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Uphaz | [
"(Jeremiah 10:9; Daniel 10:5) [[1253]Ophir]"
] |
Ur | [
"was the land of Haran's nativity, (Genesis 11:28) the place from which Terah and Abraham started \"to go into the land of Canaan.\" (Genesis 11:31) It is called in Genesis \"Ur of the Chaldaeans,\" while in the Acts St. Stephen places it, by implication, in Mesopotamia. (Acts 7:2,4) These are all the indications which Scripture furnishes as to its locality. It has been identified by the most ancient traditions with the city of Orfah in the highlands of Mesopotamia, which unite the table-land of Armenia to the valley of the Euphrates. In later ages it was called Edessa, and was celebrated as the capital of Abgarus or Acbarus who was said to have received the letter and portrait of our Saviour. \"Two, physical features must have secured Orfah, from the earliest times, as a nucleus for the civilization of those regions. One is a high-crested crag, the natural fortifications of the crested citadel....The other is an abundant spring, issuing in a pool of transparent clearness, and embosomed in a mass of luxuriant verdure, which, amidst the dull brown desert all around, makes and must always have made, this spot an oasis, a paradise, in the Chaldaean wilderness. Round this sacred pool,'the beautiful spring Callirrhoe,' as it was called by the Greek writers, gather the modern traditions of the patriarch.\"--Stanley, Jewish Church, part i.p.7. A second tradition, which appears in the Talmud, finds Ur in Warka, 120 miles southeast from Babylon and four east of the Euphrates. It was the Orchoe of the Greeks, and probably the Ereck of Holy Scripture. This place bears the name of Huruk in the native inscriptions, and was in the countries known to the Jews as the land of the Chaldaeans. But in opposition to the most ancient traditions, many modern writers have fixed the site of Ur at a very different position, viz. in the extreme south of Chaldaea, at Mugheir, not very far above-- and probably in the time of Abraham actually upon--the head of the Persian Gulf. Among the ruins which are now seen at the spot are the remains of one of the great temples, of a model similar to that of Babel, dedicated to the moon, to whom the city was sacred. (Porter and Rawlinson favor this last place.)"
] |
Urbane, Or Urbane | [
"(of the city; polite), the Greek form of the Latin Urbanus, as it is given in the Revised Version. He was a Christian disciple who is in the long list of those whom St. Paul salutes in writing to Rome. (Romans 16:9) (A.D. 55.)"
] |
Urbanus | [
"the form given in the Revised Version for Urbane."
] |
Uri | [
"(fiery).",
"+ The father of Bezaleel, one of the architects of the tabernacle. (Exodus 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1 Chronicles 2:20; 2 Chronicles 1:5) He was of the tribe of Judah, and grandson of Caleb ben-Hezron. (B.C. 1491.) + The father of Geber, Solomon's commissariat officer in Gilead. (1 Kings 4:19) (B.C. before 1010.) + One of the gatekeepers of the temple in the time of Ezra. (Ezra 10:24) (B.C. 458.)"
] |
Uriah | [
"(light of Jehovah).",
"+ One of the thirty commanders of the thirty bands into which the Israelite army of David was divided. (1 Chronicles 11:41; 2 Samuel 23:39) Like others of David's officers he was a foreigner--a Hittite. His name, however and his manner of speech (2 Samuel 11:11) indicate that he had adopted the Jewish religion. He married Bath-sheba a woman of extraordinary beauty, the daughter of Eliam--possibly the same as the son of Ahithophel, and one of his brother officers, (2 Samuel 23:34) and hence, perhaps, Uriah's first acquaintance with Bath-sheba. It may be inferred from Nathan's parable, (2 Samuel 12:3) that he was passionately devoted to his wife, and that their union was celebrated in Jerusalem as one of peculiar tenderness. In the first war with Ammon, B.C. 1035, he followed Joab to the siege, and with him remained encamped in the open field. (2 Samuel 12:11) He returned to Jerusalem, at an order from the king on the pretext of asking news of the war--really in the hope that his return to his wife might cover the shame of his own crime. The king met with an unexpected obstacle in the austere, soldier-like spirit which guided all Uriah's conduct, and which gives us a high notion of the character and discipline of David's officers. On the morning of the third day David sent him back to the camp with a letter containing the command to Joab to cause his destruction in the battle. The device of Joab was to observe the part of the wall of Rabbath-ammon where the greatest force of the besieged was congregated, and thither, as a kind of forlorn hope to send Uriah. A sally took place. Uriah and the officers with him advanced as far as the gate of the city, and were there shot down by the archers on the wall. Just as Joab had forewarned the messenger, the king broke into a furious passion on hearing of the loss. The messenger, as instructed by Joab, calmly continued, and ended the story with the words, \"Thy servant also Uriah the Hittite, is dead.\" In a moment David's anger is appeased. It is one of the touching parts of the story that Uriah falls unconscious of his wife's dishonor. + High priest in the reign of Ahaz. (Isaiah 8:2; 2 Kings 16:10-16) He is probably the same as Urijah the priest, who built the altar for Ahaz. (2 Kings 16:10) (B.C. about 738.) + A priest of the family of Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of priests. (Ezra 8:33; Nehemiah 3:4,21) (B.C. 458.)"
] |
Urias | [
"+ Uriah, the husband of Bath-sheba. (Matthew 1:6) + [1254]Urijah + 1 Esdr. 9:43."
] |
Uriel | [
"+ A Kohathite Levite, son of Tahath. (1 Chronicles 6:24) + Chief of the Kohathites in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 15:5,11) (B.C. 1043.) + Uriel of Gibeah was the father of Maachah or Michaiah the favorite wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah. (2 Chronicles 13:2) (B.C. before 973.) In (2 Chronicles 11:20) she is called \"Maachah the daughter of Absalom.\" Probably her mother, Tamer, was the daughter of Absalom.",
"(the fire of God), an angel named only in 2 Esdr. 4:1,36; 5:20; 10:28."
] |
Urijah | [
"(light of Jehovah).",
"+ Urijah the priest in the reign of Ahaz, (2 Kings 16:10) probably the same as [1255]Uriah, + A priest of the family of Koz or Hakkoz, the same as [1256]Uriah, + One of the priests who stood at Ezra's right hand when he read the law to the people. (Nehemiah 8:4) (B.C. 458.) + The son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim. He prophesied in the days of Jehoiakim, B.C. 600, and the king sought to put him to death; but he escaped, and fled into Egypt. His retreat was soon covered; Elnathan and his men brought him up out of Egypt, and Jehoiakim slew him with the sword and cast his body forth among the graves of the common people (Jeremiah 26:20-23)"
] |
Urim And Thummim | [
"(light and perfection). When the Jewish exiles were met on their return from Babylon by a question which they had no data for answering, they agreed to postpone the settlement of the difficulty till there should rise up \"a priest with Urim and Thummim.\" (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65) The inquiry what those Urim and Thummim themselves were seems likely to wait as long for a final and satisfying answer. On every side we meet with confessions of ignorance. Urim means \"light,\" and Thummim \"perfection.\" Scriptural statements.--The mysterious words meet us for the first time, as if they needed no explanation, in the description of the high Priest's apparel. Over the ephod there is to be a \"breastplate of judgment\" of gold, scarlet, purple and fine linen, folded square and doubled, a \"span\" in length and width. In it are to be set four rows of precious stones, each stone with the name of a tribe of Israel engraved on it, that Aaron \"may bear them on his heart.\" Then comes a further order. In side the breastplate, as the tables of the covenant were placed inside the ark, (Exodus 25:16; 28:30) are to be placed \"the Urim and the Thummim,\" the light and the perfection; and they too are to be on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. (Exodus 28:15-30) Not a word describes them. They are mentioned as things-already familiar both to Moses and the people, connected naturally with the functions of the high priest as mediating between Jehovah and his people. The command is fulfilled. (Leviticus 8:8) They pass from Aaron to Eleazar with the sacred ephod and other pontificalia . (Numbers 20:28) When Joshua is solemnly appointed to succeed the great hero-law-giver he is bidden to stand before Eleazar, the priest, \"who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim,\" and this counsel is to determine the movements of the host of Israel. (Numbers 27:21) In the blessings of Moses they appear as the crowning glory of the tribe of Levi: \"thy Thummim and thy Urim are with thy Holy One.\" (33:8,9) In what way the Urim and Thummim were consulted is quite uncertain. Josephus and the rabbins supposed that the stones gave out the oracular answer by preternatural illumination; but it seems to be far simpler and more in agreement with the different accounts of inquiries made by Urim and Thummim, (1 Samuel 14:3,18,19; 23:2,4,9,11,12; 28:6; Judges 20:28; 2 Samuel 5:23) etc., to suppose that the answer was given simply by the word of the Lord to the high priest comp. (John 11:51) when, clothed with the ephod and the breastplate, he had inquired of the Lord. Such a view agrees with the true notion of the breastplate."
] |
Usury | [
"(The word usury has come in modern English to mean excessive interest upon money loaned, either formally illegal or at least oppressive. In the Scriptures, however the word did not bear this sense, but meant simply interest of any kind upon money. The Jews were forbidden by the law of Moses to take interest from their brethren, but were permitted to take it from foreigners. The prohibition grew out of the agricultural status of the people, in which ordinary business loans were not needed. and loans as were required should be made only as to friends and brothers in need.--ED.) The practice of mortgaging land, sometimes at exorbitant interest, grew up among the Jews during the captivity, in direct violation of the law. (Leviticus 25:36,37; Ezekiel 18:8,13,17) We find the rate reaching 1 in 100 per month, corresponding to the Roman centisimae usurae, or 12 per cent. per annum."
] |
Ut | [
"(wooded).",
"+ A son of Aram, (Genesis 10:23; 1 Chronicles 1:17) end consequently a grand son of Shem. (B.C. 2400-2300.) + A son of Nahor by Milcah. (Genesis 22:21) Authorized Version, Huz. (B.C. about 1900.) + A son of Dishan, and grandson of Seir. (Genesis 36:28) (B.C. after 1800.) + The country in which Job lived. (Job 1:1) As far as we can gather, \"the land of Uz\" lay either east or southeast of Palestine, (Job 1:3) adjacent to the Sabaeans and the Chaldaeans, (Job 1:15,17) consequently north of the southern Arabians and west of the Euphrates; and, lastly, adjacent to the Edomites of Mount Seir, who at one period occupied Uz, probably as conquerors, (Lamentations 4:21) and whose troglodyte habits are described in (Job 30:6,7) From the above data we infer that the land of Uz corresponds to the Arabia Deserta of classical geography, at all events to so much of it as lies north of the 30th parallel of latitude."
] |
Uta | [
"1 Esdr. 5:30. It appears to be a corruption of [1257]Akkub. (Ezra 2:45)"
] |
Uthai | [
"(helpful),",
"+ The son of Ammihud, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah. (1 Chronicles 9:4) (B.C. 536.) + One of the sons of Bigvai, who returned in the second caravan with Ezra. (Ezra 8:14) (B.C.459.)"
] |
Uthii | [
"1 Esdr. 8:40. [[1258]Uthai,2]"
] |
Uzai | [
"(strong), the father of Palal who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the city wail. (Nehemiah 3:25) (B.C. before 446.)"
] |
Uzal | [
"(separate), the sixth son of Joktan, (Genesis 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:21) whose settlements are clearly traced in the ancient name of San'a, the capital city of the Yemen (a district of Arabia), which was originally Awzal . From its position in the centre of the best portion of that kingdom it must always have been an important city. (San'a is situated about 150 miles from Aden and 100 miles from the coast of the Red Sea. It is one of the most imposing cities of Arabia -ED.)"
] |
Uzza | [
"(strength).",
"+ A Benjamite of the sons of Ehud. (1 Chronicles 8:7) (B.C. 1445.) + Elsewhere called [1259]Uzza, Or Uzzah. (1 Chronicles 13:7,9,10,11) [[1260]Uzza, Or Uzzah] + The children of Uzza were a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:51) (B.C. before 536.) + Properly Uzzah. As the text now stands, Uzzah is a descendant of Merari, (1 Chronicles 6:29) (14); but there appears to be a gap in the verse. Perhaps he is the same as Zina or Zizah the son of Shimei. (1 Chronicles 23:10,11) for these names evidently denote the same person, and, in Hebrew character, are not unlike Uzzah."
] |
Uzza, Or Uzzah | [
"(strength), one of the sons of Abinadab, in whose house at Kirjath-jearim the ark rested for twenty years. Uzzah probably was the second and Ahio the third. They both accompanied its removal when David first undertook to carry it to Jerusalem. (B.C. 1043.) Ahio apparently went before the new cart, (1 Chronicles 13:7) on which it was placed, and Uzzah walked by the side. \"At the threshing-floor of Nachon\" (2 Samuel 6:6) or Chidon (1 Chronicles 13:9) perhaps slipping over the smooth rock oxen stumbled. Uzzah caught the ark to prevent its falling. The profanation was punished by his instant death to the great grief of David, who named the place Perez-uzzah (the breaking-forth on Uzzah). But Uzzah's fate was not merely the penalty of his own rashness. The improper mode of transporting the ark, which ought to have been borne on the shoulders of the Levites was the primary cause of his unholy deed; and David distinctly recognized it as a punishment on the people in general \"because we sought him not after the due order.\""
] |
Uzza, The Garden Of | [
"the spot in which Manasseh king of Judah and his son Amon were buried. (2 Kings 21:18,26) It was the garden attached to Manasseh's palace. ver. 18. The fact of its mention shows that it was not where the usual sepulchres of the kings were. No clue, however, is afforded to its position."
] |
Uzzensherah | [
"(ear (or point) of Sherah) a town founded or rebuilt by Sherah, an Ephraimite woman the daughter either of Ephraim himself or of Beriah. It is named only in (1 Chronicles 7:24) in connection with the two Beth-horons."
] |
Uzzi | [
"(strong).",
"+ Son of Bukki and father of Zerahiah, in the line of the high priests. (1 Chronicles 6:5,61; Ezra 7:4) Though Uzzi was the lineal ancestor of Zadok, it does not appear that he was ever high priest. He must have been contemporary with, but rather earlier than, Eli. (B.C. before 1161.) + Son of Tola the son of Issachar. (1 Chronicles 7:2,3) (B.C. 1706.) + Son of Bela, of the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 7:7) (B.C. 1706.) + Another, or the same, from whom descended some Benjamite houses, which were settled at Jerusalem after the return from captivity. (1 Chronicles 9:8) + A Levite, son of Bani and overseer of the Levites dwelling at Jerusalem, in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 11:22) + A priest, chief of the father's house of Jedaiah, in the time of Joiakim the high priest. (Nehemiah 12:19) (B.C. about 500.) + One of the priests who assisted Ezra in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 12:42) Perhaps the same as the preceding. (B.C. 446.)"
] |
Uzzia | [
"(strength of Jehovah), one of David's guard, and apparently a native of Ashtaroth beyond Jordan. (1 Chronicles 11:44) (B.C. 1053.)"
] |
Uzziah | [
"(strength of Jehovah).",
"+ King of Judah B.C. 809-8 to 757-6. In some passages his name appears in the lengthened form Azariah: After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people, at the age of sixteen, to occupy the vacant throne; and for the greater part of his long reign of fifty-two years he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active and pious ruler. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is mentioned only in connection with him. (2 Chronicles 26:5) So the southern kingdom was raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the death of Solomon. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn incense on the altar of God, but was opposed by the high priest Azariah and eighty others. See (Exodus 30:7,8; Numbers 16:40; 18:7) The king was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his censer was suddenly smitten with leprosy. This lawless attempt to burn incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration. (2 Chronicles 27:2) Uzziah was buried \"with his fathers,\" yet apparently not actually in the royal sepulchres. (2 Chronicles 26:23) During his reign a great earthquake occurred. (Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5) + A Kohathite Levite, and ancestor of Samuel. (1 Chronicles 6:24) (9). + A priest of the sons of Harim, who had taken a foreign wife in the days of Ezra. (Ezra 10:21) (B.C. 458.) + Father of Athaiah or Uthai. (Nehemiah 11:4) + Father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers. (1 Chronicles 27:25) (B.C. about 1053.)"
] |
Uzziel | [
"(my strength is God).",
"+ Fourth son of Kohath, father of Mishael, Eizaphan or Elizaphan and Zithri, and uncle to Aaron. (Exodus 6:18,22; Leviticus 10:4) (B.C. before 1491.) + A Simeonite captain, son of Ishi, in the days of Hezekiah. (1 Chronicles 4:42) + Head of a Benjamite house, of the sons of Bela. (1 Chronicles 7:7) (B.C. 1706.) + A musician, of the sons of Heman in David's reign. (1 Chronicles 25:4) + A Levite, of the sons of Jeduthun, in the days of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:14,18) (B.C. 726.) + Son of Harhaiah, probably a priest in the days of Nehemiah, who took part in repairing the wall. (Nehemiah 3:8) (B.C. 446.) He is described as \"of the goldsmiths,\" i.e. of those priests whose hereditary office it was to repair or make the sacred vessels."
] |
Uzzielites, The | [
"the descendants of Uzziel, and one of the four great families of the Kohathites. (Numbers 3:27; 1 Chronicles 26:23)"
] |
Vajezatha | [
"(strong as the wind), one of the ten sons of Haman whom the Jews slew in Shushan. (Esther 9:9) (B.C. 473.)"
] |
Vale, Valley | [
"It is hardly necessary to state that these words signify a hollow sweep of ground between two more or less parallel ridges of high land. The structure of the greater part of the holy land does not lend itself to the formation of valleys in our sense of the word. The abrupt transitions of its crowded rocky hills preclude the existence of any extended sweep of valley. Valley is employed in the Authorized Version to render five distinct Hebrew words.",
"+ 'Emek . This appears to approach more nearly to the general sense of the English word than any other. It is connected with several places. + Gai or ge . Of this there is fortunately one example which can be identified with certainty--the deep hollow which compasses the southwest and south of Jerusalem. This identification establishes the ge as a deep and abrupt ravine, with steep sides and narrow bottom. + Nachal . This word answers to the Arabic wady, and expresses, as no single English word can, the bed of a stream (often wide and shelving, and like a \"valley\" in character, which in the rainy season may be nearly filled by a foaming torrent, though for the greater part of the year dry). + Bik'ah . This term appears to mean rather a plain than a valley, though so far resembling it as to be enclosed by mountains. It is rendered by \"valley\" in (34:3; Joshua 11:8,17; 12:7; 2 Chronicles 35:22; Zechariah 12:11) + has-Shefelah . The district to which the name has-Shefelah is applied in the Bible has no resemblance whatever to a valley, but is a broad, swelling tract of many hundred miles in area, which sweeps gently down from the mountains Judah to the Mediterranean. It is rendered \"the vale\" in (1:7; Joshua 10:40; 1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chronicles 1:15; Jeremiah 33:13) and \"the valley\" or \"the valleys\" in (Joshua 9:1; 11:2,16; 12:8; 15:33; Judges 1:9; Jeremiah 32:44)"
] |
Vaniah | [
"(Jehovah is praise), one of the sons of Bani, (Ezra 10:36) (B.C. 458.)"
] |
Vashni | [
"(strong), the first-born of Samuel as the text now stands. (1 Chronicles 6:28) (13); but in (1 Samuel 8:2) the name of his first-born is Joel. Most probably in the Chronicles the name of Joel has dropped out: and Vashni is a corruption of vesheni, and (the) second.\""
] |
Vashti | [
"(beautiful), the \"queen\" of Ahasuerus, who, for refusing to show herself to the king's guests at the royal banquet, when sent for by the king, was repudiated and deposed. (Esther 1:1) ... (B.C. 483.) Many attempts have been made to identify her with historical personages; but it is far more probable that she was only one of the inferior wives, dignified with the title of queen, whose name has utterly disappeared from history."
] |
Veil | [
"With regard to the use of the veil, it is important to observe that it was by no means so general in ancient as in modern times. Much of the scrupulousness in respect of the use of the veil dates from the promulgation of the Koran, which forbade women appearing unveiled except in the presence of their nearest relatives. In ancient times the veil was adopted only in exceptional cases, either as an article of ornamental dress, (Song of Solomon 4:1,3; 6:7) or by betrothed maidens in the presence of their future husbands, especially at the time of the wedding, (Genesis 24:65) or lastly, by women of loose character for purposes of concealment. (Genesis 38:14) Among the Jews of the New Testament age it appears to have been customary for the women to cover their heads (not necessarily their faces) when engaged in public worship."
] |
Veil Of The Tabernacle And Temple | [
"[[1261]Tabernacle; [1262]Temple]"
] |
Versions, Ancient, Of The Old And New Testaments | [
"In treating of the ancient versions that have come down to us, in whole or in part, they will be described in the alphabetical order of the languages. AETHIOPIC VERSION.--Christianity was introduced into AEthiopia in fourth century through the labors of Frumentius and AEdesius of Tyre, who had been made slaves and sent to the king. The AEthiopic version which we possess is in the ancient dialect of Axum; hence some have ascribed it to the age of the earliest missionaries, but it is probably of a later date. In 1548-9 the AEthiopic New Testament was also printed at Rome, edited by three Abyssinians. ARABIC VERSIONS.--",
"+ Arabic versions of the Old Testament were made from the Hebrew (tenth century), from the Syriac and from the LXX + Arabic versions of the New Testament . There are four versions. The first, the Roman, of the Gospels only, was printed in 1590-1. ARMENIAN VERSION.--In the year 431, Joseph and Eznak returned from the Council of Ephesus bringing with them a Greek copy of the Scriptures. From this a version in Armenian was made by Isaac, the Armenian patriarch, and Miesrob. The first printed edition of the Old and New Testaments in Armenian appeared at Amsterdam in 1666, under the care of a person commonly termed Oscan or Uscan, and described as being an Armenian bishop. CHALDEE VERSIONS.--Targum, a Chaldee word of uncertain origin, is the general term for the Chaldee, or more accurately Aramaic, versions of the Old Testament. + The Targums were originally oral, and the earliest Targum, which is that of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, began to be committed to writing about the second century of the Christian era; though if did not assume its present shape till the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century. So far, however, from superseding the oral Targum at once, it was, on the contrary, strictly forbidden to read it in public. Its language is Chaldee, closely approaching in purity of idiom to that of Ezra and Daniel. It follows a sober and clear though not a slavish exegesis, and keeps as closely and minutely: to the text as is at all consistent with its purpose, viz. to be chiefly and above all a version for the people . Its explanations of difficult and obscure passages bear ample witness to the competence of those who gave it its final shape. It avoids, as far as circumstances would allow, the legendary character with which all the later Targums entwine the biblical word. + Targum on the prophets,--viz. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Kings, the twelve minor prophets,--called [1263]Targum OF [1264]Jonathan BEN-UZZIEL. We shall probably not be far wrong in placing this Targum some time, although not long, after Onkelos, or about the middle of the fourth century. 3 And 4. Targum of Jonathan ben-Uzziel and Jerushalmi-Targum on the Pentateuch .--Onkelos and Jonathan on the Pentateuch and prophets, whatever be their exact date, place, authorship and editorship, are the oldest of existing Targums, and belong in their present shape, to Babylon and the Babylonian academies flourishing between the third and fourth centuries A.D. EGYPTIAN VERSIONS.--Of these there are three,--the Memphitic, of lower Egypt, the Coptic, of upper Egypt, and the Thebaic, with some fragments of another. The Thebaic was the earliest, and belongs to the third century. GOTHIC VERSION. In the year 318 the Gothic bishop and translator of Scripture Ulphilas, was born. He succeeded Theophilus as bishop of the Goths in 548; through him it is said that the Goths in general adopted Arianism. The great work of Ulphilas was his version of the Scriptures. As an ancient monument of the Gothic language the version of Ulphilas possesses great interest; as a version the use of which was once extended widely through Europe, it is a monument of the Christianization of the Goths; and as a version known to have been made in the fourth century, and transmitted to us in ancient MSS., It has its value in textual criticism. GREEK VERSIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.-- + Septuagint .--[See [1265]Septuagint] + Aquila .--It is a remarkable fact that in the second century there were three versions executed of the Old Testament Scriptures into Greek. The first of these was made by Aquila, a native of Sinope in Pontus, who had become a proselyte to Judaism. It was made during the reign of Hadrian, A.D. 117-138. + Theodotion .--The second version of which we have information as executed in the second century is that of Theodotion. He is stated to have been an Ephesian, and he seems to be most generally described as an Ebionite. + Symmachus is stated by Eusebius and Jerome to have been an Ebionite; Epiphanius and others, however, style him a Samaritan. It may be that as a Samaritan he made this version for some of that people who employed Greek, and who had learned to receive more than the Pentateuch. [1266]Latin Versions VERSIONS.--[[1267]Vulgate, The] [1268]Samaritan Pentateuch VERSIONS.--[[1269]Samaritan Pentateuch [1270]Pentateuch, The] SLAVONIC VERSION,--In A.D. 862 there was a desire expressed or an inquiry made for Christian teachers in Moravia, and in the following year the labors of missionaries began among the Moravians. These missionaries were Cyrillus and Methodius, two brothers from Thessalonica. To Cyrillus is ascribed the invention of the Slavonian alphabet and the commencement of the translation of the Scriptures. He appears to have died at Rome in 868, while Methodius continued for many years to be the bishop of the Slavonians. He is stated to have continued his brother's translation. SYRIAC VERSIONS.-- + Of the Old Testament. (a) From the Hebrew. In the early times of Syrian Christianity there was executed a version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew, the use of which must have been as widely extended as was the Christian profession among that people. It is highly improbable that any part of the Syriac version is older than the advent of our Lord. The Old Syriac has the peculiar value of being the first version from the Hebrew original made for Christian use. The first printed edition of this version was that which appeared in the Paris Polyglot of Le Jay in 1645. (b) The Syriac version from the Hexaplar Greek text. The only Syriac version of the Old Testament up to the sixth century was apparently the Peshito. The version by Paul of Tela, a Monophysite, was made in the beginning of the seventh century; for its basis he used the Hexaplar Greek text--that is, the LXX., with the corrections of Origen, the asterisks, obeli, etc., and with the references to the other Greek versions. In fact, it is from this Syriac version that we obtain our moat accurate acquaintance with the results of the critical labors of Origen. It is from a MS. in the Ambrosian Library at Milan that we possess accurate means of knowing this Syriac version. + The Syriac New Testament Versions . (a) The Peshito Syriac New Testament. It may stand as an admitted fact that a version of the New Testament in Syriac existed in the second century. (b) The Curetonian Syriac Gospels. Among the MSS. brought from the Nitrian monasteries in 1842, Dr. Cureton noticed a copy of the Gospels, differing greatly from the common text; and this is the form of text to which the name of Curetonian Syriac has been rightly applied. Every criterion which proves the common Peshito not to exhibit a text of extreme antiquity equally proves the early origin of this."
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Versions, Authorized | [
"+ WYCLIFFE.--The New Testament was translated by Wycliffe himself The Old Testament was undertaken by Nicholas Deuteronomy Hereford, but was interrupted, and ends abruptly (following so far the order of the Vulgate) in the middle of Baruch. The version was based entirely upon the Vulgate. The following characteristics may be noticed as distinguishing this version: (1) The general homeliness of its style. (2) The substitution in many cases, of English equivalents for quasitechnical words. (3) The extreme literalness with which in some instances, even at the cost of being unintelligible, the Vulgate text is followed, as in (2 Corinthians 1:17-19) + TYNDAL.--The work of Wycliffe stands by itself. Whatever power it exercised in preparing the way for the Reformation of the sixteenth century, it had no perceptible influence on later translations. With Tyndal we enter on a continuous succession. He is the patriarch, in no remote ancestry, of the Authorized Version. More than Cranmer or Ridley he is the true hero of the English Reformation. \"Ere many years, he said at the age of thirty-six (A.D. 1520), he would cause \"a boy that driveth the plough\" to know more of Scripture than the great body of the clergy then knew. He prepared himself for the work by long years of labor in Greek and Hebrew. First the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were published tentatively. In 1525 the whole of the New Testament was printed in quarto at Cologne, and in small octave at Worms. In England it was received with denunciations. Tonstal, bishop of London, preaching at Paul's Cross, asserted that there were at least two thousand errors in it, and ordered all copies of it to be bought up and burnt. An act of Parliament (35 Hen. VIII. cap. 1) forbade the use of all copies of Tyndal's \"false translation.\" The treatment which it received from professed friends was hardly less annoying. In the mean time the work went on. Editions were printed one after another. The last appeared in 1535, just before his death. To Tyndal belongs the honor of having given the first example of a translation based on true principles, and the excellence of later versions has been almost in exact proportion as they followed his. All the exquisite grace and simplicity which have endeared the Authorized Version to men of the most opposite tempers and contrasted opinions is due mainly to his clear-sighted truthfulness. + COVERDALE.--A complete translation of the Bible, different from Tyndal's, bearing the name of Miles Coverdale, printed probably at Zurich, appeared in 1535. The undertaking itself and the choice of Coverdale as the translator were probably due to Cromwell. He was content to make the translation at second hand \"out of the Douche (Luther's German Version) and the Latine.\" Fresh editions of his Bible were published, keeping their ground in spite of rivals, in 1537, 1539, 1550, 1553. He was called in at a still later period to assist in the Geneva Version. + MATTHEW.--In the year 1537, a large folio Bible appeared as edited and dedicated to the king by Thomas Matthew. No one of that name appears at all prominently in the religious history of Henry VIII., and this suggests inference that the name was adopted to conceal the real translator. The tradition which connects this Matthew with John Rogers, the proto-martyr of the Marian persecution, is all but undisputed. Matthew's Bible reproduces Tyndal's work, in the New Testament entirely, in the Old Testament as far as 2 Chron., the rest being taken with occasional modifications from Coverdale. A copy was ordered, by royal proclamation, to be set up in every church, the cost being divided between the clergy and the parishioners. This was, therefore, the first Authorized Version. + TAVERNER (1539).--The boldness of the pseudo-Matthew had frightened the ecclesiastical world from its propriety. Coverdale's version was, however, too inaccurate to keep its ground. It was necessary to find another editor, and the printers applied to Richard Taverner. But little is known of his life. The fact that, though a layman, he had been chosen as one of the canons of the Cardinal's College at Oxford indicates a reputation for scholarship, and this is confirmed by the character of his translation. In most respects this may be described as an expurgated edition of Matthew's. + CRANMER.--In the same year as Taverner's, and coming from the same press, appeared an English Bible, in a more stately folio, with a preface containing the initials T.C., which implied the archbishop's sanction. Cranmer's version presented, as might he expected, many points of interest. The prologue gave a more complete ideal of what a translation ought to be than had as yet been seen. Words not in the original were to be printed in a different type. It was reprinted again and again, and was the Authorized Version of the English Church till 1568--the interval of Mary's reign excepted. From it, accordingly, were taken most, if not all the portions of Scripture in the Prayer books of 1549 and 1552. The Psalms as a whole, the quotations from Scripture in the Homilies, the sentences in the Communion Services, and some phrases elsewhere, still preserve the remembrance of it. + GENEVA.--The exiles who fled to Geneva in the reign of Mary entered on the work of translation with more vigor than ever. The Genevan refugees-among them Whittingham, Goodman, Pullain, Sampson and Coverdale himself--labored \"for two years or more, day and night.\" Their translation of the New Testament was \"diligently revised by the most approved Greek examples.\" The New Testament, translated by Whittingham, was printed in 1667 and the whole Bible in 1660. Whatever may have been its faults, the Geneva Bible, commonly called the Breeches Bible from its rendering of (Genesis 3:7) was unquestionably, for sixty years, the most popular of all versions. Not less than eighty editions, some of the whole Bible, were printed between 1558 and 1611. It kept its ground for some time even against the Authorized Version, and gave way as it were, slowly and under protest. It was the version specially adopted by the great Puritian party through the whole reign of Elizabeth and far into that of James. As might be expected, it was based on Tyndal's version. It presents, in a calendar prefixed to the Bible, something like a declaration of war against the established order of the Church's lessons commemorating Scripture facts and the deaths of the great reformers, but ignoring saints' days altogether it was the first English Bible which entirely omitted the Apocrypha. The notes were mere characteristically Swiss, not only in their theology, but in their politics. + THE BISHOPS' BIBLE.--The facts just stated will account for the wish of Archbishop Parker to bring out another version, which might establish its claims against that of Geneva. Great preparations were made. Eight bishops, together with some deans and professors, brought out the fruit of their labors in a magnificent folio (1568 and 1672). It was avowedly based on Cranmer's but of all the English versions it had probably the least success. It did not command the respect of scholars, and its size and cost were far from meeting the wants of the people. + RHEIMS AND DOUAY.--The successive changes in the Protestant versions of the Scriptures were, as might be expected, matter of triumph to the controversialists of the Latin Church. Some saw in it an argument against any translation of Scripture into the spoken language of the people. Others pointed derisively to the want of unity which these changes displayed. There were some, however, who took the line which Sir T. More and Gardiner had taken under Henry VIII. They did not object to the principle of an English translation. They only charged the versions hitherto made with being false, corrupt, heretical. To this there was the ready retort that they had done nothing; that their bishops in the reign of Henry had promised, but had not performed. It was felt to be necessary that they should take some steps which might enable them to turn the edge of this reproach. The English Catholic refugees who were settled at Rheims undertook a new English version. The New Testament was published at Rheims in 1582 and professed to be based on \"the authentic text of the Vulgate.\" Notes were added. as strongly dogmatic as those of the Geneva Bible, and often keenly controversial. The work of translation was completed somewhat later by the publication of the Old Testament at Douay in 1609. + AUTHORIZED VERSION.--The position of the English Church in relation to the versions in use at the commencement of the reign of James was hardly satisfactory. The Bishops' Bible was sanctioned by authority. That of Geneva had the strongest hold on the affections of the people. Scholars, Hebrew scholars in particular, found grave fault with both. Among the demands of the Puritan representatives at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 was one for a new, or at least a revised, translation. The work of organizing and superintending the arrangements for a new translation was one specially congenial to James, and accordingly in 1606 the task was commenced. It was intrusted to 64 scholars. The following were the instructions given to the translators: (1) The Bishops' Bible was to be followed, and as little altered as the original would permit. (2) The names of prophets and others were to be retained, as nearly as may be as they are vulgarly used. (3) The old ecclesiastical welds to be kept. (4) When any word hath divers significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most eminent fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place and the analogy of faith. (5) The division of the chapters to be altered either not at all or as little as possible. (6) No marginal notes to be affixed but only for the explanation of Hebrew and Greek words. (7) Such quotations of places to be marginally set down as may serve for fit reference of one Scripture to another. (8) and (9) State plan of translation. Each company of translators is to take its own books; each person to bring his own corrections. The company to discuss them, and having finished their work, to send it on to another company, and so on. (10) Provides for differences of opinion between two companies by referring them to a general meeting. (11) Gives power in cases of difficulty, to consult any scholars. (12) Invites suggestions from any quarter. (13) Names the directors of the work: Andrews, dean of Westminster; Barlow, dean of Chester and the regius professors of Hebrew and Greek at both universities. (14) Names translations to be followed when they agree more with the original than the Bishops' Bible, sc. Tyndal's, Coverdale's, Matthew's, Whitchurch's (Cranmer's), and Geneva.",
"(15) Authorizes universities to appoint three or four overseers of the work. For three years the work went on, the separate companies comparing notes as directed. When the work drew toward its completion, it was necessary to place it under the care of a select few. Two from each of the three groups were accordingly selected, and the six met in London to superintend the publication. The final correction, and the task of writing the arguments of the several books, was given to Bilson, bishop of Winchester and Dr. Miles Smith, the latter of whom also wrote the dedication and preface. The version thus published did not at once supersede the versions already in possession. The fact that five editions were published in three years shows that there was a good demand. But the Bishops' Bible probably remained in many churches, and the popularity of the Geneva Version is shown by not less than thirteen reprints, in whole or in part, between 1611 and 1617. It is not easy to ascertain the impression which the Authorized Version made at the time of its appearance. Selden says it is \"the best of all translations, as giving the true sense of the original.\" [For REVISED VERSION (of 1881), see under [1271]Bible]"
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Village | [
"This word in addition to its ordinary sense, is often used, especially in the enumeration of towns in (Joshua 13:15,19) to imply unwalled suburbs outside the walled towns. Arab villages, as found in Arabia, are often mere collections of stone huts, \"long, low rude hovels, roofed only with the stalks of palm leaves,\" or covered for a time with tent-cloths, which are removed when the tribe change their quarters. Others are more solidly built, as are most of the of palestine, though in some the dwellings are mere mud-huts."
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Vine | [
"the well-known valuable plant (vitis vinifera) very frequently referred to in the Old and New Testaments, and cultivated from the earliest times. The first mention of this plant occurs in (Genesis 9:20,21) That it was abundantly cultivated in Egypt is evident from the frequent representations on the monuments, as well as from the scriptural allusions. (Genesis 40:9-11; Psalms 78:47) The vines of Palestine were celebrated both for luxuriant growth and for the immense clusters of grapes which they produced, which were sometimes carried on a staff between two men, as in the case of the spies, (Numbers 13:23) and as has been done in some instances in modern times. Special mention is made in the Bible of the vines of Eshcol, (Numbers 13:24; 32:9) of Sibmah, Heshbon and Elealeh (Isaiah 16:8,9,10; Jeremiah 48:32) and of Engedi. (Song of Solomon 1:14) From the abundance and excellence of the vines, it may readily be understood how frequently this plant is the subject of metaphor in the Holy Scriptures. To dwell under the vine and tree is an emblem of domestic happiness and peace, (1 Kings 4:25; Psalms 128:3; Micah 4:4) the rebellious people of Israel are compared to \"wild grapes,\" \"an empty vine,\" \"the degenerate plant of a strange vine,\" etc. (Isaiah 6:2,4; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1) It is a vine which our Lord selects to show the spiritual union which subsists between himself and his members. (John 15:1-6) The ancient Hebrews probably allowed the vine to go trailing on the ground or upon supports. This latter mode of cultivation appears to be alluded to by Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 19:11,12) The vintage, which formerly was a season of general festivity, began in September. The towns were deserted; the people lived among the vineyards in the lodges and tents. Comp. (Judges 8:27; Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 25:30) The grapes were gathered with shouts of joy by the \"grape gatherers,\" (Jeremiah 25:30) and put into baskets. See (Jeremiah 6:9) They were then carried on the head and shoulders, or slung upon a yoke, to the \"wine-press.\" Those intended for eating were perhaps put into flat open baskets of wickerwork, as was the custom in Egypt. In Palestine, at present, the finest grapes, says Dr. Robinson, are dried as raisins, and the juice of the remainder, after having been trodden and pressed, \"is boiled down to a sirup, which, under the name of dibs, is much used by all classes, wherever vineyards are found, as a condiment with their food.\" The vineyard, which was generally on a hill, (Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 31:5; Amos 9:13) was surrounded by a wall or hedge in order to keep out the wild boars, (Psalms 80:13) jackals and foxes. (Numbers 22:24; Nehemiah 4:3; Song of Solomon 2:15; Ezekiel 13:4,5; Matthew 21:33) Within the vineyard was one or more towers of stone in which the vine-dressers lived. (Isaiah 1:8; 5:2; Matthew 21:33) The vat, which was dug, (Matthew 21:33) or hewn out of the rocky soil, and the press, were part of the vineyard furniture. (Isaiah 5:2)"
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Vine Of Sodom | [
"occurs only in (32:32) It is generally supposed that this passage alludes to the celebrated apples of Sodom, of which Josephus speaks, \"which indeed resemble edible fruit in color, but, on being plucked by the hand, are dissolved into smoke and ashes.\" It has been variously identified. Dr. Robinson pronounced in favor of the 'osher fruit, the Asclepias (Calotropis) procera of botanists. He says, \"The fruit greatly resembles externally a large smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or four together, and when ripe is of a yellow color. It is now fair and delicious to the eye and soft to the touch but, on being pressed or struck, it explodes with a puff: like a bladder or puff-hall, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibres. It is indeed filled chiefly with air, which gives it the round form.\" Dr. Hooker writes,\" The vine of Sodom always thought might refer to Cucumis calocynthis, which is bitter end powders inside; the term vine would scarcely be given to any but a trailing or other plant of the habit of a vine.\" His remark that the term vine must refer to some plant of the habit of a vine is conclusive against the claims of all the plants hitherto identified with the vine of Sodom."
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Vinegar | [
"The Hebrew word translated \"vinegar\" was applied to a beverage consisting generally of wine or strong drink turned sour, but sometimes artificially made by an admixture of barley and wine, and thus liable to fermentation. It was acid even to a proverb, (Proverbs 10:26) and by itself formed an unpleasant draught, (Psalms 49:21) but was used by laborers. (Ruth 2:14) Similar was the acetum of the Romans--a thin, sour wine, consumed by soldiers. This was the beverage of which the Saviour partook in his dying moments. (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:29,30)"
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Vineyards, Plain Of The | [
"This place, mentioned only in (Judges 11:33) lay east of the Jordan, beyond Aroer."
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Viol | [
"[[1272]Psaltery]"
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Viper | [
"[[1273]Serpent]"
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Vophsi | [
"(rich), father of Nahbi, the Naphtalite spy. (Numbers 13:14) (B.C. before 1490.)"
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Vows | [
"A vow is a solemn promise made to God to perform or to abstain from performing a certain thing. The earliest mention of a vow is that of Jacob. (Genesis 28:18-22; 31:13) Vows in general are also mentioned in the book of Job, (Job 22:27) The law therefore did not introduce, but regulated the practice of, vows. Three sorts are mentioned: 1, Vows of devotion; 2, Vows of abstinence; 3, Vows of destruction.",
"+ As to vows of devotion, the following rules are laid down: A man might devote to sacred uses possessions or persons, but not the first-born of either man or beast, which was devoted already. (Leviticus 27:28) (a) If he vowed land, he might either redeem it or not Levi 25,27. (b) Animals fit for sacrifice if devoted, were not to be redeemed or changed, (Leviticus 27:9; 10:33) persons devoted stood thus: devote either himself, his child (not the first-born) or his slave. If no redemption took place, the devoted person became a slave of the sanctuary: see the case of Absalom. (2 Samuel 15:8) Otherwise he might be redeemed at a valuation according to age and sex, on the scale given in (Leviticus 27:1-7) Among general regulations affecting vows the following may be mentioned: (1) Vows were entirely voluntary but once made were regarded as compulsory. (Numbers 30:2; 23:21; Ecclesiastes 5:4) (2) If persons In a dependent condition made vows as (a) an unmarried daughter living in her father's house, or (b) a wife, even if she afterward became a widow the vow, if (a) in the first case her father, or (b) in the second her husband, heard and disallowed it, was void; but, if they heard without disallowance, it was to remain good. (Numbers 30:3-18) (3) Votive offerings arising from the produce of any impure traffic were wholly forbidden. (23:18) + For vows of abstinence, see [1274]Corban. + For vows of extermination [1275]Anathema and (Ezra 10:8; Micah 4:13) It seems that the practice of shaving the head at the expiration of a votive period was not limited to the Nazaritic vow. (Acts 18:18; 21:24)"
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Vulgate, The | [
"the Latin version of the Bible. The influence which it exercised upon western Christianity is scarcely less than that of the LXX. upon the Greek churches. Both the Greek and the latin Vulgate have been long neglected; yet the Vulgate should have a very deep interest for all the western churches, many centuries it was the only Bible generally used; and, directly or indirectly is the real parent of all the vernacular versions of western Europe. The Gothic version of Ulphilas alone is independent of it. The name is equivalent to Vulgata editio (the current text of Holy Scripture. This translation was made by Jerome-Eusebius Hieronymus--who way born in 329 A.D. at Stridon in Dalmatia, and died at Bethlehem in 420 A.D. This great scholar probably alone for 1500 years possessed the qualifications necessary for producing an original version of the Scriptures for the use of the Latin churches. Going to Rome, he was requested by Pope Damascus, A.D. 383, to make a revision of the old Latin version of the New Testament, whose history is lost in obscurity. In middle life Jerome began the study of the Hebrew, and made a new version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew which was completed A.D. 404. The critical labors of Jerome were received with a loud outcry of reproach. He was accused of disturbing the repose of the Church and shaking the foundations of faith. But clamor based upon ignorance soon dies away; and the New translation gradually came into use equally with the Old, and at length supplanted it. The vast power which the Vulgate has had in determining the theological terms of western Christendom can hardly be overrated. By far the greater part of the current doctrinal terminology is based on the Vulgate. Predestination, justification, supererogation (supererogo), sanctification, salvation, mediation, regeneration, revelation, visitation (met.) propitiation, first appear in the Old Vulgate. Grace, redemption, election, reconciliation, satisfaction, inspiration, scripture, were devoted there to a new and holy use. Sacrament and communion are from the same source; and though baptism is Greek, it comes to us from the Latin. It would be easy to extend the list by the addition of orders, penance, congregation, priest ; but it can be seen from the forms already brought forward that the Vulgate has brought forward that the Vulgate has left its mark both upon our language and upon our thoughts. It was the version which alone they knew who handed down to the reformers the rich stores of medieval wisdom; the version with which the greatest of the reformers were most familiar, and from which they had drawn their earliest knowledge of divine truth."
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Vulture | [
"The rendering in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew daah, dayyah, and also in (Job 28:7) of ayyah . There seems no doubt that the Authorized Versions translation is incorrect, and that the original words refer to some of the smaller species of raptorial birds, as kites or buzzards. [[1276]Kite] But the Hebrew word nesher, invariably rendered \"eagle\" in the Authorized Version, is probably the vulture. [[1277]Eagle]"
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Wages | [
"The earliest mention of wages is of a recompense, not in money, but in kind, to Jacob from Laban. (Genesis 29:15,20; 30:28; 31:7,8,41) In Egypt money payments by way of wages were in use, but the terms cannot now be ascertained. (Exodus 2:9) The only mention of the rate of wages in Scripture is found in the parable of the householder and the vineyard, (Matthew 20:2) where the laborer's wages was set at one denarius per day, probably 15 to 17 cents, a sum which may be fairly taken as equivalent to the denarius, and to the usual pay of a soldier (ten asses per diem) in the later days of the Roman republic. Tac. Ann. i. 17; Polyb. vi. 39. In earlier times it is probable that the rate was lower; but it is likely that laborers, and also soldiers, were supplied with provisions. The law was very strict in requiring daily payment of wages. (Leviticus 19:13; 24:14,15) The employer who refused to give his-laborers sufficient victuals is censured (Job 22:11) and the iniquity of withholding wages is denounced. (Jeremiah 22:13; Malachi 3:5; James 6:4)"
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Wagon | [
"The Oriental wagon, or arabah, is a vehicle composed of two or three planks fixed on two solid circular blocks of wood from two to five feet in diameter, which serve as wheels. For the conveyance of passengers, mattresses or clothes are laid in the bottom and the vehicle is drawn by buffaloes or oxen. [[1278]Cart and [1279]Chariot]"
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Walls | [
"Only a few points need be noticed.",
"+ The practice common in Palestine of carrying foundations down to the solid rock, as in the case of the temple, with structures intended to be permanent. (Luke 6:48) + A feature of some parts of Solomon's buildings, as described by Josephus, corresponds remarkably to the method adopted at Nineveh of incrusting or veneering a wall of brick or stone with slabs of a more costly material, as marble or alabaster. + Another use of walls in Palestine is to support mountain roads Or terraces formed on the sides of hills for purposes of cultivation. + The \"path of the vineyards,\" (Numbers 22:24) is a pathway through vineyards, with walls on each side."
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Wandering In The Wilderness | [
"[[1280]Wilderness Of The Wandering OF THE WANDERING]"
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War | [
"The most important topic in connection with war is the formation of the army which is destined to carry it on. [[1281]Army] In (1 Kings 9:22) at a period (Solomon's reign) when the organization of the army was complete, we have apparently a list of the various gradations of rank in the service, as follows:",
"+ \"Men of war\" = privates ; + \"servants,\" the lowest rank of officers--lieutenants ; + \"princes\" = captains ; + \"captains,\" perhaps = staff officers ; + \"rulers of the chariots and his horsemen\" = cavalry officers . Formal proclamations of war were not interchanged between the belligerents. Before entering the enemy's district spies were seat to ascertain the character of the country and the preparations of its inhabitants for resistance. (Numbers 13:17; Joshua 2:1; Judges 7:10; 1 Samuel 26:4) The combat assumed the form of a number of hand-to-hand contests; hence the high value attached to fleetness of foot and strength of arm. (2 Samuel 1:23; 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8) At the same time various strategic devices were practiced, such as the ambuscade, (Joshua 8:2,12; Judges 20:36) surprise, (Judges 7:16) or circumvention. (2 Samuel 5:23) Another mode of settling the dispute was by the selection of champions, (1 Samuel 17; 2 Samuel 2:14) who were spurred on to exertion by the offer of high reward. (1 Samuel 17:25; 18:25; 2 Samuel 18:11; 1 Chronicles 11:6) The contest having been decided, the conquerors were recalled from the pursuit by the sound of a trumpet. (2 Samuel 2:28; 18:16; 20:22) The siege of a town or fortress was conducted in the following manner: A line of circumvallation was drawn round the place, (Ezekiel 4:2; Micah 5:1) constructed out of the trees found in the neighborhood, (20:20) together with earth and any other materials at hand. This line not only cut off the besieged from the surrounding country, but also served as a base of operations for the besiegers. The next step was to throw out from this line one or more mounds or \"banks\" in the direction of the city, (2 Samuel 20:15; 2 Kings 19:32; Isaiah 37:33) which were gradually increased in height until they were about half as high as the city wall. On this mound or bank towers were erected, (2 Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 52:4; Ezekiel 4:2; 17:17; 21:22; 26:8) whence the slingers and archers might attack with effect. Catapults were prepared for hurling large darts and stones; and the crow, a long spar, with iron claws at one end and ropes at the other, to pull down stones or men from the top of the wall. Battering-rams, (Ezekiel 4:2; 21:22) were brought up to the walls by means of the bank, and scaling-ladders might also be placed on it. The treatment of the conquered was extremely severe in ancient times. The bodies of the soldiers killed in action were plundered, (1 Samuel 31:8) 2 Macc 8:27; the survivors were either killed in some savage manner, (Judges 9:45; 2 Samuel 12:31; 2 Chronicles 25:12) mutilated, (Judges 9:45; 2 Samuel 12:31; 2 Chronicles 25:12) mutilated, (Judges 1:6; 1 Samuel 11:2) or carried into captivity. (Numbers 31:26)"
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Washing The Hands And Feet | [
"As knives and forks were not used in the East, in Scripture times, in eating, it was necessary that the hand, which was thrust into the common dish, should be scrupulously clean; and again, as sandals were ineffectual against the dust and heat of the climate, washing the feet on entering a house was an act both of respect to the company and of refreshment to the traveller. The former of these usages was transformed by the Pharisees of the New Testament age into a matter of ritual observance, (Mark 7:3) and special rules were laid down as to the time and manner of its performance. Washing the feet did not rise to the dignity of a ritual observance except in connection with the services of the sanctuary. (Exodus 30:19,21) It held a high place, however, among the rites of hospitality. Immediately that a guest presented himself at the tent door it was usual to offer the necessary materials for washing the feet. (Genesis 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; Judges 19:21) It was a yet more complimentary act, betokening equally humility and affection, if the host himself performed the office for his guest. (1 Samuel 25:41; Luke 7:38,44; John 13:5-14; 1 Timothy 5:10) Such a token of hospitality is still occasionally exhibited in the East."
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Watches Of Night | [
"The Jews, like the Greeks and Romans, divided the night into military watches instead of hours, each watch representing the period for which sentinels or pickets remained on duty. The proper Jewish reckoning recognized only three such watches, entitled the first or \"beginning of the watches,\" (Lamentations 2:19) the middle watch, (Judges 7:19) and the morning watch. (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11) These would last respectively from sunset to 10 P.M.; from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M.; and from 2 A.M. to sunrise. After the establishment of the Roman supremacy, the number of watches was increased to four, which were described either according to their numerical order, as in the case of the \"fourth watch,\" (Matthew 14:25) or by the terms \"even,\" \"midnight,\" \"cock-crowing\" and \"morning.\" (Mark 13:35) These terminated respectively at 9 P.M., midnight, 3 A.M. and 6 A.M."
] |
Water Of Jealousy | [
"(Numbers 5:11-31) The ritual prescribed consisted in the husband's bringing before the priest the woman suspected of infidelity, and the essential part of it is unquestionably the oath to which the \"water\" was subsidiary, symbolical and ministerial. With her he was to bring an offering of barley meal. As she stood holding the offering, so the priest stood holding till earthen vessel of holy water mixed with the dust from the floor of the sanctuary, and, declaring her free from all evil consequences if innocent, solemnly devoted her in the name of Jehovah to be \"a curse and an oath among her people\" if guilty. He then \"wrote these curses in a book and blotted them out with the bitter water.\" and having thrown the handful of meal on the altar, \"caused the woman to drink\" the potion thus drugged, she moreover answering to the words of his imprecation, \"Amen, amen.\" Josephus adds, if the suspicion was unfounded, she obtained conception; if true, she died infamously, (This was entirely different from most trials of this kind, for the bitter water the woman must drink was harmless in itself, and only by a direct act of God could it injure her it guilty while in most heathen trials the suspected party must take poison, or suffer that which only a miracle would save them from if they were innocent.--ED.)"
] |
Water Of Separation | [
"[[1282]Purification]"
] |
Wave Offering | [
"This rite, together with that of \"heaving\" or \"raising\" the offering was an inseparable accompaniment of peace offerings. In such the right shoulder, considered the choicest part of the victim, was to be (\"heaved,\" and viewed as holy to the Lord, only eaten therefore by the priest: the breast was to be \"waved,\" and eaten by the worshipper. The scriptural notices of these rites are to be found in (Exodus 29:24,28; Leviticus 7:30,34; 8:27; 9:21; 10:14,15; 23:10,15,20; Numbers 6:20; 18:11,18,26-29) etc. In conjecturing the meaning of this rite, regard must be had that it was the accompaniment of peace offerings, which were witnesses to a ratified covenant--an established communion between God and man."
] |
Weapons | [
"[[1283]Arms, Armor]"
] |
Weasel | [
"(choled) occurs only in (Leviticus 11:29) in the list of unclean animals; but the Hebrew word ought more probably to be translated \"mole.\" Moles are common in Palestine."
] |
Weaving | [
"The art of weaving appears to be coeval with the first dawning of civilization. We find it practiced with great skill by the Egyptians at a very early period; The vestures of fine linen\" such as Joseph wore, (Genesis 41:42) were the product of Egyptian looms. The Israelites were probably acquainted with the process before their sojourn in Egypt; but it was undoubtedly there that they attained the proficiency which enabled them to execute the hangings of the tabernacle, (Exodus 35:35; 1 Chronicles 4:21) and other artistic textures. The Egyptian loom was usually upright, and the weaver stood at his work. The cloth was fixed sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom. The modern Arabs use a procumbent loom, raised above the ground by short legs. The textures produced by the Jewish weavers were very various. The coarser kinds, such tent-cloth, sack-cloth and the \"hairy garments\" of the poor, were made goat's or camel's hair. (Exodus 26:7; Matthew 3:4) Wool was extensively used for ordinary clothing, (Leviticus 13:47; Proverbs 27:26; 31:13; Ezekiel 27:18) while for finer work flax was used, varying in quality, and producing the different textures described in the Bible as \"linen\" and \"fine linen.\" The mixture of wool and flax in cloth intended for a garment was interdicted. (Leviticus 19:19; 22:11)"
] |
Wedding | [
"[[1284]Marriage]"
] |
Week | [
"There can be no doubt about the great antiquity of measuring time by a period of seven days. (Genesis 8:10; 29:27) The origin of this division of time is a matter which has given birth to much speculation. Its antiquity is so great its observance so widespread, and it occupies so important a place in sacred things, that it must probably be thrown back as far as the creation of man. The week and the Sabbath are thus as old as man himself. A purely theological ground is thus established for the week. They who embrace this view support it by a reference to the six days' creation and the divine rest on the seventh. 1st. That the week rests on a theological ground may be cheerfully acknowledged by both sides; but nothing is determined by such acknowledgment as to the original cause of adopting this division of time. Whether the week gave its sacredness to the number seven, or whether the ascendancy of that number helped to determine the dimensions of the week, it is impossible to say. 2d. The weekly division was adopted by all the Shemitic races, and, in the later period of their history at least, by the Egyptians. On the other hand, there is no reason for thinking the week known till a late period to either Greeks or Romans. So far from the week being a division of time without ground in nature, there was much to recommend its adoption. And further, the week is a most natural and nearly an exact quadri-partition of the month, so that the quarters of the moon may easily have suggested it. It is clear that if not in Paul's time, yet very soon after, the whole Roman world had adopted the hebdomadal division. Weeks, Feast of. [[1285]Pentecost]"
] |
Weights And Measures | [
"A. WEIGHTS.--The general principle of the present inquiry is to give the evidence of the monuments the preference on all doubtful points. All ancient Greek systems of weight were derived, either directly or indirectly, from an eastern source. The older systems of ancient Greece and Persia were the AEginetan, the Attic, the Babylonian and the Euboic.",
"+ The AEginetan talent is stated to have contained 60 minae, 6000 drachme. + The Attic talent is the standard weight introduced by Solon. + The Babylonian talent may be determined from existing weights found by. Mr. Layard at Nineveh. Pollux makes it equal to 7000 Attic drachms. + The Euboic talent though bearing a Greek name, is rightly held to have been originally an eastern system. The proportion of the Euboic talent to the Babylonian was probably as 60 to 72, or 5 to + Taking the Babylonian maneh at 7992 grs., we obtain 399,600 for the Euboic talent. The principal if not the only Persian gold coin is the daric, weighing about 129 grs. + The Hebrew talent or talents and divisions. A talent of silver is mentioned in Exodus, which contained 3000 shekels, distinguished as \"the holy shekel,\" or \"shekel of the sanctuary.\" The gold talent contained 100 manehs, 10,000 shekels. The silver talent contained 3000 shekels, 6000 bekas, 60,000 gerahs. The significations of the names of the Hebrew weights must be here stated. The chief unit was the [1286]Shekel (i.e. weight), called also the holy shekel or shekel of the sanctuary ; subdivided into the beka (i.e. half) or half-shekel, and the gerah (i.e. a grain or beka). The chief multiple, or higher unit, was the kikkar (i.e. circle or globe, probably for an aggregate sum), translated in our version, after the LXX., [1287]Talent; (i.e. part, portion or number), a word used in Babylonian and in the Greek hena or mina . (1) The relations of these weights, as usually: employed for the standard of weighing silver, and their absolute values, determined from the extant silver coins, and confirmed from other sources, were as follows, in grains exactly and in avoirdupois weight approximately: (2) For gold a different shekel was used, probably of foreign introduction. Its value has been calculated at from 129 to 132 grains. The former value assimilates it to the Persian daric of the Babylonian standard. The talent of this system was just double that of the silver standard; if was divided into 100 manehs, and each maneh into 100 shekels, as follows: (3) There appears to have been a third standard for copper, namely, a shekel four times as heavy as the gold shekel (or 528 grains), 1500 of which made up the copper talent of 792,000 grains. It seems to have been subdivided, in the coinage, into halves (of 264 grains), quarters (of 132 grains) and sixths (of 88 grains). B. [1288]Measures.-- I. [1289]Measures OF LENGTH.--In the Hebrew, as in every other system, these measures are of two classes: length, in the ordinary sense, for objects whose size we wish to determine, and distance, or itinerary measures, and the two are connected by some definite relation, more or less simple, between their units. The measures of the former class have been universally derived, in the first instance, from the parts of the human body; but it is remarkable that, in the Hebrew system, the only part used for this purpose is the hand and fore-arm, to the exclusion of the foot, which was the chief unit of the western nations. Hence arises the difficulty of determining the ratio of the foot to the [1290]Cubit, (The Hebrew word for the cubit (ammah) appears to have been of Egyptian origin, as some of the measures of capacity (the hin and ephah) certainly were.) which appears as the chief Oriental unit from the very building of Noah's ark. (Genesis 6:15,16; 7:20) The Hebrew lesser measures were the finger's breadth, (Jeremiah 52:21) only; the palm or handbreadth, (Exodus 25:25; 1 Kings 7:26; 2 Chronicles 4:5) used metaphorically in (Psalms 39:5) the span, i.e. the full stretch between the tips of the thumb and the little finger. (Exodus 28:16; 1 Samuel 17:4; Ezekiel 43:13) and figuratively (Isaiah 40:12) The data for determining the actual length of the Mosaic cubit involve peculiar difficulties, and absolute certainty seems unattainable. The following, however, seem the most probable conclusions: First, that three cubits were used in the times of the Hebrew monarchy, namely : (1) The cubit of a man, (3:11) or the common cubit of Canaan (in contradistinction to the Mosaic cubit) of the Chaldean standard; (2) The old Mosaic or legal cubit, a handbreadth larger than the first, and agreeing with the smaller Egyptian cubit; (3) The new cubit, which was still larger, and agreed with the larger Egyptian cubit, of about 20.8 inches, used in the Nilometer. Second, that the ordinary cubit of the Bible did not come up to the full length of the cubit of other countries. The reed (kaneh), for measuring buildings (like the Roman decempeda), was to 6 cubits. It occurs only in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 40:5-8; 41:8; 42:16-29) The values given In the following table are to be accepted with reservation, for want of greater certainty: + Of measures of distance the smallest is the pace, and the largest the day's journey . (a) The pace, (2 Samuel 6:13) whether it be a single, like our pace, or double, like the Latin passus, is defined by nature within certain limits, its usual length being about 30 inches for the former and 5 feet for the latter. There is some reason to suppose that even before the Roman measurement of the roads of Palestine, the Jews had a mile of 1000 paces, alluded to in (Matthew 5:41) It is said to have been single or double, according to the length of the pace; and hence the peculiar force of our Lord's saying: \"Whosoever shall compel thee [as a courier] to go a mile, go with him twain\"--put the most liberal construction on the demand. (b) The day's journey was the most usual method of calculating distances in travelling, (Genesis 30:36; 31:23; Exodus 3:18; 5:3; Numbers 10:33; 11:31; 33:8; 1:2; 1 Kings 19:4; 2 Kings 3:9; Jonah 3:3) 1 Macc. 5:24; 7:45; Tobit 6:1, though but one instance of it occurs in the New Testament (Luke 2:44) The ordinary day's journey among the Jews was 30 miles; but when they travelled in companies, only ten miles. Neapolis formed the first stage out of Jerusalem according to the former and Beeroth according to the latter computation, (a) The Sabbath day's journey of 2000 cubits, (Acts 1:12) is peculiar to the New Testament, and arose from a rabbinical restriction. It was founded on a universal, application of the prohibition given by Moses for a special occasion: \"Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.\" (Exodus 16:29) An exception was allowed for the purpose of worshipping at the tabernacle; and, as 2000 cubits was the prescribed space to be kept between the ark and the people as well as the extent of the suburbs of the Levitical cities on every side, (Numbers 35:5) this was taken for the length of a Sabbath-day's journey measured front the wall of the city in which the traveller lived. Computed from the value given above for the cubit, the Sabbath-day's journey would be just six tenths of a mile . (d) After the captivity the relations of the Jews to the Persians, Greeks and Romans caused the use, probably, of the parasang, and certainly of the stadium and the mile . Though the first is not mentioned in the Bible, if is well to exhibit the ratios of the three. The universal Greek standard, the stadium of 600 Greek feet, which was the length of the race-course at Olympia, occurs first in the Maccabees, and is common in the New Testament. Our version renders it furlong ; it being, in fact, the eighth part of the Roman mile, as the furlong is of ours. 2 Macc. 11:5; 12:9,17,29; (Luke 24:13; John 6:19; 11:18; Revelation 14:20; 21:18) One measure remains to be mentioned. The fathom, used in sounding by the Alexandrian mariners in a voyage, is the Greek orguia, i.e. the full stretch of the two arms from tip to tip of the middle finger, which is about equal to the height, and in a man of full stature is six feet. For estimating area, and especially land there is no evidence that the Jews used any special system of square measures but they were content to express by the cubit the length and breadth of the surface to be measured (Numbers 35:4,5; Ezekiel 40:27) or by the reed. (Ezekiel 41:8; 42:16-19; Revelation 21:16) II. [1291]Measures OF CAPACITY.-- + The measures of capacity for liquids were: (a) The log, (Leviticus 14:10) etc. The name originally signifying basin . (b) The hin, a name of Egyptian origin, frequently noticed in the Bible. (Exodus 29:40; 30:24; Numbers 15:4,7,8; Ezekiel 4:11) etc. (c) The bath, the name meaning \"measured,\" the largest of the liquid measures. (1 Kings 7:26,38; 2 Chronicles 2:10; Ezra 7:22; Isaiah 5:10) + The dry measure contained the following denominations: (a) The cab, mentioned only in (2 Kings 6:25) the name meaning literally hollow or concave . (b) The omer, mentioned only in (Exodus 16:16-36) The word implies a heap, and secondarily a sheaf. (c) The seah, or \"measure,\" this being the etymological meaning of the term and appropriately applied to it, inasmuch as it was the ordinary measure for household purposes. (Genesis 18:6; 1 Samuel 25:18; 2 Kings 7:1,16) The Greek equivalent occurs in (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21) (d) The ephah, a word of Egyptian origin and frequent recurrence in the Bible. (Exodus 16:36; Leviticus 5:11; 6:20; Numbers 5:15; 28:5; Judges 6:19; Ruth 2:17; 1 Samuel 1:24; 17:17; Ezekiel 45:11,13; 46:5,7,11,14) (e) The lethec, or \"half homer\" literally meaning what is poured out; it occurs only in (Hosea 3:2) (f) The homer, meaning heap. (Leviticus 27:16; Numbers 11:32; Isaiah 5:10; Ezekiel 45:13) It is elsewhere termed cor, from the circular vessel in which it was measured. (1 Kings 4:22; 5:11; 2 Chronicles 2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22; Ezekiel 45:14) The Greek equivalent occurs in (Luke 16:7) The absolute values of the liquid and the dry measures are stated differently by Josephus and the rabbinists, and as we are unable to decide between them, we give a double estimate to the various denominations. In the new Testament we have notices of the following foreign measures: (a) The metretes, (John 2:6) Authorized Version \"firkin,\" for liquids. (b) The choenix, (Revelation 6:6) Authorized Version \"measure,\" for dry goods. (c) The xestec, applied, however, not to the peculiar measure so named by the Greeks, but to any small vessel, such as a cup. (Mark 7:4,8) Authorized Version \"pot.\" (d) The modius, similarly applied to describe any vessel of moderate dimensions, (Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 11:33) Authorized Version \"bushel,\" though properly meaning a Roman measure, amounting to about a peck. The value of the Attic metretes was 8.6696 gallons, and consequently the amount of liquid in six stone jars, containing on the average 2 1/2 metretae each, would exceed 110 gallons. (John 2:6) Very possibly, however, the Greek term represents the Hebrew bath ; and if the bath be taken at the lowest estimate assigned to it, the amount would be reduced to about 60 gallons. The choenix was 1-48th of an Attic medimnus, and contained nearly a quart. It represented the amount of corn for a day's food; and hence a choenix for a penny (or denarius), which usually purchased a bushel (Cic. Verr. iii 81), indicated a great scarcity. (Revelation 6:6)"
] |
Well | [
"Wells in Palestine are usually excavated from the solid limestone rock, sometimes with steps to descend into them. (Genesis 24:16) The brims are furnished with a curb or low wall of stone, bearing marks of high antiquity in the furrows worn by the ropes used in drawing water. It was on a curb of this sort that our Lord sat when he conversed with the woman of Samaria, (John 4:6) and it was this, the usual stone cover, which the woman placed on the mouth of the well at Bahurim, (2 Samuel 17:19) where the Authorized Version weakens the sense by omitting the article. The usual methods for raising water are the following:",
"+ The rope and bucket, or waterskin. (Genesis 24:14-20; John 4:11) + The sakiyeh, or Persian wheel. This consists of a vertical wheel furnished with a set of buckets or earthen jars attached to a cord passing over the wheel. which descend empty and return full as the wheel revolves. + A modification of the last method, by which a man, sitting opposite to a wheel furnished with buckets, turns it by drawing with his hands one set of spokes prolonged beyond its circumference, and pushing another set from him with his feet. + A method very common in both ancient and modern Egypt is the shadoof, a simple contrivance consisting of a lever moving on a pivot, which is loaded at one end with a lump of clay or some other weight, and has at the other a bowl or bucket. Wells are usually furnished with troughs of wood or stone into which the water is emptied for the use of persons or animals coming to the wells. Unless machinery is used, which is commonly worked by men, women are usually the water-carriers."
] |
Whale | [
"As to the signification of the Hebrew terms tan and tannin, variously rendered in the Authorized Version by \"dragon,\" \"whale,\" \"serpent,\" \"sea-monster\" see [1292]Dragon. It remains for us in this article to consider the transaction recorded in the book of Jonah, of that prophet having been swallowed up by some great fish\" which in (Matthew 12:40) is called cetos (ketos), rendered in our version by \"whale.\" In the first glace, it is necessary to observe that the Greek word cetos, used by St. Matthew is not restricted in its meaning to \"a whale,\" or any Cetacean ; like the Latin cete or cetus, it may denote any sea-monster, either \"a whale,\" Or \"a shark,\" or \"a seal,\" or \"a tunny of enormous size.\" Although two or three species of whale are found in the Mediterranean Sea, yet the \"great fish\" that swallowed the prophet cannot properly be identified with any Cetacean, for, although the sperm whale has a gullet sufficiently large to admit the body of a man, yet, it can hardly be the fish intended, as the natural food of Cetaceans consists of small animals, such as medusae and crustacea. The only fish, then, capable of swallowing a man would be a large specimen of the white shark (Carcharias vulgaris), that dreaded enemy of sailors, and the most voracious of the family of Squalidae . This shark, which sometimes attains the length of thirty feet, is quite able to swallow a man whole. The whole body of a man in armor has been found in the stomach of a white shark: and Captain King, in his survey of Australia, says he had caught one which could have swallowed a man with the greatest ease. Blumenbach mentions that a whole horse has' been found in a shark, and Captain Basil Hall reports the taking of one in which, besides other things, he found the whole skin of a buffalo which a short time before had been thrown overboard from his ship (p. 27). The white shark is not uncommon in the Mediterranean."
] |
Wheat | [
"the well-known valuable cereal, cultivated from the earliest times, is first mentioned in ((Genesis 30:14) in the account of Jacob's sojourn with Laban in Mesopotamia. Egypt in ancient times was celebrated for the growth of its wheat; the best quality was all bearded; and the same varieties existed in ancient as in modern times, among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream. (Genesis 41:22) Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in large quantities. (Psalms 81:16; 147:14) etc. There appear to be two or three kinds of wheat at present grown in Palestine, the Triticum vulgare, the T. spelta, and another variety of bearded wheat which appears to be the same as the Egyptian kind, the T. compositum . In the parable of the sower our Lord alludes to grains of wheat which in good ground produce a hundred-fold. (Matthew 13:8) The common Triticum vulgare will sometimes produce one hundred grains in the ear. Wheat is reaped to ward the end of April, in May, and in June, according to the differences of soil and position; it was sown either broadcast and then ploughed in or trampled in by cattle, (Isaiah 32:20) or in rows, if we rightly understand (Isaiah 28:25) which seems to imply that the seeds were planted apart in order to insure larger and fuller ears. The wheat was put into the ground in the winter, and some time after the barley; in the Egyptian plague of hail, consequently, the barley suffered, but the wheat had not appeared, and so escaped injury."
] |
Widow | [
"Under the Mosaic dispensation no legal provision was made for the maintenance of widows. They were left dependent partly on the affection of relations, more especially of the eldest son, whose birthright, or extra share of the property, imposed such a duty upon him, and partly on the privileges accorded to other distressed classes, such as a participation in the triennial third tithe, (14:29; 26:12) in leasing, (24:19-21) and in religious feasts. (16:11,14) With regard to the remarriage of widows, the only restriction imposed by the Mosaic law had reference to the contingency of one being left childless in which case the brother of the deceased husband had a right to marry the widow. (25:5,6; Matthew 22:23-30) In the apostolic Church the widows were sustained at the public expense, the relief being daily administered in kind, under the superintendence of officers appointed for this special purpose, (Acts 6:1-6) Particular directions are given by St.Paul as to the class of persons entitled to such public maintenance. (1 Timothy 5:3-16) Out of the body of such widows a certain number were to be enrolled, the qualifications for such enrollment being that they were not under sixty years of age; that they had been \"the wife of one man,\" probably meaning but once married ; and that they had led useful and charitable lives. vs. (1 Timothy 5:9,10) We are not disposed to identify the widows of the Bible either with the deaconesses or with the presbutides Of the early Church. The order of widows existed as a separate institution, contemporaneously with these offices, apparently for the same eleemosynary purpose for which it was originally instituted."
] |
Wife | [
"[[1293]Marriage]"
] |
Wilderness Of The Wandering | [
"(The region in which the Israelites spent nearly 38 years of their existence after they had left Egypt, and spent a year before Mount Sinai. They went as far as Kadesh, on the southernmost border of Palestine, from which place spies were sent up into the promised land. These returned with such a report of the inhabitants and their walled cities that the people were discouraged, and began to murmur and rebel. For their sin they were compelled to remain 38 years longer in the wilderness, because it showed that they were not yet prepared and trained to conquer and to hold their promised possessions. The wilderness of the wandering was the great central limestone plateau of the sinaitic peninsula. It was bordered on the east by the valley of the Arabah, which runs from the Dead Sea to the head of the eastern branch of the Red Sea. On the south and south west were the granite mountains of Sinai and on the north the Mediterranean Sea and the mountainous region south of Judea. It is called the Desert of Paran, and Badiet et-Tih, which means \"Desert of the Wandering.\" The children of Israel were not probably marching as a nation from place to place in this wilder new during these 38 years, but they probably had a kind of headquarters at Kadesh, and were \"compelled to linger on as do the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, in a half-savage, homeless state, moving about from place to place, and pitching their tents wherever they could find pasture for their flocks and herds.\"--E.H. Palmer. Toward the close of the forty years from Egypt they again assembled at Kadesh, and, once more under the leadership of the Shechinah, they marched down the Arabah on their way to the promised land.--ED.)"
] |
Willows | [
"are mentioned in (Leviticus 23:40; Job 40:22; Psalms 137:2; Isaiah 44:4) With respect to the tree upon which the captive Israelites hung their harps, there can be no doubt that the weeping willow Salix babylonica, is intended. This tree grows abundantly on the banks of the Euphrates, in other parts of Asia as in Palestine. The Hebrew word translated willows is generic, and includes several species of the large family of Salices, which is well represented in Palestine and the Bible lands, such as the Salix alba, S. viminalis (osier), S. aegyptiaca ."
] |
Willows, The Brook Of The | [
"a wady mentioned by Isaiah, (Isaiah 15:7) in his dirge over Moab. It is situated on the southern boundary of Moab, and is now called Wady el-Aksa."
] |
Wills | [
"Under a system of close inheritance like that of the Jews, the scope forbid bequest in respect of land was limited by the right of redemption and general re-entry in the jubilee year; but the law does not forbid bequests by will of such limited interest in land as was consistent with those rights. The case of houses in walled towns was different, and there can be no doubt that they must, in fact, have frequently been bequeathed by will, (Leviticus 25:30) Two instances are recorded in the Old Testament under the law of the testamentary disposition, (1) effected in the case of Ahithophel, (2 Samuel 17:23) (2) recommended in the case of Hezekiah. (2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1) [[1294]Heir]"
] |
Wimple | [
"an old English word for hood or veil, used in the Authorized Version of (Isaiah 3:22) The same Hebrew word is translated \"veil\" in (Ruth 3:15) but it signifies rather a kind of shawl of mantle."
] |
Window | [
"The window of an Oriental house consists generally of an aperture closed in with lattice-work. (Judges 5:28; Proverbs 7:6) Authorized Version \"casement;\" (Ecclesiastes 12:3) Authorized Version \"window;\" (Song of Solomon 2:9; Hosea 13:3) Authorized Version \"chimney.\" Glass has been introduced into Egypt in modern times as a protection against the cold of winter, but lattice-work is still the usual, and with the poor the only, contrivance for closing the window. The windows generally look into the inner court of the house, but in every house one or more look into the street. In Egypt these outer windows generally project over the doorway. [[1295]House]"
] |
Winds | [
"That the Hebrews recognized the existence of four prevailing winds as issuing, broadly speaking, from the four cardinal points, north, south, east and west, may be inferred from their custom of using the expression \"four winds\" as equivalent to the \"four quarters\" of the hemisphere. (Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 8:8; Zechariah 2:6; Matthew 24:31) The north wind, or, as it was usually called \"the north,\" was naturally the coldest of the four, Ecclus. 43:20 and its presence is hence invoked as favorable to vegetation in (Song of Solomon 4:16) It is described in (Proverbs 25:23) as bringing rain; in this case we must understand the northwest wind. The northwest wind prevails from the autumnal equinox to the beginning of November, and the north wind from June to the equinox. The east wind crosses the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserts before reaching Palestine and was hence termed \"the wind of the wilderness.\" (Job 1:19; Jeremiah 13:14) It blows with violence, and is hence supposed to be used generally for any violent wind. (Job 27:21; 38:24; Psalms 48:7; Isaiah 27:8; Ezekiel 27:26) In Palestine the east wind prevails from February to June. The south wind, which traverses the Arabian peninsula before reaching Palestine, must necessarily be extremely hot. (Job 37:17; Luke 12:55) The west and southwest winds reach Palestine loaded with moisture gathered from the Mediterranean, and are hence expressly termed by the Arabs \"the fathers of the rain.\" Westerly winds prevail in Palestine from November to February. In addition to the four regular winds, we have notice in the Bible of the local squalls, (Mark 4:37; Luke 8:23) to which the Sea of Gennesareth was liable. In the narrative of St. Paul's voyage we meet with the Greek term Lips to describe the southwest wind; the Latin Carus or Caurus, the northwest wind (Acts 27:12) and Euroclydon, a wind of a very violent character coming from east-northeast. (Acts 27:14)"
] |
Wine | [
"The manufacture of wine is carried back in the Bible to the age of Noah, (Genesis 9:20,21) to whom the discovery of the process is apparently, though not explicitly, attributed. The natural history and culture of the vine are described under a separate head. [[1296]Vine] The only other plant whose fruit is noticed as having been converted into wine was the pomegranate. (Song of Solomon 8:2) In Palestine the vintage takes place in September, and is celebrated with great rejoicing. The ripe fruit was gathered in baskets, (Jeremiah 6:9) as represented in Egyptian paintings, and was carried to the wine-press. It was then placed in the upper one of the two vats or receptacles of which the winepress was formed, and was subjected to the process of \"treading,\" which has prevailed in all ages in Oriental and south European countries. (Nehemiah 13:15; Job 24:11; Isaiah 18:10; Jeremiah 25:30; 48:33; Amos 9:13; Revelation 19:15) A certain amount of juice exuded front the ripe fruit from its own pressure before treading commenced. This appears to have been kept separate from the rest of the juice, and to have formed the \"sweet wine\" noticed in (Acts 2:13) [See below] The \"treading\" was effected by one or more men, according to the size of the vat. They encouraged one another by shouts. (Isaiah 16:9,10; Jeremiah 25:30; 48:33) Their legs and garments were dyed red with the juice. (Genesis 40:11; Isaiah 63:2,3) The expressed juice escaped by an aperture into the lower vat, or was at once collected in vessels. A hand-press was occasionally used in Egypt, but we have no notice of such an instrument in the Bible. As to the subsequent treatment of the wine we have but little information. Sometimes it was preserved in its unfermented state and drunk as must, but more generally it was bottled off after fermentation and if it were designed to be kept for some time a certain amount of lees was added to give it body. (Isaiah 25:6) The wine consequently required to be \"refined\" or strained previous to being brought to table. (Isaiah 25:6) To wine, is attributed the \"darkly-flashing eye,\" (Genesis 40:12) Authorized Version \"red,\" the unbridled tongue, (Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 28:7) the excitement of the spirit, (Proverbs 31:6; Isaiah 5:11; Zechariah 9:15; 10:7) the enchained affections of its votaries, (Hosea 4:11) the perverted judgment, (Proverbs 31:5; Isaiah 28:7) the indecent exposure, (Habakkuk 2:15,16) and the sickness resulting from the heat (chemah, Authorized Version \"bottles\") of wine. (Hosea 7:5) The allusions to the effects of tirosh are confined to a single passage, but this a most decisive one, viz. (Hosea 4:11) \"Whoredom and wine (yayin) and new wine (tirosh) take away the heart,\" where tirosh appears as the climax of engrossing influences, in immediate connection with yayin . It has been disputed whether the Hebrew wine was fermented; but the impression produced on the mind by a general review of the above notices is that the Hebrew words indicating wine refer to fermented, intoxicating wine. The notices of fermentation are not very decisive. A certain amount of fermentation is implied in the distension of the leather bottles when new wine was placed in them, and which was liable to burst old bottles. It is very likely that new wine was preserved in the state of must by placing it in jars or bottles and then burying it in the earth. The mingling that we read of in conjunction with wine may have been designed either to increase or to diminish the strength of the wine, according as spices or water formed the ingredient that was added. The notices chiefly favor the former view; for mingled liquor was prepared for high festivals, (Proverbs 9:2,5) and occasions of excess. (Proverbs 23:30; Isaiah 5:22) At the same time strength was not the sole object sought; the wine \"mingled with myrrh,\" given to Jesus, was designed to deaden pain, (Mark 15:23) and the spiced pomegranate wine prepared by the bride, (Song of Solomon 8:2) may well have been of a mild character. In the New Testament the character of the \"sweet wine,\" noticed in (Acts 2:13) calls for some little remark. It could not be new wine in the proper sense of the term, inasmuch as about eight months must have elapsed between the vintage and the feast of Pentecost. The explanations of the ancient lexicographers rather lead us to infer that its luscious qualities were due, not to its being recently made, but to its being produced from the very purest juice of the grape. There can be little doubt that the wines of palestine varied in quality, and were named after the localities in which they were made. The only wines of which we have special notice belonged to Syria these were the wine of Helbon (Ezekiel 27:18) and the wine of Lebanon, famed for its aroma. (Hosea 14:7) With regard to the uses of wine in private life there is little to remark. It was produced on occasions of ordinary hospitality, (Genesis 14:18) and at festivals, such as marriages. (John 2:3) Under the Mosaic law wine formed the usual drink offering that accompanied the daily sacrifice, (Exodus 29:40) the presentation of the first-fruits, (Leviticus 23:13) and other offerings. (Numbers 15:5) Tithe was to be paid of wine, as of other products. The priest was also to receive first-fruits of wine, as of other articles. (18:4) comp. (Exodus 22:29) The use of wine at the paschal feast was not enjoined by the law, but had become an established custom, at all events in the post-Babylonian period. The wine was mixed with warm water on these occasions. Hence in the early Christian Church it was usual to mix the sacramental wine with water. (The simple wines of antiquity were incomparably less deadly than the stupefying and ardent beverages of our western nations. The wines of antiquity were more like sirups; many of them were not intoxicant; many more intoxicant in a small degree; and all of them, as a rule, taken only when largely diluted with water. They contained, even undiluted, but 4 or 5 percent of alcohol.--Cannon Farrar.)"
] |
Winepress | [
"From the scanty notices contained in the Bible we gather that, the wine-presses of the Jews consisted of two receptacles of vats placed at different elevations, in the upper one of which the grapes were trodden, while the lower one received the expressed juice. The two vats are mentioned together only in (Joel 3:13) \"The press is full: the fats overflow\"--the upper vat being full of fruit, the lower one overflowing with the must. [[1297]Wine] The two vats were usually hewn out of the solid rock. (Isaiah 5:2) margin; (Matthew 21:33) Ancient winepresses, so constructed, are still to he seen in Palestine."
] |
Winnowing | [
"[[1298]Agriculture]"
] |
Wisdom Of Jesus, Son Of Sirach | [
"[[1299]Ecclesiasticus]"
] |
Wisdom, The, Of Solomon | [
"a, book of the Apocrypha, may be divided into two parts, the first, chs. 1-9, containing the doctrine of wisdom in its moral and intellectual aspects: the second, the doctrine of wisdom as shown in history. chs. 10-19. The first part contains the praise of wisdom as the source of immortality, in contrast with the teaching of sensualists; and next the praise of wisdom as the guide of practical and intellectual life, the stay of princes, and the interpreter of the universe. The second part, again, follows the action of wisdom summarily, as preserving God's servants, from Adam to Moses, and more particularly in the punishment of the Egyptians and Canaanites. Style and language .--The literary character of the book is most remarkable and interesting. In the richness and freedom of its vocabulary it most closely resembles the Fourth Book of Maccabees, but it is superior to that fine declamation in both power and variety of diction. The magnificent description of wisdom ch. 7:22-8:1, must rank among the noblest passages of human eloquence, and it would be perhaps impossible to point out any piece of equal length in the remains of classical antiquity more pregnant with noble thought or more rich in expressive phraseology. Doctrinal character.--The theological teaching of the book offers, in many respects, the nearest approach to the language and doctrines of Greek philosophy that is found in any Jewish writing up to the time of Philo. There is much in the views which it gives of the world of man and of the divine nature which springs rather from the combination or conflict of Hebrew and Greek thought than from the independent development of Hebrew thought alone. The conception is presented of the body as a mere weight and clog to the soul. ch, 9:15; contrast (2 Corinthians 5:1-4) There is, on the other hand no trace of the characteristic Christian doctrine of a resurrection of the body. The identification of the tempter, (Genesis 3:1) ... directly or indirectly with the devil, as the bringer \"of death into the world\" ch. 2:23, 24, is the most remarkable development of biblical doctrine which the book contains. Generally, too, it may be observed that, as in the cognate books, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, there are few traces of the recognition of the sinfulness even of the wise man in his wisdom, which forms in the Psalms and the prophets, the basis of the Christian doctrine of the atonement: yet comp. (Genesis 15:2) In connection with the Old Testament Scriptures, the book, as a whole, may be regarded as carrying on one step farther the great problem of life contained in Ecclesiastes and Job. Date.--From internal evidence it seems most reasonable to believe that the work was composed in Greek at Alexandria some time before the time of Philo-about 120-80 B.C. It seems impossible to study this book dispassionately and not feel that it forms one of the last links in the chain of providential connection between the Old and New Covenants. It would not be easy to find elsewhere any pre-Christian view of religion equally wide, sustained and definite."
] |
Wise Men | [
"[[1300]Magi]"
] |
Witch, Witchcrafts | [
"[[1301]Divination; [1302]Magic, Magicians]"
] |
Witness | [
"Among people with whom writing is not common the evidence of a transaction is given by some tangible memorial or significant ceremony: Abraham gave seven ewe-lambs to Abimelech as an evidence of his property in the well of Beersheba. Jacob raised a heap of stones, \"the heap of witness.\" as a boundary-mark between himself and Laban. (Genesis 21:30; 31:47,52) The tribes of Reuben and Gad raised an \"altar\" as a witness to the covenant between themselves and the rest of the nation. Joshua set up a stone as an evidence of the allegiance promised by Israel to God. (Joshua 22:10,26,34; 24:26,27) But written evidence was by no means unknown to the Jews. Divorce was to be proved by a written document. (24:1,3) In civil contracts, at least in later times documentary evidence was required and carefully preserved. (Isaiah 8:16; Jeremiah 32:10-16) On the whole the law was very careful to provide and enforce evidence for all its infractions and all transactions bearing on them. Among special provisions with respect to evidence are the following:",
"+ Two witnesses at least are required to establish any charge. (Numbers 35:30; 17:6; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1) comp. 1Tim 5:19 + In the case of the suspected wife, evidence besides the husband's was desired. (Numbers 5:13) + The witness who withheld the truth was censured. (Leviticus 5:1) + False witness was punished with the penalty due to the offence which it sought to establish. + Slanderous reports and officious witness are discouraged. (Exodus 20:16; 23:1; Leviticus 18:16,18) etc. + The witnesses were the first executioners. (15:9; 17:7; Acts 7:58) + In case of an animal left in charge and torn by wild beasts, the keeper was to bring the carcass in proof of the fact and disproof of his own criminality. (Exodus 22:13) + According to Josephus, women and slaves were not admitted to bear testimony. In the New Testament the original notion of a witness is exhibited in the special form of one who attests his belief in the gospel by personal suffering. Hence it is that the use of the ecclesiastical term (\"martyr.\" the Greek word for \"witness,\" has arisen."
] |
Wizard | [
"[[1303]Divination; [1304]Magic, Magicians]"
] |
Wolf | [
"There can be little doubt that the wolf of Palestine is the common Canis lupus, and that this is the animal so frequently mentioned in the Bible. (The wolf is a fierce animal of the same species as the dog, which it resembles. The common color is gray with a tinting of fawn, and the hair is long and black. The Syrian wolf is of lighter color than the wolf of Europe it is the dread of the shepherds of Palestine.--ED.) Wolves were doubtless far more common in biblical times than they are now, though they are occasionally seen by modern travellers. The following are the scriptural allusions to the wolf: Its ferocity is mentioned in (Genesis 49:27; Ezekiel 22:27); Habb 1:8; Matt 7:15 Its nocturnal habits, in (Jeremiah 5:6; Zephaniah 3:3); Habb 1:8 Its attacking sheep and lambs, (Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3; John 10:12) Isaiah (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25) foretells the peaceful reign of the Messiah under the metaphor of a wolf dwelling with a lamb: cruel persecutors are compared with wolves. (Matthew 10:16; Acts 20:29)"
] |
Women | [
"The position of women in the Hebrew commonwealth contrasts favorably with that which in the present day is assigned to them generally in eastern countries. The most salient point of contrast in the usages of ancient as compared with modern Oriental society was the large amount of liberty enjoyed by women. Instead of being immured in a harem, or appearing in public with the face covered. The wives and maidens of ancient times mingled freely and openly with the other sex in the duties and amenities of ordinary life. Rebekah travelled on a camel with her face unveiled until she came into the presence of her affianced. (Genesis 24:64,65) Jacob saluted Rachel with a kiss in the presence of the shepherds. (Genesis 29:11) Women played no inconsiderable part in public celebrations (Exodus 15:20,21; Judges 11:34) The odes of Deborah, Judg 5, and of Hannah, (1 Samuel 2:1) etc., exhibit a degree of intellectual cultivation which is in itself a proof of the position of the sex in that period. Women also occasionally held public office, particularly that of prophetess or inspired teacher. (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Nehemiah 6:14; Luke 2:36) The management of household affairs devolved mainly on the women. The value of a virtuous and active housewife forms a frequent topic in the book of Proverbs. ch. (Proverbs 11:16; 12:4; 14:1; 31:10) etc. Her influence was of course proportionably great."
] |
Wood | [
"[[1305]Forest]"
] |
Wool | [
"was an article of the highest value among the Jews, as the staple material for the manufacture of clothing. (Leviticus 13:47; 22:11; Job 31:20; Proverbs 31:13; Ezekiel 34:3; Hosea 2:5) The importance of wool is incidentally shown by the notice that Mesha's tribute was paid in a certain number of rams \"with the wool.\" (2 Kings 3:1) The wool of Damascus was highly prized in the mart of Tyre. (Ezekiel 27:18)"
] |
Worm | [
"the representative in the Authorized Version of several Hebrew words. Sas, which occurs in (Isaiah 51:18) probably denotes some particular species of moth, whose larva is injurious to wool. Rimmah, (Exodus 16:20) points evidently to various kinds of maggots and the larvae of insects which feed on putrefying animal matter, rather than to earthworms. Toleah is applied in (28:39) to some kinds of larvae destructive to the vines. In (Job 19:26; 21:26; 24:20) there is an allusion to worms (insect larvae) feeding on the dead bodies of the buried. There is the same allusion in (Isaiah 66:24) which words are applied by our Lord, (Mark 9:44,46,48) metaphorically to the torments of the guilty in the world of departed spirits. The valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, where the filth of the city was cast, was alive with worms. The death of Herod Agrippa I, was caused by worms. (Acts 12:23)"
] |
Wormwood | [
"Four kinds of wormwood are found in Palestine-- Artemisia nilotica, A. Judaica, A. fructicosa and A. cinerea . The word occurs frequently in the Bible, and generally in a metaphorical sense. In (Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15,19) wormwood is symbolical of bitter calamity and sorrow; unrighteous judges are said to \"turn judgment to wormwood.\" (Amos 5:7) The Orientals typified sorrows, cruelties and calamities of any kind by plants of a poisonous or bitter nature."
] |
Worshipper | [
"a translation of the Greek word neocoros, used once only, (Acts 19:35) in the margin, \"temple-keeper.\" The neocoros was originally an attendant in a temple probably intrusted with its charge. The term neocoros became thus applied to cities or communities which undertook the worship of particular emperors even during their lives. The first occurrence of the term in connection with Ephesus is on coins of the age of Nero, A.D. 54-68."
] |
Wrestling | [
"[[1306]Games]"
] |
Writing | [
"There is no account in the Bible of the origin of writing. That the Egyptians in the time of Joseph were acquainted with writing of a certain kind there is evidence to prove, but there is nothing to show that up to this period the knowledge extended to the Hebrew family. At the same time there is no evidence against it. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in (Exodus 17:14) and the connection clearly implies that it was not then employed for the first time but was so familiar as to be used for historic records. It is not absolutely necessary to infer from this that the art of writing was an accomplishment possessed by every Hebrew citizen. If we examine the instances in which writing is mentioned in connection with individuals, we shall find that in all cases the writers were men of superior position. In (Isaiah 29:11,12) there is clearly a distinction drawn between the man who was able to read and the man who was not, and it seems a natural inference that the accomplishments of reading and writing were not widely spread among the people, when we find that they are universally attributed to those of high rank or education-kings, priests, prophets and professional scribes. In the name Kirjathsepher (book-town), (Joshua 15:15) there is an indication of a knowledge of writing among the Phoenicians. The Hebrews, then, a branch of the great Semitic family, being in possession of the art of writing, according to their own historical records, at a very early period, the further questions arise, what character they made use of, and whence they obtained it. Recent investigations have shown that the square Hebrew character is of comparatively modern date, and has been formed from a more ancient type by a gradual process of development. What then was this ancient type? Most probably the Phoenician. Pliny was of opinion that letters were of Assyrian origin. Dioderus Siculus (v. 74) says that the Syrians invented letters, and from them the Phoenicians, having learned them transferred them to the Greeks. According to Tacitus (Ann. xi. 14,, Egypt was believed to be the source whence the Phoenicians got their knowledge. Be this as it may, to the Phoenicians, the daring seamen and adventurous colonizers of the ancient world the voice of tradition has assigned the honor of the invention of letters. Whether it came to them from an Aramean or an Egyptian source can at best he but the subject of conjecture. It may, however, be reasonably inferred that the ancient Hebrews derived from or shared with the Phoenicians the knowledge of writing and the use of letters. The names of the Hebrew letters indicate that they must have been the invention of a Shemitic people, and that they were moreover a pastoral people may be inferred from the same evidence. But whether or not the Phoenicians were the inventors of the Shemitic alphabet, there can be no doubt of their just claim to being its chief disseminators; and with this understanding we may accept the genealogy of alphabets as given by Gesenius, and exhibited in the accompanying table. The old Semitic alphabets may he divided into two principal classes:",
"+ The Phoenician as it exists in the inscriptions in Cyprus, Malta, Carpentras, and the coins of Phoenicia and her colonies. From it are derived the Samaritan and the Greek character. + The Hebrew-Chaldee character; to which belong the Hebrew square character; the which has some traces of a cursive hand; the Estrangelo, or ancient Syriac; and the ancient Arabic or Cufic. It was probably about the first or second century after Christ that the square character assumed its present form; though in a question involved in so much uncertainty it is impossible to pronounce with great positiveness. The alphabet .--The oldest evidence on the subject of the Hebrew alphabet is derived from the alphabetical psalms and poems: Psal 25,34,37,111,112,119,145; (Proverbs 31:10-31; Lamentations 1:1-4) From these we ascertain that the number of the letters was twenty-two, as at present. The Arabic alphabet originally consisted of the same number. It has been argued by many that the alphabet of the Phoenicians at first consisted of only sixteen letters. The legend, as told by Pliny (vii. 56), is as follows; Cadmus brought with him into Greece sixteen letters; at the time of the Trojan war Palamedes added four others, theta, epsilon, phi, chi, and Simonides of Melos four more dzeta, eta, psi, omega. Divisions of words.--Hebrew was originally written, like most ancient languages, without any divisions between the words. The same is the case with the Phoenician inscriptions, The various readings in the LXX. show that, at the version was made, in the Hebrew MSS. which the translators used the words were written in a continuous series. The modern synagogue rolls and the MSS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch have no vowel-points, but the words are divided, and the Samaritan in this respect differs hut little from the Hebrew. Writing materials, etc.--The oldest documents which contain the writing of a Semitic race are probably the bricks of Nineveh and Babylon, on which are impressed the cuneiform Syrian inscriptions. There is, however, no evidence that they were ever used by the Hebrews. It is highly probable that the ancient as well as the most common material which the Hebrews used for writing was dressed skin in some form or other. We know that the dressing of skins was practiced by the Hebrews, (Exodus 25:5; Leviticus 13:48) and they may have acquired the knowledge of the art from the Egyptians, among whom if had attained great perfection, the leather-cutters constituting one of the principal subdivisions of the third caste. Perhaps the Hebrews may have borrowed among their either acquirements, the use of papyrus from the Egyptians, but of this we have no positive evidence. In the Bible the only allusions to the use of papyrus are in (2 John 1:12) where chartes (Authorized Version \"paper\") occurs, which refers especially to papyrus paper, and 3 Macc. 4:20, where charteria is found in the same sense. Herodotus, after telling us that the Ionians learned the art of writing from the Phoenicians, adds that they called their books skins, because they made use of sheep-skins and goat-skins when short of paper. Parchment was used for the MSS. of the Pentateuch in the time of Josephus, and the membranae of (2 Timothy 4:13) were skins of parchment. It was one of the provisions in the Talmud that the law should be written on the skins of clean animals, tame or wild, or even of clean birds. The skins when written upon were formed into rolls (megilloth). (Psalms 40:7) comp. Isai 34:4; Jere 36:14; Ezek 2:9; Zech 5:1 They were rolled upon one or two sticks and fastened with a thread, the ends of which were sealed. (Isaiah 29:11; Daniel 12:4; Revelation 5:1) etc. The rolls were generally written on one side only, except in (Ezekiel 2:9; Revelation 5:1) They were divided into columns (Authorized Version \"leaves,\") (Jeremiah 36:23) the upper margin was to be not less than three fingers broad, the lower not less than four; and a space of two fingers breadth was to be left between every two columns. But besides skins, which were used for the more permanent kinds of writing, tablets of wood covered with wax, (Luke 11:63) served for the ordinary purposes of life. Several of these were fastened together and formed volumes. They were written upon with a pointed style, (Job 19:24) sometimes of iron. (Psalms 45:1; Jeremiah 8:8; 17:1) For harder materials a graver, (Exodus 32:4; Isaiah 8:1) was employed. For parchment or skins a reed was used. (3 John 1:13) 3 Macc. 5:20. The ink, (Jeremiah 36:18) literally \"black,\" like the Greek melan, (2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 John 1:12; 3 John 1:13) was of lampblack dissolved in gall-juice. It was carried in an inkstand which was suspended at the girdle, (Ezekiel 9:2,3) as is done at the present day in the East. To professional scribes there are allusions in (Ezra 7:8; Psalms 45:1) 2 Esdr. 14:24."
] |
Yarn | [
"The notice of yarn is contained in an extremely obscure passage in (1 Kings 10:28; 2 Chronicles 1:16) The Hebrew Received Text is questionable. Gesenius gives the sense of \"number\" as applying equally to the merchants and the horses: \"A band of the king's merchants bought a drove (of horses) at a price.\""
] |
Year | [
"the highest ordinary division of time. Two years were known to, and apparently used by, the Hebrews.",
"+ A year of 360 days appears to have been in use in Noah's time. + The year used by the Hebrews from the time of the exodus may: be said to have been then instituted, since a current month, Abib, on the 14th day of which the first Passover was kept, was then made the first month of the year. The essential characteristics of this year can be clearly determined, though we cannot fix those of any single year. It was essentially solar for the offering of productions of the earth, first-fruits, harvest produce and ingathered fruits, was fixed to certain days of the year, two of which were in the periods of great feasts, the third itself a feast reckoned from one of the former days. But it is certain that the months were lunar, each commencing with a new moon. There must therefore have been some method of adjustment. The first point to be decided is how the commencement of each gear was fixed. Probably the Hebrews determined their new year's day by the observation of heliacal or other star-risings or settings known to mark the right time of the solar year. It follows, from the determination of the proper new moon of the first month, whether by observation of a stellar phenomenon or of the forwardness of the crops, that the method of intercalation can only have been that in use after the captivity,--the addition of a thirteenth month whenever the twelfth ended too long before the equinox for the offering of the first-fruits to be made at the time fixed. The later Jews had two commencements of the year, whence it is commonly but inaccurately said that they had two years, the sacred year and the civil. We prefer to speak of the sacred and civil reckonings. The sacred reckoning was that instituted at the exodus, according to which the first month was Abib; by the civil reckoning the first month was the seventh. The interval between the two commencements was thus exactly half a year. It has been supposed that the institution at the time of the exodus was a change of commencement, not the introduction of a new year, and that thenceforward the year had two beginnings, respectively at about the vernal and the autumnal equinox. The year was divided into-- + Seasons . Two seasons are mentioned in the Bible, \"summer\" and \"winter.\" The former properly means the time of cutting fruits, the latter that, of gathering fruits; they are therefore originally rather summer and autumn than summer and winter. But that they signify ordinarily the two grand divisions of the year, the warm and cold seasons, is evident from their use for the whole year in the expression \"summer and winter.\" (Psalms 74:17; Zechariah 14:18) + Months . [MONTHS] + Weeks . [WEEKS]"
] |
Year Of Jubilee | [
"[[1307]Jubilee, The Year Of, YEAR OF]"
] |
Year, Sabbatical | [
"[[1308]Sabbatical Year YEAR]"
] |
Yoke | [
"+ A well-known implement of husbandry, frequently used metaphorically for subjection, e.g. (1 Kings 12:4,9-11; Isaiah 9:4; Jeremiah 5:5) hence an \"iron yoke\" represents an unusually galling bondage. (28:48; Jeremiah 28:13) + A pair of oxen, so termed as being yoked together. (1 Samuel 11:7; 1 Kings 19:19,21) The Hebrew term is also applied to asses, (Judges 19:10) and mules, (2 Kings 5:17) and even to a couple of riders. (Isaiah 21:7) + The term is also applied to a certain amount of land, (1 Samuel 14:14) equivalent to that which a couple of oxen could plough in a day, (Isaiah 5:10) (Authorized Version \"acre\"), corresponding to the Latin jugum ."
] |
Zaanaim | [
"(removings), The plain of, or more accurately, \"the oak by Zaanaim,\" a tree-probably a sacred tree--mentioned as marking the spot near which Heber the Kenite was encamped when Sisera took refuge in his tent. (Judges 4:11) Its situation is defined as \"near Kedesh,\" i.e. Kedesh-naphtali, the name of which still lingers on the high ground north of Safed and two or three miles west of the lake of el-Huleh (waters of Merom). This whole region abounds in oaks."
] |
Zaanan | [
"[[1309]Zenan]"
] |
Zaavan, Or Zavan | [
"(migratory), a Horite chief, son of Ezer the son of Seir. (Genesis 36:27; 1 Chronicles 1:42)"
] |
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