IMP
IM'AGE. We are told that God "created man in his own image," Gen. 1:26, 27, and Christ is said to be "the image of God." Col. 1:15; Heb. 1 : 3. The term used of our Lord imports a complete likeness, like that which exists between a seal and its impression when the original is perfectly
IMP
preserved in the representation. Used of man, the term refers especially to man's knowledge and capacity to comprehend God, Col. 3:10; to his original holiness, Eph. 4 : 24, thus being like Uod in the tone of his moral nature: and to his dominion over the creatures of the earth. Gen. 1: 28. The word is usually employed to denote an object of idolatrous worship. See Man, Idol.
lill'AGE OF JEALOUSY. Eze. 8 : 3, 5. This was not any particular idol, but a general phrase for the idolatrous practices which excited the jealousy of Jehovah.
IMAGERY, CHAMBERS OF, Eze. 8 : 12, or CHAMBERS OF IMAGES. The phrase refers to the custom, so extensively followed by the Egyptians and Assyrians, of painting pictures of the gods upon the walls of temples and other buildings.
IM'LA {filled), father of Micaiah, the Jehovah-prophet who foretold the defeat at Ramoth-gilead, 2 Chr. 18 : 7, 8; called Imlah, 1 Kgs. 22 : 8, 9.
IM'LiAH. Same as preceding.
IMMAN'UEL, a Hebrew word signifying " God with us," and used as one of the distinctive titles of the Messiah. Isa. 7 : 14 ; Matt. 1: 23. See Christ.
IM'MER {talkative), father of a priestly family. 1 Chr. 9 : 12 j Ezr. 2 : 37; Neh. 11:13.
IM'MER, apparently the name of a place in Babylonia. Ezr. 2 : 59; Neh. 7 : 61.
IMMORTAL'ITY. 1 Cor. 15 : 53. The immortality of the soul was held as a popular belief by the Egyptians and other ancient nations, and taught by some of the greatest philosophers of the heathen world—Socrates, Plato, Cicero, and others. In the 0. T. a belief in it is taken for granted, and the doctrine is not specially taught.
Particular passages and the cases of individuals are a sufficient proof that the Hebrew people believed in a future life. The translation of Enoch and the witlv drawal of Elijah are evidences of this. One of the great questions dependent upon the central question of the book of Job is whether a man that dies shall live again. 14 : 14. A most emphatic affirmative answer follows in ch. 19 : 25, where the patriarch looks forward to another state of being for his vindication. Such 26
passages as Ps. 17 : 15 admit us to the assurance of the Hebrews on this point. The expressions " gathered unto his people," Gen. 25 : 8, and " bury me with my fathers," Gen. 49: 29, so frequently recurring, are often interpreted to refer to the future life. The books of Moses do not refer specially to the immortality of the soul, but the doctrine is assumed ; for otherwise the sacrificial and penitential system of the Mosaic Law would be unintelligible. The exhortations and commands thus made are based upon the certainty of rewards and punishments in a future state of existence. Moreover, God is frequently called, in the Mosaic writings, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and this designation our Lord uses as an argument for the immortality of the soul. Matt. 22 : 32.
In the N. T. the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is definitely taught in close connection with the resurrection of the body.
Our Lord speaks of the future state of the soul, when it shall suffer either unending pain or enjoy unending bliss. Matt. 25 : 46. The parable of Lazarus and Dives presupposes the same fundamental truth. In the Epistles of Paul we have prolonged references to this subject and discussions of it, Phil. 1 : 21-23 ; 2 Cor. 5:1-6; 1 Thess. 4 : 13-18, and especially in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians.
In our English Version, God is said to be " immortal." 1 Tim. 1:17. The word is the same as that translated "uncorruptible," Rom. 1: 23, and should be so translated here.
IM'NA {holding back), an Asherite. 1 Chr. 7 : 35.
IM''NAH {success). 1. Asher's firstborn. 1 Chr. 7 : 30.
2. A Levite. 2 Chr. 31 : 14.
IMPLEAD', a technical term; "to prosecute by a due course of law." Acts 19 • ^8
IM'POTENT, "sick." John 5:3; Acts 4:9: 14 : 8.
IMPRISONMENT. See Punishments.
IMPUTE'. Rom. 4: 8. The Greek word of which this is a translation is rendered in our English Bible by no less than eleven different terms ; for example, "reckon," Rom. 4:4; "lay to one's charge," 2 Tim. 4: 16; "account." Gal.
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INN
3 : 6, The meaning of the word is "to put to the account of a person that of which he is or is not possessed." In the former sense, God is said to impute sin, Rom. 4:8; in the latter sense the righteousness of Christ is said to be imputed to man on condition of the exercise of faith in Christ's sacrifice. Rom. 4 : 11-24.
IM'RAH {obstinacy), an Asherite. 1 Chr. 7 : 30.
IM'RI {eloquent). 1. A Judite. 1 Chr. 9:4.
2. Father of a wall-builder. Neh. 3 : 2.
INCANTA'TIONS. See Divination.
IN'CENSE. Ex. 30 : 8. This was a compound of frankincense and other gums or spices, the materials and manufacture of which are particularly prescribed. Ex. 30 : 34-36. See Frankincense. It was the business of the priest to burn it morning and evening upon an altar specially erected for this purpose, and thence called the altar of incense. The preparation of it for common use was positively forbidden ; neither could any other composition be offered as incense on this altar, nor could this be offered by any but the priest. The offering of incense was symbolical of prayer, or, as some think, rather of that which makes prayer acceptable—the intercession of Christ. See Altar, Censer, Frankincense.
Incense was considered sacred, and might be offered by the priest only. When King Uzziah attempted to use it in the temple, he was struck with leprosy. 2 Chr. 26 : 16-21. Incense was offered to heathen deities and idols, Jer. 11 : 12, 17, and the angels offer it in heaven. Rev. 8:3.
IN'DIA. The Persian king Ahas-uerus is described as reigning " from India unto Ethiopia." Esth. 1:1; 8:9. The India of the book of Esther is not the peninsula of Hindostan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab, and perhaps Scinde. Later, India is reckoned among the countries which Eumenes, king of Pergamus, received out of the former possessions of Antiochus the Great. 1 Mace. 8:8; 11 : 37. The people and productions of that country must have been tolerably well known to the Jews. An active trade was carried on between India and western Asia. The trade opened by Solo-402
mon by his navy and through Hiram, king of Tyre, consisted chiefly of Indian articles. 1 Kgs. 10 : 10-22.
INGATHERING, FEAST OF.
See Tabernacles, Feast of. INHER'ITANCE. In the 0. T.
we have no record of wills. The property-holder made a disposition of his property during his lifetime. There do not seem to have been very definite laws stipulating the exact proportion to be given to each heir. The sons had priority of right, and, in case there were no sons, the daughters became heirs. Num. 27 : 8, As between the children of concubines and the children of legal wives, the latter seem to have received the whole inheritance, Gen. 21 : 10 ; 24: 36, while gifts were bestowed upon the former. Gen. 25 : 6. However, while these principles were acted upon by Abraham, we dare not make the sweeping assertion that they were of universal application. Jacob blessed both sons of his concubines and sons of his legal wives. Gen. 49 : 1 ff. According to Deut. 21 : 15-17, the first-born son received a double portion.
Believers have for their inheritance salvation, Heb. 1 : 14, and the kingdom of heaven. Jas. 2 : 5. They are declared to be "joint-heirs "with Christ and heirs of God because of their sonship. Rom. 8:17.
INIQ'UITY. Gen. 15:16. Whatever is done contrarj' to the law of God. To "bear the iniquity of the congregation," Lev. 10: 17, is to make that expiation or atonement which is a prerequisite to their forgiveness. Isa. 53: 6. " The mystery of iniquity," 2 Thess. 2: 7, should be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness."
INK, INK'HORN. Jer. 36: 18; Eze. 9:2, 3, 11; 2 Cor. 3 : 3; 2 John 12 ; 3 John 13. See Writing.
INN. In the Bible the "inn"was not a hotel in our sense. The word so translated means either a "lodging-place for the night"—not necessarily a covered p%ce, but a mere station of caravans, where water could be obtained: such was the " inn " at which Joseph's brethren stopped, and where Moses was met by the Lord, Gen. 42: 27 ; Ex. 4: 24— or else a khan or caravanserai, which was, and is, a large square building enclosing an open court, in whose centre
INW
is a fountain ; tlie building contains a number of rooms. There is no provision for meals or feed for the animals; the travellers carry such necessaries with them. These caravanserais are often built by benevolent persons. Jer. 9 : 2.
Inn.
Another kind of " inn " is that mentioned in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10 : 34. This had a host, who was probably paid to attend to the wants of travellers. And it was in one of the stables of a mere caravanserai provided for the horses of travellers that our Lord was born.
In modern Syria, in villages where there is no khan, there is a house for the entertainment of travellers, with a man appointed to look after it; for its accommodations, meagre as they are, payment is exacted, and the keeper likewise gets a fee.
INSPIRA'TIOIV. By "inspiration," in the theological sense, is meant that influence of the Spirit of God upon the mind of the sacred writers by which he communicated the knowledge of religious truths or future events, and guarded them against error in delivering these truths to others, either orally or by writing. The prophets and apostles spake "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. 1: 21. They were, however, not merely, passive: they were in a condition of receptivity, and their faculties were raised to the highest ex-
ercise. The divine Spirit acted upon each author according to his individuality, and used him, not as a machine, but as a free and responsible agent. Hence the differences of style and mode of treatment. The Bible is both human and divine, like the person of Christ, whom it reflects.
There are various theories of inspiration, as to its mode and degrees, which lie outside of our purpose ; but all Christians agree that in the Bible, and in the Bible alone, we have a full and perfectly trust-worthy revelation of God, and that it is the infallible rule of our faith and practice.
INSTANT, INSTANTLY, used five times in the A. V. for " urgent," " earnest." Luke 7:4; 23: 2.3 ; Acts 26 : 7 ; Rom. 12: 12; 2 Tim. 4: 2. IN'STRUMENTS OF MUSIC. See Music.
INTERCES'SION, Heb. 7: 25, means interposition by prayer for others, 1 Tim. 2: 1, and implies wants and needs.
Our Lord, by reason of his high-priestly office, performs the functions of intercessor or advocate. 1 John 2: 1. He performed this office while on earth. The most conspicuous instance is found in the so-called sacerdotal prayer, John 17, where intercession is made for the disciples, v. 9, and for future believers, v. 20. Our Lord continues to make intercession for us in his state of exaltation. Heb. 9 : 24: Rom. 8 : 34. The Holy Spirit is also said to make intercession. Rom. 8 : 2(i. This is accom])lished through his dwelling in the hearts of believers, praying in them and enabling them to pray. Believers also have the privilege of making intercession for one another and for the unconverted. Gen. 18 : 2.3-33; 1 Thess. 6: 25 etc.
IN'TEREST. See Loan. INTERPRETER. See Prophet. IN'WARD, used in the A. V. of
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ISA
Job 19:19 for "familiar/' ''confidential."
I'PHEDE'IAH [wJiom Jehovah frees), a Benjamite. 1 Chr. 8: 25.
IR (« city), a Benjamite, 1 Chr. 7: 12 ; called Iri, v. 7.
I'RA (icatch/ul). 1, One of David's "chief rulers." 2 Sam. 20: 26.
2, 3. Two warriors of David. 2 Sam. 33 : 26, 38; 1 Chr. 11 : 28, 40 ; 27 : 9.
I'RAD ( fleet), a grandson of Cain. Gen. 4: 18. "
I'RAM {watch fill), an Edomite chieftain. Gen. 36 : 43 : 1 Chr. 1 : 54.
IR-HAHE'RES, Isa. 19:18. The Hebrew reads heres, " destruction ;" the Syriac, Arabic and Latin, and several MSS. read chares, "the sun;" the Chal-dee combines both readings; while the Septuagint reads " city of righteousness." These varied readings lead to various interpretations of this expression: (1) That it refers to the city of the sun, Heliopolis, in Egypt: (2) To a city destroyed, meaning one of the five cities noticed by the prophet; (3) To one of these same cities which should be preserved from destruction.
I'RI {watchful), a Benjamite. 1 Chr. 7:7. 12.
IRI''JAH {Jehovah sees), a captain of the ward, who arrested Jeremiah. Jer. 37 : 13, 14.
IRNA'HASH {serpent citi/). In the margin it is called " the city of Nahash." 1 Chr. 4 : 12. Jerome regards it the same as Bethlehem, but this is not probable. Van de Yelde proposes to identify the town with the village and ruins called Deir Nahhaz, east of Beit-Jihrin, on the road to Hebron.
I'RON. Prov. 27: 17. Some of the uses of this well-known and most valuable metal were probably understood at a very early period. Gen. 4 : 22. We find it mentioned as the material for tools, Deut. 27 : 5 ; 2 Kgs. 6:6; weapons of war. 1 Sam. 17 : 7; furniture, Deut. 3:11; implements of husbandry, 2 Sam. 12:31: Jer. 28:14; and chariots of war. Josh. 17 : 16, etc. By "northern iron," Jer. 15 : 12, probably is intended a species of iron-ore or manufacture remarkable for its hardness, found in a region bordering on the Euxine Sea, and of course north of Judaea. The expression "a land whose stones are iron," Deut. 8: 9, seems to describe 404
an abundance of iron-ore, which is certainly true of the northern parts of Palestine, as shown by recent exploration. See Steel.
I'RON {pious), one of the cities of Naphtali, Josh. 19 : 38 ; now Yarun.
IR'PEEL ( God heals), a town of Benjamin, Josh. 18 : 27, which the Pal. JVic-moirs identify with the modern Rd-fui. 15 miles west of Jerusalem.
IRSHE'MESH {rlt,i of the sun), A place in Dan. Josh. 19:41; probably 'Ain Shems. See Beth-shemesh.
I'RU {rvatch),the eldest son of Caleb, the faithful spy. 1 Chr. 3 : 15.
I'SAAC ( langhter), the son which Sarah bore to Abraham when he was a hundred years old. He was the second of the Hebrew patriarchs, and lived the longest of the three—to the age of ISO. Gen. 35:28. The origin of his name, which signifies "laughter" or "mocking," is given in Gen. 17:17; 18: 12; 21: 6. The only event recorded of his earlier years is the most significant of his life for the history of the Church : he appears in the sacrificial scene as the victim. Directed of God, Abraham led his son to the mountain of sacrifice; Isaac was wholly unconscious of the disposition that was to be made of himself, and is represented in the narrative, Gen. 22 : 1-13, as artlessly inquiring about the lamb to be offered, while he himself was to be the offering. The divine interposition intervened just as the gleaming knife was about to do its bloody work in the hands of the despondent father. Josephus says this event occurred when Isaac was 24 years old, but no indication of time is given in the narrative. This occurrence is considered typical of the later sacrifice of the only Son of God on Calvary. The record of Isaac's wooing and marriage is graphic and beautiful. Abraham sent his trusty servant Eliezer with gifts to Padan-aram for this purpose. He there found Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, whom Isaac married at the age of 40. Gen. 25 : 20. The account of their meeting and of the preliminaries of the marriage. Gen. 24, gives a most charming picture of the manners of that early day.
Isaac seems to have been a prosperous agriculturist, Gen. 26: 12, and a rich herder, v. 14, but was not without his
ISA
domestic troubles with Jacob and Esau. The promise that was given to Abraham of an indefinite increase of his seed, and of the blessings to flow from it to the world, was repeated to him. Gen. 26 : 4. The N. T. refers to the intended sacriliee of Isaac, Heb. 11:17; Jas. 2:21, and contains an allegorical allusion to him and Ishmael. Gal. 4: 28, 38.
The life of Isaac was a comparatively uneventful one, but in it we have the record of an honest, humble, and pious nomad. He excelled in the domestic traits of character; his disposition was peaceable, Gen. 27 : 22 ; his married life is assumed to have been peculiarly tranquil and happy, and prominent in his biography stands out his tender regard for his mother. Gen. 24: 67.
Isaac is a type of the Saviour in the peculiar meekness and humility of his disposition. His signal patience and resignation at the intended sacrifice and the humility of his life are typical of the Son of man, who "' opened not his mouth."
I''SAAC, twice used as a poetic synonym for Israel— i. e. the ten tribes, Am. 7:9, 16.
I S A ' I A H (Jehovah's salvation). Very little is known of the personal history of this eminent prophet. He was the son of Amoz. Isa. 1:1; 2 Kgs. 20:
1. He began his prophetic career under Uzziah, probably in the last years of his reign, Isa. 6:1, and continued it during the succeeding reigns of Jo-tham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. 7:1. This would throw his prophetic activity between the years b. c. 760 and 713 or 698, the year of Hezekiah's death. He was married and had two sons. 7:3; 8:3, etc. His wife is called a prophetess, and his children, like himself, had prophetical names emblematic of Israel's future. He wore a hair-cloth dress. 20 :
2. He seems to have been held in high esteem, especially by Hezekiah. 37:2; 38: 1. In addition to the prophecies which we have by this prophet, he wrote a history of Uzziah's reign, 2 Chron. 26 : 22, which is lost. The Bible does not indicate the mode of his death. A Jewish tradition (in the Talmud), however, states that when nearly 90 years old he was sawn asunder in a hollow carob tree, in Manasseh's reign. Comp. Heb. 11: 37. The " mulberry tree of Isaiah," in the Kedron valley, near Jerusalem, marks
the traditional spot of his martyrdom. "It signifies much that he was not a celibate, but had a family; that he was not a wanderer in the desert or over hill and vale, but had a house and home; that he lived not in a secluded retreat or remote village, but in the great city, at the capital and court of Judah, the seat of all Hebrew blessings and hopes, with all its social, political, and religious influences. He is the first prophet since Elisha of whom we have any details. Of himself, like the apostle John, he says almost nothing." He mentions, however, distinctly his divine call and commission. 6:1-8.
Isaiah is the evangelist among the prophets of the 0. T. He comes nearest to the N. T., and is more frequently quoted than any other. In him the Messianic prophecies reach their highest perfection. He draws the picture of the suff"ering and triumphing Saviour of Israel and the world, lineament after lineament, until at last he stands before us in unmistakable clearness and fulness. Isaiah is also one of the greatest of poets. "In him we see prophetic authorship reaching its culminating point. Everything conspired to raise him to an elevation to which no prophet, either before or after, could as writer attain. Among the other prophets each of the more important ones is distinguished by some one particular excellence and some one peculiar talent; in Isaiah all kinds of talent and all beauties of prophetic discourse meet together, so as mutually to temper and qualify each other; it is not so much any single feature that distinguishes him as the symmetry and perfection as a whole. . . . In the sentiment he expresses, in the topics of his discourses and in the manner, Isaiah uniformly reveals himself as the king-prophet."— Ewald.
Propetecy of. Isaiah is divided into two parts. The first, comprising the first thirty-nine chapters, is composed of a variety of individual prophecies against nations and denunciations of sin. Social vices, ch. 3, and idolatry, ch. 8, are rebuked without mercy. Assyria, Babylon, 13:19 sq., Moab, 15, Ethiopia, 18, Egypt, 19, and Tyre, 23, pass successively before the 2)rophet's mind, and their doom is predicted. The prophecies of Babylon's desolation and
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ISH
of Tyre's ruin are among the most poetic and the sublimest passages in all literature. Chs. 36-39 are concerned with Sennacherib's invasion and episodes in the life of Hezekiah.
The second part of Isaiah begins abruptly with the fortieth chapter: '• Comfort ye, comfort ye my people." It takes its position at the close of the Babylonian captivity, and prophesies its close and the glories of the Messianic period of Israel's history. Of all the prophetic writings, none are more evidently inspired and truly evangelical than these last twenty-seven chapters.
Isaiah prophesies of the Messiah with distinctness and in a waj"- that his predecessors had not done. We find prophecies of his birth, 7:14; 9 : 6, of his Da-vidic descent, 11:1, 2, etc. But the fullest as well as the most distinct of the predictions is contained in the fifty-third chapter. It may be called the Gospel of the 0. T., on account of the graphic and faithful picture it gives of the Messiah, as the '' Man of sorrows," suffering in the stead of mankind. This chapter of itself will stand always as an evidence of prime importance for the divine mission of Christ.
The authenticity of the second part of Isaiah, from chs. 40-66, has been assailed by modern critics, who regard it as a later production of some " great unknown" prophet at the end of the Babylonian exile. But it is characteristic of prophetic vision to look into the far future as if it were present ; and it makes not much difference for the divine character of the prophecy whether it was uttered 500 or 700 years before its fulfilment. The description of the servant of God who suffers and dies for the sins of the people in ch. 53 applies to no other person in history, with any degree of propriety, but to Jesus Christ.
IS'CAH (^^e looks abroad), a sister of Lot. Gen. 11 : 29.
ISCAR'IOT. See Jijdas Iscariot.
ISH'BAH (praising), a Judite. 1 Chr. 4:17.
ISH'BAK (leaving behind), a son of Abraham by Keturah. Gen. 25 : 2 ; 1 Chr. 1: 32. From him sprang the northern Arabians.
ISH'Bl-BE'NOB (dwelling in rest), a son of Kapha, a Philistine giant slain by Abishai. ^TSam. 21: 16, 17. 406
ISH'-BO'SHETH(rrta«o/«Aam«), son and successor of Saul, was persuaded by Abner to go up to Mahanaim and assume the government while David reigned at Hebron, 2 Sam. 2:8, 11; and all Israel except Judah acknowledged him as king. A severe battle soon after occurred at Gibeon, between the army of David, under Joab, and the army of Ish-bosheth, under Abner, in which the latter was utterly defeated. Abner was killed afterward by Joab. Ish-boshetl., thus deprived of his strongest supportei, was assassinated at noonday upon his bed after a brief reign of two years. 2 Sam. 4: 5-7.
: V^YLl (saving). 1,2. Judites. 1 Chr.
,2:31; 4:20.
I 3. A Simeonite. 1 Chr. 4: 42. 4. A Manassite. 1 Chr. 5 : 24.
j I'Sm, Hos. 2 : 16, signifying my husband, and BAALI, in the same passage, signifying my Lord, are figura-tivelj'^ used to denote that Israel once
j played the whore in serving idols, but
I would now serve the living God. The latter having been used in idol-worship, would become obsolete in this sense. Hos. 2:17.
ISHI'AH (whom Jehovah lends), a chieftain of Issachar. 1 Chr. 7: 3.
ISHI'JAH (whom Jehovah lends), one who had a foreign wife. Ezr. 10 : 31. ISH'MA (desolation), a Judite. 1 Chr. 4:3.
ISH'MAEL (whom God hears). 1. The son of Abraham by Hagar. Previous to his birth, when his mother, being ill-treated by Sarah, had fled from the house, the angel of the Lord announced to her that her seed should be innumerable, and that her offspring should be of a belligerent and wild disposition : " He will be a wild man ; his hand will be against everj' man's hand, and every man's hand against him." Gen. 16 : 12.
Ishmael was circumcised at the age of 13. Gen. 17 : 25. Subsequently, the jealousy of Sarah was aroused by Ishmael's mocking at Isaac, Gen. 21:9, and she demanded that the offender and his mother be sent away from the home.
Abraham, granting Sarah's request, sent the bondwoman and her son off, after supplying them with water and bread. Departing, they went off into the wilderness of Beer-sheba. The stock
ISL
of water became exhausted, and the hid, overcome with fatigue and thirst, sunk down, apparently to die. God appeared for their deliverance, directed llagar to a fountain of water, and renewed his promise to make of him a great nation. Ishmael remained in the wilderness and became a hunter. Gen. 21: 13-20. At length he married an Egyptian woman, and so rapidly did his progeny multiply that in a few years afterward tliey are spoken of as a trading nation. Gen. 37 : 25.
The last we see of the first-born son of Abraham is at the cave of Machpelah, where he joins with Isaac in interring the remains of his father. Gen. 25: 9.
Ishmael no doubt became a wild man of the desert, the progenitor of the roaming Bedouin tribes of the East, so well known as robbers to this day that travellers through their territory must be well armed and hire a band of robbers to protect them against their fellow-robbers. Ishmael is also the spiritual father of the Mohammedans, who are nothing but bastard Jews. They apply to themselves the promise of a large posterity given to Ishmael. Gen. 21: 13, 18.
2. A descendant of Saul. 1 Chr. 8 : 38• 9 • 44
3. A Judite. 2 Chr. 19:11.
4. A Judite, one of the captains who assisted Jehoiada to set Joash on the throne, 2 Chr. 23 :1.
5. A priest who had a foreign wife. Ezr. 10: 22.
6. Ishmael, "the son of Netbaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal" of Judah, murdered, at Mizpah, Gedaliah, the governor of Judyea, appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, who, although warned by Johanan, had unsuspiciously received him. Every circumstance contributed to increase the baseness of the deed— the generous incredulity of Gedaliah, the fact that the murder took place immediately after a feast given by Gedaliah to Ishmael and other prominent Jews who had conspired with him, and the slaughter of all the attendant Jews and also of some Chaldsean soldiers. The secrecy of the deed was so profound that the town knew nothing of it until the second day, when Ishmael hypocritically received eighty devotees who came bearing offering and incense to the house of the
Lord, and murdered all but ten of them, who purchased their lives by promise of money. This carnival of blood being over, Ishmael surprised the town and carried away to the Ammonites the inhabitants, including the daughters of Zedokiah. But Johanan followed him, met him in battle at " the great waters " —probably the Pool of Gibeon—defeated him, rescued the prisoners, and compelled Ishmael to flee to the Ammonites. See Jer. 41 j 2 Kgs. 25 : 23, 25. See also Gedaliah. The motives of Ishmael were partly corrupt, since he had been tampered with by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, and partly mistaken patriotism, bitter hatred, and craven fear of the Chal-dgeans.
ISH'MAELITES, the descendants of Ishmael. Gen. 37 : 25. The company of Ishmaelites to whom Joseph was sold are elsewhere called Midianites. Gen. 37 : 28. Probably they were Ishmaelites who dwelt in Midian. It is evident, however, that the two names were sometimes applied to the same people, Jud. 8 : 22, 24, though we know the descendants of Midian were not Ishmaelites, for Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah.
ISHMAI'AH [Jehovah hears), the ruler of Zebulun during David's reign. 1 Chr. 27:19.
ISH'MEELITE. 1 Chr. 2 : 17. See Ishmaelites.
ISH'MERAI (lohom Jehovah Iceepa), a Benjamite. 1 Chr. 8 : 18.
I'SHOD (man of renown), a Manas-site. 1 Chr. 7 : 18.
ISH'PAN (bald), a Benjamite chief. 1 Chr. 8 : 22.
ISH'TOB (men of Toh), apparently a small kingdom which formed a part of the country of Aram, and named with Zobah, Rehob, and Maachah. 2 Sam. 10 : 6. 8. See ToB.
ISH'TJAH [quiet), the second son of Asher, Gen. 46; 17; called Isuah I Chr. 7:30.
ISH^UAI (quiet). A son of Asher. 1 Chr. 7 : 30.
ISH'UI (quiet). 1. The third son of Asher, 1 Chr. 7 : 30; called Isui and Jesui Gen. 46 : 17 ; Num. 26 : 44.
2. A son of Saul, 1 Sam. 14: 49: not elsewhere mentioned j he probably died young.
ISLES OF THE GENTILES. Gen. 10 : 5; Zeph. 2 : 11; Ps. 72 : 10;
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Eze. 26: 15. The Hebrew word signifies any land bordering on the sea, and " the isles of the Gentiles " refers to the coasts of the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas.
ISMACHI'AH {whom Jehovah supports), a Levitical overseer of offerings under Hezekiah. 2 Chr. 31: 13.
ISMAI'AH {Jehovah hears), a Gib-eonite chief who joined David at Ziklag. 1 Chr. 12 : 4.
IS'PAH {bald), a Benjamite chief. 1 Chr. 8:16.
IS'RAEL. Gen, 35:10. The surname of Jacob, given to him by the angel at Peniel. Gen. 32 : 28; Hos. 12 : 3. It signifies " the prince that prevails with God." One of the finest hymns of Charles Wesley describes that mysterious wrestling with God in prayer, and begins,
"Come, 0 thou Traveller unknown, Whom still I hold, but cannot see;
My company before is gone, And I am left alone with thee:
With thee all night I mean to stay.
And wrestle till the break of day.
"What though my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long? I rise superior to my pain ;
When I am weak, then I am strong; And when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-man prevail."
We find the name "Israel" soon after used for the whole race of Jacob's posterity, Ex. 3 : 16; also for the kingdom of the ten tribes, as distinguished from Judah, 2 Kgs. 14 : 12; and again, in a spiritual sense, for the whole body of true believers. Rom. 9:6; 11 : 26.
Land of. See Canaan.
IS'RAELITE, a member of Israel.
ISRAEL, KING'DOM OF, a term not infrequently applied to the united kingdom before the revolt of the ten tribes, 1 Sam. 13 : 1, 4; 15: 28; 16: 1; 2 Sam. 5 : 12; 7: 16; 1 Kgs. 2: 46; 4: 1 ; but the term was also used to designate the country of the ten tribes only during the dissensions which followed the death of Saul. After the death of Solomon and the revolt under Rehoboam, 1 Kgs. 12 : 20, 28, 32, it was generally, but not uniformly, applied to the independent kingdom formed by the ten tribes in the north of Palestine; so that thenceforth the kings of the ten tribes were called "kings of Israel," and 408
the descendants of David, who ruled over Judah and Benjamin, were called " kings of Judah." In the prophets "Judah" and''Israel" are often mentioned. Hos. 4: 15; 5: 3, 5; 6: 10; 7: 1; 8:2, 3, 6, 8; 9: 1, 7; Am. 1: 1; 2: 6; 3: 14; Mic. 1:5; Isa. 5: 7. The two kingdoms are sometimes called "the two houses of Israel." Isa. 8: 14.
The area of the kingdom of Israel is estimated at about 9000 square miles, or about the same as that of the State of New Hampshire, and its population at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. The kingdom lasted 254 years, b. c, 975-721. The capitals were Shechem, 1 Kgs. 12: 25, Tirzah, 14: 17, and Samaria, 16: 24. Jezreel was also a summer residence of some of its kings. Of the 19 kings, not counting Tibni, not one was a godly man. The idolati'y introduced by Jeroboam was continued, notwithstanding the partial reformations of Elijah, Elisha, and other faithful prophets.
The following admirable summary of the history of the kingdom in four periods is given in Smith's Abridged Dictionary, by W. A. Wright.
"(a) B. C. 975-929.—Jerohofim had not sufficient force of character in himself to make a lasting impression on his people. A king, but not a founder of a dynasty, he aimed at nothing beyond securing his present elevation. The army soon learned its power to dictate to the isolated monarch and disunited peoj^le. Baasha, in the midst of the army at Gibbethon, slew the son and successor of Jeroboam ; Zimri, a captain of chariots, slew the son and successor of Baasha; Omri, the captain of the host, was chosen to punish Zimri; and after a civil war of four years he prevailed over Tibni, the choice of half the people.
"(6) B. C. 929-8S4.—For forty-five years Israel was governed by the house of Omri. That sagacious king pitched on the strong hill of Samaria as the site of his capital. The princes of his house cultivated an alliance with the kings of Judah, which was cemented by the marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah. The adoption of Baal-worship led to a reaction in the nation, to the moral triumph of the prophets in the person of Elijah, and to the extinction of the house of Ahab, in obedience to the bidding of Elisha,
ITA
"(c) B. C. .?<<?4-77^.—Unparalleled triumphs, but deeper humiliation, awaited the kingdom of Israel under the dynasty of Jehu. Hazael, the ablest king of Damascus, reduced Jehoahaz to the condition of a vassal, and triumphed for a time over both the disunited Hebrew kingdoms. Almost the first sign of the restoration of their strength was a war between them, and Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, entered Jerusalem as the conqueror of Amaziah. Jehoash also turned the tide of war against the Syrians, and Jeroboam II., the most powerful of all the kings of Israel, captured Damascus and recovered the whole ancient frontier from Ilamath to the Dead Sea. This short-lived greatness expired with the last king of Jehu's line.
"(rf.) B. C. 77-^-7;?i.—Military violence, it would seem, broke oflF the hereditary succession after the obscure and probably convulsed reign of Zachariah. An unsuccessful usurper, Shallum, is followed by the cruel Menahem, who, being unable to make head against the first attack of Assyria under Pul, became the agent of that monarch for the oppressive taxation of his subjects. Yet his power at home was sufficient to ensure for his son and successor, Pekahiah, a ten years' reign, cut short by a bold usurper, Pekah. Abandoning the northern and trans-Jordanic regions to the encroaching power of Assyria under Tiglath-pileser, he was very near subjugating Judah, with the help of Damascus, now the coequal ally of Israel. But Assyria, interposing, summarily put an end to the independence of Damascus, and perhaps was the indirect cause of the assassination of the baffled Pekah. The irresolute Hoshea, the next and last usurper, became tributary to his invader, Shalmaneser, betrayed the Assyrian to the rival monarchy of Egypt, and was punished by the loss of his liberty and by the capture, after a three years' siege, of his strong capital, Samaria. Some gleanings of the ten tribes yet remained in the land after so manj'^ years of religious decline, moral debasement, national degradation, anarchy, bloodshed, and deportation. Even these were gathered up by the conqueror and carried to Assyria, never again, as a distinct people, to occupy their portion of that goodly and pleasant land which their
forefathers won under Joshua from the heathen."
After the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, B.C. 721, the name "Israel" began again to be applied to the whole surviving people. "Israel" is sometimes put for the true Israelites, the faithful worthy of the name. Ps. 73: 1 ; Isa. 45 : 17 ; 49 : 3 ; John 1: 47; Rom. 9:6; 11: 26. See Judah.
IS'SACHAR ( God hath given me my hire). 1. The fifth son of Jacob and Leah. Gen. 30: 18. The prophetical description of him uttered by his father, Gen. 49 : 14, 15, was fulfilled in the fact that the posterity of Issachar were a laborious people and addicted to rural employments, and were subject to the tributes of marauding tribes. See Tribes.
2. A Korhite Levite. 1 Chr. 26 : 5.
IS SACHAR, THE TERRITORY OF, included the great plain of Esdraelon, or Jezreel, and lay above that of Manasseh ; its boundaries are given in Josh. 19:17-23. It extended from Mount Carmel to the Jordan, and from Mount Tabor to En-gannim. Zebulun was on the north, Manasseh on the south, and Gilead on the east, across the Jordan. It contained 16 noted cities and their villages. Among them were Megiddo, Jezreel, Shunem, Beth-shan, Endor, Aphek, Taanach; and Jezreel stood almost exactly in the centre of the territory. This region was one of the richest and most fertile in Palestine. Many historical events of great interest took place within the territory. It furnished two kings to Israel—Baasha and Eiah. 1 Kgs. 15 : 27 ,- 16 : 6. Their portion of Palestine is still among the most fertile of the whole land. See Jezreel, Plain OF, and Palestine.
ISSHI'AH {whom Jehovah lends). 1. A descendant of Moses, 1 Chr. 24: 21; called Jeshahiah 1 Chr. 26 : 25.
2. A Kohathite Levite. 1 Chr. 24 : 25.
IS'UAH (quiet), second son of Asher. 1 Chr. 7 : 30.
IS'UI {(piiet), third son of Asher. Gen. 46: 17.
ITAL'IAN BAND, a cohort, composed of native Italians, stationed at Caesarea. Acts 10: 1. Cornelius was their centurion.
IT'ALY, a well-known country in the south of Europe, and including the
409
IZR
whole of the peninsula west of the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of about 100,000 square miles and a population of over 25,000,000. It is named in the N. T. only three times: (1) as the country from which Aquila and Priscilla were expelled. Acts 18 : 2 ; (2) Paul sailed for : Italy, Acts 27 : 1; and (3) in the Epistle j to the Hebrews some of that country joined in the salutations sent. Heb, 13 : 24.
ITH'AI (with Jehovah), a Benjamite, one of David's guard, 1 Chr. 11:31; called Ittai 2 Sam. 23 : 29.
ITH'AMAR {land of 23olms), a son of Aaron. Ex. 6 : 23. After the violent death of Nadab and Abihu for their act of desecration. Lev. 10 : 1, 2, he and Eleazar were alone left for the priestly oflRce. Lev. 10 : 6, 12. Eli was the only high priest of the line of Ithamar, 1 Chr. 24: 6, and, in fact, his house does not seem to have exercised as much influence as that of Eleazar. 1 Chr. 24: 4.
ITH'IEL. {God is with me). 1. A Benjamite. Neh. 11: 7.
2. A friend of Agur. Prov. 30 : 1.
ITH'MAH {orphanaf/e), one of David's guard. 1 Chr. 11: 46.
ITH'NAN {bestowed), one of the towns in the extreme south of Judah, on the borders of the desert. Josh. 15: 23. Wilton says it is identical with el-Hora, east of Beer-sheba; but this is only conjectural.
ITH'RA (abundance), David's brother-in-law. 2 Sam. 17 : 25. See Jether.
ITH'RAN (abniidance). 1. A Hor-ite. Gen. 36: 26; 1 Chr. 1: 41.
2. An Asherite. 1 Chr. 7: 37.
ITH'REAM (residue of the people), a son of David, born at Hebron. 2 Sam. 3:5:1 Chr. 3: 3.
ITH'RITE, THE, the designation of two of David's warriors. 2 Sam. 23 : 38 ; 1 Chr. 11 : 40.
IT'TAH-KA'ZIN (time of the judge), one of the landmarks of Zebu-lun, Josh. 19 : 13.
IT'TAI (in time). 1. A native of Gath, and high in position in the army of David during the rebellion of Absalom. 2 Sam. 18: 2. He was sincerely attached to David. 2 Sam. 15: 19-22. He reminds us of the attachment of Ruth to Naomi, and his words of devotion, 2 Sam. 15: 21, are only inferior to hers, Ruth 1:16, for pathos. 410
2. One of David's guard. 2 Sam. 23 : 29.
ITUR^'A (an enclosed region), a small province on the north-western border of Palestine, and at the southeastern base of Hermon, between Tra-chonitis and Galilee. It derived its name from " Jetur," a son of Ishmael. Gen. 25:15; 1 Chr. 1: 31; 5:19. This district is now called Jcdur, and is about 17 miles from north to south by 20 from east to west. The greater portion is a fine plain, with a rich and well-watered soil; the sub-stratum is black basalt. The district contains 38 villages, 10 of them entirely desolate; the others have a few peasant families living in wretchedness and amid ruins, Philip was " tetrarch of Itura?a and of the region of Trachonitis." Luke 3 : 1.
I'VAH, OR A'VAH, an Assyrian or Babylonian city mentioned with Hena and Sepharvaim, 2 Kgs. 18 : 34; 19 : 13 ; comp. Isa. 37: 13, and with Babylon and Cutha, 2 Kgs. 17 : 24. Rawlinson identified it with Hit, on the Euphrates.
I'VORY (tooth), the substance of the tusk of the elephant. From the meaning of the Hebrew word, it is seen that the Jews of Solomon's time understood that it was obtained from a tooth, not from a horn. That which is brought from Ceylon is regarded as most valuable. It was among the merchandise of Tyre, Eze. 27: 15, and Tarshish. 1 Kgs. 10 : 22. Solomon's throne was built of it, 2 Chr. 9: 17, 21; and so lavishly was it used in various kinds of architecture and in cabinet-work as to justify the expressions found in Am. 3 : 15 ; 6:4 and Eze. 27: 6.
" Ivory palaces," Ps. 45 : 8, probably refers to boxes richly wrought or inlaid with ivory, in which perfume was kept.
IZ'EHAR. Num. 3 : 19. Sec Izhar.
IZ'HAR (oil), a son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi. Ex. 6 : 18, 21; Num. 3: 19; 16: 1; 1 Chr. 6:2, 18.
IZ'HARITES, descendants of Izhar.
IZRAHI'AH (whom Jehovah causes to sparkle), a chieftain of Issachar. 1 Chr. 7:3.
IZ'RAHITE, THE, the designation of one of David's captains, 1 Chr. 27 : 8 ; probably a Zahrite.
IZ'RI (built), a Levite, leader of the fourth course. 1 Chr. 26: 11.
JAA
JAB
J.
JA'AKAN {he shall adorn, or one sagacious), the son of Seir the Horite. Deut. 10: 6. See Bene-jaakan. The name is given as Jakan in 1 Chron. 1: 42.
JAAK'OBAH {hee/-c((tcher, snp-plantev), a chieftain of Simeon. 1 Chr. 4 : 36.
JAA'LA, JAA'LAH (a wild she-goat), one of the descendants of Solomon's slaves who returned with Zerub-babel from Babylon to Jerusalem. Ezr. 2:56,- Neh.7:58.
JAA'TiAM [lohom God. hides), a son of Esau by his wife Aholibamah, and a chief of Edom. Gen. 36: 5, 14, 18; 1 Chr. 1:35.
JA'ANAI {whom Jehovah answers), a chief of Gad. 1 Chr. 5 : 12.
JAAR'E-OR'EGIM {forests of the weavers), the Bethlehemite whose son Elhanan slew the brother of Goliath. 2 Sam. 21: 19. In 1 Chr. 20 : 5 he appears as Jair.
JA'ASAU {whom Jehovah has made), one mentioned,'Ezr. 10: 37, as having a foreign wife.
JAA'SIEL [whom God has made), the son of Abner, and chief of the tribe of Benjamin. 1 Chr. 27:21.
JAAZANI'AH {whom Jehovah hears). 1. A captain who joined Geda-liah at Mizpah, 2 Kgs. 25: 23, and who subsequently fought against Ishmael, and then later went to Egypt. Comp. Jer. 41:11; 43:2.
2. The probable chief of the family of the Rechabites at the time of Jeremiah. Jer. 35: 3.
3. One of the seventy elders seen by Ezekiel in his vision. Eze. 8 : 11.
4. A prince against whom Ezekiel was directed to prophesy. Eze. 11 :1.
JAA'ZER, AND JA'ZER {Jehovah helps), a city of Gilead, east of the Jordan, which was conquered and assigned to Gad and to the Levites. Num. 21 : 32 ; 32 : 1; Josh. 21 : 39. In the time of David it was held by Hebronites or Ko-hathites, 1 Chr. 26 : 31, but in later times it was subject to Moab, and is often denounced in prophecies against
that nation. Isa. 16 : 8, 9 ; Jer. 48 : 32. It was situated at the massive ruins called Sar, about 4 hours (15 miles) north-east of Heshbon. Below the hill is a fountain with a stream which flows to the Jordan. Tristram found ancient terraces, probably vineyards, in illustration of Isa. 16 : 9 ; Jer. 48 : 32. There are mounds and rows of foundations at the head of the valley. In the A. V. the " Sea of Jazer " is referred to, Jer. 48 : 32; but the passage may be rendered: " Thy shoots have overshot the sea, to Jazer have they reached ;" the '' sea" would then be the Salt or Dead Sea.
JAAZI'AH {whom Jehovah consoles), a Levite of the family of Merari. 1 Chr. 24 : 26, 27.
JAA'ZIEL {whom God consoles), a Levite who played before the ark. 1 Chr. 15: 18. In V. 20 he is called Aziel.
JA''BAL (a stream), the son of La-mech, descendant of Cain ; described as the " father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle." Gen. 4:20.
JAB'BOK {emptying), a stream rising about 25 miles east of the north end of the Dead Sea, and flowing east, then northward and westward, and finally south-west, into the Jordan about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. It is now called the Zerka or "blue" river. It has a small branch flowing into it past Gerosh, but no branch from the north-east as indicated on most maps. Across this stream Jacob sent his family, and here his wrestling for a blessing occurred. Gen. 32 : 22-24. The Israelites conquered the kingdoms of Og and Sihon, but not the Ammonite country nor the upper Jabbok, which explains Deut. 2 : 37. Compare Num. 21 : 24: Deut. 3 : 16,- Josh. 12:2; Jud. 11:13, 22. The Jabbok before it enters the Jordan valley flows through a deep, narrow ravine, the hills being from 1600 to 2000 feet in height. They are covered with verdure and are very picturesque. The stream in most of its course is perennial, swollen, deep, and rapid in winter; it abounds in small fish of excellent flavor.
JAB
JAC
JA'BESH (dry), the father of Shal-lum, the fifteenth king of Israel. 2 Kgs. 15:10, 13, 14.
JA'BESH, AND JA'BESH-GILl''EAD (dry Gilead), a city east of the Jordan ; destroyed by the Israelites, Jud. 21: 8-14; delivered from Nahash by Saul, 1 Sam. 11: 1-11, and in gratitude therefor its people brought the bodies of Saul and his sons, which the Philistines hung upon the walls of Beth-shan, to Jabesh, and caused them to be buried in a wood near by. 1 Sam. 31: 11-13. David blessed them, 2 Sam. 2 : 4-6, but afterward removed the bones to Saul's ancestral burying-place. 2 Sam. 2:4-6; 21:12-14. Robinson identifies it with ed-Deir, 23 miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee on the south side of Wady Yabis. Dr. S. Merrill, however, questions this as not conforming to the location assigned to it by Eusebius. He would identify Jabesh with the ruins of a town found about 7 miles from Pella, on the north side of Wady Yabis, on the mountain Jebel Aijlun, about 2300 feet above the Jordan valley. This seems to conform to the biblical statements concerning the place.
JA'BEZ {he causes pain), the name of one whose prayer was answered. 1 Chr. 4:9, 10.
JA'BEZ {he causes j)ai)i), apparently a place; named only in 1 Chr. 2 : 55, and doubtless named from Jabez of 1 Chr. 4: 9, 10, though the Targumist regards it not as the name of a place, but of a person.
J A ' B IIV (whom he—i. e. God—ob-se^-ves). 1. King of Hazor, a northern district of Canaan. Josh. 11: 1. He attempted by a formidable alliance to oppose the progress of Joshua. He and his allies were utterly defeated in a battle at Merom, the city of Hazor was taken, and Jabin put to death.
2. Another king of the same name and place, who had great wealth and power and oppressed the children of Israel for 20 years. Jud. 4 : 2. His army was defeated by Deborah and Barak, and Sisera, his principal general, put to death.
JAB'NEELi (Jehovah causes to be built). 1. A town of Judah; called also Jabneh. Josh. 15: 11; 2 Chr. 26 : 6. Uz-ziah captured it from the Philistines and destroyed its fortifications. It was 412
noted during the wars of the Maccabees, and called by Josephus, Jamnia. It was a large and populous place, and after the destruction of Jerusalem was for some time the seat of a famous Jewish school of learning and of the San-hedrin. It is identified with Yebnah, a considerable village about 3 miles from the Mediterranean and 12 miles south of Joppa. The Crusaders built a fortress here, of which the ruins still remain. A tomb is shown, reputed as the tomb of Gamaliel, a descendant of the noted Gamaliel who instructed Paul. There are the ruins of an ancient church. The port of Yebnah is naturally one of the best on the coast of Palestine below Csesarea, but there are dangerous reefs hidden beneath the waters.
2. A place in Naphtali, Josh. 19 : 33; called, in the Talmud, Caphar Yama. Conder identifies it with Yemma, 4 miles south-west of the Sea of Galilee.
JAB'NEH. See Jabneel.
JA'CHAN (affliction), a Gadite chief. 1 Chr. 5 : 13.
JA'CHIN (he shall establish). 1. Fourth son of Simeon. Gen. 46:10; Ex. 6: 15.
2. Head of the twenty-first course of priests. 1 Chr. 9:10; 24:17; Neh. 11: 10.
JA'CHIN (he shall establish) AND BOAZ (lively) were the names of the two pillars Solomon set up. They were probably named after the givers. See BoAz.
JA'CHINITES, THE, the descendants of Jachin, son of Simeon. Num. 26:12.
JACINTH, OR HY'ACINTH, probably the same as the ligure, Ex. 28 : 19, a gem of a yellowish-red or a dark-purple color, resembling the amethyst. Rev. 9:17; 21: 20. In the former passage there is reference merely to its color.
JA'COB (heel-catcher, supplanter), the third of the Jewish patriarchs, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and twin-brother to Esau. He received his name from the circumstance which occurred at his birth. Gen. 25 : 26. The family were then living at Lahai-roi. The twins greatly differed in tastes: Esau was a hunter, Jacob''a plain man, dwelling in tents." Gen. 25: 27. But though domestic, he was selfish and scheming.
JAC
JAC
He bought the birthright from Esau, taking advantage of the latter's temporary weakness. 25 : 29-34. When Isaac, fearing a sudden death, desired to bless Esau, whose manly character made him his favorite, while the more pliable Jacob was the favorite of Rebekah, Jacob was ready to fall in with his mother's plan, and, by deceiving his blind and aged father, to secure the elder brother's blessing. The event, so momentous to all parties, is related in detail in Gen. 27.
The hate of Esau, naturally aroused, compelled Jacob in fear to flee somewhere, and the anxiety of Rebekah lest Jacob should marry a daughter of Heth was the ostensible reason for turning his steps toward Padan-aram, where her brother Laban lived. Previous to his departure Isaac blessed him again, and thus with the assurance of divine favor, but with a heavy and fearful heart, did this man of at least 50 years (it is usual to call him 78 years old) turn his back upon his home and wearily go among strangers. But, though unworthy, he was the heir to the promises ; and accordingly, God cared for him. At Bethel his eyes were opened to see a glorious vision and his ears to hear the voice of God. On awaking he made a vow to serve the Lord, giving the tenth, if the Lord on his part would protect and prosper him. Gen. 28 : 20-22.
An every-day incident introduced him to the family of Laban ; an act of gallantry won him a home at once. Loving Rachel, he promised to serve Laban for her. But when the time was fulfilled, Laban, favored by the marriage-customs of the Orient, fraudulently married him to the elder daughter, Leah, but afterward to Rachel also. Jacob contrived an exjiedient whereby his flocks became larger and healthier than Laban's, and thus in the course of time the desire of his heart after the things of this life was gratified. He had " increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses." Gen. 30 : 43. Eleven sons and one daughter had been born to him by his two wives and their two servants, who were his concubines.
But he yearned after his native land and determined to brave his brother's anger. Secretly, knowing Laban's feel-
ings, he fled, but was followed and overtaken. A parley ensued. Jacob asserted his grievance: '' I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle : and thou hast changed my wages ten times." A covenant of peace was made, of which a pillar was a reminder, Gen. 31 : 45-54, and Laban left him with expressions of goodwill.
Still dreading Esau, he sent messengers to him, and found Esau was a[)-proaching—he feared with hostile intentions. He prudently guarded against destruction by separating his company into two bands and by sending a handsome present to Esau. Fear acted like a slave to bring him to God. He prayed humbly, not to say cringingly, quoting the divine promises. After sending his family over the brook Jabbok, he tarried behind to see that nothing was forgotten, when there appeared " a man" who wrestled with him till the breaking of the day. The wrestling forms ah extraordinary scene. 32 : 24—32. God prevailed not against man. But when the day dawned the exhausted son of Isaac was no longer Jacob, but Israel; for though the sinew of his thigh shrank under the angel's touch, and though after this he was to know much sorrow, the all-night conflict had brought victory, so that the angel of the Lord could say, " As a prince hast thou power with God and with men ; and hast prevailed." With the new name came the new nature. The man who met Esau was not Jacob, the siipplanter, but Israel, the soldier of God. Behind him lay the guilty past; before him stretched the illimitable future, whose near part was full of trial, but whose far part was full of glory. Like many other awaited ills, the meeting with Esau was an agreeable disappointment. Esau was all kindness, and Jacob was compelled to refuse his friendly offers.
After the brothers separated, Jacob finally settled near the city of Shechem, where he bought some land. Gen. 33. In retaliation for the ravishment of Dinah by Shechem, the son of the prince of the country, by a stratagem the city was destroyed. See Dinah. The patriarch was therefore compelled to leave that part of the land.
By divine direction he came to Bethel,
JAC
JAC
where he paid the vow he had made so many years before, and here God again appeared unto him. On their way to Hebron, at Bethlehem, Benjamin was born, but Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, died. The memory of the event was inefi'aceable. 35 : 19. Shortly after his arrival, it would seem, Isaac died, and he and Esau buried him. Gen. 35: 29.
The history now is taken up with Joseph, and Jacob does not play a prominent part until, lying upon his deathbed, he utters his prophetic blessing, tracing from the stai-ting-point of individual character the fortunes of the tribes his twelve sons were destined to found. But the future was revealed to him only a little while before he belonged to the past for ever, for scarcely had he spoken out the pride, afl'ection, apprehension, and warning of his fatherly heart than he ''yielded up the ghost," aged 147 years, " and was gathered unto his people." Gen. 49 : 33. He was buried with great pomp; his body was embalmed by the court-physicians and carried to Hebron, and there at last, after 147 years of wandering and trouble, Jacob rested with his ancestors in the cave of Machpelah. Gen. 50 : 13.
Jacob had more weaknesses and faults by nature than his father and grandfather, but his life was also more checkered and troubled, and his character purified by affliction, Abraham exemplifies heroic faith; Isaac, quiet humility; Jacob, patience and perseverance. His checkered life teaches us the lesson that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven.
The terms " Jacob " and the " seed " or " children of .Jacob " are often applied to the body of true believers generally. Deut. 33:10: Ps. 14 : 7 ; 22:23; 105: 6; 135:4; Isa. 14 : 1; 44:2; Mic. 7 : 20.
JA'COB'S WELL, the well at which Jesus sat and talked with the Samaritan woman, John 4 : 5. 6, near Shechem ; comp. Gen. 33 : 19 ; Josh. 24 : 32. Here our blessed Lord, weary of travel, but not of his work of saving love, off"ered to a poor woman the living water of eternal life and revealed to her 414
the sublime truth of the true worship of God, who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth. Here he sowed the seed for the harvest of the apostles. Acts 8. This is one of the few places in the Holj' Land which can be identified with certainty. Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, Samaritans, all agree in regard to the site of Jacob's well. It is situated a mile and a half south-east of the town of Nuh-Ins, the ancient Shechem, at the eastern base of Mount Gerizim, near the edge of the plain of Moreh {Muknn), and close to the highway from Jerusalem to Galilee. The well is in an almost square enclosure, which measures 192 feet b^^ 151 feet; the wall of this enclosure is almost
Jacob's Well.
entirely destroyed, and the ground is covered with shapeless ruins forming a large mound.
The well is now 75 feet deep, 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, and the upper part lined with rough masonry. It must have been veiy much deeper in ancient times, for in the course of 10 years it decreased 10 feet in depth, and Robinson in 1838 found it 105 feet deep. Captain Anderson estimates that it has been filled up to probably more than half of its original depth by the stones thrown into it by visitors for the sake of hearing them strike, and by the debris from the ruined church built over the well during the fourth century. The bottom of the well is at times entirely dry, but in some seasons it contains water.
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JAH
Money has been contributed to the British Palestine Exploration Fund for the purpose of clearing out the well and preserving its sacred associations.
JA'DA (kiiowi!)(/), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 2 : 28, 32.
JADA'U {/oviiHf), one who had a foreign wife. Ezr. 10 : 43.
JADDU'A {knoivn). 1. One who sealed the covenant. Neh. 10 : 21.
2. The son of Jonathan, high priest of the Jews, who officiated a considerable time after the Captivity, and who is believed to be the same who lived in the time of Alexander the Great " by those who maintain that the list, Neh. 12:11, of high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, or from b. c. 538-b. c. 336, cannot, in its present shape, have proceed-,ed from Nehemiah's hand, or from that of a contemporary."— Bible (Speaker's) Commentary. He is the last of the high priests mentioned in the 0. T.
JA'DON ijudije), one who helped build the wall of Jerusalem. Neh. 3 : 7.
JA'EIi (moitntain-gont), the wife of Heber the Kenite. Jud. 4:17. After the defeat of Jabin's army by Deborah and Barak, Sisera, the general, fled toward her tent, because Heber and Ja-bin were at peace. It was not unusual for the women to have a tent separate from the men, as in Sarah's case, Gen. 24:67, and Leah's. Gen. 31:33. This was a place of security, for then as now among the Arabs a stranger would not venture into the women's tent unasked. Jael invited him in, and concealed him. Fatigued and thirsty, he asked for water, and she gave him buttermilk, which greatly refreshed him. After instructing Jael to stand at the door of the tent, and to deny that he was within if any one should inquire for him, he fell into a sound sleep. She then took a tent-pin, and with a hammer drove it through his temples into the ground. Jud. 4:21. Her act was treacherous, cowardly, and inhuman. It causes only a momentary perplexity, as we have no warrant for supposing her divinely commissioned. Hence, although Deborah appears to praise her in her song, Jud. 6: 24—27, she does not express any approval of the act upon moral grounds. Jael was a murderess from the Christian standpoint, and at best we can only justify her act by emphasizing the barbar-
ity of her time and the usage of warfare, which is organized cruelty.
JA'CJUll, a city on the south-eastern frontier of Judah, near Edom, Josh. 15:21; perhaps to be associated with the following word. See Kinah.
JAH. Ps. 68 : 4. A contraction of the word " Jehovah," which imports the attribute of self-existence. It is part of the compound words "Adonijah" (" God is my Lord ") and ''Hallelujah " (" Praise the Lord"). See Jehovah.
JA'HATH {)tnio)i). 1. A descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4:2.
2. A Levite of the family of Ger-shom, and progenitor of Asaph. 1 Chr. 6 : 20.
3. A Levite, head of a branch of the same family. 1 Chr. 23 :10, 11.
4. A Levite of the Kohathites in the reign of David. 1 Chr. 24 : 22.
5. A Mei-arite Levite in the reign of Josiah, an overseer of the repairing-work in the temple. 2 Chr. 34: 12.
JA'HAZ {])lace trodden down), a Moabitish city situated near the desert; afterward reckoned to the tribe of Reuben and assigned to the priests. Num. 21:23; Deut. 2:32; Isa. 15:4; Jer. 48 : 34. It is also called Jahaza, Josh. 13 : 18, Jahazah, Josh. 21 : 36 ; Jer. 48 : 21, and Jahzah. 1 Chr. 6 : 78. At this place the Israelites gained a victory over Sihon and conquered the territory between the Arnon and the Jab-bok: but in later times Jahaz seems to have been occupied by the Moabites. Osborn locates Jahaz a mile south of the Arnon and 12 miles east of the Dead Sea.
JAHAZA, JAHA Z AH, JAH'-ZAH. See Jahaz.
JAHAZI'AH {wJiom Jehovah beholds), one who helped Ezra in his marriage-reform. Ezr. 10: 15.
JAHA'ZIEL (irhom God beholds). 1. A Benjamite chief who joined David at Ziklag. 1 Chr. 12 : 4.
2. A priest appointed by David to blow the trumpet before the ark. 1 Chr. 16:6.
3. A Kohathite Levite. 1 Chr. 23: 19 ; 24 : 23.
4. A Levite of the sons of Asaph " inspired to encourage Jehoshaphat when marching against the Moabites and Ammonites." 2 Chr. 20 : 14.
5. The father of the chief of the sons
JAH
JAM
of Shecaniah who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra. Ezr. 8 : 5.
JAH'DAI {irhoni Jehovah rf/recfs), a name in the genealogies of Judah. 1 Chr. 2:47.
JAH'DIELi (jchnm God makes joyful), the head of a family in the trans-Jordanic half-tribe of Manasseh. 1 Chr. 5 : 24.
JAH'DO {his union), a Gadite. 1 Chr. 5 : 14.
JAH'LEEL [hoping in God), the youngest son of Zebulun, and founder of the Jahleelites. Gen. 46:14; Num. 26:26.
JAHLEELITES, THE, descendants of Jahleel. Num. 26:26.
JAH'MAI {tchom Jehovah guards), a man of Issaehar. 1 Chr. 7 : 2.
JAH'ZEEL i7vhom God allots), the eldest son of Naphtali, and founder of the Jahzeelites. Gen. 46:24; 1 Chr. 7 : 13.
JAHZEELITES, THE, de seendants of Jahzeel. Num. 26 : 48.
JAH'ZERAH (ichom God leads back), a priest of the house of Immer, 1 Chr. 9 : 12 ; called Ahasai in the duplicate passage in Neh. 11 : 13.
JAH'ZIEL. 1 Chr. 7:13. The same as Jahzeel, which see.
JAI'LER. See Prison, Punishment.
JA'IR {whom Jehovah enlightens). 1. A chief warrior under Moses, descended from the most powerful family of Judah and Manasseh by his father and mother respectively. He took all the country of Argob (the modern Lejah) on the east side of Jordan, and, besides, some villages in Gilead, which he called Havoth-jair, "villages of Jair." 1 Chr. 2 : 21-23; Num. 32 : 41 ; Deut. 3:14: comp. Josh. 13:30.
2. Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel 22 years. " He had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass-colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair, which are in Gilead." Jud. 10: 3-5.
3. A Benjamite, father of Mordeeai. Esth. 2 : 5.
4. In 1 Chr. 20: 5 in the A. V,, Jair occurs, but it is a totally different name in Hebrew, meaning " whom God awakens." This Jair was the father of Elhanan, who killed Lachmi, the brother of Goliath. He is called Jaare-oregim in 2 Sam. 21: 19.
416
JA'IRTTE, THE, a descendant of Jair. 2 Sam. 20 : 26.
JAI'RUS {rchom Jehovah enlightens), an officer of the Jewish church who applied to Christ to restore to life his daughter, who was at the point of death when he left home. He evinced very strong faith. Christ with his disciples went to the ruler's house, and his daughter was restored. Mark 5 : 42.
JA'KAN {sagacious), a son of Ezer the Horite; identical with Jaakan. 1 Chr. 1:42.
JA'KEH {pious), the father of Agur, whose " words " are recorded in Prov. 30.
JA'KIM {whom God sets up). 1. A Benjamite. 1 Chr. 8 : 19.
2. Head of the twelfth course of the priests. 1 Chr. 24 : 12.
JA'LON {abiding), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4 : 17.
JAM'BRES. See Jannes AND Jam-
BRES.
JAMES (the same as " Jacob," ^Ae sujjplanter). 1. James the Elder, one of the three favorite apostles, a son of Zebedee and Salome, and a brother of John the evangelist. With Peter and John, he was present at the raising of Jairus's daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony in Gethsemane. He was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa, and became the first martyr among the apostles, A. i>. 44, thus fulfilling our Saviour's prediction concerning the baptism of blood. Matt. 4: 21; 20: 20-23 : 26 : 37 ; Mark 1:19,20; 10 : 35 ; Acts 12 : 2. His apostolic labors seem not to have extended beyond Jerusalem and Juda?a. Clement of Alexan-di'ia relates that the accuser of Jame^\ on the way to the place of execution, stung by remorse, confessed faith and asked forgiveness; whereupon James said to him, " Peace be with thee !" gave him a brotherly kiss, and had him for a companion in martyrdom. His place was filled partly by James the brother of the Lord, partly by Paul.
2. James the Less, or the Little, also one of the twelve apostles, a son of Alpheus and Mary. Mark 15 : 40 ; 16 :1; Matt. 10 : 3 ; 27 : 56 ; Acts 1: 13. He labored, according to the tradition of the Greek Church (which distinguishes him from James, the brother of the Lord), in the south-western part of
JAM
JAM
Palestine, afterward in Egypt, and was crucified in Lower Egypt. He is regarded by many as a cousin of Jesus.
3. James, " the brother of the Lord," Gal. 1:19; comp. Matt. 13 : 55 ; Mark 6: 3, or simply James, Acts 12 : 17 ; 15 : 13 ; 21 : 18;' Gal. 2 : i>: 1 Cor. 15 : 7. By ecclesiastical writers he is also called James 'Hhe Just" and'* the bishop of Jerusalem." Commentators are divided as to his relation to James the Less. Some identify him with the younger apostle of that name, and regard him simply as a cousin of Jesus, while others distinguish the two, and understand the designation " brother of the Lord" in the strict sense either of a uterine brother or a half-brother of Jesus. See Brother and Brethren of Jesus. It is certain, from the Acts of the Apostles, that this James, after the dispersion of the disciples and the departure of Peter, Acts 12 : 17, occupied the most prominent position in the church of Jerusalem, and stood at the head of the Jewish converts. He presided at the apostolic council, and proposed the compromise which prevented a split between the Jewish and the Gentile sections of the church. Acts 15 and Gal. 2. He stood mediating between the old and the new dispensations, and conformed very nearly to the Jewish traditions and temple-service as long as there was any hope of a national conversion. He stood in high repute even among the Jews, but nevertheless was (according to Josephus) sentenced to be stoned by the Sanhedrin, A. D. 62. Hegesippus, an historian of the second century, puts his martyrdom later, A. D. 69, shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem, and adds that he was thrown by the Pharisees from the pinnacle of the temple, and then despatched with a fuller's club while on his knees, in the act of praying for his murderers.
Epistle of James, "a servant (not an apostle) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," the same who is also called ''the brother of the Lord." It is one of the catholic or general Epistles, and consists of five chapters. The design of the Epistle is, (1) To correct errors into which the Jewish Christians had fallen, especially relating to justification by faith; (2) To animate their hope, and strengthen their faith, in view of afflictions felt and feared; and (3) To excite 27
the unbelieving Jews to repentance toward God and faith in the rejected Messiah. It is remarkable that the name of our blessed Lord occurs but twice in this Epistle, but with great reverence as the divine Master, 1: 1, and as "the Lord of glory." 2 : 1. The gospel is described as the perfect law of freedom. The Epistle strongly resembles the preaching of John the Baptist and the Sermon on the Mount. The main stress is laid on works rather than faith. It enforces an eminently practical Christianity which manifests itself in good fruits. Its doctrine of justification, ch. 2, apparently conflicts with that of Paul, Rom. 3 and 4, but in reality the two apostles supplement each other, and guard each other against abuse and excess. James opposes a dead orthodoxy, an unfruitful theoretical belief, and insists on practical demonstration of faith, while Paul, in opposition to Pharisaical legalism and self-righteousness, exhibits a living faith in Christ as the principle and root of all good works. The one judges the tree by its fruit, the other proceeds from the root.
The Epistle of James was written before A. D. 62, perhaps much earlier, probably from Jerusalem, the scene of his labors, and is addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, 1 : 1—that is, either to all the Jews of the Dispersion, or only to the Jewish Christians, as to the true spiritual Israel. The style is lively, vigorous, and impressive. What kindling words on patience in suifering, joy in sorrow, heavenly wisdom, the power of prayer as the most certain unfailing thing, from deep personal experience! There is a resemblance between the Epistle and the pastoral letter of the Council of Jerusalem, which was no doubt written by the same James as the presiding officer; both have the Greek form of ''greeting," Acts 15: 23; Jas. 1: 1, which otherwise does not occur in the N. T. or is changed into "grace and peace." This is an incidental proof of the genuineness of the Epistle. The theory recently advocated by Bassett ( Commentdry on fhe Catholic Epintfe of St. James, London, 1876), that it was written by the elder James, the son of Zebedee, before a. d. 44, has little to support it. He assumes thatthe Epistle was addressed to all the Jews of the dispersion with the
JAM
JAE
view to convert them by a moral rather than doctrinal exhibition of Christianity. JA'MIN (prospen'ti/, right haud). 1. The second son of Simeon, founder of the Jaminites. Gen. 46 : 10 ; Ex. 6 : 15 ; 1 Chr. 4: 24; Num. 26: 12.
2. A man of Judah. 1 Chr. 2: 27.
3. A Levite who expounded the Law with Ezra. Neh. 8 : 7.
JA'MINITES, THE, descendants of Jamin. Num. 26 : 12.
JAM'LECH {whom God makes king), a chief of Simeon. 1 Chr. 4 : 34.
JANG'LING means " babbling " in 1 Tim. 1: 6.
JAN'NA {ichom Jehovah bestoios), one of our Lord's ancestors. Luke 3 : 24.
JAN'NES AND JAM'BRES, two famous magicians of Egypt, who are supposed to have used their art to deceive Pharaoh. 2 Tim. 3 : 8 ; Ex. 7 : 9-13.
JANO'AH {rest), a town of Naph-tali, in northern Palestine, taken by the king of Assyria. 2 Kgs. 15 : 29. Van de Velde and Porter propose to identify it with ruins at the A^llage Hunin, between Abel-beth-Maachah and Kedesh ; Conder with Yamih, near the western limit of the ancient territory of Naphtali.
JANO'HAH {rest), a town on the north-east borders of Ephraim. Josh. 16 : 6, 7. At Yamu}, about 8 miles south-east of Nablus, are extensive ruins, entire houses and walls, covered with immense heaps of earth, and these are identified as the site of Janohah.
JA'NUM {slumber), a place in the tribe of Judah. Josh. 15 : 53. The margin has " Janus " (" flight"). It was not far from Hebron, and Conder proposes to identifv it with Beni Nairn.
JA'PHETH {enlargement), the second son of Noah. Gen. 5: 32; 10: 21. The prophetic blessing pronounced on Japheth by his father, Gen. 9: 27, was accomplished to the full extent of the promise. From him have come, (1) Go-mer, or the Cymri or Celts; (2) Magog, or the Scythians and Sarraatians (Slavonians); (3) Madai, or the Medes or Aryans; (4) Javan, or the Greeks; (5) Tubal, or the Tibareni; (6) Meshech, or the Moschi ; (7) Tiras, or the Teutons. The Japhetic races have occupied " ' the isles of the Gentiles'— i. e. all the coast-lands in Europe and Asia Minor and islands of the Mediterranean—whence they spread northward over Europe and 418
much of Asia, from India and Persia in the east to the extreme west of Europe, and now to America and Australia."— Fausset : Englishman's Bible Cyclopaedia. The other branch of prophecy, "he (God) shall dwell in the tents of Shem," was fulfilled when the divine Presence was manifested in the tabernacle and temple; or if we read, "he (Japheth) shall dwell in the tents of Shem," it was fulfilled literally when the Greeks and Romans (descended from Japheth) subdued Juda2a, the inheritance of Shem, and figuratively when the descendants of Japheth (the Gentiles) received the gospel, which the Jews, who were of the seed of Shem, rejected.
JAPHI'A {ftplendid), the «(king of Lachish, one of the five kings of the Amorites who united against Joshua, but were defeated at Beth-horon and killed at Makkedah. Josh. 10 : 3.
JAPHI'A {sjilendid), a place in the tribe of Zebulun. Josh. 19: 12. It is identified with a small village, called Yafa, a short distance south-west of Nazareth. See Joseph us: Wars, 2-.2^, &. Drake described some caves at this place unlike any other he had seen in Palestine. A passage 12 feet long leads into a circular chamber, in the floor of which are circular " man-holes " leading to two lower caves, which in turn lead to others. All the chambers are connected by intricate passage-ways. Mr. Drake conceives that they were not tombs, but places for the storage of grain.
JAPH'LET {whom God delivers), an Asherite. 1 Chr. 7: 32, 33.
JAPH'LETI, a landmark of Ephraim west of Beth-horon. Josh. 16: 3.
JA'PHO. Josh. 19 : 46. See Joppa.
JA'RAH {honey), a descendant of Saul, 1 Chr. 9 : 42; called in the parallel list, ch. 8 : 36, Jehoadah.
JA'REB {an adversary). The marginal reading would indicate that it was the name of a place, but that is forbidden by the form of the original word. Hos. 5: 13; 10: 6. Some make it the name of a king, but it is better to translate it " the hostile king"— i. e. " the king of Assyria."
JA'RED {descent), the father of Enoch. Gen. 5 : 15-20 ; Luke 3 : 37. In 1 Chr. 1: 2 he is called Jered.
JARESI'AH {whom Jehovah fattens), a Benjamite chief. 1 Chr. 8 : 27.
JAR
JAV
JAR'HA {mcaninrj vncertaiii), an Egyptian i^ervant of Sheshan, and married to his daughter, 1 ('hr. 2 : 34, 35.
JA'RIB {an adrersavy). 1. A son of Sinieon, 1 Chr, 4: 24 5 called Jachin in Gen. 46 : 10.
2. A companion of Ezra, "a chief man." Ezr. 8: 16,
3, A priest maiTied to a foreign wife, Ezr. 10: 18.
JAR'MUTH. 1. A town in the low country of Judah. Josh. 15 : 35. Its king, Piram, was one of the five who conspired to punish Gibeon for having made alliance with Israel, and who were defeated at Beth-horon and were hanged by Joshua at Makkedah. Josh. 12 : 11; 15: 35. It was peopled after the Captivity. Neh. 11: 29. It is identified with Yarmnh, 16 miles south-west of Jerusalem, on the crest of a rocky ridge, where hewn blocks of stone and other ruins of a town are found.
2, A city of Issachar, allotted with its suburbs to the Gershonite Levites, Josh, 21: 29, and called Reneth and Ramoth. Josh. 19: 21; 1 Chr. 6: 73. Conder proposes to identify it with Rameh.
JARO'AH {moon), a Gadite. 1 Chr. 5: 14.
JA'SHEN (sleeping), the father of some of David's warriors, 2 Sam. 23 : 32.
JA'SHER, BOOK OF iupri;,ht). Twice referred to. Josh. 10 : 13 ; 2 Sam. 1: 18 ; probably a collection of national songs, now lost.
JASHO'BE AM {to loJwm the people turns), the chief of David's captains, who came to him at Ziklag and distinguished himself and his band by slaying 300 men at one time. 1 Chr. 11: 11 ; 12:6; 27: 2. He is the same with Adino the Eznite, 2 Sam. 23 : 8, the difference in the Hebrew being slight.
JASH'UB {he turns). 1. One of the sons of Issachar; founder of the Ja-shubites. Num. 26 : 24 ; 1 Chr. 7:1; called Job in Gen. 46 : 13.
2. One who had a foreign wife. Ezr. 10: 29.
JASHUBILE'HEM {turner back for food), either a person or a place mentioned in the genealogical list of Judah. 1 Chr. 4 : 22.
JASHTIBITES, THE, descendants of J.vsHUB, 1. Num. 26 : 24.
JA'SIEJj {whom God has made),
one of David's warriors, 1 Chr. 11: 47; same as Jaasiel.
JA'SON {one who will heal), a Thessa-lonian, and probably a relative of Paul, whom he entertained, and in consequence received rough treatment at the hands of the unbelieving Jews. Acts 17 ; cf. Rom. 9:3: 16: 21.
JAS'PER, the last stone in the breastplate of the high priest, and the first in the foundations of the new Jerusalem. Ex. 28 : 20 ; Rev. 21: 19. Jasper is an opaque species of quartz, of different colors, often banded or spotted, and susceptible of a high polish. The dark-green kind is supposed to be the variety of the Bible. From the apparent inconsistency of Rev. 4:3; 21:11 with the opaque character of this stone, it has been suggested that some transparent gem was denoted by jasper in the N. T.—■ perhaps the diamond or the translucent chalcedony. See Stones, Precious.
JATH'NIEL {whom God bestows),^ Levite porter or doorkeeper in the tabernacle. 1 Chr. 26:2.
JAT'TIR, a town of Judah in the mountain-districts, Josh. 15 : 48 ; 21: 14; David sent presents thither. 1 Sam. 30 : 27 : 1 Chr. 6 : 57. Robinson identifies it with 'Attir, 6 miles north of Molada and 11 miles west of south of Hebron. Tristram noted there over 30 crypts, and found remains of terraces, many old wells, now dry and filled with rubbish, but only one modern building, a Moslem tomb.
JA'VAN, the fourth son of Japh-eth, and the ancestor of the Grecians or lonians. Gen. 10 : 2 ; 1 Chr. 1: 5, 7. Hence the word " Javan " in the 0. T. denotes Greece, or the Greeks. Isa. 66 : 19 ; Eze. 27:13.
J A'VAN. 1. In Isa. 66: 19 it is coupled with Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, and with Tubal and the " isles afar off;" again, in Eze. 27: 13, it is joined with Tubal and Meshech, as carrying on commerce with the Tyrians, who imported from these countries slaves and brazen vessels ; in Dan. 8 : 21 ; 10 : 20 ; 11: 2, in reference to the Macedonian empire; and in Zech. 9:13, in reference to the Gra^co-Syrian empire. From these passages it appears that "Javan " was regarded as a title for the Greek people and the Grecian empire.
2. A town in the southern part of
JAV
JEC
Arabia ( Yemen), whither the Phoenicians traded, Eze. 27 : 19 ; probably Uzal, a name of the capital of Yema, in Arabia, and famous for the manufacture of sword-blades.
JAV'ELIN. See Arms.
JA'ZER, Josh. 21:39, or JAA^ Z£R, Num. 21: 32, a city of the Ammonites, near the river Jabbok, the ruins of which are still visible at Snr, about 15 miles from Hesban.
Sea of, Jer. 48 : 32, may be a lake existing in ancient times near the city of Jazer. There are round pools of water near Scr, but scholars have not agreed what the Sea of Jazer refers to.
JA'ZIZ (whom God moves), the Ha-gerite who was over David's flocks. 1 Chr. 27:31.
JEAL'OUSY. It is most frequently used to denote a suspicion of conjugal infidelity. 2 Cor. 11: 2. It is sometimes used for anger or indignation, Ps. 79: 5 ; 1 Cor. 10: 22, or an intense interest for the honor and prosperity of another. Zech. 1:14; 8:2.
The same term, in a similar sense, is used in speaking of God, for he is represented as a husband, related to his Churcli by a marriage-covenant that binds her to be wholly for him, and not for another. The more sincere and constant the love, the more sensitive is the heart to the approach of a rival; and the thought of such affection being alienated or corrupted fills the soul with grief and indignation. So God commends the purity, the fervency, and the sincerity of his love to his Church by the most terrific expressions of jealousy.
The various significations of the word "jealousy " are denoted usually by its connection. It is one of the strongest passions of our nature. Prov. 6 : 34; Sol. Song 8:6.
The Image of Jealousy, Eze. 8: 3, 5, is the same with Tammuz, in v. 14. See Tammuz.
Jealousy-offering, or Waters of Jealousy. See Adultery.
JE'ARIM, MOUNT {mount of forests), a place named in noting the northern boundary of Judah. Josh. 15 : 10. The boundary ran from Mount Seir to " the shoulder of Mount Jearim, which is Chesnlon"—that is, Chesalon was the landmark on the mountain. Keslu stands 7 miles due west of Jerusalem, 420
on a high point on the north slope of a lofty ridge, which is probably Mount Jearim. Considerable woods still exist there.
JEAT'ERAI {loJiom Jehovah leads), a Gershonite Levite, 1 Chr. 6:21; called Ethni in v. 41.
JEBERACHI'AH {tchom Jehovah blesses), the father of the Zechariah whom Isaiah took as a witness. Isa. 8 : 2.
JE'BUS {place trodden down, threshing-Jioor), the ancient name of Jerusalem among the Canaanites, Jud. 19 : 10, 11; 1 Chr. 11:4,5; probably derived from a descendant of Canaan, the son of Ham. Gen. 10 : 16. The Jebusites were partially subdued by Joshua, Josh. 10 : 23, 40 : 12 : 10 : 15 *: 63 ; Num. 13 : 29; and they were permitted to remain after the conquest of Jebus by David. 2 Sam. 5 : 6-9 ; 24 : 16-25 ; 1 Chr. 11: 4-8; Ezr. 9 :1, 2. ''Jebusi " is sometimes put for the city Jebus. Josh. 18 : 16, 28; Zech. 9 : 7. Jebus was more accurately the south-west hill afterward called Mount Zion, or "city of David." Being surrounded on all sides by deep ravines, it was a place of great natural strength. See Jerusalem.
JEBU'SI. Josh. 15:8; 18:16, 28. A name for Jebus. See Jebus and Jerusalem.
JEB'USITES, the name of a tribe inhabiting the portion of Canaan about Jebus or Jerusalem in the time of Joshua, and which the Israelites were commanded to destroy. Deut. 7:1; 20: 17. They joined Jabin against Joshua. Their king, Adoni-zedek, was slain and they defeated. Josh. 11: 3 ; 10 : 15, 26 ; later their city was burnt, but re-occupied bv the Jebusites. Jud. 1: 21 and Josh. '15:63; 19:10-22. David conquered their stronghold, and it became a part of his capital, Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 5 : 6, 8; 1 Chr. 11 : 4-6. Solomon made the Jebusites pay tribute, 1 Kgs. 9:20, and some were known after the captivity. Ezr. 9 :1. David bought the place of Araunah the Jebusite for an altar, and this afterward became the site of the temple. 2 Sam. 24:16-25.
JEB'USITES, inhabitants of Jebus.
JECAMI'AH {whom JeJwvah (fathers), one of the line of David, 1 Chr. 3:18; same with Jekamiah of 2:41.
JECHOLI'AH {able through Jeho-
JEC
JEH
vah), the mother of Azariah, or Uzziah, king of Judah. 2 Kgs. 15: 2. She is called Jecoliah in 2 Chr. 26 : 3.
JECHONI'AS. Matt. 1 : 11, 12. Greek form of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, which see.
JECOLI'AH. See Jeciioliah.
JECONI'AH {whom Jehovah establishes). See Jehoiachix.
J'EDA'IAH {praise Jehovah). A. 1. A Siineonite, ancestor of Ziza, a chief of his tribe. 1 Chr. 4 : 37. . 2. One who helped repair the wall. Neh. 3 : 10.
B. The same name in the A. V., but different in the Hebrew, meaning Jehovah cares for him.
1. The head of the second course of priests, 1 Chr. 24 : 7. " Most probably this course or the representative of it, divided afterward into two branches, is intended in 1 Chr. 9:10; Ezr. 2:36: Neh. 7:39; 11:10; 12:6, 7, 19, 21." —Ayre.
2. One who returned from Babylon, to whom a memorial crown was given. Zech. 6 : 10, U.
JEDI^AEL {known of God). 1. A son or descendant of Benjamin, 1 Chr. 7 : 6, 10, 11, and progenitor of the most powerful family in the tribe.
2. One of David's warriors. 1 Chr. 11:45.
3. Perhaps the same as the chief of Manasseh who joined David on the march to Ziklag. 1 Chr. 12 : 20.
4. A Levite temple-doorkeeper in the time of David. 1 Chr. 26 : 2.
JEDI'DAH {one beloved), the mother of King Josiah. 2 Kgs. 22 :1.
JEDIDI'AH {beloved of Jehovah), the name Nathan gave to Solomon. 2 Sam. 12 : 25. It was a play on the word David, "beloved," which comes from the same root as " Jedid;" so, as the father was beloved, the child was the beloved of Jehovah.
JED'UTHUN {praising), an eminent master of the temple-music, to whom several of the Psalms are inscribed, see Ps. 39, 62, 77, etc., or by whom, as some suppose, the.y were written. Probably he was identical with Ethan. 1 Chr. 6:44; 15:17, 19; 16 : 38, 41, 42 ; 25 : 1-6. " We find subsequently his division officiating when the temple was completed, 2 Chr. 5 : 12, in Hezekiah's reformation, 29 : 14, and
also under Josiah, 35:15; moreover, after the Captivity, a descendant of his house is mentioned. 1 Chr. 9:16; Neh. 11: 17. Three Psalms have Jeduthun in their titles, 39, 62, 77 ; probably they were to be sung by his musical division." — Ai/re.
JJEE'ZER {father of help), shortened form of Abiezer; a descendant of Manasseh through Gilead. Num. 26 : 30. See Abikzer.
JEE'ZERITES, descendants of the above.
JE'GAR-SAHADU'THA {heap of testimonij), the Aramaean name of the stone memorial between Jacob and La-ban. Gen. 31 : 47. The Hebrew word "Galeed" does not exactly represent it.
JEHALE'LEEL {who praises God), a Judite. 1 Chr. 4: 16.
JEHAL'ELEL {who 2iraises God), a Levite. 2 Chr. 29:12.
JEHDE'IAH {whom Jehovah makes joy fid). 1. A Levite. 1 Chr. 24 : 20.
2. He who had charge of David's she-asses. 1 Chr. 27 : 30.
JEHEZ'EKEL {whom God makes strong), the head of the twentieth priestly course, 1 Chr. 24:16; same name as Ezekiel.
JEHI'AH {Jehovah lives), a doorkeeper fur the ark. 1 Chr. 15:24.
JEHI'EL {God lives). 1. A Levite porter appointed by David for musical service. 1 Chr. 15 : 18, 20 : 16 : 5.
2. A Gershonite Levite who had charge of the treasures of the house of the Lord. 1 Chr. 23 : 8 ; 29 : 8.
3. An officer under David. 1 Chr. 27; 32.
4. A son of Jehoshaphat, slain by his brother Jehoram. 2 Chr. 21 : 2.
5. A Levite engaged in Hezekiah's reformatory work. 2 Chr. 29 : 14.
6. A ruler of the house of God during Josiah's reign. 2 Chr. 35 : 8.
7. A Levite "overseer." 2 Chr. 31:13.
8. Father of Obadiah, who returned with Ezra. Ezr. 8 : 9.
9. One whose son proposed to Ezra the putting away of the foreign wives. Ezr. 10:2.
10 and 11. Two men who had to separate their wives. Ezr. 10 : 2, 21, 26.
JEHI'EL {treasured of God?), a distinct name in Hebrew from the last.
1. The father of Gibeon of Benjamin,
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and an ancestor of Saul. 1 Chr. 9:35; comp. 8 :29.
2. A member of David's guard. 1 Chr. 11 : U.
JEHI'ELI, a patronymic; the descendants of Jehiel. 1 Chr. 26: 21, 22; comp. 23:8; 29:8.
JEHIZKI'AH {whom Jehovah strengthens), the same name as Hezekiah. One of the Ephraimite chiefs who seconded the prophet Oded in his efforts to release the captives of Judah during Ahaz's reign. 2 Chr. 28 : 12.
JEHO'ADAH [lohom Jehovah adorns), one of the descendants of Saul,
1 Chr. 8 : 36 ; in 9 : 42 called Jarah. JEHOAD'DAN (the feminine form
of the above), the queen of Joash and mother of Amaziah, the succeeding king of Judah. 2 Kgs. 14: 2 ; 2 Chr. 25 : 1.
JEHO'AHAZ {lohom Jehovah holds). 1. Son and successor of Jehu, king of Israel for 17 years, b. c. 856-840. See 2 Kgs. 13:1-9. His reign was disastrous to the kingdom. The kings of Syria, Hazael and Benhadad, oppressed and spoiled the country. The army was but a shadow. When his troubles multiplied he sought the Lord, whom he had forsaken, and God ultimately raised up a deliverer in the person of Jehoash, his son. v. 25.
2. Son and successor of Josiah, king of Judah, 2 Kgs. 23 : 30 ; called Shal-lum 1 Chr. 3 : 15; Jer. 22 : 11. Though he was the fourth son, yet the people chose him king. He was an evil-doer,
2 Kgs. 23 : 32, and referred to as a young lion by Ezekiel. 19 : 3. He reigned only three months, B. c. 610. It has been plausibly conjectured that his irregular election offended Pharaoh-necho, who got Jehoahaz into his power at Riblah, in Syria, whence he sent him a prisoner loaded with chains into Egypt, and there he died, Jer. 22 : 11, 12, and his brother Jehoiakim became king in his stead. 2 Kgs. 23 : 30, 35.
3. The same with Ahaziah and Aza-riah. Comp. 2 Chr. 21: 17 ; 22 : 1, 6, 8, 9.
J E H O ' A S H (whom Jehovah be-stmved), original uncontracted form of the name commonly written Joash, and applied to two kings. See Joash, 3 and 4.
JEHOHA^NAN (whom Jehovah gave), a name contracted into Johanan, and thus into the familiar John. 422
1. A Levite porter of the Korhite family. 1 Chr. 26 : 3.
2. Chief military leader under Je-hoshaphat, 2 Chr. 17 : 15, and probably the father of Ishmael, with whom Jehoi-ada conspired to set Joash on the throne. 2 Chr. 23:1.
3. One who put away his foreign wife. Ezr. 10 : 28.
4. A priest under the high priest Joi-akim. Neh. 12: 13.
5. A priest who officiated in the service of song at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Neh. 12: 42.
J'EHOVACHI'S {whom Jehovah has appointed). Jeconiah, 1 Chr. 3:17; Co-niah, Jer, 22 : 24; Jeconias, Matt. 1: 12. Son and successor of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, B.C. 598. 2 Kgs. 24: 8. He was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and reigned only three months and ten days, at which time Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city and carried the king and royal family, the chief men of the nation and great treasures unto Babylon. 2 Kgs. 24:6-16. He merited this punishment. Jer. 22 : 24-30. For thirty-seven years he was a captive, but Evil-merodach on his accession liberated him and made him share the royal bounty and be head of all the captive kings in Babylon; and so to the end of his life he enjoved a position befitting his rank.
JE HO I 'ADA {whom Jehovah knoics). 1. The father of Benaiah, 1, which see. 2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kgs, 1: 32 ff.; 1 Chr. 18:17. This Jehoiada was the chief priest, 1 Chr. 27:5, and therefore he was the leader of the priests who came to David at Hebron. 1 Chr. 12: 27. By a copyist's error, Benaiah is said to have been the father of Jehoiada instead of the son. 1 Chr, 27:34.
2. A high priest of the Jews, and husband of Jehosheba. 2 Kgs. 11: 4. See Athaliah and Joash. His administration was so auspicious to the civil and religious interests of the nation, 2 Kgs. 12 : 2; 2 Chr. 23 : 16, that when he died, at an advanced age, he was buried in the royal sepulchres at Jerusalem. 2 Chr. 24: 16. Many do not accept the age of 132 years assigned to him, for the reason that if he lived so long, then, when he married the daughter of Jehoram, he must have been 80, while Jehoram was only 32, It has been proposed to read '' 83 " instead.
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3. The second priest in the reign of Zedekiah. Jer. 29 : 25-29.
4. One who helped repair the wall. Neh. 3 : 6.
JEHOI'AKIM {whom Jehovah sets up), eldest son of Josiah, and the brother and successor of Jehoahaz, king of Ju-dah. 2 Kgs. 23 : 36. His original name was Eliakim, but it was changed by order of the king of Egypt, 2 Kgs. 23 : 34, who put him on the throne. The iniquity of his reign is strongly depicted by the historian and prophet, 2 Kgs. 24 : 4 ; 2 Chr. 36 : 8; Jer. 22, 26, 36. His end was in strict accordance with the prediction concerning him.
For the first four years of his reign Jehoiakim was subject to the king of Egypt, and paid an enormous tribute. Then he became tributary for three years to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 2 Kgs. 24 : 1, but he rebelled, in punishment was attacked by neighboring tribes, and then Nebuchadnezzar took him prisoner and at first bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon, 2 Chr. 36 : 6; Dan. 1 : 2, but afterward set him at liberty and left him at Jerusalem, to reign as a tributary prince. The whole time of his reign was eleven years, b. c. 609-598.
The expression Jer. 36 : 30 is not to be taken strictly, and yet, as the reign of Jehoiachin was for only thirteen weeks, Jehoiakim may be said to have been comparatively without a successor. The same explanation applies to 2 Kgs. 23 : 34, where Eliakim is said to liave succeeded his father, Josiah; whereas the reign of Jehoahaz intervened. This was so short, however, as not to be reckoned in the succession.
Jehoiakim was a bad king, extravagant, irreverent, and vicious. His burnifag of Jeremiah's roll revealed his ungodly life. Jer. 36: 23. His murder of Urijah, Jer. 26 : 23, and treatment of Jeremiah indicated his reckless cruelty. The latter prophet bravely denounced the oppression, injustice, cov-etousness, luxury, and tyranny of this miserable monarch. Jer. 22 : 13-17. He was murdered in the eleventh year of his reign, and was " buried with the burial of an ass." Jer. 22 : 19.
JEHOI'ARIB {whom Jehovah defends), the head of the first course of priests. 1 Chr. 24 : 7.
JEHON'ADAB, or JONA'DAB
{ichom Jehovah incites), the son of Re-chab, the founder of the Rechabitks, which see. Ho joined Jehu in the slaughter of the Baalites. 2 Kgs. 10 : 15-23.
JEHON'ATHAN {whom Jehovah gave), very frequently JOIVA'THAN. 1. Superintendent of storehouses of David. 1 Chr. 27 : 25.
2. A Levite sent out by Jehoshaphat to teach the Law to the people of Judah. 2 Chr. 17 : 8.
3. A priest, representative of the family of Shemaiah. Neh. 12 : 18.
JEHO'RAM, frequently JO'RAM {whom Jehovah has exalted). 1. The eldest son of Jehoshaphat, and his successor as king of Judah. He reigned eight years, b. c. 892-885, perhaps for the first years as the associate of his father. 1 Kgs. 22 : 50 ; 2 Kgs. 8 : 10, 17; 2 Chr. 21 :1-3. He married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and proved himself as wicked as his relatives. One of the first acts of his government was to put to death his six brothers and several of the chief men of the kingdom. 2 Chr. 21: 4. To punish him for this and other abominations of his reign, 2 Chr. 21: 11-13, the Edom-ites, who had long been subject to the throne of Judah, revolted, and secured their independence. 2 Chr. 21 : 8-10. One of his own cities also revolted, and about the same time he received a writing from Elijah, admonishing him of the dreadful calamities which he was bringing on himself by his wicked conduct. In due time these calamities came upon him and his kingdom. Their territory was overrun with enemies; the king's palace was plundered, and the royal family, exce})t the youngest son, made prisoners. The king himself was smitten with a terrible and incurable disease, which carried him to the grave unlamented, and he was buried without royal honors. 2 Chr. 21 : 14-20.
2. Jehoram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel, and king of Israel, b. c. 896-884. 2 Kgs. 1: 17 ; 3 :1. He was not so bad as his parents, but yet he did evil in the sight of the Lord, bowing down to the golden calves. 2 Kgs. 3: 2, 3. The friendly intercourse between Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and Ahab was kept up by Jehoram, and so,
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when the king of Moab rebelled, he obtained the help of Judah and Edom to bring him to terms. Distressed bj^ lack of water after a seven days' march, on the insistence of Jehoshaphat, they inquired of the Lord through Elisha, who prophesied victory if an odd plan was adopted— viz., to dig trenches which, when filled with water by the Lord, would appear streams of blood to the Moabites, who would conjecture that there had been internal strife, and so would be induced to attack the camp without the usual caution. The ruse was successful, and the Moabites were repulsed with great loss. The allies pursued them into Moab, beating down the cities and stopping up wells and felling trees, thus devastating the land. In the city Kir-haraseth was the king of Moab brought to bay. He attempted to cut his way through, but, foiled in that, he offered his eldest son as a propitiatory sacrifice unto the Mo-abitish war-god, Chemosh—a performance which so horrified the Israelites that they abandoned the siege and returned home. See 2 Kgs. 3:4-27 (v. 27, second clause, best reads, " There was great indignation in Israel"). When fighting against Syria, Jehoram was informed of their king's secret counsels by Elisha, but when the Syrian army was miraculously delivered into his power the prophet forbade their slaughter. 2 Kgs. 6 : 8-23. Subsequently, Samaria was besieged by Benhadad and reduced to dreadful straits. Jehoram laid the blame upon Elisha and determined his death, but afterward changed his mind. Man's extremity was God's opportunity. By a miracle plenty was restored unto the famishing city, as Elisha announced, and after this event the king's friendly feeling for the prophet returned. 2 Kgs. 8 : 4-6. The seven-year famine of 2 Kgs. 8 : 1 may have been that mentioned in ch. 4, vs. 38-44. A revolution in Syria gave Jehoram opportunity, in connection with his nephew Ahaziah, to recover Ramoth-gilead from the Syrians, but in the battle he was wounded, and while in Jezreel, whither he had gone for healing, Jehu revolted and slew him as he tried to escape, and his body was cast ''in the portion of the field of Na-both the Jezreelite," according to the prophecy of Elijah. 1 Kgs. 21: 21-29; gee 2 Kgs. 8 : 28 and 9 : 14-27. With 424
the life of Jehoram ended the reign of the house of Omri.
3. A priest employed by Jehoshaphat to instruct the people. 2 Chr. 17 :8.
JEHOSHAB'EATH {her oath is Jehovah). See Jehosheba.
JEHOSH'APHAT(if^om Jehovah judges). 1. The royal " recorder" or annalist under David and Solomon. 2 Sam. 8 : 16 ; 20 : 24 J 1 Kgs. 4 : 3 ; 1 Chr. 18:15.
2. Solomon's purveyor for the tribe of Issachar. 1 Kgs. 4:17.
3. The son and successor of Asa. king of Judah, 1 Kgs. 15:24; 2 Chr. 17 : 1; called Josaphat in Matt. 1:8, and in 2 Chr. 21 : 2 the king of Israel, where the writer uses the generic term. He came to the throne at the age of 35, and reigned 25 years, b. c. 914-890. He was a prince of distinguished piety, and his reign was powerful and prosperous. 2 Chr. 17 : 3-6. Among other evidences of his piety and benevolence, we are told that he caused the altars and places of idolatry to be destroyed, a knowledge of the law to be diff'used throughout the kingdom, and the places of judicial and ecclesiastical authority to be filled by the wisest and best men of the land. 2 Chr. 17 : 6-9 ; 19 : 5-11. His sin in forming a league with Ahab, contrary to the counsel of Micaiah, against Ramoth-gilead, 2 Chr. 18, was severelj^ censured by Jehu, 2 Chr. 19 : 2, and had nearly cost him his life. 2 Chr. 18 : 31.
A few years after this the kingdom of Judah was invaded by a confederacy of Edomites, Moabites, and others. They collected their forces at En-gedi, and threatened to overthrow the kingdom. Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast, and the people from all parts of the kingdom—men, women, and children— came up to Jerusalem ; and being assembled in one place, the king himself made supplication to God for help in their extremity. 2 Chr. 20 : 6-12. His prayer was answered, and a certain and easy victory was promised by the Lord through Jahaziel, a Levite. On the following day the army of Judah went forth to meet the enemy, j^receded by a company of singers, who praised the name of the Lord. The enemy were panic-struck and fell into irrecoverable confusion, and instead of facing their adversaries turned their swords against
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each other, until they were utterly routed and overthrown ; so that Jehoshaphat and his men had no occasion to engage in the conflict. And such abundance of spoil remained in tlie camp that the men of Judah were employed three days in collecting it. 2 ("hr. 20: U-27.
Still later in his life, Jehoshaphat connected himself with Ahaziah, son and successor of Ahab, king of Israel, in a naval expedition : but this alliance with a wicked king turned out disastrously, j as had been predicted by Eliezer, the ' son of Dodovah; for while the fleet lay { at Ezion-geber it was utterly destroyed \ by a violent storm. 2 Chr. 20 : 35, .37. See Ahaziah.
Again he involved himself in an alliance with Jehoram, the second son of Ahab, and also with the Edomites, for the purpose of invading the land of Moab; but while they attempted to make their way through the wilderness their water failed, and the whole army must have perished with thirst had not a miraculous supply been granted in answer to the prayers of Elisha, who accompanied the army. 2 Kgs. 3 : 6-20. Jehoshaphat left seven sons, one of whom, Jehoram, succeeded him.
It may be said of his reign, as of that of many others in ancient and modern times, that his schemes of reform were dependent on his personal influence, and, not being in conformity with the popular sentiment and general policy of the country, were not of permanent utility.
4. The father of King Jehu. 2 Kgs. 9: 2, U.
5. A priest in the time of David. 1 Chr. 15 : 24.
JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF {vdUeij of the jii(l(j)nenf of JeJiovah), a place named only in Joel 3 : 2, 12. Three leading explanations have been given.
1. That the valley referred to is the same as the *' valley of Berachah," where the forces allied against Israel were defeated by Jehoshaphat. 2 Chr. 20 : 16-26. This event took place 100 years before Joel, and may have given rise to this expression of the prophet.
2. That the valley is that of the Ke-dron, east of Jerusalem. Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians have identified the Kedron with the Valley of
Jehoshaphat. The Mohammedans point out a stone on which they think the pi-ophet will be seated at the last judgment, and mediieval Christian tradition also indicated a stone on which it was then believed that Christ would sit at the judgment. The valley is a favorite burial-place, and some expect that the sides of the valley will move apart at the I'esurrection to afford room for a great assemblv. When the name " Val-ley of Jehoshaphat" was given to the Kedron is not known, but there is no trace of it in the Bible nor in Josephus, but it is traced to the fourth century A. d. This identification of Jehoshaphat with the Kedron is now generally regarded as based upon a misinterpretation of Joel.
3. That the name does not refer to any special place, but to either {(i) the scene of great victories, as those of the Maccabees; or (6) the general judgment at the end of the Avorld; or (c) the truth that God's persecuted people he will defend and vindicate.
JEHOSH'EBA {her oath is Jehovah), the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest, daughter of King Jehoram, but, it has been conjectured, not by Athaliah : if so, half-sister to Ahaziah. 2 Kgs. 11: 2, 3; 2 Chr. 22: 11. When Athaliah attempted the entire destruction of the seed royal Jehosheba saved her infant nephew, Joash, and for six years, doubtless with the connivance of Jehoiada, he was hid in the temple.
JEHOSH'UA, OR JEHOSH'-UAH {Jehovah is his help), full form for Joshua; used in Num. 13 : 16 and 1 Chr. 7: 27.
JEHO'VAH {he will he), a title of the supreme Being, indicative of the attribute of eternal and immutable self-existence. Ex. 6 : 3. It is similar in import to the title I am. Ex. 3 : 14. In the English Bible it is usually translated " Lord " and printed in small capitals. It occurs first in the second chapter of Genesis. As distinct from Elohim, it signifies the God of revelation and redemption, the God of the Jews, while Elohim is the God of nature, the Creator and Preserver of all men. See Jah, Gon.
J E H O'V A H-J I'R E H (Jehovah will see, or provide), the name given by Abraham to the place on which he had been commanded to off'er Isaac,
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Gen. 22: 14, and probably the same as Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem.
JEHO'VAH-NIS'SI {Jehovah my banner), the name given by Moses to the altar which he built as a memorial of the discomfiture of the Amalekites. Ex. 17 : 15.
JEHOVAH-SHALOM {Jehovah [is] peace), an altar erected by Gideon in Ophrah, where the angel greeted him with " Peace be unto thee!" Jud. 6: 24.
JEHOVAH-SHAM'MAH {Jehovah there), in the mai'ginal reading in Eze. 48 : 35; in the text the words are translated.
JEHO'VAH-TSID'KENU {Jehovah our righteousness), the marginal reading in Jer. 23 : 6 and 33: 16. Our translators' " hesitation whether they should render or transfer the expression may have been the greater from their supposing it to be one of the Messianic titles."— Stnith.
JEHOZ'ABAD, commonly contracted into JOZ'ABAD {ivhom Jehovah hestoics). 1. One of Joash's servants, who slew him. 2 Kgs. 12: 21; 2 Chr. 24 : 26.
2. One of the Levite porters. 1 Chr. 26:4.
3. A Benjamite who was a prominent warrior under Jehoshaphat. 2 Chr. 17: 18.
JEHOZ'ADAK {whom God makes jt(st), the son of the high priest Seraiah, who was murdered at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kgs. 25 : 21. He was carried into captivity, 1 Chr. 6: 14, 15, and never became high priest, but his son, Jeshua, attained unto this office, Ezr. 3 : 2; Neh. 12 : 26, and his descendants held it until Alcimus. See High Priest. He is more frequently called Jozadak or Josedech.
JE'HU {Jehovah is he). 1. Was the son of Hanani the seer, with whom Asa was so much enraged as to cast him into prison. 1 Kgs. 16: 7 ; 2 Chr. 16 : 7-10. He was appointed to carry a message to Baasha from God, threatening to visit upon him the most fearful judgments. He was afterward employed on a similar errand to Jehoshaphat. 2 Chr. 19 : 1,2.
2. 1 Kgs. 19: 16. Comp. 2 Kgs. 9 : 2. The grandson of Nimshi, and son of Jehoshaphat, selected by God to reign 426
over Israel, and to be the instrument of inflicting his judgments on the house of Ahab. 1 Kgs. 19 : 17; 2 Kgs. 9 : 1-10. In executing this commission he commenced with the reigning king, Jorain, who was then lying ill at Jezreel. Having been proclaimed king by a few adherents who were with him at Ra-moth-gilead, he proceeded toward Jezreel. Upon his approach within sight of that place Joram despatched two or three messengers to ascertain his design ; and finding they did not return, he went out himself to meet him. It happened that they met on the ground of Naboth the Jezreelite, 1 Kgs. 21 : 1-24; and Jehu at once charged him with his gross iniquities, and immediately shot him dead in his chariot. Comp. 1 Kgs. 21: 19 and 2 Kgs. 9 : 25.
Jehu rode on to Jezreel, and as he was passing in at the gate, Jezebel, who was looking out at a window, said some^ thing in allusion to what had happened to Ahab. By Jehu's order she was thrown down, and the prophecy was exactly fulfilled. 1 Kgs. 21: 23; 2 Kgs. 9: 32-.37. He then extei-minated the family of Ahab through the agency of the elders of the city, in which the 70 sons of Ahab were. 2 Kgs. 10: 7. The next morning he ordered a general slaughter of all Ahab's family and adherents in the town of Jezreel. He then set out for Samaria, and meeting on his way a party of 42 persons, all the family of Ahaziel (a branch of Ahab's house), he seized and slew them.
But the most revolting of these deeds of blood was the slaughter of all the Baalites he could get together under pretence of a festival. 2 Kgs. 10: 18-28. This dreadful extermination of the house of Ahab, and of the idolatrous worship which he sanctioned, was in accordance with the divine command, and received the divine approbation. 1 Kgs. 10 : 30. Jehu himself, however, was ambitious and tyrannical, and fell into idolatrous practices. 2 Kgs. 10:31. His reign lasted 28 years, B. c. 884-856, and he was succeeded by his son Jehoa-haz.
3. A descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 2 : 38.
4. A Simeonite. 1 Chr. 4:35.
5. A Benjamite with David. 1 Chr, 12:3.
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JEHUB'BAH {he will he hidden), an Asherite chief. 1 Chr. 7 : 34.
JE'HUCAL, OR JU'CAL ( jiotent), one of those whom Zedekiah the king sent to Jeremiah the jjrophet, and who afterward asked for the latter's death. Jer. 37:3: 38:1.
JE'HUD {celebrated), a town of the Danites, Josh. 19 : 45 ; identical with the village el- Yehudii/eh, about 10 miles east of Jaffa, and now a place of 800 to 1000 inhabitants.
JEHU'DI (a Jew), one mentioned in Jer. 36:14, 21, 23 as being sent by tlie princes to tell Baruch to fetch the roll of Jeremiah's prophecies, and who, at the king's order, brought it and read it before him.
JEHUDI'JAH {(he Jewess), not a proper name, but applied to one of the wives of Mered to distinguish her from the other, who was an Egyptian. 1 Chr. 4 : 18. The word " Hodiah," v. 19, is the same word contracted.
JE'HUSH {a collector), one of Saul's descendants. 1 Chr. 8 : 39.
JEI'EL {treasure of God). 1. A Reubenite chief. 1 Chr. 5 : 7.
2. A Levite porter, one of the musicians of the second degree. 1 Chr. 15: 18, 21; 16 : 5.
3. A Levite of the sons of Asaph. 2 Chr. 20.: 14.
4. A scribe in the time of Uzziah, " who kept the account of the number of his irregular predatory warriors." 2 Chr. 26:11.
5. A Levite who assisted in Hezekiah's reforms. 2 Chr. 29:13.
6. One of the chief Levites in Josi-ah's time. 2 Chr. 35 : 9.
7. One who came back with Ezra. Ezr. 8:13.
8. One Avho had taken a foreign wife. Ezr. 10:43.
JEKAB'ZEEL {tohich God gathers), a place in the southern part of Ju-dah, Neh. 11: 25; also called Kabzeel {God's gathering), Josh. 15:21; 2 Sam. 23 : 20.
JEKAME'AM {who gathers the people), a Levite in David's time. 1 Chr. 23 • 19 • 24■23
JEKAMI'AH {lohom Jehovah gathers), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4: 18.
JEKU'THIEL {inety toward God), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4: 18.
JEMI'MA {dove), the eldest of Job's three daughters, born after his recovery. Job 42 : 14.
JEMU'EL {day of God), the eldest son of Simeon. Gen. 46 : 10 ,• Ex. 6 : 15. The name is given Nemuel in Num. 26 : 12; 1 Chr. 4:24.
JEPH'THAE, the Greek form of Jephthah. Hcb. 11 : 32.
JEPH'THAH {lohom God sets free), one of the judges of Israel, was the illegitimate son of Gilead, Jud. 11: 1 ,• and this fact made him so odious to the other children of the family that they banished him from the house, and he took up his residence in the land of Tob, a district of Syria not far from Gilead, and probably the same with Ish-tob. 2 Sam. 10 : 8. Here he became the head of a marauding-party ; and when a war broke out between the children of Israel and the Ammonites, he probably signalized himself for courage and enterprise. This led the Israelites to seek his aid as their commander-in-chief; and though he objected at first, on the ground of their ill-usage of him, yet, upon their solemn covenant to regard him as their leader in case they succeeded against the Ammonites, he took command of their army. After some preliminary negotiations with the Ammonites, in which the question of the right to the country is discussed with great force and ingenuity, and every attempt to conciliate them proved abortive, the two armies met. The Ammonites were defeated with great loss of life, and their country secured by the Israelites.
On the eve of the battle Jephthah made a vow that if he obtained the victoi-y he would devote to God whatever should come forth from his house to meet him on his return home. This turned out to be his daughter, an only child, who welcomed his return with music and dancing. Jephthah was greatly afflicted by this occurrence ; but his daughter cheerfully consented to the performance of his vow, which took place at the expiration of two months, and the commemoration of the event by the daughters of Israel was required by a public ordinance. Jud. 11: 34-40.
The Ephraimites quarrelled with Jephthah because they had not been invited to join in the war. But Jephthah again
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put himself at the head of his army, defeated them, and by the word " shibboleth " detected those Ephraimites who tried to cross the Jordan, and slew them. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites, were slain. Jephthah judged the trans-Jordanic region six years. Jud. 12 : 1-7.
The perplexing question what Jephthah did with his daughter will perhaps never obtain a satisfactory answer. The passage reads thus: " And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ainmon into mine hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offering." Jud. 11 : 30, 31, An unprejudiced reading of the text leads naturally to the conclusion that Jephthah oflFered her up as a burnt-sacrifice, but the other opinion, that he devoted his daughter to a life of celibacy, is defended by these arguments : 1. The particle van, which in the A. V. is translated " and " (" and I will offer it up"), should be translated " or." But there is a Hebrew word with that meaning. 2. The emphasis is laid upon *'him," which is made to refer to the Lord, and the vow is thus interpreted as contemplating two things: (1) a person to be consecrated to Jehovah, and (2) the additional offering of a burnt-sacrifice. But such a construction would be a solecism in Hebrew. 3. The "burnt-offering" has been taken in a spiritual sense, but that is to put an interpretation upon the word which the Hebrew will not bear. 4. Jephthah could not vow to God a human sacrifice, so abhorrent to him, and so contrary to the whole spirit of the Hebrew religion. Lev. 20 : 2-5; Deut. 12:31. But it must be borne in mind that Jephthah was a rude warrior in the semi-barbaric age of the Judges. Celibacj'of a voluntary and religious character was unknown in Israel. Jephthah's daughter, on this supposition, would have been the first and last Hebrew nun. The Jews looked upon the family as a divine ordinance, and upon the unmarried state as a misfortune equalled only by that of being a childless wife. It may not be correct to say that each Hebrew woman looked forward to be-428
ing the mother of the Messiah, but at all events to be a mother was to fulfil the function in society God had designed for her. A vow of celibacy, therefore, would have been contrary to the spirit of the Jewish religion as much as a vow of bloody sacrifice. The sojourn of Jephthah's daughter in the mountains for two months is inconsistent with any such dedication to Jehovah. But if she were to be sacrificed, her home would indeed be filled with too mournful associations, whereas the open air, especially to such a girl, and the solitude of the hills, would be real aids in preparation for death. Jephthah's intense sorrow when she came forth to meet him likewise harmonizes with the literal and natural interpretation.
JEPHUN'NEH (moyhe he regarded ttnth favor.'). 1. The father of Caleb the spy, a Kenezite. Num. 13 : 6; Josh 14:14; 1 Chr. 4:15.
2. An Asherite chieftain. 1 Chr. 7 : 38.
JE'RAH (/Hoo/i), a people descended from Joktan, who gave name to a region of Arabia, Gen. 10:26: 1 Chr. 1:20; perhaps the Moon Coast and Moon Mountains, near Hazarmaveth. Bochart proposes to identify this people Avith the Alilsei, or Beni-Hilal, " sons of the new moon." dwelling in the south of Chawlan.
JERAH'MEEL (on whom God has mercy). 1. The son of Hezron, Judah's grandson, 1 Chr. 2 : 9, 25, 26, 27, 33, 42 ; founder of the Jerahmeelites, 1 Sam. 27 : 10 ; 30 : 29, a tribe in the southern part of Jud ah.
2. A Merarite Levite. 1 Chr. 24: 29.
3. A man employed to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch. Jer. 36:26.
JE'RED (descent). 1. 1 Chr. 1 : 2. See Jared.
2. A descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4: 18.
JER'EMAI [dicelUng in heights), one who had a foreign wife. Ezr. 10 : 33.
JEREMI'AH (whom Jehovah sets up). 1. The father of Hamutal, the wife of Josiah. 2 Kgs. 23 : 31; 24 : 18.
2. The head of a house in Manasseh. 1 Chr. 5 : 24.
3. A Benjamite who came to David at Ziklag. 1 Chr. 12 : 4.
4. 5. Gadite warriors. 1 Chr. 12 : 10,13. 6. One of the priests who sealed the
covenant. Neh. 10 : 2.
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7. One of the Rechabites. Jer. 35 : 3.
8. Jeremiah, one of the four great prophets. He was the son of llilkiah of Anathoth, in the kind of Benjamin, Jer. 1: 1, and lived under various kings from Josiah to the Captivity. In the English Version he is, by unnecessary variation, called " Jeremy " in Matt. 2:17, and " Je-remias," Matt'. 16 : 14. " There is no one in the ' goodly fellowship of the prophets' of whom, in his work, feelings, and sufferings, we have so distinct a knowledge, although it is derived almost exclusively from his book. He is for us the great example of the prophetic life. It is not to be wondered at that he should have seemed to the Christian feeling of the early Church a type of Him in whom that life received its highest completion."— Prof. Phimptre. He was not only the prophet of sorrow and public calamity, but also the prophet of a new and better covenant of the heart.
Jeremiah was very young when he was called to the prophetic office, and on that account declined it, Jer. 1:6; but God promised him grace and strength suffi- j cient for his work, and for forty-two years he persisted in this arduous service with j unwearied diligence and fidelity, in the j midst of the severest trials and perse- '\ cutions. It was probably owing to his ; youth at the time, and his residence in Anathoth, that when the book of the Law was found in the house of the Lord the king sent to Huldah the prophetess, instead of to him, to inquire of the Lord. 2 Kgs. 22:14.
Jeremiah's task was a thankless one. He was the divine means, not of encouragement, but of discouragement. His voice was constantly heard calling upon the people to submit to their enemies. During all this time Jerusalem was in a most distracted and deplorable condition, and the prophet was calumniated, imprisoned, and often in danger of death. But no ill-treatment or threat-enings could deter him from denouncing the judgments of God, which were coming upon the nation and that devoted city. His exhortations to the king and rulers were to submit at once to the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, for by that means they would preserve their lives; and he assured them, as a message received from God, that their continued resistance would have no other effect than to
bring certain and dreadful destruction upon Jerusalem and on themselves. At this time Jerusalem swarmed with false prophets, who contradicted the words of Jeremiah and flattered the king and his courtiers that God would rescue them from the impending danger; and after the city was taken and part of the people carried away to Babylon, these prophets confidently predicted a speedy return. On the other hand, Jeremiah sent word to the captives that the time of their captivity would be long, and that their best course was to build houses and plant vineyards in the land to which they were carried, and to pray for the peace of the country in which they resided. Indeed, he expressly foretold that the captivity would endure for seventy years; which duration, he intimated, was to make up for the sabbatical years which they had neglected to observe. He also foretold the deliverance of the people and their return to their own country. Toward the close of his life he was carried into Egypt against his will by the Jews who remained in Judaja after the murder of Gedaliah. On this occasion he was requested by Johanan and his followers to inquire of the Lord whether they should flee into Egypt; in answer, after accusing them of hj^pocrisy, he warned them in the most solemn manner, from the Lord, not to go down to Egypt, but they disregarded the commandment of God and went, and took Jeremiah forcibly with them, where, in all probability, he died, some think as a martyr.
'' It is to Jeremiah, even more than to Isaiah, that the writers of the apostolic age, Heb. 8 : 8, 13; 10 : 16. 17. look hack when they wish to describe the dispensation of the Spirit. He is the prophet, beyond all others of the N. T. covenant, which first appears in his writings ; and the knowledge of this new truth shall no longer be confined to any single order or caste, but ' all shall know the Lord, from the least unto the greatest.' "— Stanlei/.
Thk PRoPHKrv OF Jeremiah is a faithful reflection of his sad and tender character and the calamities of his age. It embraces a period of upward of 40 j'ears, between B. c. 626 and b. c. .'')86. Jeremiah entered upon the office of a prophet in the thirteenth year of the reign of Jo-ash, Jer. 1: 2, and his prophecy relates
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to the judgments that were to come ' upon the people for their gross idolatry [ and corruption : to the restoration which awaited them whenever they would repent of their sins and forsake them ; and to the future glory which would arise on the Church of God and on such as were steadfast in his service when all flesh should see the salvation of God.
The order of this book is as follows:
1. The prophecies uttered in Josiah's reign, chs. 1-12. B. c. 629-608.
2. In Jehoiakim's, chs. 13, 20, 22, 23, 35, 36, 45-48, 49 :1-33. b. c. 607-597.
3. In Zedekiah's, chs. 21, 24, 27-34, 37-39, 49 : 34-39 ; 50, 51. b. c. 597-586.
4. In Gedaliah's, chs. 40-44.
The Lamentations of Jeremiah (the book immediately succeeding the prophecy) are a series of four elegiac poems, in which the fate of Jerusalem is described, with one, the third, of a personal character, written, it has been reasonably conjectured, when Jeremiah was in Ra-mah, whither he had been carried as a captive, but where he was released by Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard under Nebuchadnezzar. The poems are artistically composed. Chs. 1, 2, and 4 consist of 22 verses each, as manj^ as there are letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and each successive verse begins with a successive letter of that alphabet. Ch. 3 has three verses under each letter, following them down in the same way. In ch. 5 there is the same number of verses, but not the peculiar alphabetic order. The prophet's theme is sorrow, but his genius keeps him from triteness, while the reality and intensity of his grief give the utmost variety to his pictures of the condition of his passionately beloved land. The poem is a fit companion of the prophecies of Jeremiah, a sort of a funeral dirge of the fall of Jerusalem. By giving free vent to the grief of the soul, it is at the same time a source of comfort to the Church, especially in seasons of public calamity. The place where it is said to have been composed is called " the Grotto of Jeremiah," a few yards north of the Damascus gate, in Jerusalem, and is by some modern writers (Fisher Howe, Conder,) identified with the true Calvarv.
JERElHI'AS. See Jeremiah. 8.
JER'EMIE, THE EPISTLE OF J is the title of a pretended letter 430
from the prophet Jeremiah appended to the Apoci'yj>hal book of Baruch. It purports to be a warning from him to the captives in Babylon against idolatry. Its style is rhetorical. It is an imitation of Jer. 10: 1-16. The author is unknown.
JER'EMOTH {heifjltts). 1. Head of a Benjamite family. 1 Chr. 8 : 14.
2. A Merarite Levite, 1 Chr. 23: 23; called Jerimoth in 24 : 30.
3. The head of the 13th course of musicians. 25 : 22. In v. 4 the name is Jerimoth.
4. 5. Two who had foreign wives. Ezr, 10: 26, 27.
JER'E3IY. See Jeremiah, 8.
JERI'AH (founded by Jehovah), a Kohathite Levite. 1 Chr. 23 : 19; 24: 23. He is called Jerijah in 26 : 31.
JER'IBAI [iDhom Jehovah defends ?), one of David's heroes. 1 Chr. 11 : 46.
JER'ICHO, an ancient and celebrated city in 0. T. and N. T. history. The name is now generally thought to signify ''fragrance," but an older explanation connects it with the moon, which may have been early worshipped there.
Situation. —Jericho was in the valley of the Jordan, about 5 miles west of the river, and 6 or 7 miles north of the Salt or Dead Sea. The portion of the plain on which it stood was noted for its fertility, being watered by a large spring known as the " Fountain of Elisha." See illustration p. 432. The city has occupied at least two different sites: (1) Ancient Jericho, near the fountain es-Sidtan, or " Elisha's Fountain," at the foot of the Quarantania Mountain, and about a mile and a half above the opening of the Valley of Achor. (2) The Jericho of the Gospels, south-east of the ancient one, near the opening to the valley. The modern village Er-Riha, its present representative, is about two miles farther east.
Biblical History. —Jericho is first mentioned as the city over against which the Israelites were encamped before entering the Promised Land. Moses looked down upon the plain of Jericho from the summit of Nebo. Deut. 34: 3 : Num. 22 : 1; 26 : 3. The town was of considerable size, strongly fortified. Josh. 2 : 15; very rich. Josh. 6 : 24; 7 : 21, and a royal residence. Spies were sent into the city and received by Rahab. Josh.
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2; Ileb. 11: 31. The wall fell after being compassed 7 days, and the city and its inhabitants were destroyed. Josh. 6 : 20, 21; 24 : 11. A curse was pronounced upon any one who should thereafter rebuild it. Josh. 6: 26. This curse was fulfilled upon Hiel, 533 years later. 1 Kgs. 16: 34. But the curse seems to have been for fortt'/i/ing the city, rather than for dwelling in its neighborhood, since the site was assigned to Benjamin, Josh. 18 : 21, and was a boundary of Ephraim, Josh. 16: 7, and afterward belonged to Judah. In spite of many conquests Jericho continued to flourish, Eglon, king of Moab, possessed it 18 years. Jud. 3: 13. David's messengers tarried there, in accordance with his advice, " until your beards be grown." 2 Sam. 10: 5.
A school of the prophets, often visited by Elijah, flourished at Jericho, 2 Kgs. 2, and Elisha miraculously healed its waters, 2 Kgs. 2 : 19-22. King Zedekiah and his men, fleeing from Jerusalem, were captured in the plains of Jericho. 2 Kgs. 25 : 5; Jer. 39 : 5. After the return from the Babylonish captivity, Jericho was re-occupied, Ezr. 2 : 34: Neh. 7: 36, and its people helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Neh. 3 : 2.
Jericho is mentioned 63 times in the Scriptures—56 times in the 0. T., and 7 in the N. T.
The Roman Antony presented the district to Cleopatra.who soldittoHerod,and that monarch embellished the city with palaces and made it his winter residence, as being the most beautiful spot for the purpose in his dominions. He died there.
It was at Jericho that the Jewish pilgrims going up to Jerusalem (who had taken the route east of the Jordan) used to assemble on their way to the temple. Hence Christ passed through it in his journeys. There he made the acquaintance of Zacchffius, who was the chief revenue officer for the wealthy district of Jericho, Luke 19 : 1-9, and near this city also he healed the blind men. Matt, 20 : 24-34; Mark 10 : 46-52 ,• Luke 18 : 35-43. It was on the rocky road from Jericho to Jerusalem (even in this generation the haunt of robbers) that Christ laid the scene of the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jericho of the N. T. had an interesting history. It appears to have been
at an early day the scat of a Christian church, as in the fourth century the councils of the Church were attended by the bishops at Jericho. The emperor Justinian caused a " church of the Mother of God " at Jericho to be restored. A monastery of St. Stephen existed there A. D. 810. In the time of the Crusaders " New Jericho " sprang up near the site of the present village.
Prexeiit Appearance. —Modern Jericho (er-Iiilia) consists of a group of squalid hovels inhabited by about 60 families. The character of the place seems not to have changed for at least 650 years, since Brocardus, in A. d., 1230 styled it " a vile place," and Maundrell, in a. d. 1697, "a poor, nasty village." The inhabitants are looked upon by the Arabs as a debased race, perhaps made degenerate by the enervating influence of the hot and unhealthy climate. A writer in Smith's Dictionary says that " they are probably nothing more nor less than veritable gypsies." The palm trees which once gave the city the name of the " city of palm trees " have all disappeared. One solitary tree was standing in 1838; but there are numerous petrified palm trunks floating upon the Dead Sea. Tristram notes that a few of the sycamore fig trees, Luke 19 : 4, are still found among the ruins by the wayside of ancient Jericho. The vegetation is of a semi-tropical character, as the plain is 900 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and while snow is falling at Jerusalem linen clothing is comfortable at Jericho. There is an inn kept by a Greek, where Dr. Schaff spent a night in 1877, disturbed by vermin. The surrounding garden shows what a little industry can do in that fertile soil and climate.
The " Fountain of Elisha," by which Jericho was once supplied with water, is an object of special interest. It wells forth copiously from the earth, and runs into an old basin of hewn stone, 13 yards long and 8 yards wide. Numerous small fish swim about in the water, the temperature of which is 84° F. The earliest pilgrims found a tradition already existing here that this was the water which Elisha healed with salt. 2 Kgs. 2 : 19, 20, whence it is called " Elisha's Spring" by the Christians. Above the spring the site of the house of Rahab was formerly shown. In the village itself there is a
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faalf-ruined tower, now occupied by a Turkish garrison, which is pointed out as Zacchasus's house, but it probably
'Am Sultan, oi lountuii ot Elibha. {After Photogi aphs )
dates from the Frank period, when it was erected for the protection of the crops against the incursions of the Bedouin.
JE'RIEL [founded of God), a descendant of Issachar. 1 Chr. 7: 2.
JERI'JAH [founded of Jehovah). See Jeriah.
JER'IMOTH (heiyhts). 1,2,3. Ben-jamites. 1 Chr. 7 : 7, 8; 12: 5.
4, 5. See Jeremoth, 2, 3.
6. Ruler of Naphtali in David's reign. 1 Chr. 27: 19.
7. One of David's sons, who was father to one of Rehoboam's wives. 2 Chr. 11: 18.
8. An overseer in the temple under Hezekiah. 2 Chr. 31 : 13.
JE'RIOTH {curtain>i), the wife of Caleb, son of Hezron. 1 Chr. 2:18.
JER'OBOAM (ivhose people is many). 1. The son of Nebat, is distinguished as "the man who made Israel to sin," and was the first king of the ten tribes, b. c. 975-964. He came of the tribe of Ephraim ; and distinguishing himself, he was made by Solomon the superintendent of all the workmen furnished by his tribe. While thus employed the prophet Ahijah, by a symbolical act, informed him that the kingdom of Solomon was to be divided and he was to become the head of the ten tribes. What he did on receiving this information we know not; possibly he 432
may have endeavored to hasten matters by raising the standard of revolt; but at any rate Solomon was alarmed, and took measures to apprehend Jeroboam, who fled to Egypt and remained there till Solomon's death. 1 Kgs. 11: 26-40. After Solomon's death the smouldering fires of discontent burst into a flame. Rehoboam, his successor, acted foolishly, returning an insulting answer to the people's mild demands. Accordingly, the ten tribes threw off the yoke a;nd elected Jeroboam, who had returned, as the one best qualified to be their king. Thus was prophecy fulfilled. He fixed his residence at Shechem, which, with other cities, he fortified for the furtherance of his plans. Fearing that if the revolted tribes should go up to the solemn national feasts at Jerusalem they would be persuaded to return to their allegiance, and forgetting his obligations to God and his dependence on him, he caused two golden calves to be erected, one at Dan and the other at Bethel, the extremities of his dominions, and caused a proclamation to be made, requiring the worship of these idols. 1 Kgs. 12: 26-33. Jeroboam, having set up the idols, assembled the people at the latter place, to engage in the solemn worship of them ; and to show his zeal for the service he officiated at the altar himself. But while he was thus occupied a prophet from the land of Judah appeared in the midst of the assembly, and in the hearing of all the people uttered a prediction that a man by the name of Josiah should arise and destroy that altar, and should burn upon it the bones of the priests; and to confirm his authority he gave this sign, that the altar should immediately be broken in pieces and the ashes upon it be poured out; and it was so. Jeroboam, greatly provoked by this bold interference, put forth his hand to seize the prophet; but in a moment it was stiffened, so that he could not draw it in. Intimidated by this miraculous judgment, and convinced that the man was indeed a prophet of the Lord, he begged that he would intercede for him that his arm might be restored, which was done accordingly. Jeroboam, however, was not reformed by this divine message and double miracle, but continued to cause Israel to sin in worshipping the calves which he had set up. His son was ta-
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ken sick, and he instructed his wife to disguise herself and go to Ahijah, who was now blind with age, and consult with him as to the result of the disease. The prophet was forewarned of her approach ; and as soon as he heard her footsteps he called her by name, and after recounting the sins of Jeroboam he predicted the disgrace and ruin and utter extirpatioii of his whole family, and also the captivity and dispersion of the people of Israel. He also told her that the child should die, and that the nation should mourn for him as the only individual of the house of their king who should come to a peaceful end, and also as one who in the midst of all the idolatry and wickedness of the times had some pious emotions, even in the house of Jeroboam. As she entered the door of her house the child died. 1 Kgs. 14:17.
Jeroboam reigned in Israel 22 years, and was succeeded by his son Nadab. During his life there were almost unceasing wars between him and the house of David.
2. The son of Joash, and the great-grandson of Jehu, reigned 41 years, B. c. 825-784, and followed the former Jeroboam in his idolatrous worship. 2 Kgs. 14 : 23-29. The Lord, however, by him, according to the predictions of the prophet Jonah, raised the kingdom of the ten tribes to its greatest splendor. All the countries on the east of the Jordan he reduced. " The full extent of ancient sovereignty was recovered, no king of the northern state having ever been so victorious as he." It appears from the writings of Hosea and Amos that idleness, effeminacy, pride, oppression, injustice, idolatry, and luxury greatly prevailed in his reign. Am. 2 : 0-16 ; 5:6. Nor was it long after his death before the Lord, according to the predictions of Amos, cut off his family with the sword. 2 Kgs. 15: 10; Hos. 1:1, etc.
JER'OHAM {who finds mercy). 1. Samuel's grandfather. 1 Sam. 1:1; 1 Chr. 6 : 27, 34.
2, 3. Benjamites. 1 Chr. 8 : 27 ; 9:8.
4. A priest, 1 Chr. 9 : 12; perhaps the same person as in Neh. 11: 12..
6, The father of some of David's warriors; a Benjamite. 1 Chr. 12: 7.
6. The father of the prince of Dan in David's reign. 1 Chr. 27 : 22. 28
7. The father of one who assisted Je-hoiada in placing Joash on the throne. 2 Chr. 23: 1.
JERUB'-BAAL {with whom Baal rontends), Jud. 6 : 32, AND JERUB'-BESHETH {with whom the idol contends). 2 Sam. 11: 21. See Gideox.
JER'UEL (/oHHrferf of God), THE WIL-'DERNESS OF, the place in which Jehoshaphat met and defeated the Ammonites, Moabites, and their allies. 2 Chr. 20: 16. It was near Te-koah and the valley of Berachah, on the west of the Dead Sea, probably the tract known as el-Hasasah, on the road from En-gedi to Jerusalem.
JERU'SALEM, the capital of the Hebrew monarchy and of the kingdom of Judah, the most important city in biblical history, and the most sacred and the most desecrated city of the world. '*^ Beautiful for situation," "the joy of the whole earth," " the perfection of beauty,"—so sings the Psalmist of this wonderful city. Ps. 48 : 2, 3 ; 50 : 2. Yet Jesus wept over it tears of sorrow in view of its unfaithfulness and approaching doom : " Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." Matt. 23: 37-39.
I. Names. — "Jerusalem," in Hebrew, means " the possession " or " inheritance of peace." It is called " Salem " in Ps. 76 : 2, and Jewish commentators affirm that it is identical with the Salem of Melchizedek, Gen. 14:18 ; but Jerome and others dispute this. The Jews also believe that it includes the mount upon which Abraham offered Isaac, and which he named " Jehovah-jireh." Gen. 22 : 14. It is called " Jebusi," Josh. 18 : 28, and "Jebus," Judg. 19:10, 11, and it first appears as "Jerusalem " in Josh. 10 :1. It was known as "the city of David" and of " Zion," 1 Kgs. 8 : 1 ; 2 Kgs. 14: 20; "city of Judah," 2 Chr. 25:28; " city of God," Ps. 46 : 4 : " city of the great King," Ps. 48 : 2 ; "the holy city," Neh. 11: 1 ; " Ariel," Isa. 29 :1; in the LatinVersion it is "Hierosolyma." By the Roman emperor Hadrian it was named JElia Capitolina; by the Mohammedans, Arabs, and Turks it is now known
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as el-Khuds, or " the holy," and Beit-el-Makhuddis, or " the holy house " or "the sanctuary." The Moslems regard it as their most holy city, next to Mecca and Medina, and believe that the general judgment will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat, under the direction of Mohammed and Jesus.
II. Situation and Extent. —Jerusalem is situated near the summit of the range of mountains which forms the water-shed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, and which has been called the " backbone " of Palestine. Its distance from the Mediterranean is 32 miles, and from the Dead Sea 18 miles. The latitude of the city, as determined by the most trustworthy observations, is 31° 46' 35" north, and the longitude 35° 18' 30" east from Greenwich. According to the late British Survey, the dimensions of the Jerusalem of to-day are as follows ; Length of the northern wall (measuring straight from point to point), 3930 feet; eastern wall, 2754 feet; southern wall, 3245 feet; western wall, 2086 feet; total circumference of the walls, 12,015 feet, or ^If^^-f^ miles. Dr. Robinson, measuring with a tape-line as closely as possible to the walls, found the aggregate length 12,978 feet, or nearly 2^ miles. Maundrell, an English traveller, who visited Jerusalem at Easter in 1697, paced the walls round, and reckoned the distance at 12,501 feet. A pedestrian can walk around the city in an hour, taking a very leisurely gait. Josephus stated the entire circuit of the exterior walls in his day at 33 stadia, or a little less than 4 English miles. The ancient city included the southern slopes of Zion and Ophel, which are now without the walls, and the former is under cultivation, thus fulfilling the prediction of 2500 years ago: " Zion shall be ploughed like a field." Jer. 26 : 18. The area included within the city walls is only 209i acres, or less than one-third of a square mile. About 465 acres are supposed to have been enclosed in the Holy City during the period of its greatest extent, after the third wall had been built by Herod Agrippa, but the old walls (of Solomon and Zerubbabel) only included an area of 155 acres.
III. Physical Features. — Surface. —The city stands upon a tongue of land which is separated from the surrounding
434
country on all sides save the north by deep ravines. On the east is the Valley of the Kedron, called also the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and on the west and south the Valley of Hinnom. These depressions, which begin near together in the north, unite at Joab's Well, half a mile", south of the city wall, and pass off" eastward toward the Dead Sea. A third valley, called the Tyropoeon, or the Valley of the Cheesemongers, falls into the Kedron Valley at the Pool of Siloam. There has been much discussion as to whether the Tyropoeon Valley extended to the Jaff"a or to the Damascus-gate. Dr. Robinson favors the former opinion, and the British Survey the latter. The matter is important, because the position of various other places is decided by that of the Tyropoeon. The view of the British Survey, here followed, is the latest and most scientific, and therefore the most likely to be correct. By the Tyropoeon the tongue of land was divided into two parallel ridges, of which the eastern was Mount Moriah (the site of the temple), and the western Mount Zion (the site of David's house and later of Herod's palace), which was 110 feet higher than Moriah, and constituted the " upper city " of Josephus. North of Zion was the Akra, the "lower city" of Josephus. North of Moriah was the hill Bezetha, and south of it the hill Ophel.
" The mountains round about Jerusalem " approach near enough to the city to receive our notice only upon one side. Across the valley of the Kedron, upon the north-east, is the hill Scopus, from which Titus looked down upon the devoted capital of the Jews. South of Scopus and directly east of the city is the long ridge of the Mount of Olives, having three principal summits, of which the central one is designated as the Mount of the Ascension. Still farther to the south is the Mount of Offence, so called from its being the seat of Solomon's idol-worship. Across the Valley of Hinnom and directly south of Mount Zion is the Hill of Evil Counsel, where Judas is reputed to have bargained for the betrayal of our Lord. Upon the slope of this hill is the Aceldama, or " field of blood." The distance from Scopus to the Mount of Olives (according to the British Survey) is 5243 feet J from thence to the
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Mount of Offence is 4731 feet, and from the last point to the Hill of Evil Counsel, 3772 feet. From Jerusalem to the summit of Olivet, which is approached by three paths, the mean distance is about half a mile.
Elevations. —The elevation of various points above the Mediterranean, as given by the British Survey, is as follows: Mount Scopus, 2715 feet; Viri Galilsei, 2682 feet; Mount of Olives, 266^ feet; Mount of Offence, 2409 feet; Hill of Evil Counsel, 2552 feet; Mount Moriah, 2440 feet; Mount Zion, 2550 feet; Castle of Goliath (highest jjoint within the city), 2581 feet; Valley of the Kedron, 2190 feet; the general level of the city, 2610 feet; the hill Ophel, at the triple gate, was 300 feet above the Pool of Si-loam. The topography of Jerusalem will be more fully treated toward the close of this article.
Climate. —The rainy season extends from October to March. Snow sometimes falls to the depth of a foot or more, and the pools are covered with a thin coating of ice; but the ground never freezes, and many winters pass without any signs of either snow or ice. The natives build no fires merely for warming themselves. During the summer, rain is almost unknown. A north-westerly breeze from the Mediterranean then prevails between the hours of 9 A. M. and 10 p. m. The meteorological observations of Dr. Thomas Chaplin, an English physician, at Jerusalem for over 3 years, from Nov., 1863, to Feb., 1867, showed that the mean temperature was 63°.4 ; highest mean for 40 months, 77°, in July, 1866; lowest, 42°.8, in Jan., 1864. The range of the thermometer was from 25°, Jan. 20, 1864, to 102°.5, June 27, 1865, showing a variation of 77°.5.
Dr. Barclay says that nearly every species of vegetable in common use in the United States has been successfully cultivated in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Oranges, limes, and lemons are to be had in the greatest profusion and perfection almost the entire year round. The oranges of Jerusalem mostly come from Jaffa, where they are grown in great abundance.
IV. History. —The Jerusalem of our Lord and of his apostles is buried from 20 to 80 feet beneath the ruins and rub-436
bish of centuries; the " City of David " lies still deeper below the surface of modern Jerusalem. In the 15 centuries from Joshua to Titus, the city was besieged not less than 17 times; twice it was razed to the ground, and twice its walls were destroj'ed. There is no trace on the surface now to be seen of the city in its glory. The ancient streets, walls, and buildings have long since disappeared, and the old sites and historical places have long been the subject of speculation and most bitter controversy. The topography of ancient Jerusalem, even since the valuable discoveries of Robinson, Warren, Wilson, and others, is more confused and unsettled by new theories and speculations than ever before. It will be convenient to treat of the history of the city under successive periods ; as Jerusalem of the Jebusites; of the Kings; of the Captivity, including that of the Ptolemies and the Maccabees ; the Jerusalem of N. T. times; of the Romans and the Christian emperors; of the Saracens and the Crusaders; the Jerusalem of the Turks; and modern Jerusalem.
1. The Jebusite Period. —In respect to the identity of Salem, of which Melchiz-edek was king. Gen. 14 : 18, with Jerusalem, the weight of authorities is about equally divided in favor of and against it. An incidental proof in favor of this theory is supposed to be found in Ps. 76:2, and it was held by .Josephus, Eusebius, and many later scholars. The earliest definite notice of Jerusalem is found in the description of the boundaries of Judah and Benjamin, where it is called Jebusi, after the people who inhabited it. See Josh. 15:8; 18:16, 28. The Jebusites still held the city after the conquest of the land under Joshua, Josh. 15 : 63, but soon after his death the children of Judah besieged the city, took it and burned it, and destroyed its king, Adoni-bezek, Jud. 1:7, 8 ; yet it would appear from Jud. 1 : 21 that the entire city was not subdued, and Josephus states that the siege lasted some time, that the lower city only was taken, and that the upper city was so strong, from its walls and the nature of the place, that they abandoned the attempt of completing the capture. Compare Jud. 19 : 10, 11. Through the rule of the Judges and the reign of Saul the stronghold continued in the possession of the Jebusites.
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After David became king of all Israel he made Jerusalem his capital, and the city of the Jebusites was taken by his chief captain, Joab ; it was called " the stronghold of Zion," or "the city of David." 2 Sam. 5:7; 1 Chr. 11: 6. From this time the rising grandeur and glory of Jerusalem as the seat of one of the noted empires of the East caused the city to take rank along with Nineveh, Babylon, and Tyre.
2. Under the Kings. —David began immediately to strengthen and to fortify the city by building a wall around it, and to increase the strength of the stronghold by connecting it with the city. This citadel he made his residence. He also brought the ark from Kirjath-jearim to the house of Obed-edom, and thence to the " city of David," 2 Sam. 6 : 2-16, thus making it the political and religious capital of the Israelitish nation. This choice of a capital was made by David, as elsewhere declared, under divine direction, Deut. 12 : 5-21; 1 Kgs. 11: 36. It was the place where the Lord had chosen to put his name, Ps. 78 : 68, as he may have done with the earlier spiritual capitals, Gilgal, Bethel, Shiloh, and Gibeon. The city of Zion also became the sepulchre of David and of the kings who succeeded him, and his royal gardens were in the valleys below. Under Solomon the city reached its greatest magnificence. His three important additions to the capital as founded by his father, David, were the temple, with its massive east wall, the royal palace, and the extension and strengthening of the walls of the city. The temple was built on the site which David purchased of Araunah the Jebusite, 2 Sam. 24 : 20-25 ; 1 Chr. 21 : 22-28; 2 Chr. 3 : 1, and which was in Mount Moriah. David bad also gathered a large portion of the wealth and of the materials required for erecting this magnificent sanctuary to the Lord, and had designed to build it himself, but was forbidden of the Lord because he had been a man of war. 1 Kgs. 8 : 18, 19. In this vast work Solomon was aided by Hiram, king of Tyre, who furnished timber out of Lebanon, and cunning workmen in every kind of metal, and those skilled, no doubt, in the mechanical arts, as the Tyrians are known to have been unsurpassed in their day in this class of work. In seven years