Part 27
of the foliage, which is unsymmetrical, being about 90 feet." (See HEBRON; TEIL-TREE.)
•OATH a solemn appeal to God, permitted on fitting occasions (Deuteronomy 6:13; Jeremiah 4:2), in various forms (Genesis 16:5; 2 Samuel 12:5; Ruth 1:17; Hos. 4:15; Romans 1:9), and taken in different ways (Genesis 14:22; 24:2; 2 Chronicles 6:22). God is represented as taking an oath (Hebrews 6:16-18), so also Christ (Matthew 26:64), and Paul (Romans 9:1; Galatians 1:20; Phil. 1:8). The precept, "Swear not at all," refers probably to ordinary conversation between man and man (Matthew 5:34,37). But if the words are taken as referring to oaths, then their intention may have been to show "that the proper state of Christians is to require no oaths; that when evil is expelled from among them every yea and nay will be as decisive as an oath, every promise as binding as a vow."
•OBADIAH servant of the Lord. (1.) An Israelite who was chief in the household of King Ahab (1 Kings 18:3). Amid great spiritual degeneracy he maintained his fidelity to God, and interposed to protect The Lord's prophets, an hundred of whom he hid at great personal risk in a cave (4, 13). Ahab seems to have held Obadiah in great honour, although he had no sympathy with his piety (5, 6, 7). The last notice of him is his bringing back tidings to Ahab that Elijah, whom he had so long sought for, was at hand (9-16). "Go," said Elijah to him, when he met him in the way, "go tell thy Lord, Behold, Elijah is here."
(2.) A chief of the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 7:3).
(3.) A descendant of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:38).
(4.) A Levite, after the Captivity (1 Chronicles 9:16).
(5.) A Gadite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:9).
(6.) A prince of Zebulun in the time of David (1 Chronicles 27:19).
(7.) One of the princes sent by Jehoshaphat to instruct the people in the law (2 Chronicles 17:7).
(8.) A Levite who superintended the repairs of the temple under Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:12).
(9.) One who accompanied Ezra on the return from Babylon (Ezra 8:9).
(10.) A prophet, fourth of the minor prophets in the Hebrew canon, and fifth in the LXX. He was probably contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Of his personal history nothing is known.
•OBADIAH, BOOK OF consists of one chapter, "concerning Edom," its impending doom (1:1-16), and the restoration of Israel (1:17-21). This is the shortest book of the Old Testament.
There are on record the account of four captures of Jerusalem, (1) by Shishak in the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:25); (2) by the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16); (3) by Joash, the king of Israel, in the reign of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:13); and (4) by the Babylonians, when Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 586). Obadiah (1:11-14) speaks of this capture as a thing past. He sees the calamity as having already come on Jerusalem, and the Edomites as joining their forces with those of the Chaldeans in bringing about the degradation and ruin of Israel. We do not indeed read that the Edomites actually took part with the Chaldeans, but the probabilities are that they did so, and this explains the words of Obadiah in denouncing against Edom the judgments of God. The date of his prophecies was thus in or about the year of the destruction of Jerusalem.
Edom is the type of Israel's and of God's last foe (Isaiah 63:1-4). These will finally all be vanquished, and the kingdom will be the Lord's (comp. Psalm 22:28).
•OBAL stripped, the eight son of Joktan (Genesis 10:28); called also Ebal (1 Chronicles 1:22).
•OBED serving; worshipping. (1.) A son of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:21, 22), and the grandfather of David (Matthew 1:5).
(2.) 1 Chronicles 2:34-38.
(3.) 1 Chronicles 26:7.
(4.) 2 Chronicles 23:1.
•OBED-EDOM servant of Edom. (1.) "The Gittite" (probably so called because he was a native of Gath-rimmon), a Levite of the family of the Korhites (1 Chronicles 26:1, 4-8), to whom was specially intrusted the custody of the ark (1 Chronicles 15:18). When David was bringing up the ark "from the house of Abinadab, that was in Gibeah" (probably some hill
or eminence near Kirjath-jearim), and had reached Nachon's threshing-floor, he became afraid because of the "breach upon Uzzah," and carried it aside into the house of Obededom (2 Samuel 6:1-12). There it remained for six months, and was to him and his house the occasion of great blessing. David then removed it with great rejoicing to Jerusalem, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle he had pitched for it.
(2.) A Merarite Levite, a temple porter, who with his eight sons guarded the southern gate (1 Chronicles 15:18, 21; 26:4, 8, 15).
(3.) One who had charge of the temple treasures (2 Chronicles 25:24).
•OBEISANCE homage or reverence to any one (Genesis 37:7; 43:28).
•OBIL a keeper of camels, an Ishmaelite who was "over the camels" in the time of David (1 Chronicles 27:30).
•OBOTH bottles, an encampment of the Israelites during the wanderings in the wilderness (Numbers 33:43), the first after the setting up of the brazen serpent.
•ODED restoring, or setting up. (1.) Father of the prophet Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1, 8).
(2.) A prophet in the time of Ahaz and Pekah (2 Chronicles 28:9-15).
•OFFENCE (1.) An injury or wrong done to one (1 Samuel 25:31; Romans 5:15).
(2.) A stumbling-block or cause of temptation (Isaiah 8:14; Matthew 16:23; 18:7). Greek skandalon, properly that at which one stumbles or takes offence. The "offence of the cross" (Galatians 5:11) is the offence the Jews took at the teaching that salvation was by the crucified One, and by him alone. Salvation by the cross was a stumbling-block to their national pride.
•OFFERING an oblation, dedicated to God. Thus Cain consecrated to God of the first-fruits of the earth, and Abel of the firstlings of the flock (Genesis 4:3, 4). Under the Levitical system different kinds of offerings are specified, and laws laid down as to their presentation. These are described under their distinctive names.
•OG gigantic, the king of Bashan, who was defeated by Moses in a pitched battle at Edrei, and was slain along with his sons (Deuteronomy
1:4), and whose kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 21:32-35; Deuteronomy 3:1-13). His bedstead (or rather sarcophagus) was of iron (or ironstone), 9 cubits in length and 4 cubits in breadth. His overthrow was afterwards celebrated in song (Psalm 135:11; 136:20). (See SIHON.)
•OHAD united, or power, the third son of Simeon (Genesis 46:10).
•OHEL a house; tent, the fourth son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:20).
•OIL Only olive oil seems to have been used among the Hebrews. It was used for many purposes: for anointing the body or the hair (Exodus 29:7; 2 Samuel 14:2; Psalm 23:5; 92:10; 104:15; Luke 7:46); in some of the offerings (Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 7:12; Numbers 6:15; 15:4), but was excluded from the sin-offering (Leviticus 5:11) and the jealousy-offering (Numbers 5:15); for burning in lamps (Exodus 25:6; 27:20; Matthew 25:3); for medicinal purposes (Isaiah 1:6; Luke 10:34; James 5:14); and for anointing the dead (Matthew 26:12; Luke 23:56).
It was one of the most valuable products of the country (Deuteronomy 32:13; Ezekiel 16:13), and formed an article of extensive commerce with Tyre (27:17).
The use of it was a sign of gladness (Psalm 92:10; Isaiah 61:3), and its omission a token of sorrow (2 Samuel 14:2; Matthew 6:17). It was very abundant in Galilee. (See OLIVE.)
•OIL-TREE (Isaiah 41:19; R.V. marg., "oleaster"), Hebrews 'etz shemen, rendered "olive tree" in 1 Kings 6:23, 31, 32, 33 (R.V., "olive wood") and "pine branches" in Nehemiah 8:15 (R.V., "branches of wild olive"), was some tree distinct from the olive. It was probably the oleaster (Eleagnus angustifolius), which grows abundantly in almost all parts of Palestine, especially about Hebron and Samaria. "It has a fine hard wood," says Tristram, "and yields an inferior oil, but it has no relationship to the olive, which, however, it resembles in general appearance."
•OINTMENT Various fragrant preparations, also compounds for medical purposes, are so called (Exodus 30:25; Psalm 133:2; Isaiah 1:6; Amos 6:6; John 12:3; Revelation 18:13).
•OLD GATE one of the gates in the north wall of Jerusalem, so called because built by the Jebusites (Nehemiah 3:6; 12:39).
•OLIVE the fruit of the olive-tree. This tree yielded oil which was highly valued. The best oil was from olives that were plucked before being fully ripe, and then beaten or squeezed (Deuteronomy 24:20; Isaiah 17:6; 24:13). It was called "beaten," or "fresh oil" (Exodus 27:20). There were also oil-presses, in which the oil was trodden out by the feet (Micah 6:15). James (3:12) calls the fruit "olive berries." The phrase "vineyards and olives" (Judges 15:5, A.V.) should be simply "olive-yard," or "olive-garden," as in the Revised Version. (See OIL.)
•OLIVE-TREE is frequently mentioned in Scripture. The dove from the ark brought an olive-branch to Noah (Genesis 8:11). It is mentioned among the most notable trees of Palestine, where it was cultivated long before the time of the Hebrews (Deuteronomy 6:11; 8:8). It is mentioned in the first Old Testament parable, that of Jotham (Judges 9:9), and is named among the blessings of the "good land," and is at the present day the one characteristic tree of Palestine. The oldest olive-trees in the country are those which are enclosed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is referred to as an emblem of prosperity and beauty and religious privilege (Psalm 52:8; Jeremiah 11:16; Hos. 14:6). The two "witnesses" mentioned in Revelation 11:4 are spoken of as "two olive trees standing before the God of the earth." (Comp. Zechariah 4:3, 11-14.)
The "olive-tree, wild by nature" (Romans 11:24), is the shoot or cutting of the good olive-tree which, left ungrafted, grows up to be a "wild olive." In Romans 11:17 Paul refers to the practice of grafting shoots of the wild
olive into a "good" olive which has become unfruitful. By such a process the sap of the good olive, by pervading the branch which is "graffed in," makes it a good branch, bearing good olives. Thus the Gentiles, being a "wild olive," but now "graffed in," yield fruit, but only through the sap of the tree into which they have been graffed. This is a process "contrary to nature" (11:24).
•OLVES, MOUNT OF so called from the olive trees with which its sides are clothed, is a mountain ridge on the east of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7; Ezekiel 11:23; Zechariah 14:4), from which it is separated by the valley of Kidron. It is first mentioned in connection with David's flight from Jerusalem through the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 15:30), and is only once again mentioned in the Old Testament, in Zechariah 14:4. It is, however, frequently alluded to (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13; Nehemiah 8:15; Ezekiel 11:23).
It is frequently mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 21:1; 26:30, etc.). It now bears the name of Jebel et-Tur, i.e., "Mount of the Summit;" also sometimes called Jebel ez-Zeitun, i.e., "Mount of Olives." It is about 200 feet above the level of the city. The road from Jerusalem to Bethany runs as of old over this mount. It was on this mount that Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem. "No name in Scripture," says Dr. Porter, "calls up associations at once so sacred and so pleasing as that of Olivet. The 'mount' is so intimately connected with the private, the devotional life of the Saviour, that we read of it and look at it with feelings of deepest interest and affection. Here he often sat with his disciples, telling them of wondrous events yet to come, of the destruction of the Holy City; of the sufferings, the persecution, and the final triumph of his followers (Matthew 24). Here he gave them the beautiful parables of the ten virgins and the five talents (25); here he was wont to retire on each evening for meditation, and prayer, and rest of body, when weary and harassed by the labours and trials of the day (Luke 21:37); and here he came on the night of his betrayal to utter that wonderful prayer, 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt' (Matthew 26:39). And when the cup of God's wrath had been drunk, and death and the grave conquered, he led his disciples out again over Olivet as far as to Bethany, and after a parting blessing ascended to heaven (Luke 24:50, 51; Acts 1:12)."
This mount, or rather mountain range, has four summits or peaks: (1) the "Galilee" peak, so called from a tradition that the angels stood here when they spoke to the disciples (Acts 1:11); (2) the "Mount of Ascension," the supposed site of that event, which was, however, somewhere probably nearer Bethany (Luke 24:51, 52); (3) the "Prophets," from the catacombs on its side, called "the prophets' tombs;" and (4) the "Mount of Corruption," so called because of the "high places" erected there by Solomon for the idolatrous worship of his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13; Vulg., "Mount of Offence").
•OLYMPAS a Roman Christian whom Paul salutes (Romans 16:15).
•OMAR eloquent, the son of Eliphaz, who was Esau's eldest son (Genesis 36:11-15).
•OMEGA (Revelation 1:8), the last letter in the Greek alphabet. (See A.)
•OMER a handful, one-tenth of an ephah=half a gallon dry measure (Exodus 16:22, 32, 33, 36)="tenth deal."
•OMRI servant of Jehovah. When Elah was murdered by Zimri at Tirzah (1 Kings 16:15-27), Omri, his captain, was made king (B.C. 931). For four years there was continued opposition to his reign, Tibni, another claimant to the throne, leading the opposing party; but at the close of that period all his rivals were defeated, and he became king of Israel, "Tibni died and Omri reigned" (B.C. 927). By his vigour and power he gained great eminence and consolidated the kingdom. He fixed his dynasty on the throne so firmly that it continued during four succeeding reigns. Tirza was for six years the seat of his government. He then removed the capital to Samaria (q.v.), where he died, and was succeeded by his son Ahab. "He wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him."
Beth-omri, "the house" or "city of Omri," is the name usually found on Assyrian inscriptions for Samaria. In the stele of Mesha (the "Moabite stone"), which was erected in Moab about twenty or thirty years after Omri's death, it is recorded that Omri oppressed Moab till Mesha delivered the land: "Omri, king of Israel, oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab" (comp. 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4, 5). The "Moabite
stone" also records that "Omri took the land of Medeba, and occupied it in his day and in the days of his son forty years."
•ON light; the sun, (Genesis 41:45, 50), the great seat of sun-worship, called also Bethshemesh (Jeremiah 43:13) and Aven (Ezekiel 30:17), stood on the east bank of the Nile, a few miles north of Memphis, and near Cairo, in the north-east. The Vulgate and the LXX. Versions have "Heliopolis" ("city of the sun") instead of On in Genesis and of Aven in Ezekiel. The "city of destruction" Isaiah speaks of (19:18, marg. "of Heres;" Hebrews 'Ir-ha-heres, which some MSS. read Ir-ha-heres, i.e., "city of the sun") may be the name given to On, the prophecy being that the time will come when that city which was known as the "city of the sun-God" shall become the "city of destruction" of the sun-God, i.e., when idolatry shall cease, and the worship of the true God be established.
In ancient times this city was full of obelisks dedicated to the sun. Of these only one now remains standing. "Cleopatra's Needle" was one of those which stood in this city in front of the Temple of Tum, i.e., "the sun." It is now erected on the Thames Embankment, London.
"It was at On that Joseph wooed and won the dark-skinned Asenath, the daughter of the high priest of its great temple." This was a noted university town, and here Moses gained his acquaintance with "all the wisdom of the Egyptians."
•ONAN strong, the second son of Judah (Genesis 38:4-10; comp. Deuteronomy 25:5; Matthew 22:24). He died before the going down of Jacob and his family into Egypt.
•ONESIMUS useful, a slave who, after robbing his master Philemon (q.v.) at Colosse, fled to Rome, where he was converted by the apostle Paul, who sent him back to his master with the epistle which bears his name. In it he beseeches Philemon to receive his slave as a "faithful and beloved brother." Paul offers to pay to Philemon anything his slave had taken, and to bear the wrong he had done him. He was accompanied on his return by Tychicus, the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians (Philemon 1:16, 18).
The story of this fugitive Colossian slave is a remarkable evidence of the freedom of access to the prisoner which was granted to all, and "a beautiful illustration both of the character of St. Paul and the transfiguring power and righteous principles of the gospel."
•ONESIPHORUS bringing profit, an Ephesian Christian who showed great kindness to Paul at Rome. He served him in many things, and had oft refreshed him. Paul expresses a warm interest in him and his household (2 Timothy 1:16-18; 4:19).
•ONION The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the "onions and garlick of Egypt" (Numbers 11:5). This was the betsel of the Hebrews, the Allium cepe of botanists, of which it is said that there are some thirty or forty species now growing in Palestine. The onion is "the 'undivided' leek, unio, unus, one."
•ONO a town of Benjamin, in the "plain of Ono" (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33); now Kefr 'Ana, 5 miles north of Lydda, and about 30 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Not succeeding in their attempts to deter Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah resorted to strategem, and pretending to wish a conference with him, they invited him to meet them at Ono. Four times they made the request, and every time Nehemiah refused to come. Their object was to take him prisoner.
•ONYCHA a nail; claw; hoof, (Hebrews sheheleth; Exodus 30:34), a Latin word applied to the operculum, i.e., the claw or nail of the strombus or wing-shell, a univalve common in the Red Sea. The opercula of these shell-fish when burned emit a strong odour "like castoreum." This was an ingredient in the sacred incense.
•ONYX a hail; claw; hoof, (Hebrews shoham), a precious stone adorning the breast-plate of the high priest and the shoulders of the ephod (Exodus 28:9-12, 20; 35:27; Job 28:16; Ezekiel 28:13). It was found in the land of Havilah (Genesis 2:12). The LXX. translates the Hebrew word by smaragdos, an emerald. Some think that the sardonyx is meant. But the onyx differs from the sardonyx in this, that while the latter has two layers (black and white) the former has three (black, white, and red).
•OPEN PLACE Genesis 38:14, 21, mar. Enaim; the same probably as Enam (Joshua 15:34), a city in the lowland or Shephelah.
•OPHEL hill; mound, the long, narrow, rounded promontory on the southern slope of the temple hill, between the Tyropoeon and the Kedron valley (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14; Nehemiah 3:26, 27). It was surrounded by a separate wall, and was occupied by the Nethinim after the Captivity.
This wall has been discovered by the engineers of the Palestine Exploration Fund at the south-eastern angle of the temple area. It is 4 feet below the present surface. In 2 Kings 5:24 this word is translated "tower" (R.V., "hill"), denoting probably some eminence near Elisha's house.
•OPHIR (1.) One of the sons of Joktan (Genesis 10:29).
(2.) Some region famous for its gold (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; Job 22:24; 28:16; Isaiah 13:12). In the LXX. this word is rendered "Sophir," and "Sofir" is the Coptic name for India, which is the rendering of the Arabic version, as also of the Vulgate. Josephus has identified it with the Golden Chersonese, i.e., the Malay peninsula. It is now generally identified with Abhira, at the mouth of the Indus. Much may be said, however, in favour of the opinion that it was somewhere in Arabia.
•OPHNI mouldy, a city of Benjamin (Joshua 18:24).
•OPHRAH a fawn. 1 Chronicles 4:14. (1.) A city of Benjamin (Joshua 18:23); probably identical with Ephron (2 Chronicles 13:19) and Ephraim (John 11:54).
(2.) "Of the Abi-ezrites." A city of Manasseh, 6 miles south-west of Shechem, the residence of Gideon (Judges 6:11; 8:27, 32). After his great victory over the Midianites, he slew at this place the captive kings (8:18-21). He then assumed the function of high priest, and sought to make Ophrah what Shiloh should have been. This thing "became a snare" to Gideon and his house. After Gideon's death his family resided here till they were put to death by Abimelech (Judges 9:5). It is identified with Ferata.
•ORACLE In the Old Testament used in every case, except 2 Samuel 16:23, to denote the most holy place in the temple (1 Kings 6:5, 19-23; 8:6). In 2 Samuel 16:23 it means the Word of God. A man inquired "at the oracle of God" by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate on the high priest's ephod. In the New Testament it is used only in the plural, and always denotes the Word of God (Romans 3:2; Hebrews 5:12, etc.). The Scriptures are called "living oracles" (comp. Hebrews 4:12) because of their quickening power (Acts 7:38).
•OREB raven, a prince of Midian, who, being defeated by Gideon and put to straits, was slain along with Zeeb (Judges 7:20-25). Many of the Midianites perished along with him (Psalm 83:9; Isaiah 10:26).
•OREB, THE ROCK OF the place where Gideon slew Oreb after the defeat of the Midianites (Judges 7:25; Isaiah 10:26). It was probably the place now called Orbo, on the east of Jordan, near Bethshean.
•OREN ash or pine, the son of Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:25).
•ORGAN some kind of wind instrument, probably a kind of Pan's pipes (Genesis 4:21; Job 21:12; Psalm 150:4), which consisted of seven or eight reeds of unequal length.
•ORION Hebrews Kesil; i.e., "the fool", the name of a constellation (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 5:8) consisting of about eighty stars. The Vulgate renders thus, but the LXX. renders by Hesperus, i.e., "the evening-star," Venus. The Orientals "appear to have conceived of this constellation under the figure of an impious giant bound upon the sky." This giant was, according to tradition, Nimrod, the type of the folly that contends against God. In Isaiah 13:10 the plural form of the Hebrew word is rendered "constellations."
•ORNAN 1 Chronicles 21:15. (See ARAUNAH.)
•ORPAH forelock or fawn, a Moabitess, the wife of Chilion (Ruth 1:4; 4:10). On the death of her husband she accompanied Naomi, her mother-in-law, part of the way to Bethlehem, and then returned to Moab.
•ORPHANS (Lamentations 5:3), i.e., desolate and without protectors. The word occurs only here. In John 14:18 the word there rendered "comfortless" (R.V., "desolate;" marg., "orphans") properly means "orphans." The same Greek word is rendered "fatherless" in James 1:27.
•OSPREY Hebrews 'ozniyyah, an unclean bird according to the Mosaic law (Leviticus 11:13; Deuteronomy 14:12); the fish-eating eagle (Pandion haliaetus); one of the lesser eagles. But the Hebrew word may be taken to denote the short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus of Southern Europe), one of the most abundant of the eagle tribe found in Palestine.
•OSSIFRAGE Hebrews peres = to "break" or "crush", the lammer-geier, or bearded vulture, the largest of the whole vulture tribe. It was an unclean bird (Leviticus 11:13; Deuteronomy 14:12). It is not a gregarious bird, and is found but rarely in Palestine. "When the other vultures have picked the flesh off any animal, he comes in at the end of the feast, and swallows the bones, or breaks them, and swallows the pieces if he cannot otherwise extract the marrow. The bones he cracks [hence the appropriateness of the name ossifrage, i.e., "bone-breaker"] by letting them fall on a rock from a great height. He does not, however, confine himself to these delicacies, but whenever he has an opportunity will devour lambs, kids, or hares. These he generally obtains by pushing them over cliffs, when he has watched his opportunity; and he has been known to attack men while climbing rocks, and dash them against the bottom. But tortoises and serpents are his ordinary food...No doubt it was a lammer-geier that mistook the bald head of the poet AEschylus for a stone, and dropped on it the tortoise which killed him" (Tristram's Nat. Hist.).
•OSTRICH (Lamentations 4:3), the rendering of Hebrew pl. enim; so called from its greediness and gluttony. The allusion here is to the habit of the ostrich with reference to its eggs, which is thus described: "The outer layer of eggs is generally so ill covered that they are destroyed in quantities by jackals, wild-cats, etc., and that the natives carry them away, only taking care not to leave the marks of their footsteps, since, when the ostrich comes and finds that her nest is discovered, she crushes the whole brood, and builds a nest elsewhere." In Job 39:13 this word in the Authorized Version is the rendering of a Hebrew word (notsah) which means "feathers," as in the Revised Version. In the same verse the word "peacocks" of the Authorized Version is the rendering of the Hebrew pl. renanim, properly meaning "ostriches," as in the Revised Version. (See OWL [1].)
•OTHNI a lion of Jehovah, a son of Shemaiah, and one of the temple porters in the time of David (1 Chronicles 26:7). He was a "mighty man of valour."
•OTHNIEL lion of God, the first of the judges. His wife Achsah was the daughter of Caleb (Joshua 15:16, 17; Judges 1:13). He gained her hand as a reward for his bravery in leading a successful expedition against Debir (q.v.). Some thirty years after the death of Joshua, the Israelites fell under the subjection of Chushan-rishathaim (q.v.), the king of Mesopotamia. He oppressed them for full eight years, when they "cried" unto Jehovah, and Othniel was raised up to be their deliverer. He was the younger brother of Caleb (Judges 3:8, 9-11). He is the only judge mentioned connected with the tribe of Judah. Under him the land had rest forty years.
•OUCHES an Old English word denoting cavities or sockets in which gems were set (Exodus 28:11).
•OVEN Hebrews tannur, (Hos. 7:4). In towns there appear to have been public ovens. There was a street in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:21) called "bakers' street" (the only case in which the name of a street in Jerusalem is preserved). The words "tower of the furnaces" (Nehemiah 3:11; 12:38) is more properly "tower of the ovens" (Hebrews tannurim). These resemble the ovens in use among ourselves.
There were other private ovens of different kinds. Some were like large jars made of earthenware or copper, which were heated inside with wood (1 Kings 17:12; Isaiah 44:15; Jeremiah 7:18) or grass (Matthew 6:30), and when the fire had burned out, small pieces of dough were placed inside or spread in thin layers on the outside, and were thus baked. (See FURNACE.)
Pits were also formed for the same purposes, and lined with cement. These were used after the same manner.
Heated stones, or sand heated by a fire heaped over it, and also flat irons pans, all served as ovens for the preparation of bread. (See Genesis 18:6; 1 Kings 19:6.)
•OWL (1.) Hebrews bath-haya'anah, "daughter of greediness" or of "shouting." In the list of unclean birds (Leviticus 11:16; Deuteronomy 14:15); also mentioned in Job 30:29; Isaiah 13:21; 34:13; 43:20; Jeremiah
50:39; Micah 1:8. In all these passages the Revised Version translates "ostrich" (q.v.), which is the correct rendering.
(2.) Hebrews yanshuph, rendered "great owl" in Leviticus 11:17; Deuteronomy 14:16, and "owl" in Isaiah 34:11. This is supposed to be the Egyptian eagle-owl (Bubo ascalaphus), which takes the place of the eagle-owl (Bubo maximus) found in Southern Europe. It is found frequenting the ruins of Egypt and also of the Holy Land. "Its cry is a loud, prolonged, and very powerful hoot. I know nothing which more vividly brought to my mind the sense of desolation and loneliness than the re-echoing hoot of two or three of these great owls as I stood at midnight among the ruined temples of Baalbek" (Tristram).
The LXX. and Vulgate render this word by "ibis", i.e., the Egyptian heron.
(3.) Hebrews kos, rendered "little owl" in Leviticus 11:17; Deuteronomy 14:16, and "owl" in Psalm 102:6. The Arabs call this bird "the mother of ruins." It is by far the most common of all the owls of Palestine. It is the Athene persica, the bird of Minerva, the symbol of ancient Athens.
(4.) Hebrews kippoz, the "great owl" (Isaiah 34:15); Revised Version, "arrow-snake;" LXX. and Vulgate, "hedgehog," reading in the text, kippod, instead of kippoz. There is no reason to doubt the correctness of the rendering of the Authorized Version. Tristram says: "The word [i.e., kippoz] is very possibly an imitation of the cry of the scops owl (Scops giu), which is very common among ruins, caves, and old walls of towns...It is a migrant, returning to Palestine in spring."
(5.) Hebrews lilith, "screech owl" (Isaiah 34:14, marg. and R.V., "night monster"). The Hebrew word is from a root signifying "night." Some species of the owl is obviously intended by this word. It may be the hooting or tawny owl (Syrnium aluco), which is common in Egypt and in many parts of Palestine. This verse in Isaiah is "descriptive of utter and perpetual desolation, of a land that should be full of ruins, and inhabited by the animals that usually make such ruins their abode."
•OX Hebrews bakar, "cattle;" "neat cattle", (Genesis 12:16; 34:28; Job 1:3, 14; 42:12, etc.); not to be muzzled when treading the corn (Deuteronomy 25:4). Referred to by our Lord in his reproof to the Pharisees (Luke 13:15; 14:5).
•OX GOAD mentioned only in Judges 3:31, the weapon with which Shamgar (q.v.) slew six hundred Philistines. "The ploughman still carries his goad, a weapon apparently more fitted for the hand of the soldier than the peaceful husbandman. The one I saw was of the 'oak of Bashan,' and measured upwards of ten feet in length. At one end was an iron spear, and at the other a piece of the same metal flattened. One can well understand how a warrior might use such a weapon with effect in the battle-field" (Porter's Syria, etc.). (See GOAD.)
•OZEM strong. (1.) One of David's brothers; the sixth son of Jesse (1 Chronicles 2:15).
(2.) A son of Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:25).
•OZIAS son of Joram (Matthew 1:8); called also Uzziah (2 Kings 15:32, 34).
•OZNI hearing, one of the sons of Gad; also called Ezbon (Genesis 46:16; Numbers 26:16).
•PAARAI opening of the Lord, "the Arbite," one of David's heroes (2 Samuel 23:35); called also Naarai, 1 Chronicles 11:37.
•PADAN a plain, occurring only in Genesis 48:7, where it designates Padan-aram.
•PADAN-ARAM the plain of Aram, or the plain of the highlands, (Genesis 25:20; 28:2, 5-7; 31:18, etc.), commonly regarded as the district of Mesopotamia (q.v.) lying around Haran.
•PAGIEL God allots, a prince of the tribe of Asher (Numbers 1:13), in the wilderness.
•PAHATH-MOAB governor of Moab, a person whose descendants returned from the Captivity and assisted in rebuilding Jerusalem (Ezra 2:6; 8:4; 10:30).
•PAINT Jezebel "painted her face" (2 Kings 9:30); and the practice of painting the face and the eyes seems to have been common (Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). An allusion to this practice is found in the name of Job's daughter (42:14) Kerenhappuch (q.v.). Paintings in the modern sense of the word were unknown to the ancient Jews.
•PALACE Used now only of royal dwellings, although originally meaning simply (as the Latin word palatium, from which it is derived, shows) a building surrounded by a fence or a paling. In the Authorized Version there are many different words so rendered, presenting different ideas, such as that of citadel or lofty fortress or royal residence (Nehemiah 1:1; Daniel 8:2). It is the name given to the temple fortress (Nehemiah 2:8) and to the temple itself (1 Chronicles 29:1). It denotes also a spacious building or a great house (Daniel 1:4; 4:4, 29: Esther 1:5; 7:7), and a fortified place or an enclosure (Ezekiel 25:4). Solomon's palace is described in 1 Kings 7:1-12 as a series of buildings rather than a single great structure. Thirteen years were spent in their erection. This palace stood on the eastern hill, adjoining the temple on the south.
In the New Testament it designates the official residence of Pilate or that of the high priest (Matthew 26:3, 58, 69; Mark 14:54, 66; John 18:15). In Phil. 1:13 this word is the rendering of the Greek praitorion, meaning the praetorian cohorts at Rome (the life-guard of the Caesars). Paul was continually chained to a soldier of that corps (Acts 28:16), and hence his name and sufferings became known in all the praetorium. The "soldiers that kept" him would, on relieving one another on guard, naturally spread the tidings regarding him among their comrades. Some, however, regard the praetroium (q.v.) as the barrack within the palace (the palatium) of the Caesars in Rome where a detachment of these praetorian guards was stationed, or as the camp of the guards placed outside the eastern walls of Rome.
"In the chambers which were occupied as guard-rooms," says Dr. Manning, "by the praetorian troops on duty in the palace, a number of rude caricatures are found roughly scratched upon the walls, just such as may be seen upon barrack walls in every part of the world. Amongst these is one of a human figure nailed upon a cross. To add to the 'offence of the cross,' the crucified one is represented with the head of an animal, probably that of an ass. Before it stands the figure of a Roman legionary with one hand upraised in the attitude of worship. Underneath is the rude, misspelt, ungrammatical inscription, Alexamenos worships his God. It can scarcely be doubted that we have here a contemporary caricature, executed by one of the praetorian guard, ridiculing the faith of a Christian comrade."
•PALESTINE originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Exodus 15:14; Isaiah 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered "Philistia" in Psalm 60:8; 83:7; 87:4; 108:9) occurs in the Old Testament.
Not till a late period in Jewish history was this name used to denote "the land of the Hebrews" in general (Genesis 40:15). It is also called "the holy land" (Zechariah 2:12), the "land of Jehovah" (Hos. 9:3; Psalm 85:1), the "land of promise" (Hebrews 11:9), because promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 24:7), the "land of Canaan" (Genesis 12:5), the "land of Israel" (1 Samuel 13:19), and the "land of Judah" (Isaiah 19:17).
The territory promised as an inheritance to the seed of Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21; Numbers 34:1-12) was bounded on the east by the river Euphrates, on the west by the Mediterranean, on the north by the
"entrance of Hamath," and on the south by the "river of Egypt." This extent of territory, about 60,000 square miles, was at length conquered by David, and was ruled over also by his son Solomon (2 Samuel 8; 1 Chronicles 18; 1 Kings 4:1, 21). This vast empire was the Promised Land; but Palestine was only a part of it, terminating in the north at the southern extremity of the Lebanon range, and in the south in the wilderness of Paran, thus extending in all to about 144 miles in length. Its average breadth was about 60 miles from the Mediterranean on the west to beyond the Jordan. It has fittingly been designated "the least of all lands." Western Palestine, on the south of Gaza, is only about 40 miles in breadth from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, narrowing gradually toward the north, where it is only 20 miles from the sea-coast to the Jordan.
Palestine, "set in the midst" (Ezekiel 5:5) of all other lands, is the most remarkable country on the face of the earth. No single country of such an extent has so great a variety of climate, and hence also of plant and animal life. Moses describes it as "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass" (Deuteronomy 8:7-9).
"In the time of Christ the country looked, in all probability, much as now. The whole land consists of rounded limestone hills, fretted into countless stony valleys, offering but rarely level tracts, of which Esdraelon alone, below Nazareth, is large enough to be seen on the map. The original woods had for ages disappeared, though the slopes were dotted, as now, with figs, olives, and other fruit-trees where there was any soil. Permanent streams were even then unknown, the passing rush of winter torrents being all that was seen among the hills. The autumn and spring rains, caught in deep cisterns hewn out like huge underground jars in the soft limestone, with artificial mud-banked ponds still found near all villages, furnished water. Hills now bare, or at best rough with stunted growth, were then terraced, so as to grow vines, olives, and grain. To-day almost desolate, the country then teemed with population. Wine-presses cut in the rocks, endless terraces, and the ruins of old vineyard towers are now found amidst solitudes overgrown for ages with thorns and thistles, or with wild shrubs and poor gnarled scrub" (Geikie's Life of Christ).
From an early period the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, who retained possession of the whole land "from Sidon to Gaza" till the time of the conquest by Joshua, when it was occupied by the twelve tribes. Two tribes and a half had their allotments given them by Moses on the east of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:12-20; comp. Numbers 1:17-46; Joshua 4:12-13). The remaining tribes had their portion on the west of Jordan.
From the conquest till the time of Saul, about four hundred years, the people were governed by judges. For a period of one hundred and twenty years the kingdom retained its unity while it was ruled by Saul and David and Solomon. On the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam ascended the throne; but his conduct was such that ten of the tribes revolted, and formed an independent monarchy, called the kingdom of Israel, or the northern kingdom, the capital of which was first Shechem and afterwards Samaria. This kingdom was destroyed. The Israelites were carried captive by Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, B.C. 722, after an independent existence of two hundred and fifty-three years. The place of the captives carried away was supplied by tribes brought from the east, and thus was formed the Samaritan nation (2 Kings 17:24-29).
Nebuchadnezzar came up against the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah, the capital of which was Jerusalem, one hundred and thirty-four years after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel. He overthrew the city, plundered the temple, and carried the people into captivity to Babylon (B.C. 587), where they remained seventy years. At the close of the period of the Captivity, they returned to their own land, under the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4). They rebuilt the city and temple, and restored the old Jewish commonwealth.
For a while after the Restoration the Jews were ruled by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and afterwards by the high priests, assisted by the Sanhedrin. After the death of Alexander the Great at Babylon (B.C. 323), his vast empire was divided between his four generals. Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria fell to the lot of Ptolemy Lagus. Ptolemy took possession of Palestine in B.C. 320, and carried nearly one hundred thousand of the inhabitants of Jerusalem into Egypt. He made Alexandria the capital of his kingdom, and treated the Jews with consideration, confirming them in the enjoyment of many privileges.
After suffering persecution at the hands of Ptolemy's successors, the Jews threw off the Egyptian yoke, and became subject to Antiochus the Great, the king of Syria. The cruelty and opression of the successors of Antiochus at length led to the revolt under the Maccabees (B.C. 163), when they threw off the Syrian yoke.
In the year B.C. 68, Palestine was reduced by Pompey the Great to a Roman province. He laid the walls of the city in ruins, and massacred some twelve thousand of the inhabitants. He left the temple, however, unijured. About twenty-five years after this the Jews revolted and cast off the Roman yoke. They were however, subdued by Herod the Great (q.v.). The city and the temple were destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were put to death. About B.C. 20, Herod proceeded to rebuild the city and restore the ruined temple, which in about nine years and a half was so far completed that the sacred services could be resumed in it (comp. John 2:20). He was succeeded by his son Archelaus, who was deprived of his power, however, by Augustus, A.D. 6, when Palestine became a Roman province, ruled by Roman governors or procurators. Pontius Pilate was the fifth of these procurators. He was appointed to his office A.D. 25.
Exclusive of Idumea, the kingdom of Herod the Great comprehended the whole of the country originally divided among the twelve tribes, which he divided into four provinces or districts. This division was recognized so long as Palestine was under the Roman dominion. These four provinces were, (1) Judea, the southern portion of the country; (2) Samaria, the middle province, the northern boundary of which ran along the hills to the south of the plain of Esdraelon; (3) Galilee, the northern province; and (4) Peraea (a Greek name meaning the "opposite country"), the country lying east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. This province was subdivided into these districts, (1) Peraea proper, lying between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; (2) Galaaditis (Gilead); (3) Batanaea; (4) Gaulonitis (Jaulan); (5) Ituraea or Auranitis, the ancient Bashan; (6) Trachonitis; (7) Abilene; (8) Decapolis, i.e., the region of the ten cities. The whole territory of Palestine, including the portions alloted to the trans-Jordan tribes, extended to about eleven thousand square miles. Recent exploration has shown the territory on the west of Jordan alone to be six thousand square miles in extent, the size of the principality of Wales.
•PALLU separated, the second son of Reuben (1 Chronicles 5:3); called Phallu, Genesis 46:9. He was the father of the Phalluites (Exodus 6:14; Numbers 26:5, 8).
•PALMER-WORM (Hebrews gazam). The English word may denote either a caterpillar (as rendered by the LXX.), which wanders like a palmer or pilgrim, or which travels like pilgrims in bands (Joel 1:4; 2:25), the wingless locusts, or the migratory locust in its larva state.
•PALM TREE (Hebrews tamar), the date-palm characteristic of Palestine. It is described as "flourishing" (Psalm 92:12), tall (Cant. 7:7), "upright" (Jeremiah 10:5). Its branches are a symbol of victory (Revelation 7:9). "Rising with slender stem 40 or 50, at times even 80, feet aloft, its only branches, the feathery, snow-like, pale-green fronds from 6 to 12 feet long, bending from its top, the palm attracts the eye wherever it is seen." The whole land of Palestine was called by the Greeks and Romans Phoenicia, i.e., "the land of palms." Tadmor in the desert was called by the Greeks and Romans Palmyra, i.e., "the city of palms." The finest specimens of this tree grew at Jericho (Deuteronomy 34:3) and Engedi and along the banks of the Jordan. Branches of the palm tree were carried at the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40). At our Lord's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem the crowds took palm branches, and went forth to meet him, crying, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:8; John 12:13). (See DATE.)
•PALM TREES, THE CITY OF the name given to Jericho (q.v.), Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16; 3:13.
•PALSY a shorter form of "paralysis." Many persons thus afflicted were cured by our Lord (Matthew 4:24; 8:5-13; 9:2-7; Mark 2:3-11; Luke 7:2-10; John 5:5-7) and the apostles (Acts 8:7; 9:33, 34).
•PALTI deliverance from the Lord, one of the spies representing the tribe of Benjamin (Numbers 13:9).
•PALTIEL deliverance of God, the prince of Issachar who assisted "to divide the land by inheritance" (Numbers 34:26).
•PALTITE the designation of one of David's heroes (2 Samuel 23:26); called also the Pelonite (1 Chronicles 11:27).
•PAMPHYLIA Paul and his company, loosing from Paphos, sailed north-west and came to Perga, the capital of Pamphylia (Acts 13:13, 14), a province about the middle of the southern sea-board of Asia Minor. It lay between Lycia on the west and Cilicia on the east. There were strangers from Pamphylia at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (2:10).
•PAN a vessel of metal or earthenware used in culinary operations; a cooking-pan or frying-pan frequently referred to in the Old Testament (Leviticus 2:5; 6:21; Numbers 11:8; 1 Samuel 2:14, etc.).
The "ash-pans" mentioned in Exodus 27:3 were made of copper, and were used in connection with the altar of burnt-offering. The "iron pan" mentioned in Ezekiel 4:3 (marg., "flat plate " or "slice") was probably a mere plate of iron used for baking. The "fire-pans" of Exodus 27:3 were fire-shovels used for taking up coals. The same Hebrew word is rendered "snuff-dishes" (25:38; 37:23) and "censers" (Leviticus 10:1; 16:12; Numbers 4:14, etc.). These were probably simply metal vessels employed for carrying burning embers from the brazen altar to the altar of incense.
The "frying-pan" mentioned in Leviticus 2:7; 7:9 was a pot for boiling.
•PANNAG (Ezekiel 27:17; marg. R.V., "perhaps a kind of confection") the Jews explain as the name of a kind of sweet pastry. Others take it as the name of some place, identifying it with Pingi, on the road between Damascus and Baalbec. "Pannaga" is the Sanscrit name of an aromatic plant (comp. Genesis 43:11).
•PAPER The expression in the Authorized Version (Isaiah 19:7), "the paper reeds by the brooks," is in the Revised Version more correctly "the meadows by the Nile." The words undoubtedly refer to a grassy place on the banks of the Nile fit for pasturage.
In 2 John 1:12 the word is used in its proper sense. The material so referred to was manufactured from the papyrus, and hence its name. The papyrus (Hebrews gome) was a kind of bulrush (q.v.). It is mentioned by Job (8:11) and Isaiah (35:7). It was used for many purposes. This plant (Papyrus Nilotica) is now unknown in Egypt; no trace of it can be found. The unaccountable disappearance of this plant from Egypt was foretold by Isaiah (19:6, 7) as a part of the divine judgment on that land. The most extensive papyrus growths now known are in the marshes at the northern end of the lake of Merom.
•PAPHOS the capital of the island of Cyprus, and therefore the residence of the Roman governor. It was visited by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary tour (Acts 13:6). It is new Paphos which is here meant. It lay on the west coast of the island, about 8 miles north of old Paphos. Its modern name is Baffa.
•PARABLE (Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Hebrews mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20), (2) a prophetic utterance (Numbers 23:7; Ezekiel 20:49), (3) an enigmatic saying (Psalm 78:2; Proverbs 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a proverb (Mark 7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Hebrews 9:9; 11:19), (3) a similitude or allegory (Matthew 15:15; 24:32; Mark 3:23; Luke 5:36; 14:7); (4) ordinarily, in a more restricted sense, a comparison of earthly with heavenly things, "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning," as in the parables of our Lord.
Instruction by parables has been in use from the earliest times. A large portion of our Lord's public teaching consisted of parables. He himself explains his reasons for this in his answer to the inquiry of the disciples, "Why speakest thou to them in parables?" (Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:9, 10). He followed in so doing the rule of the divine procedures, as recorded in Matthew 13:13.
The parables uttered by our Lord are all recorded in the synoptical (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The fourth Gospel contains no parable properly so called, although the illustration of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has all the essential features of a parable. (See List of Parables in Appendix.)
•PARADISE a Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a "pleasure-ground" or "park" or "king's garden." (See EDEN.) It came in course of time to be used as a name for the world of happiness and rest hereafter (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). For "garden" in Genesis 2:8 the LXX. has "paradise."
•PARAH the heifer, a town in Benjamin (Joshua 18:23), supposed to be identical with the ruins called Far'ah, about 6 miles north-east of Jerusalem, in the Wady Far'ah, which is a branch of the Wady Kelt.
•PARAN abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, (Genesis 21:21), a desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai,
lying between the 'Arabah on the east and the wilderness of Shur on the west. It is intersected in a north-western direction by the Wady el-'Arish. It bears the modern name of Badiet et-Tih, i.e., "the desert of the wanderings." This district, through which the children of Israel wandered, lay three days' march from Sinai (Numbers 10:12, 33). From Kadesh, in this wilderness, spies (q.v.) were sent to spy the land (13:3, 26). Here, long afterwards, David found refuge from Saul (1 Samuel 25:1, 4).
•PARAN, MOUNT probably the hilly region or upland wilderness on the north of the desert of Paran forming the southern boundary of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 33:2; Habakkuk 3:3).
•PARBAR (1 Chronicles 26:18), a place apparently connected with the temple, probably a "suburb" (q.v.), as the word is rendered in 2 Kings 23:11; a space between the temple wall and the wall of the court; an open portico into which the chambers of the official persons opened (1 Chronicles 26:18).
•PARCHED GROUND (Isaiah 35:7), Hebrews sharab, a "mirage", a phenomenon caused by the refraction of the rays of the sun on the glowing sands of the desert, causing them suddenly to assume the appearance of a beautiful lake. It is called by the modern Arabs by the same Hebrew name serab.
•PARCHMENT a skin prepared for writing on; so called from Pergamos (q.v.), where this was first done (2 Timothy 4:13).
•PARDON the forgiveness of sins granted freely (Isaiah 43:25), readily (Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:5), abundantly (Isaiah 55:7; Romans 5:20). Pardon is an act of a sovereign, in pure sovereignty, granting simply a remission of the penalty due to sin, but securing neither honour nor reward to the pardoned. Justification (q.v.), on the other hand, is the act of a judge, and not of a sovereign, and includes pardon and, at the same time, a title to all the rewards and blessings promised in the covenant of life.
•PARLOUR (from the Fr. parler, "to speak") denotes an "audience chamber," but that is not the import of the Hebrew word so rendered. It corresponds to what the Turks call a kiosk, as in Judges 3:20 (the "summer parlour"), or as in the margin of the Revised Version ("the upper chamber of cooling"), a small room built on the roof of the house, with open windows to catch the breeze, and having a door communicating with
the outside by which persons seeking an audience may be admitted. While Eglon was resting in such a parlour, Ehud, under pretence of having a message from God to him, was admitted into his presence, and murderously plunged his dagger into his body (21, 22).
The "inner parlours" in 1 Chronicles 28:11 were the small rooms or chambers which Solomon built all round two sides and one end of the temple (1 Kings 6:5), "side chambers;" or they may have been, as some think, the porch and the holy place.
In 1 Samuel 9:22 the Revised Version reads "guest chamber," a chamber at the high place specially used for sacrificial feasts.
•PARMASHTA strong-fisted, a son of Haman, slain in Shushan (Esther 9:9).
•PARMENAS constant, one of the seven "deacons" (Acts 6:5).
•PARSHANDATHA an interpreter of the law, the eldest of Haman's sons, slain in Shushan (Esther 9:7).
•PARTHIANS were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Parthia lay on the east of Media and south of Hyrcania, which separated it from the Caspian Sea. It corresponded with the western half of the modern Khorasan, and now forms a part of Persia.
•PARTRIDGE (Hebrews kore, i.e., "caller"). This bird, unlike our own partridge, is distinguished by "its ringing call-note, which in early morning echoes from cliff to cliff amidst the barrenness of the wilderness of Judea and the glens of the forest of Carmel" hence its Hebrew name. This name occurs only twice in Scripture.
In 1 Samuel 26:20 "David alludes to the mode of chase practised now, as of old, when the partridge, continuously chased, was at length, when fatigued, knocked down by sticks thrown along the ground." It endeavours to save itself "by running, in preference to flight, unless when suddenly started. It is not an inhabitant of the plain or the corn-field, but of rocky hill-sides" (Tristram's Nat. Hist.).
In Jeremiah 17:11 the prophet is illustrating the fact that riches unlawfully acquired are precarious and short-lived. The exact nature of the illustration cannot be precisely determined. Some interpret the words as meaning that the covetous man will be as surely disappointed as the partridge which
gathers in eggs, not of her own laying, and is unable to hatch them; others (Tristram), with more probability, as denoting that the man who enriches himself by unjust means "will as surely be disappointed as the partridge which commences to sit, but is speedily robbed of her hopes of a brood" by her eggs being stolen away from her.
The commonest partridge in Palestine is the Caccabis saxatilis, the Greek partridge. The partridge of the wilderness (Ammo-perdix heyi) is a smaller species. Both are essentially mountain and rock birds, thus differing from the English partridge, which loves cultivated fields.
•PARUAH flourishing, the father of Jehoshaphat, appointed to provide monthly supplies for Solomon from the tribe of Issachar (1 Kings 4:17).
•PARVAIM the name of a country from which Solomon obtained gold for the temple (2 Chronicles 3:6). Some have identified it with Ophir, but it is uncertain whether it is even the name of a place. It may simply, as some think, denote "Oriental regions."
•PASACH clearing, one of the sons of Japhlet, of the tribe of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:33).
•PAS-DAMMIM the border of blood = Ephes-dammim (q.v.), between Shochoh and Azekah (1 Samuel 17:1; 1 Chronicles 11:13).
•PASHUR release. (1.) The son of Immer (probably the same as Amariah, Nehemiah 10:3; 12:2), the head of one of the priestly courses, was "chief governor [Hebrews paqid nagid, meaning "deputy governor"] of the temple" (Jeremiah 20:1, 2). At this time the nagid, or "governor," of the temple was Seraiah the high priest (1 Chronicles 6:14), and Pashur was his paqid, or "deputy." Enraged at the plainness with which Jeremiah uttered his solemn warnings of coming judgements, because of the abounding iniquity of the times, Pashur ordered the temple police to seize him, and after inflicting on him corporal punishment (forty stripes save one, Deuteronomy 25:3; comp. 2 Corinthians 11:24), to put him in the stocks in the high gate of Benjamin, where he remained all night. On being set free in the morning, Jeremiah went to Pashur (Jeremiah 20:3, 5), and announced to him that God had changed his name to Magor-missabib, i.e., "terror on every side." The punishment that fell upon him was probably remorse, when he saw the ruin he had brought upon his country by advising a close
alliance with Egypt in opposition to the counsels of Jeremiah (20:4-6). He was carried captive to Babylon, and died there.
(2.) A priest sent by king Zedekiah to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord (1 Chronicles 24:9; Jeremiah 21:1; 38:1-6). He advised that the prophet should be put to death.
(3.) The father of Gedaliah. He was probably the same as (1).
•PASSAGE denotes in Joshua 22:11, as is generally understood, the place where the children of Israel passed over Jordan. The words "the passage of" are, however, more correctly rendered "by the side of," or "at the other side of," thus designating the position of the great altar erected by the eastern tribes on their return home. This word also designates the fords of the Jordan to the south of the Sea of Galilee (Judges 12:5, 6), and a pass or rocky defile (1 Samuel 13:23; 14:4). "Passages" in Jeremiah 22:20 is in the Revised Version more correctly "Abarim" (q.v.), a proper name.
•PASSION Only once found, in Acts 1:3, meaning suffering, referring to the sufferings of our Lord.
•PASSOVER the name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord's passing over the houses of the Israelites (Exodus 12:13) when the first born of all the Egyptians were destroyed. It is called also the "feast of unleavened bread" (Exodus 23:15; Mark 14:1; Acts 12:3), because during its celebration no leavened bread was to be eaten or even kept in the household (Exodus 12:15). The word afterwards came to denote the lamb that was slain at the feast (Mark 14:12-14; 1 Corinthians 5:7).
A detailed account of the institution of this feast is given in Exodus 12 and 13. It was afterwards incorporated in the ceremonial law (Leviticus 23:4-8) as one of the great festivals of the nation. In after times many changes seem to have taken place as to the mode of its celebration as compared with its first celebration (comp. Deuteronomy 16:2, 5, 6; 2 Chronicles 30:16; Leviticus 23:10-14; Numbers 9:10, 11; 28:16-24). Again, the use of wine (Luke 22:17, 20), of sauce with the bitter herbs (John 13:26), and the service of praise were introduced.
There is recorded only one celebration of this feast between the Exodus and the entrance into Canaan, namely, that mentioned in Numbers 9:5. (See JOSIAH.) It was primarily a commemorative ordinance, reminding the
children of Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt; but it was, no doubt, also a type of the great deliverance wrought by the Messiah for all his people from the doom of death on account of sin, and from the bondage of sin itself, a worse than Egyptian bondage (1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29; 19:32-36; 1 Peter 1:19; Galatians 4:4, 5). The appearance of Jerusalem on the occasion of the Passover in the time of our Lord is thus fittingly described: "The city itself and the neighbourhood became more and more crowded as the feast approached, the narrow streets and dark arched bazaars showing the same throng of men of all nations as when Jesus had first visited Jerusalem as a boy. Even the temple offered a strange sight at this season, for in parts of the outer courts a wide space was covered with pens for sheep, goats, and cattle to be used for offerings. Sellers shouted the merits of their beasts, sheep bleated, oxen lowed. Sellers of doves also had a place set apart for them. Potters offered a choice from huge stacks of clay dishes and ovens for roasting and eating the Passover lamb. Booths for wine, oil, salt, and all else needed for sacrifices invited customers. Persons going to and from the city shortened their journey by crossing the temple grounds, often carrying burdens...Stalls to change foreign money into the shekel of the temple, which alone could be paid to the priests, were numerous, the whole confusion making the sanctuary like a noisy market" (Geikie's Life of Christ).
•PATARA a city on the south-west coast of Lycia at which Paul landed on his return from his third missionary journey (Acts 21:1, 2). Here he found a larger vessel, which was about to sail across the open sea to the coast of Phoenicia. In this vessel he set forth, and reached the city of Tyre in perhaps two or three days.
•PATHROS the name generally given to Upper Egypt (the Thebaid of the Greeks), as distinguished from Matsor, or Lower Egypt (Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1, 15; Ezekiel 30:14), the two forming Mizraim. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, colonies of Jews settled "in the country of Pathros" and other parts of Egypt.
•PATMOS a small rocky and barren island, one of the group called the "Sporades," in the AEgean Sea. It is mentioned in Scripture only in Revelation 1:9. It was on this island, to which John was banished by the emperor Domitian (A.D. 95), that he received from God the wondrous revelation recorded in his book. This has naturally invested it with the deepest interest for all time. It is now called Patmo. (See JOHN.)
•PATRIARCH a name employed in the New Testament with reference to Abraham (Hebrews 7:4), the sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8, 9), and to David (2:29). This name is generally applied to the progenitors of families or "heads of the fathers" (Joshua 14:1) mentioned in Scripture, and they are spoken of as antediluvian (from Adam to Noah) and post-diluvian (from Noah to Jacob) patriachs. But the expression "the patriarch," by way of eminence, is applied to the twelve sons of Jacob, or to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
"Patriachal longevity presents itself as one of the most striking of the facts concerning mankind which the early history of the Book of Genesis places before us...There is a large amount of consentient tradition to the effect that the life of man was originally far more prolonged than it is at present, extending to at least several hundred years. The Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese exaggerated these hundreds into thousands. The Greeks and Romans, with more moderation, limited human life within a thousand or eight hundred years. The Hindus still farther shortened the term. Their books taught that in the first age of the world man was free from diseases, and lived ordinarily four hundred years; in the second age the term of life was reduced from four hundred to three hundred; in the third it became
two hundred; in the fourth and last it was brought down to one hundred" (Rawlinson's Historical Illustrations).
•PATROBAS a Christian at Rome to whom Paul sent salutations (Romans 16:14).
•PAU (Genesis 36:39) or Pai (1 Chronicles 1:50), bleating, an Edomitish city ruled over by Hadar.
•PAUL =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy "for use in the Gentile world," as "Saul" would be his Hebrew home-name. He was a native of Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, a Roman province in the south-east of Asia Minor. That city stood on the banks of the river Cydnus, which was navigable thus far; hence it became a centre of extensive commercial traffic with many countries along the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as with the countries of central Asia Minor. It thus became a city distinguished for the wealth of its inhabitants.
Tarsus was also the seat of a famous university, higher in reputation even than the universities of Athens and Alexandria, the only others that then existed. Here Saul was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best education his native city could afford. His father was of the straitest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of pure and unmixed Jewish blood (Acts 23:6; Phil. 3:5). We learn nothing regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up, "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Phil. 3:6).
We read of his sister and his sister's son (Acts 23:16), and of other relatives (Romans 16:7, 11, 12). Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn. It was a valuable privilege, and one that was to prove of great use to Paul, although not in the way in which his father might have been expected to desire him to make use of it." Perhaps the most natural career for the youth to follow was that of a merchant. "But it was decided that...he should go to college and become a rabbi, that is, a minister, a teacher, and a lawyer all in one."
According to Jewish custom, however, he learned a trade before entering on the more direct preparation for the sacred profession. The trade he acquired was the making of tents from goats' hair cloth, a trade which was one of the commonest in Tarsus.
His preliminary education having been completed, Saul was sent, when about thirteen years of age probably, to the great Jewish school of sacred learning at Jerusalem as a student of the law. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated rabbi Gamaliel, and here he spent many years in an elaborate study of the Scriptures and of the many questions concerning them with which the rabbis exercised themselves. During these years of diligent study he lived "in all good conscience," unstained by the vices of that great city.
After the period of his student-life expired, he probably left Jerusalem for Tarsus, where he may have been engaged in connection with some synagogue for some years. But we find him back again at Jerusalem very soon after the death of our Lord. Here he now learned the particulars regarding the crucifixion, and the rise of the new sect of the "Nazarenes."
For some two years after Pentecost, Christianity was quietly spreading its influence in Jerusalem. At length Stephen, one of the seven deacons, gave forth more public and aggressive testimony that Jesus was the Messiah, and this led to much excitement among the Jews and much disputation in their synagogues. Persecution arose against Stephen and the followers of Christ generally, in which Saul of Tarsus took a prominent part. He was at this time probably a member of the great Sanhedrin, and became the active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then sought to exterminate Christianity.
But the object of this persecution also failed. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." The anger of the persecutor was thereby kindled into a fiercer flame. Hearing that fugitives had taken refuge in Damascus, he obtained from the chief priest letters authorizing him to proceed thither on his persecuting career. This was a long journey of about 130 miles, which would occupy perhaps six days, during which, with his few attendants, he steadily went onward, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter." But the crisis of his life was at hand. He had reached the last stage of his journey, and was within sight of Damascus. As he and his companions rode on, suddenly at mid-day a brilliant light shone round them, and Saul was laid prostrate in terror on the ground, a
voice sounding in his ears, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The risen Saviour was there, clothed in the vesture of his glorified humanity. In answer to the anxious inquiry of the stricken persecutor, "Who art thou, Lord?" he said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (Acts 9:5; 22:8; 26:15).
This was the moment of his conversion, the most solemn in all his life. Blinded by the dazzling light (Acts 9:8), his companions led him into the city, where, absorbed in deep thought for three days, he neither ate nor drank (9:11). Ananias, a disciple living in Damascus, was informed by a vision of the change that had happened to Saul, and was sent to him to open his eyes and admit him by baptism into the Christian church (9:11-16). The whole purpose of his life was now permanently changed.
Immediately after his conversion he retired into the solitudes of Arabia (Galatians 1:17), perhaps of "Sinai in Arabia," for the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation on the marvellous revelation that had been made to him. "A veil of thick darkness hangs over this visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped the whole tenor of his after-life, absolutely nothing is known. 'Immediately,' says St. Paul, 'I went away into Arabia.' The historian passes over the incident [comp. Acts 9:23 and 1 Kings 11:38, 39]. It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle's history, a breathless calm, which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life." Coming back, after three years, to Damascus, he began to preach the gospel "boldly in the name of Jesus" (Acts 9:27), but was soon obliged to flee (9:25; 2 Corinthians 11:33) from the Jews and betake himself to Jerusalem. Here he tarried for three weeks, but was again forced to flee (Acts 9:28, 29) from persecution. He now returned to his native Tarsus (Galatians 1:21), where, for probably about three years, we lose sight of him. The time had not yet come for his entering on his great life-work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.
At length the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria, became the scene of great Christian activity. There the gospel gained a firm footing, and the cause of Christ prospered. Barnabas (q.v.), who had been sent from Jerusalem to superintend the work at Antioch, found it too much for him, and remembering Saul, he set out to Tarsus to seek for him. He readily responded to the call thus addressed to him, and came down to Antioch,
which for "a whole year" became the scene of his labours, which were crowned with great success. The disciples now, for the first time, were called "Christians" (Acts 11:26).
The church at Antioch now proposed to send out missionaries to the Gentiles, and Saul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their attendant, were chosen for this work. This was a great epoch in the history of the church. Now the disciples began to give effect to the Master's command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."