Part 31
The date of the writing of this book has generally been fixed at A.D. 96, in the reign of Domitian. There are some, however, who contend for an earlier date, A.D. 68 or 69, in the reign of Nero. Those who are in favour of the later date appeal to the testimony of the Christian father Irenaeus, who received information relative to this book from those who had seen John face to face. He says that the Apocalypse "was seen no long time ago."
As to the relation between this book and the Gospel of John, it has been well observed that "the leading ideas of both are the same. The one gives us in a magnificent vision, the other in a great historic drama, the supreme conflict between good and evil and its issue. In both Jesus Christ is the central figure, whose victory through defeat is the issue of the conflict. In both the Jewish dispensation is the preparation for the gospel, and the
warfare and triumph of the Christ is described in language saturated with the Old Testament. The difference of date will go a long way toward explaining the difference of style." Plummer's Gospel of St. John, Introd.
•REVELATION OF CHRIST the second advent of Christ. Three different Greek words are used by the apostles to express this, (1) apokalupsis (1 Corinthians 1;7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13); (2) parousia (Matthew 24:3, 27; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; James 5:7, 8); (3) epiphaneia (1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 4:1-8; Titus 2:13). There existed among Christians a wide expectation, founded on Matthew 24:29, 30, 34, of the speedy return of Christ. (See MILLENNIUM.)
•REZEPH solid; a stone, (2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12), a fortress near Haran, probably on the west of the Euphrates, conquered by Sennacherib.
•REZIN firm; a prince, a king of Syria, who joined Pekah (q.v.) in an invasion of the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 15:37; 16:5-9; Isaiah 7:1-8). Ahaz induced Tiglath-pileser III. to attack Damascus, and this caused Rezin to withdraw for the purpose of defending his own kingdom. Damascus was taken, and Rezin was slain in battle by the Assyrian king, and his people carried into captivity, B.C. 732 (2 Kings 16:9).
•REZON prince, son of Eliadah. Abandoning the service of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, on the occasion of his being defeated by David, he became the "captain over a band" of marauders, and took Damascus, and became king of Syria (1 Kings 11:23-25; 2 Samuel 8:3-8). For centuries after this the Syrians were the foes of Israel. He "became an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon."
•RHEGIUM breach, a town in the south of Italy, on the Strait of Messina, at which Paul touched on his way to Rome (Acts 28:13). It is now called Rheggio.
•RHESA affection, son of Zorobabel, mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord (Luke 3:27).
•RHODA a rose, the damsel in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. She came to hearken when Peter knocked at the door of the gate (Acts 12:12-15).
•RHODES a rose, an island to the south of the western extremity of Asia Minor, between Coos and Patara, about 46 miles long and 18 miles broad.
Here the apostle probably landed on his way from Greece to Syria (Acts 21:1), on returning from his third missionary journey.
•RIBLAH fruitful, an ancient town on the northern frontier of Palestine, 35 miles north-east of Baalbec, and 10 or 12 south of Lake Homs, on the eastern bank of the Orontes, in a wide and fertile plain. Here Nebuchadnezzar had his head-quarters in his campaign against Jerusalem, and here also Necho fixed his camp after he had routed Josiah's army at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-35; 25:6, 20, 21; Jeremiah 39:5; 52:10). It was on the great caravan road from Palestine to Carchemish, on the Euphrates. It is described (Numbers 34:11) as "on the eastern side of Ain." A place still called el Ain, i.e., "the fountain", is found in such a position about 10 miles distant. (See JERUSALEM.)
•RIDDLE (Hebrews hodah). The oldest and, strictly speaking, the only example of a riddle was that propounded by Samson (Judges 14:12-18). The parabolic prophecy in Ezekiel 17:2-18 is there called a "riddle." It was rather, however, an allegory. The word "darkly" in 1 Corinthians 13:12 is the rendering of the Greek enigma; marg., "in a riddle."
•RIGHTEOUSNESS See JUSTIFICATION.
•RIMMON pomegranate. (1.) A man of Beeroth (2 Samuel 4:2), one of the four Gibeonite cities. (See Joshua 9:17.)
(2.) A Syrian idol, mentioned only in 2 Kings 5:18.
(3.) One of the "uttermost cities" of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon (Joshua 15:21, 32; 19:7; 1 Chronicles 4:32). In Joshua 15:32 Ain and Rimmon are mentioned separately, but in 19:7 and 1 Chronicles 4:32 (comp. Nehemiah 11:29) the two words are probably to be combined, as forming together the name of one place, Ain-Rimmon=the spring of the pomegranate. It has been identified with Um er-Rumamin, about 13 miles south-west of Hebron.
(4.) "Rock of," to which the Benjamites fled (Judges 20:45, 47; 21:13), and where they maintained themselves for four months after the fearful battle at Gibeah, in which they were almost exterminated, 600 only surviving out of about 27,000. It is the present village of Rummon, "on the very edge of the hill country, with a precipitous descent toward the Jordan valley," supposed to be the site of Ai.
•RIMMON-PAREZ a pomegranate breach, or Rimmon of the breach, one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:19, 20).
•RING Used as an ornament to decorate the fingers, arms, wrists, and also the ears and the nose. Rings were used as a signet (Genesis 38:18). They were given as a token of investment with authority (Genesis 41:42; Esther 3:8-10; 8:2), and of favour and dignity (Luke 15:22). They were generally worn by rich men (James 2:2). They are mentioned by Isiah (3:21) among the adornments of Hebrew women.
•RIPHATH a crusher, Gomer's second son (Genesis 10:3), supposed to have been the ancestor of the Paphlagonians.
•RISSAH heap of ruins; dew, a station of the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:21, 22).
•RITHMAH wild broom, a station in the wilderness (Numbers 33:18, 19), the "broom valley," or "valley of broombushes," the place apparently of the original encampment of Israel, near Kadesh.
•RIVER (1.) Hebrews 'aphik, properly the channel or ravine that holds water (2 Samuel 22:16), translated "brook," "river," "stream," but not necessarily a perennial stream (Ezekiel 6:3; 31:12; 32:6; 34:13).
(2.) Hebrews nahal, in winter a "torrent," in summer a "wady" or valley (Genesis 32:23; Deuteronomy 2:24; 3:16; Isaiah 30:28; Lamentations 2:18; Ezekiel 47:9).
These winter torrents sometimes come down with great suddenness and with desolating force. A distinguished traveller thus describes his experience in this matter:, "I was encamped in Wady Feiran, near the base of Jebel Serbal, when a tremendous thunderstorm burst upon us. After little more than an hour's rain, the water rose so rapidly in the previously dry wady that I had to run for my life, and with great difficulty succeeded in saving my tent and goods; my boots, which I had not time to pick up, were washed away. In less than two hours a dry desert wady upwards of 300 yards broad was turned into a foaming torrent from 8 to 10 feet deep, roaring and tearing down and bearing everything upon it, tangled masses of tamarisks, hundreds of beautiful palmtrees, scores of sheep and goats, camels and donkeys, and even men, women, and children, for a whole encampment of Arabs was washed away a few miles above me. The storm commenced at five in the evening; at half-past nine the waters were rapidly
subsiding, and it was evident that the flood had spent its force." (Comp. Matthew 7:27; Luke 6:49.)
(3.) Nahar, a "river" continuous and full, a perennial stream, as the Jordan, the Euphrates (Genesis 2:10; 15:18; Deuteronomy 1:7; Psalm 66:6; Ezekiel 10:15).
(4.) Tel'alah, a conduit, or water-course (1 Kings 18:32; 2 Kings 18:17; 20:20; Job 38:25; Ezekiel 31:4).
(5.) Peleg, properly "waters divided", i.e., streams divided, throughout the land (Psalm 1:3); "the rivers [i.e., 'divisions'] of waters" (Job 20:17; 29:6; Proverbs 5:16).
(6.) Ye'or, i.e., "great river", probably from an Egyptian word (Aur), commonly applied to the Nile (Genesis 41:1-3), but also to other rivers (Job 28:10; Isaiah 33:21).
(7.) Yubhal, "a river" (Jeremiah 17:8), a full flowing stream.
(8.) 'Ubhal, "a river" (Daniel 8:2).
•RIVER OF EGYPT (1.) Hebrews nahar mitsraim, denotes in Genesis 15:18 the Nile, or its eastern branch (2 Chronicles 9:26). (2.) In Numbers 34:5 (R.V., "brook of Egypt") the Hebrew word is nahal, denoting a stream flowing rapidly in winter, or in the rainy season. This is a desert stream on the borders of Egypt. It is now called the Wady el-'Arish. The present boundary between Egypt and Palestine is about midway between this wady and Gaza. (See Numbers 34:5; Joshua 15:4, 47; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 24:7; Isaiah 27:12; Ezekiel 47:19. In all these passages the R.V. has "brook" and the A.V. "river.")
•RIVER OF GAD probably the Arno (2 Samuel 24:5).
•RIVER OF GOD (Psalm 65:9), as opposed to earthly streams, denoting that the divine resources are inexhaustible, or the sum of all fertilizing streams that water the earth (Genesis 2:10).
•RIVERS OF BABYLON (Psalm 137:1), i.e., of the whole country of Babylonia, e.g., the Tigris, Euphrates, Chalonas, the Ulai, and the numerous canals.
•RIVERS OF DAMASCUS the Abana and Pharpar (2 Kings 5:12).
•RIVERS OF JUDAH (Joel 3:18), the watercourses of Judea.
•RIZPAH coal; hot stone, the daughter of Aiah, and one of Saul's concubines. She was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 3:7; 21:8, 10, 11).
It happened that a grievous famine, which lasted for three years, fell upon the land during the earlier half of David's reign at Jerusalem. This calamity was sent "for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." David inquired of the Gibeonites what satisfaction they demanded, and was answered that nothing would compensate for the wrong Saul had done to them but the death of seven of Saul's sons. David accordingly delivered up to them the two sons of Rizpah and five of the sons of Merab (q.v.), Saul's eldest daughter, whom she bore to Adriel. These the Gibeonites put to death, and hung up their bodies before the Lord at the sanctuary at Gibeah. Rizpah thereupon took her place on the rock of Gibeah (q.v.), and for five months watched the suspended bodies of her children, to prevent them from being devoured by the beasts and birds of prey, till they were at length taken down and buried by David.
Her marriage to Abner was the occasion of a quarrel between him and Ishbosheth, which led to Abner's going over to the side of David (2 Samuel 3:17-21).
•ROAD (1 Samuel 27:10; R.V., "raid"), an inroad, an incursion. This word is never used in Scripture in the sense of a way or path.
•ROBBERY Practised by the Ishmaelites (Genesis 16:12), the Chaldeans and Sabeans (Job 1:15, 17), and the men of Shechem (Judges 9:25. See also 1 Samuel 27:6-10; 30; Hos. 4:2; 6:9). Robbers infested Judea in our Lord's time (Luke 10:30; John 18:40; Acts 5:36, 37; 21:38; 2 Corinthians 11:26). The words of the Authorized Version, "counted it not robbery to be equal," etc. (Phil. 2:6, 7), are better rendered in the Revised Version, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality," etc., i.e., "did not look upon equality with God as a prize which must not slip from his grasp" = "did not cling with avidity to the prerogatives of his divine majesty; did not ambitiously display his equality with God."
"Robbers of churches" should be rendered, as in the Revised Version, "of temples." In the temple at Ephesus there was a great treasure-chamber, and as all that was laid up there was under the guardianship of the goddess Diana, to steal from such a place would be sacrilege (Acts 19:37).
•ROCK (Hebrews tsur), employed as a symbol of God in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 22:3; Isaiah 17:10; Psalm 28:1; 31:2,3; 89:26; 95:1); also in the New Testament (Matthew 16:18; Romans 9:33; 1 Corinthians 10:4). In Daniel 2:45 the Chaldaic form of the Hebrew word is translated "mountain." It ought to be translated "rock," as in Habakkuk 1:12 in the Revised Version. The "rock" from which the stone is cut there signifies the divine origin of Christ. (See STONE.)
•ROE (Hebrews tsebi), properly the gazelle (Arab. ghazal), permitted for food (Deuteronomy 14:5; comp. Deuteronomy 12:15, 22; 15:22; 1 Kings 4:23), noted for its swiftness and beauty and grace of form (2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8; Cant. 2:9; 7:3; 8:14).
The gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is found in great numbers in Palestine. "Among the gray hills of Galilee it is still 'the roe upon the mountains of Bether,' and I have seen a little troop of gazelles feeding on the Mount of Olives close to Jerusalem itself" (Tristram).
The Hebrew word ('ayyalah) in Proverbs 5: 19 thus rendered (R.V., "doe"), is properly the "wild she-goat," the mountain goat, the ibex. (See 1 Samuel 24:2; Psalm 104:18; Job 39:1.)
•ROGELIM fullers, a town of Gilead, the residence of Barzillai the Gileadite (2 Samuel 17:27; 19:31), probably near to Mahanaim.
•ROLL the common form of ancient books. The Hebrew word rendered "roll" or "volume" is meghillah, found in Ezra 6:2; Psalm 40:7; Jeremiah 36:2, 6, 23, 28, 29; Ezekiel 2:9; 3:1-3; Zechariah 5:1, 2. "Rolls" (Chald. pl. of sephar, corresponding to Hebrews sepher) in Ezra 6:1 is rendered in the Revised Version "archives." In the New Testament the word "volume" (Hebrews 10:7; R.V., "roll") occurs as the rendering of the Greek kephalis, meaning the head or top of the stick or cylinder on which the manuscript was rolled, and hence the manuscript itself. (See BOOK.)
•ROMAMTI-EZER elevation of help, one of the sons of Heman, "the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn." He was head of the "four-and-twentieth" course of singers (1 Chronicles 25:4, 31).
•ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE This epistle was probably written at Corinth. Phoebe (Romans 16:1) of Cenchrea conveyed it to Rome, and Gaius of Corinth entertained the apostle at the time of his writing it (16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14), and Erastus was chamberlain of the city, i.e., of Corinth (2 Timothy 4:20).
The precise time at which it was written is not mentioned in the epistle, but it was obviously written when the apostle was about to "go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints", i.e., at the close of his second visit to Greece, during the winter preceding his last visit to that city (Romans 15:25; comp. Acts 19:21; 20:2, 3, 16; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4), early in A.D. 58.
It is highly probable that Christianity was planted in Rome by some of those who had been at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). At this time the Jews were very numerous in Rome, and their synagogues were probably resorted to by Romans also, who in this way became acquainted with the great facts regarding Jesus as these were reported among the Jews. Thus a church composed of both Jews and Gentiles was formed at Rome. Many of the brethren went out to meet Paul on his approach to Rome. There are evidences that Christians were then in Rome
in considerable numbers, and had probably more than one place of meeting (Romans 16:14, 15).
The object of the apostle in writing to this church was to explain to them the great doctrines of the gospel. His epistle was a "word in season." Himself deeply impressed with a sense of the value of the doctrines of salvation, he opens up in a clear and connected form the whole system of the gospel in its relation both to Jew and Gentile. This epistle is peculiar in this, that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal application. The subject is here treated argumentatively, and is a plea for Gentiles addressed to Jews. In the Epistle to the Galatians, the same subject is discussed, but there the apostle pleads his own authority, because the church in Galatia had been founded by him.
After the introduction (1:1-15), the apostle presents in it divers aspects and relations the doctrine of justification by faith (1:16-11:36) on the ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ. He shows that salvation is all of grace, and only of grace. This main section of his letter is followed by various practical exhortations (12:1-15:13), which are followed by a conclusion containing personal explanations and salutations, which contain the names of twenty-four Christians at Rome, a benediction, and a doxology (Romans 15:14-ch. 16).
•ROME the most celebrated city in the world at the time of Christ. It is said to have been founded B.C. 753. When the New Testament was written, Rome was enriched and adorned with the spoils of the world, and contained a population estimated at 1,200,000, of which the half were slaves, and including representatives of nearly every nation then known. It was distinguished for its wealth and luxury and profligacy. The empire of which it was the capital had then reached its greatest prosperity.
On the day of Pentecost there were in Jerusalem "strangers from Rome," who doubtless carried with them back to Rome tidings of that great day, and were instrumental in founding the church there. Paul was brought to this city a prisoner, where he remained for two years (Acts 28:30, 31) "in his own hired house." While here, Paul wrote his epistles to the Philippians, to the Ephesians, to the Colossians, to Philemon, and probably also to the Hebrews. He had during these years for companions Luke and Aristarchus (Acts 27:2), Timothy (Phil. 1:1; Colossians 1:1),
Tychicus (Ephesians 6: 21), Epaphroditus (Phil. 4:18), and John Mark (Colossians 4:10). (See PAUL.)
Beneath this city are extensive galleries, called "catacombs," which were used from about the time of the apostles (one of the inscriptions found in them bears the date A.D. 71) for some three hundred years as places of refuge in the time of persecution, and also of worship and burial. About four thousand inscriptions have been found in the catacombs. These give an interesting insight into the history of the church at Rome down to the time of Constantine.
•ROSE Many varieties of the rose proper are indigenous to Syria. The famed rose of Damascus is white, but there are also red and yellow roses. In Cant. 2:1 and Isaiah 35:1 the Hebrew word habatstseleth (found only in these passages), rendered "rose" (R.V. marg., "autumn crocus"), is supposed by some to mean the oleander, by others the sweet-scented narcissus (a native of Palestine), the tulip, or the daisy; but nothing definite can be affirmed regarding it.
The "rose of Sharon" is probably the cistus or rock-rose, several species of which abound in Palestine. "Mount Carmel especially abounds in the cistus, which in April covers some of the barer parts of the mountain with a glow not inferior to that of the Scottish heather." (See MYRRH [2].)
•ROSH (Ezekiel 38:2, 3; 39:1) is rendered "chief" in the Authorized Version. It is left untranslated as a proper name in the Revised Version. Some have supposed that the Russians are here meant, as one of the three Scythian tribes of whom Magog was the prince. They invaded the land of Judah in the days of Josiah. Herodotus, the Greek historian, says: "For twenty-eight years the Scythians ruled over Asia, and things were turned upside down by their violence and contempt." (See BETHSHEAN.)
•ROSIN found only in Authorized Version, margin, Ezekiel 27:17, Hebrews tsori, uniformly rendered elsewhere "balm" (q.v.), as here in the text. The Vulgate has resinam, rendered "rosin" in the Douay Version. As used, however, by Jerome, the Lat. resina denotes some odoriferous gum or oil.
•RUBY (Hebrews peninim), only in plural (Lamentations 4:7). The ruby was one of the stones in the high priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:17). A comparison is made between the value of wisdom and rubies (Job 28:18;
Proverbs 3:15; 8:11). The price of a virtuous woman is said to be "far above rubies" (Proverbs 31:10). The exact meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain. Some render it "red coral;" others, "pearl" or "mother-of-pearl."
•RUDDER BANDS Ancient ships had two great broad-bladed oars for rudders. These, when not in use, were lifted out of the water and bound or tied up. When required for use, these bands were unloosed and the rudders allowed to drop into the water (Acts 27:40).
•RUE a garden herb (Ruta graveolens) which the Pharisees were careful to tithe (Luke 11:42), neglecting weightier matters. It is omitted in the parallel passage of Matthew 23:23. There are several species growing wild in Palestine. It is used for medicinal and culinary purposes. It has a powerful scent, and is a stimulant. (See MINT.)
•RUFUS red, the son of Simon the Cyrenian (Mark 15:21), whom the Roman soldiers compelled to carry the cross on which our Lord was crucified. Probably it is the same person who is again mentioned in Romans 16:13 as a disciple at Rome, whose mother also was a Christian held in esteem by the apostle. Mark mentions him along with his brother Alexander as persons well known to his readers (Mark 15:21).
•RUHAMAH having obtained mercy, a symbolical name given to the daughter of Hosea (2:1).
•RUMAH elevation, probably the same as Arumah (Judges 9:41; 2 Kings 23:36), near Shechem. Others identify it with Tell Rumeh, in Galilee, about 6 miles north of Nazareth.
•RUSH the papyrus (Job 8:11). (See BULRUSH.) The expression "branch and rush" in Isaiah 9:14; 19:15 means "utterly."
•RUTH a friend, a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab. On the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi came with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, to Bethlehem, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. There she had a rich relative, Boaz, to whom Ruth was eventually married. She became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal progenitors of our Lord (Matthew 1:5). The story of "the gleaner Ruth illustrates the friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish land system, the method of transferring property from one person to another, the working of the
Mosaic law for the relief of distressed and ruined families; but, above all, handing down the unselfishness, the brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her who, though not of the chosen race, was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Genesis 38:29; Matthew 1:3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matthew 1:5), privileged to become the ancestress of David, and so of 'great David's greater Son'" (Ruth 4:18-22).
•RUTH THE BOOK OF was originally a part of the Book of Judges, but it now forms one of the twenty-four separate books of the Hebrew Bible.
The history it contains refers to a period perhaps about one hundred and twenty-six years before the birth of David. It gives (1) an account of Naomi's going to Moab with her husband, Elimelech, and of her subsequent return to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law; (2) the marriage of Boaz and Ruth; and (3) the birth of Obed, of whom David sprang.
The author of this book was probably Samuel, according to Jewish tradition.
"Brief as this book is, and simple as is its story, it is remarkably rich in examples of faith, patience, industry, and kindness, nor less so in indications of the care which God takes of those who put their trust in him."
•RYE =Rie, (Hebrews kussemeth), found in Exodus 9:32; Isaiah 28:25, in all of which the margins of the Authorized and of the Revised Versions have "spelt." This Hebrew word also occurs in Ezekiel 4:9, where the Authorized Version has "fitches' (q.v.) and the Revised Version "spelt." This, there can be no doubt, was the Triticum spelta, a species of hard, rough-grained wheat.
•SABACHTHANI thou hast forsaken me, one of the Aramaic words uttered by our Lord on the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
•SABAOTH the transliteration of the Hebrew word tsebha'oth, meaning "hosts," "armies" (Romans 9:29; James 5:4). In the LXX. the Hebrew word is rendered by "Almighty." (See Revelation 4:8; comp. Isaiah 6:3.) It may designate Jehovah as either (1) God of the armies of earth, or (2) God of the armies of the stars, or (3) God of the unseen armies of angels; or perhaps it may include all these ideas.
•SABBATH (Hebrews verb shabbath, meaning "to rest from labour"), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Genesis 2:2). "The sabbath was made for man," as a day of rest and refreshment for the body and of blessing to the soul.
It is next referred to in connection with the gift of manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:23); and afterwards, when the law was given from Sinai (20:11), the people were solemnly charged to "remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Thus it is spoken of as an institution already existing.
In the Mosaic law strict regulations were laid down regarding its observance (Exodus 35:2, 3; Leviticus 23:3; 26:34). These were peculiar to that dispensation.
In the subsequent history of the Jews frequent references are made to the sanctity of the Sabbath (Isaiah 56:2, 4, 6, 7; 58:13, 14; Jeremiah 17:20-22; Nehemiah 13:19). In later times they perverted the Sabbath by their traditions. Our Lord rescued it from their perversions, and recalled to them its true nature and intent (Matthew 12:10-13; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:10-17).
The Sabbath, originally instituted for man at his creation, is of permanent and universal obligation. The physical necessities of man require a Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his bodily welfare needs at least one day in seven for rest from ordinary labour. Experience also proves that the
moral and spiritual necessities of men also demand a Sabbath of rest. "I am more and more sure by experience that the reason for the observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the everlasting necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is man the blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but as a day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled. I certainly do feel by experience the eternal obligation, because of the eternal necessity, of the Sabbath. The soul withers without it. It thrives in proportion to its observance. The Sabbath was made for man. God made it for men in a certain spiritual state because they needed it. The need, therefore, is deeply hidden in human nature. He who can dispense with it must be holy and spiritual indeed. And he who, still unholy and unspiritual, would yet dispense with it is a man that would fain be wiser than his Maker" (F. W. Robertson).
The ancient Babylonian calendar, as seen from recently recovered inscriptions on the bricks among the ruins of the royal palace, was based on the division of time into weeks of seven days. The Sabbath is in these inscriptions designated Sabattu, and defined as "a day of rest for the heart" and "a day of completion of labour."
The change of the day. Originally at creation the seventh day of the week was set apart and consecrated as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is now observed as the Sabbath. Has God authorized this change? There is an obvious distinction between the Sabbath as an institution and the particular day set apart for its observance. The question, therefore, as to the change of the day in no way affects the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath as an institution. Change of the day or no change, the Sabbath remains as a sacred institution the same. It cannot be abrogated.
If any change of the day has been made, it must have been by Christ or by his authority. Christ has a right to make such a change (Mark 2:23-28). As Creator, Christ was the original Lord of the Sabbath (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10). It was originally a memorial of creation. A work vastly greater than that of creation has now been accomplished by him, the work of redemption. We would naturally expect just such a change as would make the Sabbath a memorial of that greater work.
True, we can give no text authorizing the change in so many words. We have no express law declaring the change. But there are evidences of another kind. We know for a fact that the first day of the week has been
observed from apostolic times, and the necessary conclusion is, that it was observed by the apostles and their immediate disciples. This, we may be sure, they never would have done without the permission or the authority of their Lord.
After his resurrection, which took place on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1), we never find Christ meeting with his disciples on the seventh day. But he specially honoured the first day by manifesting himself to them on four separate occasions (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:34, 18-33; John 20:19-23). Again, on the next first day of the week, Jesus appeared to his disciples (John 20:26).
Some have calculated that Christ's ascension took place on the first day of the week. And there can be no doubt that the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was on that day (Acts 2:1). Thus Christ appears as instituting a new day to be observed by his people as the Sabbath, a day to be henceforth known amongst them as the "Lord's day." The observance of this "Lord's day" as the Sabbath was the general custom of the primitive churches, and must have had apostolic sanction (comp. Acts 20:3-7; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2) and authority, and so the sanction and authority of Jesus Christ.
The words "at her sabbaths" (Lamentations 1:7, A.V.) ought probably to be, as in the Revised Version, "at her desolations."
•SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY supposed to be a distance of 2,000 cubits, or less than half-a-mile, the distance to which, according to Jewish tradition, it was allowable to travel on the Sabbath day without violating the law (Acts 1:12; comp. Exodus 16:29; Numbers 35:5; Joshua 3:4).
•SABBATICAL YEAR every seventh year, during which the land, according to the law of Moses, had to remain uncultivated (Leviticus 25:2-7; comp. Exodus 23:10, 11, 12; Leviticus 26:34, 35). Whatever grew of itself during that year was not for the owner of the land, but for the poor and the stranger and the beasts of the field. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted (Deuteronomy 15:1-11). There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history. It appears to have been much neglected (2 Chronicles 36:20, 21).
•SABEANS descendants of Seba (Genesis 10:7); Africans (Isaiah 43:3). They were "men of stature," and engaged in merchandise (Isaiah 45:14).
Their conversion to the Lord was predicted (Psalm 72:10). This word, in Ezekiel 23:42, should be read, as in the margin of the Authorized Version, and in the Revised Version, "drunkards." Another tribe, apparently given to war, is mentioned in Job 1:15.
•SABTAH rest, the third son of Cush (Genesis 10:7; 1 Chronicles 1:9).
•SABTECHA the fifth son of Cush (id.).
•SACHAR hire. (1.) One of David's heroes (1 Chronicles 11:35); called also Sharar (2 Samuel 23:33).
(2.) A son of Obed-edom the Gittite, and a temple porter (1 Chronicles 26:4).
•SACKBUT (Chald. sabkha; Gr. sambuke), a Syrian stringed instrument resembling a harp (Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15); not the modern sackbut, which is a wind instrument.
•SACKCLOTH cloth made of black goats' hair, coarse, rough, and thick, used for sacks, and also worn by mourners (Genesis 37:34; 42:25; 2 Samuel 3:31; Esther 4:1, 2; Psalm 30:11, etc.), and as a sign of repentance (Matthew 11:21). It was put upon animals by the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:8).
•SACRIFICE The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by guilty man. The language and the idea of sacrifice pervade the whole Bible.
Sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. The Lord clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals, which in all probability had been offered in sacrifice (Genesis 3:21). Abel offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" (4:4; Hebrews 11:4). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to the offering up of sacrifices (Genesis 7:2, 8), because animals were not given to man as food till after the Flood.
The same practice is continued down through the patriarchal age (Genesis 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9-11; 22:1-18, etc.). In the Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was to be made. The offering of stated sacrifices became
indeed a prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period (Exodus 12:3-27; Leviticus 23:5-8; Numbers 9:2-14). (See ALTAR.)
We learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews that sacrifices had in themselves no value or efficacy. They were only the "shadow of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to the coming of the great High Priest, who, in the fullness of the time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many." Sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed away. The "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
Sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. Unbloody, such as (1) first-fruits and tithes; (2) meat and drink-offerings; and (3) incense. 2. Bloody, such as (1) burnt-offerings; (2) peace-offerings; and (3) sin and trespass offerings. (See OFFERINGS.)
•SADDUCEES The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they are met with is in connection with John the Baptist's ministry. They came out to him when on the banks of the Jordan, and he said to them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7.) The next time they are spoken of they are represented as coming to our Lord tempting him. He calls them "hypocrites" and "a wicked and adulterous generation" (Matthew 16:1-4; 22:23). The only reference to them in the Gospels of Mark (12:18-27) and Luke (20:27-38) is their attempting to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection, which they denied, as they also denied the existence of angels. They are never mentioned in John's Gospel.
There were many Sadducees among the "elders" of the Sanhedrin. They seem, indeed, to have been as numerous as the Pharisees (Acts 23:6). They showed their hatred of Jesus in taking part in his condemnation (Matthew 16:21; 26:1-3, 59; Mark 8:31; 15:1; Luke 9:22; 22:66). They endeavoured to prohibit the apostles from preaching the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:24, 31, 32; 4:1, 2; 5:17, 24-28). They were the deists or sceptics of that age. They do not appear as a separate sect after the destruction of Jerusalem.
•SADOC just, mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord (Matthew 1:14).
•SAFFRON Hebrews karkom, Arab. zafran (i.e., "yellow"), mentioned only in Cant. 4:13, 14; the Crocus sativus. Many species of the crocus are found in Palestine. The pistils and stigmata, from the centre of its flowers, are pressed into "saffron cakes," common in the East. "We found," says Tristram, "saffron a very useful condiment in travelling cookery, a very small pinch of it giving not only a rich yellow colour but an agreable flavour to a dish of rice or to an insipid stew."
•SAINT one separated from the world and consecrated to God; one holy by profession and by covenant; a believer in Christ (Psalm 16:3; Romans 1:7; 8:27; Phil. 1:1; Hebrews 6:10).
The "saints" spoken of in Jude 1:14 are probably not the disciples of Christ, but the "innumerable company of angels" (Hebrews 12:22; Psalm 68:17), with reference to Deuteronomy 33:2.
This word is also used of the holy dead (Matthew 27:52; Revelation 18:24). It was not used as a distinctive title of the apostles and evangelists and of a "spiritual nobility" till the fourth century. In that sense it is not a scriptural title.
•SALA a shoot, a descendant of Arphaxed (Luke 3:35, 36); called also Shelah (1 Chronicles 1:18, 24).
•SALAMIS a city on the south-east coast of Cyprus (Acts 13:5), where Saul and Barnabas, on their first missionary journey, preached the word in one of the Jewish synagogues, of which there seem to have been several in that place. It is now called Famagusta.
•SALATHIEL whom I asked of God, the son of Jeconiah (Matthew 1:12; 1 Chronicles 3:17); also called the son of Neri (Luke 3:27). The probable explanation of the apparent discrepancy is that he was the son of Neri, the descendant of Nathan, and thus heir to the throne of David on the death of Jeconiah (comp. Jeremiah 22:30).
•SALCAH wandering, a city of Bashan assigned to the half tribe of Manasseh (Deuteronomy 3:10; Joshua 12:5; 13:11), identified with Salkhad, about 56 miles east of Jordan.
•SALEM peace, commonly supposed to be another name of Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18; Psalm 76:2; Hebrews 7:1, 2).
•SALIM peaceful, a place near AEnon (q.v.), on the west of Jordan, where John baptized (John 3:23). It was probably the Shalem mentioned in Genesis 33:18, about 7 miles south of AEnon, at the head of the great Wady Far'ah, which formed the northern boundary of Judea in the Jordan valley.
•SALLAI basket-maker. (1.) A Benjamite (Nehemiah 11:8).
(2.) A priest in the days of Joshua and Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:20).
•SALLU weighed. (1.) A priest (Nehemiah 12:7).
(2.) A Benjamite (1 Chronicles 9:7; Nehemiah 11:7).
•SALMON garment, the son of Nashon (Ruth 4:20; Matthew 1:4, 5), possibly the same as Salma in 1 Chronicles 2:51.
•SALMON shady; or Zalmon (q.v.), a hill covered with dark forests, south of Shechem, from which Abimelech and his men gathered wood to burn that city (Judges 9:48). In Psalm 68:14 the change from war to peace is likened to snow on the dark mountain, as some interpret the expression. Others suppose the words here mean that the bones of the slain left unburied covered the land, so that it seemed to be white as if covered with
snow. The reference, however, of the psalm is probably to Joshua 11 and 12. The scattering of the kings and their followers is fitly likened unto the snow-flakes rapidly falling on the dark Salmon. It is the modern Jebel Suleiman.
•SALMONE a promontory on the east of Crete, under which Paul sailed on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27:7); the modern Cape Sidero.
•SALOME perfect. (1.) The wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John (Mat. 27:56), and probably the sister of Mary, the mother of our Lord (John 19:25). She sought for her sons places of honour in Christ's kingdom (Matthew 20:20, 21; comp. 19:28). She witnessed the crucifixion (Mark 15:40), and was present with the other women at the sepulchre (Matthew 27:56).
(2.) "The daughter of Herodias," not named in the New Testament. On the occasion of the birthday festival held by Herod Antipas, who had married her mother Herodias, in the fortress of Machaerus, she "came in and danced, and pleased Herod" (Mark 6:14-29). John the Baptist, at that time a prisoner in the dungeons underneath the castle, was at her request beheaded by order of Herod, and his head given to the damsel in a charger, "and the damsel gave it to her mother," whose revengeful spirit was thus gratified. "A luxurious feast of the period" (says Farrar, Life of Christ) "was not regarded as complete unless it closed with some gross pantomimic representation; and doubtless Herod had adopted the evil fashion of his day. But he had not anticipated for his guests the rare luxury of seeing a princess, his own niece, a grand-daughter of Herod the Great and of Mariamne, a descendant, therefore, of Simon the high priest and the great line of Maccabean princes, a princess who afterwards became the wife of a tetrarch [Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis] and the mother of a king, honouring them by degrading herself into a scenic dancer."
•SALT used to season food (Job 6:6), and mixed with the fodder of cattle (Isaiah 30:24, "clean;" in marg. of R.V. "salted"). All meat-offerings were seasoned with salt (Leviticus 2:13). To eat salt with one is to partake of his hospitality, to derive subsistence from him; and hence he who did so was bound to look after his host's interests (Ezra 4:14, "We have maintenance from the king's palace;" A.V. marg., "We are salted with the salt of the palace;" R.V., "We eat the salt of the palace").
A "covenant of salt" (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5) was a covenant of perpetual obligation. New-born children were rubbed with salt (Ezekiel 16:4). Disciples are likened unto salt, with reference to its cleansing and preserving uses (Matthew 5:13). When Abimelech took the city of Shechem, he sowed the place with salt, that it might always remain a barren soil (Judges 9:45). Sir Lyon Playfair argues, on scientific grounds, that under the generic name of "salt," in certain passages, we are to understand petroleum or its residue asphalt. Thus in Genesis 19:26 he would read "pillar of asphalt;" and in Matthew 5:13, instead of "salt," "petroleum," which loses its essence by exposure, as salt does not, and becomes asphalt, with which pavements were made.
The Jebel Usdum, to the south of the Dead Sea, is a mountain of rock salt about 7 miles long and from 2 to 3 miles wide and some hundreds of feet high.
•SALT SEA (Joshua 3:16). See DEAD SEA.
•SALT, THE CITY OF one of the cities of Judah (Joshua 15:62), probably in the Valley of Salt, at the southern end of the Dead Sea.
•SALT, VALLEY OF a place where it is said David smote the Syrians (2 Samuel 8:13). This valley (the' Arabah) is between Judah and Edom on the south of the Dead Sea. Hence some interpreters would insert the words, "and he smote Edom," after the words, "Syrians" in the above text. It is conjectured that while David was leading his army against the Ammonites and Syrians, the Edomites invaded the south of Judah, and that David sent Joab or Abishai against them, who drove them back and finally subdued Edom. (Comp. title to Psalm 60.)
Here also Amaziah "slew of Edom ten thousand men" (2 Kings 14:7; comp. 8: 20-22 and 2 Chronicles 25:5-11).
•SALUTATION "Eastern modes of salutation are not unfrequently so prolonged as to become wearisome and a positive waste of time. The profusely polite Arab asks so many questions after your health, your happiness, your welfare, your house, and other things, that a person ignorant of the habits of the country would imagine there must be some secret ailment or mysterious sorrow oppressing you, which you wished to conceal, so as to spare the feelings of a dear, sympathizing friend, but which he, in the depth of his anxiety, would desire to hear of. I have often listened to these prolonged salutations in the house, the street, and the highway, and not unfrequently I have experienced their tedious monotony, and I have bitterly lamented useless waste of time" (Porter, Through Samaria, etc.). The work on which the disciples were sent forth was one of urgency, which left no time for empty compliments and prolonged greetings (Luke 10:4).
•SALVATION This word is used of the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians (Exodus 14:13), and of deliverance generally from evil or danger. In the New Testament it is specially used with reference to the great deliverance from the guilt and the pollution of sin wrought out by Jesus Christ, "the great salvation" (Hebrews 2:3). (See REDEMPTION; REGENERATION.)
•SAMARIA a watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the "hill of Shomeron," a solitary mountain, a great "mamelon." It is an oblong hill, with steep but not inaccessible sides, and a long flat top. Omri, the king of Israel, purchased this hill from Shemer its owner for two talents of silver, and built on its broad summit the city to which he gave the name of "Shomeron", i.e., Samaria, as the new capital of his kingdom instead of Tirzah (1 Kings 16:24). As such it possessed many advantages. Here Omri resided during the last six years of his reign. As the result of an unsuccessful war with Syria, he appears to have been obliged to grant to the Syrians the right to "make streets in Samaria", i.e., probably permission to the Syrian merchants to carry on their trade in the Israelite capital. This would imply the existence of a considerable Syrian population. "It was the only great city of Palestine created by the sovereign. All the others had been already consecrated by patriarchal tradition or previous possession. But Samaria was the choice of Omri alone. He, indeed, gave to the city which he had built the name of its
former owner, but its especial connection with himself as its founder is proved by the designation which it seems Samaria bears in Assyrian inscriptions, Beth-khumri ('the house or palace of Omri').", Stanley.
Samaria was frequently besieged. In the days of Ahab, Benhadad II. came up against it with thirty-two vassal kings, but was defeated with a great slaughter (1 Kings 20:1-21). A second time, next year, he assailed it; but was again utterly routed, and was compelled to surrender to Ahab (20:28-34), whose army, as compared with that of Benhadad, was no more than "two little flocks of kids."
In the days of Jehoram this Benhadad again laid siege to Samaria, during which the city was reduced to the direst extremities. But just when success seemed to be within their reach, they suddenly broke up the seige, alarmed by a mysterious noise of chariots and horses and a great army, and fled, leaving their camp with all its contents behind them. The famishing inhabitants of the city were soon relieved with the abundance of the spoil of the Syrian camp; and it came to pass, according to the word of Elisha, that "a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barely for a shekel, in the gates of Samaria" (2 Kings 7:1-20).
Shalmaneser invaded Israel in the days of Hoshea, and reduced it to vassalage. He laid siege to Samaria (B.C. 723), which held out for three years, and was at length captured by Sargon, who completed the conquest Shalmaneser had begun (2 Kings 18:9-12; 17:3), and removed vast numbers of the tribes into captivity. (See SARGON.)
This city, after passing through various vicissitudes, was given by the emperor Augustus to Herod the Great, who rebuilt it, and called it Sebaste (Gr. form of Augustus) in honour of the emperor. In the New Testament the only mention of it is in Acts 8:5-14, where it is recorded that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached there.
It is now represented by the hamlet of Sebustieh, containing about three hundred inhabitants. The ruins of the ancient town are all scattered over the hill, down the sides of which they have rolled. The shafts of about one hundred of what must have been grand Corinthian columns are still standing, and attract much attention, although nothing definite is known regarding them. (Comp. Micah 1:6.)
In the time of Christ, Western Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Samaria occupied the centre of Palestine (John
4:4). It is called in the Talmud the "land of the Cuthim," and is not regarded as a part of the Holy Land at all.
It may be noticed that the distance between Samaria and Jerusalem, the respective capitals of the two kingdoms, is only 35 miles in a direct line.
•SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH On the return from the Exile, the Jews refused the Samaritans participation with them in the worship at Jerusalem, and the latter separated from all fellowship with them, and built a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. This temple was razed to the ground more than one hundred years B.C. Then a system of worship was instituted similar to that of the temple at Jerusalem. It was founded on the Law, copies of which had been multiplied in Israel as well as in Judah. Thus the Pentateuch was preserved among the Samaritans, although they never called it by this name, but always "the Law," which they read as one book. The division into five books, as we now have it, however, was adopted by the Samaritans, as it was by the Jews, in all their priests' copies of "the Law," for the sake of convenience. This was the only portion of the Old Testament which was accepted by the Samaritans as of divine authority.
The form of the letters in the manuscript copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch is different from that of the Hebrew copies, and is probably the same as that which was in general use before the Captivity. There are other peculiarities in the writing which need not here be specified.
There are important differences between the Hebrew and the Samaritan copies of the Pentateuch in the readings of many sentences. In about two thousand instances in which the Samaritan and the Jewish texts differ, the LXX. agrees with the former. The New Testament also, when quoting from the Old Testament, agrees as a rule with the Samaritan text, where that differs from the Jewish. Thus Exodus 12:40 in the Samaritan reads, "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers which they had dwelt in the land of Canaan and in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years" (comp. Galatians 3:17). It may be noted that the LXX. has the same reading of this text.
•SAMARITANS the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity (2 Kings
17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however, destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord was in contempt called "a Samaritan" (John 8:48). Many of the Samaritans early embraced the gospel (John 4:5-42; Acts 8:25; 9:31; 15:3). Of these Samaritans there still remains a small population of about one hundred and sixty, who all reside in Shechem, where they carefully observe the religious customs of their fathers. They are the "smallest and oldest sect in the world."
•SAMGAR-NEBO be gracious, O Nebo! or a cup-bearer of Nebo, probably the title of Nergal-sharezer, one of the princes of Babylon (Jeremiah 39:3).
•SAMOS an island in the AEgean Sea, which Paul passed on his voyage from Assos to Miletus (Acts 20:15), on his third missionary journey. It is about 27 miles long and 20 broad, and lies about 42 miles south-west of Smyrna.
•SAMOTHRACIA an island in the AEgean Sea, off the coast of Thracia, about 32 miles distant. This Thracian Samos was passed by Paul on his voyage from Troas to Neapolis (Acts 16:11) on his first missionary journey. It is about 8 miles long and 6 miles broad. Its modern name is Samothraki.
•SAMSON of the sun, the son of Manoah, born at Zorah. The narrative of his life is given in Judges 13-16. He was a "Nazarite unto God" from his birth, the first Nazarite mentioned in Scripture (Judges 13:3-5; comp. Numbers 6:1-21). The first recorded event of his life was his marriage with a Philistine woman of Timnath (Judges 14:1-5). Such a marriage was not forbidden by the law of Moses, as the Philistines did not form one of the seven doomed Canaanite nations (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-4). It was, however, an ill-assorted and unblessed marriage. His wife was soon
taken from him and given "to his companion" (Judges 14:20). For this Samson took revenge by burning the "standing corn of the Philistines" (15:1-8), who, in their turn, in revenge "burnt her and her father with fire." Her death he terribly avenged (15:7-19). During the twenty years following this he judged Israel; but we have no record of his life. Probably these twenty years may have been simultaneous with the last twenty years of Eli's life. After this we have an account of his exploits at Gaza (16:1-3), and of his infatuation for Delilah, and her treachery (16:4-20), and then of his melancholy death (16:21-31). He perished in the last terrible destruction he brought upon his enemies. "So the dead which he slew at his death were more [in social and political importance=the elite of the people] than they which he slew in his life."
"Straining all his nerves, he bowed: As with the force of winds and waters pent, When mountains tremble, those two massy pillars With horrible convulsion to and fro He tugged, he shook, till down they came, and drew The whole roof after them, with burst of thunder Upon the heads of all who sat beneath, Lords, ladies, captains, counsellors, or priests, Their choice nobility and flower." Milton's Samson Agonistes.
•SAMUEL heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Samuel 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly prayed to God that she might become the mother of a son. Her prayer was graciously granted; and after the child was weaned she brought him to Shiloh nd consecrated him to the Lord as a perpetual Nazarite (1:23-2:11). Here his bodily wants and training were attended to by the women who served in the tabernacle, while Eli cared for his religious culture. Thus, probably, twelve years of his life passed away. "The child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men" (2:26; comp. Luke 2:52). It was a time of great and growing degeneracy in Israel (Judges 21:19-21; 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22). The Philistines, who of late had greatly increased in number and in power, were practically masters of the country, and kept the people in subjection (1 Samuel 10:5; 13:3).
At this time new communications from God began to be made to the pious child. A mysterious voice came to him in the night season, calling him by name, and, instructed by Eli, he answered, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." The message that came from the Lord was one of woe and ruin to Eli and his profligate sons. Samuel told it all to Eli, whose only answer to
the terrible denunciations (1 Samuel 3:11-18) was, "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good", the passive submission of a weak character, not, in his case, the expression of the highest trust and faith. The Lord revealed himself now in divers manners to Samuel, and his fame and his influence increased throughout the land as of one divinely called to the prophetical office. A new period in the history of the kingdom of God now commenced.
The Philistine yoke was heavy, and the people, groaning under the wide-spread oppression, suddenly rose in revolt, and "went out against the Philistines to battle." A fierce and disastrous battle was fought at Aphek, near to Ebenezer (1 Samuel 4:1, 2). The Israelites were defeated, leaving 4,000 dead "in the field." The chiefs of the people thought to repair this great disaster by carrying with them the ark of the covenant as the symbol of Jehovah's presence. They accordingly, without consulting Samuel, fetched it out of Shiloh to the camp near Aphek. At the sight of the ark among them the people "shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again." A second battle was fought, and again the Philistines defeated the Israelites, stormed their camp, slew 30,000 men, and took the sacred ark. The tidings of this fatal battle was speedily conveyed to Shiloh; and so soon as the aged Eli heard that the ark of God was taken, he fell backward from his seat at the entrance of the sanctuary, and his neck brake, and he died. The tabernacle with its furniture was probably, by the advice of Samuel, now about twenty years of age, removed from Shiloh to some place of safety, and finally to Nob, where it remained many years (21:1).
The Philistines followed up their advantage, and marched upon Shiloh, which they plundered and destroyed (comp. Jeremiah 7:12; Psalm 78:59). This was a great epoch in the history of Israel. For twenty years after this fatal battle at Aphek the whole land lay under the oppression of the Philistines. During all these dreary years Samuel was a spiritual power in the land. From Ramah, his native place, where he resided, his influence went forth on every side among the people. With unwearied zeal he went up and down from place to place, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting the people, endeavouring to awaken in them a sense of their sinfulness, and to lead them to repentance. His labours were so far successful that "all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Samuel summoned the people to Mizpeh, one of the loftiest hills in Central Palestine, where they fasted
and prayed, and prepared themselves there, under his direction, for a great war against the Philistines, who now marched their whole force toward Mizpeh, in order to crush the Israelites once for all. At the intercession of Samuel God interposed in behalf of Israel. Samuel himself was their leader, the only occasion in which he acted as a leader in war. The Philistines were utterly routed. They fled in terror before the army of Israel, and a great slaughter ensued. This battle, fought probably about B.C. 1095, put an end to the forty years of Philistine oppression. In memory of this great deliverance, and in token of gratitude for the help vouchsafed, Samuel set up a great stone in the battlefield, and called it "Ebenezer," saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (1 Samuel 7:1-12). This was the spot where, twenty years before, the Israelites had suffered a great defeat, when the ark of God was taken.
This victory over the Philistines was followed by a long period of peace for Israel (1 Samuel 7:13, 14), during which Samuel exercised the functions of judge, going "from year to year in circuit" from his home in Ramah to Bethel, thence to Gilgal (not that in the Jordan valley, but that which lay to the west of Ebal and Gerizim), and returning by Mizpeh to Ramah. He established regular services at Shiloh, where he built an altar; and at Ramah he gathered a company of young men around him and established a school of the prophets. The schools of the prophets, thus originated, and afterwards established also at Gibeah, Bethel, Gilgal, and Jericho, exercised an important influence on the national character and history of the people in maintaining pure religion in the midst of growing corruption. They continued to the end of the Jewish commonwealth.
Many years now passed, during which Samuel exercised the functions of his judicial office, being the friend and counsellor of the people in all matters of private and public interest. He was a great statesman as well as a reformer, and all regarded him with veneration as the "seer," the prophet of the Lord. At the close of this period, when he was now an old man, the elders of Israel came to him at Ramah (1 Samuel 8:4, 5, 19-22); and feeling how great was the danger to which the nation was exposed from the misconduct of Samuel's sons, whom he had invested with judicial functions as his assistants, and had placed at Beersheba on the Philistine border, and also from a threatened invasion of the Ammonites, they demanded that a king should be set over them. This request was very displeasing to Samuel. He remonstrated with them, and warned them of the
consequences of such a step. At length, however, referring the matter to God, he acceded to their desires, and anointed Saul (q.v.) to be their king (11:15). Before retiring from public life he convened an assembly of the people at Gilgal (ch. 12), and there solemnly addressed them with reference to his own relation to them as judge and prophet.
The remainder of his life he spent in retirement at Ramah, only occasionally and in special circumstances appearing again in public (1 Samuel 13, 15) with communications from God to king Saul. While mourning over the many evils which now fell upon the nation, he is suddenly summoned (ch.16) to go to Bethlehem and anoint David, the son of Jesse, as king over Israel instead of Saul. After this little is known of him till the time of his death, which took place at Ramah when he was probably about eighty years of age. "And all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah" (25:1), not in the house itself, but in the court or garden of his house. (Comp. 2 Kings 21:18; 2 Chronicles 33:20; 1 Kings 2:34; John 19:41.)
Samuel's devotion to God, and the special favour with which God regarded him, are referred to in Jeremiah 15:1 and Psalm 99:6.
•SAMUEL, BOOKS OF The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as forming one continuous history, which they divided into four books, which they called "Books of the Kingdom." The Vulgate version followed this division, but styled them "Books of the Kings." These books of Samuel they accordingly called the "First" and "Second" Books of Kings, and not, as in the modern Protestant versions, the "First" and "Second" Books of Samuel.
The authors of the books of Samuel were probably Samuel, Gad, and Nathan. Samuel penned the first twenty-four chapters of the first book. Gad, the companion of David (1 Samuel 22:5), continued the history thus commenced; and Nathan completed it, probably arranging the whole in the form in which we now have it (1 Chronicles 29:29).
The contents of the books. The first book comprises a period of about a hundred years, and nearly coincides with the life of Samuel. It contains (1) the history of Eli (1-4); (2) the history of Samuel (5-12); (3) the history of Saul, and of David in exile (13-31). The second book, comprising a period of perhaps fifty years, contains a history of the reign of David (1) over Judah (1-4), and (2) over all Israel (5-24), mainly in its political aspects.
The last four chapters of Second Samuel may be regarded as a sort of appendix recording various events, but not chronologically. These books do not contain complete histories. Frequent gaps are met with in the record, because their object is to present a history of the kingdom of God in its gradual development, and not of the events of the reigns of the successive rulers. It is noticeable that the section (2 Samuel 11:2-12: 29) containing an account of David's sin in the matter of Bathsheba is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chronicles 20.
•SANBALLAT held some place of authority in Samaria when Nehemiah went up to Jerusalem to rebuild its ruined walls. He vainly attempted to hinder this work (Nehemiah 2:10, 19; 4:1-12; 6). His daughter became the wife of one of the sons of Joiada, a son of the high priest, much to the grief of Nehemiah (13:28).
•SANCTIFICATION involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Romans 6:13; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 Corinthians 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it (1) secures union to Christ (Galatians 2:20), and (2) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come."
Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Romans 7:14-25; Phil. 3:12-14; and 1 Timothy 1:15; also the confessions of David (Psalm 19:12, 13; 51), of Moses (90:8), of Job (42:5, 6), and of Daniel (9:3-20). "The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They
are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.", Hodge's Outlines.
•SANCTUARY denotes, (1) the Holy Land (Exodus 15:17; comp. Psalm 114:2); (2) the temple (1 Chronicles 22:19; 2 Chronicles 29:21); (3) the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; Leviticus 12:4; 21:12); (4) the holy place, the place of the Presence (Gr. hieron, the temple-house; not the naos, which is the temple area, with its courts and porches), Leviticus 4:6; Ephesians 2:21, R.V., marg.; (5) God's holy habitation in heaven (Psalm 102:19). In the final state there is properly "no sanctuary" (Revelation 21:22), for God and the Lamb "are the sanctuary" (R.V., "temple"). All is there hallowed by the Divine Presence; all is sancturary.
•SANDALS Mentioned only in Mark 6:9 and Acts 12:8. The sandal was simply a sole, made of wood or palm-bark, fastened to the foot by leathern straps. Sandals were also made of seal-skin (Ezekiel 16:10; lit. tahash, "leather;" A.V., "badger's skin;" R.V., "sealskin," or marg., "porpoise-skin"). (See SHOE.)
•SANHEDRIM more correctly Sanhedrin (Gr. synedrion), meaning "a sitting together," or a "council." This word (rendered "council," A.V.) is frequently used in the New Testament (Matthew 5:22; 26:59; Mark 15:1, etc.) to denote the supreme judicial and administrative council of the Jews, which, it is said, was first instituted by Moses, and was composed of seventy men (Numbers 11:16, 17). But that seems to have been only a temporary arrangement which Moses made. This council is with greater probability supposed to have originated among the Jews when they were under the domination of the Syrian kings in the time of the Maccabees. The name is first employed by the Jewish historian Josephus. This "council" is referred to simply as the "chief priests and elders of the people" (Matthew 26:3, 47, 57, 59; 27:1, 3, 12, 20, etc.), before whom Christ was tried on the charge of claiming to be the Messiah. Peter and John were also brought before it for promulgating heresy (Acts. 4:1-23; 5:17-41); as was also Stephen on a charge of blasphemy (6:12-15), and Paul for violating a temple by-law (22:30; 23:1-10).
The Sanhedrin is said to have consisted of seventy-one members, the high priest being president. They were of three classes (1) the chief priests, or heads of the twenty-four priestly courses (1 Chronicles 24), (2) the scribes, and (3) the elders. As the highest court of judicature, "in all causes and over all persons, ecclesiastical and civil, supreme," its decrees were binding, not only on the Jews in Palestine, but on all Jews wherever scattered abroad. Its jurisdiction was greatly curtailed by Herod, and
afterwards by the Romans. Its usual place of meeting was within the precincts of the temple, in the hall "Gazith," but it sometimes met also in the house of the high priest (Matthew 26:3), who was assisted by two vice-presidents.
•SANSANNAH a palm branch, or a thorn bush, a town in the south (the negeb) of Judah (Joshua 15:31); called also Hazarsusah (19:5), or Hazar-susim (1 Chronicles 4:31).
•SAPH extension, the son of the giant whom Sibbechai slew (2 Samuel 21:18); called also Sippai (1 Chronicles 20:4).
•SAPHIR beautiful, a town of Judah (Micah 1:11), identified with es-Suafir, 5 miles south-east of Ashdod.
•SAPPHIRA beautiful, the wife of Ananias (q.v.). She was a partner in his guilt and also in his punishment (Acts 5:1-11).
•SAPPHIRE Associated with diamonds (Exodus 28:18) and emeralds (Ezekiel 28:13); one of the stones in the high priest's breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought from Babylon. The throne of God is described as of the colour of a sapphire (Exodus 24:10; comp. Ezekiel 1:26).
•SARAH princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Genesis 11:29; 20:12). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child. Her story is from her marriage identified with that of the patriarch till the time of her death. Her death, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years (the only instance in Scripture where the age of a woman is recorded), was the occasion of Abraham's purchasing the cave of Machpelah as a family burying-place.
In the allegory of Galatians 4:22-31 she is the type of the "Jerusalem which is above." She is also mentioned as Sara in Hebrews 11:11 among the Old Testament worthies, who "all died in faith." (See ABRAHAM.)
•SARAI my princess, the name originally borne by Sarah (Genesis 11:31; 17:15).
•SARDINE STONE (Revelation 4:3, R.V., "sardius;" Hebrews 'odhem; LXX., Gr. sardion, from a root meaning "red"), a gem of a blood-red colour. It was called "sardius" because obtained from Sardis in Lydia. It is
enumerated among the precious stones in the high priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:17; 39:10). It is our red carnelian.
•SARDIS the metropolis of Lydia in Asia Minor. It stood on the river Pactolus, at the foot of mount Tmolus. Here was one of the seven Asiatic churches (Revelation 3:1-6). It is now a ruin called Sert-Kalessi.