Part 46
feited; the ransom paid secures life and liberty; the life which Christ gives comes through His ransoming death.
Besides the passages in the Pent which we have noted, special mention should be made of the two
(3) Connection with sacrifice,—It is also clear in the typical teaching that sacriflee and ransom were closely related. Even in classical Gr, as we have noted, the two conceptions were connected, and it is not surprising to find it so in the OT. Kdpher, we have seen, is lit. "atonement" and comes from kdphar, lit. "to cover." and thence by covering to make atonement, or to cover by making atonement; and so it is in the Piel form, the most common and technical Heb word for making atonement, or expiation, or propitiation, and is frequently rendered in the Gr by hildskomai, often too by the compound exildskomai. In Ex 21 30, kopher, we noted, is used interchangeably with pidhydn, both being represented in the LXX by lutra, and so in Ex 30 12; Nu 35 31.32; the Heb kapher is lutra in the Gr. In the latter place, where it is twice stated that no satisfaction shall be taken for the life of a murderer, the Heb is kopher, LXX lutra, RV "ransom," AV "satisfaction."
great passages which bear so closely
3. The Pss upon the need of spiritual redemption, and Job and come into line with this great utterance of Christ. Ps 49 7.8, "None of them can by any means redeem [pSdhdh;
luiroo] his brother, nor give to God a ransom [kopher; exilasma] for him (tor the redemption of their life is costly, and it faileth for ever)." (The Heb gives pidhyon for "redemption" ; the Gr has "the price of the redemption of his soul.") No human power or skill, no forfeit in money or service or life can avail to ransom any soul from the doom entailed by sin. But in the same ps (ver 15) the triumphant hope is expressed, "But God will redeem [padhah; lutroo] my soul from the power of Sheol." In Job 33 24, "Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom": God is the speaker, and whatever may be the particular exegesis of the passage in its original application, it surely contains an anticipation of the gospel redemption. This Divine eureka is explained in the light of Christ's utterance; it finds its realization through the cross: "I have found a ransom," for "the Son of Man" has given "his soul a ransom for many."
(4) Typical reference to the Messiah,—Sacrifice was thus linked with ransom. Sacrifice was the Divinely appointed covering for sin. The ransom
for the deliverance of the sinner was to be by sacri-
fice. Both the typical testimony of the Law and the prophetic testimony gave prominence to the thought of redemption. The Coming One was to be a Redeemer. Redemption was to be the great work of the Messiah. The people seem to have looked for the redemption of the soul to God alone through the observance of their appointed ritual, while redemption, in the more general sense of de-
This great utterance of the Saviour may well be considered as the germ of all the apostolic teach-
liverance from all enemies and troubles, they linked with the advent of the Messiah. It required a
ing concerning redemption, but it is
spiritual vision to see that the two things would
4. Apostolic not for us to show its unfolding beyond Teaching noting that in apostolic thought the redemption was always connected with the death, the sacrifice of Christ.
coincide, that the Messiah would effect redemption
in all its phases and fulness by means of ransom, of
sacrifice, of expiation.
Jesus appeared as the Messiah in whom all the
Thus Paul (Eph 1 7) , " In whom we have our redemption through his lilood." Thus Peter (1 Pet 1 18.19), "Ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things .... but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ." So in He 9 12 it is shown that Christ "through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption"; and in the Apocalypse (Rev 5 9) the song is, "Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe," etc.
old economy was to be fulfilled. He knew per-
fectly the meaning of the typical and prophetic testimony; and with that fully in view, knowing
that His death was to fulfil the OT types and accomplish its brightest prophetic anticipations. He
deliberately uses this term liitron to describe it (Mt 20 28) ; in speaking of His death as a ransom.
Ransom Razor THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2532
wrought redemption for his people" (Lk 1 68), He can "grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies should serve him without fear" (Lk 1 74). It is because we have in Him our redemption through His blood that we can be delivered out of the power of darkness (Col 1 13.
In all but the last of these passages there is an echo of the very word used by Christ, apolutrosis and lutrosis, both being connected with (li/ron. In 1 Tim 2 5.6 Paul has a still closer verbal coincidence when he says. "Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all" (anlilutron). The word used in the Apocalypse is aaordxs, to buy in the open market, and is frequently used of the redeeming work of Christ (Rev 14 3.4; 2 Pet 2 1; 1 Cor 6 20; 7 23) . In the two places where Paul uses it he adds the means of purchase: "Ye were bought with a price," which from his point of view would be equivalent to ransom. In the passage in Gal 3 13; 4 5, Paul uses the compound exagordzo, which is equivalent "to "redeem, buy off, deliver by paying the price."
14). See further, Redeemer, Redemption. LiTEBATTTBE.—See works on NT Theology (Weiss, Schmid, Stevens, etc) ; arts, in HZ) B,- DCG.
Archibald M'Caig RAPE, rap. See Crimes; Punishments.
The question "Who receives the ransom?" is not directly raised in Scripture, but it is one that not unnaturally occurs to the mind, and
. RAPHA, RAPHAH, ra'fa (SST , ravha')
(1) In RVm these names are substituted for "the giant" in 1 Ch 20 4.6.8 and in 2 S 21 16.18.20.22. The latter passage states that certain champions of the Philis who were slain by David's warriors had been born to the raphah in Gath. The text is corrupt; Raphah is probably an eponym. Originally the name of one of the Philis who was of the body "Rephaites" stood in the text. The plural of this word, or at least a plural of this stem, is Rephaim
6. To theologians have answered it in varyWhom Was ing ways. the Ransom (1) Not to Satan.—The idea enterPaid? tained by some of the Fathers (Irenaeus, Origen) that the ransom was given to Satan, who is conceived of as having through the sin of man a righteous claim upon him, which Christ recognizes and meets, is grotesque, and not in any way countenanced by Scripture.
(2) To Divine justice.—But in repudiating it, there is no need to go so far as to deny that there
(q.v.).
(2) Raphah (AV "Rapha"), a descendant of Saul (1 Ch 8 37). See Rephaiah.
Horace J. Wolp RAPHAEL, raf'a-el, ra'fa-el (bSB^ , r'pha'el, from rapha' 'el, "God has healed"; Pa<{>aTJ\, Rhaphael): The name of the angel who, as Azarias, guides Tobias to Ecbatana and Rages (q.v.). The purpose of his mission is, in accordance with his name, to cure Tobit of blindness, and to deliver Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, from the power of the evil spirit Asmodaeus (Tob 3 8; 12 14). Later, in addition, when he reveals himself (12 15), he declares that he is "one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and go in before the glory of the Holy One." These seven angels are derived, according to Dr. Kohut, from the seven Am-shaspands (Amesha-spentas) of Zoroastrianism (cf Rev 4 5). At the head of the elaborate angelology of the Enoch books there are "four presences," and Raphael is one of them (En 40 9; 54 6). In the first of these passages Raphael is the healer; in the second, he with Michael, Gabriel and Phanuel lead the wicked away to punishment. These four presences seem related to the four "living creatures" of Ezk (1 5) and of the Apocalypse (Rev 4 6). While this is the general representation of Raphael's position in En, in 20 3 he is named among the angels who "watch," whose number according to the Gr text is seven. Raphael shared in the function assigned to the archangels, in the Oracula Sibyllina, of leading souls to the judgment seat of God (II, 215, Alexandre's text). He occupies a prominent place in Jewish mediaeval writings; he with Michael and Gabriel cured Abraham (Yoma' 37a); according to the book Zohar, Raphael conveyed to Adam a book containing 72 kinds of wisdom in 670 writings. The painters of the Renaissance frequently depicted Raphael. J. E. H. Thomson
is anything answering to a real ransoming transaction. All that we have said goes to show that, in no mere figure of speech, but in tremendous reality, Christ gave "his life a ransom," aiKl if our mind demands an answer to the question to whom the ransom was paid, it does not seem at all unreasonable to think of the justice of God, or God in His character of Moral Governor, as requiring and receiving it. In all that Scripture asserts about propitiation, sacrifice, reconciliation in relation to the work of Christ, it is implied that there is wrath to be averted, someone to be appeased or satisfied, and while it may be enough simply to think of the effects of Christ's redeeming work in setting us free from the penal claims of the Law—the just doom of sin—it does not seem going beyond the spirit of Scripture to draw the logical inference that the ransom price was paid to the Guardian of that holy law, the Administrator of eternal justice. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Gal 3 13). This essential, fundamental phase of redemption is what theologians, with good Scripture warrant, have called redemption by blood, or by price, as distinguished from the practical outcome of the work of Christ in the life which is redemption by power.
(a) Redemption by price: As to Satan's claims, Christ by paying the ransom price, having secured the right to redeem, exercises His power on behalf of the believing sinner. He does not recognize the right of Satan. He is the "strong man" holding his captives lawfully, and Christ the "stronger than he" overcomes him and spoils him, and sets his captives free (Lk 11 21.22). In one sense men may be said to have sold themselves to Satan, but they had no right to sell, nor he to buy, and Christ ignores that transaction and brings "t» nought him that had the power of death, that is. the devil" (He 2 14), and sols able to "dehverall them who through fear of death were all their hfetlme subject to bondage" (He 2 IS).
(h) Redemption by power: Many of the OT passages about the redemption wrought on behalf of God's people illustrate this redemption by power, and the redemption by power is always founded on the redemption by price; the release follows the ransom. In the case of Israel, there was first the redemption by blood—the sprinkled blood of the Paschal Lamb which sheltered from the destroying angel (Ex 12)—and then followed the redemption by power, when by strength of hand Jeh brought His people out from Egypt (Ex 13 14), and in His mercy led forth the people which He had redeemed (Ex 15 13). So under the gospel when "he hath visited and
RAPHAIM, raf'ft-im, ra-fa'im (B omits; N and A have 'Pa<j)a[c](v, Rhapha[e]in) : An ancestor of Judith (Jth 8 1).
RAPHON, ra'fon ('Pa<|)€it6v, Rhapheion): The place where in his campaign E. of Jordan Judas inflicted disastrous defeat on the host of Timotheus, the fugitives fleeing for refuge to the temple at Carnaim(l Mace 5 37ff; An<,XII, viii, 4). Thesame place is doubtless referred to by Pliny as "Raphana"
{NH, V.16). It may possibly be represented by the modern Rafeh, on the E. of the pilgrimage road, about 17 miles N. of Der'ah, and 11 miles N.E. of
2533 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Ransom Razor
Tell el-'Ash'ary. It is a mile and a half N. of Wddy Kanaioal, which would thus be the "brook" mentioned in the narrative. It is perhaps far enough away from Carnaim, if this is rightly placed at Tell el-'Ash'ary. W. Ewinq
RAPHTJ, ra'fu (SIST , rap/tu', "one healed"): The father of Palti, the spy selected from the tribe of Benjamin (Nu 13 9).
RASSES, ras'ez (X, 'Paao-crets, Rhaasseis, A B, 'Pao-<r€£s, Rhassels; Vulg Tharsis; Old Lat Thiras
et Basis): The children of Rasses are mentioned with Put, Lud and the children of Ishmael as liaving been subdued by Holofernes (Jth 2 23).
Their identity is a matter of conjecture only. Some think Vulg Thar sis ( = Tarsus) is meant, others Rosh (Ezk 38 2.3; 39 1), others Rhosos, a mountain range and city S. from Anunus, on the Gulf of Issus. Most probably a district, not a town, is named, situated in the eastern part of Asia Minor.
S. F. Hunter RATHUMUS, ra-thu'mus ('P<i9»j|ios, Rhdthumos) : One of those who joined in writing a letter to pro-
test to Artaxerxes against the Jews (1 Esd 2 16 ff). In 2 17 he is stjded "story-writer," RVm "recorder"
(6 ra wpocnriTrrovTa sc. ypdcptjPj ho td prospiyionta
[grdphu)i\) = "'Re\mm. the chancellor" of Ezr 4 8, Rathumus being a Gr form of Rehum. In 1 Esd 2 16 his title appears as an independent proper name, Beeltethmus (q.v.) (here AVm gives "Bahumus," a misprint), and in 2 25 R. and Beeltethmus are given as distinct persons.
RAVEN, ra'v'n (l"l'y , 'arehh; K6pa|, k&rax; Lat Corvus corax) : A large family of the smaller birds of prey belonging to the genus Corvus corax. A bird of such universal distribution that it is known
r "
Reading Rechab THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2534
READING, red'ing (X'lp^ , mikra' ; avayvaa-is,
is found in the liberated captives' song (Ps 126 5). "He that regardeth the clouds shall not reap," i.e. a lack of faith in God's care wiU be punished (Eccl 11 4); cf also the lesson of trust drawTU from the birds (Mt 6 26; Lk 12 24). Sowing and not reaping the harvest is mentioned as a punishment
andgnosis) : As a noun occurs once in the OT (Neh 8 8) and 3 t in the NT (Acts 13 15; 2 Cor 3 14;
1 Tim 4 13), each time with reference to the public reading of the Divine Law. The vb. "to read" (Xnp , harff ; amyii/iba-Kio, anag-inosho) occurs fre-
for disobedience (Job 31 8; Jer 12 13; Mic 6 15). Reaping where he sowed not, showed the injustice
que'ntly both in the OT and in the NT: (1) often
in the sense of reading aloud to others, esp. of the public reading of God's Law or of prophecy, as by Moses (Ex 24 7), Ezra (Neh 8 3.18), Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth (Lk 4 16), of the regular reading of the Law and the Prophets in the synagogues (Acts 13 27; 15 21), and of the reading of apostoUc epp. in the Christian church (Col 4 16;
of the landlord (Mt 25 26), as did also the withholding of the reapers' wages (Jas 5 4). In God's Kingdom there is a division of labor :
' 'He that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together" (Jn 4 36-38). In John's vision he saw an angel reap the earth (Rev 14 15.16). See Agriculture ; Gleaning. James A. Patch
1 Thess 5 27); (2) also in the sense of reading to one's self, whether the Divine word in Law or prophecy (Dt 17 19; Acts 8 28-30, etc), or such things as private letters (2 K 5 7; 19 14; Acts 23 34, etc). D. Miall Edwards
REARWARD, rer'word (nOX , 'a^aph, "to gather," Nu 10 25; Josh 6 9 [AVm "'gathering host"]; Isa 52 12). See Army; Dan, Tribe of; War, 3.
REASON, re'z'n, REASONABLE, re'z'n-a-b'l, REASONING, re'z'n-ing (HS;
READY, red'i (T'nTS , mahir) : Occurs twice in the sense of apt, skilful (Ezr 7 6; Ps 45 1). RV gives "ready" for "fit" (Prov 24 27), for "asketh" (Mic 7 3), for "prepared" (Mk 14 15), for "not be negligent" (2 Pet 1 12).
, ydkhah, etc; Xoyos,
logos, 8ta\o-Y£Eo|iai, -i(r|x6s, dialogizomai, -ismos, etc)
"Reason," with related terms, has a diversity of meanings, representing a large number of Heb and Gr words and phrases. In the sense of "cause" or "occasion" it stands in 1 K 9 15 for dabhdr, "a word" (RVm "account"), but in most cases renders prepositional forms as "from," "with," "because of," "for the sake of," etc. As the ground or argument for anything, it is the tr of ta^am (Prov 26 16, RVm "answers discreetly"), of ydkhah, as in Isa 1 IS, "Come now, and let us reason together"
REAIAH, re-a'ya, ri-l'a (IT^S"], r'aydh, "Jeh has seen"; LXX B, 'PaSd, Rhadd, A, 'Peid, Rheid):
(1) The eponym of a Calebite family (1 Ch 4 2). The word "Reaiah" should probably be substituted for "Haroeh" in 1 Ch 2 52, but both forms may be corruptions.
(2) A Reubenite (1 Ch 5 5, AV "Reaia"). See Joel.
(cf Job 13 3; 15 3); in 1 S 12 7, the word is shdphat, RV "that I may plead," etc. The principal Gr words for "reason," "reasoning," are those given above. The Christian believer is to be ready to give a reason (logos) for the hope that is in him
(3) The family name of a company of Nethinim (Ezr 2 47; Neh 7 50=1 Esd 5 31).
REAPING, rep'ing ("l?p, , kaqar; 9£pt|<o, therizo) Reaping in ancient times, as at present, consisted
(1 Pet 3 15 AV). "Reason" as a human faculty or in the abstract sense appears in Apoc in Wisd 17 12 (logismds); Ecclus 37 16, "Let reason [Zo(70s] go before every enterprise," RV "be the beginning of every work." In Acts 18 14, "reason would" is
in either pulling up the grain by the roots or cutting
it with a sickle (see Sickle), and then binding the
lit. katd logon, "according to reason"; in Rom 12 1, for "reasonable [logikds] service," RV has "spiritual," and in m "Gr 'belonging to the reason.' " In RV "reason," etc, occurs much oftener than in AV
(cf Lev 17 11; Dt 28 47; Jgs 5 22; Job 20 2; 23
7, etc; Lk 3 15; 12 17; Acts 17 17, etc). W. L. Walker REBA, re'ba (71"], rebha', "fourth part"; LXX B, 'P6Pe, Rhdbe, A, 'PcpeK, Rhebek): One of the five chieftains of Midian who were slain by the Israel-
Reaping and Binding Siieaves.
stalks into bundles to be carried to the threshing-
ites, under Moses (Nu 31 8; Josh 13 21). Like his comrades, he is termed a "king" in Nu, but a "chief" or "prince" in Josh.
floor. If the Egyp sculptures are true to life, reaping was sometimes divided into two operations, the heads of grain and the stalks being reaped separately. In Pal and Syria both pulling and cutting are still practised, the former when the ground is stony and the spears scarce. Even where the sickle is used, much of the grain comes up by the roots, owing to the toughness of the dried stalks or the dullness of the sickle. The reaper sometimes wears pieces of cane on the fingers of the hand which gathers the grain in order to protect them from injury by the sharp grasses or the sickle. There were definite laws established by the Hebrews in regard to reaping (Lev 19 9; 23 10; 25 5.11; Dt 16 9). Samuel mentions the task of reaping the harvest as one of the requirements which would be made bv the king for whom the people were clamoring (1 S 8 12). Figurative: The certainty of the consequences of good and evil doing were often typified by the sowing and the reaping of harvests (Job 4 8; Prov 22 8; Hos 8 7; 10 12.13; 2 Cor 9 6; Gal 6
REBEKAH, re-bek'a (Hp^n"! , rihhkdh; LXX and NT 'Pep^KKa, Rhebekka, whence the usual Eng. spelling Rebecca) : Daughter of Bethuel and an unknown mother, granddaughter of Nahor and Milcah, sister of Laban, wife of Isaac, mother of Esau and Jacob.
Her name is usually explained from the Arab., SJij.
rabkat, "a tie-rope for animals," or, rather, "a noose" in such a rope : its application would then by figure suggest the beauty ( ?) of her that bears it, by means of which men are snared or boimd. The root is found in Heb only in the noun meaning " hitching-place " or "stall," in the famihar phrase "fatted calf" or "calf of the stall," and in view of the meaning of such names as Rachel and Eglah the name Rebekah might well mean (concrete for abstract, like HTOp"! , rikmdh, n^^H hemddh, etc)
a "tied-up calf" (or "lamb"?), one therefore peculiarly choice and fat.
Rebekah is first mentioned in the genealogy of the descendants of Nahor, brother of Abraham (Gen
7.8). "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy"
2535 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Reading Rechab
etc); also in AV of i\4yxw, elegcho, always in RV rendered "reprove" (1 Tim 5 20; Tit 1 13; 2 15; He 12 5; Rev 3 19). Another word is epipltUo (once, 1 Tim 5 1); "without rebuke" in Phil 2 15 is in RV "without blemish." On the other hand, RV has "rebuke" for several words in AV, as for "reprove" (2 K 19 4; Isa 37 4), "reproof" (Job 26 11; Prov 17 10), "charged" (Mk 10 48). In Isa 2 4; Mic 4 3, ERV has "reprove" for "rebuke," and in m "decide concerning," which is text in ARV. In Ecclus 11 7 we have the wi.se counsel: "Understand first, and then rebuke" (epitimao). W. L. Walker RECAH, re'ka (HDI. , rekhah; B, 'Piixap, Rhe-
22 20^24). In fact, the family is there carried down just so far as is necessary in order to introduce this woman, for whose subsequent appearance and r61e the genealogy is obviously intended as a preparation. AH this branch of the family of Terah had remained in Aram when Abraham and Lot had migrated to Canaan, and it is at Haran, "the city of Nahor," that we first meet Rebekah, when in ch 24 she is made known to Abraham's servant at the well before the gate.
That idyllic narrative of the finding of a bride for Isaac is too familiar to need rehearsal and too simple to require comment. Besides, the substance both of that story and of the whole of Rebekah's career is treated in connection with the sketches of the other actors in the same scenes. Yet we note from the beginning the maiden's decision of character, which appears in every line of the narrative, and prepares the reader to find in subsequent chapters the positive, ambitious and energetic woman that she there shows herself.
chdb, A, 'Ft]4>i., Rhepfui; AV Rechah) : In 1 Ch 4 12 certain persons are described as "the men of Recah," but there is absolutely no information either about the place or its position.
RECEIPT, rS-set', OF CUSTOM. See Cd.stom.
RECEIVER, rS-sev'er: Found in AV (Isa 33
Though the object of her husband's love (Gen 24 67), Rebekah bore him no children for 20 years (25 20.26). Like Sarah, she too was barren, and
18); but RV substitutes "he that weighed the tribute." The Heb is shokel, which means "one who weighs," "a weigher."
it was only after that score of years and after the special intercession of Isaac that God at length granted her twin sons. "The purpose of God according to election," as Paul expresses the matter in Rom 9 11, was the cause of that strange oracle to the wondering, inquiring parents, "The elder shall serve the younger" (Gen 26 23). Whether because of this oracle or for some other reasonj it was that younger son, Jacob, who became the object of his mother's special love (Gen 25 28). She it was who led him into the deception practised upon Isaac (Gen 27 5-17), and she it was who devised the plan for extricating Jacob from the dangerous situation into which that deception had brought him (vs 42-46). When the absence of Jacob from home became essential to his personal safety, Rebekah proposed her own relations in Aram as the goal of his journey, and gave as motive the desira-
RECHAB, re'kab, RECHABITES, rek'a-bits (DD"1 , rekhabh, D''3D") , rekhabhim) : Rechab is the name of two men of some prominence in the OT records:
(1) A Benjamite of the town of Beeroth, son of Rimmon (2 S 4 2) ; he and his brother Baanah were "captains" of the military host of Ish-bosheth. On the death of Abner (2 S 3 30) the two brothers treacherously entered Ish-bosheth's house, when at noon he was resting and helpless, beheaded him, and escaped with the head to David at Hebron
(4 6-8). They expected to receive reward and honor from David for the foul deed, which left him without a rival for the throne of all Israel. But the just and noble-minded king ordered their immediate execution (4 9-12), as in the case of the Amalekite, who asserted that he had killed Saul
bility of Jacob's marrying from among her kindred. Probably she did not realize that in sending her favorite son away on this journey she was sending him away from her forever. Yet such seems to have been the case. Though younger than Isaac, who was still living at an advanced age when Jacob returned to Canaan a quarter of a century later, Rebekah seems to have died during that term. We learn definitely only this, that she was buried in the cave of Machpelah near Hebron (Gen 49 31). Outside of Gen, Rebekah is alluded to in Scripture only in the passage from Rom (9 10-12) already cited. Her significance there is simply that of the wife of Isaac and the mother of two sons
(2 S 1). For some reason the Beerothites left their own town and fled to Gittaim, another town in Benjamin, where they were still living when the
Books of S were written (2 S 4 3).
(2) The more prominent of the men bearing this name was a Kenite (q.v.), a descendant of Hammath (1 Ch 2 55). A part of the Kenite tribe joined the Israelites during the wilderness wanderings (Nu 10 29-32; Jgs 1 16; 4 17), becoming identified with the tribe of Judah, although Heber and Jael his wife were settled in Northern Pal (Jgs 4 17). Rechab was the ancestor or founder of a family, or order, in Israel known as the Rechabites, who at various times were conspicuous in the religious life of the nation. The most notable member of this family was Jehonadab (2 K 10 15 ff.23), or Jonadab, as he is called in Jer 35. Jehonadab was a zealous Jeh-worshipper and took part with Jehu in the extirpation of Baal-worship and the house of Ahab. He set for his descendants a vow of asceticism: that they should drink no wine, nor plant fields or vineyards, nor build nor live in houses throughout their generations (Jer 35 6.7). That must have been a singular feature in Palestinian
of such different character and destiny as Esau and Jacob. And her significance in Gen, apart from this,
lies in her contribution to the family of Abraham of a pure strain from the same eastern stock, thus transmitting to the founders of Israel both an unmixed lineage and that tradition of separateness from Can. and other non'-Heb elements which has proved the greatest factor in the ethnological marvel of the ages, the persistence of the Heb
people. J. Oscar Boyd
REBUKE, rS-buk' : As a vb. "rebuke" is in the OT
life: the simple, nomadic life of this family from generation to generation in the midst of settled agricultural and industrial conditions! They followed this simple life in order to guard against the enervating tendencies of sensualism, and as a covenant of fidelity to Jeh, to whom they wholly devoted themselves when they joined themselves to
the tr of ny3 , gd'-ar and HD^
, yakhah; another word,
rlbh, in Neh 5 7, is in RV tr'' "contended with." "Rebuke" (noun) is most frequently the tr of g'^arah;
also in AV of herpah (Isa 25 8; Jer 15 15, RV "reproach"), and of a few other words signifying
reproach, etc. "Rebuker" {miliar, lit. "correction," "chastisement") in Hos 5 2 has RVm "Heb
Israel. Jeremiah used the Rechabites, who had been driven into Jerus by Nebuchadnezzar's investment of the land, as an object-lesson to covenant-
'rebuke.' " In the NT "to rebuke" is most often the
tr of iTriTi/idu, epitimdo (Mt 8 26; 16 22; 17 18,
Rechah Reconcile THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2536
ent Heb word, but here RV has changed it into "sin-offering," which is in harmony with the general meaning and usage of the Heb.
Ijreaking Judah. The Rechabites, hungry and thirsty, refused wine when it was set before them, because of the command of their ancestor Jonadab
(3) Special passage in 1 S 29 4-—There is yet another Heb word rendered "reconcile" in 1 S 29 4, and inasmuch as this passage in the LXX has as the equivalent of the Heb the Gr word dialldssd, it is of some importance in guiding to the NT meaning. On one occasion when the PhiUs gathered together to battle against Israel, David and his band of men accompanied Achish king of Gath to the muster-place. "The princes of the Phihs" did not at all appreciate the presence of "these Hebrews," and although Achish testified in favor of David's fidelity, they were very indignant, and demanded that David and his men be sent back, "lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself unto his lord ? shoiildit not be with the heads of these men?" Tlie Heb is ra^dh, which means "to be pleased with" or "to accept favorably." and the Hithpael form here used is "to mal^e himself pleasing or acceptable," "to reconcile himself." But assuredly the Philistines' idea of David reconciling himself to Saul was not that he should lay aside his enmity against Saul
(Jer 35 8-10); but Judah refused to heed Jeh's commands or to keep His covenant (vs 14.15).
If the Rechab of Nch 3 14 is tlie same as tlais Kenite, tlien his descendant Malcliijah, who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the "wall of Jerus, may have abandoned the vow of his ancestors, for he was "ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem" (i.e. "house of the vineyard").
Edward Mack RECHAH, re'ka (HDI , rvkhah). See Recah.
RECLINING, re-klin'ing(Jn 13 2.3). See Meals, III; Triclinium.
RECONCILE, rek'on-sll, RECONCILIATION, rek-on-sil-i-a'shun (KaraWao-o-u, katalldsso, KaraX.-
Xa7TJ, katallagt, also the compound form diroKaTaXXao-o-io, apokatnlldsso; once the cognate 8ia\-
and so become friends with him. The enmity was on Saul's side, and the thought of the princes was that David by turning against them in the battle would gratify Saul, and lead him to lay aside his enmity against David.
Xacrcro|iai,, dialldssomai is used in Mt 5 24):
1. The Terms (1) NT Usage (2) OT Usage (3) Special Passage in 1 S 29 4 (4) Usage in the Apocrypha 2. Non-doctrinal Passage—Mt 5 24 3. Doctrinal Passages
(4) Usage in the Apocrypha.—It may be noted that in 2 Mace 5 20, katallage is used evidently of the Godward side :
' And the place which was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty was, at the reconciliation of the great Sovereign, restored again with all glory." The vb. occurs in 2 jvlacc 1 5 when again the Godward side seems intended, though not perhaps so certainly: "May God .... hearken to yoru' supplications, and be reconciled with you,
(1) Eom 5 (2) 2 Cor 5 18-20
(.3) Eph 2 16 (4) Col 1 20-22 LITER.4.TURE
' and in t 33 : " If for rebulce and chastening our living Lord has been angered a little while, yet shall he again be reconciled with his own servants," and 8 29: "They besought the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants." In these two, esp. the last, it is unquestionably the laying aside of the Divine displeasure that is meant.
(1) AT usage.—In the last case, Mt 5 24, the word is not used in a doctrinal sense, though its use is very helpful in considering the
1. The force of the other terms. All the other Terms instances are in Paul's Epp. (Rom 5 10; 1 Cor 7 11; 2 Cor 5 18-20, the vb.; Rom 5 11; 11 15; 2 Cor 5 18.19, the noun; Eph 2 16; Col 1 22, the compound). The word "reconcile" has a double meaning and usage, and the context must in each case determine how it is to be taken. The great doctrine is the reconciliation of God and men, but the question to be decided is whether it is God who is reconciled to men, or men who are reconciled to God, and different schools of theology emphasize one side or the other. The true view embraces both aspects. The word "to reconcile" means literally to exchange, to bring into a changed relationship. Some maintain that it is only a change in the sinner that
Before passing on to look at the great utterances in the Epp., we may now look at the non-doctrinal passage referred to at the beginning. There is, 9 T^nn indeed, another non-doctrinal instance in "• •"'."" 1 Cor 7 11, where the wife who has dedoctrinal parted from her husband is enjoined either Passage— to "remain unmarried, or else be recon-
TVrt fi*94. ciled to her husband." But as it is indeivn o
. ^^ terminate whether the wife or the husband
is the oITending party, and so which is the one to be influenced, the passage does not help us much. But ]NIt 5 24 is a very lUuminating passage. Here as in the passage from 1 S. the word used is diallasso, but
it is practically identified in meaning with katallasso. The injunction is given by Christ to the one who is at variance with his brother, not to complete his offering until first he has been reconciled to his brother. But the whole statement shows that it is not a question of the one who is offering the gift laying aside his enmity against his brother, but the reverse. Christ says, "It therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there remembercst [not that thou hast a grudge against thy brother but] tliat thy brother hath aught against thee" —the brother was the offended one. he is the one to be brought round—"leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gilt." Plainly it means that he should do something to remove his brother's displeasure and so bring about a rcconcihation.
is intended, a laying aside of his enmity, and coming into peaceful relations with God. But that manifestly does not e.xliaust the meaning, nor is it in the great Pauline passages the primary and dominant meaning.
(2) The OT usage does not materially help in the elucidation of the NT terms, for though the word occurs in a number of passages in AV, it is in RV generally changed to "atonement," which more accurately represents the Heb kaphar, which is generally rendered by "atonement," and by hildskomai or exildskomai in the Gr. (In one passage of the NT [He 2 17], t;he phrase "to make reconciliation" represents the Gr hilaskomai, and is better rendered in RV by "to make propitiation.") The making atonement or propitiation is the basis of the reconciliation, the means of its accomplishment, and the fact that the translators of AV sometimes rendered kaphar by "reconcile" shows that they understood reconciliation to have the Godward aspect. Whatever may be said of the nature of the atonement or propitiation in the old dispensation,
(1) Rom 5.—Turning now to Rom 5, how stands the matter? Paul has been speaking of the blessed
results of justification; one of these
3. Doctrinal results is the shedding abroad of the Passages love of God in the heart. Then he dwells upon the manifestation of that love in the cleath of Christ, a love that was displayed to the loveless, and he argues that if in our
sinful and unloving state we were embraced by the love of God, a fortiori that love will not be less now that it has already begun to take effect. If He loved us when we were under His condemnation sufficient-
ly to give His Son to die for our salvation, much more shall His love bestow upon us the blessings secured by that death. "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him" (5 9).
it was something contemplated as appeasing or satisfjdng, or at least in some way affecting God so as to make Him willing, or render it possible for Him, to enter into, or abide in, gracious relations with men. In one passage in the OT where "reconciliation" occurs (2 Ch 29 24) it represents a differ-
(a) The fact of Divine wrath: It is well to note, then, that there is "wrath" on the part of God against sin and sinners. One of the key-thoughts
of the apostle in this cp. is that "the wrath of God
2537 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Rechah Reconcile
man. God is the first mover; He makes the reconciliation as already indicated, and then the fruit of
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (1 18), and the coming day of judgment is "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (2 5). And because of this stern fact, the gospel is a revelation not only of love, but specifically "a righteousness of God" (1 17). And he shows that the essence of the gospel is found in the propitiatory death of the Lord Jesus Christ (3 24.25.26), through whom alone can men who have been "brought under the judgment of God" (3 19) find justification, salvation, deliverance from the wrath of God (4 25; 5 1-6). Of course it is not necessary to add that the wrath of God is not to be thought of as having any unworthy or capricious element in it—it is the settled opposition of His holy nature against sin.
it is imputed to the believing sinner, and the very fact that our receiving the reconciliation, or being brought into a state of reconciliation, follows the being reconciled of ver 10, shows that the other is Divine reconciliation as the basis of the human.
(2) '2 Cor 5 18-20.— {a) The Godward aspect primary: In the same way the great passage in 2 Cor 5 18-20 cannot be understood apart from the conception that there is a reconciliation on the Divine side. There is unquestionably reference to the human side of the matter as well, but, as in Rom, the Godward aspect is primary and dominating: "All things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation." It might be possible to argue from AV that this describes the process going on under gospel influences, men being brought into gracious relations with God, but the aorist of the Gr rightly rendered by RV, "who reconciled us to himself," points back to the historic time when the transaction took place. It cannot be simply the surrender of the sinner to God that is meant, though that comes as a consequence; it is a work that proceeds from God, is accomplished by God, and because of the accomplishment of that work it
(b) Reconciliation, Godward, as well as manward: The apostle proceeds (ver 10): "For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." Now
if, as many maintain, it is only the reconciliation on the manward side that is meant, that the manifested love led to the sinner laying aside his enmity,
it would entirely reverse the apostle's argument. He is not arguing that if we have begun to love God we may reckon upon His doing so and so for us, but because He has done so much, we may expect Him to do more. The verse is parallel to the preceding, and the being reconciled is on the same plane as being justified; the being justified was God's action, and so is the reconciling. Justification delivers from "the wrath of God"; recon-
is possible for a ministry of reconciliation to be intrusted to men. To make this mean the human aspect of the reconciliation, it would be necessary unduly to confine it to the reconciliation of Paul and his fellow-workers, though even then it would be a straining of language, for there is the other historic act described, "and gave unto us the min-
ciliation takes efi'ect upon enemies.
istry of reconciliation." The plain meaning is that through Jesus Christ, God established the basis of agreement, removed the barrier to the sinner's approach to Himself, accomplished the work of propitiation, and, having done so. He intrusts His servants with the ministry of reconciliation, a min-
(c) The meaning of the word "enemies": The word "enemies" is important. By those who take the manward aspect of reconciliation as the only one, it is held that the word must be taken actively—those who hate God. But the passive meaning, "hatred of God," seems far the prefer-
istry which, basing itself upon the great propitiatory, reconciling work of Christ, is directed toward men, seeking to remove their enmity, to influence them in their turn to be reconciled with God. This
able, and is indeed demanded by the context. Paul uses the vb. echlhroi, "enemies," in Rom 11 28,
in antithesis to "beloved" of God, and that is the consistent sense here. The enemies are those who are the objects of the wrath of the previous verse. And when we were thus hated of God, the objects of His just displeasure on account of our sin, "we were
is more clearly set forth in the verse which follows, which in explaining the ministry of reconciliation says: "To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses." Here there can be no question that the historic Incarnation is meant, and the reconciling of the world can be nothing other than the objective work of atonement culminating in the cross. And in that transaction there can be no thought of the sinner laying aside his hostility to God; it is God in Christ so dealing with sin that the doom lying upon the guilty is canceled, the wrath is averted, propitiation is made.
reconciled to God by the death of his Son." God
laid aside His enmity, and in the propitiatory death
of Christ showed Himself willing to receive us into His favor.
(d) The manward side: By this propitiation,
therefore, the barrier was removed, and, God having assumed a gracious attitude toward the sinner, it
is possible for the sinner now, influenced by His
love, to come into a friendly relationship with God. And so in the second phrase, the two meanings, the Godward and the manward, may coalesce: "being
(6) The manward side also prominent: God, in a word, enters into gracious relations with a world of sinners, becomes reconciled to man. This being done, gracious influences can be brought to bear upon man, the chief of which is the consideration of this stupendous fact of grace, that God has in Christ dealt with the question of sin. This is the substance of the "word of reconciliation" which is preached by the apostle. So he continues, "We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us : we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God." Here is the human side. The great matter now is to get the sinner to lay aside his enmity, to respond to the gracious overtm-es of the gospel, to come into harmony with God. ]5ut tliat is only possible because the reconciliation in the Godward aspect has already been accomjilished. If the first recon-
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." The
reconciliation becomes mutual, for there is no kmd
of doubt that sinners are enemies to God in the
active sense, and require to lay aside their hostility, and so be reconciled to Him. But the first step is
with God, and the reconciliation which took place
in the death of His Son could only be the Godward
reconciliation, since at that time men were still
uninfluenced by His love. But, perhaps, just
because that first reconciliation is brought about
through the Divine love which provides the pro-
pitiation, the apostle avoids saying "God is recon-
ciled," but uses the more indirect forrn of speech. The manward aspect is emphasized in the next
verse, although the Godward is not lost sight of: "We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received the
ciliation, "the reconciliation of the world unto himself," had been the laying aside of human
reconciliation" (5 11). It is therefore something
that comes from God and does not proceed from
Record Red Sea THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2538
enmity, there could now be no point in the exhortation, "Be ye reconciled to God."
health" or "become well." In Jth 14 7 it means "restore to consciousness." In the former sense it
(3) Eph 2 16.—The two passages where the compound word occurs are in complete harmony with this interpretation. Eph 2 16: "And might reconcile them both [Jew and Gentile] in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby," is the outcome of Christ "making peace"
is in the OT the tr of 553, na^al, "to snatch away"
(Jgs 11 26; 1 S 30 8.22; in Hos 2 9, RV "pluck away"); also of 2W , shubh (KalandHiph. 1 S 30 19 AV; 2 S 8 3, etc), and of various other words in single instances. In 2 K 6 3.6.7.11, "to restore to health" is SOS, 'dsaph. In its intransitive sense "recover"is chiefly the tr of H^n , hayah, "to live," "revive" (2 K 1 2, etc; Isa 38 9.21). "Recover" appears only twice in AV of the NT; Mk 16 18
(2 15), and the reconciling work is effected through the cross, reconciliation both Godward and manward, and, having made peace, it is possible for Christ to come and preach peace to them that are far off—far off even though the reconciling work of the cross has been accomplished.
(for kalos hexousin) and 2 Tim 2 26 (from anantpho, RVm "Gr 'return to soberness' ") ; but RV has "recover" for "do well" in Jn 11 12 {sothiseta.i; m "Gr 'be saved'"). "Recovering" (of sight) (andblepsis) occurs in Lk 4 18. W. L. Walker
(4) Col 1 20-22.-^0 in Col 1 20, "And through him to reconcile aU things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens." Here the thought of the apostle trembles away into infinity, and there seems a parallel to the thought of He 9 23, that according to the typical teaching even "the things in the heavens" in some way stood in need of cleansing. May it be that the work of Christ in some sense affected the angelic intelligence, making it possible for harmony to be restored between redeemed sinners and the perfect creation of God? In any case, the reconciling all things unto Himself is not the laying aside of the creaturely hostility, but the determining of the Divine attitude. Then comes the specific reference to the human side, "And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death"; there, as in Rom, the two phases coalescing, God appearing gracious through the work of Christ, sinners coming into gracious relation with Him. "Having made peace through the blood of his cross," the ground of peace has been established. Christ has done something by His death which makes it possible to offer peace to men. God has laid aside His holy opposition to the sinner, and shows Himself willing to bring men into peace with Himself. He has found satisfaction in that great work of His Son, has been reconciled, and now calls upon men to be reconciled to Him—to receive the reconciliation. See Atonement; Propitiation; Whath.
RED. See Colors, (10).
RED DRAGON. See Revelation of John.
RED HEIFER. See Heifer, Red.
RED HORSE. See Horse, Red; Revelation OF John.
RED SEA (aiD"D^, yam-^uph [Ex 10 19 and
often], but in many passages it is simply D^n , haydm, "the sea" ; LXX with 2 or 3 exceptions renders
it by T) €pv9pd 6d\a(r<ra, he eruthrd thdlassa, "the Red Sea'
' ; Lat geographers Mare Rubrum) :
1. Name 2. Peculiarities 3. OT Eeferences 4. Passage of, by Israelites Objections (1) Steep Banks of the Channel
(2) Walls Formed by the Water (3) The East Winds (4) The Miraculous Set Aside Literature
The Heb name yam-suph has given rise to much controversy. Yam is the 'general word for sea, and when standing alone may refer to the Mediter-
1 NflTtna ranean, the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, or the J., i^ame gg^ Qf Gahlee. In several places it designates the river Nile or Euphrates. §uph means a rush or seaweed such as abounds in the lower portions of the Nile and the upper portions of the Red Sea. It was in the suph on the brink of the river that the ark of Moses was hidden (Ex 2 3.5). But as this word does not in itself mean red, and as that is not the color of the bulrush, authorities are much divided as to the reason for this designation. Some have supposed that it was called red from the appearance of tlie mountains on the western coast, others from the red color given to the water by the presence of zoophytes, or red coral, or some sjjecies of seaweed. Others still, with considerable probability, suppose that the name originated in the red or copper color of the inhabitants of the bordering Arabian peninsula. But the name yamsuph, though applied to the whole sea, was esp. used with reference to the northern part, which is alone mentioned in the Bible, and to the two gulfs (Suez and Akabah) which border the Sinaitic Peninsula, esp. the Gulf of Suez.
Literature.—See the works on NT Theology of Weiss, Schmid, Stevens, etc; Denney. Death of Christ; arts, on "Reconciliation" in HDB, DCG, etc.
Akchibald M'Caig RECORD, rek'ord, rek'ord: (1) The Eng. word, where it occurs in the OT and the NT in the sense of testimony, is tr'' in RV "witness" (Dt 30 19; 31 28; Jn 1 19.32; 8 13.14; Rom 10 2, etc). See Witness. But in Job 16 19 for AV "my record," RV has "he that voucheth for me." (2) In Ezr 4 15; 6 2 [dokhran, dikhron), and Est 6 1 (zikkdron)
the word denotes Pers state chronicles; ct 1 Mace 14 23; 2 Mace 2 1.
The Red Sea has a length of 1,350 miles and an extreme breadth of 205 miles. It is remarkable that while it has no rivers flowing 2. Pecuinto it and the evaporation from its liarities surface is enormous, it is not much Salter than the ocean, from which it
RECORDER, r5-k6r'der (I^ST'a , mazkir; RVm "chronicler"): A high functionary in the court of the Jewish kings, part of whose duty seems to have been to chronicle the events of the reign, but who also occupied a position corresponding with that of the modern vizier (2 S 8 16; 20 24; 1 Ch 18 15, etc). His high rank is shown by the facts that, with other officers, he represented Hezekiah in speaking with Rabshakeh (2 K 18 18), and, in the reign of Josiah, superintended the repairs of the temple (2 Ch 34 8).
is inferred that there must be a constant influx of water from the Indian Ocean through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, together with an outflow of the more saline water beneath the surface. The deepest portion measures 1,200 fathoms. Owing to the lower land levels which prevailed in recent geological times, the Gulf of Suez formerly extended across the lowland which separates it from the Bitter Lakes, a distance of 15 or 20 miles now traversed by the Suez Canal, which encountered no elevation more than 30 ft. above tide. In early
RECOVER, r5-kuv'er: "Recover" has (1) the transitive meaning of "to retake" or "regain" (anything); and (2) the intransitive sense of "to regain
2539 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Record Red Sea
historic times the Gulf ended at Ismailia at the head of Lake Timsah. North of this the land rises to a height of more than 50 ft. and for a long time furnished a road leading from Africa into Asia. At a somewhat
Until in recent times it was discovered that the Gulf of Suez formerly extended 30 miles northward
to the site of the present Ismailia and
4. Passage the ancientPithom, the scene of the Bib.
_ earlier geological (middle and late Tertiary) period the depression of the land was such that this bridge was also submerged, so that the Red Sea and the Mediterranean were connected by a broad expanse of water which overflowed the whole surface of Lower Egypt.
of, by miracle was placed at Suez, the present Israelites head of the Gulf. But there is at Suez no extent of shoal water sufficient for the east wind mentioned in Scripture (Ex 14 21) to have opened a passage-way sufficiently wide to have permitted the host to have crossed over in a single night. The bar leading from Suez across, which is now sometimes forded, is too insignificant to have furnished a passage-way as Robinson supposed {BR^, I, 56-.59). Besides, if the children of Israel were S. of the Bitter Lakes when there was no extension of the Gulf N. of its present limits, (here would have been no need of a miracle to open the water, since there was abundant room for both them and Pharaoh's army to have gone around the northern end of the Gulf to reach the eastern shore, while S. of Suez the water is too deep for the wind anywhere to have opened a passage-way. But with an extension of the waters of the Gulf to the Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah, rendered probable by the facts cited in the previous paragraph, the narrative at once so perfectly accords with the physical conditions involved as to become not only easily credible, but self-evidencing.
The evidence o( the more recent depression of the land surface in all Lower Egypt is unmistakable. Raised beaches containing shells and corals still living in the Red Sea are found at various levels up to more than 200 ft. above tide. One of the most interesting of these is to be seen near the summit of the "Crow's Nest," a half-mile S. of the great pyramids, where, near the summit of the eminence, and approximately 200 ft. above tide, on a level with the base of the pyramids, there is a clearly defined recent sea beach composed of water-worn pebbles from 1 in. to 1 or 2 ft. in diameter, the interstices of which are fUled with small shells loosely cemented together. These are identified as belonging to a variable form, Alectryonia cucullata Born, which lives at the present time in the Red Sea. On the opposite side of the river, on the Mokattam Hills S. of Cairo, at an elevation of 220 ft. above tide, similar deposits are_ found containing numerous shells of recent date, while the rock face is penetrated by numerous borings of hthodomus moUusks (Pholades rugosa Broc). Other evidences of the recent general depression of the land in this region come from various places on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. According to Lartet at Ramleh, near Jaffa, a recent beach occurs more than 200 ft. above sea-level containing many shells of Pectunculus violascens Lamk, which is at the present time the most abundant moUusk on the shore of the adjoining Mediterranean. A similar beach has been described by Dr. Post at Lattakia, about 30 miles N. of Beirflt; while others, according to Hull, occur upon the island of Cyprus. Further evidence of this depression is also seen in the fact that the isthmus between Suez and the Bitter Lakes is covered "With recent deposits of Nile mud, holding modern Red Sea shells, showing that, at no very distant date, there was an overflow of the Nile through an eastern branch into this sUghtly depressed level. The Une of this branch of the Nile overflow was in early times used for a canal, which has recently been opened to furnish fresh water to Suez, and the depression is followed by the railroad. According to Dawson, large surfaces of the desert N. of Suez, which are now above sealevel, contain buried In the sand "recent marine shells in such a state of preservation that not many centuries may have elapsed since they were in the bottom of the sea"
The children of Israel were at Rameses (Ex 12 37) in the land of Goshen, a place which has not been certainly identified, but could not have been far from the modern Zagazig at the head of the Fresh Water Canal leading from the Nile to the Bitter Lakes. One day's journey eastward along W&dy Tumilat, watered by this canal, brought them to Succoth, a station probably identical with Thuket, close upon the border line separating Egypt from Asia. Through the discoveries of Naville in 1883 this has been identified as Pithom. one of the store-cities built by Pharaoh during the period of Heb oppression
(Ex 1 11). Here Naville uncovered vast store pits for holding grain built during the reign of Rameses II and constructed according to the description given in Ex 1
the lower portions of brick made with straw, the middle with stubble, and the top of simple clay without even stubble to hold the brick together (see Naville, "The Store-City Pithom and the Route of the Exodus." Egyp ExploTalion Fund, 1885; M. G. Kyle, "A Reexamination of Naville's Works." Records of the Past, VIII, 1901, 304-7). The next day's journey brought them to Etham on the "edge of the wilderness" (Ex 13 20; Nu 33 6), probably in the vicinity of the modern Ismailia at the head of Lake Timsah. From this point the natural road to Pal would have been along the caravan route on the neck of land referred to above as now about 50 ft. above sea-level. Etham was about 30 miles S.E. of Zoan or Tanis, the headquarters at that time of Pharaoh, from which he was watching the movements of the host. If they should go on the direct road to Pal, his army could easily execute a flank movement and intercept them in the desert of Etham. But by Divine command (Ex 14 2) Moses turned southward on the west side of the extension of the Red Sea and camped "before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baalzephon" (Ex 14 2; Nu 33 5-7). At this change of course Pharaoh was dehghted, seeing that the children of Israel were "entangled in the land" and "the wilderness" had "shut them in." Instead of issuing a flank movement upon them, Pharaoh's army now followed them in the rear and "overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth," the location of which is essential to a proper understanding of the narrative which follows.
{Egypt and Syria, 67).
The Red Sea is connected with the children of
Israel chiefly through the crossing of it recorded in Ex
(see 4, below) ; but there are a few refer-
3. OT ences to it in later times. Solomon is References said (1 K 9 26) to have built a navy at "Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom." This is at the head of the Gulf of Aljabah, the eastern branch of the Red Sea. Here his ships were manned by Hiram king of Tyre with "shipmen that had knowledge of the sea" (ver 27). And (ver 28) "they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence
gold." But Eloth was evidently lost to Israel when Edom successfully revolted in the time of Joram
(2 K 8 20). For a short time, however, it was
restored to Judah by Amaziah (2 K 14 22); but
In ver 2 Pi-hahiroth is said to be "between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon." Now though Migdol originally meant "watch-tower," it is hardly supposable that this can be its meaning here, otherwise the children of Israel would have been moving directly toward a fortified place. Most probably, therefore, Migdol was the tower-like mountain peak marking the northeast corner of Jebel Geneffeh, which runs parallel with the Bitter Lakes, only a short distance from their western border. Baal-zephon may equally well be some of the mountain peaks on the border of the Wilderness of Paran opposite Cheloof, midway between the Bitter Lakes and Suez. In the clear atmosphere of the region this line of mountains is distinctly visible throughout the whole distance from Ismailia to Suez. There would seem to be no objection to this supposition, since all authorities are in disagreement concerning its location. From the significance of the name it would seem to be the seat of some form of Baal worship, naturally a mountain. Brugsch would identify it with Mt. Cassius on the northern shore of Egypt. Naville (see Murray's Illustrated Bible Diet., "Red Sea, Passage of") would connect it with the hill
finally, during the reign of Ahaz, the Syrians, or more probably, according to another reading, the Edomites, recovered the place and permanently drove the Jews away. But in 1 K 22 48 Jehoshaphat is said to have "made ships of Tarshish to go
to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber"; while in 2 Ch 20 36 .Jehoshaphat is said to have joined with Ahaziah
"to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made
the ships in Ezion-geber."
Unless there is some textual confusion here, "ships
of Tarshish" is simply the name of the style of the ship,
like "East Indiaman," and Tarshish in Ch may refer to some place in the East Indies. This is the more likely, since Solomon's " navy " that went to Tarshish once every
3 years came "bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks," which could hardly have come from any other place than India. See Ships and Boats, II, 1, (2).
Red Sea Redeemer THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2540
Several objections to this theory, however, have been urged which should not pass without notice.
called TussHm E. of Lake Timsah, where there is a shrine at the present day visited every year about July 14 by thousands of pilgrims to celebrate a religious festival: but, as this is a ^Mohammedan festival, there seems no reason to connect it with any sanctuary of the Canaanites. Dawson favors the general location which we have assigned to Pi-hahiroth, but would place it beside the narrow southern portion of the Bitter Lakes.
(1) Some have said that the children of Israel would have found an insuperable obstacle to their advance in the steep banks on either side of the supposed channel. But there were no steep banks
to be encountered. A gentle sag leads down on one side to the center of the depression and a correspondingly gentle rise leads up on the other.
Somewhere in this vicinity would be a most natural place for the children of Israel to halt, and there is no difficulty, such as Naville supposes, to their passing between Jebel Genejfeh and the Bitter Lakes; for the mountain does not come abruptly to the lake, but leaves ample space for the passage
(2) Much has also been made of the statement (Ex 14 22) that "the waters were a wall unto them on
their right hand, and on their left"; but when we consider the rhetorical use of this word "wall" it presents no difficulty. In Prov 18 11 we are told that "The rich man's wealth is his_ strong city, And as a high wall in his onm imagination." In Isa 26 1 we are told that God will appoint salvation
of a caravan, while the mountain on one side and the lake on the other would protect them from a flank movement by Pharaoh and limit his army to harassing the rear of the Israelitish host. Protected thus, the Israelites found a wide plain over which they could spread their camp, and if we suppose them to be as far S. as Cheloof, every condition would be found to suit the narrative which follows. Moses was told by the Lord that
"for walls and bulwarks." Again Nahum (3 8) says of Egypt that her "rampart was the sea [m "the Nile"), and her wall was of the sea," The water upon either side of the opening served the purpose of a wall for protection. There was no chance for Pharaoh to intercept them by a flank movement. Nor is there need of paying further attention to the poetical expressions in the Song of Moses, where among other things it is said "that the deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea," and that the "earth [instead of the water] swallowed them." (3) Again it is objected that an east wind does not come from the right direction to produce the desired result. On the other hand it is an east wind only which could have freed the channel from water. A north wind would have blown the water from the Bitter Lakes southward, and owing to the quantity of water impounded would have increased the depth of the water in the narrow passage from the southern end of Suez. An east wind, however, would have pressed the water out from the channel both ways, and from the contour of the shore lines would be the only wind that could have done so.
if he would order the children of Israel to go forward, the sea would be divided and the children of Israel could cross over on dry ground. And when, in compliance with the Divine command, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, "Jeh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind
all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen" (Ex 14 21-30). But when the children of Israel were safely on the other side the waters returned and overwhelmed the entire host of Pharaoh. In the Song of Moses which follows, describing the event, it is said that the waters were piled up by the "blast of thy [God's] nostrils" (Ex 15 8), and again, ver 10, "Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them." Thus 3 t the wind is mentioned as the means employed by God in opening the water. The competency of the wind temporarily to remove the water from the passage connecting the Gulf of Suez with the Bitter Lakes, provided it was only a few feet deep, is amply proved by facts of recent observation. Major General Tullock of the British army (Proc. Victoria Inst., XXVIII, 267-SO) reports having witnessed the driving off of the water from Lake Menzaleh by the wind to such an extent as to lower the level 6 ft., thus leaving small vessels over the shallow water stranded for a while in the muddy bottom. According to the report of the Suez Canal Co., the difference between the highest and the lowest water at Suez is 10 ft. 7 in,, all of which must be due to the effect of the wind, since the tides do not affect the Red Sea, The power of the wind to affect water levels is strikingly witnessed upon Lake Erie in the United States, where according to the report of the Deep A^'aterways Commission for 1896 (16.5, 168) it appears that strong wind from the S,W. sometimes lowers the water at Toledo, Ohio, on the western end of the lake to the extent of more than 7 ft., at the same time causing it to rise at Buffalo at the eastern end a similar amount; while a change in the wind during the passage of a single storm reverses the effect, thus sometimes producing a change of level at either end of the lake of 14 ft, in the course of a single day. It would require far less than a tornado to lower the water at Cheloof sufficiently to lay bare the shallow channel which we have supposed at that time to separate Egvpt from the Sinaitic Peninsula. See Exodus, The.
(4) Again, it is objected that this explanation destroys the miraculous character of the event. But it should be noted that little is said in the narrative about the miraculous. On the other hand, it is a straightforward statement of events, leaving their miraculous character to be inferred from their nature. On the explanation we have given the transaction it is what Robinson felicitously
calls a mediate miracle, that is, a miracle in which the hand of God is seen in the use of natural forces which it would be impossible for man to command.
If anyone should say that tliis was a mere coincidence, that the east wind blew at the precise time that Moses reached the place of crossing, the answer is that such a coincidence could have been brought about only by supernatural agency. There was at that time no weather bureau to foretell the approach of a storm. There are no tides on the Red Sea with regular ebb and flow. It was by a miracle of prophecy that Moses was emboldened to get his host into position to avail themselves of the temporary opportunity at exactly the right time. As to the relation of the Divine agency to the event, speculation is useless. The opening of the sea may have been a foreordained event in the course of Nature which God only foreknew, in which case the direct Divine agency was limited to those influences upon the human actors that led them to place themselves where they could take advantage of the natural opportunity. Or, there is no a priori difficulty in supposing that the east wind was directly aroused for this occasion; for man himself produces disturbances among the forces of Nature that are as far-reaching in their extent as would be a storm produced by direct Divine agency. But in this case the disturbance is at once seen to be beyond the powers of human agency to produce.