Part 16
It has been supposed to be the name of a district in the wild north-east steppes of Central Asia, north of the Hindu-Kush, now a part of Turkestan, a region about 2,000 miles north-east of Nineveh.
•GOLAN exile, a city of Bashan (Deuteronomy 4:43), one of the three cities of refuge east of Jordan, about 12 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee (Joshua 20:8). There are no further notices of it in Scripture. It
became the head of the province of Gaulanitis, one of the four provinces into which Bashan was divided after the Babylonish captivity, and almost identical with the modern Jaulan, in Western Hauran, about 39 miles in length and 18 in breath.
•GOLD (1.) Hebrews zahab, so called from its yellow colour (Exodus 25:11; 1 Chronicles 28:18; 2 Chronicles 3:5).
(2.) Hebrews segor, from its compactness, or as being enclosed or treasured up; thus precious or "fine gold" (1 Kings 6:20; 7:49).
(3.) Hebrews paz, native or pure gold (Job 28:17; Psalm 19:10; 21:3, etc.).
(4.) Hebrews betzer, "ore of gold or silver" as dug out of the mine (Job 36:19, where it means simply riches).
(5.) Hebrews kethem, i.e., something concealed or separated (Job 28:16,19; Psalm 45:9; Proverbs 25:12). Rendered "golden wedge" in Isaiah 13:12.
(6.) Hebrews haruts, i.e., dug out; poetic for gold (Proverbs 8:10; 16:16; Zechariah 9:3).
Gold was known from the earliest times (Genesis 2:11). It was principally used for ornaments (Genesis 24:22). It was very abundant (1 Chronicles 22:14; Nah. 2:9; Daniel 3:1). Many tons of it were used in connection with the temple (2 Chronicles 1:15). It was found in Arabia, Sheba, and Ophir (1 Kings 9:28; 10:1; Job 28:16), but not in Palestine.
In Daniel 2:38, the Babylonian Empire is spoken of as a "head of gold" because of its great riches; and Babylon was called by Isaiah (14:4) the "golden city" (R.V. marg., "exactress," adopting the reading marhebah, instead of the usual word madhebah).
•GOLDEN CALF (Exodus 32:4,8; Deuteronomy 9:16; Nehemiah 9:18). This was a molten image of a calf which the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed at the command of Moses (Exodus 32:20). (See AARON; MOSES.)
•GOLDSMITH (Nehemiah 3:8,32; Isaiah 40:19; 41:7; 46:6). The word so rendered means properly a founder or finer.
•GOLGOTHA the common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning "the place of a skull"
(Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the Hebrew Gulgoleth (Numbers 1:2; 1 Chronicles 23:3, 24; 2 Kings 9:35), meaning "a skull." It is identical with the word Calvary (q.v.). It was a little knoll rounded like a bare skull. It is obvious from the evangelists that it was some well-known spot outside the gate (comp. Hebrews 13:12), and near the city (Luke 23:26), containing a "garden" (John 19:41), and on a thoroughfare leading into the country. Hence it is an untenable idea that it is embraced within the present "Church of the Holy Sepulchre." The hillock above Jeremiah's Grotto, to the north of the city, is in all probability the true site of Calvary. The skull-like appearance of the rock in the southern precipice of the hillock is very remarkable.
•GOLIATH great. (1.) A famous giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone from a sling (1 Samuel 17:4). He was probably descended from the Rephaim who found refuge among the Philistines after they were dispersed by the Ammonites (Deuteronomy 2:20, 21). His height was "six cubits and a span," which, taking the cubit at 21 inches, is equal to 10 1/2 feet. David cut off his head (1 Samuel 17:51) and brought it to Jerusalem, while he hung the armour which he took from him in his tent. His sword was preserved at Nob as a religious trophy (21:9). David's victory over Goliath was the turning point in his life. He came into public notice now as the deliverer of Israel and the chief among Saul's men of war (18:5), and the devoted friend of Jonathan.
(2.) In 2 Samuel 21:19 there is another giant of the same name mentioned as slain by Elhanan. The staff of his apear "was like a weaver's beam." The Authorized Version interpolates the words "the brother of" from 1 Chronicles 20:5, where this giant is called Lahmi.
•GOMER complete; vanishing. (1.) The daughter of Diblaim, who (probably in vision only) became the wife of Hosea (1:3).
(2.) The eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah (Genesis 10:2, 3), whose descendants formed the principal branch of the population of South-eastern Europe. He is generally regarded as the ancestor of the Celtae and the Cimmerii, who in early times settled to the north of the Black Sea, and gave their name to the Crimea, the ancient Chersonesus Taurica. Traces of their presence are found in the
names Cimmerian Bosphorus, Cimmerian Isthmus, etc. In the seventh century B.C. they were driven out of their original seat by the Scythians, and overran western Asia Minor, whence they were afterwards expelled. They subsequently reappear in the times of the Romans as the Cimbri of the north and west of Europe, whence they crossed to the British Isles, where their descendants are still found in the Gaels and Cymry. Thus the whole Celtic race may be regarded as descended from Gomer.
•GOMORRAH submersion, one of the five cities of the plain of Siddim (q.v.) which were destroyed by fire (Genesis 10:19; 13:10; 19:24, 28). These cities probably stood close together, and were near the northern extremity of what is now the Dead Sea. This city is always mentioned next after Sodom, both of which were types of impiety and wickedness (Genesis 18:20; Romans 9:29). Their destruction is mentioned as an "ensample unto those that after should live ungodly" (2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:4-7). Their wickedness became proverbial (Deuteronomy 32:32; Isaiah 1:9, 10; Jeremiah 23:14). But that wickedness may be exceeded (Matthew 10:15; Mark 6:11). (See DEAD SEA).
•GOODLY TREES boughs of, were to be carried in festive procession on the first day of the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40). This was probably the olive tree (Nehemiah 8:15), although no special tree is mentioned.
•GOODNESS in man is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.
•GOODNESS OF GOD a perfection of his character which he exercises towards his creatures according to their various circumstances and relations (Psalm 145:8, 9; 103:8; 1 John 4:8). Viewed generally, it is benevolence; as exercised with respect to the miseries of his creatures it is mercy, pity, compassion, and in the case of impenitent sinners, long-suffering patience; as exercised in communicating favour on the unworthy it is grace. "Goodness and justice are the several aspects of one unchangeable, infinitely wise, and sovereign moral perfection. God is not sometimes merciful and sometimes just, but he is eternally infinitely just and merciful." God is infinitely and unchangeably good (Zephaniah 3:17), and his goodness is incomprehensible by the finite mind (Romans 11: 35, 36). "God's goodness appears in two things, giving and forgiving."
•GOPHER a tree from the wood of which Noah was directed to build the ark (Genesis 6:14). It is mentioned only there. The LXX. render this word by "squared beams," and the Vulgate by "planed wood." Other versions have rendered it "pine" and "cedar;" but the weight of authority is in favour of understanding by it the cypress tree, which grows abundantly in Chaldea and Armenia.
•GOSHEN (1.) A district in Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they remained till the Exodus (Genesis 45:10; 46:28, 29, 31, etc.). It is called "the land of Goshen" (47:27), and also simply "Goshen" (46:28), and "the land of Rameses" (47:11; Exodus 12:37), for the towns Pithom and Rameses lay within its borders; also Zoan or Tanis (Psalm 78:12). It lay on the east of the Nile, and apparently not far from the royal residence. It was "the best of the land" (Genesis 47:6, 11), but is now a desert. It is first mentioned in Joseph's message to his father. It has been identified with the modern Wady Tumilat, lying between the eastern part of the Delta and the west border of Palestine. It was a pastoral district, where some of the king's cattle were kept (Genesis 47:6). The inhabitants were not exclusively Israelites (Exodus 3:22; 11:2; 12:35, 36).
(2.) A district in Palestine (Joshua 10:41; 11:16). It was a part of the maritime plain of Judah, and lay between Gaza and Gibeon.
(3.) A town in the mountains of Judah (Joshua 15:51).
•GOSPEL a word of Anglo-Saxon origin, and meaning "God's spell", i.e., word of God, or rather, according to others, "good spell", i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the Greek evangelion, i.e., "good message." It denotes (1) "the welcome intelligence of salvation to man as preached by our Lord and his followers. (2.) It was afterwards transitively applied to each of the four histories of our Lord's life, published by those who are therefore called 'Evangelists', writers of the history of the gospel (the evangelion). (3.) The term is often used to express collectively the gospel doctrines; and 'preaching the gospel' is often used to include not only the proclaiming of the good tidings, but the teaching men how to avail themselves of the offer of salvation, the declaring of all the truths, precepts, promises, and threatenings of Christianity." It is termed "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24), "the gospel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:23), "the gospel of Christ" (Romans 1:16), "the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), "the glorious gospel," "the everlasting gospel," "the gospel of salvation" (Ephesians 1:13).
•GOSPELS The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour had come into the world (Matthew 4:23; Romans 10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their account of the person and mission of Christ by the term evangelion (= good message) were called evangelistai (= evangelists) (Ephesians 4:11; Acts 21:8).
There are four historical accounts of the person and work of Christ: "the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the promised King of the kingdom of God; the second by Mark, declaring him 'a prophet, mighty in deed and word'; the third by Luke, of whom it might be said that he represents Christ in the special character of the Saviour of sinners (Luke 7:36; 15:18); the fourth by John, who represents Christ as the Son of God, in whom deity and humanity become one. The ancient Church gave to Matthew the symbol of the lion, to Mark that of a man, to Luke that of the ox, and to John that of the eagle: these were the four faces of the cherubim" (Ezekiel 1:10).
Date. The Gospels were all composed during the latter part of the first century, and there is distinct historical evidence to show that they were used and accepted as authentic before the end of the second century.
Mutual relation. "If the extent of all the coincidences be represented by 100, their proportionate distribution will be: Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
53; Matthew and Luke, 21; Matthew and Mark, 20; Mark and Luke, 6. Looking only at the general result, it may be said that of the contents of the synoptic Gospels [i.e., the first three Gospels] about two-fifths are common to the three, and that the parts peculiar to one or other of them are little more than one-third of the whole."
Origin. Did the evangelists copy from one another? The opinion is well founded that the Gospels were published by the apostles orally before they were committed to writing, and that each had an independent origin. (See MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF.)
•GOURD (1.) Jonah's gourd (Jonah 4:6-10), bearing the Hebrew name kikayon (found only here), was probably the kiki of the Egyptians, the croton. This is the castor-oil plant, a species of ricinus, the palma Christi, so called from the palmate division of its leaves. Others with more probability regard it as the cucurbita the el-keroa of the Arabs, a kind of pumpkin peculiar to the East. "It is grown in great abundance on the alluvial banks of the Tigris and on the plain between the river and the ruins of Nineveh." At the present day it is trained to run over structures of mud and brush to form boots to protect the gardeners from the heat of the noon-day sun. It grows with extraordinary rapidity, and when cut or injured withers away also with great rapidity.
(2.) Wild gourds (2 Kings 4:38-40), Hebrews pakkuoth, belong to the family of the cucumber-like plants, some of which are poisonous. The species here referred to is probably the colocynth (Cucumis colocynthus). The LXX. render the word by "wild pumpkin." It abounds in the desert parts of Syria, Egypt, and Arabia. There is, however, another species, called the Cucumis prophetarum, from the idea that it afforded the gourd which "the sons of the prophets" shred by mistake into their pottage.
•GOVERNMENT OF GOD See PROVIDENCE.
•GOVERNMENTS (1 Corinthians 12:28), the powers which fit a man for a place of influence in the church; "the steersman's art; the art of guiding aright the vessel of church or state."
•GOVERNOR (1.) Hebrews nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chronicles 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:11; Jeremiah 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chronicles 12:27), keeper of the sacred
treasury (26:24), captain of the army (13:1), the king (1 Samuel 9:16), the Messiah (Daniel 9:25).
(2.) Hebrews nasi, raised; exalted. Used to denote the chiefs of families (Numbers 3:24, 30, 32, 35); also of tribes (2:3; 7:2; 3:32). These dignities appear to have been elective, not hereditary.
(3.) Hebrews pakid, an officer or magistrate. It is used of the delegate of the high priest (2 Chronicles 24:11), the Levites (Nehemiah 11:22), a military commander (2 Kings 25:19), Joseph's officers in Egypt (Genesis 41:34).
(4.) Hebrews shallit, one who has power, who rules (Genesis 42:6; Ezra 4:20; Ecclesiastes 8:8; Daniel 2:15; 5:29).
(5.) Hebrews aluph, literally one put over a thousand, i.e., a clan or a subdivision of a tribe. Used of the "dukes" of Edom (Genesis 36), and of the Jewish chiefs (Zechariah 9:7).
(6.) Hebrews moshel, one who rules, holds dominion. Used of many classes of rulers (Genesis 3:16; 24:2; 45:8; Psalm 105:20); of the Messiah (Micah 5:2); of God (1 Chronicles 29:12; Psalm 103:19).
(7.) Hebrews sar, a ruler or chief; a word of very general use. It is used of the chief baker of Pharaoh (Genesis 40:16); of the chief butler (40:2, etc. See also Genesis 47:6; Exodus 1:11; Daniel 1:7; Judges 10:18; 1 Kings 22:26; 20:15; 2 Kings 1:9; 2 Samuel 24:2). It is used also of angels, guardian angels (Daniel 10:13, 20, 21; 12:1; 10:13; 8:25).
(8.) Pehah, whence pasha, i.e., friend of the king; adjutant; governor of a province (2 Kings 18:24; Isaiah 36:9; Jeremiah 51: 57; Ezekiel 23:6, 23; Daniel 3:2; Esther 3: 12), or a perfect (Nehemiah 3:7; 5:14; Ezra 5:3; Hag. 1:1). This is a foreign word, Assyrian, which was early adopted into the Hebrew idiom (1 Kings 10:15).
(9.) The Chaldean word segan is applied to the governors of the Babylonian satrapies (Daniel 3:2, 27; 6:7); the prefects over the Magi (2:48). The corresponding Hebrew word segan is used of provincial rulers (Jeremiah 51:23, 28, 57); also of chiefs and rulers of the people of Jerusalem (Ezra 9:2; Nehemiah 2:16; 4:14, 19; 5:7, 17; 7:5; 12:40).
In the New Testament there are also different Greek words rendered thus.
(1.) Meaning an ethnarch (2 Corinthians 11:32), which was an office distinct from military command, with considerable latitude of application.
(2.) The procurator of Judea under the Romans (Matthew 27:2). (Comp. Luke 2:2, where the verb from which the Greek word so rendered is derived is used.)
(3.) Steward (Galatians 4:2).
(4.) Governor of the feast (John 2:9), who appears here to have been merely an intimate friend of the bridegroom, and to have presided at the marriage banquet in his stead.
(5.) A director, i.e., helmsman; Lat. gubernator, (James 3:4).
•GOZAN a region in Central Asia to which the Israelites were carried away captive (2 Kings 17:6; 1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12). It was situated in Mesopotamia, on the river Habor (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11), the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates. The "river of Gozan" (1 Chronicles 5:26) is probably the upper part of the river flowing through the province of Gozan, now Kizzel-Ozan.
•GRACE (1.) Of form or person (Proverbs 1:9; 3:22; Psalm 45:2). (2.) Favour, kindness, friendship (Genesis 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Timothy 1:9). (3.) God's forgiving mercy (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:5). (4.) The gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 5:12). (5.) Gifts freely bestowed by God; as miracles, prophecy, tongues (Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8). (6.) Christian virtues (2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Peter 3:18). (7.) The glory hereafter to be revealed (1 Peter 1:13).
•GRACE, MEANS OF an expression not used in Scripture, but employed (1) to denote those institutions ordained by God to be the ordinary channels of grace to the souls of men. These are the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer.
(2.) But in popular language the expression is used in a wider sense to denote those exercises in which we engage for the purpose of obtaining spiritual blessing; as hearing the gospel, reading the Word, meditation, self-examination, Christian conversation, etc.
•GRAFT the process of inoculating fruit-trees (Romans 11:17-24). It is peculiarly appropriate to olive-trees. The union thus of branches to a stem is used to illustrate the union of true believers to the true Church.
•GRAIN used, in Amos 9:9, of a small stone or kernel; in Matthew 13:31, of an individual seed of mustard; in John 12:24, 1 Corinthians 15:37, of wheat. The Hebrews sowed only wheat, barley, and spelt; rye and oats are not mentioned in Scripture.
•GRAPE the fruit of the vine, which was extensively cultivated in Palestine. Grapes are spoken of as "tender" (Cant. 2:13, 15), "unripe" (Job 15:33), "sour" (Isaiah 18:5), "wild" (Isaiah 5:2,4). (See Revelation 14:18; Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 6:9; Ezekiel 18:2, for figurative use of the word.) (See VINE.)
•GRASS (1.) Hebrews hatsir, ripe grass fit for mowing (1 Kings 18:5; Job 40:15; Psalm 104:14). As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life (Isaiah 40:6, 7; Psalm 90:5). In Numbers 11:5 this word is rendered "leeks."
(2.) Hebrews deshe', green grass (Genesis 1:11, 12; Isaiah 66:14; Deuteronomy 32:2). "The sickly and forced blades of grass which spring up on the flat plastered roofs of houses in the East are used as an emblem of speedy destruction, because they are small and weak, and because, under the scorching rays of the sun, they soon wither away" (2 Kings 19:26; Psalm 129:6; Isaiah 37:27).
The dry stalks of grass were often used as fuel for the oven (Matthew 6:30; 13:30; Luke 12:28).
•GRASSHOPPER belongs to the class of neuropterous insects called Gryllidae. This insect is not unknown in Palestine.
In Judges 6:5; 7:12; Job 39:30; Jeremiah 46:23, where the Authorized Version has "grasshopper," the Revised Version more correctly renders the Hebrew word ('arbeh) by "locust." This is the case also in Amos 7:1; Nah. 3:17, where the Hebrew word gob is used; and in Leviticus 11:22; Numbers 13:33; Ecclesiastes 12:5; Isaiah 40:22, where hagab is used. In all these instances the proper rendering is probably "locust" (q.v.).
•GRATE a network of brass for the bottom of the great altar of sacrifice (Exodus 27:4; 35:16; 38:4, 5, 30).
•GRAVE Among the ancient Hebrews graves were outside of cities in the open field (Luke 7:12; John 11:30). Kings (1 Kings 2:10) and prophets (1 Samuel 25:1) were generally buried within cities. Graves were generally grottoes or caves, natural or hewn out in rocks (Isaiah 22:16; Matthew 27:60). There were family cemeteries (Genesis 47:29; 50:5; 2 Samuel 19:37). Public burial-places were assigned to the poor (Jeremiah 26:23; 2 Kings 23:6). Graves were usually closed with stones, which were whitewashed, to warn strangers against contact with them (Matthew 23:27), which caused ceremonial pollution (Numbers 19:16).
There were no graves in Jerusalem except those of the kings, and according to tradition that of the prophetess Huldah.
•GRAVEN IMAGE Deuteronomy 27:15; Psalm 97:7 (Hebrews pesel), refers to the household gods of idolaters. "Every nation and city had its own gods...Yet every family had its separate household or tutelary God."
•GRAVING (1.) Hebrews hatsabh. Job 19:24, rendered "graven," but generally means hewn stone or wood, in quarry or forest.
(2.) Hebrews harush. Jeremiah 17:1, rendered "graven," and indicates generally artistic work in metal, wood, and stone, effected by fine instruments.
(3.) Hebrews haqaq. Ezekiel 4:1, engraving a plan or map, rendered "pourtray;" Job 19:23, "written."
(4.) Hebrews pasal points rather to the sculptor's or the carver's art (Isaiah 30:22; 40:19; 41:7; 44:12-15).
(5.) Pathah refers to intaglio work, the cutting and engraving of precious stones (Exodus 28:9-11, 21; Zechariah 3:9; Cant. 1:10, 11).
(6.) Heret. In Exodus 32:4 rendered "graving tool;" and in Isaiah 8:1, "a pen."
•GREAVES only in 1 Samuel 17:6, a piece of defensive armour (q.v.) reaching from the foot to the knee; from French greve, "the shin." They were the Roman cothurni.
•GRECIANS Hellenists, Greek-Jews; Jews born in a foreign country, and thus did not speak Hebrew (Acts 6:1; 9:29), nor join in the Hebrew services of the Jews in Palestine, but had synagogues of their own in Jerusalem. Joel 3:6 =Greeks.
•GREECE orginally consisted of the four provinces of Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, and Peleponnesus. In Acts 20:2 it designates only the Roman province of Macedonia. Greece was conquered by the Romans B.C. 146. After passing through various changes it was erected into an independent monarchy in 1831.
Moses makes mention of Greece under the name of Javan (Genesis 10:2-5); and this name does not again occur in the Old Testament till the time of Joel (3:6). Then the Greeks and Hebrews first came into contact in the Tyrian slave-market. Prophetic notice is taken of Greece in Daniel 8:21.
The cities of Greece were the special scenes of the labours of the apostle Paul.
•GREEK Found only in the New Testament, where a distinction is observed between "Greek" and "Grecian" (q.v.). The former is (1) a Greek by race (Acts 16:1-3; 18:17; Romans 1:14), or (2) a Gentile as opposed to a Jew (Romans 2:9, 10). The latter, meaning properly "one who speaks Greek," is a foreign Jew opposed to a home Jew who dwelt in Palestine.
The word "Grecians" in Acts 11:20 should be "Greeks," denoting the heathen Greeks of that city, as rendered in the Revised Version according to the reading of the best manuscripts ("Hellenes").
•GREYHOUND (Proverbs 30:31), the rendering of the Hebrew zarzir mothnayim, meaning literally "girded as to the lions." Some (Gesen.; R.V. marg.) render it "war-horse." The LXX. and Vulgate versions render it "cock." It has been by some interpreters rendered also "stag" and "warrior," as being girded about or panoplied, and "wrestler." The greyhound, however, was evidently known in ancient times, as appears from Egyptian monuments.
•GRIND (Exodus 32:20; Deuteronomy 9:21; Judges 16:21), to crush small (Hebrews tahan); to oppress the poor (Isaiah 3:5). The hand-mill was early used by the Hebrews (Numbers 11:8). It consisted of two stones, the upper (Deuteronomy 24:6; 2 Samuel 11:21) being movable and slightly concave, the lower being stationary. The grinders mentioned Ecclesiastes 12:3 are the teeth. (See MILL.)
•GRIZZLED party-coloured, as goats (Genesis 31:10, 12), horses (Zechariah 6:3, 6).
•GROVE (1.) Hebrews 'asherah, properly a wooden image, or a pillar representing Ashtoreth, a sensual Canaanitish goddess, probably usually set up in a grove (2 Kings 21:7; 23:4). In the Revised Version the word "Asherah" (q.v.) is introduced as a proper noun, the name of the wooden symbol of a goddess, with the plurals Asherim (Exodus 34:13) and Asheroth (Judges 3:13).
The LXX. have rendered asherah in 2 Chronicles 15:16 by "Astarte." The Vulgate has done this also in Judges 3:7.
(2.) Hebrews 'eshel (Genesis 21:33). In 1 Samuel 22:6 and 31:13 the Authorized Version renders this word by "tree." In all these passages the Revised Version renders by "tamarisk tree." It has been identified with the Tamariscus orientalis, five species of which are found in Palestine.
(3.) The Hebrews word 'elon, uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by "plain," properly signifies a grove or plantation. In the Revised Version it is rendered, pl., "oaks" (Genesis 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30; Joshua 19:33). In the earliest times groves are mentioned in connection with religious worship. The heathen consecrated groves to particular gods, and for this reason they were forbidden to the Jews (Jeremiah 17:3; Ezekiel 20:28).
•GUARD (1.) Hebrews tabbah (properly a "cook," and in a secondary sense "executioner," because this office fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the kings of Egypt (Genesis 37:36) and Babylon (2 Kings 25:8; Jeremiah 40:1; Daniel 2:14).
(2.) Hebrews rats, properly a "courier," one whose office was to run before the king's chariot (2 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). The couriers were also military guards (1 Samuel 22:17; 2 Kings 10:25). They were probably the same who under David were called Pelethites (1 Kings 14:27; 2 Samuel 15:1).
(3.) Hebrews mishmereth, one who watches (Nehemiah 4:22), or a watch-station (7:3; 12:9; Job 7:12).
In the New Testament (Mark 6:27) the Authorized Version renders the Greek spekulator by "executioner," earlier English versions by "hangman," the Revised Version by "soldier of his guard." The word properly means a "pikeman" or "halberdier," of whom the bodyguard of kings and princes was composed. In Matthew 27:65, 66; 28:11, the Authorized Version renders the Greek kustodia by "watch," and the Revised Version by "guard," the Roman guard, which consisted of four soldiers, who were relieved every three hours (Acts 12:4). The "captain of the guard" mentioned Acts 28:16 was the commander of the Praetorian troops, whose duty it was to receive and take charge of all prisoners from the provinces.
•GUEST-CHAMBER the spare room on the upper floor of an Eastern dwelling (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11). In Luke 2:7 the word is translated "inn" (q.v.).
•GUR a whelp, a place near Ibleam where Jehu's servants overtook and mortally wounded king Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27); an ascent from the plain of Jezreel.
•GUR-BAAL sojourn of Baal, a place in Arabia (2 Chronicles 26:7) where there was probably a temple of Baal.
•GUTTER Hebrews tsinnor, (2 Samuel 5:8). This Hebrew word occurs only elsewhere in Psalm 42:7 in the plural, where it is rendered "waterspouts." It denotes some passage through which water passed; a water-course.
In Genesis 30:38, 41 the Hebrew word rendered "gutters" is rahat, and denotes vessels overflowing with water for cattle (Exodus 2:16); drinking-troughs.
•HABAKKUK embrace, the eighth of the twelve minor prophets. Of his personal history we have no reliable information. He was probably a member of the Levitical choir. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Zephaniah.
•HABAKKUK, PROPHECIES OF were probably written about B.C. 650-627, or, as some think, a few years later. This book consists of three chapters, the contents of which are thus comprehensively described: "When the prophet in spirit saw the formidable power of the Chaldeans approaching and menacing his land, and saw the great evils they would cause in Judea, he bore his complaints and doubts before Jehovah, the just and the pure (1:2-17). And on this occasion the future punishment of the Chaldeans was revealed to him (2). In the third chapter a presentiment of the destruction of his country, in the inspired heart of the prophet, contends with his hope that the enemy would be chastised." The third chapter is a sublime song dedicated "to the chief musician," and therefore intended apparently to be used in the worship of God. It is "unequalled in majesty and splendour of language and imagery."
The passage in 2:4, "The just shall live by his faith," is quoted by the apostle in Romans 1:17. (Comp. Galatians 3:12; Hebrews 10:37, 38.)
•HABERGEON an Old English word for breastplate. In Job 41:26 (Hebrews shiryah) it is properly a "coat of mail;" the Revised Version has "pointed shaft." In Exodus 28:32, 39:23, it denotes a military garment strongly and thickly woven and covered with mail round the neck and breast. Such linen corselets have been found in Egypt. The word used in these verses is tahra, which is of Egyptian origin. The Revised Version, however, renders it by "coat of mail." (See ARMOUR.)
•HABITATION God is the habitation of his people, who find rest and safety in him (Psalm 71:3; 91:9). Justice and judgment are the habitation of God's throne (Psalm 89:14, Hebrews mekhon, "foundation"), because all his acts are founded on justice and judgment. (See Psalm 132:5, 13; Ephesians 2:22, of Canaan, Jerusalem, and the temple as God's
habitation.) God inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15), i.e., dwells not only among men, but in eternity, where time is unknown; and "the praises of Israel" (Psalm 22:3), i.e., he dwells among those praises and is continually surrounded by them.
•HABOR the united stream, or, according to others, with beautiful banks, the name of a river in Assyria, and also of the district through which it flowed (1 Chronicles 5:26). There is a river called Khabur which rises in the central highlands of Kurdistan, and flows south-west till it falls into the Tigris, about 70 miles above Mosul. This was not, however, the Habor of Scripture.
There is another river of the same name (the Chaboras) which, after a course of about 200 miles, flows into the Euphrates at Karkesia, the ancient Circesium. This was, there can be little doubt, the ancient Habor.
•HACHILAH the darksome hill, one of the peaks of the long ridge of el-Kolah, running out of the Ziph plateau, "on the south of Jeshimon" (i.e., of the "waste"), the district to which one looks down from the plateau of Ziph (1 Samuel 23:19). After his reconciliation with Saul at Engedi (24:1-8), David returned to Hachilah, where he had fixed his quarters. The Ziphites treacherously informed Saul of this, and he immediately (26:1-4) renewed his pursuit of David, and "pitched in the hill of Hachilah." David and his nephew Abishai stole at night into the midst of Saul's camp, when they were all asleep, and noiselessly removed the royal spear and the cruse from the side of the king, and then, crossing the intervening valley to the height on the other side, David cried to the people, and thus awoke the sleepers. He then addressed Saul, who recognized his voice, and expostulated with him. Saul professed to be penitent; but David could not put confidence in him, and he now sought refuge at Ziklag. David and Saul never afterwards met. (1 Samuel 26:13-25).
•HADAD Adod, brave(?), the name of a Syrian God. (1.) An Edomite king who defeated the Midianites (Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:46).
(2.) Another Edomite king (1 Chronicles 1:50, 51), called also Hadar (Genesis 36:39; 1 Chronicles 1:51).
(3.) One of "the king's seed in Edom." He fled into Egypt, where he married the sister of Pharaoh's wife (1 Kings 11:14-22). He became one of Solomon's adversaries.
Hadad, sharp, (a different name in Hebrew from the preceding), one of the sons of Ishmael (1 Chronicles 1:30). Called also Hadar (Genesis 25:15).
•HADADEZER Hadad is help; called also Hadarezer, Adod is his help, the king of Zobah. Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, hired among others the army of Hadadezer to assist him in his war against David. Joab, who was sent against this confederate host, found them in double battle array, the Ammonities toward their capital of Rabbah, and the Syrian mercenaries near Medeba. In the battle which was fought the Syrians were scattered, and the Ammonites in alarm fled into their capital. After this Hadadezer went north "to recover his border" (2 Samuel 8:3, A.V.); but rather, as the Revised Version renders, "to recover his dominion", i.e., to recruit his forces. Then followed another battle with the Syrian army thus recruited, which resulted in its being totally routed at Helam (2 Samuel 10:17). Shobach, the leader of the Syrian army, died on the field of battle. The Syrians of Damascus, who had come to help Hadadezer, were also routed, and Damascus was made tributary to David. All the spoils taken in this war, "shields of gold" and "very much brass," from which afterwards the "brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass" for the temple were made (1 Chronicles 18:8), were brought to Jerusalem and dedicated to Jehovah. Thus the power of the Ammonites and the Syrians was finally broken, and David's empire extended to the Euphrates (2 Samuel 10:15-19; 1 Chronicles 19:15-19).
•HADAD-RIMMON (composed of the names of two Syrian idols), the name of a place in the valley of Megiddo. It is alluded to by the prophet Zechariah (12:11) in a proverbial expression derived from the lamentation for Josiah, who was mortally wounded near this place (2 Chronicles 35:22-25). It has been identified with the modern Rummaneh, a village "at the foot of the Megiddo hills, in a notch or valley about an hour and a half south of Tell Metzellim."
•HADAR Adod, brave(?). (1.) A son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:15); in 1 Chronicles 1:30 written Hadad.
(2.) One of the Edomitish kings (Genesis 36:39) about the time of Saul. Called also Hadad (1 Chronicles 1:50, 51).
It is probable that in these cases Hadar may be an error simply of transcription for Hadad.
•HADAREZER Adod is his help, the name given to Hadadezer (2 Samuel 8:3-12) in 2 Samuel 10.
•HADASHAH new, a city in the valley of Judah (Joshua 15:37).
•HADASSAH myrtle, the Jewish name of Esther (q.v.), Esther 2:7.
•HADATTAH new, one of the towns in the extreme south of Judah (Joshua 15:25).
•HADES that which is out of sight, a Greek word used to denote the state or place of the dead. All the dead alike go into this place. To be buried, to go down to the grave, to descend into hades, are equivalent expressions. In the LXX. this word is the usual rendering of the Hebrew sheol, the common receptacle of the departed (Genesis 42:38; Psalm 139:8; Hos. 13:14; Isaiah 14:9). This term is of comparatively rare occurrence in the Greek New Testament. Our Lord speaks of Capernaum as being "brought down to hell" (hades), i.e., simply to the lowest debasement, (Matthew 11:23). It is contemplated as a kind of kingdom which could never overturn the foundation of Christ's kingdom (16:18), i.e., Christ's church can never die.
In Luke 16:23 it is most distinctly associated with the doom and misery of the lost.
In Acts 2:27-31 Peter quotes the LXX. version of Psalm 16:8-11, plainly for the purpose of proving our Lord's resurrection from the dead. David was left in the place of the dead, and his body saw corruption. Not so with Christ. According to ancient prophecy (Psalm 30:3) he was recalled to life.
•HADID pointed, a place in the tribe of Benjamin near Lydda, or Lod, and Ono (Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37). It is identified with the modern el-Haditheh, 3 miles east of Lydda.
•HADLAI resting, an Ephraimite; the father of Amasa, mentioned in 2 Chronicles 28:12.
•HADORAM is exalted. (1.) The son of Tou, king of Hamath, sent by his father to congratulate David on his victory over Hadarezer, king of Syria (1 Chronicles 18:10; called Joram 2 Samuel 8:10).
(2.) The fifth son of Joktan, the founder of an Arab tribe (Genesis 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:21).
(3.) One who was "over the tribute;" i.e., "over the levy." He was stoned by the Israelites after they had revolted from Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 10:18). Called also Adoram (2 Samuel 20:24) and Adoniram (1 Kings 4:6).
•HADRACH the name of a country (Zechariah 9:1) which cannot be identified. Rawlinson would identify it with Edessa. He mentions that in the Assyrian inscriptions it is recorded that "Shalmanezer III. made two expeditions, the first against Damascus B.C. 773, and the second against Hadrach B.C. 772; and again that Asshurdanin-il II. made expeditions against Hadrach in B.C. 765 and 755."
•HAEMORRHOIDS or Emerods, bleeding piles known to the ancient Romans as mariscae, but more probably malignant boils of an infectious and fatal character. With this loathsome and infectious disease the men of Ashdod were smitten by the hand of the Lord. This calamity they attributed to the presence of the ark in their midst, and therefore they removed it to Gath (1 Samuel 5:6-8). But the same consequences followed from its presence in Gath, and therefore they had it removed to Ekron, 11 miles distant. The Ekronites were afflicted with the same dreadful malady, but more severely; and a panic seizing the people, they demanded that the ark should be sent back to the land of Israel (9-12; 6:1-9).
•HAFT a handle as of a dagger (Judges 3:22).
•HAGAR flight, or, according to others, stranger, an Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid (Genesis 16:1; 21:9, 10), whom she gave to Abraham (q.v.) as a secondary wife (16:2). When she was about to become a mother she fled from the cruelty of her mistress, intending apparently to return to her relatives in Egypt, through the desert of Shur, which lay between. Wearied and worn she had reached the place she distinguished by the name of Beer-lahai-roi ("the well of the visible God"), where the angel of the Lord appeared to her. In obedience to the heavenly visitor she returned to the tent of Abraham, where her son Ishmael was born, and where she remained (16) till after the birth of Isaac, the space of fourteen years. Sarah after this began to vent her dissatisfaction both on Hagar and her child. Ishmael's conduct was insulting to Sarah, and she insisted that he and his mother should be dismissed. This was accordingly done, although with reluctance on the part of Abraham (Genesis 21:14). They wandered out into the wilderness, where Ishmael, exhausted with his journey and faint from thirst, seemed about to die. Hagar "lifted up her voice and wept," and the
angel of the Lord, as before, appeared unto her, and she was comforted and delivered out of her distresses (Genesis 21:18, 19).
Ishmael afterwards established himself in the wilderness of Paran, where he married an Egyptian (Genesis 21:20,21).
"Hagar" allegorically represents the Jewish church (Galatians 4:24), in bondage to the ceremonial law; while "Sarah" represents the Christian church, which is free.
•HAGARENE or Hagarite. (1.) One of David's mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:38), the son of a foreigner.
(2.) Used of Jaziz (1 Chronicles 27:31), who was over David's flocks. "A Hagarite had charge of David's flocks, and an Ishmaelite of his herds, because the animals were pastured in districts where these nomadic people were accustomed to feed their cattle."
(3.) In the reign of Saul a great war was waged between the trans-Jordanic tribes and the Hagarites (1 Chronicles 5), who were overcome in battle. A great booty was captured by the two tribes and a half, and they took possession of the land of the Hagarites.
Subsequently the "Hagarenes," still residing in the land on the east of Jordan, entered into a conspiracy against Israel (comp. Psalm 83:6). They are distinguished from the Ishmaelites.
•HAGGAI festive, one of the twelve so-called minor prophets. He was the first of the three (Zechariah, his contemporary, and Malachi, who was about one hundred years later, being the other two) whose ministry belonged to the period of Jewish history which began after the return from captivity in Babylon. Scarcely anything is known of his personal history. He may have been one of the captives taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. He began his ministry about sixteen years after the Return. The work of rebuilding the temple had been put a stop to through the intrigues of the Samaritans. After having been suspended for fifteen years, the work was resumed through the efforts of Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 6:14), who by their exhortations roused the people from their lethargy, and induced them to take advantage of the favourable opportunity that had arisen in a change in the policy of the Persian government. (See DARIUS [2].) Haggai's prophecies have thus been characterized:, "There is a ponderous and simple dignity in the emphatic
reiteration addressed alike to every class of the community, prince, priest, and people, 'Be strong, be strong, be strong' (2:4). 'Cleave, stick fast, to the work you have to do;' or again, 'Consider your ways, consider, consider, consider' (1:5, 7;2:15, 18). It is the Hebrew phrase for the endeavour, characteristic of the gifted seers of all times, to compel their hearers to turn the inside of their hearts outwards to their own view, to take the mask from off their consciences, to 'see life steadily, and to see it wholly.'", Stanley's Jewish Church. (See SIGNET.)
•HAGGAI, BOOK OF consists of two brief, comprehensive chapters. The object of the prophet was generally to urge the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the temple.
Chapter first comprehends the first address (2-11) and its effects (12-15). Chapter second contains,
(1.) The second prophecy (1-9), which was delivered a month after the first.
(2.) The third prophecy (10-19), delivered two months and three days after the second; and
(3.) The fourth prophecy (20-23), delivered on the same day as the third.
These discourses are referred to in Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Hebrews 12:26. (Comp. Hag. 2:7, 8, 22.)
•HAGGITH festive; the dancer, a wife of David and the mother of Adonijah (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Kings 1:5, 11; 2:13; 1 Chronicles 3:2), who, like Absalom, was famed for his beauty.
•HAGIOGRAPHA the holy writings, a term which came early into use in the Christian church to denote the third division of the Old Testament scriptures, called by the Jews Kethubim, i.e., "Writings." It consisted of five books, viz., Job, Proverbs, and Psalms, and the two books of Chronicles. The ancient Jews classified their sacred books as the Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubim, or Writings. (See BIBLE.)
In the New Testament (Luke 24:44) we find three corresponding divisions, viz., the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms.
•HAIL! a salutation expressive of a wish for the welfare of the person addressed; the translation of the Greek Chaire, "Rejoice" (Luke 1:8). Used in mockery in Matthew 27:29.
•HAIL frozen rain-drops; one of the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 9:23). It is mentioned by Haggai as a divine judgment (Hag. 2:17). A hail-storm destroyed the army of the Amorites when they fought against Joshua (Joshua 10:11). Ezekiel represents the wall daubed with untempered mortar as destroyed by great hail-stones (Ezekiel 13:11). (See also 38:22; Revelation 8:7; 11:19; 16:21.)
•HAIR (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard." Joseph shaved himself before going in to Pharoah (Genesis 41:14). The women of Egypt wore their hair long and plaited. Wigs were worn by priests and laymen to cover the shaven skull, and false beards were common. The great masses of hair seen in the portraits and statues of kings and priests are thus altogether artificial.
(2.) A precisely opposite practice, as regards men, prevailed among the Assyrians. In Assyrian sculptures the hair always appears long, and combed closely down upon the head. The beard also was allowed to grow to its full length.
(3.) Among the Greeks the custom in this respect varied at different times, as it did also among the Romans. In the time of the apostle, among the Greeks the men wore short hair, while that of the women was long (1 Corinthians 11:14, 15). Paul reproves the Corinthians for falling in with a style of manners which so far confounded the distinction of the sexes and was hurtful to good morals. (See, however, 1 Timothy 2:9, and 1 Peter 3:3, as regards women.)
(4.) Among the Hebrews the natural distinction between the sexes was preserved by the women wearing long hair (Luke 7:38; John 11:2; 1 Corinthians 11:6), while the men preserved theirs as a rule at a moderate length by frequent clipping.
Baldness disqualified any one for the priest's office (Leviticus 21).
Elijah is called a "hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8) from his flowing locks, or more probably from the shaggy cloak of hair which he wore. His raiment was of camel's hair.
Long hair is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2 Samuel 14:26); but the wearing of long hair was unusual, and was only practised as an act of religious observance by Nazarites (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5) and others in token of special mercies (Acts 18:18).
In times of affliction the hair was cut off (Isaiah 3:17, 24; 15:2; 22:12; Jeremiah 7:29; Amos 8:10). Tearing the hair and letting it go dishevelled were also tokens of grief (Ezra 9:3). "Cutting off the hair" is a figure of the entire destruction of a people (Isaiah 7:20). The Hebrews anointed the hair profusely with fragrant ointments (Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 14:2; Psalm 23:5; 45:7, etc.), especially in seasons of rejoicing (Matthew 6:17; Luke 7:46).
•HAKKOZ the thorn, the head of one of the courses of the priests (1 Chronicles 24:10).
•HALAH a district of Media to which captive Israelites were transported by the Assyrian kings (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chronicles 5:26). It lay along the banks of the upper Khabur, from its source to its junction with the Jerujer. Probably the district called by Ptolemy Chalcitis.
•HALAK smooth; bald, a hill at the southern extremity of Canaan (Joshua 11:17). It is referred to as if it were a landmark in that direction, being prominent and conspicuous from a distance. It has by some been identified with the modern Jebel el-Madura, on the south frontier of Judah, between the south end of the Dead Sea and the Wady Gaian.
•HALHUL full of hollows, a town in the highlands of Judah (Joshua 15:58). It is now a small village of the same name, and is situated about 5 miles north-east of Hebron on the way to Jerusalem. There is an old Jewish tradition that Gad, David's seer (2 Samuel 24:11), was buried here.
•HALL (Gr. aule, Luke 22:55; R.V., "court"), the open court or quadrangle belonging to the high priest's house. In Matthew 26:69 and Mark 14:66 this word is incorrectly rendered "palace" in the Authorized Version, but correctly "court" in the Revised Version. In John 10:1,16 it means a "sheep-fold." In Matthew 27:27 and Mark 15:16 (A.V., "common hall;" R.V., "palace") it refers to the proetorium or residence of the Roman
governor at Jerusalem. The "porch" in Matthew 26:71 is the entrance-hall or passage leading into the central court, which is open to the sky.
•HALLEL praise, the name given to the group of Psalms 113-118, which are preeminently psalms of praise. It is called "The Egyptian Hallel," because it was chanted in the temple whilst the Passover lambs were being slain. It was chanted also on other festival occasions, as at Pentecost, the feast of Tabernacles, and the feast of Dedication. The Levites, standing before the altar, chanted it verse by verse, the people responding by repeating the verses or by intoned hallelujahs. It was also chanted in private families at the feast of Passover. This was probably the hymn which our Saviour and his disciples sung at the conclusion of the Passover supper kept by them in the upper room at Jerusalem (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26).
There is also another group called "The Great Hallel," comprehending Psalms 118-136, which was recited on the first evening at the Passover supper and on occasions of great joy.
•HALLELUJAH praise ye Jehovah, frequently rendered "Praise ye the LORD," stands at the beginning of ten of the psalms (106, 111-113, 135, 146-150), hence called "hallelujah psalms." From its frequent occurrence it grew into a formula of praise. The Greek form of the word (alleluia) is found in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6.
•HALLOW to render sacred, to consecrate (Exodus 28:38; 29:1). This word is from the Saxon, and properly means "to make holy." The name of God is "hallowed", i.e., is reverenced as holy (Matthew 6:9).
•HALT lame on the feet (Genesis 32:31; Psalm 38:17). To "halt between two opinions" (1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression used in "allusion to birds, which hop from spray to spray, forwards and backwards." The LXX. render the expression "How long go ye lame on both knees?" The Hebrew verb rendered "halt" is used of the irregular dance ("leaped upon") around the altar (ver. 26). It indicates a lame, uncertain gait, going now in one direction, now in another, in the frenzy of wild leaping.
•HAM warm, hot, and hence the south; also an Egyptian word meaning "black", the youngest son of Noah (Genesis 5:32; comp. 9:22,24). The curse pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his
fourth son, was accomplished when the Jews subsequently exterminated the Canaanites.
One of the most important facts recorded in Genesis 10 is the foundation of the earliest monarchy in Babylonia by Nimrod the grandson of Ham (6, 8, 10). The primitive Babylonian empire was thus Hamitic, and of a cognate race with the primitive inhabitants of Arabia and of Ethiopia. (See ACCAD.)
HAM
| ————————————————————— | | | | Cush Mizraim Phut Caanan
| | | Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Ludim, Anamin, Lehabim, Sidom, Heth, Jesubite, Raamah, Sabtechah Naphuthim, Pathrusim Amorite, Hivite, Arkite,
| Casluhim, Caphtorim Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite Sheba, Dedan | Hamathite Philistim
The race of Ham were the most energetic of all the descendants of Noah in the early times of the post-diluvian world.
•HAMAN (of Persian origin), magnificent, the name of the vizier (i.e., the prime minister) of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Esther 3:1, etc.). He is called an "Agagite," which seems to denote that he was descended from the royal family of the Amalekites, the bitterest enemies of the Jews, as Agag was one of the titles of the Amalekite kings. He or his parents were brought to Persia as captives taken in war. He was hanged on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai the Jew (Esther 7:10). (See ESTHER.)
•HAMATH fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary of Palestine (Numbers 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon (Joshua 13:5) towards Damascus (Zechariah 9:2; Jeremiah 49:23). It is called "Hamath the great" in Amos 6:2, and "Hamath-zobah" in 2 Chronicles 8:3.
Hamath, now Hamah, had an Aramaean population, but Hittite monuments discovered there show that it must have been at one time
occupied by the Hittites. It was among the conquests of the Pharaoh Thothmes III. Its king, Tou or Toi, made alliance with David (2 Samuel 8:10), and in B.C. 740 Azariah formed a league with it against Assyria. It was, however, conquered by the Assyrians, and its nineteen districts placed under Assyrian governors. In B.C. 720 it revolted under a certain Yahu-bihdi, whose name, compounded with that of the God of Israel (Yahu), perhaps shows that he was of Jewish origin. But the revolt was suppressed, and the people of Hamath were transported to Samaria (2 Kings 17:24, 30), where they continued to worship their God Ashima. Hamah is beautifully situated on the Orontes, 32 miles north of Emesa, and 36 south of the ruins of Assamea.
The kingdom of Hamath comprehended the great plain lying on both banks of the Orontes from the fountain near Riblah to Assamea on the north, and from Lebanon on the west to the desert on the east. The "entrance of Hamath" (Numbers 34:8), which was the north boundary of Palestine, led from the west between the north end of Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh mountains.
•HAMATH-ZOBAH fortress of Zobah, (2 Chronicles 8:3) is supposed by some to be a different place from the foregoing; but this is quite uncertain.
•HAMMATH warm springs, one of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali (Joshua 19:35). It is identified with the warm baths (the heat of the water ranging from 136 degrees to 144 degrees) still found on the shore a little to the south of Tiberias under the name of Hummam Tabariyeh ("Bath of Tiberias").
•HAMMEDATHA father of Haman, designated usually "the Agagite" (Esther 3:1, 10; 8:5).
•HAMMELECH the king's, the father of Jerahmeel, mentioned in Jeremiah 36:26. Some take this word as a common noun, "the king", and understand that Jerahmeel was Jehoiakim's son. Probably, however, it is to be taken as a proper name.
•HAMMER (1.) Hebrews pattish, used by gold-beaters (Isaiah 41:7) and by quarry-men (Jeremiah 23:29). Metaphorically of Babylon (Jeremiah 50:23) or Nebuchadnezzar.
(2.) Hebrews makabah, a stone-cutter's mallet (1 Kings 6:7), or of any workman (Judges 4:21; Isaiah 44:12).
(3.) Hebrews halmuth, a poetical word for a workman's hammer, found only in Judges 5:26, where it denotes the mallet with which the pins of the tent of the nomad are driven into the ground.
(4.) Hebrews mappets, rendered "battle-axe" in Jeremiah 51:20. This was properly a "mace," which is thus described by Rawlinson: "The Assyrian mace was a short, thin weapon, and must either have been made of a very tough wood or (and this is more probable) of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or string at the lower end by which it could be grasped with greater firmness."
•HAMMOLEKETH the queen, the daughter of Machir and sister of Gilead (1 Chronicles 7:17, 18). Abiezer was one of her three children.
•HAMMON warm springs. (1.) A town in the tribe of Asher, near Zidon (Joshua 19:28), identified with 'Ain Hamul.
(2.) A Levitical city of Naphtali (1 Chronicles 6:76).
•HAMMOTH-DOR warm springs, a Levitical city of Naphtali (Joshua 21:32); probably Hammath in 19:35.
•HAMON See BAAL-HAMON.
•HAMONAH multitude, a name figuratively assigned to the place in which the slaughter and burial of the forces of Gog were to take place (Ezekiel 39:16).
•HAMON-GOG multitude of Gog, the name of the valley in which the slaughtered forces of Gog are to be buried (Ezekiel 39:11,15), "the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea."
•HAMOR he-ass, a Hivite from whom Jacob purchased the plot of ground in which Joseph was afterwards buried (Genesis 33:19). He is called "Emmor" in Acts 7:16. His son Shechem founded the city of that name which Simeon and Levi destroyed because of his crime in the matter of Dinah, Jacob's daughter (Genesis 34:20). Hamor and Shechem were also slain (ver. 26).
•HAMUL spared, one of the sons of Pharez, son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:5). His descendants are called Hamulites (Numbers 26:21).
•HAMUTAL kinsman of the dew, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, wife of king Josiah, and mother of king Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31), also of king Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:18).
•HANAMEEL whom God has graciously given, the cousin of Jeremiah, to whom he sold the field he possessed in Anathoth, before the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 32:6-12).
•HANAN merciful. (1.) A Benjamite (1 Chronicles 8:23). (2.) One of David's heroes (1 Chronicles 11:43). (3.) Jeremiah 35:4. (4.) A descendant of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:38). (5.) One of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:46). (6.) One of the Levites who assisted Ezra (Nehemiah 8:7). (7.) One of the chiefs who subscribed the covenant (Nehemiah 10:22).
•HANANEEL God has graciously given, a tower in the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:1; 12:39). It is mentioned also in Jeremiah 31:38; Zechariah 14:10.
•HANANI God has gratified me, or is gracious. (1.) One of the sons of Heman (1 Chronicles 25:4, 25). (2.) A prophet who was sent to rebuke
king Asa for entering into a league with Benhadad I., king of Syria, against Judah (2 Chronicles 16:1-10). He was probably the father of the prophet Jehu (1 Kings 16:7). (3.) Probably a brother of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:2; 7:2), who reported to him the melancholy condition of Jerusalem. Nehemiah afterwards appointed him to have charge of the city gates.
•HANANIAH Jehovah has given. (1.) A chief of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:24). (2.) One of the sons of Heman (1 Chronicles 25:4,23). (3.) One of Uzziah's military officers (2 Chronicles 26:11). (4.) Grandfather of the captain who arrested Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:13). (5.) Jeremiah 36:12. (6.) Nehemiah 10:23. (7.) Shadrach, one of the "three Hebrew children" (Daniel 1; 6:7). (8.) Son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:19, 21). (9.) Ezra 10:28. (10.) The "ruler of the palace; he was a faithful man, and feared God above many" (Nehemiah 7:2). (11.) Nehemiah 3:8. (12.) Nehemiah 3:30 (13.) A priest, son of Jeremiah (Nehemiah 12:12). (14.) A false prophet contemporary with Jeremiah (28:3, 17).
•HAND Called by Galen "the instrument of instruments." It is the symbol of human action (Psalm 9:16; Job 9:30; Isaiah 1:15; 1 Timothy 2:8). Washing the hands was a symbol of innocence (Psalm 26:6; 73:13; Matthew 27:24), also of sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:11; Isaiah 51:16; Psalm 24:3, 4). In Psalm 77:2 the correct rendering is, as in the Revised Version, "My hand was stretched out," etc., instead of, as in the Authorized Version, "My sore ran in the night," etc.
The right hand denoted the south, and the left the north (Job 23:9; 1 Samuel 23:19). To give the right hand was a pledge of fidelity (2 Kings 10:15; Ezra 10:19); also of submission to the victors (Ezekiel 17:18; Jeremiah 50:15). The right hand was lifted up in taking an oath (Genesis 14:22, etc.). The hand is frequently mentioned, particularly the right hand, as a symbol of power and strength (Psalm 60:5; Isaiah 28:2). To kiss the hand is an act of homage (1 Kings 19:18; Job 31:27), and to pour water on one's hands is to serve him (2 Kings 3:11). The hand of God is the symbol of his power: its being upon one denotes favour (Ezra 7:6, 28; Isaiah 1:25; Luke 1:66, etc.) or punishment (Exodus 9:3; Judges 2:15; Acts 13:11, etc.). A position at the right hand was regarded as the chief place of honour and power (Psalm 45:9; 80:17; 110:1; Matthew 26:64).
•HANDBREADTH a measure of four fingers, equal to about four inches (Exodus 25:25; 37:12; Psalm 39:5, etc.).
•HANDKERCHIEF Only once in Authorized Version (Acts 19:12). The Greek word (sudarion) so rendered means properly "a sweat-cloth." It is rendered "napkin" in John 11:44; 20:7; Luke 19:20.
•HANDMAID servant (Genesis 16:1; Ruth 3:9; Luke 1:48). It is probable that Hagar was Sarah's personal attendant while she was in the house of Pharaoh, and was among those maid-servants whom Abram had brought from Egypt.
•HANDWRITING (Colossians 2:14). The "blotting out the handwriting" is the removal by the grace of the gospel of the condemnation of the law which we had broken.
•HANES a place in Egypt mentioned only in Isaiah 30:4 in connection with a reproof given to the Jews for trusting in Egypt. It was considered the same as Tahpanhes, a fortified town on the eastern frontier, but has been also identified as Ahnas-el-Medeeneh, 70 miles from Cairo.
•HANGING (as a punishment), a mark of infamy inflicted on the dead bodies of criminals (Deuteronomy 21:23) rather than our modern mode of punishment. Criminals were first strangled and then hanged (Nu. 25:4; Deuteronomy 21:22). (See 2 Samuel 21:6 for the practice of the Gibeonites.)
Hanging (as a curtain). (1.) Hebrews masak, (a) before the entrance to the court of the tabernacle (Exodus 35:17); (b) before the door of the tabernacle (26:36, 37); (c) before the entrance to the most holy place, called "the veil of the covering" (35:12; 39:34), as the word properly means.
(2.) Hebrews kelaim, tapestry covering the walls of the tabernacle (Exodus 27:9; 35:17; Numbers 3:26) to the half of the height of the wall (Exodus 27:18; comp. 26:16). These hangings were fastened to pillars.
(3.) Hebrews bottim (2 Kings 23:7), "hangings for the grove" (R.V., "for the Asherah"); marg., instead of "hangings," has "tents" or "houses." Such curtained structures for idolatrous worship are also alluded to in Ezekiel 16:16.
•HANNAH favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law (Exodus 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:16), probably at the feast of the Passover (comp. Exodus 13:10). On occasion of one of these "yearly" visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct (1 Samuel 1:14-16). After hearing her explanation he retracted his injurious charge and said to her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition." Perhaps the story of the wife of Manoah was not unknown to her. Thereafter Elkanah and his family retired to their quiet home, and there, before another Passover, Hannah gave birth to a son, whom, in grateful memory of the Lord's goodness, she called Samuel, i.e., "heard of God." After the child was weaned (probably in his third year) she brought him to Shiloh into the house of the Lord, and said to Eli the aged priest, "Oh my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore I also have granted him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:27, 28, R.V.). Her gladness of heart then found vent in that remarkable prophetic song (2:1-10; comp. Luke 1:46-55) which contains the first designation of the Messiah under that name (1 Samuel 2:10, "Annointed" = "Messiah"). And so Samuel and his parents parted. He was left at Shiloh to minister "before the Lord." And each year, when they came up to Shiloh, Hannah brought to her absent child "a little coat" (Hebrews meil, a term used to denote the "robe" of the ephod worn by the high priest, Exodus 28:31), a priestly robe, a long upper tunic (1 Chronicles 15:27), in which to minister in the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:19; 15:27; Job 2:12). "And the child Samuel grew before the Lord." After Samuel, Hannah had three sons and two daughters.
•HANNIEL grace of God. (1.) A chief of the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 34:23). (2.) A chief of the tribe of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:39).
•HANUN graciously given. (1.) The son and successor of Nahash, king of Moab. David's messengers, sent on an embassy of condolence to him to
Rabbah Ammon, his capital, were so grossly insulted that he proclaimed war against Hanun. David's army, under the command of Joab, forthwith crossed the Jordan, and gained a complete victory over the Moabites and their allies (2 Samuel 10:1-14) at Medeba (q.v.).
(2.) Nehemiah 3:13. (3.) 3:30.
•HARA mountainous land, a province of Assyria (1 Chronicles 5:26), between the Tigris and the Euphrates, along the banks of the Khabur, to which some of the Israelite captives were carried. It has not been identified. Some think the word a variation of Haran.
•HARADAH fright; fear, the twenty-fifth station of the Israelites in their wanderings (Numbers 33:24).
•HARAN (1.) Hebrews haran; i.e., "mountaineer." The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Genesis 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees.
(2.) Hebrews haran, i.e., "parched;" or probably from the Accadian charana, meaning "a road." A celebrated city of Western Asia, now Harran, where Abram remained, after he left Ur of the Chaldees, till his father Terah died (Genesis 11:31, 32), when he continued his journey into the land of Canaan. It is called "Charran" in the LXX. and in Acts 7:2. It is called the "city of Nahor" (Genesis 24:10), and Jacob resided here with Laban (30:43). It stood on the river Belik, an affluent of the Euphrates, about 70 miles above where it joins that river in Upper Mesopotamia or Padan-aram, and about 600 miles northwest of Ur in a direct line. It was on the caravan route between the east and west. It is afterwards mentioned among the towns taken by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12). It was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name Carrhae.
(3.) The son of Caleb of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:46) by his concubine Ephah.
•HARBONA (a Persian word meaning "ass-driver"), one of the seven eunuchs or chamberlains of king Ahasuerus (Esther 1:10; 7:9).
•HARE (Hebrews 'arnebeth) was prohibited as food according to the Mosaic law (Leviticus 11:6; Deuteronomy 14:7), "because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof." The habit of this animal is to grind its teeth and move its jaw as if it actually chewed the cud. But, like the cony
(q.v.), it is not a ruminant with four stomachs, but a rodent like the squirrel, rat, etc. Moses speaks of it according to appearance. It is interdicted because, though apparently chewing the cud, it did not divide the hoof.
There are two species in Syria, (1) the Lepus Syriacus or Syrian hare, which is like the English hare; and (2) the Lepus Sinaiticus, or hare of the desert. No rabbits are found in Syria.
•HARETH thicket, a wood in the mountains of Judah where David hid when pursued by Saul (1 Samuel 22:5). It was possibly while he was here that the memorable incident narrated in 2 Samuel 23:14-17, 1 Chronicles 11:16-19 occurred. This place has not been identified, but perhaps it may be the modern Kharas, on the borders of the chain of mountains some 3 miles east of Keilah.
•HARHAIAH zeal of Jehovah, (Nehemiah 3:8) "of the goldsmiths," one whose son helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem.
•HARHUR fever, one of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:51).
•HARIM flat-nosed. (1.) The head of the second course of priests (1 Chronicles 24:8). (2.) Ezra 2:32, 39; Nehemiah 7:35, 42. (3.) Nehemiah 3:11. (4.) 12:3. (5.) 10:5
•HARIPH autumnal rain. (1.) Nehemiah 7:24. (2.) 10:19.
•HARLOT (1.) Hebrews zonah (Genesis 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. This word is also used in Deuteronomy 23:17; Hos. 4:14. Thus Tamar sat by the wayside as a consecrated kedeshah.
It has been attempted to show that Rahab, usually called a "harlot" (Joshua 2:1; 6:17; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), was only an innkeeper. This interpretation, however, cannot be maintained.
Jephthah's mother is called a "strange woman" (Judges 11:2). This, however, merely denotes that she was of foreign extraction.
In the time of Solomon harlots appeared openly in the streets, and he solemnly warns against association with them (Proverbs 7:12; 9:14. See also Jeremiah 3:2; Ezekiel 16:24, 25, 31). The Revised Version, following
the LXX., has "and the harlots washed," etc., instead of the rendering of the Authorized Version, "now they washed," of 1 Kings 22:38.
To commit fornication is metaphorically used for to practice idolatry (Jeremiah 3:1; Ezekiel 16:15; Hos. throughout); hence Jerusalem is spoken of as a harlot (Isaiah 1:21).
(2.) Hebrews nokriyah, the "strange woman" (1 Kings 11:1; Proverbs 5:20; 7:5; 23:27). Those so designated were Canaanites and other Gentiles (Joshua 23:13). To the same class belonged the "foolish", i.e., the sinful, "woman."
In the New Testament the Greek pornai, plural, "harlots," occurs in Matthew 21:31,32, where they are classed with publicans; Luke 15:30; 1 Corinthians 6:15,16; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25. It is used symbolically in Revelation 17:1, 5, 15, 16; 19:2.
•HARNEPHER a chief of the tribe of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:36).
•HARNESS (1.) Hebrews 'asar, "to bind;" hence the act of fastening animals to a cart (1 Samuel 6:7, 10; Jeremiah 46:4, etc.).
(2.) An Old English word for "armour;" Hebrews neshek (2 Chronicles 9:24).
(3.) Hebrews shiryan, a coat of mail (1 Kings 22:34; 2 Chronicles 18:33; rendered "breastplate" in Isaiah 59:17).
(4.) The children of Israel passed out of Egypt "harnessed" (Exodus 13:18), i.e., in an orderly manner, and as if to meet a foe. The word so rendered is probably a derivative from Hebrew hamesh (i.e., "five"), and may denote that they went up in five divisions, viz., the van, centre, two wings, and rear-guard.
•HAROD palpitation, a fountain near which Gideon and his army encamped on the morning of the day when they encountered and routed the Midianites (Judges 7). It was south of the hill Moreh. The present 'Ain Jalud ("Goliath's Fountain"), south of Jezreel and nearly opposite Shunem, is probably the fountain here referred to (7:4, 5).
•HARODITE an epithet applied to two of David's heroes (2 Samuel 23:25). (Comp. 1 Chronicles 11:27.)
•HAROSHETH OF THE GENTILES (Judges 4:2) or nations, a city near Hazor in Galilee of the Gentiles, or Upper Galilee, in the north of Palestine. It was here that Jabin's great army was marshalled before it went forth into the great battlefield of Esdraelon to encounter the army of Israel, by which it was routed and put to flight (Judges 4). It was situated "at the entrance of the pass to Esdraelon from the plain of Acre" at the base of Carmel. The name in the Hebrew is Harosheth ha Gojim, i.e., "the smithy of the nations;" probably, as is supposed, so called because here Jabin's iron war-chariots, armed with scythes, were made. It is identified with el-Harithiyeh.
•HARP (Hebrews kinnor), the national instrument of the Hebrews. It was invented by Jubal (Genesis 4:21). Some think the word kinnor denotes the whole class of stringed instruments. It was used as an accompaniment to songs of cheerfulness as well as of praise to God (Genesis 31:27; 1 Samuel 16:23; 2 Chronicles 20:28; Psalm 33:2; 137:2).
In Solomon's time harps were made of almug-trees (1 Kings 10:11, 12). In 1 Chronicles 15:21 mention is made of "harps on the Sheminith;" Revised Version, "harps set to the Sheminith;" better perhaps "harps of eight strings." The soothing effect of the music of the harp is referred to 1 Samuel 16:16, 23; 18:10; 19:9. The church in heaven is represented as celebrating the triumphs of the Redeemer "harping with their harps" (Revelation 14:2).
•HARROW (Hebrews harits), a tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3).
Hebrews verb sadad, to harrow a field, break its clods (Job 39:10; Isaiah 28:4; Hos. 10: 11). Its form is unknown. It may have resembled the instrument still in use in Egypt.
•HARSHA worker or enchanter, one of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:52; Nehemiah 7:54).
•HART (Hebrews 'ayal), a stag or male deer. It is ranked among the clean animals (Deuteronomy 12:15; 14:5; 15:22), and was commonly killed for food (1 Kings 4:23). The hart is frequently alluded to in the poetical and prophetical books (Isaiah 35:6; Cant. 2:8, 9; Lamentations 1:6; Psalm 42:1).