," for instance, is derived from the two Sumerian words sa "heart" and bat, "to end," and so is explained to mean "day of rest for the heart." It is obvious that all this implies an advanced literary culture. People do not begin to compile grammars and dictionaries or to speculate on the origin of words until books and libraries abound and education is widespread.<P>2. Astronomy and Astrology:<P>Astronomy occupied a prominent place in Assyrian literature, but it was largely mingled with astrology. The Babylonians were the founders of scientific astronomy; they were the first to calculate the dates of lunar and solar eclipses, and to give names to the signs of the Zodiac. Among the contents of the library of Nineveh are reports from the Royal Observatory, relating to the observation of eclipses and the like.<P>3. Religious Texts:<P>A knowledge of astronomy was needed for the regulation of the calendar, and the calendar was the special care of the priests, as the festivals of the gods and the payment of tithes were dependent upon it. Most of the religious texts went back to the Sumerian period and were accordingly provided with Assyrian translations. Some of them were hymns to the gods, others were the rituals used in different temples. There was, moreover, a collection of psalms, as well as numerous mythological texts.<P>4. Law:<P>The legal literature was considerable. The earliest law books were in Sumerian, but the great code compiled by Hammurabi, the contemporary of Abraham, was in Semitic Babylonian (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HAMMURABI">HAMMURABI</a>). Like English law, Assyro-Babylonian law was case-made, and records of the cases decided from time to time by the judges are numerous.<P>5. Science:<P>Among scientific works we may class the long lists of animals, birds, fishes, plants and stones, together with geographical treatises, and the pseudo-science of omens. Starting from the belief that where two events followed one another, the first was the cause of the second, an elaborate pseudo-science of augury had been built up, and an enormous literature arose on the interpretation of dreams, the observation of the liver of animals, etc. Unfortunately Assur-bani-pal had a special predilection for the subject, and the consequence is that his library was filled with works which the Assyriologist would gladly exchange for documents of a more valuable character. Among the scientific works we may also include those on medicine, as well as numerous mathematical tables.<P>6. Literature:<P>Literature was largely represented, mainly in the form of poems on mythological, religious or historical subjects. Among these the most famous is the epic of the hero Gilgames in twelve books, the Babylonian account of the Deluge being introduced as an episode in the eleventh book. Another epic was the story of the great battle between the god Merodach and Tiamat, the dragon of chaos and evil, which includes the story of the creation.<P>7. History and Chronology:<P>Historical records are very numerous, the Assyrians being distinguished among the nations of antiquity by their historical sense. In Assyria the royal palace took the place of the Bah or Egyptian temple; and where the Babylonian or the Egyptian would have left behind him a religious record, the Assyrian adorned his walls with accounts of campaigns and the victories of their royal builders. The dates which are attached to each portion of the narrative, and the care with which the names of petty princes and states are transcribed, give a high idea of the historical precision at which the Assyrians aimed. The Assyrian monuments are alone sufficient to show that the historical sense was by no means unknown to the ancient peoples of the East, and when we remember how closely related the Assyrians were to the Hebrews in both race and language, the fact becomes important to the Biblical student. Besides historical texts the library contained also chronological tables and long lists of kings and dynasties with the number of years they reigned. In Babylonia time was marked by officially naming each year after some event that had occurred in the course of it; the more historically-minded Assyrian named the year after a particular official, called limmu, who was appointed on each New Year\'s Day. In Babylonia the chronological system went back to a very remote date. The Babylonians were a commercial people, and for commercial purposes it was necessary to have an exact register of the time.<P>8. Commerce:<P>The library contained trading documents of various sorts, more especially contracts, deeds of sale of property and the like. Now and then we meet with the plan of a building. There were also fiscal documents relating to the taxes paid by the cities and provinces of the empire to the imperial treasury.<P>9. Letters:<P>One department of the library consisted of letters, some of them private, others addressed to the king or to the high officials. Nearly a thousand of these have already been published by Professor Harper.<P>The clay books, it need hardly be added, were all carefully numbered and catalogued, the Assyrian system of docketing and arranging the tablets being at once ingenious and simple. The librarians, consequently, had no difficulty in finding any tablet or series of tablets that might be asked for. We may gather from the inscription attached to the larger works copied from Babylonian originals as well as to other collections of tablets that the library was open to all "readers."``157';
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isbe[6418]='Ninevites`nin\'-e-vits (Nineu(e)itai): Only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',11,30);">Lu 11:30</a>. The parallel passage (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',12,41);">Mt 12:41</a>), with <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',11,32);">Lu 11:32</a>, has the fuller form, "men of Nineveh," which gives the meaning.``1';
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isbe[6419]='Niphis`ni\'-fis (Neipheis, Codex Alexandrinus Phineis; the King James Version Nephis): Given in 1Esdras 5:21 margin as equals "Magbish" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',2,30);">Ezr 2:30</a>, whose sons are the same in number (156) as those of Niphis, but it would seem rather to be the equivalent of Nebo in 2:29.``1';
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isbe[6420]='Nisan`ni\'-san (nican): The first month of the Jewish year in which occurred the Passover and which corresponds to April. The month is the same as Abib, which occurs in the Pentateuch. Nisan occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',2,1);">Ne 2:1</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',3,7);">Es 3:7</a>. It denotes "the month of flowers."`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=CALENDAR">CALENDAR</a>`1';
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isbe[6421]='Nisroch`nis\'-rok, niz\'-rok (nicrokh): The Assyrian god in whose temple Sennacherib was worshipping when put to death by his sons (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',19,37);">2Ki 19:37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',37,38);">Isa 37:38</a>). The name is not found elsewhere. Some identify him with Asshur, the national deity.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BABYLONIA+AND+ASSYRIA,+RELIGION+OF">BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF</a>`1';
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isbe[6422]='Nitre`ni\'-ter (nether; nitron): Nitre as used in the King James Version does not correspond to the present use of that term. Nitre or niter is now applied to sodium or potassium nitrate. The writer has in his collection a specimen of sodium carbonate, called in Arabic natrun, which was taken from the extensive deposits in Lower Egypt where it is found as a deposit underneath a layer of common salt. Similar deposits are found in Syria and Asia Minor. This is probably the "nitre" of the Bible. the American Standard Revised Version has rendered niter "lye" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',2,22);">Jer 2:22</a>, and "soda" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,20);">Pr 25:20</a>. Soda or lye has been used as a cleansing agent from earliest times. It effervesces energetically, when treated with an acid; hence, the comparison in <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,20);">Pr 25:20</a> of the heavy-hearted man roiled by the sound of singing to the sizzling of soda on which vinegar has been poured.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=VINEGAR">VINEGAR</a>`133';
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isbe[6423]='No`no.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NO+AMON">NO-AMON</a>`1';
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isbe[6424]='No-Amon`no-a\'-mon (no\' \'amon, Egyptian nut, "a city," with the feminine ending t, and Amon, proper name of a god, City Amon, i.e. the "City," par excellence, of the god Amon; translated in the King James Version "populous No," following the Vulgate (Jerome\'s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) in a misunderstanding of the word \'amon; the Revised Version (British and American) "No-amon"): Occurs in this form only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,8);">Na 3:8</a>, but \'amon minno\', "Amon of No," occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',46,25);">Jer 46:25</a>. Compare also <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',30,\'14-16\');">Eze 30:14-16</a>, where no\', is undoubtedly the same city.<P>The description of No-amon in <a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,8);">Na 3:8</a> seems to be that of a delta city, but yam, "sea" in that passage is used poetically for the Nile, as in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,31);">Job 41:31</a> and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',18,2);">Isa 18:2</a>. With this difficulty removed, the Egyptian etymology of the name leaves no doubt as to the correct identification of the place. The "City Amon" in the days of Nahum, Jeremiah and Ezekiel was Thebes (compare the article "Thebes" in any general encyclopedia).``93';
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isbe[6425]='Noadiah`no-a-di\'-a (no\'adhyah, "tryst of Yah"; Noadei):<P>(1) Son of Binnui, one of the Levites to whom Ezra entrusted the gold and silver and sacred vessels which he brought up from Babylon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',8,33);">Ezr 8:33</a>); also called <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MOETH">MOETH</a> (which see), son of Sabannus (1Esdras 8:63).<P>(2) A prophetess associated with Tobiah and Sanballat in opposition to Nehemiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',6,14);">Ne 6:14</a>).``1';
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isbe[6426]='Noah (1)`no\'-a (noach, "rest"; Septuagint Noe; Josephus, Nochos): The 10th in descent from Adam in the line of Seth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',5,28,29);">Ge 5:28,29</a>). Lamech here seems to derive the word from the nacham, "to comfort," but this is probably a mere play upon the name by Noah\'s father. The times in which Noah was born were degenerate, and this finds pathetic expression in Lamech\'s saying at the birth of Noah, "This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh because of the ground which Yahweh hath cursed." Concerning theory that Noah is the name of a dynasty, like Pharaoh or Caesar, rather than of a single individual, see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ANTEDILUVIANS">ANTEDILUVIANS</a>. In his 600th year the degenerate races of mankind were cut off by the Deluge. But 120 years previously (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',6,3);">Ge 6:3</a>) he had been warned of the catastrophe, and according to <a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,20);">1Pe 3:20</a> had been preparing for the event by building the ark (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ARK">ARK</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DELUGE+OF+NOAH">DELUGE OF NOAH</a>). In the cuneiform inscriptions Noah corresponds to "Hasisadra" (Xisuthrus). After the flood Noah celebrated his deliverance by building an altar and offering sacrifices to Yahweh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',8,20);">Ge 8:20</a>), and was sent forth with God\'s blessing to be "fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',9,1);">Ge 9:1</a>), as Adam had been sent forth at the beginning (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',1,28);">Ge 1:28</a>). In token of the certainty of God\'s covenant not to destroy the race again by flood, a rainbow spanned the sky whose reappearance was ever after to be a token of peace. But Noah was not above temptation. In the prosperity which followed, he became drunken from the fruit of the vineyard he had planted. His son Ham irreverently exposed the nakedness of his father, while Shem and Japheth covered it from view (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',9,22,23);">Ge 9:22,23</a>). The curse upon Canaan the son of Ham was literally fulfilled in subsequent history when Israel took possession of Palestine, when Tyre fell before the arms of Alexander, and Carthage surrendered to Rome.``198';
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isbe[6427]='Noah (2)`(no\'ah, "movement"): One of the daughters of Zelophehad (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,33);">Nu 26:33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',27,1);">27:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',36,11);">36:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',17,3);">Jos 17:3</a>).``1';
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isbe[6428]='Noah, Book (Apocalypse) of``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=APOCALYPTIC+LITERATURE">APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE</a>`1';
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isbe[6429]='Nob`nob (nobh; Codex Vaticanus Nomba; Codex Alexandrinus Noba, and other forms): An ancient priestly town to which David came on his way south when he fled from Saul at Gibeah (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',21,1);">1Sa 21:1</a>). Here he found refuge and succor with Ahimelech. This was observed by Doeg the Edomite, who informed the king, and afterward became the instrument of Saul\'s savage vengeance on the priests, and on all the inhabitants of the city (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',22,\'1-\');">1Sa 22</a>). The name occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',11,32);">Ne 11:32</a> in a list of cities, immediately after Anathoth. In Isaiah\'s ideal account of the Assyrians\' march against Jerusalem, Nob is clearly placed south of Anathoth. Here, says the prophet, the Assyrian shall shake his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. It was a place, therefore, from which the Holy City and the temple were clearly visible.<P>The district in which the site must be sought is thus very definitely indicated; but within this district no name at all resembling Nob has been discovered, and so no sure identification is yet possible. \'Anata (Anathoth) <span class="noTag">is</span> 2 1/2 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Nob therefore lay between that and the city, at a point where the city could be seen, apparently on the great road from the Nob. Rather more than a mile north of Jerusalem rises the ridge Ras el-Mesharif (2,665 ft.), over which the road from the Nob passes; and here the traveler approaching from that direction obtains his first sight of the city. It is fittingly named "the look-out." Col. Conder states the case for identifying this height with Mt. Scopus where Titus established his camp at the siege of Jerusalem (PEFS, 1874, 111ff). Immediately south of the ridge, to the east of the road, there is a small plateau, south of which there is a lower ridge, whence the slopes dip into Wady el-Joz. This plateau, on which Titus may have sat, is a very probable site for Nob. It quite suits the requirements of Isaiah\'s narrative, and not less those of David\'s flight. Gibeah lay not far to the north, and this lay in the most likely path to the south.``54';
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isbe[6430]='Nobah`no\'-ba (nobhah; Codex Vaticanus Naboth, Nabai; Codex Alexandrinus Naboth, Nabeth):<P>(1) Nobah the Manassite, we are told, "went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',32,42);">Nu 32:42</a>). There can be little doubt that the ancient Kenath is represented by the modern Qanawat, on the western slope of Jebel ed-Druze, the ancient name having survived that of Nobah.<P>(2) A city which marked-the course of Gideon\'s pursuit of the Midianites (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,11);">Jud 8:11</a>). It is possible that this may be identical with (1). Cheyne argues in favor of this (Encyclopaedia Biblica, under the word "Gideon"). But its mention along with Jogbehah points to a more southerly location. This may have been the original home of the clan Nobah. Some would read, following the Syriac in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,30);">Nu 21:30</a>, "Nobah which is on the desert," instead of "Nophah which reacheth unto Medeba." No site with a name resembling this has yet been recovered. If it is to be distinguished from Kenath, then probably it will have to be sought somewhere to the northeast of Rabbath-Ammon (\'Amman).``54';
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isbe[6431]='Nobai`no\'-bi, nob\'-a-i (nobhay, or nebhay): One of those who took part in sealing the covenant (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',10,19);">Ne 10:19</a>).``1';
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isbe[6432]='Noble; Nobles; Nobleman`no\'-b\'-l, no\'-b\'-lz, no\'-b\'-l-man (chorim, \'addir; eugenes, Kratistos, basilikos): "Nobles" is the translation of the Hebrew chorim (occurring only in the plural), "free-born," "noble" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',21,8,11);">1Ki 21:8,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',2,16);">Ne 2:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',6,17);">6:17</a>, etc.); of \'addir, "begirded," "mighty," "illustrious" or "noble" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',5,13);">Jud 5:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',23,20);">2Ch 23:20</a>, etc.); of nadhibh, "liberal," "a noble" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,18);">Nu 21:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',8,16);">Pr 8:16</a>, etc.).<P>Other words are gadhol, "great" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',3,7);">Jon 3:7</a>); yaqqir, Aramaic "precious" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',4,10);">Ezr 4:10</a>); naghidh, "a leader" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,10);">Job 29:10</a>); partemim, "foremost ones" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',1,3);">Es 1:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',6,9);">6:9</a>); atsilim, "those near," "nobles" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',24,11);">Ex 24:11</a>); bariah, "fugitive" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',43,14);">Isa 43:14</a>); kabhedh, "weighty," "honored" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',149,8);">Ps 149:8</a>); eugenes, "wellborn" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',17,11);">Ac 17:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',1,26);">1Co 1:26</a>); kratistos, "strongest," "most powerful" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,3);">Ac 24:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',26,25);">26:25</a>).<P>The Apocrypha, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), still further enlarges the list. In the Revised Version (British and American) we have megistanes, "great ones" (1Esdras 1:38; 8:26, with entimos, "in honor"; The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 18:12</span>). Otherwise the Revised Version\'s uses of "noble," and "nobleness" are for words containing the root genitive and referring to birth (compare The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 8:3</span>; 2Macc 6:27,31; 12:42; 14:42 twice). The King James Version\'s uses are wider (Judith 2:2, etc.).<P>Nobleman is, in <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',19,12);">Lu 19:12</a>, the translation of eugenes anthropos, "a man well born," and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',4,46,49);">Joh 4:46,49</a> of basilikos, "kingly," "belonging to a king," a designation extended to the officers, courtiers, etc., of a king, the Revised Version margin "king\'s officer"; he was probably an official, civil or military, of Herod Antipas, who was styled "king" (basileus).<P>For "nobles" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',43,14);">Isa 43:14</a>), the King James Version "have brought down all their nobles," the Revised Version (British and American) has "I will bring down all of them as fugitives," margin "or, as otherwise read, all their nobles even," etc.; for "nobles" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',30,21);">Jer 30:21</a>), "prince"; the English Revised Version has "worthies" for "nobles" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Nah\',3,18);">Na 3:18</a>); the Revised Version (British and American) has "the noble" for "princes" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',17,26);">Pr 17:26</a>): "nobles" for "princes" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',34,18);">Job 34:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,3);">Da 1:3</a>), for "Nazarites" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lam\',4,7);">La 4:7</a>, margin "Nazirites"); "her nobles" for "his fugitives," margin "or, as other otherwise read, fugitives" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',15,5);">Isa 15:5</a>); the American Standard Revised Version has "noble" for "liberal" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',32,5);">Isa 32:5</a>); for "The nobles held their peace," the King James Version margin "The voice of the nobles was hid" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',29,10);">Job 29:10</a>), the Revised Version (British and American) has "The voice of the nobles was hushed," margin "Hebrew: hid"; for "most noble" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,3);">Ac 24:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',26,25);">26:25</a>), "most excellent."``185';
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isbe[6433]='Nod`nod (nodh): The land of Eden, to which Cain migrated after the murder of his brother and his banishment by Yahweh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,16);">Ge 4:16</a>). Conjecture is useless as to the region intended. The ideas of China, India, etc., which some have entertained, are groundless. The territory was evidently at some distance, but where is now undiscoverable.``1';
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isbe[6434]='Nodab`no\'-dab (nodhabh; Nadabaioi): A Hagrite clan which, along with Jetur and Naphish, suffered complete defeat at the hands of the trans-Jordanic Israelites (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',5,19);">1Ch 5:19</a>). It has been suggested that Nodab is a corruption of Kedemah or of Nebaioth, names which are associated with Jetur and Naphish in the lists of Ishmael\'s sons (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',25,15);">Ge 25:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',1,31);">1Ch 1:31</a>), but it is difficult to see how even the most careless copyist could so blunder. There is a possible reminiscence of the name in Nudebe, a village in the Chauran.``1';
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isbe[6435]='Noe`no\'-e (Noe): the King James Version of <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',24,37,38);">Mt 24:37,38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,36);">Lu 3:36</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',17,26,27);">17:26,27</a>; Tobit 4:12. Greek form of <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NOAH">NOAH</a> (which see) (thus the Revised Version (British and American)).``1';
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isbe[6436]='Noeba`no\'-e-ba (Noeba): Head of one of the families of temple-servants (1Esdras 5:31) equals "Nekoda" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',2,48);">Ezr 2:48</a>.``1';
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isbe[6437]='Nogah`no\'-ga (noghah, "splendor"): A son of David born at Jerusalem (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',3,7);">1Ch 3:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',14,6);">14:6</a>). In the parallel list (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',5,14,15);">2Sa 5:14,15</a>) this name is wanting. In its Greek form (Naggai) it occurs in the genealogy of Jesus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,25);">Lu 3:25</a>).``1';
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isbe[6438]='Nohah`no\'-ha (nochah, "rest"): The fourth son of Benjamin (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',8,2);">1Ch 8:2</a>). It is probable that in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',20,43);">Jud 20:43</a>, instead of "a resting-place" we should read "Nohah," which may have been the settlement of the family.``1';
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isbe[6439]='Noise`noiz (qol, hamon, sha\'on; phone): "Noise" is most frequently the translation of qol, "voice," "sound," in the King James Version (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,18);">Ex 20:18</a>, "the noise of the trumpet," the Revised Version (British and American) "voice"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',32,17,18);">Ex 32:17 twice, 18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',5,11);">Jud 5:11</a>, "(they that are delivered) from the noise of the archers," the Revised Version (British and American) "far from the noise," etc., margin "because of the voice of"; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',4,6);">1Sa 4:6</a>, etc.); hamon, "noise," "sound" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',14,19);">1Sa 14:19</a>); roghez, "anger," "rage" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',37,2);">Job 37:2</a>); rea\', "outcry" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',36,33);">Job 36:33</a>); sha\'on, "desolation," "noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',24,8);">Isa 24:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',25,5);">25:5</a>); teshu\'oth "cry," "crying" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',36,29);">Job 36:29</a>); patsah, "to break forth" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',98,4);">Ps 98:4</a>); shamea, "to hear," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',6,10);">Jos 6:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,28);">1Ch 15:28</a>); phone, "sound," "voice," is translated "noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',6,1);">Re 6:1</a>, "I heard as it were the noise of thunder," the Revised Version (British and American) "saying as with a voice of thunder"); rhoizedon, "with a hissing or rushing sound" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',3,10);">2Pe 3:10</a>, "with a great noise"); ginetai phone (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',2,6);">Ac 2:6</a>, the King James Version "when this was noised abroad," margin "when this voice was made," the Revised Version (British and American) "when this sound was heard"); akouo, "to hear"; dialaleo, "to talk or speak" throughout, are also translated "noised" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',2,1);">Mr 2:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',1,65);">Lu 1:65</a>). So the Revised Version (British and American) (compare Judith 10:18, "noised among the tents"). Otherwise in the Revised Version (British and American) Apocrypha, throos "confused noise" (The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 1:10</span>); boe, "outcry" (Judith 14:19); echos,"sound" (The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 17:18</span>; compare Sirach 40:13); Latin vox, "voice" (2Esdras 5:7).<P>For "noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',65,7);">Ps 65:7</a> twice), the Revised Version (British and American) has "roaring"; for "make a noise like the noise of the seas" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',17,12);">Isa 17:12</a>), "the uproar (margin "multitude") of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas"; for "a voice of noise from the city" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',66,6);">Isa 66:6</a>), "a voice of tumult from the city"; for "noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',10,22);">Jer 10:22</a>), "voice"; for "a noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,28);">1Ch 15:28</a>), "sounding aloud," "voice" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',43,2);">Eze 43:2</a>); for "every battle of the warrior is with confused noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',9,5);">Isa 9:5</a>), "all the armor of the armed man in the tumult," margin "every boot of the booted warrior"; for "make a noise," "moan" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,2);">Ps 55:2</a>), "roar" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',17,12);">Isa 17:12</a>); for "make a loud noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',98,4);">Ps 98:4</a>), "break forth"; for "maketh a noise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',4,19);">Jer 4:19</a>), "is disquieted"; for "the noise of his tabernacle" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',36,29);">Job 36:29</a>), "the thunderings of his pavilion"; for "make any noise with your voice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',6,10);">Jos 6:10</a>), "let your voice be heard"; "joyful noise," for "shouting" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',16,10);">Isa 16:10</a>); for "The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',93,4);">Ps 93:4</a>), "Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty."``185';
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isbe[6440]='Noisome`noi\'-sum (hawwah, ra\'; kakos): "Noisome" from "annoy" (annoysome) has in Bible English the meaning of "evil," "hurtful," not of "offensive" or "loathsome." It is the translation of hawwah, "mischief," "calamity" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',91,3);">Ps 91:3</a>, "noisome pestilence," the Revised Version (British and American) "deadly"); of ra\', a common word for "evil" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',14,15,21);">Eze 14:15,21</a>), "noisome beasts" (the Revised Version (British and American) "evil"). It occurs also in <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',31,40);">Job 31:40</a> the King James Version margin as the translation of bo\'shah, "noisome weeds," the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "cockle," as in the King James Version margin; of kakos, "evil," "bad" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',16,2);">Re 16:2</a>), "a noisome and grievous sore." "Noisome" also occurs in Apocrypha (2Macc 9:9) as the translation of baruno, "to make heavy," "oppress," where it seems to have the meaning of "loathsome."``185';
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isbe[6441]='Non`non (non): <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',7,27);">1Ch 7:27</a> the King James Version and the Revised Version margin.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NUN">NUN</a>`1';
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isbe[6442]='Nooma`no\'-o-ma (Nooma, Codex Vaticanus Ooma; the King James Version Ethma): 1Esdras 9:35 equals "Nebo" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,43);">Ezr 10:43</a>, of which it is a corruption.``1';
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isbe[6443]='Noon; Noonday`noon, noon\'-da (tsohorayim; mesembria): The word means light, splendor, brightness, and hence, the brightest part of the day (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',43,16,25);">Ge 43:16,25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',22,6);">Ac 22:6</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MIDDAY">MIDDAY</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DAY+AND+NIGHT">DAY AND NIGHT</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TIME">TIME</a>`1';
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isbe[6444]='Noph`nof (noph; in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',9,6);">Ho 9:6</a> moph): A name for the Egyptian city Memphis (so the Septuagint), hence, thus rendered in the Revised Version (British and American) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',19,13);">Isa 19:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',2,16);">Jer 2:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',44,1);">44:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',30,13,16);">Eze 30:13,16</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=MEMPHIS">MEMPHIS</a>`1';
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isbe[6445]='Nophah`no\'-fa (nophach; the Septuagint does not transliterate): A city mentioned only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,30);">Nu 21:30</a> (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NOBAH">NOBAH</a>). Septuagint reads: kai hai gunaikes eti prosexekausan pur epi Moab, "and the women besides (yet) kindled a fire at (against) Moab." The text has evidently suffered corruption.``1';
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isbe[6446]='North; North Country`north, (tsaphon, from tsaphan, "to hide," i.e. "the hidden," "the dark" (Gesenius); borrhas, boreas (Judith 16:4); septentrio (2Esdras 15:43)): In addition to the many places where "north" occurs merely as a point of the compass, there are several passages in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah, where it refers to a particular country, usually Assyria or Babylonia: <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',3,18);">Jer 3:18</a>, "They shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',46,6);">Jer 46:6</a>, "In the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',26,7);">Eze 26:7</a>, "I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zep\',2,13);">Ze 2:13</a>, "He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation."<P>While the site of Nineveh was northeast of Jerusalem, and that of Babylon almost due east, it was not unnatural for them to be referred to as "the north," because the direct desert routes were impracticable, and the roads led first into Northern Syria and then eastward (compare however <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',29,1);">Ge 29:1</a>, "Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east").<P>In <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',38,6);">Eze 38:6</a>, we have, "Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north." It is uncertain what country is here referred to. Some have supposed Armenia (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,3);">Ge 10:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',1,6);">1Ch 1:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,14);">Eze 27:14</a>).<P>The north border of the promised land, as outlined in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',34,\'7-9\');">Nu 34:7-9</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',47,\'15-17\');">Eze 47:15-17</a>, cannot be determined with certainty, because some of the towns named cannot be identified, but it was approximately the latitude of Mt. Hermon, not including Lebanon or Damascus.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ASTRONOMY">ASTRONOMY</a>`37';
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isbe[6447]='Northeast, Southeast`These words occur in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',27,12);">Ac 27:12</a>, "if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there; which is a haven of Crete, looking north-east and south-east." the Revised Version margin has, "Greek, down the south-west wind and down the north-west wind," which is a literal translation of the Greek: eis Phoinika...limena tes Kretes bleponta (looking) kata liba (the southwest wind) kai kata choron (the northwest wind). Choros does not appear to occur except here, but the corresponding Latin caurus or corus is found in Caesar, Vergil, and other classical authors. The King James Version has "lieth toward the south west and north west." Kata, with a wind or stream, means, "down the wind or stream," i.e. in the direction that it is blowing or flowing, and this interpretation would indicate a harbor open to the east. If lips, and choros, are used here as names of directions rather than of winds, we should expect a harbor open to the west. There is good reason for identifying Phoenix (the King James Version "Phenice") with Loutro on the south shore of Crete (EB, under the word "Phenice"), whose harbor is open to the east.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PHOENIX">PHOENIX</a>`37';
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isbe[6448]='Nose-Jewels`noz-ju\'-elz, -joo\'-elz (nezem (probably from nazam, "muzzle") a "nose-ring," or "nose-jewel," so rendered in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',3,21);">Isa 3:21</a>; "jewel in a swine\'s snout," <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',11,22);">Pr 11:22</a>, the King James Version margin "ring"; "jewel on thy forehead," <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',16,12);">Eze 16:12</a>, "ring upon thy nose"): In <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,22);">Ge 24:22</a>, the King James Version rendered incorrectly "earring"; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,47);">Ge 24:47</a>. Indeed, the word had also a more generic meaning of "ring" or "jewelry," whether worn in the nose or not. See <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,4);">Ge 35:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',32,2);">Ex 32:2</a>, where the ornament was worn in the ear. There are several cases without specification, uniformly rendered, without good reason, however, "earring" in the King James Version (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',35,22);">Ex 35:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,24,25);">Jud 8:24,25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',42,11);">Job 42:11</a> ("ring"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',25,12);">Pr 25:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',2,13);">Ho 2:13 (15)</a>).<P>The nose-jewel was made of gold or of silver, usually, and worn by many women of the East. It was a ring of from an inch to about three inches (in extreme cases) in diameter, and was passed through the right nostril. Usually there were pendant from the metal ring jewels, beads or coral. Such ornaments are still worn in some parts of the East.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AMULET">AMULET</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=JEWEL">JEWEL</a>`137';
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isbe[6449]='Nose; Nostrils`noz, nos\'-trilz (\'aph, "nose," nechirayim, dual of nechir, "nostrils"): The former expression (\'aph from \'anph, like Arabic \'anf) is often translated "<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=FACE">face</a>" (which see under the word) in the English Versions of the Bible. It is frequently referred to as the organ of breathing, in other words, as the receptacle of the breath or spirit of God: "Yahweh...breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',2,7);">Ge 2:7</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',7,22);">Ge 7:22</a>); "My life is yet whole in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',27,3);">Job 27:3</a>). Therefore a life which depends on so slight a thing as a breath is considered as utterly frail and of no great consequence: "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',2,22);">Isa 2:22</a>; compare Wis 2:2).<P>In poetical language such a breath of life is ascribed even to God, especially with regard to the mighty storm which is thought to proceed from His nostrils (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,8);">Ex 15:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',22,9);">2Sa 22:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',18,8,15);">Ps 18:8,15</a>).<P>The phrase, "a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',65,5);">Isa 65:5</a>), is equivalent to a perpetual annoyance and cause of irritation. A cruel custom of war, in which the vanquished had their noses and ears cut off by their remorseless conquerors, is alluded to in <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',23,25);">Eze 23:25</a>. As a wild animal is held in check by having his nose pierced and a hook or ring inserted in it (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',40,24);">Job 40:24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',41,2);">41:2 (Hebrew 40:26)</a>), so this expression is used to indicate the humbling and taming of an obstinate person (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',19,28);">2Ki 19:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',37,29);">Isa 37:29</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',29,4);">Eze 29:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',38,4);">38:4</a>). But men, and especially women, had their noses pierced for the wearing of jewelry (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,47);">Ge 24:47</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',3,21);">Isa 3:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',16,12);">Eze 16:12</a>). In one passage the meaning is not quite clear, namely, in the enumeration of blemishes which disable a "son of Aaron" from the execution of the priest\'s office (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',21,18);">Le 21:18</a>), where English Versions of the Bible translates "flat (margin "slit") nose." The Hebrew word is charum, which is a hapax legomenon. It corresponds, however, to the Arabic charam, charman (kharam, kharman), which means "to open," "to pierce the nose," especially the bridge of the nose. We may accept this meaning as the one intended in the passage.<P>Another dark and much discussed passage must still be referred to: "And, lo, they put the branch to their nose" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',8,17);">Eze 8:17</a>). The usual explanation (whereof the context gives some valuable hints) is that a rite connected with the worship of Baal (the sun) is here alluded to (see Smend and A.B. Davidson\'s commentaries on the passage). A similar custom is known from Persian sun-worship, where a bunch (baretsma) of dates, pomegranates or tamarisks was held to the nose by the worshipper, probably as an attempt to keep the Holy One (sun) from being contaminated by sinful breath (Spiegel, Eranische Altertamer, III, 571). Among modern Jews posies of myrtle and other fragrant herbs are held to the nose by the persons attending on the ceremony of circumcision, for the alleged reason of making the sight and smell of blood bearable. Another interpretation of the above passage would understand zemorah, in the sense of "male sexual member" (see Gesenius-Buhl, under the word; Levy, Nhb. Worterbuch, I, 544), and the whole passage as a reference to a sensuous Canaanite rite, such as is perhaps alluded to in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',57,8);">Isa 57:8</a>. In that case the \'appam, "their nose "of the Massoretic Text would have to be considered as tiqqun copherim (a correction of the scribes) for \'appi, "my face." Or read "They cause their stench (zemoratham) to come up to my face" (Kraetzschmar, at the place).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=BRANCH">BRANCH</a>`106';
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isbe[6450]='Notable`no\'-ta-b\'-l (chazuth; gnostos): "Notable" is the translation of chazuth, "conspicuous" (chazah, "to see"), e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',8,5);">Da 8:5</a>, "a notable horn," i.e. "conspicuous," the King James Version margin "a horn of sight"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',8,8);">Da 8:8</a>, "notable (horns)"; of gnostos, "known" "knowledge" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',4,16);">Ac 4:16</a>); of episemos, "noted," "notable" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',27,16);">Mt 27:16</a>; in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',16,7);">Ro 16:7</a> "of note" of epiphanes, "very manifest," "illustrious" (compare "Antiochus Epiphanes"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',2,20);">Ac 2:20</a>, "that great and notable day," quoted from <a onClick="return mV(\'Joe\',2,31);">Joe 2:31</a>; Septuagint for yare\', "to be feared," the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "terrible" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Mal\',4,5);">Mal 4:5</a>); "notable" occurs also in 2Macc 3:26 (ekprepes); 2Macc 14:33, the Revised Version (British and American) "for all to see"; 2Macc 6:28 (gennaios), "a notable example," the Revised Version (British and American) "noble"; notably, only in 2Macc 14:31 (gennaios), "notably prevented," the Revised Version (British and American) "bravely," margin "nobly."``185';
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isbe[6451]='Note`not (chaqaq, rasham; semeioo, episemos): "Note" (verb) is the translation of chaqaq, "to grave," "to inscribe," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',30,8);">Isa 30:8</a>, "note it in a book," the Revised Version (British and American) "inscribe"); of rasham, "to note down," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',10,21);">Da 10:21</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "inscribed"); of semeioo, "to put a sign on" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Th\',3,14);">2Th 3:14</a>, "note that man").<P>"Note" (noun) is the translation of episemos, "marked upon," "distinguished" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',16,7);">Ro 16:7</a>, "who are of note among the apostles").<P>"Notes" (musical) occurs in The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 19:18</span>, "notes of a psaltery" (phthoggos).``185';
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isbe[6452]='Nothing`nuth\'-ing (lo\', lo\' me\'umah, etc.; medeis, oudeis): "Nothing" is represented by various words and phrases, often with lo\', which is properly a substantive with the meaning of "nothing." Most frequently we have lo\' me\'umah, "not anything" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',40,15);">Ge 40:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',14,6);">Jud 14:6</a>).<P>Other forms are lo\' dhabhar, "not anything"; (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',19,8);">Ge 19:8</a>); lo\'khol, "not any(thing)" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',11,6);">Ge 11:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',13,7);">Pr 13:7</a>); la\' (Aramaic), "no," "nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',4,35);">Da 4:35</a>, "as nothing"); \'ephec, "end," "cessation" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,12);">Isa 34:12</a>); bilti, "without," "save," "not" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',44,10);">Isa 44:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',3,4);">Am 3:4</a>); \'ayin, "there is not" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',41,24);">Isa 41:24</a>); once, tohu, "emptiness" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',6,18);">Job 6:18</a>); bal mah, "not anything" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',9,13);">Pr 9:13</a>); chinnam, "free," "gratis" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',24,24);">2Sa 24:24</a>); ma\'at, "to make small," "bring to nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',10,24);">Jer 10:24</a>); raq, "only" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',26,29);">Ge 26:29</a>); le\'al, "for nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',24,25);">Job 24:25</a>).<P>In 2Macc 7:12, we have "nothing," adverbially (en oudeni), "he nothing regarded the pains" (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',15,21);">1Ki 15:21</a>); 2Macc 9:7 (oudamos), the Revised Version (British and American) "in no wise"; The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 2:11</span>, "nothing worth" (achrestos), the Revised Version (British and American) "of no service"; Baruch 6:17,26.<P>For "nothing" the Revised Version (British and American) has "none" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',23,26);">Ex 23:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Joe\',2,3);">Joe 2:3</a>), "never" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',5,8);">Ne 5:8</a>), "not wherewith" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',22,27);">Pr 22:27</a>), "vanity and nought" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',41,29);">Isa 41:29</a>); for "answered nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',15,5);">Mr 15:5</a>), "no more answered anything"; "answered nothing" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',15,3);">Mr 15:3</a> is omitted; "anything" for "nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',6,7);">1Ti 6:7</a>), "not anything" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',20,20);">Ac 20:20</a>), "not" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',8,2);">1Co 8:2</a>), "no word" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',1,37);">Lu 1:37</a>), "not wherewith" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',7,42);">Lu 7:42</a>); for "to nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',6,18);">Job 6:18</a>), "up into the waste"; for "it is nothing with" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',14,11);">2Ch 14:11</a>), "there is none besides," margin "like"; for "lacked nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,27);">1Ki 4:27</a>), "let nothing be lacking," for "nothing doubting" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',11,12);">Ac 11:12</a>), "making no distinction"; for "hoping for nothing again" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',5,35);">Lu 5:35</a>), "never despairing"; for "are nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',21,24);">Ac 21:24</a>), "no truth in"; for "nothing shall offend them" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,165);">Ps 119:165</a>), "no occasion of stumbling"; for "bring to nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',1,19);">1Co 1:19</a>), the English Revised Version "reject," the American Standard Revised Version "bring to nought"; "nothing better" for "no good" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',3,12);">Ec 3:12</a>), for "not" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,34);">Mt 13:34</a>, different text), for "no man" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',9,8);">Ac 9:8</a>), "for nothing," for "free" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,11);">Ex 21:11</a>); "miss nothing" for "not sin" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',5,24);">Job 5:24</a>), margin "shalt not err"; "and shall have nothing" for "and not for himself" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',9,26);">Da 9:26</a>, margin "there shall be none belonging to him").``185';
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isbe[6453]='Nought`not (chinnam; katargeo) "Nought" is to be distinguished from "naught" implying "badness" (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=NAUGHT">NAUGHT</a>). "Nought" in the sense of "nothing," etc., is the translation of chinnam, "gratis" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',29,15);">Ge 29:15</a>), and of various other words occurring once only, e.g. \'awen, "vanity" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',5,5);">Am 5:5</a>); tohu, "vacancy," "ruin" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',49,4);">Isa 49:4</a>); \'epha\', "nothing" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',41,24);">Isa 41:24</a>); nabhel, "to fade" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',14,18);">Job 14:18</a>, margin "fadeth away"); pur, "to make void" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',33,10);">Ps 33:10</a>); katargeo, "to make without effect" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',1,28);">1Co 1:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',2,6);">2:6</a>); oudeis, "not even one" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,36);">Ac 5:36</a>); apelegmos, "refutation" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',19,27);">Ac 19:27</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "come into disrepute"); dorean, "without payment" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Th\',3,8);">2Th 3:8</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "for nought"); eremoo, "to desolate" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',18,17);">Re 18:17</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "made desolate"); kataluo, "to loose down" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',5,38);">Ac 5:38</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "be overthrown"). In Apocrypha we have "set at nought" and "come to nought," etc. (1Esdras 1:56; 2Esdras 2:33; 8:59).<P>For "nought" the Revised Version (British and American) has "perish" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',28,63);">De 28:63</a>); for "come to nought" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',8,22);">Job 8:22</a>), "be no more"; "nought" for "not ought" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',5,11);">Ex 5:11</a>), for "no might" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',28,32);">De 28:32</a>); for "brought to silence," twice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',15,1);">Isa 15:1</a>), "brought to nought"; the American Standard Revised Version "bring to nought" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',1,19);">1Co 1:19</a>) for "bring to nothing" (the English Revised Version "reject"); "nought but terror" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',28,19);">Isa 28:19</a>) for "a vexation only"; "brought to nought" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',16,4);">Isa 16:4</a>) for "is at an end"; "come to nought" for "taken none effect" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',9,6);">Ro 9:6</a>); "set at nought" for "despise" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',14,3);">Ro 14:3</a>).``185';
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isbe[6454]='Nourish`nur\'-ish (giddel, chiyyah, kilkel, ribbah; trepho, anatrepho, ektrepho, entrepho): While the word "nourish" was ordinarily an appropriate rendering in the time of the King James Version, the word has since become much less frequent, and some senses have largely passed out of ordinary use, so that the meaning would now in most cases be better expressed by some other word. Giddel means "to bring up," "rear (children)" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,2);">Isa 1:2</a>, margin "made great"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',23,4);">Isa 23:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,5);">Da 1:5</a>); "cause (a tree) to grow" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',44,14);">Isa 44:14</a>). Chiyyah means "to preserve alive" (with some implication of care) (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',12,3);">2Sa 12:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,21);">Isa 7:21</a>, the American Standard Revised Version "keep alive"). Kilkal means "to support," "maintain" "provide for" (especially with food) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',45,11);">Ge 45:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',47,12);">47:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,21);">50:21</a>). Ribbah means "to bring up," "rear (whelps)," in a figurative use <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',19,2);">Eze 19:2</a>). Trepho means "to feed" (transitively) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',12,20);">Ac 12:20</a>, the Revised Version (British and American) "feed"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',12,14);">Re 12:14</a>); "to fatten" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',5,5);">Jas 5:5</a>, the context indicating an unfavorable meaning). Anatrepho is "to bring up," "rear," like giddel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',7,20,21);">Ac 7:20,21</a>); ektrepho is "to take care of" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',5,29);">Eph 5:29</a>); entrepho means "to bring up in," "train in" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',4,6);">1Ti 4:6</a>).``12';
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isbe[6455]='Novice`nov\'-is (neophutos, "newly planted"): In this sense it is found in Septuagint of <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',14,9);">Job 14:9</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',5,7);">Isa 5:7</a>. In the New Testament it occurs once only (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ti\',3,6);">1Ti 3:6</a>), where it means a person newly planted in the Christian faith, a neophyte, a new convert, one who has recently become a Christian. This term occurs in the list which Paul gives of the qualifications which a Christian bishop must possess. The apostle instructs Timothy, that if any man desires the office of a bishop, he must not be "novice," must not be newly converted, or recently brought to the faith of Christ "lest he be lifted up with pride, and fall into the condemnation of the devil."<P>This means that a recent convert runs the very serious risk of being wise in his own eyes, of despising those who are still on the level from which, by his conversion, he has been lifted; and so he becomes puffed up with high ideas of his own importance. He has not yet had time to discover his limitations, he is newly planted, he does not fully understand his true position in the Christian community, he overestimates himself. For these reasons he is peculiarly liable to instability, and to the other weaknesses and sins connected with an inflated opinion of his own powers. His pride is a sure indication of a coming fall. A novice, therefore, must on no account be appointed to the office in question, for he would be sure to bring disgrace upon it.``155';
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isbe[6456]='Number`num\'-ber:<P><b>I. NUMBER AND ARITHMETIC</b><P><b>II. NOTATION OF NUMBERS</b><P class="in15">1. By Words<P class="in15">2. By Signs<P class="in15">3. By Letters<P><b>III. NUMBERS IN OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY</b><P><b>IV. ROUND NUMBERS</b><P><b>V. SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS</b><P class="in15">1. Seven and Its Multiples<P class="in30">(1) Ritual Use of Seven<P class="in30">(2) Historical Use of Seven<P class="in30">(3) Didactic or Literary Use of Seven<P class="in30">(4) Apocalyptic Use of Seven<P class="in15">2. The Number Three</a><P class="in15">3. The Number Four<P class="in15">4. The Number Ten<P class="in15">5. The Number Twelve<P class="in15">6. Other Significant Numbers<P><b>VI. GEMATRIA</b><P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Number and Arithmetic.<P>The system of counting followed by the Hebrews and the Semites generally was the decimal system, which seems to have been suggested by the use of the ten fingers. Hebrew had separate words only for the first nine units and for ten and its multiples. Of the sexagesimal system, which seems to have been introduced into Babylonia by the Sumerians and which, through its development there, has influenced the measurement of time and space in the western civilized world even to the present day; there is no direct trace in the Bible, although, as will be shown later, there are some possible echoes. The highest number in the Bible described by a single word <span class="noTag">is</span> 10,000 (ribbo or ribbo\', murias). The Egyptians, on the other hand, had separate words for 100,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000. The highest numbers referred to in any way in the Bible are: "a thousand thousand" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',22,14);">1Ch 22:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',14,9);">2Ch 14:9</a>); "thousands of thousands" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,10);">Da 7:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,11);">Re 5:11</a>); "thousands of ten thousands" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,60);">Ge 24:60</a>); "ten thousand times ten thousand" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,10);">Da 7:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,11);">Re 5:11</a>); and twice that figure (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',9,16);">Re 9:16</a>). The excessively high numbers met with in some oriental systems (compare Lubbock, The Decimal System, 17ff) have no parallels in Hebrew. Fractions were not unknown. We find 1/3 (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',18,2);">2Sa 18:2</a>, etc.); 1/2 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',25,10,17);">Ex 25:10,17</a>, etc.); 1/4 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',9,8);">1Sa 9:8</a>); 1/5 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',47,24);">Ge 47:24</a>); 1/6 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',46,14);">Eze 46:14</a>); 1/10 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',16,36);">Ex 16:36</a>); 2/10 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',23,13);">Le 23:13</a>); 3/10 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',14,10);">Le 14:10</a>), and 1/100 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',5,11);">Ne 5:11</a>). Three other fractions are less definitely expressed: 2/3 by "a double portion," literally, "a double mouthful" by (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',21,17);">De 21:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',2,9);">2Ki 2:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',13,8);">Zec 13:8</a>); 4/5 by "four parts" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',47,24);">Ge 47:24</a>), and 9/10 by "nine parts" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',11,1);">Ne 11:1</a>). Only the simplest rules of arithmetic can be illustrated from the Old Testament. There are examples of addition (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',5,\'3-31\');">Ge 5:3-31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'20-46\');">Nu 1:20-46</a>); subtraction (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',18,28);">Ge 18:28</a>); multiplication (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',25,8);">Le 25:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',3,46);">Nu 3:46</a>), and division (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',31,27);">Nu 31:27</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',25,50);">Le 25:50</a>ff is what has been said to imply a kind of rule-of-three sum. The old Babylonians had tables of squares and cubes intended no doubt to facilitate the measurement of land (Sayce, Assyria, Its Princes, Priests, and People, 118; Bezold, Ninive und Babylon, 90, 92); and it can scarcely be doubted that the same need led to similar results among the Israelites, but at present there is no evidence. Old Hebrew arithmetic and mathematics as known to us are of the most elementary kind (Nowack, HA, I, 298).<P>II. Notation of Numbers.<P>1. By Words:<P>No special signs for the expression of numbers in writing can be proved to have been in use among the Hebrews before the exile. The Siloam Inscription, which is probably the oldest specimen of Hebrew writing extant (with the exception of the ostraca of Samaria, and perhaps a seal or two and the obscure Gezer tablet), has the numbers written in full. The words used there for 3,200, 1,000 are written as words without any abbreviation. The earlier text of the Moabite Stone which practically illustrates Hebrew usage has the <span class="noTag">numbers</span> 30, 40, 50, 100, 200, 7,000 written out in the same way.<P>2. By Signs:<P>After the exile some of the Jews at any rate employed signs such as were current among the Egyptians, the Arameans, and the Phoenicians<6E>an upright line for 1, two such lines for 2, three for 3, and so on, and special signs for 10, 20,100. It had been conjectured that these or similar signs were known to the Jews, but actual proof was not forthcoming until the discovery of Jewish papyri at Assuan and Elephantine in 1904 and 1907. In these texts, ranging from 494 to circa 400 BC, the dates are stated, not in words, but in figures of the kind described. We have therefore clear evidence that numerical signs were used by members of a Jewish colony in Upper Egypt in the 5th century BC. Now, as the existence of this colony can be traced before 525 BC, it is probable that they used this method of notation also in the preceding century. Conjecture indeed may go as far as its beginning, for it is known that there were Jews in Pathros, that is Upper Egypt, in the last days of Jeremiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',44,1,15);">Jer 44:1,15</a>). Some of the first Jewish settlers in Elephantine may have known the prophet and some of them may have come from Jerusalem, bringing these signs with them. At present, however, that is pure hypothesis.<P>3. By Letters:<P>In the notation of the chapters and verses of the Hebrew Bible and in the expression of dates in Hebrew books the consonants of the Hebrew alphabet are employed for figures, i.e. the first ten for 1-10, combinations of these for 11-19, the following eight for 20-90, and the remainder for 100,200,300, 400. The letters of the Greek alphabet were used in the same way. The antiquity of this kind of numerical notation cannot at present be ascertained. It is found on Jewish coins which have been dated in the reign of the Maccabean Simon (143-135 BC), but some scholars refer them to a much later period. All students of the Talmud are familiar with this way of numbering the pages, or rather the leaves, but its use there is no proof of early date. The numerical use of the Greek letters can be abundantly illustrated. It is met with in many Greek papyri, some of them from the 3rd century BC (Hibeh Papyri, numbers 40-43, etc.); on several coins of Herod the Great, and in some manuscripts of the New Testament, for instance, a papyrus fragment of Matthew (Oxyrhynchus Pap., 2) where 14 is three times represented by iota-delta (I-D) with a line above the letters, and some codices of <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,18);">Re 13:18</a> where 666 is given by the three letters "chi" "xi" "vau" (or digaroma). It is possible that two of these methods may have been employed side by side in some cases, as in the Punic Sacrificial Tablet of Marseilles, where (l. 6) 150 is expressed first in words, and then by figures.<P>III. Numbers in Old Testament History.<P>Students of the historical books of the Old Testament have long been perplexed by the high numbers which are met with in many passages, for example, the number ascribed to the Israelites at the exodus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,37);">Ex 12:37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,21);">Nu 11:21</a>), and on two occasions during the sojourn in the wilderness (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'1-\');">Nu 1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,\'1-\');">26</a>)<29>more than 600,000 adult males, which means a total of two or three millions; the result of David\'s census 1,300,000 men (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',24,9);">2Sa 24:9</a>) or 1,570,000 (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',21,5);">1Ch 21:5</a>), and the slaughter of half a million in a battle between Judah and Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',13,17);">2Ch 13:17</a>). There are many other illustrations in the Books of Chronicles and elsewhere. That some of these high figures are incorrect is beyond reasonable doubt, and is not in the least surprising, for there is ample evidence that the numbers in ancient documents were exceptionally liable to corruption. One of the best known instances is the variation of 1,466 years between the Hebrew text and the Septuagint (text of Codex Vaticanus) as to the interval from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abram. Other striking cases are <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',6,19);">1Sa 6:19</a>, where 50,070 ought probably to be 70 (Josephus, Ant., VI, i, 4); <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',15,7);">2Sa 15:7</a>, where 40 years ought to be 4 years; the confusion of 76 and 276 in the manuscripts of <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',27,37);">Ac 27:37</a>, and of 616 and 666 in those of <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,18);">Re 13:18</a>. Hebrew manuscripts furnish some instructive variations. One of them, number 109 of Kennicott, reads (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,23);">Nu 1:23</a>) 1,050 for 50,000; 50 for 50,000 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',2,6);">Nu 2:6</a>), and 100 for 100,000 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',2,16);">Nu 2:16</a>). It is easy to see how mistakes may have originated in many cases. The Hebrew numerals for 30, etc., are the plurals of the units, so that the former, as written, differ from the latter only by the addition of the two Hebrew letters yodh ("y") and mem ("m") composing the syllable -im. Now as the mem was often omitted, 3 and 30, 4 and 40, etc., could readily be confused. If signs or letters of the alphabet were made use of, instead of abbreviated words, there would be quite as much room for misunderstanding and error on the part of copyists. The high numbers above referred to as found in Exodus and Numbers have been ingeniously accounted for by Professor Flinders Petrie (Researches in Sinai) in a wholly different way. By understanding \'eleph not as "thousand," but as "family" or "tent," he reduces the number to 5,550 for the first census, and 5,730 for the second. This figure, however, seems too low, and the method of interpretation, though not impossible, is open to criticism. It is generally admitted that the number as usually read is too high, but the original number has not yet been certainly discovered. When, however, full allowance has been made for the intrusion of numerical errors into the Hebrew text, it is difficult to resist the belief that, in the Books of Chronicles, at any rate, there is a marked tendency to exaggeration in this respect. The huge armies again and again ascribed to the little kingdoms of Judah and Israel cannot be reconciled with some of the facts revealed by recent research; with the following, for instance: The army which met the Assyrians at Karkar in 854 BC and which represented 11 states and tribes inclusive of Israel and the kingdom of Damascus, cannot have numbered at the most more than about 75,000 or 80,000 men (HDB,1909,65b), and the Assyrian king who reports the battle reckons the whole levy of his country at only 102,000 (Der alte Orient, XI, i,14,note). In view of these figures it is not conceivable that the armies of Israel or Judah could number a million, or even half a million. The contingent from the larger kingdom contributed on the occasion mentioned above consisted of only 10,000 men and 2,000 chariots (HDB, ib). The safest conclusion, therefore, seems to be that, while many of the questionable numbers in the present text of the Old Testament are due to copyists, there is a residuum which cannot be so accounted for.<P>IV. Round Numbers.<P>The use of definite numerical expressions in an indefinite sense, that is, as round numbers, which is met with in many languages, seems to have been very prevalent in Western Asia from early times to the present day. Sir W. Ramsay (Thousand and One Churches, 6) remarks that the modern Turks have 4 typical numbers which are often used in proper names with little or no reference to their exact numerical force<63>3,7,40, 1,001. The Lycaonian district which gives the book its name is called Bin Bir Kilisse, "The Thousand and One Churches," although the actual number in the valley is only 28. The modern Persians use 40 in just the same way. "Forty years" with them often means "many years" (Brugsch, cited by Konig, Stilistik, 55). This lax use of numbers, as we think, was probably very frequent among the Israelites and their neighbors. The inscription on the Moabite Stone supplies a very instructive example. The Israelite occupation of Medeba by Omri and his son for half the reign of the latter is there reckoned (II.7f) at 40 years. As, according to <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',16,23,29);">1Ki 16:23,29</a>, the period extended to only 23 years at the most, the number 40 must have been used very freely by Mesha\'s scribe as a round number. It is probably often used in that way in the Bible where it is remarkably frequent, especially in reference to periods of days or years. The 40 days of the Flood (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',7,4,17);">Ge 7:4,17</a>), the arrangement of the life of Moses in three periods of 40 years each (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',7,23);">Ac 7:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',7,7);">Ex 7:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',34,7);">De 34:7</a>), the 40 years\' rule or reign of Eli (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',4,18);">1Sa 4:18</a>), of Saul (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',13,21);">Ac 13:21</a>; compare Josephus, Ant, VI, xiv, 9), of David (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',2,11);">1Ki 2:11</a>), of Solomon (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',11,42);">1Ki 11:42</a>) and of Jehoash (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',12,1);">2Ki 12:1</a>), the 40 or 80 years of rest (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',3,11,30);">Jud 3:11,30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',5,31);">5:31</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,28);">8:28</a>), the 40 years of Philistine oppression (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',13,1);">Jud 13:1</a>), the 40 days\' challenge of Goliath (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',17,16);">1Sa 17:16</a>), the 40 days\' fast of Moses (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',34,28);">Ex 34:28</a>), Elijah (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',19,8);">1Ki 19:8</a>), and Jesus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',4,2);">Mt 4:2</a> and parallel), the 40 days before the destruction of Nineveh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',3,4);">Jon 3:4</a>), and the 40 days before the Ascension (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',1,3);">Ac 1:3</a>), all suggest conventional use, or the influence of that use, for it can hardly be supposed that the number in each of these cases, and in others which might be mentioned, was exactly 40. How it came to be so used is not quite certain, but it may have originated, partly at any rate, in the idea that 40 years constituted a generation or the period at the end of which a man attains maturity, an idea common, it would seem, to the Greeks, the Israelites, and the Arabs. The period of 40 years in the wilderness in the course of which the old Israel died out and a new Israel took its place was a generation (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',32,13);">Nu 32:13</a>, etc.). The rabbis long afterward regarded 40 years as the age of understanding, the age when a man reaches his intellectual prime (Ab, v, addendum). In the Koran (Sura 46) a man is said to attain his strength when he attains to 40 years, and it was at that age, according to tradition, that Muhammad came forward as a prophet. In this way perhaps 40 came to be used as a round number for an indefinite period with a suggestion of completeness, and then was extended in course of time to things as well as Seasons.<P>Other round numbers are:<P>(1) some of the higher numbers;<P>(2) several numerical phrases.<P>Under (1) come the following numbers. One hundred, often of course to be understood literally, but evidently a round number in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',26,12);">Ge 26:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,8);">Le 26:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',24,3);">2Sa 24:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',8,12);">Ec 8:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',19,29);">Mt 19:29</a> and parallel. A thousand (thousands), very often a literal number, but in not a few cases indefinite, e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,6);">Ex 20:6</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',5,10);">De 5:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',7,9);">7:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',18,7);">1Sa 18:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',50,10);">Ps 50:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,4);">90:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',105,8);">105:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',60,22);">Isa 60:22</a>, etc. Ten thousand (Hebrew ribbo, ribboth, rebhabhah; Greek murids, murioi) is also used as a round number as in <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,8);">Le 26:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',32,30);">De 32:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',5,10);">So 5:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',6,7);">Mic 6:7</a>. The yet higher figures, thousands of thousands, etc., are, in almost all cases, distinctly hyperbolical round numbers, the most remarkable examples occurring in the apocalyptic books (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,10);">Da 7:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,11);">Re 5:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',9,16);">9:16</a>; Ethiopic Enoch 40:1).<P>(2) The second group, numerical phrases, consists of a number of expressions in which numbers are used roundly, in some cases to express the idea of fewness. One or two, etc.: "a day or two" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,21);">Ex 21:21</a>), "a heap, two heaps" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',15,16);">Jud 15:16</a> the Revised Version margin), "one of a city, and two of a family" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',3,14);">Jer 3:14</a>), "not once, nor twice," that is "several times" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',6,10);">2Ki 6:10</a>). Two or three: "Two or three berries in the (topmost) bough" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',17,6);">Isa 17:6</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',6,2);">Ho 6:2</a>), "Where two or three are gathered together in my name," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',18,20);">Mt 18:20</a>). Konig refers to Assyrian, Syrian, and Arabic parallels. Three or four: the most noteworthy example is the formula which occurs 8 times in <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,3,6,9,11,13);">Am 1:3,6,9,11,13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',2,1,4,6);">2:1,4,6</a>, "for three transgressions...yea for four." That the numbers here are round numbers is evident from the fact that the sins enumerated are in most cases neither 3 nor 4. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,15,18,21,29);">Pr 30:15,18,21,29</a>, on the other hand, where we have the same rhetorical device, <i>climax ad majus</i>, 4 is followed by four statements and is therefore to be taken literally. Again, Konig (same place) points to classical and Arabic parallels. <i>Four or five:</i> "Four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',17,6);">Isa 17:6</a>). <i>Five or six:</i> "Thou shouldest have smitten (Syria) five or six times" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',13,19);">2Ki 13:19</a>), an idiom met with also in Tell el-Amarna Letters (Konig, ib). <i>Six and seven:</i> "He will deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',5,19);">Job 5:19</a>). <i>Seven and eight:</i> "Seven shepherds, and eight principal men" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mic\',5,5);">Mic 5:5</a>), that is, "enough and more than enough" (Cheyne); "Give a portion to seven, yea, even unto eight" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ecc\',11,2);">Ec 11:2</a>). In one remarkable phrase which occurs (with slight variations of form) 24 times in the Old Testament, two Hebrew words, meaning respectively "yesterday" and "third," are mostly used so as together to express the idea of vague reference to the past. the Revised Version (British and American) renders in a variety of ways: "beforetime" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',31,2);">Ge 31:2</a>, etc.), "aforetime" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',4,18);">Jos 4:18</a>), "heretofore" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',4,10);">Ex 4:10</a>, etc.), "in time (or "times") past" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',19,4,6);">De 19:4,6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',3,17);">2Sa 3:17</a>, etc.).<P>V. Significant Numbers.<P>Numerical symbolism, that is, the use of numbers not merely, if at all, with their literal numerical value, or as round numbers, but with symbolic significance, sacred or otherwise, was widespread in the ancient East, especially in Babylonia and regions more or less influenced by Babylonian culture which, to a certain extent, included Canaan. It must also be remembered that the ancestors of the Israelites are said to have been of Babylonian origin and may therefore have transmitted to their descendants the germs at least of numerical symbolism as developed in Babylonia in the age of Hammurabi. Be that as it may, the presence of this use of numbers in the Bible, and that on a large scale, cannot reasonably be doubted, although some writers have gone too far in their speculations on the subject. The numbers which are unmistakably used with more or less symbolic meaning are 7 and its multiples, and 3,4,10 and 12.<P>1. Seven and Its Multiples:<P>By far the most prominent of these is the <span class="noTag">number 7</span>, which is referred to in one way or another in nearly 600 passages in the Bible, as well as in many passages in the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha, and later Jewish literature. Of course the number has its usual numerical force in many of these places, but even there not seldom with a glance at its symbolic significance. For the determination of the latter we are not assigned to conjecture. There is clear evidence in the cuneiform texts, which are our earliest authorities, that the Babylonians regarded 7 as the number of totality, of completeness. The Sumerians, from whom the Semitic Babylonians seem to have borrowed the idea, equated 7 and "all." The 7-storied towers of Babylonia represented the universe. Seven was the expression of the highest power, the greatest conceivable fullness of force, and therefore was early pressed into the service of religion. It is found in reference to ritual in the age of Gudea, that is perhaps about the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. "Seven gods" at the end of an enumeration meant "all the gods" (for these facts and the cuneiform evidence compare Hehn, Siebenzahl und Sabbath bei den Babyloniern und im Altes Testament, 4ff). How 7 came to be used in this way can only be glanced at here. The view connecting it with the gods of the 7 planets, which used to be in great favor and still has its advocates, seems to lack ancient proof. Hehn (op. cit., 44ff) has shown that the number acquired its symbolic meaning long before the earliest time for which that reference can be demonstrated. As this sacred or symbolic use of 7 was not peculiar to the Babylonians and their teachers and neighbors, but was more or less known also in India and China, in classical lands, and among the Celts and the Germans, it probably originated in some fact of common observation, perhaps in the four lunar phases each of which comprises 7 days and a fraction. Conspicuous groups of stars may have helped to deepen the impression, and the fact that 7 is made up of two significant numbers, each, as will be shown, also suggestive of completeness<73><73>3 and 4<>may have been early noticed and taken into account. The Biblical use of 7 may be conveniently considered under 4 heads:<P class="in15">(1) ritual use;<P class="in15">(2) historical use;<P class="in15">(3) didactic or literary use;<P class="in15">(4) apocalyptic use.<P>(1) Ritual Use of Seven.<P>The <span class="noTag">number 7</span> plays a conspicuous part in a multitude of passages giving rules for worship or purification, or recording ritual actions. The 7th day of the week was holy (see <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SABBATH">SABBATH</a>). There were 7 days of unleavened bread (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',34,18);">Ex 34:18</a>, etc.), and 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',23,34);">Le 23:34</a>). The 7th year was the sabbatical year (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,2);">Ex 21:2</a>, etc.). The Moabite Balak built Balaam on three occasions 7 altars and provided in each case 7 bullocks and 7 rams (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,1,14,29);">Nu 23:1,14,29</a>). The Mosaic law prescribed 7 he-lambs for several festal offerings (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',28,11,19,27);">Nu 28:11,19,27</a>, etc.). The 7-fold sprinkling of blood is enjoined in the ritual of the Day of Atonement (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',16,14,19);">Le 16:14,19</a>), and elsewhere. Seven-fold sprinkling is also repeatedly mentioned in the rules for the purification of the leper and the leprous house (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',14,7,16,27,51);">Le 14:7,16,27,51</a>). The leprous Naaman was ordered to bathe 7 times in the Jordan (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',5,10);">2Ki 5:10</a>). In cases of real or suspected uncleanness through leprosy, or the presence of a corpse, or for other reasons, 7 days\' seclusion was necessary (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',12,2);">Le 12:2</a>, etc.). Circumcision took place after 7 days (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',12,3);">Le 12:3</a>). An animal must be 7 days old before it could be offered in sacrifice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',22,30);">Ex 22:30</a>). Three periods of 7 days each are mentioned in the rules for the consecration of priests (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',29,30,35,37);">Ex 29:30,35,37</a>). An oath seems to have been in the first instance by 7 holy things (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',21,29);">Ge 21:29</a> and the Hebrew word for "swear"). The <span class="noTag">number 7</span> also entered into the structure of sacred objects, for instance the candlestick or lamp-stand in the tabernacle and the second temple each of which had 7 lights (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',8,2);">Nu 8:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',4,2);">Zec 4:2</a>). Many other instances of the ritual use of 7 in the Old Testament and many instructive parallels from Babylonian texts could be given.<P>(2) Historical Use of Seven.<P>The <span class="noTag"number 7</span> also figures prominently in a large number of passages which occur in historical narrative, in a way which reminds us of its symbolic significance. The following are some of the most remarkable: Jacob\'s 7 years\' service for Rachel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',29,20);">Ge 29:20</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',29,27);">Ge 29:27</a>f), and his bowing down 7 times to Esau (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',33,3);">Ge 33:3</a>); the 7 years of plenty, and the 7 years of famine (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',41,53);">Ge 41:53</a>f); Samson\'s 7 days\' marriage feast (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',14,12);">Jud 14:12</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',29,27);">Ge 29:27</a>), 7 locks of hair (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,19);">Jud 16:19</a>), and the 7 withes with which he was bound (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,7);">Jud 16:7</a>f); the 7 daughters of Jethro (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',2,16);">Ex 2:16</a>), the 7 sons of Jesse (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',16,10);">1Sa 16:10</a>), the 7 sons of Saul (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',21,6);">2Sa 21:6</a>), and the 7 sons of Job (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',1,2);">Job 1:2</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',42,13);">Job 42:13</a>); the 7 days\' march of the 7 priests blowing 7 trumpets round the walls of Jericho, and the 7-fold march on the 7th day (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',6,8);">Jos 6:8</a>); the 7 ascents of Elijah\'s servant to the top of Carmel (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',18,43);">1Ki 18:43</a>f); the 7 sneezes of the Shunammitish woman\'s son (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',4,35);">2Ki 4:35</a>); the heating of Nebuchadnezzar\'s furnace 7 times more than it was wont to be heated (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',8,19);">Da 8:19</a>), and the king\'s madness for 7 times or years (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',4,16,23,25,32);">Da 4:16,23,25,32</a>); Anna\'s 7 years of wedded life (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',2,36);">Lu 2:36</a>); the 7 loaves of the 4,000 (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',15,\'34-36\');">Mt 15:34-36</a> parallel) and the 7 baskets full of fragments (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',15,37);">Mt 15:37</a> parallel); the 7 brothers in the conundrum of the Sadducees (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',22,25);">Mt 22:25</a> parallel); the 7 demons cast out of Mary Magdalene (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',16,9);">Mr 16:9</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',8,2);">Lu 8:2</a>); the 7 ministers in the church at Jerusalem (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',6,3);">Ac 6:3</a>), and the 7 sons of Sceva (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',19,14);">Ac 19:14</a>, but the Western text represents them as only 2). The number must no doubt be understood literally in many of these passages, but even then its symbolic meaning is probably hinted at by the historian. When a man was said to have had 7 sons or daughters, or an action was reported as done or to be done 7 times, whether by design or accident, the number was noted, and its symbolic force remembered. It cannot indeed be regarded in all these cases as a sacred number, but its association with sacred matters which was kept alive among the Jews by the institution of the Sabbath, was seldom, if ever, entirely overlooked.<P>(3) Didactic or Literary Use of Seven.<P>The symbolic use of 7 naturally led to its employment by poets and teachers for the vivid expression of multitude or intensity. This use is sometimes evident, and sometimes latent. (a) Evident examples are the 7-fold curse predicted for the murderer of Cain (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,15);">Ge 4:15</a>); fleeing 7 ways (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',28,7,25);">De 28:7,25</a>); deliverance from 7 troubles (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',5,19);">Job 5:19</a>); praise of God 7 times a day (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',119,164);">Ps 119:164</a>); 7 abominations (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',26,25);">Pr 26:25</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',6,16);">Pr 6:16</a>); silver purified 7 times, that is, thoroughly purified (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',12,6);">Ps 12:6</a>); 7-fold sin; 7-fold repentance, and 7-fold forgiveness (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',17,4);">Lu 17:4</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',18,21);">Mt 18:21</a>); 7 evil spirits (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',12,45);">Mt 12:45</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',11,26);">Lu 11:26</a>). The last of these, as well as the previous reference to the 7 demons cast out of Mary Magdalene reminds us of the 7 spirits of Beliar (Testament to the Twelve Patriarchs, Reuben chapters 2 and 3) and of the 7 evil spirits so often referred to in Babylonian exorcisms (compare Hehn, op. cit., 26ff), but it is not safe to connect our Lord\'s words with either. The Babylonian belief may indeed have influenced popular ideas to some extent, but there is no need to find a trace of it in the Gospels. The 7 demons of the latter are sufficiently accounted for by the common symbolic use of 7. For other passages which come under this head compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',28,7,25);">De 28:7,25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',4,15);">Ru 4:15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',2,5);">1Sa 2:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',79,12);">Ps 79:12</a>. (b) Examples of latent use of the <span class="noTag">number 7</span>, of what Zockler (RE3, "Sieben") calls "latent heptads," are not infrequent. The 7-fold use of the expression "the voice of Yahweh" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',29,\'1-\');">Ps 29</a>, which has caused it to be named "The Psalm of the Seven Thunders," and the 7 epithets of the Divine Spirit in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',11,2);">Isa 11:2</a>, cannot be accidental. In both cases the number is intended to point at full-summed completeness. In the New Testament we have the 7 beatitudes of character (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,\'3-9\');">Mt 5:3-9</a>); the 7 petitions of the Paternoster (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',6,9);">Mt 6:9</a>f); the 7 parables of the Kingdom in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,1);">Mt 13</a>; the 7 woes pronounced on the Pharisees (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,13,15,16,23,25,27,29);">Mt 23:13,15,16,23,25,27,29</a>), perhaps the 7 sayings of Jesus, beginning with "I am" (ego eimi) in the Fourth Gospel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',6,35);">Joh 6:35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,12);">8:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',10,7,11);">10:7,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',11,25);">11:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',14,6);">14:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',15,1);">15:1</a>), and the 7 disciples at the Lake after the Resurrection (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',21,2);">Joh 21:2</a>). Several groups of 7 are found in the Epistles and in Revelation: 7 forms of suffering (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',8,35);">Ro 8:35</a>); 7 gifts or charismata (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',12,\'6-9\');">Ro 12:6-9</a>); 7 attributes of the wisdom that is from above (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jam\',3,17);">Jas 3:17</a>); 7 graces to be added to faith (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Pe\',1,5);">2Pe 1:5</a>); two doxologies each containing 7 words of praise (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,12);">Re 5:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',7,12);">7:12</a>), and 7 classes of men (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',6,15);">Re 6:15</a>). Other supposed instances of 7-fold grouping in the Fourth Gospel are pointed out by E.A. Abbott (Johannine Grammar, 2624ff), but are of uncertain value.<P>(4) Apocalyptic Use of Seven.<P>As might be expected, 7 figures greatly in apocalyptic literature, although it is singularly absent from the apocalyptic portion of Daniel. Later works of this kind, however<65>the writings bearing the name of Enoch, the Testaments of Reuben and Levi, 2 Esd, etc.<2E>supply many illustrations. The doctrine of the 7 heavens which is developed in the Slavonic Enoch and elsewhere and may have been in the first instance of Babylonian origin is not directly alluded to in the Bible, but probably underlies the apostle\'s reference to the third heaven (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',12,2);">2Co 12:2</a>). In the one apocalyptic writing in the New Testament, 7 is employed with amazing frequency. We read of 7 churches (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,4);">Re 1:4</a>, etc.); 7 golden candlesticks (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,12);">Re 1:12</a>, etc.); 7 stars (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,16);">Re 1:16</a>); 7 angels of the churches (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,20);">Re 1:20</a>); 7 lamps of fire (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',4,5);">Re 4:5</a>); 7 spirits of God (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,4);">Re 1:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',3,1);">3:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',4,5);">4:5</a>); a book with 7 seals (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,1);">Re 5:1</a>); a lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',5,6);">Re 5:6</a>); 7 angels with 7 trumpets (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',8,2);">Re 8:2</a>); 7 thunders (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',10,3);">Re 10:3</a>); a dragon with 7 heads and 7 diadems (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,3);">Re 13:3</a>); a beast with 7 heads (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',18,1);">Re 18:1</a>); 7 angels having the 7 last plagues (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',15,1);">Re 15:1</a>); and 7 golden bowls of the wrath of God (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',15,7);">Re 15:7</a>) and a scarlet-colored beast with 7 heads (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',17,3);">Re 17:3</a>) which are 7 mountains (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',17,9);">Re 17:9</a>) and 7 kings (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',17,10);">Re 17:10</a>). The writer, whoever he was, must have had his imagination saturated with the numerical symbolism which had been cultivated in Western Asia for millenniums. There cannot be a shadow of doubt that 7 for him expressed fullness, completeness. As this inquiry will have shown, the significance of the number is practically the same throughout the Bible. Although a little of it may have been rubbed off in the course of ages, the main idea suggested by 7 was never quite lost sight of in Biblical times, and the number is still used in the life and song of the Holy Land and Arabia with at least an echo of its ancient meaning.<P>The significance of 7 extends to its multiples. Fourteen, or twice 7, is possibly symbolic in some cases. The stress laid in the Old Testament on the 14th of the month as the day of the Passover (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,6);">Ex 12:6</a> and 16 other places), and the regulation that 14 lambs were to be offered on each of the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',29,13,15);">Nu 29:13,15</a>) hint at design in the selection of the number, especially in view of the fact that 7 and 7 occur repeatedly in cuneiform literature<72>in magical and liturgical texts, and in the formula so often used in the Am Tab: "7 and 7 times at the feet of the king my lord...I prostrate myself." The arrangement of the generations from Abraham to Christ in three groups of 14 each (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',1,17);">Mt 1:17</a>) is probably intentional, so far as the number in each group is concerned. It is doubtful whether the number has any symbolic force in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',27,27);">Ac 27:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',12,2);">2Co 12:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',2,1);">Ga 2:1</a>. Of course it must be remembered that both the Hebrew and Greek words for 14 (\'arba\'ah asar; dekatessares) suggest that it is made up of 10 and 4, but constant use of 7 in the sense above defined will have influenced the application of its double, at least in some cases.<P>Forty-nine, or 7 X 7, occurs in two regulations of the Law. The second of the three great festivals took place on the 50th day after one of the days of unleavened bread (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',23,15);">Le 23:15</a>), that is, after an interval of 7 X 7 days; and two years of Jubilee were separated by 7 X 7 years (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',25,8);">Le 25:8</a>). The combination is met with also in one of the so-called Penitential Psalms of Babylonia: "Although my sins are 7 times 7, forgive me my sins."<P>Seven multiplied by ten, or 70, was a very strong expression of multitude which is met with in a large number of passages in the Old Testament. It occurs of persons: the 70 descendants of Jacob (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,\'1-\');">Ex 15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',10,22);">De 10:22</a>); the 70 elders of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',24,1,9);">Ex 24:1,9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,16,24);">Nu 11:16,24</a>f); the 70 kings ill treated by Adoni-bezek (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',1,7);">Jud 1:7</a>); the 70 sons of Gideon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,30);">Jud 8:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,2);">9:2</a>); the 70 descendants of Abdon who rode on 70 asscolts (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',12,14);">Jud 12:14</a>); the 70 sons of Ahab (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',10,1,6);">2Ki 10:1,6</a>f); and the 70 idolatrous elders seen by Ezekiel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',8,11);">Eze 8:11</a>). It is also used of periods: 70 days of Egyptian mourning for Jacob (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,3);">Ge 50:3</a>); 70 years of trial (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',23,15,17);">Isa 23:15,17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',25,11);">Jer 25:11</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',9,2);">Da 9:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',1,12);">Zec 1:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',7,5);">7:5</a>); the 70 weeks of Daniel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',9,24);">Da 9:24</a>); and the 70 years of human life (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',90,10);">Ps 90:10</a>). Other noticeable uses of 70 are the 70 palm trees of Elim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,27);">Ex 15:27</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,9);">Nu 33:9</a>); the offering of 70 bullocks in the time of Hezekiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',29,32);">2Ch 29:32</a>), and the offering by the heads of the tribes of 12 silver bowls each of 70 shekels (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,13);">Nu 7:13</a>). In the New Testament we have the 70 apostles (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',10,1,17);">Lu 10:1,17</a>), but the number is uncertain with Codices Vaticanus and Bezae and some versions reading 72, which is the product, not of 7 and 10, but of 6 and 12. Significant seventies are also met with outside of the Bible. The most noteworthy are the Jewish belief that there were 70 nations outside Israel, with 70 languages, under the care of 70 angels, based perhaps on the list in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',10,\'1-\');">Ge 10</a>; the Sanhedrin of about 70 members; the translation of the Pentateuch into Greek by Septuagint (more exactly 72), and the 70 members of a family in one of the Aramaic texts of Sendschirli. This abundant use of 70 must have been largely due to the fact that it was regarded as an intensified 7.<P>Seventy and seven, or 77, a combination found in the words of Lamech (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,24);">Ge 4:24</a>); the number of the princes and elders of Succoth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,14);">Jud 8:14</a>); and the number of lambs in a memorable sacrifice (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',8,35);">Ezr 8:35</a>), would appeal in the same way to the oriental fancy.<P>The product of seven and seventy (Greek hebdomekontakis hepta) is met with once in the New Testament (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',18,22);">Mt 18:22</a>), and in the Septuagint of the above-quoted <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',4,24);">Ge 4:24</a>. Moulton, however (Grammar of Greek New Testament Prolegomena, 98), renders in both passages 70 plus 7; contra, Allen, "Mt," ICC, 199. The number is clearly a forceful equivalent of "always."<P>Seven thousand in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',19,18);">1Ki 19:18</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',11,4);">Ro 11:4</a> may be a round number chosen on account of its embodiment of the <span class="noTag">number 7</span>. In the Moabite Stone the number of Israelites slain at the capture of the city of Nebo by the Moabites is reckoned at 7,000.<P>The half of seven seems sometimes to have been regarded as significant. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,25);">Da 7:25</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',9,27);">9:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',12,7);">12:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,25);">Lu 4:25</a> parallel 5:17; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',11,2);">Re 11:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,5);">13:5</a> a period of distress is calculated at 3 1/2 years, that is, half the period of sacred completeness.<P>2. The Number Three:<P>The number three seems early to have attracted attention as the number in which beginning, middle and end are most distinctly marked, and to have been therefore regarded as symbolic of a complete and ordered whole. Abundant illustration of its use in this way in Babylonian theology, ritual and magic is given from the cuneiform texts by Hehn (op. cit., 63ff), and the hundreds of passages in the Bible in which the number occurs include many where this special significance either lies on the surface or not far beneath it. This is owing in some degree perhaps to Babylonian influence, but will have been largely due to independent observation of common phenomena<6E>the arithmetical fact mentioned above and familiar trios, such as heaven, earth, and sea (or "the abyss"); morning, noon and night; right, middle, and left, etc. In other words, 3 readily suggested completeness, and was often used with a glance at that meaning in daily life and daily speech. Only a selection from the great mass of Biblical examples can be given here.<P>(1) Three is often found of persons and things sacred or secular, e.g. Noah\'s 3 sons (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',6,10);">Ge 6:10</a>); Job\'s 3 daughters (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',1,2);">Job 1:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',42,13);">42:13</a>) and 3 friends (<a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',2,11);">Job 2:11</a>); Abraham\'s 3 guests (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',18,2);">Ge 18:2</a>); and Sarah\'s 3 measures of meal (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',18,6);">Ge 18:6</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,33);">Mt 13:33</a> parallel); 3 in military tactics (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',7,16,20);">Jud 7:16,20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,43);">9:43</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',11,11);">1Sa 11:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',13,17);">13:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Job\',1,17);">Job 1:17</a>); 3 great feasts (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',23,14);">Ex 23:14</a>); the 3 daily prayers (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',55,17);">Ps 55:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',6,10,13);">Da 6:10,13</a>); the 3 night watches (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',7,19);">Jud 7:19</a>); God\'s 3-fold call of Samuel (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',3,8);">1Sa 3:8</a>); the 3 keepers of the temple threshold (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',52,24);">Jer 52:24</a>); the 3 presidents appointed by Darius (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',6,2);">Da 6:2</a>); the 3 temptations (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',4,3,5,8);">Mt 4:3,5f; 8 f</a> parallel); the 3 prayers in Gethsemane (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,39,42,44);">Mt 26:39,42,44</a> parallel); Peter\'s 3 denials (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,34,75);">Mt 26:34,75</a> parallel); the Lord\'s 3-fold question and 3-fold charge (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',21,15);">Joh 21:15</a>); and the 3-fold vision of the sheet (<a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',10,16);">Ac 10:16</a>).<P>(2) In a very large number of passages 3 is used of periods of time: 3 days; 3 weeks; 3 months and 3 years. So in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',40,12,13,18);">Ge 40:12,13,18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',2,2);">Ex 2:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',10,22);">10:22</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',24,13);">2Sa 24:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',20,3);">Isa 20:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',1,17);">Jon 1:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',15,32);">Mt 15:32</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',2,46);">Lu 2:46</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',13,7);">13:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',9,9);">Ac 9:9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',12,8);">2Co 12:8</a>. The frequent reference to the resurrection "on the 3rd day" or "after 3 days" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',16,21);">Mt 16:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',27,63);">27:63</a>, etc.) may at the same time have glanced at the symbolic use of the number and at the belief common perhaps to the Jews and the Zoroastrians that a corpse was not recognizable after 3 days (for Jewish testimony compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',11,39);">Joh 11:39</a>; Yebamoth xvi.3; Midrash, Genesis, chapter c; Semachoth viii; for Persian ideas compare The Expository Times, XVIII, 536).<P>(3) The <span class="noTag">number 3</span> is also used in a literary way, sometimes appearing only in the structure. Note as examples the 3-fold benediction of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',6,24);">Nu 6:24</a>); the Thrice Holy of the seraphim (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',6,3);">Isa 6:3</a>); the 3-fold overturn (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',21,27);">Eze 21:27 (Hebrew 32))</a>; the 3-fold refrain of <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,\'1-\');">Psalms 42</a>-<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,\'1-\');">43</A> regarded as one psalm (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',42,5,11);">Ps 42:5,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',43,5);">43:5</a>); the 3 names of God (the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',22,22);">Jos 22:22</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',50,1);">Ps 50:1</a>); the 3 graces of <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',13,\'1-\');">1Co 13</a>; the 3 witnesses (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Jo\',5,8);">1Joh 5:8</a>); the frequent use of 3 and 3rd in Revelation; the description of God as "who is and who was and who is to come" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,4);">Re 1:4</a>); and \'the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit\' (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',28,19);">Mt 28:19</a>). In some of these cases 3-fold repetition is a mode of expressing the superlative, and others remind us of the remarkable association of 3 with deity alluded to by Plato and Philo, and illustrated by the triads of Egypt and Babylonia and the Far East. It cannot, however, be proved, or even made probable, that there is any direct connection between any of these triads and the Christian Trinity. All that can be said is, that the same numerical symbolism may have been operative in both cases.<P>3. The Number Four:<P>The 4 points of the compass and the 4 phases of the moon will have been early noticed, and the former at any rate will have suggested before Biblical times the use of 4 as a symbol of completeness of range, of comprehensive extent. As early as the middle of the 3rd millennium BC Bah rulers (followed long afterward by the Assyrians) assumed the title "king of the 4 quarters" meaning that their rule reached in all directions, and an early conqueror claimed to have subdued the 4 quarters. There are not a few illustrations of the use of 4 in some such way in the Bible. The 4 winds (referred to also in the cuneiform texts and the Book of the Dead) are mentioned again and again (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,36);">Jer 49:36</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',37,9);">Eze 37:9</a>), and the 4 quarters or corners (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',11,12);">Isa 11:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',7,2);">Eze 7:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',20,8);">Re 20:8</a>). We read also of the 4 heads of the river of Eden (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',2,10);">Ge 2:10</a>), of 4 horns, 4 smiths, 4 chariots, and horses of 4 colors in the visions of Zechariah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',1,8);">1:8</a>, Septuagint; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',1,18);">1:18</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',6,1);">6:1</a>ff), the chariots being directly connected with the 4 winds; 4 punishments (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',15,3);">Jer 15:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',14,21);">Eze 14:21</a>, the latter with a remarkable Assyrian parallel), the 4 kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar\'s dream as interpreted (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',2,37);">Da 2:37</a>) and Daniel\'s vision (<a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',7,3);">Da 7:3</a>); the 4 living creatures in Ezekiel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',1,5);">1:5</a>ff; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',1,10);">1:10</a>), each with 4 faces and 4 wings, and the 4 modeled after them (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',4,6);">Re 4:6</a>, etc.). In most of these cases 4 is clearly symbolical, as in a number of passages in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Whether the frequent use of it in the structure of the tabernacle, Solomon\'s temple, and Ezekiel\'s temple has anything to do with the symbolic meaning is not clear, but the latter can probably be traced in proverbial and prophetic speech (<a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',30,15,18,21,24,29);">Pr 30:15,18,21,24,29</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,3,6);">Am 1:3,6</a>, etc.). The 4 transgressions of the latter represent full-summed iniquity, and the 4-fold grouping in the former suggested the wide sweep of the classification. Perhaps it is not fanciful to find the idea in the 4 sets of hearers of the gospel in the parable of the Sewer (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,\'19-23\');">Mt 13:19-23</a> parallel). The rabbis almost certainly had it in mind in their 4-fold grouping of characters in six successive paragraphs (Ab v.16-21) which, however, is of considerably later date.<P>4. The Number Ten:<P>As the basis of the decimal system, which probably originated in counting with the fingers, 10 has been a significant number in all historical ages. The 10 antediluvian patriarchs (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',5,\'1-\');">Ge 5</a>; compare the 10 Babylonian kings of Berosus, and 10 in early Iranian and Far-Eastern myths); the 10 righteous men who would have saved Sodom (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',18,32);">Ge 18:32</a>); the 10 plagues of Egypt; the 10 commandments (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,\'2-17\');">Ex 20:2-17</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',5,\'6-21\');">De 5:6-21</a>; the 10 commandments found by some in <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',34,\'14-26\');">Ex 34:14-26</a> are not clearly made out); the 10 servants of Gideon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',6,27);">Jud 6:27</a>); the 10 elders who accompanied Boaz (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',4,2);">Ru 4:2</a>); the 10 virgins of the parable (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,1);">Mt 25:1</a>); the 10 pieces of silver (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',15,8);">Lu 15:8</a>); the 10 servants entrusted with 10 pounds (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',19,13);">Lu 19:13</a>), the most capable of whom was placed over 10 cities (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',19,17);">Lu 19:17</a>); the 10 days\' tribulation predicted for the church of Smyrna (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',2,10);">Re 2:10</a>); the use of "10 times" in the sense of "many times" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',31,7);">Ge 31:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',4,12);">Ne 4:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',1,20);">Da 1:20</a>, etc., an idiom met with repeatedly in Tell el-Amarna Letters); and the use of 10 in sacred measurements and in the widely diffused custom of tithe, and many other examples show plainly that 10 was a favorite symbolic number suggestive of a rounded total, large or small, according to circumstances. The number played a prominent part in later Jewish life and thought. Ten times was the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) uttered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement; 10 persons must be present at a nuptial benediction; 10 constituted a congregation in the synagogue; 10 was the usual number of a company at the paschal meal, and of a row of comforters of the bereaved. The world was created, said the rabbis, by ten words, and Abraham was visited with 10 temptations (Ab v..1 and 4; several other illustrations are found in the context).<P>5. The Number Twelve:<P>The 12 months and the 12 signs of the zodiac probably suggested to the old Babylonians the use of 12 as a symbolic or semi-sacred number, but its frequent employment by the Israelites with special meaning cannot at present be proved to have originated in that way, although the idea was favored by both Josephus and Philo. So far as we know, Israelite predilection for 12 was entirely due to the traditional belief that the nation consisted of 12 tribes, a belief, it is true, entertained also by the Arabs or some of them, but with much less intensity and persistence. In Israel the belief was universal and ineradicable. Hence, the 12 pillars set up by Moses (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',24,4);">Ex 24:4</a>); the 12 jewels in the high priest\'s breast-plate (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',28,21);">Ex 28:21</a>); the 12 cakes of showbread (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',24,5);">Le 24:5</a>); the 12 rods (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',17,2);">Nu 17:2</a>); the 12 spies (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-\');">Nu 13</a>); the 12 stones placed by Joshua in the bed of Jordan (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',4,9);">Jos 4:9</a>); the 12 officers of Solomon (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,7);">1Ki 4:7</a>); the 12 stones of Elijah\'s altar (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',18,31);">1Ki 18:31</a>); the 12 disciples or apostles (26 times), and several details of apocalyptic imagery (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',7,5);">Re 7:5</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',12,1;">12:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',21,12,14,16,21);">21:12,14,16,21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',22,2);">22:2</a>; compare also <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',14,20);">Mt 14:20</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',19,28);">Mt 19:28</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,53);">Mt 26:53</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',26,7);">Ac 26:7</a>). The number pointed in the first instance at unity and completeness which had been sanctioned by Divine election, and it retained this significance when applied to the spiritual Israel. Philo indeed calls it a perfect number. Its double in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',4,4);">Re 4:4</a>, etc., is probably also significant.<P>6. Other Significant Numbers:<P>Five came readily into the mind as the half of 10. Hence, perhaps its use in the parable of the Virgins (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',25,2);">Mt 25:2</a>). It was often employed in literary division, e.g. in the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the part of the Hagiographa known as the Meghilljth, the Ethiopic Enoch and Matthew (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',7,28);">7:28</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',11,1);">11:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',13,53);">13:53</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',19,1);">19:1</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,1);">26:1</a>; compare Sir J. Hawkins, Horae Synopticae(2), 163ff). It seems to have been occasionally suggestive of relative smallness, as in <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,8);">Le 26:8</a>, the 5 loaves (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',14,17);">Mt 14:17</a> parallel), <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',14,19);">1Co 14:19</a>, and perhaps in Tell el-Amarna Letters. It has been remarked (Skinner, "Gen," ICC, 483) that the number occurs repeatedly in reference to matters Egyptian (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',41,34);">Ge 41:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',45,22);">45:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',47,2);">47:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',19,18);">Isa 19:18</a>), but there seems to be no satisfactory explanation. Sixty: Although, as was before observed, there is no direct trace in the Bible of the numerical system based on 60, there are a few passages where there may be a distant echo. The 60 cities of Argob (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',3,4);">De 3:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',13,30);">Jos 13:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',4,13);">1Ki 4:13</a>); the 60 mighty men and the 60 queens of <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',3,7);">So 3:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',6,8);">6:8</a>, the double use of 60 of Rehoboam\'s harem and family (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',11,21);">2Ch 11:21</a>), the 3 sacrifices of 60 victims each (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,88);">Nu 7:88</a>), and the length of Solomon\'s temple, 60 cubits (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',6,2);">1Ki 6:2</a> parallel <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',3,3);">2Ch 3:3</a>), may perhaps have a remote connection with the Babylonian use. It must be remembered that the latter was current in Israel and the neighboring regions in the division of the talent into 60 minas. A few passages in the Pseudepigrapha may be similarly interpreted, and the Babylonian Talmud contains, as might be expected, many clear allusions. In the Bible, however, the special use of the number is relatively rare and indirect. One hundred and ten, the age attained by Joseph (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,22);">Ge 50:22</a>), is significant as the Egyptian ideal of longevity (Smith, DB2, 1804f; Skinner, "Gen," ICC, 539f). One hundred and fifty-three: The Greek poet Oppian (circa 171 AD) and others are said to have reckoned the number of fishes in the world at this figure (compare Jerome on <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',47,\'1-\');">Eze 47</a>), and some scholars find a reference to that belief in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',21,11);">Joh 21:11</a> in which case the number would be symbolic of comprehensiveness. That is not quite impossible, but the suggestion cannot be safely pressed. Throughout this discussion of significant numbers it must be borne in mind that writers and teachers may often have been influenced by the desire to aid the memory of those they addressed, and may to that end have arranged thoughts and facts in groups of 3, or 4, or 7, or 10, and so on (Sir John Hawkins, Horae Synopticae2, 166f). They will at the same time have remembered the symbolic force of these numbers, and in some cases, at least, will have used them as round numbers. There are many places in which the round and the symbolic uses of a number cannot be sharply distinguished.<P>VI. Gematria.<P>(Gematriya\'). A peculiar application of numbers which was in great favor with the later Jews and some of the early Christians and is not absolutely unknown to the Bible, is Gematria, that is the use of the letters of a word so as by means of their combined numerical value to express a name, or a witty association of ideas. The term is usually explained as an adaptation of the Greek word geometria, that is, "geometry," but Dalman (Worterbuch, under the word) connects it in this application of it with grammateia. There is only one clear example in Scripture, the number of the beast which is the number of a man, six hundred sixty and six (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',13,18);">Re 13:18</a>). If, as most scholars are inclined to believe, a name is intended, the numerical value of the letters composing which adds up to 666, and if it is assumed that the writer thought in Hebrew or Aramaic. Nero Caesar written with the consonants nun (n) equals 50, resh (r) equals 200, waw (w) equals 6, nun (n) equals 50, qoph (q) equals 100, camekh (c) equals 60, resh (r) equals 200: total equals 666, seems to be the best solution. Perhaps the idea suggested by Dr. Milligan that the 3-fold use of 6 which just falls short of 7, the number of sacred completeness, and is therefore a note of imperfection, may have been also in the writer\'s mind. Some modern scholars find a second instance in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,14);">Ge 14:14</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',15,2);">15:2</A>. As the numerical value of the consonants which compose Eliezer in Hebrew add up to 318, it has been maintained that the number is not historical, but has been fancifully constructed by means of gematria out of the name. This strange idea is not new, for it is found in the Midrash on <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',43,\'1-\');">Ge 43</a> in the name of a rabbi who lived circa 200 AD, but its antiquity is its greatest merit.<P>LITERATURE.<P>In addition to other books referred to in the course of the article: Hehn, Siebenzahl und Sabbath bei den Babyloniern und im Altes Testament; Konig, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, etc., 51-57, and the same writer\'s article "Number" in HDB; Sir J. Hawkins, Horae Synopticae2, 163-67; Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 155-69; "Number" in HDB (1-vol); EB; Jewish Encyclopedia; Smith, DB; "Numbers" in DCG; "Zahlen" in the Dicts. of Wiener, Riehm2, Guthe; "Zahlen" and "Sieben" in RE3.``162';
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isbe[6457]='Number, Golden``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=GOLDEN+NUMBER">GOLDEN NUMBER</a>`1';
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isbe[6458]='Numbering``<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DAVID">DAVID</a>; <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=QUIRINIUS">QUIRINIUS</a>`1';
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isbe[6459]='Numbers, Book of`num\'-berz:<P><b>I. TITLE AND CONTENTS</b><P class="in15">1. Title<P class="in15">2. Contents<P><b>II. LITERARY STRUCTURE</b><P class="in15">1. Alleged Grounds of Distribution<P class="in15">2. Objections to Same<P class="in30">(1) Hypothesis Unproved<P class="in30">(2) Written Record Not Impossible<P class="in30">(3) No Book Ever Thus Constructed<P class="in30">(4) Inherent Difficulties of Analysis<P class="in45">(a) The Story of the Spies<P class="in45">(b) Rebellion of Korah<P class="in45">(c) Story of Balaam<P><b>III. HISTORICAL CREDIBILITY</b><P class="in15">1. Seeming Chronological Inaccuracies<P class="in30">(1) The Second Passover (<span class="noTag">Numbers 9:1-5</span>)<P class="in30">(2) The Thirty-seven Years\' Chasm<P class="in30">(3) Fortieth Year<P class="in15">2. So-called Statistical Errors<P class="in30">(1) Number of the Fighting Men<P class="in30">(2) Size of the Congregation<P class="in45">(a) Multiplication of People<P class="in45">(b) Exodus in One Day<P class="in45">(c) Support in Wilderness<P class="in45">(d) Room at Mt. Sinai<P class="in45">(e) Slow Conquest of Canaan<P class="in30">(3) Number of the Firstborn<P class="in15">3. Alleged Physical Impossibilities<P class="in30">(1) Duties of the Priests<P class="in30">(2) Assembling of the Congregation<P class="in30">(3) Marching of the Host<P class="in30">(4) Victory over Midian<P><b>IV. AUTHORSHIP</b><P class="in15">1. Against the Mosaic Authorship<P class="in30">(1) Alternating Use of Divine Names<P class="in30">(2) Traces of Late Authorship<P class="in15">2. For the Mosaic Authorship<P class="in30">(1) Certain Passages Have the Appearance of Having Been Written by Moses<P class="in30">(2) Acquaintance on the Part of the Author with Egyptian Manners and Customs<P><b>LITERATURE</b><hr /><P>I. Title and Contents.<P>1. Title:<P>Styled in the Hebrew Bible bemidhbar, "in the wilderness," from the 5th word in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,1);">Nu 1:1</a>, probably because of recording the fortunes of Israel in the Sinaitic desert. The 4th book of the Pentateuch (or of the Hexateuch, according to criticism) was designated Arithmoi in the Septuagint, and Numeri in the Vulgate, and from this last received its name "Numbers" in the King James Version, in all 3 evidently because of its reporting the 2 censuses which were taken, the one at Sinai at the beginning and the other on the plains of Moab at the close of the wanderings.<P>2. Contents:<P>Of the contents the following arrangement will be sufficiently detailed:<P>(1) Before leaving Sinai, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'1-\');">Nu 1:1-10:10</a> (a period of 19 days, from the 1st to the 20th of the 2nd month after the exodus), describing:<P class="in15">(a) The numbering and ordering of the people, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'1-\');">Numbers 1-4</a>.<P class="in15">(b) The cleansing and blessing of the congregation, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',5,\'1-\');">Numbers 5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',6,\'1-\');">6</a>.<P class="in15">(c) The princes\' offerings and the dedication of the altar, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,\'1-\');">Numbers 7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',8,\'1-\');">8</a>.<P class="in15">(d) The observance of a second Passover, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,\'1-14\');">Nu 9:1-14</a>.<P class="in15">(e) The cloud and the trumpets for the march, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,\'15\');">Nu 9:15</a>-<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,\'1-10\');">10:10</a>.<P>(2) From Sinai to Kadesh, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,\'11-\');">Nu 10:11-14:45</a> (a period of 10 days, from the 20th to the 30th of the 2nd month), narrating:<P class="in15">(a) The departure from Sinai, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,\'11-35\');">Nu 10:11-35</a>.<P class="in15">(b) The events at Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,\'1-\');">Numbers 11</a>.<P class="in15">(c) The rebellion of Miriam and Aaron, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',12,\'1-\');">Numbers 12</a>.<P class="in15">(d) The mission of the spies, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-\');">Numbers 13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,\'1-\');">14</a>.<P>(3) The wanderings in the desert, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,\'1-\');">Numbers 15-19</a> (a period of 37 years, from the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 40th year), recording:<P class="in15">(a) Sundry laws and the punishment of a Sabbath breaker, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,\'1-\');">Numbers 15</a>.<P class="in15">(b) The rebellion of Korah, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,\'1-\');">Numbers 16</a>.<P class="in15">(c) The budding of Aaron\'s rod, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',17,\'1-\');">Numbers 17</a>.<P class="in15">(d) The duties and revenues of the priests and Levites, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',18,\'1-\');">Numbers 18</a>.<P class="in15">(e) The water of separation for the unclean, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',19,\'1-\');">Numbers 19</a>.<P>(4) From Kadesh to Moab, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',20,\'1-\');">Numbers 20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,\'1-\');">21</a> (a period of 10 months, from the beginning of the 40th year), reciting:<P class="in15">(a) The story of Balaam, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,\'2-\');">Nu 22:2-24:25</a>.<P class="in15">(b) The zeal of Phinehas, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',25,\'1-\');">Numbers 25</a>.<P class="in15">(c) The second census, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,\'1-51\');">Nu 26:1-51</a>.<P class="in15">(d) Directions for dividing the land, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,\'52-\');">Nu 26:52</A>-<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',27,\'1-11\');">27:11</a>.<P class="in15">(e) Appointment of Moses\' successor, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',27,\'12-23\');">Nu 27:12-23</a>.<P class="in15">(f) Concerning offerings and vows, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',28,\'1-\');">Numbers 28-30</a>.<P class="in15">(g) War with Midian, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',31,\'1-\');">Numbers 31</a>.<P class="in15">(h) Settlement of Reuben and Gad, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',32,\'1-\');">Numbers 32</a>.<P class="in15">(i) List of camping stations, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,\'1-49\');">Nu 33:1-49</a>.<P class="in15">(j) Canaan to be cleared of its inhabitants and divided, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,\'50-\');">Nu 33:50-34:29</a>.<P class="in15">(k) Cities of refuge to be appointed, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',35,\'1-\');">Numbers 35</a>.<P class="in15">(l) The marriage of heiresses, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',36,\'1-\');">Numbers 36</a>.<P>II. Literary Structure.<P>According to modern criticism, the text of Numbers, like that of the other books of the Pentateuch (or Hexateuch), instead of being regarded as substantially the work of one writer (whatever may have been his sources of information and whoever may have been its first or latest editor), should be distributed<65>not always in solid blocks of composition, but frequently in fragments, in sentences, clauses or words, so mysteriously put together that they cannot now with certainty be separated<65>among three writers, J, E and P with another D (at least in one part)<29>these writers, individuals and not schools (Gunkel), belonging, respectively: J to the 9th century BC (circa 830), E to the 8th century BC (circa 750), P to the 5th century BC (circa 444), and D to the 7th century BC (circa 621).<P>1. Alleged Grounds of Distribution:<P>The grounds upon which this distribution is made are principally these:<P>(1) the supposed preferential use of the Divine names, of Yahweh (Yahweh, "Lord") by J, and of Elohim ("God") by E and P<>a theory, however, which hopelessly breaks down in its application, as Orr (POT, chapter vii), Eerdmans (St, 33ff) and Wiener (EPC, I) have conclusively shown, and as will afterward appear;<P>(2) distinctions in style of composition, which are not always obvious and which, even if they were, would not necessarily imply diversity of authorship unless every author\'s writing must be uniform and monotonous, whatever his subject may be; and<P>(3) perhaps chiefly a preconceived theory of religious development in Israel, according to which the people in pre-Mosaic times were animists, totemists and polytheists; in Mosaic times and after, henotheists or worshippers of one God, while recognizing the existence of other gods; and latterly, in exilic and post-exilic times, monotheists or worshippers of the one living and true God<6F>which theory, in order to vindicate its plausibility, required the reconstruction of Israel\'s religious documents in the way above described, but which is now rejected by archaeologists (Delitzsch and A. Jeremias) and by theologians (Orr, Baentsch (though accepting the analysis on other grounds) and Konig) as not supported by facts.<P>2. Objections to Same:<P>Without denying that the text-analysis of criticism is on the first blush of it both plausible and attractive and has brought to light valuable information relative to Scripture, or without overlooking the fact that it has behind it the names of eminent scholars and is supported by not a few considerations of weight, one may fairly urge against it the following objections.<P>(1) Hypothesis Unproved.<P>At the best, theory is an unproved and largely imaginary hypothesis, or series of hypotheses<65>"hypothesis built on hypothesis" (Orr); and nothing more strikingly reveals this than<P>(a) the frequency with which in the text-analysis conjecture ("perhaps" and "probably") takes the place of reasoned proof<P>(b) the arbitrary manner in which the supposed documents are constructed by the critics who, without reason given, and often in violation of their own rules and principles, lift out of J (for instance) every word or clause they consider should belong to E or the Priestly Code (P), and vice versa every word or clause out of E or P that might suggest that the passage should be assigned to J, at the same time explaining the presence of the inconvenient word or clause in a document to which it did not belong by the careless or deliberate action of a redactor; and<P>(c) the failure even thus to construct the documents successfully, most critics admitting that J and E cannot with confidence be separated from each other<65>Kuenen himself saying that "the attempt to make out a Jehovistic and an Elohistic writer or school of writers by means of the Divine names has led criticism on a wrong way"; and some even denying that P ever existed as a separate document at all, Eerdmans (St, 33, 82), in particular, maintaining, as the result of elaborate exegesis, that P could not have been constructed in either exilic or post-exilic times "as an introduction to a legal work."<P>(2) Written Record Not Impossible.<P>It is impossible to demonstrate that the story of Israel\'s "wanderings" was not committed to writing by Moses, who certainly was not unacquainted with the art of writing, who had the ability, if any man had, to prepare such a writing, whose interest it was, as the leader of his people, to see that such writing, whether done by himself or by others under his supervision, was accurate, and who besides had been commanded by God to write the journeyings of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,2);">Nu 33:2</a>). To suppose that for 500 years no reliable record of the fortunes of Israel existed, when during these years writing was practiced in Egypt and Babylon; and that what was then fixed in written characters was only the tradition that had floated down for 5 centuries from mouth to mouth, is simply to say that little or no dependence can be placed upon the narrative, that while there may be at the bottom of it some grains of fact, the main body of it is fiction. This conclusion will not be readily admitted.<P>(3) No Book Ever Thus Constructed.<P>No reliable evidence exists that any book either ancient or modern was ever constructed as, according to criticism, the Pentateuch, and in particular Numbers, was. Volumes have indeed been composed by two or more authors, acting in concert, but their contributions have never been intermixed as those of J, E, D and P are declared to have been; nor, when joint authorship has been acknowledged on the title-page, has it been possible for readers confidently to assign to each author his own contribution. And yet, modern criticism, dealing with documents more than 2,000 years old and in a language foreign to the critics<63>which documents, moreover, exist only in manuscripts not older than the 10th century AD (Buhl, Canon and Text of the Old Testament, 28), and the text of which has been fixed not infallibly either as to consonant or vowel<65>claims that it can tell exactly (or nearly so) what parts, whether paragraphs, sentences, clauses or words, were supplied by J, E, P and D respectively. Credat Judaeus Apella!<P>(4) Inherent Difficulties of Analysis.<P>The critical theory, besides making of the text of Numbers, as of the other books of the Pentateuch, such a patchwork as is unthinkable in any document with ordinary pretension to historical veracity, is burdened with inherent difficulties which make it hard to credit, as the following examples taken from Numbers, will show.<P>(a) The Story of the Spies:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-\');">Numbers 13</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,\'1-\');">14</A> are thus distributed by Cornill, Driver, Strack and E B:<P>JE, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'17-20\',22,23,24,\'26-33\');">Nu 13:17b-20,22-24,26b-31,32b,33</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,3,4,8,9,\'11-25\',\'39-45\');">14:3,4,8,9,11-25,39-45</a>.<P>P, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-17\',21,25,26);">Nu 13:1-17a,21,25,26a</A> (to Paran), <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,32);">32a</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,1,2,);">14:1,2</A> (in the main), <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',14,5,6,7,10,\'26-38\');">5-7,10,26-38</a> (in the main).<P>Kautzsch generally agrees; and Hartford-Battersby in HDB professes ability to divide between J and E.<P>(i) According to this analysis, however, up to the middle of the 5th century BC, either JE began at <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,17);">Nu 13:17b</a>, in which case it wanted both the instruction to search the land and the names of the searchers, both of which were subsequently added from P (assuming it to have been a separate document, which is doubtful); or, if JE contained both the instruction and the names, these were supplanted by <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-17\');">13:1-17a</A> from P. As the former of these alternatives is hardly likely, one naturally asks why the opening verses of JE were removed and those of P substituted? And if they were removed, what has become of them? Does not the occurrence of Yahweh in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'1-17\');">13:1-17a</A>, on the critical principles of some, suggest that this section is the missing paragraph of JE?<P>(ii) If the JE passages furnish a nearly complete narrative (Driver), why should the late compiler or editor have deemed it necessary to insert two whole verses, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,21);">13:21</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,25);">25</A>, and two halves, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,26);">13:26a</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,32);">32a</A>, if not because without these the original JE narrative would have been incomplete? <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,21);">Nu 13:21</a> states in general terms that the spies searched the whole land, proceeding as far north as Hamath, after which <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,22);">13:22</A> mentions that they entered the country from the south and went up to Hebron and Eshcol, without at all stating an incongruity (Gray) or implying (Driver) that they traveled no farther north<74>the reason for specifying the visit to Eshcol being the interesting fact that there the extraordinary cluster of grapes was obtained. <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,25,26);">Nu 13:25,26</a> a relate quite naturally that the spies returned to Kadesh after 40 days and reported what they had found to Moses and Aaron as well as to all the congregation. Without these verses the narrative would have stated neither how long the land had been searched nor whether Moses and Aaron had received any report from their messengers, although <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,26);">13:26b</A> implies that a report was given to some person or persons unnamed. That Moses and Aaron should not have been named in JE is exceedingly improbable. <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,32);">Nu 13:32a</a> is in no way inconsistent with <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,\'26-31\');">13:26b-31</A>, which state that the land was flowing with milk and honey. What <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,32);">13:32a</A> adds is an expression of the exaggerated fears of the spies, whose language could not mean that the land was so barren that they would die of starvation, a statement which would have expressly contradicted <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,27);">13:27</A> (JE)<29>in which case why should it have been inserted?<3F>but that, notwithstanding its fruitfulness, the population was continually being wasted by internecine wars and the incursions of surrounding tribes. The starvation theory, moreover, is not supported by the texts (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,38);">Le 26:38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',36,13);">Eze 36:13</a>) usually quoted in its behalf.<P>(iii) To argue (Driver) for two documents because Joshua is not always mentioned along with Caleb is not strikingly convincing; while if Joshua is not included among the spies in JE, that is obviously because the passages containing his name have been assigned beforehand to P. But if Joshua\'s name did not occur in JE, why would it have been inserted in the story by a post-exilic writer, when even in <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',1,36);">De 1:36</a> Joshua is not expressly named as one of the spies, though again the language in <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',1,38);">De 1:38</a> tacitly suggests that both Caleb and Joshua were among the searchers of the land, and that any partition of the text which conveys the impression that Joshua was not among the spies is wrong?<P>(iv) If the text-analysis is as the critics arrange, how comes it that in JE the name Yahweh does not once occur, while all the verses containing it are allocated to P?<P>(b) Rebellion of Korah:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,\'1-\');">Numbers 16</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',17,\'1-\');">17</A> are supposed to be the work of "two, if not three," contributors (Driver, Kautzsch)<29>the whole story being assigned to P (enlarged by additions about which the text analysts are not unanimous), with the exception of <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,1,2,\'12-15\',\'25-34\');">16:1b, 2a, 12-15,25,26,27b-34</A>, which are given to JE, though variations here also are not unknown.<P>It is admitted that the JE verses, if read continuously, make out a story of Dathan and Abiram as distinguished from Korah and his company; that the motives of Dathan and Abiram probably differed from those of Korah and his company, and that Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up by an earthquake, while the 250 incense-offerers were destroyed by fire. To conclude from this, however, that three or even two narratives have been intermixed is traveling beyond the premises.<P>(i) If JE contained more about the conspiracy of the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, than has been preserved in the verses assigned to it, what has become of the excised verses, if they are not those ascribed to P; and, if they are not, what evidence exists that P\'s verses are better than the lost verses of JE? And how comes it that in P the Divine name used throughout, with one exception, <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,22);">16:22</A>, is Yahweh, while in JE it occurs only 6 times? (ii) If JE contained only the parts assigned to it and nothing more happened than the Reubenite emeute, why should the Korahite rebellion have been added to it 4 centuries later, if that rebellion never happened? (iii) If the Korahite conspiracy did happen, why should it have been omitted in JE, and nothing whispered about it till after the exile? (iv) If the two conspiracies, ecclesiastical (among the princes) and civil (among the laymen), arose contemporaneously, and the conspirators made common cause with one another, in that there was nothing unusual or contrary to experience. (v) If Moses addressed himself now to Korah and again to Dathan and Abiram, why should not the same document say so? (vi) If Dathan and Abiram were engulfed by an earthquake, and the 250 princes were consumed by fire from the tabernacle, even that does not necessitate two documents, since both events might have occurred together. (vii) It is not certain that P (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,\'35-42\');">16:35-43</a>) represents Korah as having been consumed by fire, while JE (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',16,\'31-33\');">16:31-33</A>) declares he was swallowed up by the earth. At least P (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',26,10);">26:10</a>) distinctly states that Korah was swallowed up by the earth, and that only the 250 were consumed by fire.<P>Wherefore, in the face of these considerations, it is not too much to say that the evidence for more documents than one in this story is not convincing.<P>(c) Story of Balaam:<P><a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,\'1-\');">Numbers 22-24</a> fare more leniently at the hands of analysis, being all left with JE, except <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,1);">22:1</A>, which is generously handed over to P. Uncertainty, however, exists as to how to partition chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,\'1-\');">22</A> between J and E. Whether all should be given to E because of the almost uniform use of Elohim rather than of Yahweh, with the exception of <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,\'22-35\');">22:22-35a</a>, which are the property of J because of the use of Yahweh (Driver, Kautzsch); or whether some additional verses should not be assigned to J (Cornill, HDB), critics are not agreed. As to <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,\'1-\');">Numbers 23</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,\'1-\');">24</a>, authorities hesitate whether to give both to J or to E, or chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,\'1-\');">23</A> to E and chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,\'1-\');">24</a> to J, or both to a late redactor who had access to the two sources<65>surely an unsatisfactory demonstration in this case at least of the documentary hypothesis. Comment on the use of the Divine names in this story is reserved till later.<P>Yet, while declining to accept this hypothesis as proved, it is not contended that the materials in Numbers are always arranged in chronological order, or that the style of composition is throughout the same, or that the book as it stands has never been revised or edited, but is in every jot and tittle the same as when first constructed. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,\'1-\');">Numbers 7</a>, e.g., the narrative goes back to the 1st day of the 1st month of the 2nd year, and in chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,\'1-\');">9</a> to the 1st month of the 2nd year, though chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'1-\');">1</a> begins with the 1st day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year. There are also legislative passages interspersed among the historical, and poetical among the prosaic, but diversity of authorship, as already suggested, cannot be inferred from either of these facts unless it is impossible for a writer to be sometimes disorderly in the arrangement of his materials; and for a lawgiver to be also a historian, and for a prose writer occasionally to burst into song. Assertions like these, however, cannot be entertained. Hence, any argument for plurality of documents rounded on them must be set aside. Nor is it a fair conclusion against the literary unity of the book that its contents are varied in substance and form and have been subjected, as is probable, to revision and even to interpolations, provided always these revisions and interpolations have not changed the meaning of the book. Whether, therefore, the Book of Numbers has or has not been compiled from preexisting documents, it cannot be justly maintained that the text-analysis suggested by the critics has been established, or that the literary unity of Numbers has been disproved.<P>III. Historical Credibility.<P>Were the narrative in this book written down immediately or soon after the events it records, no reason would exist for challenging its authenticity, unless it could be shown either from the narrative itself or from extraneous sources that the events chronicled were internally improbable, incredible or falsified. Even should it be proved that the text consists of two or more preexisting documents interwoven with one another, this would not necessarily invalidate its truthfulness, if these documents were practically contemporaneous with the incidents they report, and were not combined in such a way as to distort and misrepresent the occurrences they related. If, however, these pre-existing documents were prepared 500 (JE) or 1,000 (P) years after the incidents they narrate, and were merely a fixing in written characters of traditions previously handed down (JE), or of legislation newly invented and largely imaginary (P), it will not be easy to establish their historical validity. The credibility of this portion of the Pentateuch has been assailed on the alleged ground that it contains chronological inaccuracies, statistical errors and physical impossibilities.<P>1. Seeming Chronological Inaccuracies:<P>(1) The Second Passover (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,\'1-5\');">Numbers 9:1-5</a>)<P>The critical argument is that a contemporary historian would naturally have placed this paragraph before <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,1);">Nu 1:1</a>. The answer is that possibly he would have done so had his object been to observe strict chronological order, which it manifestly was not (see <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,\'1-\');">Numbers 7</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',9,\'1-\');">9</A>), and had he when commencing the book deemed it necessary to state that the Israelites had celebrated a second Passover on the legally appointed day, the 14th of the 1st month of the 2nd year. This, however, he possibly at first assumed would be understood, and only afterward, when giving the reason for the supplementary Passover, realized that in after years readers might erroneously conclude that this was all the Passover that had been kept in the 2nd year. So to obviate any such mistaken inference, he prefixed to his account of the Little Passover, as it is sometimes called, a statement to the effect that the statutory ordinance, the Great Passover, had been observed at the usual time, in the usual way, and that, too, in obedience to the express commandment of Yahweh.<P>(2) The Thirty-seven Years\' Chasm.<P>Whether <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',20,1);">Nu 20:1</a> be considered the beginning of the 3rd or of the 40th year, in either case a period of 37 years is passed over<65>in the one case in almost unbroken silence; in the other with scarcely anything of moment recorded save Korah\'s rebellion and the publication of a few laws concerning offerings to be made when the people reached the land of their habitation. To pronounce the whole book unhistorical because of this long interval of absolute or comparative silence (Bleek) is unreasonable. Most histories on this principle would be cast into the wastebasket. Besides, a historian might have as good reason for passing over as for recording the incidents of any particular period. And this might have been the case with the author of Numbers. From the moment sentence of death was passed upon the old generation at Kadesh, till the hour when the new generation started out for Canaan, he may have counted that Israel had practically ceased to be the people of Yahweh, or at least that their fortunes formed no part of the history of Yahweh\'s kingdom; and it is noticeable that scarcely had the tribes reassembled at Kadesh in preparation for their onward march than Miriam and Aaron, probably the last of the doomed generation, died. Accordingly, from this point on, the narrative is occupied with the fortunes of the new generation. Whether correct or not, this solution of the 37 years\' silence (Kurtz) is preferable to that which suggests (Ewald) that the late compiler, having found it impossible to locate all the traditions he had collected into the closing years of the wanderings, placed the rest of them in the first 2 years, and left the interval a blank<6E>a solution which has not even the merit of being clever and explains nothing. It does not explain why, if the narrator was not writing history, there should have been an interval at all. A romancer would not have missed so splendid an opportunity for exercising his art, would not have left a gap of 37 years unfilled, but like the writers of the apocryphal Gospels would have crowded it with manufactured tales.<P>On the better theory, not only is the silence explained, but the items inserted are accounted for as well. Though the unbelieving generation had ceased to be the people of Yahweh, Aaron had not yet been sentenced to exclusion from the promised land, He was still one of the representatives of the kingdom of Yahweh, and Korah\'s rebellion practically struck a blow at that kingdom. As such it was punished, and the story of its breaking out and suppression was recorded, as a matter that vitally concerned the stability of the kingdom. For a like reason, the legislative sections were included in the narrative. They were Yahweh\'s acts and not the people\'s. They were statutes and ordinances for the new generation in the new land.<P>(3) Fortieth Year.<P>The events recorded as having taken place between the 1st of the 5th month (the date of Aaron\'s death) and the 1st of the 11th month (the date of Moses\' address) are so numerous and important as to render it impossible, it is said, to maintain the credibility of this portion of the narrative. But<P>(a) it is not certain that all the events in this section were finished before Moses began his oration; neither<P>(b) is it necessary to hold that they all occurred in succession; while<P>(c) until the rapidity with which events followed one another is ascertained, it will not be possible to decide whether or not they could all have been begun and finished within the space of 6 months.<P>2. So-called Statistical Errors:<P>(1) Number of the Fighting Men.<P>This, which may be set down roughly at 600,000, has been challenged on two grounds:<P>(a) that the number is too large, and<P>(b) that the censuses at Sinai and in Moab are too nearly equal.<P>The first of these objections will be considered in the following section when treating of the size of the congregation. The second will not appear formidable if it be remembered<P>(a) that it is neither impossible nor unusual for the population of a country to remain stationary for a long series of years;<P>(b) that there was a special fitness in Israel\'s ease that the doomed generation should be replaced by one as nearly as possible equal to that which had perished;<P>(c) that had the narrative been invented, it is more than likely that the numbers would have been made either exactly equal or more widely divergent; and<P>(d) that so many variations occurring in the strength of the tribes as numbered at Sinai and again in Moab, while the totals so nearly correspond, constitutes a watermark of truthfulness which should not be overlooked.<P>(2) Size of the Congregation.<P>Taking the fighting men at 600,000 and the whole community at 4 1/2 times that number, or about 2 1/2 millions, several difficulties emerge which have led to the suggestion (Eerdmans, Conder, Wiener) that the 600,000 should be reduced (to, say, 6,000), and the entire population to less than 30,000. The following alleged impossibilities are believed to justify this reduction:<P>(a) that of 70 families increasing to 2 1/2 millions between the descent into, and the departure from, Egypt;<P>(b) that of 2 1/2 millions being led out of Egypt in one day;<P>(c) that of obtaining support for so large a multitude with their flocks in the Sinaitic desert;<P>(d) that of finding room for them either before the Mount at Sinai, or in the limited territory of Palestine; and<P>(e) that of the long time it took to conquer Palestine if the army was 600,000 strong.<P>(a) Multiplication of People:<P>As to the possibility of 70 souls multiplying in the course of 215 years or 7 generations (to take the shorter interval rather than the longer of 430 years) into 2 1/2 millions of persons giving 600,000 fighting men, that need not be regarded as incredible till the rate of increase in each family is exactly known. Allowing to each of Jacob\'s grandsons who were married (say 51 out of 53), 4 male descendants (Colenso allows 4 1/2), these would in 7 generations<6E>not in 4 (Colenso)<29>amount to 835,584, and with surviving fathers and grandfathers added might well reach 900,000, of whom 600,000 might be above 20 years of age. But in point of fact, without definite data about the number of generations, the rates of birth and of mortality in each generation, all calculations are at the best problematical. The most that can be done is to consider whether the narrative mentions any circumstances fitted to explain this large number of fighting men and the great size of the congregation, and then whether the customary objections to the Biblical statement can be satisfactorily set aside.<P>As for corroborative circumstances, the Bible expressly states that during the years of the oppression the Hebrews were extraordinarily fruitful, and that this was the reason why Pharaoh became alarmed and issued his edict for the destruction of the male children. The fruitfulness of the Hebrews, however, has been challenged (Eerdmans, Verger schichte Israels, 78) on the ground that were the births so numerous as this presupposes, two midwives (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',1,15);">Ex 1:15</a>) would not have sufficed for the necessary offices. But if the two to whom Pharaoh spake were the superintendents of the midwives throughout Goshen, to whom the king would hardly address himself individually, or if they were the two officiating in Hellopolls, the statement in <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',1,15);">Ex 1:15</a> will appear natural enough, and not opposed to the statement in <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',1,10);">Ex 1:10</a> that Pharaoh was alarmed at the multiplication of the Hebrews in his land. And, indeed, if the Hebrews were only 30,000 strong, it is not easy to see why the whole might of Egypt could not have kept them in subjection. Then as to the congregation being 2 1/2 millions if the 2 fighting men were 600,000, that corresponds with the proportion which existed among the Helvetii, who had 92,000 men capable of bearing arms out of a population, including children, old men and women, of 368,000 souls (Caesar, BG, i, 20). This seems to answer the objection (Eerdmans, Vorgeschichte Israels, 78) that the unschooled Oriental is commonly addicted to exaggeration where numbers are concerned.<P>(b) Exodus in One Day:<P>The second difficulty would be serious were it necessary to suppose that the Israelites had never heard about their projected journey till the 14th of the 1st month. But the idea of going forth from Egypt must have been before them since the day Moses went to Pharaoh to demand their liberation; and at least 4 days before the 14th they had begun to prepare for departure. In circumstances such as these, with a people thirsting for liberty and only waiting the signal to move, aware also of the hour at which that signal would be given, namely, at midnight, it does not appear so formidable a task as is imagined to get them all assembled in one day at a fore-appointed rendezvous, more especially as they were not likely to delay or linger in their movements. But how could there have been 2 1/2 millions of fugitives, it is asked (Eerdmans, Wiener), if Pharaoh deemed 600 chariots sufficient for pursuit? The answer is that Pharaoh did not reckon 600 chariots sufficient, but in addition to these, which were "chosen chariots," he took all the chariots of Egypt, his horsemen and his army (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',14,7,9);">Ex 14:7,9</a>), which were surely adequate to overcome a weaponless crowd, however big it might be. And that it was big, a vast horde indeed, Pharaoh\'s host implies.<P>(c) Support in Wilderness:<P>The supposed difficulty of obtaining support for 2 1/2 millions of people with the flocks and herds in the Sinaitic desert takes for granted that the desert was then as barren a region as it is now, which cannot be proved, and is as little likely to be correct as it would be to argue that Egypt, which was then the granary of the world, was no more fertile than it was 10 years ago, or that the regions in which Babylon and Assyria were situated were as desolate then as they are now. This supposition disregards the fact that Moses fed the flocks of Jethro for 40 years in that same region of Sinai; that when the Israelites passed through it, it was inhabited by several powerful tribes. It overlooks, too, the fact that the flocks and herds of Israel were not necessarily all cooped up in one spot, but were most likely spread abroad in districts where water and vegetation could be found. And it ignores the statement in the narrative that the Israelites were not supplied exclusively by the produce of the desert, but had manna from heaven from the 1st day of the 2nd month after leaving Egypt till they reached Canaan. Rationalistic expositors may relegate this statement to the limbo of fable, but unless the supernatural is to be eliminated altogether from the story, this statement must be accorded its full weight. So must the two miraculous supplies of water at Horeb (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',17,\'1-\');">Ex 17</a>) and at Kadesh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',20,\'1-\');">Nu 20</a>) be treated. It is sometimes argued that these supplies were quite insufficient for 2 1/2 millions of people with their flocks and herds; and that therefore the congregation could not have been so large. But the narrative in Numbers states, and presumably it was the same in Exodus, that the smitten rock poured forth its water so copiously and so continuously that \'the people drank abundantly with their flocks.\' Wherefore no conclusion can be drawn from this against the reported size of the congregation.<P>(d) Room at Mt. Sinai:<P>As to the impossibility of finding room for 2 1/2 millions of people either before the Mount at Sinai or within the land of Canaan (Conder), few will regard this as self-evident. If the site of their encampment was the Er-Rahab plain (Robinson, Stanley)<29>though the plain of Sebayeh, admittedly not so roomy, has been mentioned (Ritter, Kurtz, Knobel)<29>estimates differ as to the sufficiency of accommodation to be found there. Conder gives the dimensions of the plain as 4 square miles, which he deems insufficient, forgetting, perhaps, that "its extent is farther increased by lateral valleys receding from the plain itself" (Forty Days in the Desert, 73; compare Keil on <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',19,1,2);">Ex 19:1,2</a>). Kalisch, though putting the size of the plain at a smaller figure, adds that "it thus furnished ample tenting ground for the hosts of Israel"<22>a conclusion accepted by Ebers, Riehm and others. In any case it seems driving literal interpretation to extreme lengths to hold that camping before the Mount necessarily meant that every member of the host required to be in full view of Sinai. As to not finding room in Canaan, it is doubtful if, after the conquest, the remnants of both peoples at any time numbered as many persons as dwelt in Palestine during the most flourishing years of the kingdom. It may well be that the whole population of Palestine today amounts to only about 600,000 souls; but Palestine today under Turkish rule is no proper gauge for judging of Palestine under David or even under Joshua.<P>(e) Slow Conquest of Canaan:<P>The long time it took to conquer Palestine (Eerdmans, Vorgeschichte Israels, 78) is no solid argument to prove the unreliable character of the statement about the size of the army, and therefore of the congregation. Every person knows that in actual warfare, victory does not always go with the big battalions; and in this instance the desert-trained warriors allowed themselves to be seduced by the idolatries and immoralities of the Canaanites and forgot to execute the commission with which they had been entrusted, namely, to drive out the Canaanites from the land which had been promised to their fathers. Had they been faithful to Yahweh, they would not have taken so long completely to possess the land (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',81,13,14);">Ps 81:13,14</a>). But if instead of having 600,000 stalwart soldiers they had only possessed 6,000, it is not difficult to see how they could not drive out the Canaanites. The difficulty is to perceive how they could have achieved as much as they did.<P>(3) Number of the Firstborn.<P>That the 22,273 firstborn males from 1 month old and upward (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',3,43);">Nu 3:43</a>) is out of all proportion to the 603,550 men of 20 years old and upward, being much too few, has frequently (Bleek, Bohlen, Colenso and others) been felt as a difficulty, since it practically involves the conclusion that for every firstborn there must have been 40 or 45 males in each family. Various solutions of this difficulty have been offered. The prevalence of polygamy has been suggested (Michaelis, Havernick). The exclusion of firstborn sons who were married, the inclusion only of the mother\'s firstborn, and the great fruitfulness of Hebrew mothers have been called in to surmount the difficulty (Kurtz). But perhaps the best explanation is that only those were counted who were born after the Law was given on the night of the departure from Egypt (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',13,2);">Ex 13:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',3,13);">Nu 3:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',8,17);">8:17</a>) (Keil, Delitzsch, Gerlach). It may be urged, of course, that this would require an exceptionally large number of births in the 13 months; but in the exceptionally joyous circumstances of the emancipation this might not have been impossible. In any case, it does not seem reasonable on account of this difficulty, which might vanish were all the facts known, to impeach the historical accuracy of the narrative, even in this particular.<P>(NOTE.<2E>In Scotland, with a population of nearly double that of the Israelites, namely, 4,877,648, the marriages in 1909 were 30,092, the lowest on record for 55 years. At this rate the births in Israel during the first 12 months after the exodus might have been 15,046, assuming each marriage to have had issue. As this marriage rate, however, is excessively low for Scotland in normal years, the number of marriages and therefore of births in Israel in the first year after the exodus may well have been twice, if not 3 times, 15,046, i.e. 30,092, or 45,138. Reckoning the half of these as males, namely, 15,046 or 22,569, it does not appear as if the number of the firstborn in the text were quite impossible, on the supposition made.)<P>3. Alleged Physical Impossibilities:<P>(1) Duties of the Priests.<P>These are supposed to have been so onerous that Aaron and his sons could not possibly have performed them. But<P>(a) the Levitical laws, though published in the desert, were not necessarily intended to receive full and minute observance there, but only in Canaan.<P>(b) In point of fact, as Moses afterward testified (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',12,8);">De 12:8</a>), the Levitical laws were not scrupulously kept in the wilderness.<P>(c) There is no reason to suppose that the Passover of the 2nd year was celebrated otherwise than it had been in Egypt before the exodus, the slaughtering of the lambs being performed by the heads of families. And<P>(d) as the Levites were set apart to minister to the tabernacle (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,50);">Nu 1:50</a>), they would be able in many ways to assist the priests.<P>(2) Assembling of the Congregation.<P>The assembling of the congregation at the door of the tabernacle (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,3,4);">Nu 10:3,4</a>) has been adduced as another physical impossibility; and no doubt it was if every man, woman and child, or even only every man was expected to be there; but not if the congregation was ordinarily represented by its "renowned" or "called" men, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,16);">Nu 1:16</a>). To suppose that anything else was meant is surely not required. When Moses called all Israel and spake unto them (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',5,1);">De 5:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',29,2);">29:2</a>), no intelligent person understands that he personally addressed every individual, or spoke so as to be heard by every individual, though what he said was intended for all. An additional difficulty in the way of assembling the congregation, and by implication an argument against the size of the congregation, has been discovered in the two silver trumpets which, it is contended, were too few for summoning so vast a host as 2 1/2 millions of people. But it is not stated in the narrative either<P>(a) that it was absolutely necessary that every individual in the camp should hear the sound of the trumpets any more than it was indispensable that Balaam\'s curse should re-echo to the utmost bounds of Israel (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,13);">Nu 23:13</a>), or that a public proclamation by a modern state, though prefaced by means of an "Oyez," should be heard by all within the state or even within its capital; or<P>(b) if it was necessary that everyone should hear, that the trumpeters could not move about through the camp but must remain stationary at the tabernacle door; or<P>(c) that in the clear air of the desert the sound of the trumpets would not travel farther than in the noisy and murky atmosphere of modern cities; or<P>(d) that should occasion arise for more trumpets than two, Moses and his successors were forbidden to make them.<P>(3) Marching of the Host.<P>The marching of the host in four main divisions of about half a million each (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',2,\'1-\');">Nu 2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,\'14-20\');">10:14-20</a>) has also been pronounced a stumbling-block (Colenso, Eerdmans, Doughty), inasmuch as the procession formed (i.e. if no division began to fall into line till its predecessor had completed its evolutions) would require the whole day for its completion, and would make a column of unprecedented length<74>of 22 miles (Colenzo), of 600 miles (Doughty)<29>and would even on the most favorable hypothesis travel only a few miles, when the whole line would again need to reconstruct the camp. The simple statement of this shows its absurdity as an explanation of what actually took place on the march, and indirectly suggests that the narrative may be historical after all, as no romancer of a late age would have risked his reputation by laying down such directions for the march, if they were susceptible of no other explanation than the above. How precisely the march was conducted may be difficult or even impossible to describe in such a way as to obviate all objections. But some considerations may be advanced to show that the march through the desert was neither impossible nor incredible.<P>(a) The deploying of the four main divisions into line may have gone on simultaneously, as they were widely apart from each other, on the east (Judah), on the south (Reuben), on the west (Ephraim) and on the north (Dan).<P>(b) There is no ground for thinking that the march would be conducted, at least at first, with the precision of a modern army, or that each division would extend itself to the length of 22 miles. It is more than likely that they would follow their standards as best they could or with such order as could be arranged by their captains.<P>(c) If the camps of Judah and Reuben started their preparations together, say at 6 o\'clock in the morning (which might be possible), and occupied 4 hours in completing these, they might begin to advance at 10 o\'clock and cover 10 miles in another 4 hours, thus bringing them on to 2 PM, after which 4 hours more would enable them to encamp themselves for the night, if that was necessary. The other two divisions falling into line, say at 2 o\'clock, would arrive at 6 PM, and by 10 PM would be settled for the night.<P>(d) It does not seem certain that every night upon the march they would arrange themselves into a regularly constructed camp; rather it is reasonable to conclude that this would be done only when they had reached a spot where a halt was to be made for some time.<P>(e) In any case, in the absence of more details as to how the march was conducted, arithmetical calculations are of little value and are not entitled to discredit the truthfulness of the narrative.<P>(4) Victory over Midian.<P>This has been objected to on moral grounds which are not now referred to. It is the supposed impossibility of 12,000 Israelites slaying all the male Midianites, capturing all their women and children, including 32,000 virgins, seizing all their cattle and flocks, with all their goods, and burning all their cities and castles without the loss of a single man (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',31,49);">Nu 31:49</a>), which occasions perplexity. Yet Scripture relates several victories of a similar description, as e.g. that of Abraham over the kings of the East (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,15);">Ge 14:15</a>), in which, so far as the record goes, no loss was incurred by the patriarch\'s army; that of Gideon\'s 300 over the Midianites at a later date (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',7,22);">Jud 7:22</a>); that of Samson single-handed over 1,000 Philistines (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',15,15);">Jud 15:15</a>); and that of Jehoshaphat at the battle of Tekoa (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',20,24);">2Ch 20:24</a>), which was won without a blow<6F>all more or less miraculous, no doubt. But in profane history, Tacitus (Ann. xiii.39) relates an instance in which the Romans slaughtered all their foes without losing a single man; and Strabo (xvi.1128) mentions a battle in which 1,000 Arabs were slain by only 2 Romans; while the life of Saladin contains a like statement concerning the issue of a battle (Havernick, Intro, 330). Hence, Israel\'s victory over Midian does not afford sufficient ground for challenging its historic credibility.<P>IV. Authorship.<P>Restricting attention to evidence from Numbers itself, it may be remarked in a general way that the question of authorship is practically settled by what has been advanced on its literary structure and historical credibility. For, if the materials of the book were substantially the work of one pen (whoever may have been their first collector or last redactor), and if these materials are upon the whole trustworthy, there will be little room to doubt that the original pen was in the hand of a contemporary and eyewitness of the incidents narrated, and that the contemporary and eyewitness was Moses, who need not, however, have set down everything with his own hand, all that is necessary to justify the ascription of the writing to him being that it should have been composed by his authority and under his supervision. In this sense it is believed that indications are not wanting in the book both against and for the Mosaic authorship; and these may now be considered.<P>1. Against the Mosaic Authorship:<P>(1) Alternating Use of Divine Names. This usage, after forming so characteristic a feature in Genesis and largely disappearing in Exodus and Leviticus, reasserts itself in Numbers, and more particularly in the story of Balaam. If <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,\'1-\');">Numbers 23</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,\'1-\');">24</A> can be explained only as late documents pieced together, because of the use of "God" in chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,\'1-\');">23</A> and of "Lord" in chapter <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,\'1-\');">24</A>, then Moses was not their author. But if the varying use of the divine names is susceptible of explanation on the assumption that the two chapters originally formed one document, then most distinctly the claim of Moses to authorship is not debarred. Now whether Balaam was a false or a true prophet, it is clear that he could hope to please Balak only by cursing Israel in the name of Yahweh, the God \'Elohim of Israel; and so it is always Yahweh he consults or pretends to consult before replying to the messengers of Balak. Four times he did so (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,8,19);">22:8,19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,3,15);">23:3,15</a>); and 3 times it was Elohim who met him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',22,9,20);">22:9,20</A>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,14);">23:14</A>), while every time it was Yahweh who put the word in his mouth. Can any conclusion be fairer than that the historian regarded \'Elohim and Yahweh as the same Divine Being, and represented this as it were by a double emphasis, which showed<P>(a) that the Yahweh whom Balaam consulted was Elohim or the supreme God, and<P>(b) that the God who met Balaam and supplied him with oracles was Israel\'s Lord? Thus explained, the alternate use of the Divine names does not require the hypothesis of two single documents rolled into one; and indeed the argument from the use of the divine names is now generally abandoned.<P>(2) Traces of Late Authorship.<P>Traces of late authorship are believed to exist in several passages:<P>(a) <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',15,\'32-36\');">Nu 15:32-36</a> seems to imply that the writer was no longer in the wilderness, which may well have been the case, if already he was in the land of Moab.<P>(b) <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',20,5);">20:5</A> suggests, it is said, that the people were then in Canaan. But the language rather conveys the impression that they were not yet come to Canaan; and in point of fact the people were at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.<P>(c) In <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,14,15,17,18,\'27-30\');">21:14,15,17,18,27-30</a>, certain archaic songs are cited as if the people were familiar with them, and the Arnon is mentioned as the border of Moab long before Israel reached the river. But that poets were among the people at the time of the exodus and probably long before, the song of Moses (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',15,\'1-\');">Ex 15</a>) shows, and that a Book of the Wars of the Lord was begun to be composed soon after the defeat of Amalek is not an unreasonable hypothesis (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',17,14);">Ex 17:14</a>). As for the statement that "Arnon leaneth upon the borders of Moab," that may have been superfluous as a matter of information to the contemporaries of Moses when they were about to cross the stream (Strack, Einl, 25), but it was quite in place in an old prophetic song, as showing that their present position had been long before anticipated and foretold.<P>(d) <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',23,7);">24:7</A>, according to criticism, could not have been composed before the rise of the monarchy; and certainly it could not, if prediction of future events is impossible. But if reference to a coming king in Israel was put into Balaam\'s mouth by the Spirit of God, as the narrator says, then it could easily have been made before the monarchy; and so could<P>(e) <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',24,17,18);">24:17,18</a> have been written before the reign of David, though the conquest of the Edomites only then began (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',8,14);">2Sa 8:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',11,1);">1Ki 11:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',18,12,13);">1Ch 18:12,13</a>).<P>Examples such as these show that many, if not most, of the like objections against the Mosaic authorship of this book are capable of at least possible solution; and that Kuenen\'s caution should not be forgotten: "He who relies upon the impression made by the whole, without interrogation of the parts one by one, repudiates the first principles of all scientific research, and pays homage to superficiality" (Religion of Israel, I, 11).<P>2. For the Mosaic Authorship:<P>(1) Certain Passages Have the Appearance of Having Been Written by Moses.<P>These are:<P>(a) those which bear evidence of having been intended for a people not settled in cities but dwelling in tents and camps, as e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,\'1-\');">Numbers 1-4</a>, describing the arrangements for the census and the formation of the camp; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',6,24,25,26);">6:24-26</a>, the high-priestly benediction; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,35,36);">10:35,36</a>, the orders for the marching and the halting of the host; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,\'1-9\');">10:1-9</a>, the directions about the silver trumpets; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',19,\'1-\');">Numbers 19</a>, the legislation which obviously presupposes the wilderness as the place for its observance (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',19,3,7,9,14);">19:3,7,9,14</A>). If criticism allows that these and other passages have descended from the Mosaic age, why should it be necessary to seek another author for them than Moses? And if Moses could have composed these passages, a presumption at least is created that the whole book has proceeded from his pen.<P>(b) The patriotic songs taken from the Book of the Wars of the Lord (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,\'1-\');">Numbers 21</a>), which some critics (Cornill, Kautzsch and others) hold cannot be later than 750 BC, are by equally competent scholars (Bleek, De Wette, E. Meyer, Konig and others) recognized as parts of Israel\'s inheritance from the Mosaic age, whenever they were incorporated in Numbers.<P>(c) The list of camping stations (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,\'1-\');">Numbers 33</a>) is expressly assigned to him. Whether "by the commandment of the Lord" should be connected with the "journeys" (Konig) or the "writing" makes no difference as to the authorship of this chapter, at least in the sense that it is based on a Mosaic document (Strack). It is true that even if this chapter as it stands was prepared by Moses, that does not amount to conclusive evidence of the Mosaic authorship of the whole book. Yet it creates a presumption in its favor (Drechsler, Keil, Zahn). For why should Moses have been specially enjoined to write so comparatively uninteresting and unprofitable a document as a list of names, many of which are now incapable of identification, if that was all? But if Moses was already writing up a journal or history of the wanderings, whether by his own hand or by means of amanuenses, and whether by express command or without it (not an unreasonable supposition), there was no particular need to record that this was so. If, however, Moses was not thinking of preserving an itinerary, and God for reasons of His own desired that he should do so, then there was need for a special commandment to be given; and need that it should be recorded to explain why Moses incorporated in his book a list of names that in most people\'s judgment might have been omitted without imperiling the value of the book. Looked at in this way, the order to prepare this itinerary rather strengthens the idea of the Mosaic authorship of the whole book.<P>(2) Acquaintance on the Part of the Author with Egyptian Manners and Customs.<P>This points in the direction of Moses.<P>(a) The trial by jealousy (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',5,\'11-31\');">Nu 5:11-31</a>) may be compared with the tale of Setnau, belonging probably to the 3rd century BC, but relating to the times of Rameses II, in which Ptahnefer-ka, having found the book which the god Thoth wrote with his own hand, copied it on a piece of papyrus, dissolved the copy in water and drank the solution, with the result that he knew all the book contained (RP, IV, 138). (b) The consecration of the Levites (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',8,7);">Nu 8:7</a>) resembled the ablutions of the Egyptian priests who shaved their heads and bodies every 3rd day, bathed twice during the day and twice during the night, and performed a grand ceremony of purification, preparatory to their seasons of fasting, which sometimes lasted from 7 to 40 days and even more (WAE, I, 181).<P>(c) Uncleanness from contact with the dead (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',19,11);">Nu 19:11</a>) was not unknown to the Egyptians, who required their priests to avoid graves, funerals and funeral feasts (Porphyry, De Abst. ii.50, quoted in Speaker\'s Comm.).<P>(d) The fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic referred to in <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,5);">Nu 11:5</a> were articles of diet in Egypt (Herodotus ii.93):<P>(e) The antiquarian statement about Hebron (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',13,22);">13:22</A>) fits in well with a writer in Mosaic times. "A later writer could have had no authority for making the statement and no possible reason for inventing it" (Pulpit Commentary on Numbers). On a candid review of all the arguments pro and con, it is not too much to say that the preponderance of evidence lies on the side of the substantial Mosaicity of the Book of Numbers.<P>LITERATURE.<P>Comms. on Numbers by Bertheau (ET), Knobel, Keil (ET), Dillmann, Strack, Lange (English translation); in Speaker\'s Comm., Pulpit Comm., ICC (Gray); Biblical Intros of De Wette, Hengstenberg, Havernick, Bleek, Konig, Strack, Cornill, Driver; in encs, etc., RE, HDB, EB, Sch-Herz; critical comms.: Reuss, Die Geschichte der heiligen Schriften AT; Kuenen, The Religion of Israel (English translation); Wellhausen, Geschichte Israels and Prolegomena (English translation); Klostermann, Der Pentateuch; Eerdmans, Alttest. Studien; Addis, Documents of Hexateuch; Olford Hexateuch; EPC.``192';
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isbe[6460]='Numenius`nu-me\'-ni-us (Noumenios): The son of Antiochus, and Antipater were the two ambassadors whom Jonathan sent to the Romans, "to the Spartans, and to other places," after his victory in the plain of Hazor (Galilee) over the princes of Demetrius (1Macc 12:1ff) about 144 BC. Their mission was to confirm and renew the friendship and treaty which had existed from the days of Judas (1Macc 8:17ff). They were well received and successful, both at Rome (1Macc 12:3f) and at Sparta (1Macc 12:19ff; 14:22f). After the death of Jonathan, the victories of Simon and the establishment of peace, Simon sent Numenius on a second embassy to Rome (1Macc 14:24), again to confirm the treaty and present a golden shield weighing 1,000 minae<61>apparently just before the popular decree by which Simon was created high priest, leader and captain "for ever" (1Macc 14:27ff), September, 141 BC. The embassy returned in 139 BC, bearing letters from the senate to the kings of Egypt, Syria and "all the countries," confirming the integrity of Jewish territory, and forbidding these kings to disturb the Jews, and requiring them also to surrender any deserters (1Macc 14:15ff). See also <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=LUCIUS">LUCIUS</a>; Schurer, Gesch. des judischen Volkes (3rd and 4th editions), I, 236, 250 f.``5';
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isbe[6461]='Nun (1)`noon ("n"): The 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "n". It came also to be used for the number 50.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ALPHABET">ALPHABET</a>`1';
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isbe[6462]='Nun (2)`nun (nun "fish," derivative meaning "fecundity"): Father of Joshua (referred to thus 29 times) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',33,11);">Ex 33:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,28);">Nu 11:28</a>, etc.; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',7,27);">1Ch 7:27</a>, margin "Non"; Sirach 46:1, margin "Nave").``1';
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isbe[6463]='Nurse; Nursing`nurs, nurs\'-ing: "Nurse" in the King James Version represents two different Hebrew words: In 8 passages (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,59);">Ge 24:59</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">35:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',2,7,9);">Ex 2:7,9</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',11,2);">2Ki 11:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',22,11);">2Ch 22:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',49,23);">Isa 49:23</a>) the word<72>noun or verb<72>renders some form of the verb yanaq, "to suck." The feminine causative part. of this verb is commonly used to denote nurse or foster-mother. According to <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',2,7);">Ex 2:7</a> Moses\' mother<65>"a nurse of the Hebrew women"<22>became, at Pharaoh\'s daughter\'s request, the foster-mother of the foundling. Joash, the son of Ahaziah, was in charge of a nurse until he was 7 years old (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',11,2);">2Ki 11:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',22,11);">2Ch 22:11</a>). But it is obvious that the term was used in a more general way, e.g. of a lady\'s maid or tire-woman. Rebekah was accompanied by her nurse when she left home to be married (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,59);">Ge 24:59</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">35:8</a>). In 5 passages (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,12);">Nu 11:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',4,16);">Ru 4:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',4,4);">2Sa 4:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',49,23);">Isa 49:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',60,4);">60:4</a> the King James Version) "nurse" represents the Hebrew word, \'aman, "to support," "be faithful," "nourish." The participle of this verb denoted a person who had charge of young children<65>a guardian or governess. Naomi took charge of Ruth\'s child "and became nurse unto it" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',4,16);">Ru 4:16</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',11,12);">Nu 11:12</a> Moses asks whether he has to take charge of the Israelites "as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child." The same word is found in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',10,15);">2Ki 10:15</a> (the King James Version "them that brought up," i.e. "guardians of the sons of Ahab) and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Est\',2,7);">Es 2:7</a> (the King James Version "and he brought up," i.e. he (Mordecai) adopted, his niece). Deutero-Isa uses both terms together (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',49,23);">Isa 49:23</a>) to describe the exalted position of Israel in the future when foreign kings and queens will offer their services and wait upon the chosen people.<P>In the solitary passage in the New Testament where "nurse" occurs, it renders the Greek word trophos. In this case the word does not mean a hired nurse, but a mother who nurses her own children (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Th\',2,7);">1Th 2:7</a>).``103';
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isbe[6464]='Nurture`nur\'-tur: The word occurs in the King James Version in <a onClick="return mV(\'Eph\',6,4);">Eph 6:4</a> as the translation of paideia, but the Revised Version (British and American) changes to "chastening," and uses "nurture" (verb) for the King James Version "bring up" (ektrepho) in the first part of the verse. Paideia has the idea of training and correction; in the Revised Version (British and American) 2Esdras 8:12 for Latin erudio; and compare the King James Version The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 3:11</span>; Sirach 18:13 (paideuo), etc.``1';
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isbe[6465]='Nuts`nuts:<P>(1) (\'eghoz; karua; Arabic jauz, "the walnut" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Sgs\',6,11);">So 6:11</a>)): This is certainly the walnut tree, Juglans regia, a native of Persia and the Himalayas which flourishes under favorable conditions in all parts of Palestine; particularly in the mountains. In such situations it attains the height of from 60 to 90 ft. A grove of such trees affords the most delightful shade.<P>(2) (botnim; terebinthoi (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',43,11);">Ge 43:11</a>, margin "pistachio nuts")): The Hebrew is perhaps allied to the Arabic butm, the "terebinth," which is closely allied to the Pistacia vera, Natural Order Anacardiaceae, which produces pistachio nuts. These nuts, known in Arabic as fistuq, are prime favorites with the people of Palestine. They are oblong, 3/4 inches long, with green, oily cotyledons. They are eaten raw and are also made into various sweets and confectionery. They are a product of Palestine, very likely to be sent as a present to Egypt (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',43,11);">Ge 43:11</a>).``117';
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isbe[6466]='Nymphas`nim\'-fas (Numphas; Lachmann, Tregelles (margin), Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek read Numpha, the name of a woman (<a onClick="return mV(\'Col\',4,15);">Col 4:15</a>)):<P>1. A Christian in Laodicea:<P>A Christian resident in Laodicea, to whom Paul sends salutations in the epistle which he wrote from Rome to the church in Colosse, the latter city being only a very few miles distant from Laodicea. Indeed, so near were they, that Paul directs that the Epistle to the Colossians be read also in Laodicea. Nymphas<61>or if Nympha be read, then it is a Christian lady who is meant<6E>was a person of outstanding worth and importance in the church of Laodicea, for he had granted the use of his dwelling-house for the ordinary weekly meetings of the church. The apostle\'s salutation is a 3-fold one<6E>to the brethren that are in Laodicea, that is to the whole of the Christian community in that city, and to Nymphas, and to the church in his house.<P>2. The Church in His House:<P>This fact, that the church met there, also shows that Nymphas was a person of some means, for a very small house could not have accommodated the Christian men and women who gathered together on the first day of every week for the purposes of Christian worship. The church in Laodicea<65>judging not only from the Epistle to the Ephesians, which is really Paul\'s Epistle to the Laodiceans, and which indicates that the church in Laodicea had a numerous membership, but also from what is said of it in <a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',3,17);">Re 3:17</a> the King James Version<6F>must have been large and influential: "Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." The house of Nymphas, therefore, must have possessed a large room or saloon sufficiently commodious to allow the meeting of a numerous company. Nymphas would he a person both of Christian character and of generous feeling, and of some amount of wealth. Nothing more is known regarding him, as this is the only passage in which he is named.``155';
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isbe[6467]='Oabdius`o-ab\'-di-us (Codex Alexandrinus Oabdios; Codex Vaticanus eios, Fritzsche, Ioabdios, omitted in the King James Version): One of the sons of Ela who put away their "strange wives" (1Esdras 9:27) = "Abdi" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,26);">Ezr 10:26</a>.``1';
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isbe[6468]='Oak`ok: Several Hebrew words are so translated, but there has always been great doubt as to which words should be translated "oak" and which "terebinth." This uncertainty appears in the Septuagint and all through English Versions of the Bible; in recent revisions "terebinth" has been increasingly added in the margin. All the Hebrew words are closely allied and may originally have had simply the meaning of "tree" but it is clear that, when the Old Testament was written, they indicated some special kind of tree.<P>1. Hebrew Words and References:<P>The words and references are as follows:<P>(1) \'elah (in the Septuagint usually terebinthos. in Vulgate (Jerome\'s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) terebinthus, or, more commonly, quercus) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,4);">Ge 35:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',6,11,19);">Jud 6:11,19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',18,9,10,14);">2Sa 18:9,10,14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',13,14);">1Ki 13:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',10,12);">1Ch 10:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,30);">Isa 1:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',6,13);">Eze 6:13</a><3E>in all these margin "terebinth "). In <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',6,13);">Isa 6:13</a> (the King James Version "teil tree") and <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',4,13);">Ho 4:13</a> (the King James Version "elms") the translation is "terebinths" because of the juxtaposition of \'allon, translated "oaks." "Vale of Elah" (margin "the Terebinth") is found in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',17,2,19);">1Sa 17:2,19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',21,9);">21:9</a>. The expression in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,30);">Isa 1:30</a>, "whose leaf fadeth," is more appropriate to the terebinth than the oak (see below).<P>(2) \'allah (terebinthos, quercus (Vulgate)), apparently a slight variant for \'elah; only in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',24,26);">Jos 24:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,4);">Ge 35:4</a> (\'elah) and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,6);">Jud 9:6</a> (\'elon).<P>(3) \'elim or \'eylim, perhaps plural of \'elah occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,29);">Isa 1:29</a> (margin "terebinths"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',57,5);">Isa 57:5</a>, margin "with idols," the King James Version "idols," margin "oaks"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',61,3);">Isa 61:3</a>, "trees"; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',31,14);">Eze 31:14</a> (text very doubtful), "height," the King James Version margin "upon themselves"; \'el, in El-paran Septuagint terebinthos) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,6);">Ge 14:6</a>), probably means the "tree" or "terebinth" of Paran. Celsius (Hierob. 1,34ff) argues at length that the above words apply well to the <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=TEREBINTH">TEREBINTH</a> (which see) in all the passages in which they occur.<P>(4) \'elon (usually drus, "oak"), in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',12,6);">Ge 12:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',13,18);">13:18</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,13);">14:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',18,1);">18:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',11,30);">De 11:30</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',19,33);">Jos 19:33</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',4,11);">Jud 4:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,6,37);">9:6,37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,3);">1Sa 10:3</a> (the King James Version "plain"); in all these references the margin has "terebinth" or "terebinths." In <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',12,6);">Ge 12:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',11,30);">De 11:30</a> we have "oak" or "oaks" "of the teacher" (Moreh); "oak in Zaanannim" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',4,11);">Jud 4:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',19,33);">Jos 19:33</a>; the "oak of Meonenim," margin "the augurs\' oak (or, terebinth)" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',9,37);">Jud 9:37</a>.<P>(5) \'allon (commonly drus, or balanos), in <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">Ge 35:8</a> (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,4);">35:4</A>); <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',4,13);">Ho 4:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',6,13);">Isa 6:13</a>, is contrasted with \'elah, showing that \'allon and \'elah cannot be identical, so no marginal references occur; also in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',44,14);">Isa 44:14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',2,9);">Am 2:9</a>, but in all other passages, the margin "terebinth" or "terebinths" occurs. "Oaks of Bashan" occurs in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',2,13);">Isa 2:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,6);">Eze 27:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',11,2);">Zec 11:2</a>.<P>If (1) (2) (3) refer especially to the terebinth, then (4) and (5) are probably correctly translated "oak." If we may judge at all by present conditions, "oaks" of Bashan is far more correct than "terebinths" of Bashan.<P>2. Varieties of Oak:<P>There are, according to Post (Flora of Palestine, 737-41), no less than 9 species of oak (Natural Order Cupuliferae) in Syria, and he adds to these 12 sub-varieties. Many of these have no interest except to the botanist. The following species are widespread and distinctive:<p>(1) The "Turkey oak," Quercus cerris, known in Arabic as Ballut, as its name implies, abounds all over European Turkey and Greece and is common in Palestine. Under favorable conditions it attains to great size, reaching as much as 60 ft. in height. It is distinguished by its large sessile acorns with hemispherical cups covered with long, narrow, almost bristly, scales, giving them a mossy aspect. The wood is hard and of fine grain. Galls are common upon its branches.<P>(2) Quercus lusitanica (or Ballota), also known in Arabic as Ballut, like the last is frequently found dwarfed to a bush, but, when protected, attains a height of 30 ft. or more. The leaves are denate or crenate and last late into the winter, but are shed before the new twigs are developed. The acorns are solitary or few in cluster, and the cupules are more or less smooth. Galls are common, and a variety of this species is often known as Q. infectoria, on account of its liability to infection with galls.<P>(3) The Valonica oak (Q. aceglops), known in Arabic as Mellut, has large oblong or ovate deciduous leaves, with deep serrations terminating in a bristle-like point, and very large acorns, globular, thick cupules covered with long reflexed scales. The cupules, known commercially as valonica, furnish one of the richest of tanning materials.<P>(4) The Evergreen oak is often classed under the general name "Ilex oak" or Holm (i.e. holly-like) oak. Several varieties are described as occurring in Palestine. Q. ilex usually has rather a shrublike growth, with abundant glossy, dark-green leaves, oval in shape and more or less prickly at the margins, though sometimes entire. The cupules of the acorns are woolly. It shows a marked predilection for the neighborhood of the sea. The Q. coccifera (with var. Q. pseudococcifera) is known in Arabic as Sindian. The leaves, like the last, usually are prickly. The acorns are solitary or twin, and the hemispherical cupules are more or less velvety. On the Q. coccifera are found the insects which make the well-known Kermes dye. These evergreen oaks are the common trees at sacred tombs, and the once magnificent, but now dying, "Abraham\'s oak" at Hebron is one of this species.<P>3. Oaks in Modern Palestine:<P>Oaks occur in all parts of Palestine, in spite of the steady ruthless destruction which has been going on for centuries. All over Carmel, Tabor, around Banias and in the hills to the west of Nazareth, to mention well-known localities, there are forests of oak; great tracts of country, especially in Galilee and east of the Jordan, are covered by a stunted brushwood which, were it not for the wood-cutter, would grow into noble trees. Solitary oaks of magnificent proportions occur in many parts of the land, especially upon hilltops; such trees are saved from destruction because of their "sacred" character. To bury beneath such a tree has ever been a favorite custom (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">Ge 35:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',10,12);">1Ch 10:12</a>). Large trees like these, seen often from great distances, are frequently landmarks (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jos\',19,33);">Jos 19:33</a>) or places of meeting (compare "Oak of Tabor," <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,3);">1Sa 10:3</a>). The custom of heathen worship beneath oaks or terebinths (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',4,13);">Ho 4:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',6,13);">Eze 6:13</a>, etc.) finds its modern counterpart in the cult of the Wely in Palestine. The oak is sometimes connected with some historical event, as e.g. Abraham\'s oak of Mamre now shown at Hebron, and "the oak of weeping," Allon bacuth, of <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">Ge 35:8</a>.``117';
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isbe[6469]='Oak of Tabor`(\'elon tabhor): Thus the Revised Version (British and American) in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',10,3);">1Sa 10:3</a> for the King James Version "plain of Tabor" (the Revised Version margin "terebinth"). Tabor was famous for its groves of oak, but what "oak" is meant here is not known. Ewald thinks that "Tabor" is a different pronunciation for "Deborah," and connects with <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',35,8);">Ge 35:8</a>; but this is not likely.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=OAK">OAK</a>`1';
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isbe[6470]='Oar`or.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SHIPS+AND+BOATS">SHIPS AND BOATS</a>`1';
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isbe[6471]='Oath`oth (shebhu\'ah, probably from shebha\', "seven," the sacred number, which occurs frequently in the ritual of an oath; horkos; and the stronger word \'alah, by which a curse is actually invoked upon the oath-breaker Septuagint ara)): In <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,\'70-74\');">Mt 26:70-74</a> Peter first denies his Lord simply, then with an oath (shebhu\'ah), then invokes a curse (\'alah), thus passing through every stage of asseveration.<P>1. Law Regarding Oaths:<P>The oath is the invoking of a curse upon one\'s self if one has not spoken the truth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,74);">Mt 26:74</a>), or if one fails to keep a promise (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',19,6);">1Sa 19:6</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',20,17);">20:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',15,21);">2Sa 15:21</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',19,23);">19:23</a>). It played a very important part, not only in lawsuits (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',22,11);">Ex 22:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',6,3,5);">Le 6:3,5</a>) and state affairs (Ant., XV, x, 4), but also in the dealings of everyday life (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,37);">Ge 24:37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',50,5);">50:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',21,5);">Jud 21:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',18,10);">1Ki 18:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,5);">Ezr 10:5</a>). The Mosaic laws concerning oaths were not meant to limit the widespread custom of making oaths, so much as to impress upon the people the sacredness of an oath, forbidding on the one hand swearing falsely (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',20,7);">Ex 20:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,12);">Le 19:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',8,17);">Zec 8:17</a>, etc.), and on the other swearing by false gods, which latter was considered to be a very dark sin (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',12,16);">Jer 12:16</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',8,14);">Am 8:14</a>). In the Law only two kinds of false swearing are mentioned: false swearing of a witness, and false asseveration upon oath regarding a thing found or received (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',5,1);">Le 5:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',6,2);">6:2</a>ff; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',29,24);">Pr 29:24</a>). Both required a sin offering (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',5,1);">Le 5:1</a>). The Talmud gives additional rules, and lays down certain punishments for false swearing; in the case of a thing found it states what the false swearer must pay (Makkoth 2 3; Shebhu\'oth 8 3). The Jewish interpretation of the 3rd commandment is that it is not concerned with oaths, but rather forbids the use of the name of Yahweh in ordinary cases (so Dalman).<P>2. Forms of Swearing:<P>Swearing in the name of the Lord (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,22);">Ge 14:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',6,13);">De 6:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',21,7);">Jud 21:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',1,17);">Ru 1:17</a>, etc.) was a sign of loyalty to Him (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',10,20);">De 10:20</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',48,11);">Isa 48:11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',12,16);">Jer 12:16</a>). We know from Scripture (see above) that swearing by false gods was frequent, and we learn also from the newly discovered Elephantine papyrus that the people not only swore by Jahu (= Yahweh) or by the Lord of Heaven, but also among a certain class of other gods, e.g. by Herem-Bethel, and by Isum. In ordinary intercourse it was customary to swear by the life of the person addressed (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',1,26);">1Sa 1:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',20,3);">20:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',2,2);">2Ki 2:2</a>); by the life of the king (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',17,55);">1Sa 17:55</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',25,26);">25:26</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',11,11);">2Sa 11:11</a>); by one\'s own head (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,36);">Mt 5:36</a>); by the earth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,35);">Mt 5:35</a>); by the heaven (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,34);">Mt 5:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,22);">23:22</a>); by the angels (BJ, II, xvi, 4); by the temple (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,16);">Mt 23:16</a>), and by different parts of it (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,16);">Mt 23:16</a>); by Jerusalem (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,35);">Mt 5:35</a>; compare Kethubhoth <span class="noTag">2:9</span>). The oath "by heaven" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,34);">Mt 5:34</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',23,22);">23:22</a>) is counted by Jesus as the oath in which God\'s name is invoked. Jesus does not mean that God and heaven are identical, but He desires to rebuke those who paltered with an oath by avoiding a direct mention of a name of God. He teaches that such an oath is a real oath and must be considered as sacredly binding.<P>3. The Formula:<P>Not much is told us as to the ceremonies observed in taking an oath. In patriarchal times he who took the oath put his hand under the thigh of him to whom the oath was taken (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,2);">Ge 24:2</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',47,29);">47:29</a>). The most usual form was to hold up the hand to heaven (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',14,22);">Ge 14:22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',6,8);">Ex 6:8</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',32,40);">De 32:40</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',20,5);">Eze 20:5</a>). The wife suspected of unfaithfulness, when brought before the priest, had to answer "Amen, Amen" to his adjuration, and this was considered to be an oath on her part (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',5,22);">Nu 5:22</a>). The usual formula of an oath was either: "God is witness betwixt me and thee" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',31,50);">Ge 31:50</a>), or more commonly: "As Yahweh (or God) liveth" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',8,19);">Jud 8:19</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',3,13);">Ru 3:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',2,27);">2Sa 2:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',38,16);">Jer 38:16</a>); or "Yahweh be a true and faithful witness amongst us" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',42,5);">Jer 42:5</a>). Usually the penalty invoked by the oath was only suggested: "Yahweh (or God) do so to me" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',1,17);">Ru 1:17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',3,9,35);">2Sa 3:9,35</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',2,23);">1Ki 2:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',6,31);">2Ki 6:31</a>); in some cases the punishment was expressly mentioned (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',29,22);">Jer 29:22</a>). Nowack suggests that in general the punishment was not expressly mentioned because of a superstitious fear that the person swearing, although speaking the truth, might draw upon himself some of the punishment by merely mentioning it.<P>Philo expresses the desire (ii.194) that the practice of swearing should be discontinued, and the Essenes used no oaths (BJ, II, viii, 6; Ant., XV, x, 4).<P>4. Oaths Permissible:<P>That oaths are permissible to Christians is shown by the example of our Lord (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',26,63);">Mt 26:63</a>f), and of Paul (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',1,23);">2Co 1:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gal\',1,20);">Ga 1:20</a>) and even of God Himself (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',6,\'13-18\');">Heb 6:13-18</a>). Consequently when Christ said, "Swear not at all" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',5,34);">Mt 5:34</a>), He was laying down the principle that the Christian must not have two standards of truth, but that his ordinary speech must be as sacredly true as his oath. In the kingdom of God, where that principle holds sway, oaths become unnecessary.``98';
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isbe[6472]='Obadiah`o-ba-di\'-a (\'obhadhyah, more fully \'obhadhyahu, "servant of Yahweh"):<P>(1) The steward or prime minister of Ahab, who did his best to protect the prophets of Yahweh against Jezebel\'s persecution. He met Elijah on his return from Zarephath, and bore to Ahab the news of Elijah\'s reappearance (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',18,\'3-16\');">1Ki 18:3-16</a>).<P>(2) The prophet (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,1);">Ob 1:1</a>). See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=OBADIAH,+BOOK+OF">OBADIAH, BOOK OF</a>.<P>(3) A descendant of David (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',3,21);">1Ch 3:21</a>).<P>(4) A chief of the tribe of Issachar (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',7,3);">1Ch 7:3</a>).<P>(5) A descendant of Saul (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',8,38);">1Ch 8:38</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',9,44);">9:44</a>).<P>(6) A Levite descended from Jeduthun (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',9,16);">1Ch 9:16</a>), identical with Abda (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',11,17);">Ne 11:17</a>).<P>(7) A chief of the Gadites (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',12,9);">1Ch 12:9</a>).<P>(8) A Zebulunite, father of the chief Ishmaiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',27,19);">1Ch 27:19</a>).<P>(9) One of the princes sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law in Judah (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',17,7);">2Ch 17:7</a>).<P>(10) A Merarite employed by Josiah to oversee the workmen in repairing the temple (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',34,12);">2Ch 34:12</a>).<P>(11) The head of a family who went up with Ezra from Babylon (<a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',8,9);">Ezr 8:9</a>).<P>(12) One of the men who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',10,5);">Ne 10:5</a>).<P>(13) A gate-keeper in the days of Nehemiah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',12,25);">Ne 12:25</a>).<P>The name "Obadiah" was common in Israel from the days of David to the close of the Old Testament. An ancient Hebrew seal bears the inscription "Obadiah the servant of the King."``156';
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isbe[6473]='Obadiah, Book of`Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. The theme of the book is the destruction of Edom. Consequent upon the overthrow of Edom is the enlargement of the borders of Judah and the establishment of the kingship of Yahweh. Thus far all scholars are agreed; but on questions of authorship and date there is wide divergence of opinion.<P>1. Contents of the Book:<P>(1) Yahweh summons the nations to the overthrow of proud Edom. The men of Esau will be brought down from their lofty strongholds; their hidden treasures will be rifled; their confederates will turn against them; nor will the wise and the mighty men in Edom be able to avert the crushing calamity (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-9\');">Ob 1:1-9</a>).<P>(2) The overthrow of Edom is due to the violence and cruelty shown toward his brother Jacob. The prophet describes the cruelty and shameless gloating over a brother\'s calamity, in the form of earnest appeals to Edom not to do the selfish and heartless deeds of which he had been guilty when Jerusalem was sacked by foreign foes (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'10-14\');">Ob 1:10-14</a>).<P>(3) The day of the display of Yahweh\'s retributive righteousness upon the nations is near. Edom shall be completely destroyed by the people whom he has tried to uproot, while Israel\'s captives shall return to take possession of their own land and also to seize and rule the mount of Esau. Thus the kingship of Yahweh shall be established (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'15-21\');">Ob 1:15-21</a>).<P>2. Unity of the Book:<P>The unity of Obadiah was first challenged by Eichhorn in 1824, <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'17-21\');">1:17-21</A> being regarded by him as an appendix attached to the original exilic prophecy in the time of Alexander Janneus (104-78 BC). Ewald thought that an exilic prophet, to whom he ascribed <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'11-14\');">1:11-14</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'19-21\');">19-21</a>, had made use of an older prophecy by Obadiah in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-10\');">1:1-10,</A> and in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'15-18\');">1:15-18</A> of material from another older prophet who was contemporary, like Obadiah, with Isaiah. As the years went on, the material assigned to the older oracle was limited by some to <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-9\');">1:1-9</a> and by others to <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-6\');">1:1-6</a>. Wellhausen assigned to <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-5\',7,10,11,13,14,15);">Obadiah 1:1-5,7,10,11,13,14,15b</a>, while all else was regarded as a later appendix. Barton\'s theory of the composition of Obadiah is thus summed up by Bewer: "<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-6\');">Ob 1:1-6</a> are a pre-exilic oracle of Obadiah, which was quoted by Jeremiah, and readapted with additions (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'7-15\');">Ob 1:7-15</a>) by another Obadiah in the early post-exilic days; <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'16-21\');">1:16-21</a> form an appendix, probably from Maccabean times" (ICC, 5). Bewer\'s own view is closely akin to Barton\'s. He thinks that Obadiah, writing in the 5th century BC, "quoted <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-4\');">1:1-4</a> almost, though not quite, literally; that he commented on the older oracle in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'5-7\');">1:5-7</a>, partly in the words of the older prophet, partly in his own words, in order to show that it had been fulfilled in his own day; and that in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,8-9);">1:8,9</a> he quoted once more from the older oracle without any show of literalness." He ascribes to <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'10-14\');">Obadiah 1:10-14</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,15);">15b</a>. The appendix consists of two sections, <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'15-18\');">1:15a, 16-18</A> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'19-21\');">1:19-21</A>, possibly by different authors, <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,18);">1:18</A> being a quotation from some older prophecy. To the average Bible student all this minute analysis of a brief prophecy must seem hypercritical. He will prefer to read the book as a unity; and in doing so will get the essence of the message it has for the present day.<P>3. Date of the Book:<P>Certain preliminary problems require solution before the question of date can be settled.<P>(1) Relation of Obadiah and <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,\'1-\');">Jeremiah 49</a>.<P>(a) Did Obadiah quote from Jeremiah? Pusey thus sets forth the impossibility of such a solution: "Out of 16 verses of which the prophecy of Jeremiah against Edom consists, four are identical with those of Obadiah; a fifth embodies a verse of Obadiah\'s; of the eleven which remain, ten have some turns of expression or idioms, more or fewer, which recur in Jeremiah, either in these prophecies against foreign nations, or in his prophecies generally. Now it would be wholly improbable that a prophet, selecting verses out of the prophecy of Jeremiah, should have selected precisely those which contain none of Jeremiah\'s characteristic expressions; whereas it perfectly fits in with the supposition that Jeremiah interwove verses of Obadiah with his own prophecy, that in verses so interwoven there is not one expression which occurs elsewhere in Jeremiah" (Minor Prophets, I, 347).<P>(b) Did Jeremiah quote from Obadiah? It is almost incredible that the vigorous and well-articulated prophecy in Obadiah could have been made by piecing together detached quotations from Jer; but Jeremiah may well have taken from Obadiah many expressions that fell in with his general purpose. There are difficulties in applying this view to one or two verses, but it has not been disproved by the arguments from meter advanced by Bewer and others.<P>(c) Did both Obadiah and Jeremiah quote from an older oracle? This is the favorite solution among recent scholars, most of whom think that Obadiah preserves the vigor of the original, while Jeremiah quotes with more freedom; but Bewer in ICC, after a detailed comparison, thus sums up: "Our conclusion is that Obadiah quoted in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-9\');">Ob 1:1-9</a> an older oracle, the original of which is better preserved in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,\'1-\');">Jer 49</a>." The student will do well to get his own first-hand impression from a careful comparison of the two passages. With <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-4\');">Ob 1:1-4</a> compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,\'14-16\');">Jer 49:14-16</a>; with <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,5,6);">Ob 1:5,6</a> compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,9,10);">Jer 49:9,10 a</a>; with <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,8);">Ob 1:8</a> compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,7);">Jer 49:7</a>; with <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,9);">Ob 1:9</a> a compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,22);">Jer 49:22b</a>. On the whole, the view that Jeremiah, who often quotes from earlier prophets, draws directly from Obadiah, with free working over of the older prophets, seems still tenable.<P>(2) Relation of Obadiah and Joel.<P>There seems to be in <a onClick="return mV(\'Joe\',2,32);">Joe 2:32 (Hebrew 3:5)</a> a direct allusion to <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,17);">Ob 1:17</a>. If Joel prophesied during the minority of the boy king Joash (circa 830 BC), Obadiah would be, on this hypothesis, the earliest of the writing prophets.<P>(3) What Capture of Jerusalem Is Described in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'10-14\');">Obadiah 1:10-14</a>?<P>The disaster seems to have been great enough to be called "destruction" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,12);">Ob 1:12</a>). Hence, most scholars identify the calamity described by Obadiah with the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans in 587 BC. But it is remarkable, on this hypothesis, that no allusion is made either in Obadiah or <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',49,\'7-22\');">Jer 49:7-22</a> to the Chaldeans or to the destruction of the temple or to the wholesale transportation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylonia. We know, however, from <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',35,\'1-15\');">Eze 35:1-15</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',137,7);">Ps 137:7</a> that Edom rejoiced over the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans in 587 BC, and that they encouraged the destroyers to blot out the holy city. Certain it is that the events of 587 accord remarkably with the language of <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'10-14\');">Ob 1:10-14</a>. Pusey indeed argues from the use of the form of the direct prohibition in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'12-14\');">Ob 1:12-14</a> that Edom had not yet committed the sins against which the prophet warns him, and so Jerusalem was not yet destroyed, when Obadiah wrote. But almost all modern scholars interpret the language of <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'12-14\');">Ob 1:12-14</a> as referring to what was already past; the prophet "speaks of what the Edomites had actually done as of what they ought not to do." The scholars who regard Obadiah as the first of the writing prophets locate his ministry in Judah during the reign of Jehoram (circa 845 BC). Both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles tell of the war of rebellion in the days of Jehoram when Edom, after a fierce struggle, threw off the yoke of Judah (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',8,\'20-22\');">2Ki 8:20-22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',21,\'8-10\');">2Ch 21:8-10</a>). Shortly after the revolt of Edom, according to <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',21,16);">2Ch 21:16</a>f; the Philistines and Arabians broke into Judah, "and carried away all the substance that was found in the king\'s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons." Evidently the capital city fell into the hands of the invaders. It was a calamity of no mean proportions.<P>The advocates of a late date call attention to three points that weaken the case for an early date for Obadiah:<P>(a) The silence of 2 Kings as to the invasion of the Philistines and Arabians. But what motive could the author of Chronicles have had for inventing the story?<P>(b) The absence of any mention of the destruction of the city by the Philistines and Arabians. It must be acknowledged that the events of 587 BC accord more fully with the description in <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'10-14\');">Ob 1:10-14</a>, though the disaster in the days of Jehoram must have been terrible.<P>(c) The silence as to Edom in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',21,16);">2Ch 21:16</a>f. But so also are the historic books silent as to the part that Edom took in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587.<P>It is true that exilic and post-exilic prophets and psalmists speak in bitter denunciation of the unbrotherly conduct of Edom (<a onClick="return mV(\'Lam\',4,21,22);">La 4:21,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',25,\'12-14\');">Eze 25:12-14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',35,\'1-15\');">35:1-15</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',137,7);">Ps 137:7</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mal\',1,\'1-5\');">Mal 1:1-5</a>; compare also <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',34,1);">Isa 34</a> and 63:1-6); but it is also true that the earliest Hebrew literature bears witness to the keen rivalry between Esau and Jacob (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',25,22);">Ge 25:22</a>f; <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',27,41);">27:41</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',20,\'14-21\');">Nu 20:14-21</a>), and one of the earliest of the writing prophets denounces Edom for unnatural cruelty toward his brother (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,11);">Am 1:11</a>f; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Joe\',3,19);">Joe 3:19 (Heb 4:19)</a>).<P>(4) The Style of Obadiah.<P>Most early critics praise the style. Some of the more recent critics argue for different authors on the basis of a marked difference in style within the compass of the twenty-one verses in the little roll. Thus Selbie writes in HDB: "There is a difference in style between the two halves of the book, the first being terse, animated, and full of striking figures, while the second is diffuse and marked by poverty of ideas and trite figures." The criticism of the latter part of the book is somewhat exaggerated, though it may be freely granted that the first half is more original and vigorous. The Hebrew of the book is classic, with scarcely any admixture of Aramaic words or constructions. The author may well have lived in the golden age of the Hebrew language and literature.<P>(5) Geographical and Historical Allusions.<P>The references to the different sections and cities in the land of Israel and in the land of Edom are quite intelligible. As to Sepharad (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,20);">Ob 1:20</a>) there is considerable difference of opinion. Schrader and some others identify it with a Shaparda in Media, mentioned in the annals of Sargon (722-705 BC). Many think of Asia Minor, or a region in Asia Minor mentioned in Persian inscriptions, perhaps Bithynia or Galatia (Sayce). Some think that the mention of "the captives of this host of the children of Israel" and "the captives of Jerusalem" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,20);">Ob 1:20</a>) proves that both the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian exile were already past. This argument has considerable force; but it is well to remember that Amos, in the first half of the 8th century, describes wholesale deportations from the land of Israel by men engaged in the slave trade (<a onClick="return mV(\'Amo\',1,\'6-10\');">Am 1:6-10</a>). The problem of the date of Obadiah has not been solved to the satisfaction of Biblical students. Our choice must be between a very early date (circa 845) and a date shortly after 587, with the scales almost evenly balanced.<P>4. Interpretation of the Book:<P>Obadiah is to be interpreted as prediction rather than history. In <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'11-14\');">1:11-14</a> there are elements of historic description, but <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'1-10\');">1:1-10</a> and <a onClick="return mV(\'Oba\',1,\'15-21\');">15-21</a> are predictive.<P>LITERATURE.<P>Comms.: Caspari, Der Prophet Obadjah ausgelegt, 1842; Pusey, The Minor Prophets, 1860; Ewald, Commentary on the Prophets of the Old Testament (English translation), II, 277ff, 1875; Keil (ET), 1880; T.T. Perowne (in Cambridge Bible), 1889; von Orelli (English translation), The Minor Prophets, 1893; Wellhausen, Die kleinen Propheten, 1898; G.A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, II, 163ff, 1898; Nowack, Die kleinen Propheten, 1903; Marti, Dodekapropheton, 1903; Eiselen, The Minor Prophets, 1907; Bewer, ICC, 1911. Miscellaneous: Kirkpatrick, Doctrine of the Prophets, 33ff; Intros of Driver, Wildeboer, etc.; Selbie in HDB, III, 577-80; Barton in JE, IX, 369-70; Cheyne in EB, III, 3455-62; Peckham, An Introduction to the Study of Obadiah, 1910; Kent, Students\' Old Testament, III, 1910.``156';
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isbe[6474]='Obal`o\'-bal.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=EBAL">EBAL</a>`1';
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isbe[6475]='Obdia`ob-di\'-a (Codex Alexandrinus Obdia; Codex Vaticanus Hobbeia): One of the families of usurping priests (1Esdras 5:38) = "Habaiah" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',2,61);">Ezr 2:61</a>; "Hobaiah" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Neh\',7,63);">Ne 7:63</a>.``1';
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isbe[6476]='Obed`o\'-bed (\'obhedh, "worshipper"; in the New Testament Iobed):<P>(1) Son of Boaz and Ruth and grandfather of David (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rth\',4,17,21,22);">Ru 4:17,21,22</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',2,12);">1Ch 2:12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',1,5);">Mt 1:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',3,32);">Lu 3:32</a>).<P>(2) Son of Ephlal and descendant of Sheshan, the Jerahmeelite, through his daughter who was married to Jarha, an Egyptian servant of her father\'s (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',2,37,38);">1Ch 2:37,38</a>).<P>(3) One of David\'s mighty men (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',11,47);">1Ch 11:47</a>).<P>(4) A Korahite doorkeeper, son of Shemaiah, and grandson of Obed-edom (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',26,7);">1Ch 26:7</a>).<P>(5) Father of Azariah, one of the centurions who took part with Jehoiada in deposing Queen Athaliah and crowning Joash (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',23,1);">2Ch 23:1</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',11,\'1-16\');">2Ki 11:1-16</a>).``149';
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isbe[6477]='Obed-Edom`o\'-bed-e\'-dom (\'obhedh \'edhowm (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',25,24);">2Ch 25:24</a>), \'obhedd \'edhom (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,10);">2Sa 6:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',13,13,14);">1Ch 13:13,14</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,25);">15:25</a>), but elsewhere without hyphen, "servant of (god) Edom"; so W. R. Smith, Religion of Semites (2), 42,and H. P. Smith, Samuel, 294f; though others explain it as = "servant of man"): In <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,10,11,12);">2Sa 6:10,11,12</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',13,13,14);">1Ch 13:13,14</a> a Philistine of Gath and servant of David, who received the Ark of Yahweh into his house when David brought it into Jerusalem from Kiriath-jearim. Because of the sudden death of Uzzah, David was unwilling to proceed with the Ark to his citadel, and it remained three months in the house of Obed-edom, "and Yahweh blessed Obed-edom, and all his house" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',6,11);">2Sa 6:11</a>). According to <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',13,14);">1Ch 13:14</a> the Ark had a special "house" of its own while there. He is probably the same as the Levite of <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,25);">1Ch 15:25</a>. In <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,\'16-21\');">1Ch 15:16-21</a> Obed-edom is a "singer," and in <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',15,24);">1Ch 15:24</a> a "doorkeeper," while according to <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',26,\'4-8\',15);">1Ch 26:4-8,15</a> he is a Korahite doorkeeper, to whose house fell the overseership of the storehouse (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',26,15);">26:15</a>), while <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',16,5.38);">1Ch 16:5,38</a> names him as a "minister before the ark," a member of the house or perhaps guild of Jeduthun (see <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',25,24);">2Ch 25:24</a>).<P>Obed-edom is an illustration of the service rendered to Hebrew religion by foreigners, reminding one of the Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross of Jesus (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',27,32);">Mt 27:32</a>, etc.). The Chronicler naturally desired to think that only Levites could discharge such duties as Obed-edom performed, and hence, the references to him as a Levite.``149';
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isbe[6478]='Obedience of Christ`The "obedience" (hupakoe) of Christ is directly mentioned but 3 times in the New Testament, although many other passages describe or allude to it: "Through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',5,19);">Ro 5:19</a>); "He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,8);">Php 2:8</a>); "Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,8);">Heb 5:8</a>). In <a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',10,5);">2Co 10:5</a>, the phrase signifies an attitude toward Christ: "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."<P>1. As an Element of Conduct and Character:<P>His subjection to His parents (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',2,51);">Lu 2:51</a>) was a necessary manifestation of His loving and sinless character, and of His disposition and power to do the right in any situation. His obedience to the moral law in every particular is asserted by the New Testament writers: "without sin" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',4,15);">Heb 4:15</a>); "who knew no sin" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Cr\',5,21);">2Co 5:21</a>); "holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',7,26);">Heb 7:26</a>), etc.; and is affirmed by Himself: "Which of you convicteth me of sin?" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,46);">Joh 8:46</a>); and implicitly conceded by His enemies, since no shadow of accusation against His character appears. Of His ready, loving, joyful, exact and eager obedience to the Father, mention will be made later, but it was His central and most outstanding characteristic, the filial at its highest reach, limitless, "unto death." His usually submissive and law-abiding attitude toward the authorities and the great movements and religious requirements of His day was a part of His loyalty to God, and of the strategy of His campaign, the action of the one who would set an example and wield an influence, as at His baptism: "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',3,15);">Mt 3:15</a>); the synagogue worship (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,16);">Lu 4:16</a>, "as his custom was"); the incident of the tribute money: "Therefore the sons are free. But, lest we cause them to stumble," etc. (<a onClick="return mV(\'Mat\',17,\'24-27\');">Mt 17:24-27</a>). Early, however, the necessities of His mission as Son of God and institutor of the new dispensation obliged Him frequently to display a judicial antagonism to current prescription and an authoritative superiority to the rulers; and even to important details of the Law, that would in most eyes mark Him as insurgent, and did culminate in the cross, but was the sublimest obedience to the Father, whose authority alone He, as full-grown man, and Son of man, could recognize.<P>2. Its Christological Bearing:<P>Two Scriptural statements raise an important question as to the inner experience of Jesus. <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,8);">Heb 5:8</a> states that "though he was a Son, yet learned (he) obedience by the things which he suffered" (emathen aph\' hon epathen ten hupakoen); <a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,6,8);">Php 2:6,8</a> Existing in the form of God...he humbled himself, becoming obedient, even unto death." As Son of God, His will was never out of accord with the Father\'s will. How then was it necessary to, or could He, learn obedience, or become obedient? The same question in another form arises from another part of the passage in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,9);">Heb 5:9</a>: "And having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author (cause) of eternal salvation"; also <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',2,10);">Heb 2:10</a>: "It became him (God)...to make the author (captain) of their salvation perfect through sufferings." How and why should the perfect be made perfect? Gethsemane, with which, indeed, <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,8);">Heb 5:8</a> is directly related, presents the same problem. It finds its solution in the conditions of the Redeemer\'s work and life on earth in the light of His true humanity. Both in His eternal essence and in His human existence, obedience to His Father was His dominant principle, so declared through the prophet-psalmist before His birth: <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',10,7);">Heb 10:7</a> (<a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',40,7);">Ps 40:7</a>), "Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God." It was His law of life: "I do always the things that are pleasing to him. I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',8,28,29);">Joh 8:28,29</a>); "I can of myself do nothing...I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',5,30);">Joh 5:30</a>). It was the indispensable process of His activity as the "image of the invisible God," the expression of the Deity in terms of the phenomenal and the human. He could be a perfect revelation only by the perfect correspondence in every detail, of will, word and work with the Father\'s will (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',5,19);">Joh 5:19</a>). Obedience was also His life nourishment and satisfaction (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',4,34);">Joh 4:34</a>). It was the guiding principle which directed the details of His work: "I have power to lay it (life) down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',10,18);">Joh 10:18</a>); "The Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',12,49);">Joh 12:49</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',14,31);">14:31</A>, etc.). But in the Incarnation this essential and filial obedience must find expression in human forms according to human demands and processes of development. As true man, obedient disposition on His part must meet the test of voluntary choice under all representative conditions, culminating in that which was supremely hard, and at the limit which should reveal its perfection of extent and strength. It must become hardened, as it were, and confirmed, through a definite obedient act, into obedient human character. The patriot must become the veteran. The Son, obedient on the throne, must exercise the practical virtue of obedience on earth. Gethsemane was the culmination of this process, when in full view of the awful, shameful, horrifying meaning of Calvary, the obedient disposition was crowned, and the obedient Divine-human life reached its highest manifestation, in the great ratification: "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." But just as Jesus\' growth in knowledge was not from error to truth, but from partial knowledge to completer, so His "learning obedience" led Him not from disobedience or debate to submission, but from obedience at the present stage to an obedience at ever deeper and deeper cost. The process was necessary for His complete humanity, in which sense He was "made perfect," complete, by suffering. It was also necessary for His perfection as example and sympathetic High Priest. He must fight the human battles under the human conditions. Having translated obedient aspiration and disposition into obedient action in the face of, and in suffering unto, death, even the death of the cross, He is able to lead the procession of obedient sons of God through every possible trial and surrender. Without this testing of His obedience He could have had the sympathy of clear and accurate knowledge, for He "knew what was in man," but He would have lacked the sympathy of a kindred experience. Lacking this, He would have been for us, and perhaps also in Himself, but an imperfect "captain of our salvation," certainly no "file leader" going before us in the very paths we have to tread, and tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. It may be worth noting that He "learned obedience" and was "made perfect" by suffering, not the results of His own sins, as we do largely, but altogether the results of the sins of others.<P>3. In Its Soteriological Bearings:<P>In <a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',5,19);">Ro 5:19</a>, in the series of contrasts between sin and salvation ("Not as the trespass, so also is the free gift"), we are told: "For as through the one man\'s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous." Interpreters and theologians, especially the latter, differ as to whether "obedience" here refers to the specific and supreme act of obedience on the cross, or to the sum total of Christ\'s incarnate obedience through His whole life; and they have made the distinction between His "passive obedience," yielded on the cross, and His "active obedience" in carrying out without a flaw the Father\'s will at all times. This distinction is hardly tenable, as the whole Scriptural representation, especially His own, is that He was never more intensely active than in His death: "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',12,50);">Lu 12:50</a>); "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Jhn\',10,17,18);">Joh 10:17,18</a>). "Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',9,14);">Heb 9:14</a>), indicates the active obedience of one who was both priest and sacrifice. As to the question whether it was the total obedience of Christ, or His death on the cross, that constituted the atonement, and the kindred question whether it was not the spirit of obedience in the act of death, rather than the act itself, that furnished the value of His redemptive work, it might conceivably, though improbably, be said that "the one act of righteousness" through which "the free gift came" was His whole life considered as one act. But these ideas are out of line with the unmistakable trend of Scripture, which everywhere lays principal stress on the death of Christ itself; it is the center and soul of the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord\'s Supper; it holds first place in the Gospels, not as obedience, but as redemptive suffering and death; it is unmistakably put forth in this light by Christ Himself in His few references to His death: "ransom," "my blood," etc. Paul\'s teaching everywhere emphasizes the death, and in but two places the obedience; Peter indeed speaks of Christ as an ensample, but leaves as his characteristic thought that Christ "suffered for sins once...put to death in the flesh" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',3,18);">1Pe 3:18</a>). In Hebrews the center and significance of Christ\'s whole work is that He "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself"; while John in many places emphasizes the death as atonement: "Unto him that...loosed us from our sins by his blood" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rev\',1,5);">Re 1:5</a>), and elsewhere. The Scripture teaching is that "God set (him) forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',3,25);">Ro 3:25</a>). His lifelong obedience enters in chiefly as making and marking Him the "Lamb without blemish and without spot," who alone could be the atoning sacrifice. If it enters further, it is as the preparation and anticipation of that death, His life so dominated and suffused with the consciousness of the coming sacrifice that it becomes really a part of the death. His obedience at the time of His death could not have been atonement, for it had always existed and had not atoned; but it was the obedience that turned the possibility of atonement into the fact of atonement. He obediently offered up, not His obedience, but Himself. He is set forth as propitiation, not in His obedience, but in His blood, His death, borne as the penalty of sin, in His own body on the tree. The distinction is not one of mere academic theological interest. It involves the whole question of the substitutionary and propitiatory in Christ\'s redemptive work, which is central, vital and formative, shaping the entire conception of Christianity. The blessed and helpful part which our Lord\'s complete and loving obedience plays in the working out of Christian character, by His example and inspiration, must not be underestimated, nor its meaning as indicating the quality of the life which is imparted to the soul which accepts for itself His mediatorial death. These bring the consummation and crown of salvation; they are not its channel, or instrument, or price.<P>LITERATURE.<P>DCG, article "Obedience of Christ"; Denney, Death of Christ, especially pp. 231-33; Champion, Living Atonement; Forsythe, Cruciality of the Cross, etc.; works on the Atonement; Commentaries, in the place cited.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=ATONEMENT">ATONEMENT</a>`31';
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isbe[6479]='Obedience; Obey`o-be\'-di-ens, o-ba (shama\'; hupakoe):<P>1. Meaning of Terms:<P>In its simpler Old Testament meaning the word signifies "to hear," "to listen." It carries with it, however, the ethical significance of hearing with reverence and obedient assent. In the New Testament a different origin is suggestive of "hearing under" or of subordinating one\'s self to the person or thing heard, hence, "to obey." There is another New Testament usage, however, indicating persuasion from, peithomai.<P>The relation expressed is twofold: first, human, as between master and servant, and particularly between parents and children. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that, will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',21,18,19);">De 21:18,19</a>; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',15,20);">Pr 15:20</a>); or between sovereign and subjects, "The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me" (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',22,45);">2Sa 22:45</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',29,23);">1Ch 29:23</a>).<P>2. The Old Testament Conception:<P>The highest significance of its usage, however, is that of the relation of man to God. Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God and reverence for Him. The Old Testament conception of obedience was vital. It was the one important relationship which must not be broken. While sometimes this relation may have been formal and cold, it nevertheless was the one strong tie which held the people close to God. The significant spiritual relation is expressed by Samuel when he asks the question, "Hath Yahweh as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',15,22);">1Sa 15:22</a>). It was the condition without which no right relation might be sustained to Yahweh. This is most clearly stated in the relation between Abraham and Yahweh when he is assured "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',22,18);">Ge 22:18</a>).<P>In prophetic utterances, future blessing and prosperity were conditioned upon obedience: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,19);">Isa 1:19</a>). After surveying the glories of the Messianic kingdom, the prophet assures the people that "this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Zec\',6,15);">Zec 6:15</a>). On the other hand misfortune, calamity, distress and famine are due to their disobedience and distrust of Yahweh.<P>This obedience or disobedience was usually related to the specific commands of Yahweh as contained in the law, yet they conceived of God as giving commands by other means. Note especially the rebuke of Samuel to Saul: "Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Yahweh,...therefore hath Yahweh done this thing unto thee this day" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Sa\',28,18);">1Sa 28:18</a>).<P>3. The New Testament Conception:<P>In the New Testament a higher spiritual and moral relation is sustained than in the Old Testament. The importance of obedience is just as greatly emphasized. Christ Himself is its one great illustration of obedience. He "humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross" (<a onClick="return mV(\'Phl\',2,8);">Php 2:8</a>). By obedience to Him we are through Him made partakers of His salvation (<a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',5,9);">Heb 5:9</a>). This act is a supreme test of faith in Christ. Indeed, it is so vitally related that they are in some cases almost synonymous. "Obedience of faith" is a combination used by Paul to express this idea (<a onClick="return mV(\'Rom\',1,5);">Ro 1:5</a>). Peter designates believers in Christ as "children of obedience" (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Pe\',1,14);">1Pe 1:14</a>). Thus it is seen that the test of fellowship with Yahweh in the Old Testament is obedience. The bond of union with Christ in the New Testament is obedience through faith, by which they become identified and the believer becomes a disciple.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DISOBEDIENCE">DISOBEDIENCE</a>`25';
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isbe[6480]='Obeisance`o-ba\'-sans: It is used 9 times in the King James Version in the phrase "made (or did) obeisance" as a rendering of the reflexive form of (shachah), and denotes the bow or curtsey indicative of deference and respect. The same form of the verb is sometimes translated "to bow one\'s self" when it expresses the deferential attitude of one person to another (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',33,6,7);">Ge 33:6,7</a>, etc.). Occasionally the vow of homage or fealty to a king on the part of a subject is suggested. In Joseph\'s dream his brother\'s sheaves made obeisance to his sheaf (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',43,28);">Ge 43:28</a>; compare also <a onClick="return mV(\'2Sa\',15,5);">2Sa 15:5</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',24,17);">2Ch 24:17</a>). But in a large number of instances the verb denotes the prostrate posture of the worshipper in the presence of Deity, and is generally rendered, "to worship" in the King James Version. In all probability this was the original significance of the word (<a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',24,26);">Ge 24:26</a>, etc.). Obeisance (= obedience) originally signified the vow of obedience made by a vassal to his lord or a slave to his master, but in time denoted the act of bowing as a token of respect.``103';
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isbe[6481]='Obelisk`ob\'-e-lisk, ob\'-el-isk: A sacred stone or matstsebhah. For matstsebhah the Revised Version (British and American) has used "pillar" in the text, with "obelisk" in the margin in many instances (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',23,24);">Ex 23:24</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',26,1);">Le 26:1</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',12,3);">De 12:3</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',14,23);">1Ki 14:23</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',3,4);">Ho 3:4</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',10,1,2);">10:1,2</a>, etc.), but not consistently (e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',28,18);">Ge 28:18</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=PILLAR">PILLAR</a>`1';
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||
isbe[6482]='Obeth`o\'-beth (Obeth; Codex Vaticanus Ouben): One of those who went up with Ezra (1Esdras 8:32) = "Ebed" of <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',8,6);">Ezr 8:6</a>.``1';
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isbe[6483]='Obil`o\'-bil (\'obhil, "camel driver"): An Ishmaelite who was "over the camels" in David\'s palace (<a onClick="return mV(\'1Ch\',27,30);">1Ch 27:30</a>).``1';
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isbe[6484]='Object`ob-jekt\':Now used only in the sense "to make opposition," but formerly in a variety of meanings derived from the literal sense "to throw against." So with the meaning "to charge with" in The <span class="noTag">Wisdom of Solomon 2:12</span>, the King James Version "He objecteth to our infamy the transgressing of our education" (the Revised Version (British and American) "layeth to our charge sins against our discipline"), or "to make charges against" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Act\',24,19);">Ac 24:19</a>, the King James Version "who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me" (the Revised Version (British and American) "and to make accusation").``1';
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isbe[6485]='Oblation`ob-la\'-shun: In Leviticus and Numbers, the King James Version occasionally uses "oblation," but generally "offering," as a rendering of qorban<61>a general term for all kinds of offering, but used only in Ezekiel, Leviticus and Numbers. the Revised Version (British and American) renders consistently "oblation." In Ezekiel (also <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',40,20);">Isa 40:20</a>), "oblation" renders terumah, generally translated "heave offering." In some cases (e.g. <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',1,13);">Isa 1:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Dan\',9,21);">Da 9:21</a>) "oblation" in the King James Version corresponds to minchah, the ordinary word for "gift," in the Priestly Code (P) "grain offering."`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=SACRIFICE">SACRIFICE</a>`1';
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isbe[6486]='Oboth`o\'-both, o\'-both (\'obhoth, "waterbags"): A desert camp of the Israelites, the 3rd after leaving Mt. Hor and close to the borders of Moab (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',21,10,11);">Nu 21:10,11</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',33,43,44);">33:43,44</a>).`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=WANDERINGS+OF+ISRAEL">WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL</a>`1';
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||
isbe[6487]='Obscurity`ob-sku\'-ri-ti: In modern English generally denotes a state of very faint but still perceptible illumination, and only when preceded by some such adjective as "total" does it imply the absence of all light. In Biblical English, however, only the latter meaning is found. So in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',29,18);">Isa 29:18</a> (\'ophel, "darkness"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',58,10);">58:10</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',59,9);">59:9</a> (choshekh, "darkness"); <span class="noTag">Additions to Esther 11:8</span> (gnophos, "darkness"). Compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Pro\',20,20);">Pr 20:20</a>, the King James Version "in obscure darkness," the English Revised Version "in the blackest darkness," the American Standard Revised Version "in blackness of darkness."``1';
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isbe[6488]='Observe`ob-zurv\' (representing various words, but chiefly shamar, "to keep," "to watch" etc.): Properly means "to take heed to," as in <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',42,20);">Isa 42:20</a>, "Thou seest many things, but thou observest not" and from this sense all the usages of the word in English Versions of the Bible can be understood. Most of them, indeed are quite good modern usage (as "observe a feast," <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',12,17);">Ex 12:17</a>, etc.; "observe a law" <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',19,37);">Le 19:37</a>, etc.), but a few are archaic. So <a onClick="return mV(\'Gen\',37,11);">Ge 37:11</a>, the King James Version "His father observed the saying" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept the saying in mind"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',13,7);">Ho 13:7</a>, "As a leopard...will I observe them" (the Revised Version (British and American) "watch"); <a onClick="return mV(\'Jon\',2,8);">Jon 2:8</a>, "observe lying vanities" (the Revised Version (British and American) "regard," but "give heed to" would be clearer; compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Psa\',107,43);">Ps 107:43</a>). Still farther from modern usage is <a onClick="return mV(\'Hsa\',14,8);">Ho 14:8</a>, "I have heard him, and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "will regard"; the meaning is "care for"); and <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',6,20);">Mr 6:20</a>, "For Herod feared John...and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept him safe"). In the last case, the King James Version editors seem to have used "to observe" as meaning "to give reverence to."<P>Observation is found in <a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',17,20);">Lu 17:20</a>, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (meta paratereseos). The meaning of the English is, "so that it can be observed," but the exact force of the underlying Greek ("visibly"? "so that it can be computed in advance"?) is a matter of extraordinary dispute at the present time.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=KINGDOM+OF+GOD">KINGDOM OF GOD</a>`48';
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isbe[6489]='Observer of Times`ob-zur\'-ver.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=DIVINATION">DIVINATION</a>`1';
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isbe[6490]='Obstinacy`ob\'-sti-na-si.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=HARDEN">HARDEN</a>`1';
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isbe[6491]='Occasion`o-ka\'-zhun: The uses in English Versions of the Bible are all modern, but in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jer\',2,24);">Jer 2:24</a> "occasion" is employed (both in Hebrew and English) as a euphemism for "time of conception of offspring."``1';
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isbe[6492]='Occupy`ok\'-u-pi: Is in the King James Version the translation of 7 different words:<P>(1) nathan;<P>(2) cachar;<P>(3) \'arabh;<P>(4) \'asah, either with or without the added word, mela\'khah;<P>(5) anapleroun;<P>(6) peripatein;<P>(7) pragmateuein.<P>In almost every case the meanings of "to occupy" as used in the King James Version in harmony with the common usage of the time have become obsolete.<P>(1) In <a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,16,19,22);">Eze 27:16,19,22</a>, nathan meant "to trade," and the Revised Version (British and American) reads "traded."<P>(2) From cachar, "to go about," was derived a designation of "merchants" (Revised Version) (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,21);">Eze 27:21</a>).<P>(3) \'Arabh (<a onClick="return mV(\'Eze\',27,9);">Eze 27:9</a>) signifies "to exchange" (the English Revised Version and the American Revised Version margin, but the American Standard Revised Version "deal in").<P>(4) \'asah (<a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',38,24);">Ex 38:24</a>) means simply "to use" (Revised Version), and the same word in <a onClick="return mV(\'Jdg\',16,11);">Jud 16:11</a>, with mela\'khah ("work") added, signifies that work had been done (Revised Version).<P>(5) In <a onClick="return mV(\'1Cr\',14,16);">1Co 14:16</a>, "occupy," the King James Version rendering of anapleroun, would still be as intelligible to most as the Revised Version (British and American) "fill."<P>(6) "Occupy" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Hbr\',13,9);">Heb 13:9</a>, in the sense of "being taken up with a thing," is the translation (both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) of peripatein, literally, "to walk." Finally<P>(7) pragmateuein (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',19,13);">Lu 19:13</a>) is rendered in the King James Version "occupy" in its obsolete sense of "trade" (Revised Version).``51';
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isbe[6493]='Occurrent`o-kur\'-ent (King James Versions, the English Revised Version, <a onClick="return mV(\'1Ki\',5,4);">1Ki 5:4</a>): An obsolete form of "occurrence" (so the American Standard Revised Version).``1';
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isbe[6494]='Ochielus`o-ki-e\'-lus (Ochielos; Codex Vaticanus Ozielos; the King James Version Ochiel): One of the "captains over thousands" who furnished the Levites with much cattle for Josiah\'s Passover (1Esdras 1:9) = "Jeiel" of <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',35,9);">2Ch 35:9</a>.``1';
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isbe[6495]='Ochran`ok\'-ran (\'okhran, from \'akhar, "trouble"; the King James Version Ocran): The father of Pagiel, the prince of the tribe of Asher (<a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',1,13);">Nu 1:13</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',2,27);">2:27</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',7,72,77);">7:72,77</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Num\',10,26);">10:26</a>).``1';
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isbe[6496]='Ochre, Red`o\'-ker, (<a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',44,13);">Isa 44:13</a>, "He marketh it out with a pencil," margin "red ochre," the King James Version "line"; seredh, a word found only here, and of unknown etymology): Designates the implement used by the carpenter to mark the wood after measuring and before cutting. "Red ochre" supposes this to have been a crayon (as does "pencil"), but a scratch-awl is quite as likely. Ochre is clay colored by an iron compound.``1';
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isbe[6497]='Ocidelus`os-i-de\'-lus, ok-i-de\'-lus (Codex Alexandrinus Okeidelos; Codex Vaticanus and Swete, Okailedos, Fritzsche, Okodelos; the King James Version and Fritzsehe Ocodelus): One of the priests who had married a "strange wife" (1Esdras 9:22); it stands in the place of "Jozabad" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Ezr\',10,22);">Ezr 10:22</a> of which it is probably a corruption.``1';
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isbe[6498]='Ocina`o-si\'-na, os\'-i-na, ok\'-i-na (Okeina): A town on the Phoenician coast south of Tyre, mentioned only in Judith 2:28, in the account of the campaign of Holofernes in Syria. The site is unknown, but from the mention of Sidon and Tyre immediately preceding and Jemnaan, Azotus and Ascalon following, it must have been south of Tyre. One might conjecture that it was Sandalium (Iskanderuna) or Umm ul-\'Awamid, but there is nothing in the name to suggest such an identification.``1';
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isbe[6499]='Ocran`ok\'-ran.`<a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=OCHRAN">OCHRAN</a>`1';
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isbe[6500]='Oded`o\'-ded (\'owdhedh (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',15,\'1-\');">2Ch 15</a>), \'odhedh (elsewhere), \'odhedh, "restorer"):<P>(1) According to <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',15,1);">2Ch 15:1</a>, he was the father of Azariah who prophesied in the reign of Asa of Judah (c 918-877), but <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',15,8);">15:8</A> makes Oded himself the prophet. The two verses should agree, so we should probably read in <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',15,8);">15:8</A>, "the prophecy of Azariah, the son of Oded, the prophet," or else "the prophecy of Azariah the prophet."<P>See <a href="./study/isbe/search.html?string=AZARIAH">AZARIAH</a>.<P>(2) A prophet of Samaria (<a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',28,9);">2Ch 28:9</a>) who lived in the reigns of Pekah, king of the Northern Kingdom, and Ahaz, king of Judah. According to <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',28,\'1-\');">2Ch 28</a>, Oded protested against the enslavement of the captives which Pekah had brought from Judah and Jerusalem on his return from the Syro-Ephraimitic attack on the Southern Kingdom (735 BC). In this protest he was joined by some of the chiefs of Ephraim, and the captives were well treated. After those who were naked (i.e. those who had scanty clothing; compare the meaning of the word "naked" in <a onClick="return mV(\'Mar\',14,51);">Mr 14:51</a>) had been supplied with clothing from the spoil, and the bruised anointed with oil, the prisoners were escorted to Jericho.<P>The narrative of <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ch\',28,1);">2Ch 28</a> as a whole does not agree with that of <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',15,37);">2Ki 15:37</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'2Ki\',16,5);">16:5</a>f; where the allied armies of Rezin of Damascus and Pekah besieged Jerusalem, but failed to capture it (compare <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',7,\'1-17\');">Isa 7:1-17</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',8,\'5-8\');">8:5-8</a> a). As Curtis points out (Chronicles,459,where he compares <a onClick="return mV(\'Exd\',21,2);">Ex 21:2</a>ff; <a onClick="return mV(\'Lev\',25,\'29-43\');">Le 25:29-43</a>; <a onClick="return mV(\'Deu\',15,\'12-18\');">De 15:12-18</a>), wholesale enslavement of their fellow-countrymen was not allowed to the Hebrews, and this fact the passage illustrates. It seems to be a fulfillment in spirit of <a onClick="return mV(\'Isa\',61,\'1-2\');">Isa 61:1-2</a>, a portion which our Lord read in the synagogue at Nazareth (<a onClick="return mV(\'Luk\',4,\'16-20\');">Lu 4:16-20</a>).``149';
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