830

'Hake of crocodiles," a few miles north of the northern end of the Red Sea.

SUC'COTH-BE'NOTH {tents of dau(/hterx), an idol-divinity of the Babylonians for which the transplanted Babylonians built a temple upon their arrival in Samaria; but nothing more is known about it. 2 Kgs. 17 : 30.

SU'CHATHITES, a family of scribes at Jabez. 1 Chr. 2 : 55.

SUK'KIIMS, the name of a portion of the allies of Shishak, king of Egypt, in the invasion of Juda3a. 2 Chr. 12 : 3. They are supposed to have been a tribe of Ethiopians from the shores of the Red Sea.

SUx>I'>IER. See Seasons.

SUi>I'>IER-HOUSE. See Dwellings.

SUN. The Hebrews, according to the latest researches, gave the sun a name whose root means "to run," because it was, as they regarded it, the greatest heavenly wanderer. The Psalmist compares him to a bridegroom coming out of his chamber as a strong man to run a race. Ps. 19 : 5.

The worship of this luminary was one of the earliest forms of idolatr_v, and existed in all the nations around Palestine : it is therefore mentioned in all parts of the 0. T. Mauasseh introduced it in its purest form—as it existed among the Assyrians—into Judah. 2 Kgs. 21 : 3, 5. He and his successor, Anion, dedicated horses and chariots to the sun. and burned incense to it on the housetops. 2 Kgs. 23 : 5, 11. The worship the Israelites met with in Egypt at On, the Baal and Moloch worship in Palestine, were all derived from the sun-worship.

SUN'DAY is of heathen origin (like our designations of the other days of the week), and means "the d.ay of the sun," or " sacred to the god of the sun." It does not occur in the Bible, but is now in common use for the first day of the week, which has taken the place of the Jewish Sabbath, and should properly be called the Lord's Day, Rev. 1 : 10, as the day of the resurrection of Christ. See Lord's Day and Sabbath.

SUPERSCRIP'TIOiX. Mark 15: 26. See Cross.

SUPERSTITIOUS. Acts 17: 22. This term in the original signifies nothing offensive, but simply that the Athenians were remarkably religious in their

SUP

SWE

polytheistic way. They had more jrods, ! more temples, more fei^tivals—in short, more religious observances—than the apostle had seen elsewhere, and he was about to tell them what he thought were errors in these services.

SUP'PER. Lul<el4:16. See Eating.

SUUE'TV. Jn lleb. 7 : 22, Jesus is called the " Surety of a better testa- : inent" (covenant), because his divine character, position, and dignity give to ^ the new covenant of grace ^ its value. We are sure it i= will be carried out.

The danger of becoming surety for others is strongly represented. Prov. 6:1 : 11; 15; 17: 18; 20:10: 22:2(5. The striking or joining of hands was a token of suretyship. Job 17 : 3. ' SlJ'SA,anameforSnu-SHAN, which see. Esth. 2 : .">: 9:11,18.

SUSAN'NA (/%), one of the women who ministered to Jesus. Luke 8 : 3.

SU'SI {horseman), the father of the spy from Manasseh. Num. 13: 11.

SWAL'LOW. In Ps. 84 : 3 there is reference to this bird's habit of making its nest in all buildings to which it can gain access. Swallows still rear their young about the mosques which occupy the site of Solomon's temple, and circle

often build within reach of the hand. Tiie incessant and rapid flight of this bird explains Prov. 26 : 2.

In Jer. 8:7 and lsa.38:ll another word is found, wliich seems to refer to tlie Hiri/t, a bird of the swallow family and a regular migrant, which in Palestine the

The Swift,

above these hallowed places as of old. In Palestine and other Eastern countries they are so rarely disturbed that they

The Purple Gallinule.

swallow is not. Its harsh and constant cry is specially ap])ropriate to the second passage. Several species of swifts and swallows inhabit the Holy Land and breed in the clifl's or about buildings.

SWaN. This bird is mentioned <mly in Lev. 11 : IS ; Deut. 14 : lt>, and there as unclean. The swan is very rare in the Levant, while there seems to be no reason why it should not be eaten. It is possible that the sacred ibis, once abundant in Kgyid. may bo meant, or the purple gallinule. Either of these birds might naturally be forbidden as food, from its unclean diet, and the former, also, as connecteil with iilolafry.

S>\ KAU. I's. 15: 1. Sec Oath.

swKAR'iMi, vou i: or.

Lev. 6:1. The imjiort of this expression in the Hebrew is " hear tlie voice of adjuration, execration, oath, or curse"—/. '■., hear this voice when one is adjured or [»ut upon his oath as a witness in court. The precept relates to the case of one who is summoned to give evitlencc before the civil magistrate. Judges among the Jews had power to adjure not only the

SWI

SYC

witnesses, but the persons suspected, as appears from the high priest's adjuring our ^Saviour, who thereupon answered, though he had before been silent. Matt. 26 : 03. If a person " heard the voice of swearing "— i. e., if he were adjured by an oath of the Lord to testify what he knew in relation to any matter of fact in question, and yet, through fear or favor, refused to give evidence or gave it but in part—he was to " bear his iniquity." It seems to be implied that such a one should be considered in the sight of God as guilty of the transgression which he has thus endeavored to conceal.

SWINE, Deut. 14 : 8, or HOG, was unclean by the ritual law, and an object of utter abhorrence to the Jews. Hence the employment of the prodigal son implies the most contemptible degradation. Luke 15 : 15. Eating the flesh of swine is mentioned among the sinful practices of the Jews. Isa. 65:4; 66 : 17. The filthy habits of this animal illustrate one feature in the character of sinners. 2 Pet. 2 : 22.

The herd of swine miraculously destroyed, Matt. 8 : 32, perhaps belonged to Jews, and, if so, were of course kept in violation of tlieir own law. Lev. 11 : 7.

To cast " pearls before swine," Matt. 7 : 6, is not more vain and wasteful than to oflFer the words of truth and wisdom to those who are known to despise them, and who would only return the offer with insult and abuse.

As the Moslems hold the hog in fully as great abhorrence as do the Jews, it is very rarely that this animal is seen in Palestine or Mohammedan countries.

SWORD. See Arms.

SYCAMINE, the familiar black mulberry (Monts uiyra), which is still called in Greece sycfrmoiea. Luke 17 : B. Both the black and white species are now largely cultivated in Syria to feed silkworms. The mulberry belongs to the same natural order of plants with the sycamore and the fig. See Mulberry.

SYCAMORE (Greek, fg-mnl-berry). This tree (Ficiin sycomorus) is now rarely seen in Palestine except along the coast, though it is abundant in Egypt. It belongs to the genus of the common fig, which it closely resembles in fruit, 832

while its aromatic leaf is shaped like that of the mulberry. From these two resemblauces comes its name.

The sycamore is a large and noble tree, aflfording a dense shade, while the branches are remarkably spreading and are easily reached. This was the reason why Zaccha?us climbed it in order to get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed. Luke 19 : 4. It was once exceedingly abundant in the valley of the Jordan, 1 Kgs. 10 : 27; 2 Chr. 1:15; 9 : 27, but all are now gone save a few aged survivors near Jericho.

Its fruit grows singly or in clusters on small sprigs, which grow directly from the branches and trunks, independ-enth' of the leaves. Sycamore fruit resembles in shape and peculiar method of flowering that of the Fig, which see. It

Sycamore.

is, however, smaller, but sweetish and edible, especially if cut or nipped a few days before it is quite ripe, that the acrid properties may be discharged. In Am. 7 : 14 we should read, in this sense, '*cutter" (instead of "gatherer") "of sycamore fruit." As the sycamore bears continuously for more than half the year, it is in this respect a valuable tree. The wood, though porous, is exceedingly durable, being the material of the Egyptian

SYC

SYN

mumuiy-cases, which are three thousand or more years old. It seems to have been valued on this aocount or for its fruit by David. 1 Chr. 27 : US. There is allusion to its peculiar sensitiveness to frost in Ps. 78 : 47.

In our own country the plane tree, button-ball, or cotton-wood is often called sycamore; while in England, and more rarely here, a species of maple {Acer pseudop/ntouits), used as a shade-tree, t)ears this name. These trees have no relationship to the true sycamore, and should be otherwise designated.

SY'CHAR {(/rnnkcu/). John 4 : 5. It is generally supposed that Sychar is a name of Shechem, perhaps given to it in derision. This was Robinson's view, and he seems to have followed a monkish tradition of the Middle Ages. The objection to identifying Sychar with Shechem is that Jacob's well, at the entrance into the valley, is a mile and a half from Shechem, and the woman, if belonging to Shechem. would not go so far for water when plenty was nearer at hand. Hence. Thomson, Canon Williams, Conder, Baedeker, and others identify Sychar with the little village of 'Afikar, on the eastern slope of Ebal, about a mile and a half from Shechem, and to the north-east of Jacob's well. The village is merely a modern one built of mud, but there are remains of ancient tombs near the road beneath it.

SY'CHEM, a Greek form for Shechem. Acts 7:16.

SYE'NE {opening, or heij), the frontier-city of Egypt, on the south, and bordering on Ethiopia. Eze. 29 : 10 ; 30 : 6, margin. It was situated on the Nile, below the First Cataract, and is represented now by the Arabic village of As-soitan, or Asimn, a little north of the ancient site. The well-known rock called syenite is quarried here, and hence its name. It was a chief city of the Shepherd-kings. The expression (in the margin), "from Migdol to Syene "—that is, from the fortress near Pelusium, at the mouth of the Nile, to Syene, on the borders of Ethiopia—was used to describe the whole land of Egvpt.

SYL'VANUS. See Silas.

SYN'AGOGUE {an nxsemblaffe).

There is no conclusive evidence that

stated meetings of the peojjie for social

religious services, or meetings for recciv-

ing public instruction,were known among the Jews before the ('aj)tivity. After that event such meetings became common, and were called synagogues. They were probably held at first in private houses or in the open air. After a time buildings were erected expressly for their use, and these were also called " synagogues," signifying properly the collection of worshij)pers, but figuratively the place of meeting. Tradition says there were no less than four hundretl and eighty of these buildings in the city of Jerusalem before it was subdued by the Romans. Probably this is an exaggeration. To build a synagogue was considered a deed of piety and public usefulness. Luke 7 : 5. They might be built in any place where there were worshippers enough to associate for the pur[)Ose. Ruins of ancient synagogues are found at Tell Hum, Meiron, Safed, Arbela, and Kefr-Pjercim. There was some resemblance between the construction of these synagogues and that of the temple. The centre building.which was called the temple, was furnished with an ark or chest containing the copy of the Law which was read. A low desk or pulpit vvas erected about the middle of the sj'Uagogue. Some of the seats were higher than others, and were assigned to the elders. They were called chief or uppermost seats. Matt. 23 : 6. The officers of each synagogue were:

1. The (trehixyninjogoK, "the chief ruler of the synagogue." Mark 6 : 35 ; Acts 18 : 8.

2. The council, composed of aged and influential men, presided over by the chief ruler, Mark 6 : 22 ; Acts 13 : 15, who had authority to scourge and to excommunicate. Matt. 10 :1 7 : John 16 : 2.

3. " The minister." Luke 4: 20, who got the building ready for service and taught the school connected with the synagogue.

4. At least two alms-collectors, and at least three distributers.

5. One who was not a ])ermanent officer, but who offered prayer and read the Scriptures as the " delegate of the congregation." Some erroneously connect this office with that of "the angel of the congregation." Rev. 1 : 20.

6. Three of the council, the "delegate," the three deacons for alms, the interpreter, who read the Hebrew and translated it into the vernacular, the theological schoolmaster and his in-

SYN

terpreter; these constituted the so-called ''men of leisure," permanently on duty, who constituted a congregation (ten being the minimum number), "so that there might be no delay in beginning the service at the proper hour, and that no single worshipper might go away disappointed."

The service of the synagogue was as follows: The people being seated, the minister, or angel of the synagogue, ascended the pulpit and offered up the public prayers, the people rising from their seats and standing in a posture of deep devotion. Matt. 6:5; Mark 11: 25 ; Luke 18 : 11,13. The prayers were nineteen in number, and were closed by reading Deut. 6 : 4-9 ; 11: 13-21; Num. 15 : 37-41. The next thing was the rep-

etition of their ])hylaeteries. after which came the reading of the Law and the Prophets. The former was divided into fifty-four sections, with which were united corresponding portions from the prophets, see Acts 13 : 15, 27; 16 : 21, and these were read through once in the course of the year. After the return from the Captivity an interpreter was employed in reading the Law and the Prophets, Neh. 8 : 2-8, who interpreted them into the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, which was then spoken by the people. The last part of the service was the expounding of the Scriptures and preaching from them to the people. This was done either by one of the officers or by some distinguished person who happened to be present. This happened with our

Synagogue at Meiron. (After Photograph of Palestine Fund.)

Saviour, Luke 4 : 17-20, and there are several other instances recorded of himself and his disciples teaching in the synagogues. Matt. 13:54; Mark 6 : 2 ; John 18:20; Acts 13 : 5, 15, 44; 14 : 1; 17 : 2-4, 10, 17 ; 18 : 4, 26; 19 : 8. The whole service concluded with a short prayer or benediction. The days of public worship were the second, fifth, and seventh ; the hours, the third, sixth, and ninth.

SYNAGOGUE, THE GREAT, the name given to the council of one hundred and twenty men who, according 834

to Rabbinic tradition, under the presidency of Ezra, formed the Hebrew canon and established the synagogue-worship. They had successors in eminent scribes. The tradition, however, is questioned, and doubtless is not entirely correct. Still, it is probable there was such a body as the predecessor of the Sanhedrin.

SYN'TYCHE (event), a female member of the church at Philippi who is exhorted by Paul to be reconciled with Euodia (incorrectly "Euodias"). Those who maintain there was an order of deaconesses in the apostolic Church con-

SYR

sider that these women were uieiiibers of it, and consequently their dilierence was censurable. Phil. 4 : 2.

SYR'ACUSE, a noted city in the eastern part of Sicily at which Paul spent three days while on his voyage to Rome. Acts 28 : 12. It is well situated for commerce, having the best harbor in Sicily. The city was colonized by the Corinthians, b. o. 758, and in the third century before Christ its walls, according to one authority, were 22 miles in circumference. It was taken by the Romans, B. c. 212, after a long struggle. Archimedes, who had greatly aided in the defence by his mechanical genius, was killed in the general slaughter. In Paul's time it was a convenient place for the Alexandrian corn-ships to stop at, for the harbor was good and the water from the fountain Arethusa excellent. The modern town is situated upon the islet Ortygia, but the principal ancient ruins are upon the main island. The present town has little commerce and enterprise. It bears the Italian name Siraciisa.

SYR'IA, the Greek name for the country known to the Hebrews as "Aram." It may signify *'the region of Tyre." This country included, in a stricter sense, only the highlands of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, but in a more extended sense it reached to the Taurus Mountains on the north and across the Euphrates, eastward to the Tigris and the great desert, and westward to Phoenicia and the Mediterranean Sea. It was about 370 miles long and 150 miles wide, and may be called a continuation of Palestine on the north. In its most extended sense it consisted of Syria of | Damascus, Syria of Zobah, and Syria of the Two Rivers, which was nearly the | same as Mesopotamia. For this latter district see Mesopotamia.

Physical Featttres. — Syria proper is naturally divided into three or four separate sections: (1) North of the Orontes. The principal feature of this region is Mount Amanus (Muh<i Dat/h), between 5000 and 6000 feet high. East of Mount Amanus is a hilly tract, drained by the streams which fall into the Lake of Antioch. Beyond this lies the drj' upland tract extending to the Euphrates. (2) The Orontes valley extends from Antioch to Eleutherus. Through this ,

district, and almost parallel to the coast, runs a mountain-range which is steep toward the Orontes, but descends into low, irregular hills on the west. East of the fertile valley is another range of mountains of less elevation. (.3) The valley of the Leontes {Litany), which flows between the two great mountain-ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. See Lkbanon. The valley between the mountains is called " Ca'le-Syria," or "hollow Syria." Among the rivers of Syria, besides the Orontes and the Leontes, are the /i«ra(/a, known as the Abana of Scripture, and tlie Aicaj, or Pharpar. The chief mountains of Syria are : Great Hermon, 9:583 feet high, in the Anti-Libanus or eastern range; Jehel Mal-h-wnl, near Beirut and Tripoli, 10,016 feet high; andX>a/(y-e/-A'or///>,lO,052feethigh, in the Lebanon, or western range. Mons Carius of the ancients is on the coast, and Amanus (Munn Dugh) borders on the Taurus range. Of the mountains on the east of Jordan to the south, the largest number are volcanic until the table-lands of the Hauran are reached. See Moab. On the climate of Syria consult the article Palkstine.

Among the principal cities may be noticed Damascus, Antioch, Hamath, Gebal, Berytus or Beirut, Tadmor or Palmyra, lleliopolis or Baalbec, Aleppo, Emesah, and Zedad. Baalbec is one of the most wonderful ruins in Syria; Damascus is its oldest and largest city ; Beirut is a flourishing seaport-town, which is a progressive and energetic modern city and the seat of an American Protestant college.

Hiatory. —Syria was first settled by the Hittites and other Ilamitic races. Later, a Shemitic element entered it from the south-east, under leaders such as Abraham and Chedorlaomer. In early times the country was divided among many petty kings, as those at Damascus, Re-hob, Zobah, and Geshur. 1 Kgs. 10 : 29; 2 Kgs. 7 : 6. .Joshua subdued the country in the region of Hermon and Lebanon. .Josh. 11 : 2-18. David conquered the Syrians of Damascus and reduced the country to submission. 2 Sam. 8 ; 10 : 6-19. It continued subject to Solomon, but near the close of his reign an inde-pentlent kingdom was formed at Damascus. 1 Kgs. 4:21; 11 : 23-25. The kings of Damascus became formidable enemies

SYR

of Israel, and were frequently engaged in wars with one or the other of the Israelitish nations. 1 Kgs. 16 : 18-20 ; 20; 22 ; 2 Kgs. 6 : 8-33 ; 7 ; 9 : 14, 15 5 10 : 32, 33 ; 13 : 3, 14-25. The attempt of the king of Syria and of the king of Israel to overthrow Judah led Ahaz to seek the aid of the king of Assyria, and at the end of the conflict Syria became a part of the great Assyrian empire. It was ruled by the Babylonians, by the Persians, and conquered by Alexander the Great, b. c. 333. At his death it came into possession of one of his generals, Seleucus Nicator, who made Syria the head of a vast kingdom and founded Antioch as its capital, b. c. 300. The country was less prosperous under his successors, the most remarkable of them being Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a most cruel oppressor of the Jews. He plundered the Jewish temple, desecrated the holy of holies, and caused a revolt of the Jews under the Hasmonean princes, who gained their independence. The Parthians, under Mithridates I., overran the eastern provinces, B. c. 164, but, later, Syria was added to the Roman empire by Pompey, b. c. 64. In the organization under Augustus, Syria became an imperial province, of which Antioch was the capital. Several districts, however, retained a degree of independence for some time, and took the position of protected states. Of these, Chalcis was a little kingdom; Abilene, a tetrarchy ; Damascus, partially independent (till the time of Nero); while Judtea, being remote from Antioch, the capital, and having a restless people, was put under a special procurator, subordinate to the governor of Syria, but having the power of a legate within his own province. Damascus was under a governor or eth-narch, appointed by Aretas, king of Arabia Petrjea, when Paul escaped from it. 2 Cor. 11: 32. Palmyra did not actually belong to the empire until a later age—about A. D. 114. Christianity spread in Syria through the preaching of Paul. Acts 15 : 23, 41 ; 18 : 18 ; 21 : 3 ; Gal. 1 : 21. The country was overrun by the Saracens, a. b. 632, but was under the control of the Crusaders for a time. Selim I. conquered the country, a. d. 1517, and it has since belonged to the Turkish empire, with the exception of a few years when it was controlled by 836

Egypt. See Map at the end of the Divtionary.

Present Condition. —Syria is now one of the divisions of Asiatic Turkey, and contains about 60,000 square miles. The population is estimated at about 2,000,000, and consists of a very mixed race, including many wandering tribes of Bedouins poorly governed. In religion the people are Mohammedans, Jews, and Christians of various churches. The American missionaries have been very successful in establishing missions and churches, and Protestant missionary societies in Europe also have prosperous missions in the country. The language usually spoken is the Arabic. Syria has great natural resources, and, under a good government, it would have a promising future.

The mode of travelling in Syria is much the same now as in the days of the patriarchs. There are no railroads, and the only modern carriage-roads are the diligence-route from Beirut to Damascus, built by a French company after the massacre of Christians in 1860, and, in Palestine, the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Horses, mules, donkeys, and camels, accompanied by dragomans, tents, cooking-utensils, beds, blankets, and whatever else may be actually necessary for the traveller, are still the means of transporting passengers and tourists through this land. Steamers ply along the coast from the various Mediterranean ports, but inland the primitive method of journeying followed four thousand j^ears ago still prevails.

Under Syrians proper are usually classed all the descendants of the people who spoke Aramaic at the beginning of the Christian era, except the Jews. The Aramaic language has been displaced by the Arabic, the former being spoken in only a few (perhaps three) villages of Antilibanus. Some Greeks have recently settled in the country, but there are few, if any, descendants of those Greeks who j settled in Syria during the supremacy I of the Europeans, which extended over . nearly one thousand years. The Arabians are of two classes—the settlers in towns, and the Bedouins, or nomadic j tribes. The latter are professed Muslims, living a half-savage life, dwelling in tents, and preying upon the traveller, ! the settled inhabitants, and not infre-I quently upon one another. The Bedouin

SYR

regards with great scrupulosity the law of hospitality, and protects a guest for three days after his departure from his camp, if he has been hospitably received. There are many small tribes of these nomadic Arabs, and they are generally at war with each other or have deadly blood-feuds existing among them, rendering it unsafe to travel within any region over which they roam. About four-lifths of the whole population of Syria are believed to be Muslims and followers of Mohammed. The native Christians chiefly belong to the Greek Church, but usually speak and conduct their services in the Arabic tongue.

The Roman Catholic, or Latin, Church includes several sects. Among them are the Maronites and the European monks. The Maronite population of Lebanon alone is upward of 200,000. They live by agriculture, silk-culture, and raising cattle. The Jews in Syria, and especially Palestine, are rapidly increasing, though they still form only a small fraction of the entire population in any section of the country. Syria has not been very thoroughly or scientifically explored, and the ruins and inscriptions, as those at Hamath, when investigated thoroughly, may hereafter throw much clearer light upon its early history.

SYR'IA-MA'ACHAH. 1 Chr.l9 : 6. See ARA>r and Maachah.

SYR'IAC, the ancient language of Syria, a dialect of the Aramaean. The word occurs in Dan. 2 : 4. where it should be ''Aramaic," as it is in the Hebrew. The Chaldaeans spoke in Aramaic in order to

conform to the custom of the court, but this was not their proper or scientific language. Daniel at this point begins to employ Chiildec in his book, and continues its use to the end of the seventh chapter. " The t(mgue of the Chaldieans," Dan. 1 : 4, was the old Chaldee, the language of Akkad, used by the original inhabitants of Babylonia, and in the time of Nebuchadnezzar a dead language.

The language now called Syriac first comes to notice in the second century A. D., but ceased to be avernacular before the twelfth century. It contains the most extensive literature of any Aramaean dialect, chiefly theological, and, of greatest importance, a translation of the Bible— commonly called Peshito ("simple"), because it was literal and not paraphrastic—which was made in the second century. It is the earliest of the direct versions.

SYR'IAN, inhabitant of Syria. Gen. 25 : 20. and elsewhere.

SYRO-PHtENIC'IA. See Phoc-

NICIA.

SY'RO-PHCENI'CIAN, a title applied to the woman who besought Jesus to heal her daughter. Mark 7 : 26. She is also called a woman of Canaan. Matt. 15 : 22. " Syro-Pho^ni-cian" may denote a mixed race, half Syrian, half Phoenician, or the people in the Phoenician portion of the Roman province of Syria may have been so called, to distinguish tbciii from the Phoenicians of Libya or the Carthaginians.

TAA

TAB

TA'ANACH, AND TA'NACH

[sandy soil), an old city of the Canaan-ites. Josh. 12 : 21. Joshua conquered its king, and it was in the territory of Issachar, but assigned to Manasseh, and then to the Levites. Josh. 17:11-18; 21 : 25 ; Jud. 1 : 27. Barak's victory was gained at Tabor, not very near Ta-anach, as some assert. Jud. 5 : 19. In later times, with Megiddo and other places, this city formed a part of one of Solomon's commissariat districts. 1 Kgs. 4 : 12. The Aner of 1 Chr. 6 : 70 may possibly be the same as Taanach. Taanach was situated on the south-western edge of the plain of Esdraelon, 4 miles south of Megiddo, 13 miles south-south-west of Nazareth, and 48 miles north of Jerusalem. The village is situated on the southern side of a large isolated hill, or tell, which is covered with ruins, cisterns, and rock-hewn tombs. The modern village is a mean one bearing the name of Tanmik.

TA'ANATH-SHI'LOH [ap-pronch to Shiloh), one of the landmarks on the border of Ephraim. Josh. 16 : 6. It has been regarded by some as identical with Shiloh, but Conder suggests Khurbet Thala, a mound of ruins, 10 or 12 miles east of Sheehem.

TAB'BAOTH (rings), the ancestor of Nethinim who returned with Zerub-babel. Ezr. 2 : 43 ; Neh. 7 : 46.

TAB'BATH (celebrated), a place noted in the account of the flight of the Midianite host. Jud. 7 : 22. Grove suggests its identity with Tubukhat-Fahil, a remarkable mound or bank about 600 feet high, east of the Jordan, opposite Beisan (Beth-shean).

TA'BEAL (God is good), the father of one who was proposed king of Judah by the army of Pekah, the son of Rema-liah. Isa. 7: 6. The name is Syriac, and it has been conjectured that he was a descendant of Naaman.

TA'BEELi (God is good), a Persian oflBcer in Samaria during the reign of Artaxerxes. Ezr. 4 : 7.

TAB'ERAH (a burning), a place in the wilderness of Paran. Num. 11: 838

3 ; Deut. 9 : 22. It was also called Kib-roth-hattaavah,from the pestilence which followed upon the excess of the Israelites in eating quails. The Israelites rested there for at least a month.

TA'BERING. This obsolete word occurs in Nah. 2 : 7. It means ** to beat as a taber " or " tabret." The picture is of a company of Ninevite women beating upon their breasts as players upon a taber. A taber is a small drum beaten by one stick, to accompany a pipe.

TAB'ERNACLE probably means a tent or movable dwelling-place. Ex. 25 : 9. In this sense it is used in Num. 24 : 5 ; Job 11 : 14 ; 22 : 23 ; Matt. 17 : 4, but in the Scriptures generally it is applied to the structure which was prepared by Moses, under the divine direction, in which the Jews were to worship.

There is undoubted mention in the 0. T. of two sacred tabernacles, the one erected in the wilderness and the other that in which David put the ark, and where it remained until the completion of the temple. 2 Sam. 6 : 17 ; 1 Kgs. 8 : 1; 1 Chr. 16 : 1. The old tabernacle, meanwhile, was at Gibeon. It is uncertain whether Solomon removed it or the Davidic tabernacle into the temple— most likely the latter. 1 Kgs. 8 :4. Some commentators claim that prior to the Sinaitic tabernacle there was a tent used for divine worship. They appeal to Ex. 33. The tabernacle there referred to was, they say, either the tent Moses had set apart for this purpose, or a sacred tent the Israelites had possessed in Egypt. But if the Hebrew verbs, which are all in the future in this passage, are read in the future tense, then the tabernacle meant is that constructed in the wilderness after the divinely-revealed plan. See Lange, Commentary on Exodus, p. 137.

Our Version often confounds ''tent" and "tabernacle," as in Ex. 33 : 7-11, where the word should be "tent" throughout. The importance of this distinction is manifest. The Bible account in regard to this structure is derived from Ex. 26 and 36 : 8-38. In this article we follow

TAB

in the main Mr. Fergusson's article "Temple" in Smith's Dictiouary of (he Bible.

" The tabernacle comprised three main parts—the tabernacle, strictly so called, its tent, and its covering. The tabernacle itself was to consist of curtains of fine linen woven with colored figures of cherubim, and a structure of boards which was to contain the holy place and the most holy place; the tent was to be a true tent of goats'-hair clo-th, to contain and shelter the tabernacle; the | covering was to be of red : rams' skins and sealskins, and was spread over the goats'-hair tent as an additional protection against the weather."— Bible Commentary, in loco.

The court of the tabernacle was surrounded by canvas screens. Those of the tabernacle were 5 cubits (about 8 feet) in height, and hung from brazen pil- ~ lars, 8 feet apart, by hooks and fillets of silver. Twenty of these pillars were on each side, and ten on each end, , The space thus enclosed was 150 feet by 75. The enclosure was only broken on the eastern side by the entrance, 30 feet wide, which was clos- ' edby a curtain of fine-twined ' linen with embroidered figures of cherubim. This curtain could be drawn up or aside at pleasure. The pillars were kept firm by cords and tent-pins of bronze, had their capitals overlaid with silver, and stood on bases of bronze. Ex. 27 : 9-18.

At the upper end of this enclosure, and facing the entrance, which was toward the east, stood the tabernacle itself. This tabernacle proper was 45 by 15 feet, and 15 feet high. The sides and rear were enclosed with boards, anl the front was open. Each of these boards was furnished with two tenons at its lower extremity, which fitted into silver sockets

placed on the ground. At the top, at least, they were fastened together by bars of acacia-wood run through rings of gold. The middle bar, which reached from end to end, was, projicrly speaking,

the ridge-pole of the tent. Accordingly, we must conceive of the tabernacle, not as having a flat roof, but a pitched one, like an ordinary tent. See illustration, by which the arrangements of the coverings will also be understood.

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Over the top was thrown a rich, gorgeous fabric of various materials, the connection and disposition of which, as well as of the other parts of the covering, are prescribed with the utmost minuteness. Ex. 26 : 1-30. The entrance or door of the tabernacle was covered with a beautifully-embroidered curtain suspended on five columns. The interior was subdivided into two apartments, separated, each from the other, by a richly-wrought curtain hanging entirely a;ross and reaching from the top to the bottom. This was called '' the veil," or *' second veil," Heb. 9 : 3, because the first entrance was also curtained. The outer apartment was called the " holy place," or '* sanctuary," or the " first tabernacle," and the inner was the " second tabernacle," or the '■'■ most holy place," or the " holiest of all." Heb. 9 : 2-8.

As to the furniture of the court, there were—(1) The altar of burnt-offering, which stood near the centre of the enclosure. See Altar. (2) The brazen laver, Ex. 30 : 18, corresponding to the molten sea, 1 Kgs. 7 : 23, which stood between the altar and the tabernacle, in its shape resembling an urn. It contained water for washing the hands and feet of the priests when they were about to enter the sanctuary. See Sea, Brazen.

As to the furniture of the tabernacle itself, there were—(1) The golden candlestick, standing on the left of a person entering the sanctuary. See Candlestick. (2) The table of shevv-bread, opposite to the candlestick. See Shew-Bread. (3) The altar of incense, between the shew-bread and the candlestick, and in front of the ark. See Altar. (4) The ark of the covenant. See Ark.

The tabernacle and its court were finished with perfect exactness according to the pattern or model supernaturally revealed to Moses. Heb. 8 : 5. It is estimated that the silver and gold used in its construction (to say nothing of the brass or copper, the wood, the curtains and canopies, the furniture, etc.) amounted in value to $1,250,000.

When it was finished, after about nine months' labor, it was consecrated, Avith very solemn and imposing rites, to the service of Jehovah. Ex. 30 : 23-33 ; 40 : 9-11; Heb. 9:21. 840

While passing through the wilderness the tabernacle was always pitched in the midst of the camp. The tents of the priests and Levites surrounded it in appointed order, and at some distance from them the residue of the tribes, in four great divisions consisting of three tribes each, and each division with its appropriate name and standard or banner. Num. 2 : 2-34. The tabernacle and its furniture were so constructed as to be conveniently taken down, transported, and set up again, and particular individuals or classes had their respective duties assigned to them. Every encampment and removal, and even the order of the march, was directed expressly by Jehovah. On the day the tabernacle was completed God revealed himself in a cloud, which overshadowed and filled it. By this cloud, assuming the shape of a pillar or column, their subsequent course was governed. AVhen it rested over the tent the people always rested, and when it moved the tabernacle was taken down, and the whole host followed wherever it led. In the night this cloud became bright like a pillar of fire, and preceded them in like manner. Ex. 40 : 35-38; Num. 9 : 15-23. When the journeyings of the people were ended and they entered Canaan, the tabernacle was erected at Gil-gal, Josh. 4: 19, where it continued until the country was subdued, and then it was removed to Shiloh, 1 Sam. 1:3, where it stood between three hundred and four hundred years. It was thence removed to Nob, 1 Sam. 21 : 1-9, and thence, in the reign of David, to Gibeon, 1 Chr. 21: 29, where it was at the commencement of Solomon's reign, 2 Chr. 1: 1-13 ; and when the temple was finished^ some suppose the sacred fabric, with its vessels and furniture, was removed into it. See Temple.

The " tabernacles " spoken of in Am. 5 : 26 as existing in the northern kingdom of Israel were probably portable, carried upon the shoulders, and contained the idol.

TABERNACLE OF WIT'-NESS, Num. 17 : 7, 8, TAB'ERNA-CLE OF TEST II^IONY . Ex. 38 : 21. These terms may refer to the Law, which was deposited in the tabernacle, and which testified to God's authority and holiness, Ex. 25 : 21, or they may refer to the revelations which God made

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of himself in the tabernacle, and by which he testified his presence and majesty in the most sublime and mysterious manner.

TAB'ERNACLES, FEAST OF, one of the three greatest Jewish feasts. The law for it is laid down in Lev. 23 : 34-43, Num. 29 : 12-40. It was designed to commemorate the long tent-life of the Israelites during the Wandering. The feast began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and lasted eight days—seven for the feast and one day for a " solemn assembly," a sabbath of rest. In Num. 29 : 12-39 the proper sacrifices for each day are given. During the whole time, the people dwelt in booths. Like the other feasts, the place for keeping this one was Jerusalem. The city must have presented a very animated and picturesque appearance. The booths were erected on the tops of houses, in the courts of the temple, and in the streets and on the neighboring hills. There was also much innocent mirth: indeed, it was distinguished for this. It was commanded to rejoice before the Lord. On the first and last days there was a holy convocation. Deut. 31 : 10-13 enjoins the reading of the Law to the whole people every seventh or sabbatical year at the feast of tabernacles. This regulation, as interpreted by later Jewish practice, is obeyed by reading, on the first day of the feast, certain portions of Deuteronomy.

In Ex. 23 : 16 this feast is called "the feast of ingathering," because it came at the end of the harvest, 15th to 22d Tisri—September-October. References to the observance of the feast are found in the 0. T. in Neh. 8 : 13-18; Hos. 12 : 9; Zech. 14 : 16-19, and in the N. T. in John 7 : 2, 37, 38. In the latter passage our Lord is by some supposed to refer to a daily custom at the feast, adopted in later times. The Israelites, dressed in holiday clothes, repaired to the temple at the time of morning sacrifice. A priest then took a golden ewer, holding about two pints and a half, went to the pool of Siloam, filled his ewer, and returned to the temple by the Water-gate. His approach was the signal for a blast of trumpets. Before the people he ascended the steps of the altar, and poured the water into that one of the two silver 842

basins which was on the eastern side. Into the other wine was poured. There were small openings in the bottoms of each, and so the two streams flowed, mingled together, through pipes, into the Kidron. But on the eighth day this ceremony was omitted. Hence our Lord on that day offers himself to the people as the Source of living waters.

Again, in John 8:12, some see an allusion to another post-biblical ceremony in this pre-eminently popular feast; viz. to the torch-feast—/. e., the lighting of the great golden candelabras in the court of the women on the evening of the first day of the feast. Before them the men performed a torchlight dance with music and singing.

TAB'ITHA {gazelle), an exemplary disciple of Christ at Joppa, whose deeds of benevolence had greatly endeared her to the people. After she was dead and her body prepared for the grave, she was miraculously restored to life through the instrumentality of Peter. Acts 9 : 36-40.

TA'BLE. The table of ancient times was nothing but a circular skin or piece of leather spread upon the matted or carpeted floor, and this, at home as well as by the way, answered for table and cloth. Near the edges of this leathern tray there are holes or loops, through which, when the meal is completed, a cord is drawn, by means of which the whole aff"air is compressed into a small compass and hung upon a nail. Bread was kneaded upon it.

The nearest approach to what we call a table is a mere stool, which is placed in the centre of the leather we have mentioned. This might be intended in Jud. 1 : 7. Its only use is to hold the principal dish or dishes. There have been seen among the Arabian nobles and in cities long tables. These, however, were only a span high and not a yard wide, and were entirely uncovered, and usually held nothing but the dishes. More frequently all such conveniences are wanting, and the dishes stand on the leather.

Instead of a table-cloth, there is spread round the leathern tray a long cloth, or two such cloths, of a dark color, which prevent the soiling of the carpet. Among poorer people there is nothing of the kind, and every one uses his handkerchief by

TAB

way of napkin. Instead of plates, there are set thin, round cakes of a coarse kind.

After the Captivity raised tables like ours became common, and the Persian practice of reclining on couches at meals was introduced. For the manner of sitting, see Skats, Eat.

In Mark 7 : 4 "tables" is a mistranslation for "bods" or "couches." The " writing-table " of Zacharias, Luke 1 : 63, was a waxed tablet, on which one wrote with a stylus.

TA'BLES, TO SERVE. Acts 6 : 2. This expression may denote either actual attendance upon the gathering and distribution of food for the poor, or attention to the pecuniary afi'airs of the church. The word is used for the " tables " of money-changers. Matt. 21: 12; John 2 : 15.

TAB'LET. See Book, Table.

TA'BOR {mouml, height). 1. A mountain of Palestine; by Greek and Roman writers called Itabyrion and Atybyrion ; now known by the Arabic name oi Jehel et-Tor. Tabor is situated on the north-eastern edge of the great plain of Esdraelon, and on the borders between Zebulun and Naphtali. It is 6 miles south of east from Nazareth, and 10 miles south of west from the southern extremity of the Sea of Tiberias.

History. —The position of Tabor, overlooking the great battle-plain of Palestine, Esdraelon, made it a suitable place for the Israelites to assemble for battle. There Barak gathered his forces—10,000 men—for the overthrow of Sisera. Jud.

4 : 6-14. Some of Israel's warriors had been slain there by the Midianites before Gideon's victory. Jud. 8 : 18. Tabor is extolled with Hermon in Ps. 89 : 12, and mentioned with Carmel in Jer. 46 : 18. Idolatries practised upon that mountain were a " net spread upon Tabor." llos.

5 : 1. Tabor is not mentioned in the N. T. A tradition dating certainl}' as early as Origen and Jerome made this the Mount of Transfiguration. Mark 9 : 2-10. But the summit of Tabor must at that time have been covered with houses, since the town was then existing which Antiochus the Great founded, b. c. 218, on the top of the hill. Furthermore, the Mount of Transfiguration was probabl}' in the region of C{«sarea-Philippi, as the transfiguration occurred only a few days after Christ had arrived at that place and

solicited the great confession of Peter. However, the legend attached to Tabor led to the erection, before the entl of the sixth century, of three churches, in memory of the three tabernacles. Afterward the Crusaders erected a church and a monastery, which were destroyed by the Muslims.

PrcHoit Appearance. —Mount Tabor is one of the most remarkable of the mountains of Palestine. It rises from the ])lain as an isolated mass, only connected on the west by a low and narrow ridge with the hills of Nazareth. Its aj)]»car-ance varies with the ])oint of observation. From the south it has the form of a dome or the arc of a circle; from the west-north-west, that of a truncated cone. It rises from the surrounding table-land to the height of 1053 feet, and its suiumit is 2018 feet above the Mediterranean. The ascent is steep and rugged, but persons can reach the summit on horseback. The time required for ascending is about an hour. The southern slope is of barren limestone rock ; the other sides are wooded with the oak, terebinth, mock-orange, and trees " resembling the scattered glades in the outskirts of the New Forest." The soil is fertile, yielding luxuriant pasture. Partridges, hares, foxes, and other kinds of game abound. Porter speaks of seeing jackals, wolves, and a panther while he was visiting Tabor. The mountain has a flat summit a little less than a quarter of a mile long and an eighth of a mile wide. Two monasteries of comparatively modern date occupy the top of the hill, one belonging to the (ireeks and the other to the Latins. There are also ruins of towers, fortifications, vaults, cisterns, and other structures of various periods, Jewish, Greek, Roman, Christian, Saracenic, Frank, and Turk, blended together in a confused mass. The view from the summit of Tabor is the best in all Central Palestine. To the north and east are Mount Hermon, the Sea of (ialilec, the mountains of Bashan and (iilcad; to the south and west, the great plain of Esdraelon, (iilboa, Carmel, and the Mediterranean. Standing on this spot, the traveller sees why Tabor was the gathering-place of the northern tribes, and can trace out the great battlefields below.

2. A city in Zebulun, assigned to the

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TAD

Levites. 1 Chr. 6 : 77. Probably the same as Ohist.oth-tahor, which see. TABOR, THE PLAIN OF.

This should rather be the " oalv " or "terebinth of Tabor." It is mentioned only in 1 Sam. 10 : ."5. What is meant by " Tabor " it is im})ossible to say. It has been suggested that " the oak of Tabor" was the same as the " Allon-bachuth" the oak under which Deborah was buried. Gen. 35 : 8. But Conder proposes to identify this Tabor with el-Bukeia, a plain south of Jerusalem.

TAB'RET, See Timbrel.

TAB'RIIION {Rhnmon is hind), the father of Benhadad I., king of Syria, a conte'tnporary of Asa, king of Judah. 1 Kgs. 16 : 18.

TACIl'ES were hooks or clasps of gold and cop|tor, used in connecting the curtains of the tiibcriiaclc. Ex. 26 : <), 11.

TACU'MOMTE, a ccrruj.tion for *'llachmonite." the appellation of.lasho-beani. 2 Sam. 23 : 8 ; cf. 1 Chr. 11 : 11.

TACK'LING. Isa. 33:28; Acts 27 : ly. Strictly, in the former ]>as-sage, it is used for the ropes attached to the mast: in the latter it is used loosely, and imports the sails, cordage, baggage, and indeed all the instruments of sailing except the anchors or what was indispensable to the preservation of the ship.

TAD'MOR(neb. rawKn-,"palms"), a city in the wilderness, built bv Solomon. 1 Kgs. 9:18; 2 Chr. 8 : 4. There is no

Temple of tlie Suu.

>tri;ut ul C.uluiiiu.i

Tadinor (I'aluiyiuj.

other Scripture mention of this city, and hence no other clue to its site or after-history. It has usually been identified with the famous city of Palmyra. Some critics, indeed, assert that there is little authority for the insertion of the letter d in the name mentioned in these passages, and would make the place built rather Tamar, on the south of the confines of Judah. Eze. 47 : 19. Palmyra was within the extensive empire of Solomon, and it is most natural to identify Tadmor with it.

SiUintion. —Palmyra occupied the most favorable position on the great caravan-

route between the rich cities of the East and the ports of the Mediterranean. A spring of good water makes it a natural halting-place. It was 120 miles northeast of Damascus and 00 miles from the Euphrates, according to the /illdiru/ Educator, but Baedeker's Htiinlhoo/c makes it a five days' journey with camels, in long. 38° no'' E. and lat. 33° o8' N.

IlixtDri/. —Palmyra has no Scripture history, and hence only a brief sketch of it need be given here. It was mentioned by Pliny, Josephus, Jerome, and other early writers. About A. i). 200 it became famous in Roman history from

TAH

Zenobia, "the Queen of the East," a woman of extraordinary ability. After the assassination of her husband, Oden-athus, she ruled the realm, and under her Palmyra reached the height of its glory, extending its supremacy over Syria, Mesopotamia, and even parts of Egypt. She was subdued by the Roman emperor Aurelian, and led through the streets of Rome to grace the emperor's triumphal procession. The inhabitants of Palmyra afterward revolted, and were slain in great numbers by the Romans. Later, Palmyra was merely a frontier-town in the direction of the wilderness, fortified by Justinian. In 1173 the rabbi Benjamin of Tudela found a considerable colony of Jews there. It then fell into oblivion until visited by members of the English factory at Aleppo, in 1678. Since then the city has been explored and described by many travellers.

Present Cotidition. —Porter says : " In describing the ruins of Palmyra, it would be almost impossible to exaggerate. There is nothing like them in the world. In no other spot in the world can we find such vast numbers of temples, palaces, colonnades, tombs, and monuments grouped together so as to be seen at a single glance. The ruins extend over a plain about .3 or 4 miles in circuit. The most noteworthy are,

" 1. The Temple of the Sun. —This was dedicated to Baal. The edifice was enclosed by an outer wall, 256 yards in length and 50 feet high, flanked by pilasters 68 feet high. On the north side this wall is still tolerably preserved. Round the whole of the interior ran a double colonnade or cloister like that surrounding the court of the Gentiles in the temple at Jerusalem. The number of columns was three hundred and ninety. Near the centre of the court is the temple proper, 65 yards long and 34 yards wide, and still well preserved. In the great court is an Arab village of some Mty houses.

"2. The Street of Co/nmuH.—This extends from the temple of the Sun westward across the plain, through the centre of the ancient city. It was 1240 yards in length, and consisted of rows of columns 55 feet high. Wood thought there were four rows of columns, making the original number about fifteen hundred. 846

Baedeker supposes a double row having seven hundred and fifty columns. About one hundred and fifty of these are yet existing.

"3. The Tomhs. —Some of these are of great magnificence, and appear to have been intended for temples as well as tombs. The inscriptions show that these tombs mostly belong to the first three centuries of our era. The ancient name is still retained in the form of Thadnior."

TA'HAN (station, camp), an Ephra-imite. Num. 26 : 35 ; 1 Chr. 7 : 25.

TA'HANITES, the descendants of Tahan. Num. 26 : 35.

TAHAP'ANES. Jer. 2 : f5. See Tahpanhes.

TA'HATH {statio7i). 1. A Levite. 1 Chr. 6 : 24, 37.

2, 3. Two Ephraimites. 1 Chr. 7 : 20.

TA'HATH (place, station), one of the camping-stations of Israel in the wilderness. Num. 33 : 26, 27. Palmer notes that the difiiculty at Kibroth-hat-taavah began with the mixed multitude, "or riffraff," and he found a Wddy Tah-meh, and " Tahmeh" denotes, in Arabic, " a mixed multitude in a state of sedition." Tahath is probably to be found in the region of the Tyahah Arabs, and at Jebel et- Tih.

TAH'PANHES, a city on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, in Lower Egypt, and called Tahapanes and Te-haphnehes ; possibly the Hanes of Isa. 30 : 4; Jer. 2 : 16': 43 : 7, 8, 9; 44 : 1; 46:14; Eze. 30:18. The name resembles that of the Egyptian queen Tahpenes, referred to in 1 Kgs. 11 : 18-20. Jeremiah, after the murder of Ged-aliah, was taken to this place, and Pharaoh had a palace built or restored there, made of clay in a brick-kiln. The children of Noph (Memphis) and of Taha-panhes are used to represent the entire body of the 'Egyptians. Jer. 2:16. It is identical with the Daphne of the Greeks. The site of Daphne is supposed to be marked by a mound called Tel Defenneh, which lies nearly in a direct line Jjetween the modern Zan and Plusiura.

TAH'PENES (head of the world?), the queen of Egypt, whose sister Hadad married. 1 Kgs. 11: 18-20. The Pharaoh belonged to the twenty-second dynasty.

TAHRE'A {cunning), a descendant

TAH

TAN

of Saul, 1 Chr. 9 : 41 : called Tarea in 8 : 35.

TAH'TIM-HOD'SHI, THE LAND OF. This is admitted to be an inaccurate text, but neither the Sep-tuagint nor the Syriac version throws light on the true reading. The land was visited by Joab while taking the census of the land of Israel. 2 Sam. 24 : 6. Some make it a proper name, some translate it as above ; others translate the first part, and make " Hodshi " a proper name. This is done by Fiirst, who makes llodshi a city in Northern Palestine. Porter (in Kitto) says it was manifestly a section of the upper valley of the Jordan, probably that now called Ard-el-HUlefi, lying deep down at the western base of Hermon. Merrill locates it at the south rnd of the Sea of Galilee.

TAL'ENT. See Measures.

TAL'ITHA-CU'MI, a phrase in the Syro-Chaldaic language, the literal translation of which is given by the evangelist: "Damsel" (or "maiden"), "arise." Mark 5 : 41. Several scholars contend that Taleitha Knm is the true reading, corresponding with the Aramaic and with similar phrases in the Talmud.

TAL'MAI (brotherl,/). 1. A son of Anak. Num. 13 : 22 ; Josh. 15 : 14; Jud. 1:10.

2. A king of Geshur, father-in-law of David. 2 Sam. 3 : 3.

TAL'MOIV (oppressed), a Levite, one 6f the head-doorkeepers in the temple, whose descendants returned with Zerubbabel. 1 Chr. 9:17; Ezr. 2 : 42; Neh. 7 : 45: 11 : 19: 12 : 25.

TAL'ItIUD,THE (teachhu,). This body of Jewish laws upon all topics is divided into two parts—the Mishnn, or the text, and the Gemarn, or commentary. The Mishna ("repetition") is a collection of various Jewish traditions, with expositions of Scripture-texts. These, the Jews pretend, were delivered to Moses on the mount, and were transmitted from him, through Aaron.Eleazar, and Joshua, to the prophets, and by them to the men of the Great Synagogue and their successors until the second Christian century,when Rabbi Jehuda reduced them to writing, and so he is the collector of the existing Mishna. The Gemara ("teaching") is the whole body of controversies and teachings which arose in the acade-

mies after the close of the Mishna. There are two of them, known, in connection with the Mishna, as the .Jerusalem Talmud (third and fifth century), j)rcpared by the rabbis of Tiberias, and the Babylonian Talmud (fifth century).

The Talmud is useful as an aid in studying the teaching of Christ. It explains some of his allusions, and, as a Teacher sent from (Jod, proves his unique superiority to the Jewish doctors of the Law.

TA'MAH {/<fu;/h(r.r), the ancestor of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel, Neh. 7 : 55 : called Thamah in Ezr. 2 : 53.

TA'MAR {j>'ilm tree). 1. The wife of Er and Onan successively, the sons of Judah. The patriarch refused to give her his remaining son, Shelah, and therefore Tamar. in order to remove the reproach of childlessness, and likewise to be revenged on Judah, contrived to induce the latter to unintentionally commit incest. The story is told in Gen. 38.

2. The sister of Absalom, whom Am-non, by artifice, defiled. 2 Sam. 13; 1 Chr. 3 : 9.

3. A daughter of Absalom. 2 Sam. 14 : 27.

TA'MAR (prthn tree), a place on the south-eastern frontier of Judah. Eze. 47 : 19 : 48 : 28. According to Eusebius and Jerome, it was a day's journey south of Hebron toward Elim. Robinson identified it with the ruins of Kiiniuh, about a day's journey south of el-Mllh (Mala-tha or Maladah): Wilton identifies it with Hazar-gaddah ; but both these sites are as yet only conjectural. Some suppose that this, instead of Palmyra, was the " Tadmor in the wilderness" built by Solomon. See Tadmor.

TAM'MUZ [xpront of life), probably the same with the Adonis of (Grecian mythology, who was fabled to have been killed by a wild boar while hunting, and to have been passionately bewailed by Venus. The worship of Tammuz, as conducted in Syria, was accom])anied with obscene rites. It took place in Julv. Eze. 8 : 14.

TA'NACH. Josh. 21 : 25. See

TaANAc II.

TAN'HUMETH {r„mfort), the father of a cajjtain under Gedaliah. 2 Kgs. 25 : 23 : Jer. 40 : 8.

TA'NIS. Eze. 30 : 14, margin. See

Zoa.n.

TAN

TAR

TAN'NER. The occupation of tanning was considered disreputable in antiquity, especially by the Jews. Accordingly, tanners were obliged to carry on their trade outside of the town, as is the case in the East at the present day. Peter showed his independence in stopping with Simon, a tanner, at Joppa. Acts 9 : 43.

TA'PHATH {drop), Solomon's daughter, who married the son of Abinadab. 1 Kgs. 4 : 11.

TAP'PUAH {apple tree), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 2 : 43.

TAP'PUAH {apple-region), a name for two places.

1. A city in the plain-country of Judah, Josh. 15 : 34; probably the same as Beth-tappuah, now Teffuh, 4 miles north-north-west of Hebron. Ganneau suggested its identity with Artnf.

2. A place on the border of Ephraim and Manasseh, Josh. 16 : 8; 17 : 8 ,• probably the same as En-tappuah. Josh. 17 : 7. Around the city was a district called the land of Tappuah; the city belonged to Ephraim, and the land to Manasseh. Josh. 17 : 8. It was apparently near the torrent Kanah, but has not been identified. Which of the two places above mentioned is referred to in Josh. 12 : 17 is uncertain.

TA'RAH {station), a station of the Israelites in the wilderness, between Tahath and Milcah, Num. 33 : 27, 28 ; possibly in the region of the Tawarah Arabs.

TAR'ALAH {a reeling), a city in Benjamin, between Irpeel and Zelah. Josh. 18 : 27.

TA'REA {flight). See Tahrea.

TARES, bearded darnel {Lolium temulentam), a grass sometimes found in our own grain-fields, but very common in Eastern countries. Matt. 13 : 25. Until the head appears its resemblance to wheat is very close. The seed is noxious, even when ground with wheat in small quantities producing dizziness, and in larger proportions convulsions and death. Many instances of such pernicious effects are on record, some having been observed in England. Owing to its smaller size, the grain of tares is readily separated from wheat by winnowing. Travellers describe the process of pulling up this grass and separating it from the genuine grain, 848

Tares.

and their descriptions perfectly accord with the language of our Saviour in the parable.

T AR'GET. 1 Sam. 17 : 6. See Armor.

TAR'PELITES, THE, an Assyrian people sent to colonize Samaria. Ezr. 4 : 9.

TAR'SHISH, AND THAR'-SHISH {rodqi ground?). 1 Kgs. 10: 22; 22 : 48. In the genealogies given in Genesis we find "Elishah and Tar-shish, Kittim and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands." Gen. 10 : 4, 5. We read of "the kings of Tarshish and of the isles." Ps. 72:10. Solomon's "ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram ; every three years once came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." 2 Chr. 9 : 21. Tarshish is mentioned with dintfint places: "The isles afar off." Isa. 66:19. It must have been on the seacoast, for we frequently read of the " ships " and the " navy " of Tarshish. See 1 Kgs. 10 : 22; Ps. 48 : 7 ; Isa. 2 : 16; 23 : 1, 14 ; 60 : 9 ; Eze. 27: 25. It was the seat of a vast and profitable commerce with Tyre. Eze. 27 : 12-25. Jonah embarked from Joppa for Tarshish. Jon. 1:3; 4:2.

TAR

TAX

Situatiou. —There has been much discussion as to the site of Tarshish.

1. Some have identilied it with Tarsus in Cilicia. There is a similarity in the names, and there has always existed an extensive commerce between Joppa and Tarsus, so that vessels were constantly passing from one port to the other. The Arabs identify Tarshish with Tarsus. But this opinion is very slenderly supported.

2. Most scholars would identify Tarshish with the southern part of Spain and with Tartessus. This was a Phoenician colony, the emporium for the products of Spain as well as the Phoenician depot for the exports from Great Britain. Thus there was an extensive trade in the various products mentioned as carried by the ships of Tarshish. Eze. 27 : 12; comp. Jer. 10 : 9. But from the fact that ships of Tarshish sailed also from Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea, 1 Kgs. 9:26; 22 : 48; 2 Chr. 9 : 21; 20 : 36, some have inferred that there was also a Tarshish in the remote East. Others, however, suppose that " ships of Tarshish " was the general name for a certain class of vessels fitted for long voyages, like the British East Indiamen, and hence not necessarily trading to an Eastern port of the name of Tarshish.

TAR'SUS, celebrated as the birthplace of the apostle Paul. Acts 9:11, 30 ; 11 : 25 : 21 : 39 : 22 : 3. It was the capital of Cilioia, in Asia Minor, and ** no mean city." It stood in the centre of a spacious and fertile plain, 12 miles from the Mediterranean, "which lay to the south, and about the same distance from the Taurus range, on the north. The city stood on both banks of the river Cydnus, which has since changed its channel. At the mouth of the river were docks, and the port of Tarsus was a place of much commerce, being, indeed, identified by some writers with Tarshish, which see.

Tarsus was said to have been founded by the Assyrian Sardanapalus. It suffered severely during the civil wars following the assassination of Ca?sar. Augustus made it a free city. It jiossessed a Roman stadium and gymnasium, and became famous as the seat of one of the three great universities of the pagan world, ranking next to Athens and 54

Alexandria. The imperial family of Rome selected tutors from the literati of Tarsus. Ilence the boyhood of the apostle Paul was ])asse(l in a city not only of great commercial importance, but one oflering opportunities for secular learning as well. The modern city is called TeiHous. It stands about a mile from the Cydnus, and is a mean Turkish town with narrow and filthy streets and low, flat-roofed houses. The population is about 30,000 during the winter season. In summer it is reduced to 4000 or 5000 by the migration of the inhabitants on account of the miasma, which renders the city unhealthy.

TAR'TAK {prince of darkness), one of the gods of the Arvites, colonists whom Shalmaneser placed in Samaria to occupy the land after the original inhabitants had been removed. 2 Kgs. 17 : 31. It has been identified with the Accadian god Turtak, who specially watched over the Tigris.

TAR'TAN. 2 Kgs. 18 : 17. It is the name of an office—commander-in-chief of an army—not a proper name.

TAT'NAI {(jifi), a Persian governor in Palestine. Ezr*. 5 : 3, 6; 6:6, 13.

TAVERNS, THE THREE, a place where some of the "brethren" came to meet Paul on his journey to Rome, and by their coming the apostle took fresh courage. Acts 28 : 13-15. It was on the Appian Way, 33 miles south-east from Rome, and 10 miles from Appii Forum. It was also at the junction of the road from Antium, and a great number of travellers passed through it. It may have taken its name from the three taverns or places of refreshment for travellers. But Luke docs not translate the Roman word, but simply transfers it into Greek as " Tres Ta-bernto." There are no remains of The Three Taverns by name at the present day, but the site may be placed near the modern Cisterna.

TAXES. As the government of the Jews shifted from the lax rule of the Judges to the firmer hold of the kings, and from a domestic to a foreign power, the taxes and the mode of their collection likewise altered. Taxes were first exacted for religious purposes—for the supj)ort of the priests and Levites. They were called the Tithks, First-

TAX

FRUITS, and the Redemption-money (see separate titles). ''The payment by each Israelite of the half shekel as atonement-money for the service of the tabernacle on taking the census of the people, Ex. 30 : 13, does not appear to have had the character of a recurring tax, but to have been supplementary to the freewill-offering levied for the construction of the sacred tent." Ex. 25 : 1-7. The taxes were light; when the Jews got a king their burdens were largelj' increased. In addition to forced military service, heavy taxes were laid upon the productions, monopolies sprang up. 1 Kgs. 10 : 28, 29. We find the most detailed account of these taxes in the history of Solomon's reign, but doubtless the same phenomena appeared in all subsequent reigns. Great complaints were made. 1 Kgs. 12 : 4. The idolatry of the king occasioned less anxiety than his extravagance. The pocket is touched sooner than the heart. The Persians, like all conquerors, required the conquered to pay heavily. A wise man like Nehemiah did what he could to lessen the evils, but he was only partially successful. He exercised economy, and refused for himself the usual supplies furnished for the governor. Neh. 5 : 14. Read Neh. 5:1-11 for a sad picture of the times. This taxation led, apparently, to such a neglect of the tithes that a special poll-tax of one-third, Neh. 10 : 33, afterward increased to one-half, a shekel was laid for the temple-services. The latter amount was exacted in N. T. times. Matt. 17 : 24.

During the GrEeco-Egyptian period, which followed, there was a continuance of oppression, owing to the wretched sj'stem of "farming" the revenues. This, of course, led to incalculable troubles. After the Romans had made themselves masters of Palestine they left the collection of the taxes to the native kings, who were required to send a large tribute yearly to Rome. But when the Jewish kings gave way to Roman governors, then the system of tax-collection so familiar to us by the N. T. came into vogue. It was a tax on poll and ground, on product of field and hand. " There were duties to be paid at harbors and the gates of cities, and there was also a house-tax in Jeru-850

salem, but Agrippa I. remitted it." Under these payments the people groaned, but particularly because it was a galling proof of their subjection.

TAXING, DAYS OF THE, mentioned in Luke 2 : 2. Properly it was an enrolment, like our census, but, as its object was taxation, there was a registration of property. It was held, under an imperial order, through all the Roman world. We read of another enrolment in Acts 5 : 37. That Joseph and Mary were enrolled proves that the Roman and the Jewish usages were employed—tribal registration, which was the Jewish usage, supplemented by family, " for the Romans required the enrolment of women, and possibly their actual presence at the place of enrolment. This mixture of Roman and Jewish usage, so likely to occur in an enrolment made under a Jewish king, yet by order of the Roman emperor, is a strong proof of the accuracy of Luke's account." And yet upon this circumstance depended the Bethlehemic birth of Jesus ! " The Saviour of the world was registered in the first census of the world." There is no direct proof that Augustus ordered a universal census, but it is reasonably inferred, from the known fact that he prepared a list of all the resources of his empire, which was read in the senate after his death. Herod manifestly could not resist such an order, inasmuch as he was but a tributary king. And, as Dr. Woolsey says, "if the census was made under the direction of the president of Syria, by Jewish officers, it would not greatly differ from a similar registration made by Herod, nor need it have alarmed the Jews if carefully managed."

The interesting question in connection with this enrolment is, " How can we vindicate the veracity of Scripture in saying that it was first made when Cyreni-us (P. Sulpicius Quirinius) was governor of Syria?" To this question, for a long time, no definite answer could be given. It formed one of the commonplaces of infidelity. Josephus states that Quirinius came to Judaea as imperial legate, and in A. D. 6 or 7 he completed a census. But this date is ten years after our Lord's birth. The best explanation of the difficulty is to maintain that Quirinius was twice governor of Syria, as lately

Tea

TEL

proved—the first time before Christ's birth, or B. c. 4-1; the second time, A. D. 6 onward. See Cyrenius.

TEARS. Allusion is supposed to be made in Ps. 66 : 8 to an ancient custom, which was preserved among tiie Romans, of collecting the falling tears of mourners at funerals and putting them into a bottle or urn, called a " lachrj'matory." or "tear-bottle." The vessel was afterward fixed upon the sepulchres of the dead, thus seeming to preserve a memorial of the afi'ection and grief of the survivors.

TE'BAH {slaughter), eldest of the sons of Nahor by his concubine Reumah. Gen. 22 : 24.

TEBALI'AH {Jehovah purifies), third son of Uosah, of the children of Merari. 1 Chr. 26 : 11.

TE'BETH. Esth.2:16. See Month.

TEETH. Gen. 49 : 12. See Tooth.

TEHAPH'NEHES. Eze. 30 . 18. See Tahpanhes.

TEHIN'NAH {cr,, for mercy), the father or founder of Ir-nahash—the city of Nahash—and son of Eshton. 1 Chr. 4:12.

TEIL TREE. The word thus rendered in Isa. 6 : 13 is translated "elm" in Hos. 4:13 and "oak" in many passages, which are mentioned under Oaks. See also Nuts. In most, perhaps all, of these places the terebinth {Pistacia of several species) is doubtless meant.

This tree has pinnate leaves, small red berries, and belongs to the order of the sumac. According to the writer's observation, the terebinth was most abundant fn the North of Palestine, and especially above Lake Merom, where some of these trees were very symmetrical, dense, and spreading, with luxuriant foliage of a blue-green, affording a delightful shelter, if not appropriated as Arab burying-places. Such specimens show that the terebinth, if suffered to reach age, is a noble tree, and that Absalom might easily have been caught in riding under one of them. It is an Eastern idea that this tree lives a thousand years, and when it dies the race is renewed by young shoots from the root; so that the tree may, in a sense, be called perpetual. Hence the allusion in Isa. 6:13.

" In Smyrna, Constantinople, and other

Eastern cities the cypress overshadows the Muslim's grave, but the terebinth the Armenian's. They say that this homeless j)eople brougbt this tree with them from the shores of Lake Van, and love to see those who are dear to them sheltered in their last sleep by its ancestral shiide."— Warhnrton.

TE'KEL. Dan. 5 : 25. See Menk.

TEKO'A, AND TEKO'AH ( pitching of tents/), a city on the borders of the desert to which it gave its name: " The wilderness of Tekoah." 2 Chr. 20 : 20 ; Jer. 6:1. It was colonized by Asher,

1 Chr. 2 : 24 ; 4:5; fortified by Reho-boam. 2 Chr. 11: 6. The "wise woman" who interceded for Absalom resided here,

2 Sam. 14 : 2, 4, 9, and here also was the birthplace and residence of the prophet Amos. Am. 1 : 1. Tekoa was situated about 5 miles south of Bethlehem, at a place still called Tek'na, on a broad hilltop. The region is bleak and desolate, and the inhabitants wild and uncivil. There is a fine view toward the east, and the Dead Sea is visible. " The ruins at this place are extensive [covering 4 or 5 acres], but uninteresting. To the east are many excavated caves and cisterns, but the town itself is simply a heap of ruins, the stones of which are small and friable." There are ruins of a Greek church and baptismal font and of a fortress.

TEKO'ITES, inhabitants of Tekoa. 2 Sam. 23 : 26; 1 Chr. 11 : 28 ; 27 : 9: Neh. 3 : 5, 27.

TEL'ABIB {corn-hill), a city of Chalda-a or Babylonia, on the river Chebar, the residence of Ezekiel. Eze. 3: 15.

TE'LAH {breach), an Ephraimite. 1 Chr. 7 : 25.

TEIi'AIM (i/onng lambx), the place where Saul collected and numbered his host before his attack on Amalek. 1 Sam. 15 : 4. Possibly it may be identical with Telem, as suggested by Wilton, who supposes it to have been at El A'useir, a ruin between the Dead Sea and Beer-sheha. See Tei.em.

TELAS'SAR, and TIIELA'SAR {the hill of Axxhnr), a jilace inhabited by the "children of Eden " and subdued by the Assyrians. 2 Kgs. 19 : 12; Isa. 37 : 12. Rawlinson puts it in Western Mesopotamia, near Ilarran and Orfa; Layard at Tell Afer, 40 miles west of Mosul.

TEL

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TE'LjEM (oppression), a temple-porter. Ezr. 10 : 24.

TE'JLEM (oppyessio))), a city in the South of Judahi, occurring between Ziph and Bealoth. Josh. 15 : 24. It is possiblj'^ identical with Telaim, which see. Wilton associates it with Dhulldm, a district south-east of Beersheba, in the neighborhood of Moladah (el-Milh), and perhaps, it may be, at Kuhhet el-Baul.

TEL'HARE'SHA, and TEL-HAR'SA (forest hill), a place in Babylonia from which some Jews who could not prove their pedigree returned to Juda?a with Zerubbabel. Ezr. 2 : 59; Neh. 7 : 61. Rawlinson thinks it was in the low country near the sea; Fiirst places it in Upper Mesopotamia, on the Chebar.

TEL-ME'LAH (salt hill), a place in Babylonia from which persons of doubtful pedigree returned. Ezr. 2 : 59 ; Neh. 7 : 61. Rawlinson would identify it with a city near the Persian Gulf, the Thelme of Ptolemy ; Fiirst would place this also near to Tel-harsa, in Upper Mesopotamia.

TE'MA (south desert), an Tshmaelite tribe descended from Tema, Gen. 25 : 15 ; 1 Chr, 1: 30, and settled in Arabia. Tema is mentioned with Sheba, Job 6 : 19, and with Dedan. Isa. 21:14; Jer. 25 : 23. On the great caravan-road from Damascus to Mecca and on the eastern border of Syria is a town called Teyma', near Dumah and Kedar, which is supposed to represent Tema.

TE'MAN (south desert), a country named from the oldest son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. Gen. 36: 11. These people were called Temani, or Temanites, and seem to have been noted for wisdom. Jer. 49 : 7 ; Ob, 9. They are especially mentioned in the prediction against Edom. Jer. 49 : 7 ; Eze. 25 : 13 ; Am. 1: 12; Ob. 9; Hab. 3 : 3. Their country seems to have been the south-eastern part of Edom, the land of " the sons of the east." Eusebius and Jerome mention a Teman 15 miles from Petra.

TEMANI, AND TE'MANITE. Gen. 36 : 34 : Job 2 : 11, etc. See Teman.

TEM'ENI, the father of Tekoa. 1 Chr. 4 : 6.

TEM'PERANCE, in the A. V., does not mean moderation only in the use of wine or other drink, but self-control leading to moderation in every thing. 852

It is to be regretted that this good word should be doubly perverted—first in the direction mentioned above, and second to mean total abstinence from drink. This perversion leads to inaccurate thinking. 1 Cor. 9 : 25.

TEM''P1jE, the sacred edifice erected at Jerusalem upon Mount Moriah. See Jerusalem. In its general form it resembled its prototype, the tabernacle, after which it was modelled. There are three temples mentioned in the Bible. We shall treat them in their historic order.

1. The Temple of Soloinon. —The idea of building a temple to take the place of the tabernacle as the permanent place of worship for the Jewish Church was first, it would seem, the idea of David. 1 Chr. 17 : 1. And, although forbidden by the Lord from beginning the work, he ever held it in mind, and joj'fully accumulated from the spoils of his enemies and from the revenue of his kingdom a fund for this purpose. In 1 Chr. 22 : 14 the amount is thus given in the chronicler's report of David's speech to Solomon: " I have prepared for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and of brass and of iron without weight." Reckoning the talent of silver at 3000 shekels of silver, and the talent of gold as worth sixteen times that of silver, this amount of money, put into our coinage, would be, according to Lange (Commentary, in loco): Silver, $1,710,000,000; gold, $2,737,500,000: total, $4,447,500,000—''a sum incredibly high for the requirements of worship at that time." But, reckoning the shekel after the king's weight, or half the value of the shekel of the sanctuary, then the above sum is cut down one-half, and we can parallel it from secular history.

Besides gold and silver, David collected immense quantities of brass (bronze or copper), iron, stone, timber, etc., and he secured skilful mechanics and artificers for every branch of the work. 1 Chr. 22 ; 29 : 4, 7. He also furnished the design, plan, and location of the building ; in all which he was divinely instructed. 1 Chr. 21; 22; 28:11-19. He was not permitted, however, to see a single step taken in its erection. 1 Kgs. 5 : 3. The superintendence of the building was committed to Solomon, the son

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and successor of David, who commenced the work in the fourth year of his reign. There were 183,600 Jews and strangers employed on it—of Jews 30,000, by rotation 10,000 a month ; of Canaanites, 153,600, of whom 70,000 were bearers of burdens, 80,000 hewers of wood and stone, and 3600 overseers. The parts were all prepared at a distance from the

site of the building, and when they were brought together the whole immense structure was erected without the sound of hammer, axe, or any tool of iron, 1 Kgs. 6 : 7, and at the end of seven and a half years it stood complete in all its s])lcndor, the glory of Jerusalem, and the most magnificent edifice in the world, B. c. 1006.

Level of the Temple-Platform. {After Beswick, 1875.)

Like the tabernacle, it had its front toward the east. All the arrangements of the temple were identical with those of the tabernacle, and the dimensions of every part exactly double those of the previous structure.

We shall give an idea of the temple of Solomon by condensing the account in Stanley's History of (he Jewish Church, Lecture 27. On the eastern side was a cloister or colonnade. The later kings, however, continued it all around. This portico opened on a large quadrangle, surrounded by a wall, partly of stone, partly of cedar, and planted with trees. Within this quadrangle was a smaller court, on the highest ridge of the hill, which enclosed the place of David's sacrifice—the rocky threshing-floor of Arau-nah the Jebusite. This rock was levelled and filled up, so as to make a platform for the altar, which was a square chest of wood, plated outside with brass, filled inside with stones and earth, with the fire on a brass grating at the top, the whole placed on a mass of rough stone. South of the altar was the brazen laver, supported on twelve brazen bulls. This was used for the ablutions of the priests as they walked to and fro barefooted over the rocky platform. On each side were the ten lesser movable vessels of brass, on wheels, for the washing of the entrails. Round about the lesser court, in two or three stories raised above each other, were chambers for the ]»ricsts and other persons of rank. 2 Chr. 31 : 11 ; Jer. 36 :10. In the corners were the kitchens and boiling-apparatus. Eze.

46 : 20-24. Each had brazen gates. 2 Chr. 4:9. In the court was the " temple " properly so called. In front towered the porch, in height more than 200 feet. Behind it was a lower edifice, lessening in height as it approached its extremity. On the sides were small chambers, entered only from without through a sandalwood door on the south, and gilded chambers above them accessible to the king alone. 1 Kgs. 6 : 8. The two elaborate pillars called Jachin and Boaz stood immediately under the porch. Within, another pair of folding-doors led into the holy place. It would have been almost dark were it not that, in place of the original single seven-branched candlestick, ten now stood on ten tables, five on each side. 1 Kgs. 7 : 49. Within the chamber were the table of shew-bread and altar of incense. The holj' of holies was separated from the holy place by a ''wall of partition," penetrated, however, by folding-doors of olive-wood, over which hung a ])arty-colored curtain embroidered with cherubs and flowers. 1 Kgs. 6:31. The holy of holies was a small square chamber, absolutely dark ex('ej)t by the light received through this aperture. In it were two huge golden figures, standing upright on their feet, on each side of the ark, which rested upon a protuberance of rough rock. Above the ark the wings of these cherubim met. The wails of the chambers which ran round the rest of the building were not allowed to lean against the outer walls of this sanctuary.

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The quarries of Solomon have recently been discovered under the present city of Jerusalem, near the Damascus-gate. They are very extensive, and to-day exhibit, in partially-excavated blocks of stone, the evidence of the monarch's architectural tastes and requirements.

The temple of Solomon stood, altogether, four hundred and twenty-four years, but it was plundered by Shishak, king of Egypt, during the reign of Re-hoboam. 1 Kgs. 14: 25, 26. After this it was frequently profaned and pillaged, and was at last broken down and destroyed by the king of Babylon, and the nation itself carried into captivity, 2 Kgs. 25 : 8, 9, 13-17; 2 Chr. 36 : 18, 19, B. c. 598.

2. The Temple of Zeritbbabel. — In B. c. 536, Cyrus the Persian, conqueror of Babylon, gave permission to the Jews to return. Many availed themselves of the opportunity, and returned in a great caravan under Zerubbabel. The latter, as Jewish governor, and Joshua, the high priest, superintended the people in rebuilding the temple. Cyrus permitted and encouraged them to do this work, and in the second year after their return Ihey laid the foundation. Ezr, 3 : 8. Owing to the opposition of their enemies, it was not, however, completed until twenty years had gone by, b. c. 515. The story of this long struggle and trouble is told in the book of Ezra.

This second temple, though inferior in many respects to the first—having no ark, no mercy-seat, no visible revelation of the divine glory, no sacred fire, no Urim and Thummim, and no spirit of prophecy, Ezr. 3: 12, 13—still was in breadth and height, in almost every dimension, one-third larger than Solomon's. In three particulars the general arrangements differed from those of the ancient sanctuary: (1) There were no trees in the courts; (2) At the northwestern corner was a fortress-tower, the residence of the Persian, afterward of the Roman, governor; (3) The court of 'the worshippers was divided into two compartments, of which the outer enclosure was known as the court of the Gentiles or heathens. It furnished a fixed place of worship for the nation, and ultimately became the theatre of far more glorious illustrations of the divine attributes than the first temple ever wit-854

nessed. Hag. 2 : 6-9; Mai. 3:1; Col. 2 : 9; 1 Tim. 3': 16.

3, The Temple of Herod. —The temple of Zerubbabel had stood nearly five hundred years and was much decayed when Herod the Great, with a view to secure the favor of the Jews and obtain to himself a great name, undertook to rebuild it; so that it was not a new edifice, strictly speaking, but rather a complete repair of the second temple. He began the work twenty years before tbe birth of Christ, and completed the main building in one year and a half, and the

BRIOCEOR—

mi I

THE TtMPLE O

COURT0FTHECttTUEs|

Reconstruction ot the Temple.

]. According to Wilkinson; 2. According to Fergus-son ; 3. According to Porter; 4. According to Lewiu.

adjoining buildings in eight years. But the work was not entirely ended till A. D. 61, under Herod Agrippa II. So the statement in John 2 : 20 is correct. We shall describe the temple as it stood in the days of our Saviour, condensing in the main the statements of F. R. and C. R. Conder in the Handbook to the Bible (N. Y., 1879). The temple was located in the present Haram enclosure, the wall of which has been most carefully and elaborately surveyed. See Quarterly Statement for January, 1880, of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The building stood upon the top of Mount Moriah. but not in the middle of the area, which was 500 cubits square (cubit = 16 in.). Along the ramparts of

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the temple-hill ran double cloisters or arcades, and there the money-changers sat. Matt. 21 : 12. The royal cloister was triple, and was on the south side; Solomon's Poreli was on the east. The pillars could hardly be spanned by three men ; two of them still exist. The enclosure was entered through five gates. The gate Shushan was directly opposite to the temple proper. There were several courts about the temple which were upon dififerent levels. The outer court, or court of (he Gentiles, came first, then the court of the women, the court of Israel, the court of the priests, and then the temple itself. Between the first two came the "soreg" ("interwoven"), or "middle wall of partition." Eph. 2 : 14. It had thirteen openings ; upon it, at intervals, were square pillars with Greek inscriptions, threatening death to the un-circumcised intruder. The charge that Paul had brought such a Greek into the enclosure aroused the Jerusalem mob. Acts 21 : 28. The court of the looinen, ha,(i 4 chambers, and was so called, notbecause it was set apart exclusively for their use, but because they were not allowed to come any nearer the temple. There were three gates, of which the eastern, covered with gold, was the larger. The women had a gallery above the cloister, erected in order to avoid the crowding at the feast of tabernacles. In this court were probably the thirteen money-chests, Mark 12 : 41. The court of Isruel, 10 cubits by 135, was fifteen steps higher up, and upon them the fifteen Songs of Degrees (Ps. 120-134, inclusive) were sung. The musical instruments were kept there. It was merely a platform, and had no cloisters or columns. Only men especially purified could enter it. The court of the prients, or sanctuary, 135 by 176 cubits, was 2V cubits higher than the court of Israel, the wall being \ cubit high, with three steps above it. On the wall there was a platform, from which the priests blessed the people. There was no communication between this court and the lower, except through the side-chambers of the gate Nicanor, which stood above the fifteen steps already mentioned. The court of the priests had seven gates. The southeastern gate was called the Water-gate, because the water used in the feast of tabernacles was brought through it.

There were no cisterns within the court, and the altar was joined to tlie earth, having no excavations under it. The north-western gate was called Moked (" hearth"), and was the guard-house of the priests who kept watch round the fire, whence the name. The north-eastern gate was called Nitzotz ("prominence"), because it was a kind of outstanding tower. Above the Water-gate was a room called Aphtinas, in which the incense was made. The Saniiedriv, which see, sat in the so-called Pavement, or chamber of hewn stone, which opened on this court. In this court, directly before the temple, was the altar, which was built of solid stone, cemented, whitewashed at intervals, and had a line of red paint drawn round it. See Altar. Lieut. Conder points out that the Talmudic description indicates a much ruder structure than is usually supposed. There were holes in the foundation through which the blood flowed into drains, and a man-hole to facilitate the examination of the drains. To the left was the laver.

We come now to the temple, and, continuing to take the guidance of the Handbook, give the following facts: The facade of the temple was a square of 100 cubits, and was gilded. The entrance of the temple was 20 cubits wide and 40 high. Over it hung the golden vine, supported, probablj', by nails. The temple was of two stories; in the lower there were thirty-eight chambers in three tiers; in the upper, none. The holy house was entered from the porch by a gate 20 cubits high and 10 broad, with double doors, opening out and in ; before it hung a veil of equal width with the doors. Before the entrance to the holy of holies hung two veils or two curtains, 1 cubit apart, and, inasmuch as the opening of the outer curtain was upon the north, while the inner was on the south, no glimpse of the hoi}' of holies could be obtained by any one but the high priest. (See Handbook to the Bible, p. 123.)

The allusions to the second (third) temple are neither man}' nor important. The scene of the purification of Mary, Luke 2 : 22, must liave been at the gate Nicanor, since here it took place. The Child Jesus was found amid the doctors of the Law, who sat on the steps of the

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iHi

Wm t

bridge:

"1=™"

COURT OF GENTILES

STOA BASILICA

d:kfc:

Plan of Herod's Temple.

1. The Holy of Holies.

2. The Holy Place.

3. The Court of the Priests.

4. Altar of Burnt-Offering.

5. Inner Gate of Temple.

6. Court of the Women.

temple-courts. Luke 2 : 46. The Beautiful Gate, Acts 3 : 2, was probably the entrance from the Tyropoeon bridge to the beautiful southern cloister built by Herod. The castle of Antonia, from which, by a secret passageway, the Roman soldiery could be poured down into the temple-area to preserve order— as notahly to rescue Paul, Acts 21: 31, 32 —was situated upon the north-western corner of the outer cloister, and had four towers with a large interior space. It was arranged by John Hyrcanus for a residence, and enlarged by Herod.

This third temple was destroyed by the Romans on Friday, 9th day of Ab (August), A. D. 70, and the prophecy of Jesus was literally fulfilled. Matt. 24 : 2. The emperor Julian endeavored to rebuild it, A. T>. 363. To this end he advanced funds from the public treasury and applied the contributions from the 8.56

Jews, who were enthusiastic over the proposition. But the work met with a check from an unexpected quarter. God used Nature to defeat the plan : " As the workmen dug down to the foundations terrific explosions took place: what seemed balls of fire burst forth; the works were shattered to pieces ; clouds of smoke and dust enveloped the whole in darkness, broken only by the wild and fitful glare of the flames. Again the work was renewed by the obstinate zeal of the Jews ; again they were repelled by this unseen and irresistible power, till they cast away their implements and abandoned the work in humiliation and despair."— Mtlman : History of Christian itif, vol. iii. p. 27.

There stands to-day, upon the site of the temple, a Mohammedan mosque, the Dome of the Rock, so called from the famous Sakhrah, or Holy Rock, which,

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TER

according to Mohammedan tradition, attempted to follow Mohammed on his memorable night-journey to heaven, but was held back b}' the hand of tlie archangel Gabriel: in proof, both the '' footprint of Mohammed" and the ''handprint of Gabriel" are shown. Some consider that this rock was the site of the great altar of burnt-ofl'ering. In confirmation is adduced the hole in the rock, and the cave under it, which, upon this hypothesis, was the cesspool.

Up to quite recent times the Haram, as the enclosure containing the site of the temple is called, was closed to all non-Mohammedans, but the pressure brought to bear after the Crimean war (1856) was too great, and now travellers find no difficulty in gaining admittance.

TEMPLE, CAP TAIN OF. See Captain of the Temple.

TEMPT, Matt. 22 : IS, TEMP-TA'TION. Luke 4 : U. These words are used in various senses. The ordinary import of them is allurement or enticement to sin. Hence our great adversary the devil is called " the tempter." Matt. 4 : 3. They also denote the trial of a person's faith or obedience. Gen. 22 : 1 ; Jas. 1 : 2, ,3, or the trial of God's patience and forbearance. Ex. 17 : 2 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 9. The prayer. " Lead us not into temptation," Matt. 6 : 13, does not imply that God leads us into sin, Ja§. 1 : 13, 14, but it is a prayer that he may guard and protect us from temptation. When it is said that the lawyer and others tempted our Saviour, Matt. 16 : 1 ; 19 : 3 ; Mark 10 : 2 ; Luke 10 : 25, it is meant that they tried to ensnare him or lead him into the commission of some offence.

TEN COMMAND'MENTS, THE. By this title the writing contained on the two tables of stone given on Mount Sinai is usually designated. But the phrase, in the original, is "the ten words," and it were well to retain it. The Greek word decalnr/ue exactly expresses the Hebrew. " The word of the Lord," the constantly-recurring term for the fullest revelation, was higher than any phrase expressing merely a command, and carried with it more the idea of a self-fulfilling power. Other phrases for the ton words are " the words of the covenant," " the tables of testimony," or more briefly " the testimony." Ex. 25 :

16; 31 : 18, etc. The chest which contained the two tables was therefore called the ark of the covenant; the tent under whose cover the tables rested became tlic tabernacle of witness or of testimony. Ex. 38 : 21 ; Num. 17 : 7 ; 2 Chr. 24 : 6, etc. The ten words, originally spoken, Ex. 20 : 1, were written by the finger of God on two stone tablets, Ex. 24:12; but Moses having broken them in his anger, those the Jews possessed were duplicates. Ex. 34 : 1.

It is common to assign four "words" to the first table and six to the second. But the command to honor parents is based upon the Fatherhood of God, and is a rcligiouti duty. St. Paul, in Rom. 13 : 9, enumerates only five commands as applying to man exclusively.

It is at least possible that all the commandments were in the concise legal form in which some are expressed. The "reasons annexed" arc probably mere scholia, or notes, which crept into the text, or else verbal commentary of God, made at the time. In this way the discrepancy between Ex. 20 and Deut. 5 is easiest removed.

The number ten symbolizes the comprehensiveness and completeness of this moral law. The first table, with five commandments, enjoins the duties to God; the second, with five commandments, the duties to our neighbor. All these duties are comprehended and summed up in this : Thou shalt love God supremely, and thy neighbor as thyself. Love is the fulfilment of the whole law. Matt. 22 : 37, 38 ; Rom. 13 : 9 ; Gal. 5 : 14; Jas. 2:8.

The civil and ceremonial law of the Jewish theocracy rested on the Decalogue, and is divided into seven groups, each with ten commandments.

TENT. See Dwellings.

TENTH DEAL. See Measures.

TENT-MAKERS. Acts 18 : 3. Tent-making is said to have been Paul's trade, but the word so translated is supposed to refer to the manufacture of tent-cloth rather than to the preparing of tents. Some suppose that he made military tents, the material of which was goatskins.

TE'RAH {loiterer), the father of Abraham, who accompanied him to Ila-ran, in Meso])otamia. where lie died at the age of two hundred and five, Abraham

TEE

TET

being then seventy-five years of age. Gen. 11:31, 32.

TER'APHIM {(/{vers of prosperity). The word is sometimes left untranslated ; elsewhere "images," Gen. 31: 19, 34, 35 ; 1 Sam. 19 : 16; "idolatry." 1 Sam. 15: 23. The derivation is not settled. Ge-senius takes it from a root meaning " to be rich," so the teraphim dispensed prosperity. From the passages quoted it is plain that this word denotes household idol-gods or images. But since these were used as means of supernatural knowledge, they might be found in possession of those who were not idolaters. There is a very remarkable occurrence of the word in Hos. 3 : 4, where teraphim are associated with idolatry. They were

Terapliiiii.

small images, resembling the human form, and were regarded as oracles.

The use of teraphim came to the Hebrews from the family of Laban, for they were Aramaic deities. But, once introduced, they were tenaciously held to. AVe find them mentioned in a familiar way in the historical books. Jud. 18 : 17; 1 Sam. 19 : 13, 16: 2 Kgs. 23 : 24, etc. They were not idols in the worst sense. They were used by Jehovah-worshippers acquainted with the second commandment. Thus we find a Levite in Micah's family using them, and in David's house were teraphim. 1 Sam. 19 : 13. But in the days of the prophets they 858

were denounced as idolatrous, and Josiah destroyed them, 2 Kgs. 23 : 24, margin —an indication of the growth of correct religious feeling and the spread of knowledge.

In regard to their size and appearance nothing definite is known. Probably they were varied. They may best be compared to the household penates of the classic world.

TER'EBINTH. See Teil Tree.

T E ' R E S H {severe), one of two eunuchs who conspired against Ahasu-erus. Esth. 2 : 21 : 6:2.

TER'TIUS {the third), Paul's amanuensis, to whom he dictated the Epistle to the Romans. Rom. 16 : 22.

TERTUL'LUS (diminutive of " Tertius "'), a lawyer, probably a Roman, who, in consequence of their lack of familiarity with Roman forms of law, was hired by the Jews to act as prosecutor in the case of Paul before Felix. Acts 24: 1-9.

TES'TAMENT. Heb. 9:15. The word " testament," when applied to our Scriptures (as "the Old and New Testaments"), is used in the same sense with "covenant." The old covenant is spoken of in Ex. 24:8, and the new in Matt. 26 : 28. The former was ratified by the blood of sacrifices, and the latter (of which the other was a type) was ratified by the blood of Christ.

TES'TAMENT, OLD, NEW. 2 Cor. 3 : 6. See Bible.

TESTIMONY, TES'TIMO-NIES. Ps. 119 : 88, 99. These terms sometimes denote the whole revelation of God's will. They frequently occur in this sense in the above Psafm. They also refer to the tables of stone, which were part of the covenant between God and the people of Israel, Ex. 25 : 16; and hence the ark in which they were deposited is called "the ark of the testimony." Ex. 25 : 22. See Ark. The gospel is also called "the testimony" in 1 Cor. 1:6; Rev, 1 : 2, and elsewhere. See Witness.

TE'TRARCH. This title was given to a sovereign prince, and strictly denotes one who governs the fourth part of a province or kingdom. Matt. 14 : 1. In our Scriptures, however, it is applied to any one who governed a province of the Roman empire, whatever portion of the territory might be within his juris-

THA

THE

diction. The tetrarch had the title of king;. Matt. 14 : 9.

THAD'D.*:US. Matt. 10 : 3. See

JUDE.

THA'HASH (o had(jer, or seal), a son of Nahor by Reuuiah, his concubine. Gen. 22 : 24.

THA'MAH. Ezr.2:53. SeeTAMAH.

TIIA'MAR. Greek formof Tamak, 1. Matt. 1 : 3.

THAM'MUZ. See Tammuz.

THANK-OFFERING. See Offerings.

THA'RA. Luke 3 : 34. See Terah.

THAR'SHISH {fortress), a Ben-jamite. 1 Chr. 7 : 10.

THAR'SHISH, a more accurate form of Tarshish, which see. 1 Kgs. 10 : 22 • 22 : 48.

THE'ATRE, a place of public amusement, where poj)ular assemblies, courts, elections, etc., were often held. Acts 19 : 29, 31.

'' The taste for theatrical amusements was never strongly developed among the Jews, though some of their later rulers, especially the Herods, favored them and established theatres in Palestine. Herod the Great introduced Greek actors at his court in Jerusalem, greatly to the scandal of the Jews, and built a theatre and amphitheatre at Cgesarea."— Hachftt.

THEBES. See No-amon.

THE'BEZ {hriijhtHesH), the town where Abimelech was killed. Jud. 9 : 50; 2 Sam. 11: 21. It is now Tubas, a place 11 miles north-east of Shechem [Ndbliis), on the road to Beth-shean [lieisan). It is a handsome village, situated in the midst of groves of olive trees, on the west slope of a basin, but possessing no spring.

THELA'SAR. 2 Kgs. 19 : 12. See Telassar.

THELAS'SAR. See Telassar.

THEOPHaLUS [lover of God), a distinguished individual, probably of Greece or Rome, to whom, as his particular friend or patron, Luke addressed both his Gospel and his history of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke 1 : 3. The title "most excellent" probably denotes official dignity. Acts 23 : 26 ; 24 : 3 ; and 26 : 25.

THESSALO'NIANS, EPIS'-TLES TO. They were written by the apostle Paul to the church of the

Thessalonians, and are the earliest of

his writings and the oldest portions of the N. T. They were probably written, near the close of a. d. 52 or the beginning of 53, from Corinth, not from Athens, as the subscription states. The first was composed in consequence of the recej)-tion of Timothy's on the whole cheering intelligence about the Thessalonian church. But Paul learned that his favorite theme of the speedy coming of Christ had given rise among some of them to the erroneous inij)ression that their dead were separated from Christ so much that they could not join in the triumphs of his return. Others of them had grown careless, paralyzed by the hope. Accordingly, he devotes his E])istle to the removal of these troubles, the more particularly since unauthorized prophets had fanned their enthusiasm and occasioned, on the part of the sober-minded, contemjtt for the prophetic gift. " The apostle therefore wrote to confirm them in the faith, to strengthen them against persecution, to rectify mistakes, and to inculcate purity of life." But, this Epistle not fully answering its purpose, Paul wrote a second shortly after. Some one had forged a letter in his name, advocating the very delusion he deprecated. 2 Thess. 2 : 2. He therefore corrected the mistake and tried to put a stop to the ensuing evils.

We thus analyze the Epistles : First Thessalonians. —I. After a salutation, 1 : 1, Paul gives thanks to God for their conversion and advancement in the faith, 1 : 2-2 : 1(5, and (hen expresses his desire to see them and his loving care over them. 2:17-3:13. II. In the didactic and hortatory part he exhorts them to holiness and brotherly love, 4 : 1-12; he speaks of Christ's advent, 4 : 13-5 : 11 ; and adds various admonitions. 5 : 12-2-1. He then concludes with a charge that the Epistle be generally read, with greetings and a benediction. 5 : 25-28.

Second Thessalonians. — Besides the salutation, there are three sections, answering to the three chapters: I. A thanksgiving and prayer for the Thessalonians. 1 : 3-12. II. Instruction and exhortation in regard to the " man of sin." 2. III. Sundry admonitions: (1) To prayer, with a confident expression of his hope respecting them. 3 : 1-5 ; (2) To correct the disorderlv. 3 : fi-lS. He

THE

then concludes with a special remark, showing how his letters were thereafter to be identified, and the usual salutation and apostolic benediction. 3 : 16-18.

THESSALONI'CA, a city of Macedonia. It was anciently called Thermae ("hot baths"), but Cassander, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, rebuilt the city, and called it, after his wife, Alexander's sister, Thes-salonica. The city was situated at the north-east corner of the Thermaic Gulf. It was in Paul's time a free city of the Romans, the most populous city in Macedonia, and the capital of one of the four Roman divisions of Macedonia, which extended from the river Strymon on the east to the Axius on the west.

Scripture History. —Paul and Silas, in A. D. 58, came to Thessalonica from Philippi, which was 100 miles northeast, on the Via Egnatia. There was the synagogue of the Jews. For at least three Sabbaths the apostles preached to their countrymen. A church was gathered, principally composed of Gentiles. At length the persecution became so violent as to drive the apostle away. He desired to revisit the church there, and sent Timothy to minister to them. Among his converts were Caius, Aris-tarchus, Secundus, and perhaps Jason. Acts 17 : 1-13 : 20 : 4; 27 : 2 ; comp. Phil. 4 : 16; 2 Tim. 4 : 10. Paul wrote two Epistles to the Thessalonian church from Corinth. 1 Thess. 1:1 ,• 2 Thess. 1:1.

Thessalonica.

The "rulers" of the city. Acts 17 : 6, 8, are called, in the original, "politarchs." This is a peculiar term, not elsewhere found in the N. T., but this very word appears in the inscription on a triumphal arch believed to have been erected after the battle of Philippi. The names of seven politarchs are given. During several centuries Thessalonica was an important centre of Christianity in the Oriental Church, and from it the Bulgarians and Slavonians were reached. Present Conrh'fiov. —Thessalonica still survives as a Turkish town, under the name of Salonika. It has a conspicuous and beautiful situation on a hill sloping back from the gulf, and its palaces and mosques present a fine appearance. Its walls are some 5 miles in circumference. 860

The sti'eets are narrow and irregular. Many of the mosques were formerly Christian churches. It is also the seat of a Greek metropolitan, and contains numerous churches and schools of different denominations. Its commerce is extensive; some four thousand vessels visit its harbor every year, representing the trade of France, Austria, Italy, England, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, etc. The population is about 80.000, of whom 30,000 are Jews and 10.000 Greeks. Among the most important of the ancient monuments are a hippodrome, a colonnade built under Nero, the triumphal arch commemorating the battle of Philippi, and another triumphal arch, of the time of Constantine.

THE

THI

THEU'DAS {thank>i(f{cin;f), an insurrectionary chieftain mentioned by Gamaliel. Acts 5 : 36, Joscphus mentions a similar character of this name, but his insurrection occurred some eleven years after Gamaliel's speech. An explanation of the ditticulty is to identify Theudas with Matthias, an eloquent and popular Jewish teacher, who headed a band in the days of llerod and destroyed the Roman eagle set up by the king over the great gate of the temple, being outraged by Herod's impiety. " The name 'Matthias' in Greek would be ' The-odorus,' and this is equivalent to ' Theudas.'" But perhaps it is best to say that this Theudas was an obscure individual who is not mentioned elsewhere. The name was a common one.

THIEF, THIEVES, THE TWO. Theft is always severely punished in rude societies. The Mosaic Law is severe. The thefts would naturally be, among the Jews, of live-stock most frequently; accordingly, the Law, Ex. 22 : 1-4, limits itself to only this class of cases. Restitution was obligatory— five oxen in return for one stolen, four sheep for one. Resistance to robbery even to the death was innocent. If the thief did not or could not restore, he was to be sold for his theft. Pro v. 6 : 31 mentions a sevenfold restitution, and Lev. 6 : 1-5 also apparently conflicts with Exodus, because it lays down a trespass-offering and the restoration of the principal and the fifth part more. Perhaps the Law varied. It added to the ignominy of our Lord's position that he was crucified between thieves, or, more properlj', robbers. Tradition calls the penitent thief Demas, or Dismas; the impenitent, Gestas. It is probable that at first they both reviled him, but his noble courage softened the heart of "Dismas" into admiration, love, and belief. Luke 23 : 32, 39-43.

THIGH. The practice of putting the hand under the thigh might denote the obedience or subjection of the individual, or it might be connected with the rite of circumcision as a token of God's faithfulness. Gen. 24 : 2. The inscription upon the thigh. Rev. 19 : IC), alludes to the custom of inscribing the names and deeds of conquerors on tlieir garments and weapons. The name might be inscribed on the sword, which was

girded on the thigh, or on that j>art of the dress which covered the thigh. Jacob's thigh was smitten by the angel, Gen. 32 : 2.'), to show that he had su])er-natural power, and that he yielded in mercy and not from necessity. See Jacob.

THIM'NATHAH, now Tihneh, north-east of Lydda. Josh. 19 : 43. See

TiMNAlI, 1.

THISTLES AND THORNS.

Gen. 3 : 18. Palestine abounds in all manner of such ])lants, as is indicated by the fact that about eighteen different Hebrew words for them are found in the 0. T. These arc translated by " bramble," " brier," the above terms, and a few others, without much method or consistency.

The figurative use of these plants denotes desolation. Prov. 24 : 31 ; Isa. 5:6; IIos. 2:6: 9:6: 10 : 8 ; the visitations of Providence, Num. 33 : 65: Jud. 2 : 3 ; 2 Cor. 12:7; difiiculties and hindrances, Prov. 15 : 19; and troubles. Prov. 22 : 5.

The " crowning with thorns," Matt. 27 : 29, was ])robably the wanton invention of the Roman soldiery, and made no pait of the established j)unishment. Very possibly the Saviour's enemies used for this purpose the twigs of the Christ-thorn [ZiziiphuH tipiiia-Chn'sti), which are slen-

Palestine Thorn (Zizi/phus Spina-Christi).

der, yet armed with terrible spines, and are still found growing in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

In the Holy Land various kinds of buckthorn, with other allied and equally formidable shrubs, are abundant, as is also the box-thorn ( Li/ciuin Europirum). True thistles and thistle-like centaureas are common. In the Jordan valley a solanum (*S'. uuuctuiu) grows from 3 to 5

S61

Tito

THO

feet high, clothed with spines. Tristram ' observed that the common bramble {Rnbns fructicodits) was very abundant between the ancient Beth-shean and the fords of Succoth, and these were perhaps the thorns of Jud. 8 : 7, 16. The most formidable of all is that herbaceous plant the acanthus, well called by botanists spiyiosus. These are a few of the multitude of thistles and thorns that cover the land and often choke the very crops. Matt. 13 : 7.

Of the shrubby burnet Miss M. E. Rogers justly says: "No plant or bush is so common on the hills of Judaea, Galilee, and Carmel as this. It is used extensively for fuel, especially for the bakers' ovens, and the ' crackling of thorns under a pot,' Eccl. 7 : 6, may often be heard in Palestine."

This low burnet is commonly pulled up and laid upon the tops of the mud walls enclosing houses or gardens. Being held in place with clay, few animals or men will attempt to cross a wall thus guarded. Often the still more formidable Christ-thorn is used for the same purpose, illustrating Hos. 2 : 6.

A traveller in Judaea remarks: "As we rode through Ri]ihah we perceived it to be a settlement of about fifty dwellings, all very mean in their appearance, and every one fenced in front with thorn-bushes, while a barrier of the same kind encircled the whole of the town. This was one of the most effectual defences which they could have raised against the incursions of horse-riding Arabs, the only enemies whom they have to dread, as neither will the horse approach to entangle himself in these thickets of brier, nor could the rider, even if he dismounted, get over them, or remove them to clear a passage without assistance from some one within.

" There are a great many more thorny plants in Palestine than in America, and these plants love the wheat-fields. The farmers have a habit of going out before these thorns go to seed and gathering them with a sickle and forked stick, and burning them or threshing them out for the donkeys to eat. But some fai'mers are lazy and do not take this trouble, and sometimes even an industrious farmer will neglect a corner of his field, and it will presently be overrun with coarse 862

thorns. But the stalks of these thorns rot away and disappear in the winter, and only their seeds remain concealed in the ground at the season of sowing. The earth looks like that of the rest of the field, and the farmer ploughs in his seed with a good heart in hopes of an abundant return. But the thorns spring up with the wheat, and, being much stronger, their roots soon twine about those of the wheat and absorb all the water from the ground in which they both grow together, and their branches overshadow the green blades, and so the plants either make no seeds, or so few and poor ones that the farmer does not care to pick out the stalks from the thorns, and he either burns them together or threshes out all as food for his donkey. Matt. 13 : 18-23." —Post.

THOM'AS {tivin), one of the twelve apostles, was also called " Didymus" (''the twin"). We know little of his history. He seems to have been of singular temperament, cautious, sceptical, thoughtful, and gloomy, yet holding fast tenaciouslv what he once believed. John 11 : 16 ; ■ 14 : 5 ; 20 : 20-29. He represents the honest, truth-loving scepticism among the apostles; he would not believe in the resurrection till he had tangible evidence of it, but then he exclaimed, " My Lord and my God!" Those who, not having seen, yet believe, are highly commended. There are various traditions in regard to his history after the ascension of Christ. The earlier represent him as preaching in Persia; the later, in India. He suffered martyrdom.

THORN IN THE FLESH, PAUL'S. In two passages, 2 Cor. 12 : 7-10 and Gal. 4:14, 15, Paul alludes to some circumstance or infliction which hindered his ministry ; but, as he does not say what it was, but calls it merely a " stake in the flesh," there have been numerous conjectures. This is one of the questions, as Dean Stanley well says, " where the obscurity for us is occasioned by the very fact that it was plain to contemporaries." The explanations which have at various times been advanced may be divided into three classes :

1. Spiritual triah. — Either sensual temptations, as is the favorite view of Roman Catholic writers, or temptations to unbelief, doubts arising from the

THO

THR

memory of his sinful past; so Luther and Calvin and other of the Reformers.

2. External citlamitieti. —Either his persecutions and sufferings or else his Judaizing opponents, as Chrysostom and the Greek Fathers thought, I3ut some of the ancient and mediieval as well as the modern commentators have been dissatisfied with these explanations because they do not meet the difficulty, and accordingly have favored—

3. Some bodili/ ailment. —Almost every disorder—pleurisy, the stone, defect of utterance, hypochrondria, headache, earache, epilepsy, acute ophthalmia—has been suggested and advocated by the fathers and schoolmen. Tradition supports the notion that the " thorn " was some sort of pain in the head. According to modern opinion, the choice lies between epilepsy and acute ophthalmia. In favor of the former is the life Paul led, his trances, his enthusiasm followed by depression, his enormous nervous strain; this would be enough to shatter his system. But against any such notion is Paul's physical activity, his balanced mind, his self-control, and his confidence. No such objection seems to lie against acute ophthalmia—a disease which is quite common in the East. It may well have been caused in his case by the bright light which fell upon his eyes at his conversion, and increased, or at least not lessened, by his wandering, laborious life. There are many indications that this interpretation of the " thorn " is correct. Paul says that theGalatians would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him, Gal. 4 : 15 ; the very word he uses, 2 Cor. 12 : 7—" stake," not "thorn"—would, as Canon Farrar says, "most appropriately express the incisive pain of ophthalmia, which is as if a splinter were run into the eye." The disfigurement it causes would have made him the object of contempt and loathing he represents himself to have been. Gal. 4: 14; 2 Cor. 10 : 10. Paul's failure to recognize the high priest. Acts 23 : 5; his dread of being left alone, shown by his allusions to it as a trial, 1 Thess. 3 : 1; 2 Tim. 4: 16; his expression, "Ye see with what large letters I write unto you with my own hand," Gal. 6:11 ; his employment of an amanuensis for at least the major part of his Epistles, cf. Rom. 16 : 22,—these are facts looking in

the same direction. Accepting this interpretation, what light it throws upon the life of Paul ! llow it elevates our conception of his heroism ! how it increases our res[)ect for his work ! We see that he was not alile to move about or write as he would, but was dependent upon others ; and yet, notwithstaniling his suffering and his persecutions, his dimmed vision and his interrupted t(nl, he struggled and labored for his Master unto death.

THORNS. See Trtstles. THREE TAVERNS. See Taverns, Thk Thrrk.

THRESH, THRESH'ING-FLiDOR. The ancient threshing-places were selected on the highest summits, open on every side to the wind. Hence the point of rock over which the temple stood had been used for this purpose by Oman. 1 Chr. 21: 15-28. Though called "floors," they were nothing but flats of ground from 50 to 100 feet in diameter, annually levelled and rolled, so as to be as hard as a floor. Often there was, as is still frequently the case, but one such place for a village, and each husbandman, in a fixed order, must take his turn for using it.

The sheaves were thrown together in a loose heap, and the grain beaten out by a machine or by the feet of oxen. Deut. 25 : 4. The threshing-machine was formed of a heavy square frame with rollers, each of which was encircled by three or four iron rings or wheels serrated like the teeth of a saw. Isa. 41 : 15. 16. T h e machine was drawn by a pair of oxen, the driver sitting on a cross-piece fastened into the frame; and as the heavy rollers passed over it the grain

Thresliiiiii-InstnuneiitCup- waS crushed out

per view). on- every side,

an<l the straw, by being torn, was rendered suitable for fodder. Sometimes this frame was so constructed as to resemble a cart, Isa. 28 : 27, 28, and fur-

868

THR

THE

nishes a striking figure of violence and destruction. Am. 1:8; Hab. 3 : 12. As the grain accumulated it was formed into a great heap in the centre of the floor, around which the oxen were driven. It was customary for the owner to sleep near by to protect the grain from thieves. Ruth 3 : 2-14. Tender cereals were beaten out with a stick. Isa. 28 : 27. After the grain was threshed and winnowed (see Fan), the chaff was col lected on a neighboring hill and burned. Isa. 5 : 24 : Matt. 3:12. The fruits of the harvest were then doubtless sometimes stored in caves, as is now a common Syrian custom. Here grain is safe partly by superstition, and partly by a stifling gas which it generates in such

Threshing-Instrument (side view).

close places ( Underground Jerusalem, p. 481).

Tristram says : " When winnowed and sifted the wheat is stored in underground pits. These ' silos,' or granaries, are hollow chambers about 8 feet deep, carefully cemented to exclude the damp, and with a circular opening about 15 inches in diameter, which could easily be concealed. In such receptacles the corn will keep good for several years. Many such may still be seen in different parts of the country. I have found them on Mount Carmel, often close to an ancient wine-press, and about many of the deserted cities of Southern Judah. Such a storehouse as those on Mount Carmel is probably alluded to in Jer. 41 : 8.

" Generally, owing to the insecure state of the country, these storehouses are made under the house, especially under the most retired portion, the apartments of the women." 2 Sam. 4:6; 17 : 18, 19. In the latter passage the well is probably the storehouse under the women's chamber.

In the interesting passage, Isa. 41 : 15, 16, " a new sharp threshing-instrument having teeth" is mentioned. One 864

of these instruments is thus described by a traveller in Syria in 18.37: " The threshing-instrument is a board about 3

Threshiug-Sledge of Palestine. A, Upper side ; B, Lower side.

feet wide, 6 or 8 feet long, and .3 inches thick. On the lower side many holes are made, from H to 2 inches in diameter, in which are fastened pieces of stone, flint, or iron. These project, it may be, from a half to three-quarters of an inch from the face of the board, and serve as teeth to tear the beards of the grain in pieces. Oxen are fastened to the forward end of the board and driven round the floor, drawing it after them. The driver of the oxen usually stands or sits on the instrument. This is the common threshing-instrument in these countries. I saw it everywhere, and I have seen no other. The oxen are usually without muzzles, and are often, as they pass around, taking up from time to time a few straws and feeding on them. I do not recollect of seeing the horse used in any instance on the barn-floor—the oxen very often." See Agriculture.

THRONE, the seat of a king on state occasions. In the East the usual position is squatting or reclining; hence a chair is a seat of some dignity. 2 Kgs. 4: 10. The word ''chair," with the notion of royalty, is the Hebrew word for "throne," the chair of the king, such as David, 2 Sam. 3 : 10, and Solomon sat upon, 1 Kgs. 2:12: 7:7, when they dispensed judgment. The throne of Solomon was quite unique. 1 Kgs. 10 : 20. It was made of wood inlaid with ivory and covered with gold, except Avhere the ivory showed. It was approached by six steps, each step having upon it two lions; thus the twelve lions symbolized the twelve tribes. The chair had arms, upon which were lions. (See cut.) The back was rounded. When the king sat

THU

THY

upon his throne he was clad in royal robes. 1 Kgs. 22 : 10 ; Acts 12 : 21. Naturally, the throne being the sign

A Chair of State or Thiorie. (From Assyrian Monuments at Khorsabad. After Layard.)

of royalty, the word is applied to the centre of divine authority and used in other figurative waj's.

THUM'MIM. Ex. 28 : 30. SeeTTum.

THUX'DER is very rare in Palestine from the middle of April to the middle of September. Hence it was a striking miracle when, in answer to Samuel's praj'er, God sent thunder and rain in wheat-harvest (May 18 to June 15). 1 Sam. 12:17. Thunder was regarded as Jehovah's voice. Job 37 : 2 ; Ps. 18 : 13: 81 : 7; Isa. 30 : 30, 31. When the people heard God's voice, they said that it thundered. John 12 : 29. Thunder accompanied the giving of the Law. Ex. 19: 16. It was a symbol of divine power, implying possible vengeance upon wrong-doers. 1 Sam. 2:10; 2 Sam. 22 : U : Isa. 29 : 6 ; Rev. 8 : 5.

TH YATI'RA, a city of Asia Minor, on the northern border of Lydia, near the road from Pergamo^ to Sardis, and some 27 miles from the latter city. It lay near the river Lycus and was a Macedonian colony, bearing successively the names of Pelopia, Semiraiuis. and Euhippia. Dyeing was an in)portant branch of its business from Homer's 55

time, and the first N. T. mention of Thyatira, Acts 16: 14, connects it with the purple seller, Lydia. Three votive inscriptions have been found among its ruins purporting to have come.from the guild of "The Dyers." It has been supposed that jierhaps Lydia returned to her own city and aided in establishing Christianity there. Thyatira was the seat of one of the seven churches of Asia. Rev. 2 : 18-29. Its population was made up of various races, and it is a question what is meant by the reference to Jezebel. A shrine stood outside the walls, in the midst of the " Chal-dtean's court," dedicated to Sambath, a sibyl, Chaldaean, Jewish, or Persian. Grotius refers it to the wife of the bishop.

Present Condition. —The city is now called uk-HisHitr, or "white castle." The scarlet cloth dyed there has the reputation of being unsurpassed for brilliancy and permanence of color. The population is estimated at from 17,000 to 20,000. There are a Greek church and several mosques.

TIIY'INE-WOOD. This was ob-

Thyine-Wood {Thuya Articulata).

tained from a small tree (Thui/n articulata) belonging to the cone-bearing or-

TIB

der and resembling our cedar and arbor- j vitae. It was highly valued by the Romans, in the days of their luxury, for eabinct-work, being very compact and fragrant and of a handsome brown, often variegated by knots. It was obtained in Northern Africa, and from it is still collected the true gum-sanda-rach. Rev. 18 : 12.

TIBE'RIAS, a town of Galilee, situated on the western bank of the Sea of Galilee, which is called ''the Sea of Tiberias " only by John, who was the last of the N. T. writers. John 6 : 1; 21 : 1.

History. —The city is only once mentioned in the N. T. John 6 : 2'-^. Although it was an important and busy town in Christ's time, there is no record that he ever visited it. It was then a new city, built by Herod Antipas, A. D. 16-22, and named in honor of the emperor Tiberias. Josephus, who mentions the city very frequently, says that Herod built it on a site where were ancient sepulchres belonging to an extinct and forgotten city. Thus it was unclean to the Jews, and Herod brought in many strangers, foreigners, and slaves. A palace was erected, with an amphitheatre, bathhouses, temples, and costly works of art. An aqueduct 9 miles long brought in fresh water. During the Jewish wars Josephus fortified Tiberias. After Jerusalem was destroyed the Sanhedrin settled here, and for many centuries it was one of the most celebrated seats of Jewish learning. The Jewish Mlshna. or ancient traditional law, and the Masorah were compiled here.

Present Condition. —The modern city called Tuhariya stands on the southwestern shore of the lake, some \ miles from its southern extremity, in lat. 32° 46' 14". It occupies only a small portion of the ground covered by the ancient city, the remains of which stretch southward for a mile and a quarter, to the hot springs. Many of the old stones have been removed for use in the modern buildings, but some very fine specimens of polished marble and black basalt remain. For view, see Galh-ke, Ska of.

The modern city is surrounded on the land-side by a wall much broken and not repaired. The great earthquake on New Year's day, 18.37, overthrew the city and destroyed six hundred lives. A small church standing on the reputed site of

St. Peter's house, and a mosquo half in ruins, are the principal buildings to attract attention. Although the town is extremely picturesque as seen from the distance, with its wall, minaret, and palm trees, it is found on closer acquaintance to be in a state of filth whicli even in the East can be scarcely paralleled. This is aggravated by the excessive heat, the temperature often attaining 100° Fahr. Tiberias is still one of the four holy cities of the Jews, and more than one-half of tlie inhabitants are Jews of the poorer class, who live, in great measure, on the alms sent by their coreligionists in various j)arts of the world. Many of the Jews are imuiigrants from Poland. There are also Mohammedans and Christians. The j)opulation is some 3000 or 4000. The famous hot springs, to the south, are still much resorted to for medicinal purposes. The temperature ranges from 131° to 142° Fahr. On a slight eminence, 1 mile west of the town, lies the Jewish burial-ground, in which some of the most celebrated of the .Jewish Talmudists are interred.

TIBE RIAS, THE SEA OF. John 6 : 1 ; 21:1. See Galilee, SfiA of.

Head of Kniiieior Tiberiii.s. (From a Com.)

TIBERIUS, CLAU'DIUS NERO (full title), Luke 3 : 1, was the

TIB

TIM

step-son and successor of Augustus, Luke 2 : 1, and, though with some apparent virtues, was one of the most infamous tyrants that ever scourged the empire of Rome. All the events of Christ's manhood took place during this reign. He began well, but quickly "degenerated into a gloomy despot." Madness was probably the excuse for his cruelties. He began his reign a. d. 14, reigned during the eventful period of the succeeding twenty-three years, and was finally murdered bv suffocation.

TIB'HATH (butchery). 1 Chr. 18 : 8. See Betah.

TIB'NI {building of Jehovah), a claimant to the throne of Israel, and one who for four years headed half the people in a struggle against Omri, whom the army had proclaimed king after Zimri's death. Tibni was defeated, and probably killed. 1 Kgs. 16 : 21, 22.

TI'DALi {(jreut son), a king who joined Chedorlaomer. Gen. 14 : 1-9.

TIG LATH-PILE'SER {my help is the son of Esarras —i. e., Adar), " the second Assyrian king mentioned in the Scriptures as having come irlto contact with the Israelites," and the second of the name. He invaded Samaria. 2 Kgs. 15 : 29, and after some years he returned and did much more damage, destroying Damascus and taking many captives, 1 Chr. 5 : 26. The occasion of the first attack was probably the refusal of Pe-kah to pay tribute: of the second, the call of Ahaz upon him for assistance against Pekah and Rezin, the king of Syria. Tiglath-pileser at Damascus met Ahaz, who became his vassal. 2 Kgs. 16 : 10. His wars were insignificant. He reigned b. c. 747-739, having probably usurped the throne.

TI'GRIS. Gen. 2: 14. SeeHiDDEKEL.

TIK VAH, TIK'VATH {expectation). 1. The father-in-law of Hul-dah the prophetess. 2 Kgs. 22:14; 2 Chr. 34 : 22.

2. The father of Jahaziah. Ezr.lO:15.

TIJLE, TILING. See Dwelling, p. 243

TIL'GATH-PILNE'SER, a corruption of Tiglath-pileser, which see.

TI'LON {lofty), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4 : 20.

TIMiE'US {polluted?), the father (taris Aramaic for "son "}of aman whom Jesus cured of blindness. Mark 10 : 46. 868

TIM'BRELi, a musical instrument, supposed to have resembled very nearly the instrument of modern days called the tambourine. Ex. 15 : 20. A skin is stretched over a rim like the end of a drum; around the rim are hung little

Timbrel. {After specimen in Kensington Museum, London.)

bells, and the player strikes the skin with the knuckles of one hand and shakes it with the other hand. It was used in ancient times chiefly by women.

TIME. See Days, Hours, Watches OF THE Night.

TIM'NA, TIM'NAH (restrained). 1. The concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and mother of Amalek. Gen, 36 : 12, 22 ; 1 Chr. 1 : 39.

2. An Edomite sheik. Gen. 36 : 40; 1 Chr. 1:51.

TIM'NAH {portion assigned), a name of two towns.

1. A town on the northern border of Judah, Josh. 15 : 10, occupied by the Philistines. 2 Chr. 28 : 18. This is probably the same place which is called Thimnathah, Thamnatha, and Timnath, and which apparently belonged to Dan. It is now represented by the modern Tibneh, a ruin on a hill 740 feet above the sea-level and 2 miles west from Beth-shemesh.

2. A town in the mountains of Judah, south of Hebron, Josh. 15:57,- probably a ruin called Tibna, near Jeba, and about 9 miles south of west of Bethlehem.

TIMNATH, AND TIM'NA-THAH (portion assigned), the name of two places.

1. A place to which Judah was going when he was met by his daughter-in-

TIM

law Tamar, Gen. 38:12-14; perhaps identical with Timnah, 1.

2. The home of Samson's wife, Jud. 14 : 1, 2, 5 ; probably also identical with Timnah, above, the modern Tibneh, west of Beth-shemesh. There are traces of ancient cultivation and rock-hewn winepresses, suggesting the vineyards in which he slew the lion.

TIM'NATH-HE'RES. Jud. 2 :

9. See TiMNATH-SKKAII.

TIM'NATH-SE'RAH {portion

of nhunilatice), AND TIM'NATH-HE'RES {portion of the sun), a city in Ejjhraim assigned to .Joshua, and the place of his residence and burial. Jud. 2:9; Josh. 19 . 50 ; 24 : 30.

1. Christian tradition points to a Tibneh (not that under Timnath), on the Roman road from Jerusalem to Antipatris and some 14^ miles north-north-west of Jerusalem as the site of ancient Timnath-serah. Jerome speaks of this place as on the border between the possessions of Dan and Judah. The ruin of Tibneh has a remarkable rock-cemetery, containing nine tombs, south of the site of the town; one of these tombs is large, with a portico supported on rude piers of rock. There are niches for over two hundred lamps, once burning in front of the tomb-entrance. Within there is a chamber with fourteen graves, or ko-kim, and a passage leads into an inner chamber with only one koka. There is no direct evidence of the date of this tomb, which some have regarded as the tomb of Joshua, but this is hardly probable. Another curious fact is that near the tomb is a great oak tree called xheikh et-Teim, ''the chief of the servant of God." There is also a village, about 3 miles to the east, called Kefr lahu'a, or "Joshua's village."

2. Another site proposed for Timnath-heres or -serah is at Kefr Hdris, 9 miles south of NdfilitH (Shechem). The Samaritans state that Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb were here buried. The two tombs of Caleb and Joshua were noticed here by Rabbi Jacob of Paris, a. n. 1258. Conder inclines to this as the burial-place of Joshua, since Jew and Samaritan both point to it. (See picture of the tomb of Joshua under Joshi:a.)

TIll'NITE, THE (/. f., the Tim-nathite), Samson's father-in-law. Jud. 15: 6.

TI'MON {honoring), one of the seven deacons ordained by the apostles on the election of the Jerusalem church. Acts 6 : 5.

TIMO'THEUS {honoring God), the Greek name of Timothy, used generally in A. V. Acts 16 : 1.

TIM'OTHY {honoring God), an evangelist and pupil of St. Paul. lie was a Lycaonian, a native of either Derbe or Lystra. His father was a Greek and a heathen; his mother, Eunice, was a Jewess, and a woman of distinguished piety, as was also his grandmother, Lois, 2 Tim. 1 : 5, and by them lie was earl}' educated in the holy scriptures of the O.T. 2 Tim. 3: 15. Paul found him in one of the cities above named, and, being informed of his good standing among the Christians there, selected him as an assistant in his labors, and, to avoid the cavils of the Jews, performed on him the rite of circumcision. 1 Cor. 9 : 20. He afterward became the companion of Paul, and that he was the object of the extraordinary affection and solicitude of that apostle his letters plainly show. He was left in charge of the church at Ephesus, and that, probably', when he was quite young, thirty-four or thirty-five. 1 Tim. 4 : 12. The post-apostolic tradition makes him bishop of Ephesus. In that case he would be the " angel " of that church addressed in Rev. 2 : 1-7, or his predecessor.

Epistles of Paul to. These, with that to Titus, are commonly spoken of as the Pastoral Epistles because they are predominantly given up to directions about church work. The First i.s supposed to have been written about the year 64, and contains special instructions respecting the qualifications and the duties of sundry ecclesiastical officers and other persons, and the most affectionate and pungent exhortations to faithfulness. The Second f]pistle was written a year or two later and while Paul was in constant expectation of martyrdom, 2 Tim. 4 : 6-8, and may be regarded as the dying counsel of the venerable apostolic father to his son in the Lord. It contains a variety of injunctions as to the duties of Christians under trials and temptations, and concludes with expressions of a full and triumphant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in all the ghtrious promises made to his true followers.

TIN

TIS

TIN, a well-known metal in use at a very early period, Num. 31 : 22, and an article of Tyrian commerce, probably obtained from Spain or England. Eze. 27 : 12. Captain Burton has recently found tin-ore in the land of Midian.

In Isa. 1: 25 the word '' tin " doubtless means a sort of dross.

TINK'LING. See Bell, Clothes.

TIPH'SAH [ford), a name for two places.

1. A city on the western bank of the Euphrates. The name connected with the Hebrew word signifies " to pass over," which is represented in Greek and Latin by Thaps<Huis, a town situated at one of the most frequented fords of the Euphrates. The city was large and flourishing, being a great emporium of trade between Assyria and the West, and in a direct line from Tadmor. It has been found that the only practicable ford of the Euphrates is at Hammam, 181 miles higher up the river than Deir, which was formerly thought to be the true position, but where the river is not fordable. 1 Kgs. 4 : 24.

2. Menahem, king of Israel, "smote Tiphsah and all that vere therein, and the coasts thereof." 2 Kgs. 15 : 16. This place has been identified with the above, but some leading scholars would put this Tiphsah in Palestine, near to Tirzah, or a ford of the Jordan. Conder suggests its identity with the ruin Tafsah, south of Shechem.

TI'RAS {desire F), the voungest son of Japheth. Gen. 10 : 2; *1 Chr. 1 : 5. Probably the Thracians are meant.

TI'RATHITES, THE (gate), one of three families of Levites at Jabez. 1 Chr. 2 : 55.

TIRES. This generally denotes an ornamental head-dress, but it may mean other parts of the attire; and in Isa. 3 : 18 the original probably signifies a necklace, the parts of which might have resembled the moon in shape.

TIR'HAKAH {exalted n, king of Ethiopia and Upper Egypt. 2 Kgs. 19 : 9 ; Isa. 37 : 9. In legends he was one of the greatest conquerors of antiquity. His triumphs westward are said to have reached the Pillars of Hercules. But in the East he seems to have been twice badly beaten by the Assyrians and shut up in his own domains. Still, he Avas formidable enough to cause Sennacherib 870

great uneasiness; for when the latter heard of his coming he demanded the immediate surrender of Jerusalem. 2 Kgs. 19 : 9. Tirhakah reigned, probably, twenty-eight years. The dates are uncertain, but perhaps his rule extended from B. c. 695 to 667.

TIR'HANAH {favor), a son of Caleb, son of Hezron. 1 Chr. 2 : 48.

TIR'IA {f/od/i/ fear), a descendant of Judah. 1 Chr. 4:" 16.

TIR'SHATHA, THE {lord of the province), the title of the Persian governors. Ezr. 2 : 63; Neh. 7 : 65, 70 ; 8 : 9 : 10 : 1.

TIR'ZAH {charm), the youngest of the five daughters of Zelophehad. Num. 26:33; 27:1: 36:11: Josh. 17 : 3.

TIR'ZAH {deli;/ht), one of the thirty-one cities of the Canaanites taken by Joshua, Josh. 12 : 24, and for fifty years the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, until Omri built Samaria. 1 Kgs. 14 : 17; 16 : 21, 33; 16 : 6, 23. It is also mentioned in the reign of Menahem, b. c. 772, 2 Kgs. 16 : 14, 16, and its fame for beauty appears from Cant. 6:4. Tirzah has been usually identified with Telluzah, situated on a hill 2 miles north-east of Mount Ebal, 5 miles east of Samaria, and 30 miles north of Jerusalem. The village occupies a fine elevation in the midst of immense olive-groves. Wilson and Conder, however, dispute this identification, and favor instead that at Teidatr, an important and ancient site, standing in the midst of a well-wooded country on the main road from Aahlun (Shechem) to Beisan (Beth-shean), and 12 miles east of Samaria. There are numerous ancient sepulchres and caves north of the village, which may perhaps include the tombs of the first four kings of Israel, buried at Tirzah. 1 Kgs. 16 : 6.

TISH'BAH, the birthplace of Elijah, 1 Kgs. 17 : 1, who is therefore called the Tishbite, probably identical with El-Istib, or Listib, 22 miles in an air line south of the Sea of Galilee, and 10 miles east of the Jordan, in the Wady March, amid the hills of Gilead. Parchi, a learned Jewish traveller in Palestine in the fourteenth century, mentions El-Istib as the probable site, but the credit of the identification belongs to Dr. Selah Merrill, who in 1876 found the spot.

TISH'BITE. SeeTiSHBAH.

TIS

TOB

TIS'RI. See Month.

TITHES, OR TE\TIIS, a form of tax known long before the time of Moses, Gen. 14 : 20 : 28 : 21'. and practised under the civil and religious government of heathen nations. It was introduced into the Levitical code, and consisted in rendering a fixed proportion of the produce of the earth, herds, etc., to the service of Hod their King, whom they were taught to consider as the proprietor of all. One-tenth of this produce went to the use of the Levites, who had no part in the soil, and of course were dependent on their brethren for the means of subsistence. One-tenth of their tenth thev paid in their turn to the priests. Num. 18': 21-32.

The nine parts were tithed again, and of this second tithe a feast was made in the court of the sanctuary, or in some apartment connected with it. If, however, the Jew could not with convenience carry his tithe thither, he was permitted to sell it and to take the money, adding one-fifth of the amount—that is, if he sold the tithe for a dollar, he should bring, in money, a dollar and twenty cents—and to purchase therewith v/hat was required at the feast after he came to the sanctuary. Lev. 27 : 31; Deut. 12 : 17, 18; 14:22-27.

At this feast of thanksgiving they entertained their families and friends, and also the Levites, It has been supposed by some, from Deut. 14 : 28, 29, that in every third year a third tithe was required, but it is more probable that in the third year the second tithe above mentioned was consumed at home, instead of at the sanctuary, so that the poor neighbors and friends, and especially such as were aged and infirm, might partake of it.

The cattle were tithed by letting them pass out of an enclosure, under a rod held by some person, who touched every tenth beast, which thereupon became the property of the Levites ; so that, if exchanged, both were forfeited. Lev. 27 : 32, ;i3.

It does not appear that the tithe of herbs was demanded. The Pharisees, however, tithed their mint, anise, cummin, and rue; nor was it for this that our Saviour condemned them, but for neglecting weightier things, as mercy, judgment, and faith, while they were

so scrupulously exact in matters of inferior moment. Matt. 23 : 23.

TIT'TLE, the very least point, Matt. 5 : 18; used of the fine stroke by which some letters were distinguished. To omit this stroke condemned the entire copy of the Law made by the scribe.

TI'TUS, a (Jentilc by descent, and probably converted to Christianity under the preaching of Paul. Tit. 1 : 4. lie, however, refused to subject him to the rite of circumcision, though, as some have inferred, he was strongly urged so to do. Gial. 2 : 3-5. Titus was the companion of Paul in manj'^ of his trials and missionary-tours, 2 Cor. 8 : 6, 16, 23, and was entrusted with several important commissions. 2 Cor. 12 : 18; 2 Tim. 4 : 10; Tit. 1 : 5.

EiMSTLK OF Paul to, was designed to instruct Titus in the right discharge, of his ministerial offices in Crete, a dilficult field, owing to the character of the inhabitants, who were noted for lying, idleness, and gluttony. Tit. 1 : 12. The Epistle was probably written from Asia Minor in the year 65, when Paul was on his way to Nicopolis.

TI'ZITE, THE, the designation given to Joha, one of David's mighty men. 1 Chr. 11 : 45.

TO'AH {inclined), a Kohathite Le-vite, 1 Chr. 6:34; called Tohu in I Sam. 1 : 1.

TOB (r/ood), the place or district be-3'ond the Jordan to which Jephthah fled, Jud. 11: 3, 5 ; also called Ish-tob. 2 Sam. 10 : 6, 8. It lay beyond Gilead, toward the eastern deserts. There is a modern place called Tniyibet, an Arabic form of " Tob," 12 miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee, which would identify it with the southern {lart of Bashan.

TOB-ADONl'JAH {.jood is mij Lord Jehordk), one of the Levites sent by Jehoshaphat to teach .ludah the law of the Lord. 2 Chr. 17 : 8.

TOBI'AH iifoodnesH of Jehovah). 1. One whose descendants came from Babylon with Zcrubbabel, but who could not prove whether they were of Israel, owing to the loss of their family-tree. Ezr. 2 : 60; Xeh. 7 : 62.

2. An Ammonite of considerable influence, and a leader in the opposition which was made to the rebuilding of the temple b}' Neheiniah. Being connected by marriage with some influen-

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