Part 11

•DEVIL (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Revelation 2:10; Zechariah 3:1). He is called also "the accuser of the brethen" (Revelation 12:10).

In Leviticus 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew sair, meaning a "goat" or "satyr" (Isaiah 13:21; 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship among the heathen.

In Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalm 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew shed, meaning Lord, and idol, regarded by the Jews as a "demon," as the word is rendered in the Revised Version.

In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the "casting out of devils" a different Greek word (daimon) is used. In the time of our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal possession (Matthew 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).

•DEW "There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as

cold as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago (Genesis 31:40). To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant-life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands. At sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. By the kindling light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which presently break into separate masses and rise up the mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by the increasing heat. These are 'the morning clouds and the early dew that go away' of which Hosea (6:4; 13:3) speaks so touchingly" (Geikie's The Holy Land, etc., i., p. 72). Dew is a source of great fertility (Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 33:13; Zechariah 8:12), and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God (2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1). It is the symbol of a multitude (2 Samuel 17:12; Psalm 110:3); and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of brotherly love and harmony (Psalm 133:3), and of rich spiritual blessings (Hos. 14:5).

•DIADEM the tiara of a king (Ezekiel 21:26; Isaiah 28:5; 62:3); the turban (Job 29:14). In the New Testament a careful distinction is drawn between the diadem as a badge of royalty (Revelation 12:3; 13:1; 19:12) and the crown as a mark of distinction in private life. It is not known what the ancient Jewish "diadem" was. It was the mark of Oriental sovereigns. (See CROWN.)

•DIAL for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isaiah 38:8). The Hebrew word (ma'aloth) is rendered "steps" in Exodus 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and "degrees" in 2 Kings 20:9, 10, 11. The ma'aloth was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high.

Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Daniel 3:6) is the first to make mention of the "hour."

•DIAMOND (1.) A precious gem (Hebrews yahalom', in allusion to its hardness), otherwise unknown, the sixth, i.e., the third in the second row,

in the breastplate of the high priest, with the name of Naphtali engraven on it (Exodus 28:18; 39:11; R.V. marg., "sardonyx.")

(2.) A precious stone (Hebrews shamir', a sharp point) mentioned in Jeremiah 17:1. From its hardness it was used for cutting and perforating other minerals. It is rendered "adamant" (q.v.) in Ezekiel 3:9, Zechariah 7:12. It is the hardest and most valuable of precious stones.

•DIANA so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the "great" goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was built outside the city walls, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. "First and last it was the work of 220 years; built of shining marble; 342 feet long by 164 feet broad; supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high; a sacred museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At the centre, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have fallen from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as in 'the safest bank in Asia,' nations and kings stored their most precious things. The temple as St. Paul saw it subsisted till A.D. 262, when it was ruined by the Goths" (Acts 19:23-41)., Moule on Ephesians: Introd.

•DIBLAIM doubled cakes, the mother of Gomer, who was Hosea's wife (Hos. 1:3).

•DIBLATHAIM two cakes, a city of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea (Numbers 33:46; Jeremiah 48:22).

•DIBON pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Numbers 21:30); called also Dibon-gad (33:45), because it was built by Gad and Dimon (Isaiah 15:9). It has been identified with the modern Diban, about 3 miles north of the Arnon and 12 miles east of the Dead Sea. (See Moabite Stone.)

(2.) A city of the tribe of Judah, inhabited after the Captivity (Nehemiah 11:25); called also Dimonah (Joshua 15:22). It is probably the modern ed-Dheib.

•DIDYMUS (Gr. twin = Hebrews Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2.

•DIMNAH dunghill, a city of Zebulun given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:35). In 1 Chronicles 6:77 the name "Rimmon" is substituted.

•DINAH judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi (Genesis 30:21). She was seduced by Shechem, the son of

Hamor, the Hivite chief, when Jacob's camp was in the neighbourhood of Shechem. This led to the terrible revenge of Simeon and Levi in putting the Shechemites to death (Genesis 34). Jacob makes frequent reference to this deed of blood with abhorrence and regret (Genesis 34:30; 49:5-7). She is mentioned among the rest of Jacob's family that went down into Egypt (Genesis 46:8, 15).

•DINE (Genesis 43:16). It was the custom in Egypt to dine at noon. But it is probable that the Egyptians took their principal meal in the evening, as was the general custom in the East (Luke 14:12).

•DINHABAH robbers' den, an Edomitish city, the capital of king Bela (Genesis 36:32). It is probably the modern Dibdiba, a little north-east of Petra.

•DIONYSIUS the Areopagite, one of Paul's converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).

•DIOTREPHES Jove-nourished, rebuked by John for his pride (3 John 1:9). He was a Judaizer, prating against John and his fellow-labourers "with malicious words" (7).

•DISCIPLE a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16), but principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matthew 10:24; Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 6:69).

•DISH for eating from (2 Kings 21:13). Judas dipped his hand with a "sop" or piece of bread in the same dish with our Lord, thereby indicating friendly intimacy (Matthew 26:23). The "lordly dish" in Judges 5:25 was probably the shallow drinking cup, usually of brass. In Judges 6:38 the same Hebrew word is rendered "bowl."

The dishes of the tabernacle were made of pure gold (Exodus 25:29; 37:16).

•DISHAN antelope, the youngest son of Seir the Horite, head of one of the tribes of Idumaea (Genesis 36:21, 28, 30).

•DISPENSATION (Gr. oikonomia, "management," "economy"). (1.) The method or scheme according to which God carries out his purposes towards men is called a dispensation. There are usually reckoned three dispensations, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic or Jewish, and the Christian.

(See COVENANT, Administration of.) These were so many stages in God's unfolding of his purpose of grace toward men. The word is not found with this meaning in Scripture.

(2.) A commission to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2; Colossians 1:25).

Dispensations of Providence are providential events which affect men either in the way of mercy or of judgement.

•DISPERSION (Gr. diaspora, "scattered," James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1) of the Jews. At various times, and from the operation of divers causes, the Jews were separated and scattered into foreign countries "to the outmost parts of heaven" (Deuteronomy 30:4).

(1.) Many were dispersed over Assyria, Media, Babylonia, and Persia, descendants of those who had been transported thither by the Exile. The ten tribes, after existing as a separate kingdom for two hundred and fifty-five years, were carried captive (B.C. 721) by Shalmaneser (or Sargon), king of Assyria. They never returned to their own land as a distinct people, although many individuals from among these tribes, there can be no doubt, joined with the bands that returned from Babylon on the proclamation of Cyrus.

(2.) Many Jews migrated to Egypt and took up their abode there. This migration began in the days of Solomon (2 Kings 18:21, 24; Isaiah 30:7). Alexander the Great placed a large number of Jews in Alexandria, which he had founded, and conferred on them equal rights with the Egyptians. Ptolemy Philadelphus, it is said, caused the Jewish Scriptures to be translated into Greek (the work began B.C. 284), for the use of the Alexandrian Jews. The Jews in Egypt continued for many ages to exercise a powerful influence on the public interests of that country. From Egypt they spread along the coast of Africa to Cyrene (Acts 2:10) and to Ethiopia (8:27).

(3.) After the time of Seleucus Nicator (B.C. 280), one of the captains of Alexander the Great, large numbers of Jews migrated into Syria, where they enjoyed equal rights with the Macedonians. From Syria they found their way into Asia Minor. Antiochus the Great, king of Syria and Asia, removed 3,000 families of Jews from Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and planted them in Phrygia and Lydia.

(4.) From Asia Minor many Jews moved into Greece and Macedonia, chiefly for purposes of commerce. In the apostles' time they were found in considerable numbers in all the principal cities.

From the time of Pompey the Great (B.C. 63) numbers of Jews from Palestine and Greece went to Rome, where they had a separate quarter of the city assigned to them. Here they enjoyed considerable freedom.

Thus were the Jews everywhere scattered abroad. This, in the overruling providence of God, ultimately contributed in a great degree toward opening the way for the spread of the gospel into all lands.

Dispersion, from the plain of Shinar. This was occasioned by the confusion of tongues at Babel (Genesis 11:9). They were scattered abroad "every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations" (Genesis 10:5, 20,31).

The tenth chapter of Genesis gives us an account of the principal nations of the earth in their migrations from the plain of Shinar, which was their common residence after the Flood. In general, it may be said that the descendants of Japheth were scattered over the north, those of Shem over the central regions, and those of Ham over the extreme south. The following table shows how the different families were dispersed:

JAPHETH

| | | | The Greeks Etruscans Cyprians The Rhodians and and Romans Macedonians

SHEM

HAM

| ————————————————————————————————— | | | | Cush Mizraim Phut Canaan | | | | The Ethiopians The Egyptians and The Lybians and The Canaanites, and their colonies their colonies Mauritanians Phoenicians, and

their colonies

•DISTAFF (Hebrews pelek, a "circle"), the instrument used for twisting threads by a whirl (Proverbs 31:19).

•DIVINATION of false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Samuel 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Samuel 6:2), of Balaam (Joshua 13:22). Three kinds of divination are mentioned in Ezekiel 21:21, by arrows, consulting with images (the teraphim), and by examining the entrails of animals sacrificed. The practice of this art seems to have been encouraged in ancient Egypt. Diviners also abounded among the aborigines of Canaan and the Philistines (Isaiah 2:6; 1 Samuel 28). At a later period multitudes of magicians poured from Chaldea and Arabia into the land of Israel, and pursued their occupations (Isaiah 8:19; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6). This superstition widely spread, and in the time of the apostles there were "vagabond Jews, exorcists" (Acts 19:13), and men like Simon Magus (Acts 8:9), Bar-Jesus (13:6, 8),

and other jugglers and impostors (19:19; 2 Timothy 3:13). Every species and degree of this superstition was strictly forbidden by the law of Moses (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:26, 31; 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10, 11).

But beyond these various forms of superstition, there are instances of divination on record in the Scriptures by which God was pleased to make known his will.

(1.) There was divination by lot, by which, when resorted to in matters of moment, and with solemnity, God intimated his will (Joshua 7:13). The land of Canaan was divided by lot (Numbers 26:55, 56); Achan's guilt was detected (Joshua 7:16-19), Saul was elected king (1 Samuel 10:20, 21), and Matthias chosen to the apostleship, by the solem lot (Acts 1:26). It was thus also that the scape-goat was determined (Leviticus 16:8-10).

(2.) There was divination by dreams (Genesis 20:6; Deuteronomy 13:1, 3; Judges 7:13, 15; Matthew 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22). This is illustrated in the history of Joseph (Genesis 41:25-32) and of Daniel (2:27; 4:19-28).

(3.) By divine appointment there was also divination by the Urim and Thummim (Numbers 27:21), and by the ephod.

(4.) God was pleased sometimes to vouch-safe direct vocal communications to men (Deuteronomy 34:10; Exodus 3:4; 4:3; Deuteronomy 4:14, 15; 1 Kings 19:12). He also communed with men from above the mercy-seat (Exodus 25:22), and at the door of the tabernacle (Exodus 29:42, 43).

(5.) Through his prophets God revealed himself, and gave intimations of his will (2 Kings 13:17; Jeremiah 51:63, 64).

•DIVORCE The dissolution of the marriage tie was regulated by the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). The Jews, after the Captivity, were reguired to dismiss the foreign women they had married contrary to the law (Ezra 10:11-19). Christ limited the permission of divorce to the single case of adultery. It seems that it was not uncommon for the Jews at that time to dissolve the union on very slight pretences (Matthew 5:31, 32; 19:1-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18). These precepts given by Christ regulate the law of divorce in the Christian Church.

•DIZAHAB region of gold, a place in the desert of Sinai, on the western shore of the Elanitic gulf (Deuteronomy 1:1). It is now called Dehab.

•DOCTOR (Luke 2:46; 5:17; Acts 5:34), a teacher. The Jewish doctors taught and disputed in synagogues, or wherever they could find an audience. Their disciples were allowed to propose to them questions. They assumed the office without any appointment to it. The doctors of the law were principally of the sect of the Pharisees. Schools were established after the destruction of Jerusalem at Babylon and Tiberias, in which academical degrees were conferred on those who passed a certain examination. Those of the school of Tiberias were called by the title "rabbi," and those of Babylon by that of "master."

•DODAI loving, one of David's captains (1 Chronicles 27:4). (See DODO [2].)

•DODANIM leaders, a race descended from Javan (Genesis 10:4). They are known in profane history as the Dardani, originally inhabiting Illyricum. They were a semi-Pelasgic race, and in the ethnographical table (Genesis 10) they are grouped with the Chittim (q.v.). In 1 Chronicles 1:7, they are called Rodanim. The LXX. and the Samaritan Version also read Rhodii, whence some have concluded that the Rhodians, the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, are meant.

•DODO amatory; loving. (1.) A descendant of Issachar (Judges 10:1).

(2.) An Ahohite, father of Eleazar, who was one of David's three heroes (2 Samuel 23:9; 1 Chronicles 11:12). He was the same with Dodai mentioned in 1 Chronicles 27:4.

(3.) A Bethlehemite, and father of Elhanan, who was one of David's thirty heroes (2 Samuel 23:24).

•DOEG fearful, an Edomite, the chief overseer of Saul's flocks (1 Samuel 21:7). At the command of Saul he slew the high priest Ahimelech (q.v.) at Nob, together with all the priests to the number of eighty-five persons. (Comp. Psalm 52, title.)

•DOG frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses (Isaiah 56:10), and for guarding their flocks (Job 30:1). There were also then as now troops of semi-wild dogs that wandered about devouring dead bodies and the offal of the streets (1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 21:19, 23; 22:38; Psalm 59:6, 14).

As the dog was an unclean animal, the terms "dog," "dog's head," "dead dog," were used as terms of reproach or of humiliation (1 Samuel 24:14; 2 Samuel 3:8; 9:8; 16:9). Paul calls false apostles "dogs" (Phil. 3:2). Those who are shut out of the kingdom of heaven are also so designated (Revelation 22:15). Persecutors are called "dogs" (Psalm 22:16). Hazael's words, "Thy servant which is but a dog" (2 Kings 8:13), are spoken in mock humility=impossible that one so contemptible as he should attain to such power.

•DOLEFUL CREATURES (occurring only Isaiah 13:21. Hebrews ochim, i.e., "shrieks;" hence "howling animals"), a general name for screech owls (howlets), which occupy the desolate palaces of Babylon. Some render the word "hyaenas."

•DOOR-KEEPER This word is used in Psalm 84:10 (R.V. marg., "stand at the threshold of," etc.), but there it signifies properly "sitting at the threshold in the house of God." The psalmist means that he would rather stand at the door of God's house and merely look in, than dwell in houses where iniquity prevailed.

Persons were appointed to keep the street door leading into the interior of the house (John 18:16, 17; Acts 12:13). Sometimes females held this post.

•DOOR-POSTS The Jews were commanded to write the divine name on the posts (mezuzoth') of their doors (Deuteronomy 6:9). The Jews, misunderstanding this injunction, adopted the custom of writing on a slip of parchment these verses (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and 11:13-21), which they enclosed in a reed or cylinder and fixed on the right-hand door-post of every room in the house.

•DOORS moved on pivots of wood fastened in sockets above and below (Proverbs 26:14). They were fastened by a lock (Judges 3:23, 25; Cant. 5:5) or by a bar (Judges 16:3; Job 38:10). In the interior of Oriental houses, curtains were frequently used instead of doors.

The entrances of the tabernacle had curtains (Exodus 26:31-33, 36). The "valley of Achor" is called a "door of hope," because immediately after the execution of Achan the Lord said to Joshua, "Fear not," and from that time Joshua went forward in a career of uninterrupted conquest. Paul speaks of a "door opened" for the spread of the gospel (1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3). Our Lord says of himself, "I am the door" (John 10:9). John (Revelation 4:1) speaks of a "door opened in heaven."

•DOPHKAH knocking, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:12). It was in the desert of Sin, on the eastern shore of the western arm of the Red Sea, somewhere in the Wady Feiran.

•DOR dwelling, the Dora of the Romans, an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Joshua 11:1, 2; 12:23). It was the most southern settlement of the Phoenicians on the coast of Syria. The original inhabitants seem never to have been expelled, although they were made tributary by David. It was one of Solomon's commissariat districts (Judges 1:27; 1 Kings 4:11). It has been identified with Tantura (so named from the supposed resemblance of its tower to a tantur, i.e., "a horn"). This tower fell in 1895, and nothing remains but debris and foundation walls, the remains of an old Crusading fortress. It is about 8 miles north of Caesarea, "a sad and sickly hamlet of wretched huts on a naked sea-beach."

•DORCAS a female antelope, or gazelle, a pious Christian widow at Joppa whom Peter restored to life (Acts 9:36-41). She was a Hellenistic Jewess, called Tabitha by the Jews and Dorcas by the Greeks.

•DOTHAN two wells, a famous pasture-ground where Joseph found his brethren watching their flocks. Here, at the suggestion of Judah, they sold him to the Ishmaelite merchants (Genesis 37:17). It is mentioned on monuments in B.C. 1600.

It was the residence of Elisha (2 Kings 6:13), and the scene of a remarkable vision of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the mountain on which the city stood. It is identified with the modern Tell-Dothan, on the south side of the plain of Jezreel, about 12 miles north of Samaria, among the hills of Gilboa. The "two wells" are still in existence, one of which bears the name of the "pit of Joseph" (Jubb Yusuf).

•DOUGH (batsek, meaning "swelling," i.e., in fermentation). The dough the Israelites had prepared for baking was carried away by them out of Egypt in their kneading-troughs (Exodus 12:34, 39). In the process of baking, the dough had to be turned (Hos. 7:8).

•DOVE In their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated "dove-cots" are prepared for them (Cant. 2:14; Jeremiah 48:28; Isaiah 60:8). The dove was placed on the standards of the Assyrians and Babylonians in honour, it is supposed, of Semiramis (Jeremiah 25:38; Vulg., "fierceness of the dove;" comp. Jeremiah 46:16;

50:16). Doves and turtle-doves were the only birds that could be offered in sacrifice, as they were clean according to the Mosaic law (Ge. 15:9; Leviticus 5:7; 12:6; Luke 2:24). The dove was the harbinger of peace to Noah (Genesis 8:8, 10). It is often mentioned as the emblem of purity (Psalm 68:13). It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32); also of tender and devoted affection (Cant. 1:15; 2:14). David in his distress wished that he had the wings of a dove, that he might fly away and be at rest (Psalm 55:6-8). There is a species of dove found at Damascus "whose feathers, all except the wings, are literally as yellow as gold" (68:13).

•DOVE'S DUNG (2 Kings 6:25) has been generally understood literally. There are instances in history of the dung of pigeons being actually used as food during a famine. Compare also the language of Rabshakeh to the Jews (2 Kings 18:27; Isaiah 36:12). This name, however, is applied by the Arabs to different vegetable substances, and there is room for the opinion of those who think that some such substance is here referred to, as, e.g., the seeds of a kind of millet, or a very inferior kind of pulse, or the root of the ornithogalum, i.e., bird-milk, the star-of-Bethlehem.

•DOWRY (mohar; i.e., price paid for a wife, Genesis 34:12; Exodus 22:17; 1 Samuel 18:25), a nuptial present; some gift, as a sum of money, which the bridegroom offers to the father of his bride as a satisfaction before he can receive her. Jacob had no dowry to give for his wife, but he gave his services (Genesis 29:18; 30:20; 34:12).

•DRAGON (1.) Hebrews tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Psalm 44:19; Isaiah 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jeremiah 10:22; Micah 1:8; Malachi 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).

(2.) Hebrews tannin. Some great sea monster (Jeremiah 51:34). In Isaiah 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Genesis 1:21 (Hebrews plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Exodus 7:9. It is used figuratively in Psalm 74:13; Ezekiel 29:3.

In the New Testament the word "dragon" is found only in Revelation 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of "Satan." (See WHALE.)

•DRAGON WELL (Nehemiah 2:13), supposed by some to be identical with the Pool of Gihon.

•DRAM The Authorized Version understood the word 'adarkonim (1 Chronicles 29:7; Ezra 8:27), and the similar word darkomnim (Ezra 2:69; Nehemiah 7:70), as equivalent to the Greek silver coin the drachma. But the Revised Version rightly regards it as the Greek dareikos, a Persian gold coin (the daric) of the value of about 1 pound, 2s., which was first struck by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and was current in Western Asia long after the fall of the Persian empire. (See DARIC.)

•DRAUGHT-HOUSE (2 Kings 10:27). Jehu ordered the temple of Baal to be destroyed, and the place to be converted to the vile use of receiving offal or ordure. (Comp. Matthew 15:17.)

•DRAWER OF WATER (Deuteronomy 29:11; Joshua 9:21, 23), a servile employment to which the Gibeonites were condemned.

•DREAM God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Genesis 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph (37:9-11), Gideon (Judges 7), and Solomon (1 Kings 3:5). Other significant dreams are also recorded, such as those of Abimelech (Genesis 20:3-7), Pharaoh's chief butler and baker (40:5), Pharaoh (41:1-8), the Midianites (Judges 7:13), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:1; 4:10, 18), the wise men from the east (Matthew 2:12), and Pilate's wife (27:19).

To Joseph "the Lord appeared in a dream," and gave him instructions regarding the infant Jesus (Matthew 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19). In a vision of the night a "man of Macedonia" stood before Paul and said, "Come over into Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9; see also 18:9; 27:23).

•DREDGE (Job 24:6). See CORN.

•DREGS (Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22), the lees of wine which settle at the bottom of the vessel.

•DRESS (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Genesis 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah's dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The Hebrews were early acquainted with the art of weaving hair into cloth (Exodus 26:7; 35:6), which formed the sackcloth of mourners. This was

the material of John the Baptist's robe (Matthew 3:4). Wool was also woven into garments (Leviticus 13:47; Deuteronomy 22:11; Ezekiel 34:3; Job 31:20; Proverbs 27:26). The Israelites probably learned the art of weaving linen when they were in Egypt (1 Chronicles 4:21). Fine linen was used in the vestments of the high priest (Exodus 28:5), as well as by the rich (Genesis 41:42; Proverbs 31:22; Luke 16:19). The use of mixed material, as wool and flax, was forbidden (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:11).

(2.) Colour. The prevailing colour was the natural white of the material used, which was sometimes rendered purer by the fuller's art (Psalm 104:1, 2; Isaiah 63:3; Mark 9:3). The Hebrews were acquainted with the art of dyeing (Genesis 37:3, 23). Various modes of ornamentation were adopted in the process of weaving (Exodus 28:6; 26:1, 31; 35:25), and by needle-work (Judges 5:30; Psalm 45:13). Dyed robes were imported from foreign countries, particularly from Phoenicia (Zephaniah 1:8). Purple and scarlet robes were the marks of the wealthy (Luke 16:19; 2 Samuel 1:24).

(3.) Form. The robes of men and women were not very much different in form from each other.

(a) The "coat" (kethoneth), of wool, cotton, or linen, was worn by both sexes. It was a closely-fitting garment, resembling in use and form our shirt (John 19:23). It was kept close to the body by a girdle (John 21:7). A person wearing this "coat" alone was described as naked (1 Samuel 19:24; Isaiah 20:2; 2 Kings 6:30; John 21:7); deprived of it he would be absolutely naked.

(b) A linen cloth or wrapper (sadin) of fine linen, used somewhat as a night-shirt (Mark 14:51). It is mentioned in Judges 14:12, 13, and rendered there "sheets."

(c) An upper tunic (meil), longer than the "coat" (1 Samuel 2:19; 24:4; 28:14). In 1 Samuel 28:14 it is the mantle in which Samuel was enveloped; in 1 Samuel 24:4 it is the "robe" under which Saul slept. The disciples were forbidden to wear two "coats" (Matthew 10:10; Luke 9:3).

(d) The usual outer garment consisted of a piece of woollen cloth like a Scotch plaid, either wrapped round the body or thrown over the shoulders like a shawl, with the ends hanging down in front, or it might be thrown over the head so as to conceal the face (2 Samuel 15:30; Esther 6:12). It was confined to the waist by a girdle, and the fold formed by the

overlapping of the robe served as a pocket (2 Kings 4:39; Psalm 79:12; Hag. 2:12; Proverbs 17:23; 21:14).

Female dress. The "coat" was common to both sexes (Cant. 5:3). But peculiar to females were (1) the "veil" or "wimple," a kind of shawl (Ruth 3:15; rendered "mantle," R.V., Isaiah 3:22); (2) the "mantle," also a species of shawl (Isaiah 3:22); (3) a "veil," probably a light summer dress (Genesis 24:65); (4) a "stomacher," a holiday dress (Isaiah 3:24). The outer garment terminated in an ample fringe or border, which concealed the feet (Isaiah 47:2; Jeremiah 13:22).

The dress of the Persians is described in Daniel 3:21.

The reference to the art of sewing are few, inasmuch as the garments generally came forth from the loom ready for being worn, and all that was required in the making of clothes devolved on the women of a family (Proverbs 31:22; Acts 9:39).

Extravagance in dress is referred to in Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 16:10; Zephaniah 1:8 (R.V., "foreign apparel"); 1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Peter 3:3. Rending the robes was expressive of grief (Genesis 37:29, 34), fear (1 Kings 21:27), indignation (2 Kings 5:7), or despair (Judges 11:35; Esther 4:1).

Shaking the garments, or shaking the dust from off them, was a sign of renunciation (Acts 18:6); wrapping them round the head, of awe (1 Kings 19:13) or grief (2 Samuel 15:30; casting them off, of excitement (Acts 22:23); laying hold of them, of supplication (1 Samuel 15:27). In the case of travelling, the outer garments were girded up (1 Kings 18:46). They were thrown aside also when they would impede action (Mark 10:50; John 13:4; Acts 7:58).

•DRINK The drinks of the Hebrews were water, wine, "strong drink," and vinegar. Their drinking vessels were the cup, goblet or "basin," the "cruse" or pitcher, and the saucer.

To drink water by measure (Ezekiel 4:11), and to buy water to drink (Lamentations 5:4), denote great scarcity. To drink blood means to be satiated with slaughter.

The Jews carefully strained their drinks through a sieve, through fear of violating the law of Leviticus 11:20, 23, 41, 42. (See Matthew 23:24. "Strain at" should be "strain out.")

•DRINK-OFFERING consisted of wine (Numbers 15:5; Hos. 9:4) poured around the altar (Exodus 30:9). Joined with meat-offerings (Numbers 6:15, 17; 2 Kings 16:13; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:14), presented daily (Exodus 29:40), on the Sabbath (Numbers 28:9), and on feast-days (28:14). One-fourth of an hin of wine was required for one lamb, one-third for a ram, and one-half for a bullock (Numbers 15:5; 28:7, 14). "Drink offerings of blood" (Psalm 16:4) is used in allusion to the heathen practice of mingling the blood of animals sacrificed with wine or water, and pouring out the mixture in the worship of the gods, and the idea conveyed is that the psalmist would not partake of the abominations of the heathen.

•DRINK, STRONG (Hebrews shekar'), an intoxicating liquor (Judges 13:4; Luke 1:15; Isaiah 5:11; Micah 2:11) distilled from corn, honey, or dates. The effects of the use of strong drink are referred to in Psalm 107:27; Isaiah 24:20; 49:26; 51:17-22. Its use prohibited, Proverbs 20:1. (See WINE.)

•DROMEDARY (Isaiah 60:6), an African or Arabian species of camel having only one hump, while the Bactrian camel has two. It is distinguished from the camel only as a trained saddle-horse is distinguished from a cart-horse. It is remarkable for its speed (Jeremiah 2:23). Camels are frequently spoken of in partriarchal times (Genesis 12:16; 24:10; 30:43; 31:17, etc.). They were used for carrying burdens (Genesis 37:25; Judges 6:5), and for riding (Genesis 24:64). The hair of the camel falls off of itself in spring, and is woven into coarse cloths and garments (Matthew 3:4). (See CAMEL.)

•DROPSY mentioned only in Luke 14:2. The man afflicted with it was cured by Christ on the Sabbath.

•DROSS the impurities of silver separated from the one in the process of melting (Proverbs 25:4; 26:23; Psalm 119:119). It is also used to denote the base metal itself, probably before it is smelted, in Isaiah 1:22, 25.

•DROUGHT From the middle of May to about the middle of August the land of Palestine is dry. It is then the "drought of summer" (Genesis 31:40; Psalm 32:4), and the land suffers (Deuteronomy 28:23: Psalm 102:4), vegetation being preserved only by the dews (Hag. 1:11). (See DEW.)

•DROWN (Exodus 15:4; Amos 8:8; Hebrews 11:29). Drowning was a mode of capital punishment in use among the Syrians, and was known to the Jews in the time of our Lord. To this he alludes in Matthew 18:6.

•DRUNK The first case of intoxication on record is that of Noah (Genesis 9:21). The sin of drunkenness is frequently and strongly condemned (Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:7, 8). The sin of drinking to excess seems to have been not uncommon among the Israelites.

The word is used figuratively, when men are spoken of as being drunk with sorrow, and with the wine of God's wrath (Isaiah 63:6; Jeremiah 51:57; Ezekiel 23:33). To "add drunkenness to thirst" (Deuteronomy 29:19, A.V.) is a proverbial expression, rendered in the Revised Version "to destroy the moist with the dry", i.e., the well-watered equally with the dry land, meaning that the effect of such walking in the imagination of their own hearts would be to destroy one and all.

•DRUSILLA third and youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1-4, 20-23). Felix, the Roman procurator of Judea, induced her to leave her husband, Azizus, the king of Emesa, and become his wife. She was present with Felix when Paul reasoned of "righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come" (Acts 24:24). She and her son perished in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A.D. 79.

•DUKE derived from the Latin dux, meaning "a leader;" Arabic, "a sheik." This word is used to denote the phylarch or chief of a tribe (Genesis 36:15-43; Exodus 15:15; 1 Chronicles 1:51-54).

•DULCIMER (Hebrews sumphoniah), a musical instrument mentioned in Daniel 3:5, 15, along with other instruments there named, as sounded before the golden image. It was not a Jewish instrument. In the margin of the Revised Version it is styled the "bag-pipe." Luther translated it "lute," and Grotius the "crooked trumpet." It is probable that it was introduced into Babylon by some Greek or Western-Asiatic musician. Some Rabbinical commentators render it by "organ," the well-known instrument composed of a series of pipes, others by "lyre." The most probable interpretation is that it was a bag-pipe similar to the zampagna of Southern Europe.

•DUMAH silence, (comp. Psalm 94:17), the fourth son of Ishmael; also the tribe descended from him; and hence also the region in Arabia which they inhabited (Genesis 25:14; 1 Chronicles 1:30).

There was also a town of this name in Judah (Joshua 15:52), which has been identified with ed-Domeh, about 10 miles southwest of Hebron. The place mentioned in the "burden" of the prophet Isaiah (21:11) is Edom or Idumea.

•DUMB from natural infirmity (Exodus 4:11); not knowing what to say (Proverbs 31:8); unwillingness to speak (Psalm 39:9; Leviticus 10:3). Christ repeatedly restored the dumb (Matthew 9:32, 33; Luke 11:14; Matthew 12:22) to the use of speech.

•DUNG (1.) Used as manure (Luke 13:8); collected outside the city walls (Nehemiah 2:13). Of sacrifices, burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11; 8:17; Numbers 19:5). To be "cast out as dung," a figurative expression (1 Kings 14:10; 2 Kings 9:37; Jeremiah 8:2; Psalm 18:42), meaning to be rejected as unprofitable.

(2.) Used as fuel, a substitute for firewood, which was with difficulty procured in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt (Ezekiel 4:12-15), where cows' and camels' dung is used to the present day for this purpose.

•DUNGEON different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment. Like the Roman inner prison (Acts 16:24), it consisted of a deep cell or cistern (Jeremiah 38:6). To be shut up in, a punishment common in Egypt (Genesis 39:20; 40:3; 41:10; 42:19). It is not mentioned, however, in the law of Moses as a mode of punishment. Under the later kings imprisonment was frequently used as a punishment (2 Chron. 16:10; Jeremiah 20:2; 32:2; 33:1; 37:15), and it was customary after the Exile (Matthew 11:2; Luke 3:20; Acts 5:18, 21; Matthew 18:30).

•DUNG-GATE (Nehemiah 2:13), a gate of ancient Jerusalem, on the south-west quarter. "The gate outside of which lay the piles of sweepings and offscourings of the streets," in the valley of Tophet.

•DUNG-HILL to sit on a, was a sign of the deepest dejection (1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 113:7; Lamentations 4:5).

•DURA the circle, the plain near Babylon in which Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image, mentioned in Daniel 3:1. The place still retains its ancient name. On one of its many mounds the pedestal of what must have been a colossal statue has been found. It has been supposed to be that of the golden image.

•DUST Storms of sand and dust sometimes overtake Eastern travellers. They are very dreadful, many perishing under them. Jehovah threatens to bring on the land of Israel, as a punishment for forsaking him, a rain of "powder and dust" (Deuteronomy 28:24).

To cast dust on the head was a sign of mourning (Joshua 7:6); and to sit in dust, of extreme affliction (Isaiah 47:1). "Dust" is used to denote the grave (Job 7:21). "To shake off the dust from one's feet" against another is to renounce all future intercourse with him (Matthew 10:14; Acts 13:51). To "lick the dust" is a sign of abject submission (Psalm 72:9); and to throw dust at one is a sign of abhorrence (2 Samuel 16:13; comp. Acts 22:23).

•DWARF a lean or emaciated person (Leviticus 21:20).

•DWELL Tents were in primitive times the common dwellings of men. Houses were afterwards built, the walls of which were frequently of mud (Job 24:16; Matthew 6:19, 20) or of sun-dried bricks.

God "dwells in light" (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:7), in heaven (Psalm 123:1), in his church (Psalm 9:11; 1 John 4:12). Christ dwelt on earth in

the days of his humiliation (John 1:14). He now dwells in the hearts of his people (Ephesians 3:17-19). The Holy Spirit dwells in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:14). We are exhorted to "let the word of God dwell in us richly" (Colossians 3:16; Psalm 119:11).

Dwell deep occurs only in Jeremiah 49:8, and refers to the custom of seeking refuge from impending danger, in retiring to the recesses of rocks and caverns, or to remote places in the desert.

•DWELLINGS The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Leviticus 14:40, 42), which were held together by cement (Jeremiah 43:9) or bitumen (Genesis 11:3). The exterior was usually whitewashed (Leviticus 14:41; Ezekiel 13:10; Matthew 23:27). The beams were of sycamore (Isaiah 9:10), or olive-wood, or cedar (1 Kings 7:2; Isaiah 9:10).

The form of Eastern dwellings differed in many respects from that of dwellings in Western lands. The larger houses were built in a quadrangle enclosing a court-yard (Luke 5:19; 2 Samuel 17:18; Nehemiah 8:16) surrounded by galleries, which formed the guest-chamber or reception-room for visitors. The flat roof, surrounded by a low parapet, was used for many domestic and social purposes. It was reached by steps from the court. In connection with it (2 Kings 23:12) was an upper room, used as a private chamber (2 Sam 18:33; Daniel 6:11), also as a bedroom (2 Kings 23:12), a sleeping apartment for guests (2 Kings 4:10), and as a sick-chamber (1 Kings 17:19). The doors, sometimes of stone, swung on morticed pivots, and were generally fastened by wooden bolts. The houses of the more wealthy had a doorkeeper or a female porter (John 18:16; Acts 12:13). The windows generally opened into the courtyard, and were closed by a lattice (Judges 5:28). The interior rooms were set apart for the female portion of the household.

The furniture of the room (2 Kings 4:10) consisted of a couch furnished with pillows (Amos 6:4; Ezekiel 13:20); and besides this, chairs, a table and lanterns or lamp-stands (2 Kings 4:10).

•DYE The art of dyeing is one of great antiquity, although no special mention is made of it in the Old Testament. The Hebrews probably learned it from the Egyptians (see Exodus 26:1; 28:5-8), who brought it to great perfection. In New Testament times Thyatira was famed for its dyers (Acts 16:14). (See COLOUR.)

•EAGLE (Herb. nesher; properly the griffon vulture or great vulture, so called from its tearing its prey with its beak), referred to for its swiftness of flight (Deuteronomy 28:49; 2 Samuel 1:23), its mounting high in the air (Job 39:27), its strength (Psalm 103:5), its setting its nest in high places (Jeremiah 49:16), and its power of vision (Job 39:27-30).

This "ravenous bird" is a symbol of those nations whom God employs and sends forth to do a work of destruction, sweeping away whatever is decaying and putrescent (Matthew 24:28; Isaiah 46:11; Ezekiel 39:4; Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 4:13; 48:40). It is said that the eagle sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring, and with fresh plumage assumes the appearance of youth. To this, allusion is made in Psalm 103:5 and Isaiah 40:31. God's care over his people is likened to that of the eagle in training its young to fly (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11, 12). An interesting illustration is thus recorded by Sir Humphry Davy:, "I once saw a very interesting sight above the crags of Ben Nevis. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the maneuvers of flight. They began by rising from the top of the mountain in the eye of the sun. It was about mid-day, and bright for the climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them. They paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their flight, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising toward the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight so as to make a gradually ascending spiral. The young ones still and slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted; and they continued this sublime exercise, always rising till they became mere points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching sight." (See Isaiah 40:31.)

There have been observed in Palestine four distinct species of eagles, (1) the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos); (2) the spotted eagle (Aquila naevia); (3) the common species, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca); and (4) the Circaetos gallicus, which preys on reptiles. The eagle was unclean by the Levitical law (Leviticus 11:13; Deuteronomy 14:12).

•EAR used frequently in a figurative sense (Psalm 34:15). To "uncover the ear" is to show respect to a person (1 Samuel 20:2 marg.). To have the "ear heavy", or to have "uncircumcised ears" (Isaiah 6:10), is to be inattentive and disobedient. To have the ear "bored" through with an awl was a sign of perpetual servitude (Exodus 21:6).

•EARING an Old English word (from the Latin aro, I plough), meaning "ploughing." It is used in the Authorized Version in Genesis 45:6; Exodus 34:21; 1 Samuel 8:12; Deuteronomy 21:4; Isaiah 30:24; but the Revised Version has rendered the original in these places by the ordinary word to plough or till.

•EARNEST The Spirit is the earnest of the believer's destined inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14). The word thus rendered is the same as that rendered "pledge" in Genesis 38:17-20; "indeed, the Hebrew word has simply passed into the Greek and Latin languages, probably through commercial dealings with the Phoenicians, the great trading people of ancient days. Originally it meant no more than a pledge; but in common usage it came to denote that particular kind of pledge which is a part of the full price of an article paid in advance; and as it is joined with the figure of a seal when applied to the Spirit, it seems to be used by Paul in this specific sense." The Spirit's gracious presence and working in believers is a foretaste to them of the blessedness of heaven. God is graciously pleased to give not only pledges but foretastes of future blessedness.

•EARRINGS rings properly for the ear (Genesis 35:4; Numbers 31:50; Ezekiel 16:12). In Genesis 24:47 the word means a nose-jewel, and is so rendered in the Revised Version. In Isaiah 3:20 the Authorized Version has "ear-rings," and the Revised Version "amulets," which more correctly represents the original word (lehashim), which means incantations; charms, thus remedies against enchantment, worn either suspended from the neck or in the ears of females. Ear-rings were ornaments used by both sexes (Exodus 32:2).

•EARTH (1.) In the sense of soil or ground, the translation of the word adamah'. In Genesis 9:20 "husbandman" is literally "man of the ground or earth." Altars were to be built of earth (Exodus 20:24). Naaman asked for two mules' burden of earth (2 Kings 5:17), under the superstitious notion that Jehovah, like the gods of the heathen, could be acceptably worshipped only on his own soil.

(2). As the rendering of 'erets, it means the whole world (Genesis 1:2); the land as opposed to the sea (1:10). Erets also denotes a country (21:32); a plot of ground (23:15); the ground on which a man stands (33:3); the inhabitants of the earth (6:1; 11:1); all the world except Israel (2 Chronicles 13:9). In the New Testament "the earth" denotes the land of Judea (Matthew 23:35); also things carnal in contrast with things heavenly (John 3:31; Colossians 3:1, 2).

•EARTHQUAKE mentioned among the extraordinary phenomena of Palestine (Psalm 18:7; comp. Habakkuk 3:6; Nah. 1:5; Isaiah 5:25).

The first earthquake in Palestine of which we have any record happened in the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 19:11, 12). Another took place in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah (Zechariah 14:5). The most memorable earthquake taking place in New Testament times happened at the crucifixion of our Lord (Matthew 27:54). An earthquake at Philippi shook the prison in which Paul and Silas were imprisoned (Act 16:26).

It is used figuratively as a token of the presence of the Lord (Judges 5:4; 2 Samuel 22:8; Psalm 77:18; 97:4; 104:32).

•EAST (1.) The orient (mizrah); the rising of the sun. Thus "the east country" is the country lying to the east of Syria, the Elymais (Zechariah 8:7).

(2). Properly what is in front of one, or a country that is before or in front of another; the rendering of the word kedem. In pointing out the quarters, a Hebrew always looked with his face toward the east. The word kedem is used when the four quarters of the world are described (Genesis 13:14; 28:14); and mizrah when the east only is distinguished from the west (Joshua 11:3; Psalm 50:1; 103:12, etc.). In Genesis 25:6 "eastward" is literally "unto the land of kedem;" i.e., the lands lying east of Palestine, namely, Arabia, Mesopotamia, etc.

•EAST, CHILDREN OF THE the Arabs as a whole, known as the Nabateans or Kedarenes, nomad tribes (Judges 6:3,33; 7:12; 8:10).

•EASTER originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of

the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.

•EAST GATE (Jeremiah 19:2), properly the Potter's gate, the gate which led to the potter's field, in the valley of Hinnom.

•EAST SEA (Joel 2:20; Ezekiel 47:18), the Dead Sea, which lay on the east side of the Holy Land. The Mediterranean, which lay on the west, was hence called the "great sea for the west border" (Numbers 34:6).

•EAST WIND the wind coming from the east (Job 27:21; Isaiah 27:8, etc.). Blight caused by this wind, "thin ears" (Genesis 41:6); the withered "gourd" (Jonah 4: 8). It was the cause and also the emblem of evil (Ezekiel 17:10; 19:12; Hos. 13:15). In Palestine this wind blows from a burning desert, and hence is destitute of moisture necessary for vegetation.

•EATING The ancient Hebrews would not eat with the Egyptians (Genesis 43:32). In the time of our Lord they would not eat with Samaritans (John 4:9), and were astonished that he ate with publicans and sinners (Matthew 9:11). The Hebrews originally sat at table, but afterwards adopted the Persian and Chaldean practice of reclining (Luke 7:36-50). Their principal meal was at noon (Genesis 43:16; 1 Kings 20:16; Ruth 2:14; Luke 14:12). The word "eat" is used metaphorically in Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 3:1; Revelation 10:9. In John 6:53-58, "eating and drinking" means believing in Christ. Women were never present as guests at meals (q.v.).

•EBAL stony. (1.) A mountain 3,076 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,200 feet above the level of the valley, on the north side of which stood the city of Shechem (q.v.). On this mountain six of the tribes (Deuteronomy 27:12,13) were appointed to take their stand and respond according to a prescribed form to the imprecations uttered in the valley, where the law was read by the Levites (11:29; 29:4, 13). This mountain was also the site of the first great altar erected to Jehovah (Deuteronomy 27:5-8; Joshua 8:30-35). After this the name of Ebal does not again occur in Jewish history. (See GERIZIM.)

(2.) A descendant of Eber (1 Chronicles 1:22), called also Obal (Genesis 10:28).

(3.) A descendant of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:23).

•EBED slave, the father of Gaal, in whom the men of Shechem "put confidence" in their conspiracy against Abimelech (Judges 9:26, 26, 30, 31).

•EBED-MELECH a servant of the king; probably an official title, an Ethiopian, "one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house;" i.e., in the palace of Zedekiah, king of Judah. He interceded with the king in Jeremiah's behalf, and was the means of saving him from death by famine (Jeremiah 38:7-13: comp. 39:15-18).

•EBEN-EZER stone of help, the memorial stone set up by Samuel to commemorate the divine assistance to Israel in their great battle against the Philistines, whom they totally routed (1 Samuel 7:7-12) at Aphek, in the neighbourhood of Mizpeh, in Benjamin, near the western entrance of the pass of Beth-horon. On this very battle-field, twenty years before, the Philistines routed the Israelites, "and slew of the army in the field about four thousand men" (4:1,2; here, and at 5:1, called "Eben-ezer" by anticipation). In this extremity the Israelites fetched the ark out of Shiloh and carried it into their camp. The Philistines a second time immediately attacked them, and smote them with a very great slaughter, "for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken" (1 Samuel 4:10). And now in the same place the Philistines are vanquished, and the memorial stone is erected by Samuel (q.v.). The spot where the stone was erected was somewhere "between Mizpeh and Shen." Some have identified it with the modern Beit Iksa, a conspicuous and prominent position, apparently answering all the necessary conditions; others with Dier Aban, 3 miles east of 'Ain Shems.

•EBER beyond. (1.). The third post-duluvian patriach after Shem (Genesis 10:24; 11:14). He is regarded as the founder of the Hebrew race (10:21; Numbers 24:24). In Luke 3:35 he is called Heber.

(2.) One of the seven heads of the families of the Gadites (1 Chronicles 5:13).

(3.) The oldest of the three sons of Elpaal the Benjamite (8:12).

(4.) One of the heads of the familes of Benjamites in Jerusalem (22).

(5.) The head of the priestly family of Amok in the time of Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:20).

•EBONY a black, hard wood, brought by the merchants from India to Tyre (Ezekiel 27:15). It is the heart-wood, brought by Diospyros ebenus, which grows in Ceylon and Southern India.

•EBRONAH passage, one of the stations of the Israelites in their wanderings (Numbers 33:34, 35). It was near Ezion-geber.

•ECBATANA (Ezra 6:2 marg.). (See ACHMETHA.)

•ECCLESIASTES the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Koheleth, which means "Preacher." The old and traditional view of the authorship of this book attributes it to Solomon. This view can be satisfactorily maintained, though others date it from the Captivity. The writer represents himself implicitly as Solomon (1:12). It has been appropriately styled The Confession of King Solomon. "The writer is a man who has sinned in giving way to selfishness and sensuality, who has paid the penalty of that sin in satiety and weariness of life, but who has through all this been under the discipline of a divine education, and has learned from it the lesson which God meant to teach him." "The writer concludes by pointing out that the secret of a true life is that a man should consecrate the vigour of his youth to God." The key-note of the book is sounded in ch. 1:2,

"Vanity of vanities! saith the Preacher, Vanity of vanities! all is vanity!"

i.e., all man's efforts to find happiness apart from God are without result.

•ECLIPSE of the sun alluded to in Amos 8:9; Micah 3:6; Zechariah 14:6; Joel 2:10. Eclipses were regarded as tokens of God's anger (Joel 3:15; Job 9:7). The darkness at the crucifixion has been ascribed to an eclipse (Matthew 27:45); but on the other hand it is argued that the great intensity of darkness caused by an eclipse never lasts for more than six minutes, and this darkness lasted for three hours. Moreover, at the time of the Passover the moon was full, and therefore there could not be an eclipse of the sun, which is caused by an interposition of the moon between the sun and the earth.

•ED witness, a word not found in the original Hebrew, nor in the LXX. and Vulgate, but added by the translators in the Authorized Version, also in the Revised Version, of Joshua 22:34. The words are literally rendered:

"And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar. It is a witness between us that Jehovah is God." This great altar stood probably on the east side of the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, "over against the land of Canaan." After the division of the Promised Land, the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, on returning to their own settlements on the east of Jordan (Joshua 22:1-6), erected a great altar, which they affirmed, in answer to the challenge of the other tribes, was not for sacrifice, but only as a witness ('Ed) or testimony to future generations that they still retained the same interest in the nation as the other tribes.

•EDAR tower of the flock, a tower between Bethlehem and Hebron, near which Jacob first halted after leaving Bethlehem (Genesis 35:21). In Micah 4:8 the word is rendered "tower of the flock" (marg., "Edar"), and is used as a designation of Bethlehem, which figuratively represents the royal line of David as sprung from Bethlehem.

•EDEN delight. (1.) The garden in which our first parents dewlt (Genesis 2:8-17). No geographical question has been so much discussed as that bearing on its site. It has been placed in Armenia, in the region west of the Caspian Sea, in Media, near Damascus, in Palestine, in Southern Arabia, and in Babylonia. The site must undoubtedly be sought for somewhere along the course of the great streams the Tigris and the Euphrates of Western Asia, in "the land of Shinar" or Babylonia. The region from about lat. 33 degrees 30' to lat. 31 degrees, which is a very rich and fertile tract, has been by the most competent authorities agreed on as the probable site of Eden. "It is a region where streams abound, where they divide and re-unite, where alone in the Mesopotamian tract can be found the phenomenon of a single river parting into four arms, each of which is or has been a river of consequence."

Among almost all nations there are traditions of the primitive innocence of our race in the garden of Eden. This was the "golden age" to which the Greeks looked back. Men then lived a "life free from care, and without labour and sorrow. Old age was unknown; the body never lost its vigour; existence was a perpetual feast without a taint of evil. The earth brought forth spontaneously all things that were good in profuse abundance."

(2.) One of the markets whence the merchants of Tyre obtained richly embroidered stuffs (Ezekiel 27:23); the same, probably, as that mentioned

in 2 Kings 19:12, and Isaiah 37:12, as the name of a region conquered by the Assyrians.

(3.) Son of Joah, and one of the Levites who assisted in reforming the public worship of the sanctuary in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:12).

•EDER flock. (1.) A city in the south of Judah, on the border of Idumea (Joshua 15:21).

(2.) The second of the three sons of Mushi, of the family of Merari, appointed to the Levitical office (1 Chronicles 23:23; 24:30).

•EDOM (1.) The name of Esau (q.v.), Genesis 25:30, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage [Hebrews haadom, haadom, i.e., 'the red pottage, the red pottage']...Therefore was his name called Edom", i.e., Red.

(2.) Idumea (Isaiah 34:5, 6; Ezekiel 35:15). "The field of Edom" (Genesis 32:3), "the land of Edom" (Genesis 36:16), was mountainous (Obad. 1:8, 9, 19, 21). It was called the land, or "the mountain of Seir," the rough hills on the east side of the Arabah. It extended from the head of the Gulf of Akabah, the Elanitic gulf, to the foot of the Dead Sea (1 Kings 9:26), and contained, among other cities, the rock-hewn Sela (q.v.), generally known by the Greek name Petra (2 Kings 14:7). It is a wild and rugged region, traversed by fruitful valleys. Its old capital was Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1). The early inhabitants of the land were Horites. They were destroyed by the Edomites (Deuteronomy 2:12), between whom and the kings of Israel and Judah there was frequent war (2 Kings 8:20; 2 Chronicles 28:17).

At the time of the Exodus they churlishly refused permission to the Israelites to pass through their land (Numbers 20:14-21), and ever afterwards maintained an attitude of hostility toward them. They were conquered by David (2 Samuel 8:14; comp. 1 Kings 9:26), and afterwards by Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:11, 12). But they regained again their independence, and in later years, during the decline of the Jewish kingdom (2 Kings 16:6; R.V. marg., "Edomites"), made war against Israel. They took part with the Chaldeans when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, and afterwards they invaded and held possession of the south of Palestine as far as Hebron. At length, however, Edom fell under the growing Chaldean power (Jeremiah 27:3, 6).

There are many prophecies concerning Edom (Isaiah 34:5, 6; Jeremiah 49:7-18; Ezekiel 25:13; 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11; Obad.; Malachi 1:3, 4) which have been remarkably fulfilled. The present desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies. After an existence as a people for above seventeen hundred years, they have utterly disappeared, and their language even is forgotten for ever. In Petra, "where kings kept their court, and where nobles assembled, there no man dwells; it is given by lot to birds, and beasts, and reptiles."

The Edomites were Semites, closely related in blood and in language to the Israelites. They dispossessed the Horites of Mount Seir; though it is clear, from Genesis 36, that they afterwards intermarried with the conquered population. Edomite tribes settled also in the south of Judah, like the Kenizzites (Genesis 36:11), to whom Caleb and Othniel belonged (Joshua 15:17). The southern part of Edom was known as Teman.

•EDREI mighty; strength. (1.) One of the chief towns of the kingdom of Bashan (Joshua 12:4, 5). Here Og was defeated by the Israelites, and the strength of the Amorites broken (Numbers 21:33-35). It subsequently belonged to Manasseh, for a short time apparently, and afterwards became the abode of banditti and outlaws (Joshua 13:31). It has been identified with the modern Edr'a, which stands on a rocky promontory on the south-west edge of the Lejah (the Argob of the Hebrews, and Trachonitis of the Greeks). The ruins of Edr'a are the most extensive in the Hauran. They are 3 miles in circumference. A number of the ancient houses still remain; the walls, roofs, and doors being all of stone. The wild region of which Edrei was the capital is thus described in its modern aspect: "Elevated about 20 feet above the plain, it is a labyrinth of clefts and crevasses in the rock, formed by volcanic action; and owing to its impenetrable condition, it has become a refuge for outlaws and turbulent characters, who make it a sort of Cave of Adullam...It is, in fact, an impregnable natural fortress, about 20 miles in length and 15 in breadth" (Porter's Syria, etc.). Beneath this wonderful city there is also a subterranean city, hollowed out probably as a refuge for the population of the upper city in times of danger. (See BASHAN.)

(2.) A town of Naphtali (Joshua 19:37).

•EFFECTUAL CALL See CALL.

•EFFECTUAL PRAYER occurs in Authorized Version, James 5:16. The Revised Version renders appropriately: "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working", i.e., "it moves the hand of Him who moves the world."

•EGG (Hebrews beytsah, "whiteness"). Eggs deserted (Isaiah 10:14), of a bird (Deuteronomy 22:6), an ostrich (Job 39:14), the cockatrice (Isaiah 59:5). In Luke 11:12, an egg is contrasted with a scorpion, which is said to be very like an egg in its appearance, so much so as to be with difficulty at times distinguished from it. In Job 6:6 ("the white of an egg") the word for egg (hallamuth') occurs nowhere else. It has been translated "purslain" (R.V. marg.), and the whole phrase "purslain-broth", i.e., broth made of that herb, proverbial for its insipidity; and hence an insipid discourse. Job applies this expression to the speech of Eliphaz as being insipid and dull. But the common rendering, "the white of an egg", may be satisfactorily maintained.

•EGLAH a heifer, one of David's wives, and mother of Ithream (2 Samuel 3:5; 1 Chronicles 3:3). According to a Jewish tradition she was Michal.

•EGLAIM two ponds, (Isaiah 15:8), probably En-eglaim of Ezekiel 47:10.

•EGLON the bullock; place of heifers. (1.) Chieftain or king of one of the Moabite tribes (Judges 3:12-14). Having entered into an alliance with Ammon and Amalek, he overran the trans-Jordanic region, and then crossing the Jordan, seized on Jericho, the "city of palm trees," which had been by this time rebuilt, but not as a fortress. He made this city his capital, and kept Israel in subjection for eighteen years. The people at length "cried unto the Lord" in their distress, and he "raised them up a deliverer" in Ehud (q.v.), the son of Gera, a Benjamite.

(2.) A city in Judah, near Lachish (Joshua 15:39). It was destroyed by Joshua (10:5, 6). It has been identified with Tell Nejileh, 6 miles south of Tell Hesy or Ajlan, north-west of Lachish. (See LACHISH.)

•EGYPT the land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture.

The Egyptians belonged to the white race, and their original home is still a matter of dispute. Many scholars believe that it was in Southern Arabia,

and recent excavations have shown that the valley of the Nile was originally inhabited by a low-class population, perhaps belonging to the Nigritian stock, before the Egyptians of history entered it. The ancient Egyptian language, of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly connected with the Semitic family of speech.

Egypt consists geographically of two halves, the northern being the Delta, and the southern Upper Egypt, between Cairo and the First Cataract. In the Old Testament, Northern or Lower Egypt is called Mazor, "the fortified land" (Isaiah 19:6; 37: 25, where the A.V. mistranslates "defence" and "besieged places"); while Southern or Upper Egypt is Pathros, the Egyptian Pa-to-Res, or "the land of the south" (Isaiah 11:11). But the whole country is generally mentioned under the dual name of Mizraim, "the two Mazors."

The civilization of Egypt goes back to a very remote antiquity. The two kingdoms of the north and south were united by Menes, the founder of the first historical dynasty of kings. The first six dynasties constitute what is known as the Old Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of Cairo, called in the Old Testament Moph (Hos. 9:6) and Noph. The native name was Mennofer, "the good place."

The Pyramids were tombs of the monarchs of the Old Empire, those of Gizeh being erected in the time of the Fourth Dynasty. After the fall of the Old Empire came a period of decline and obscurity. This was followed by the Middle Empire, the most powerful dynasty of which was the Twelfth. The Fayyum was rescued for agriculture by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty; and two obelisks were erected in front of the temple of the sun-God at On or Heliopolis (near Cairo), one of which is still standing. The capital of the Middle Empire was Thebes, in Upper Egypt.

The Middle Empire was overthrown by the invasion of the Hyksos, or shepherd princes from Asia, who ruled over Egypt, more especially in the north, for several centuries, and of whom there were three dynasties of kings. They had their capital at Zoan or Tanis (now San), in the north-eastern part of the Delta. It was in the time of the Hyksos that Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph entered Egypt. The Hyksos were finally expelled about B.C. 1600, by the hereditary princes of Thebes, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and carried the war into Asia. Canaan and Syria were subdued, as well as Cyprus, and the boundaries of the

Egyptian Empire were fixed at the Euphrates. The Soudan, which had been conquered by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, was again annexed to Egypt, and the eldest son of the Pharaoh took the title of "Prince of Cush."

One of the later kings of the dynasty, Amenophis IV., or Khu-n-Aten, endeavoured to supplant the ancient state religion of Egypt by a new faith derived from Asia, which was a sort of pantheistic monotheism, the one supreme God being adored under the image of the solar disk. The attempt led to religious and civil war, and the Pharaoh retreated from Thebes to Central Egypt, where he built a new capital, on the site of the present Tell-el-Amarna. The cuneiform tablets that have been found there represent his foreign correspondence (about B.C. 1400). He surrounded himself with officials and courtiers of Asiatic, and more especially Canaanitish, extraction; but the native party succeeded eventually in overthrowing the government, the capital of Khu-n-Aten was destroyed, and the foreigners were driven out of the country, those that remained being reduced to serfdom.

The national triumph was marked by the rise of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in the founder of which, Rameses I., we must see the "new king, who knew not Joseph." His grandson, Rameses II., reigned sixty-seven years (B.C. 1348-1281), and was an indefatigable builder. As Pithom, excavated by Dr. Naville in 1883, was one of the cities he built, he must have been the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been one of his immediate successors, whose reigns were short. Under them Egypt lost its empire in Asia, and was itself attacked by barbarians from Libya and the north.

The Nineteenth Dynasty soon afterwards came to an end; Egypt was distracted by civil war; and for a short time a Canaanite, Arisu, ruled over it.

Then came the Twentieth Dynasty, the second Pharaoh of which, Rameses III., restored the power of his country. In one of his campaigns he overran the southern part of Palestine, where the Israelites had not yet settled. They must at the time have been still in the wilderness. But it was during the reign of Rameses III. that Egypt finally lost Gaza and the adjoining cities, which were seized by the Pulista, or Philistines.

After Rameses III., Egypt fell into decay. Solomon married the daughter of one of the last kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty, which was overthrown by Shishak I., the general of the Libyan mercenaries, who founded the Twenty-second Dynasty (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25, 26). A list of the places he captured in Palestine is engraved on the outside of the south wall of the temple of Karnak.

In the time of Hezekiah, Egypt was conquered by Ethiopians from the Soudan, who constituted the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The third of them was Tirhakah (2 Kings 19:9). In B.C. 674 it was conquered by the Assyrians, who divided it into twenty satrapies, and Tirhakah was driven back to his ancestral dominions. Fourteen years later it successfully revolted under Psammetichus I. of Sais, the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Among his successors were Necho (2 Kings 23:29) and Hophra, or Apries (Jeremiah 37:5, 7, 11). The dynasty came to an end in B.C. 525, when the country was subjugated by Cambyses. Soon afterwards it was organized into a Persian satrapy.

The title of Pharaoh, given to the Egyptian kings, is the Egyptian Per-aa, or "Great House," which may be compared to that of "Sublime Porte." It is found in very early Egyptian texts.

The Egyptian religion was a strange mixture of pantheism and animal worship, the gods being adored in the form of animals. While the educated classes resolved their manifold deities into manifestations of one omnipresent and omnipotent divine power, the lower classes regarded the animals as incarnations of the gods.

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