Part 73
(1) The independence of S. was lost when the kings of the XVIIIth and XlXth Dynasties of Egypt added Pal and Syria to their
2. Hisdominions (1.580-1205 BC). The kings torical of S. were allowed to remain on the throne as long as they paid tribute, and perhaps still exercised authority over the towns that had before been subject to them. When the power of Egypt declined under Amenhotep IV (1375-13.58), the king of S. seems to have thrown off the yoke, as appears from the Am Tab. Ribaddi of Gebal writes to the king of Egypt that Zimrida, king of S., had joined the enemy, but Zimrida himself claims, in the letters he wrote, to be loyal, declaring that the town belonging to him had been taken by theKhabiri (Tab. 147). S., with the other towns, eventually became independent of Egypt, and she retained the hegemony of the southern towns and perhaps added Dor, claimed by the Philis, to her dominion. This may have been the reason for the war that took place about the middle of the 12th cent. BC, in which the Philis took and plundered
S., whose inhabitants fled to Tyre and gave the latter a great impetus. S., however, recovered from the disaster and became powerful again. The Book of Jgs claims that Israel was oppressed by S. (10 12), but it is probable S. stands here for Phoenicia in general, as being the chief town.
SIDES, Bidz (HD-J^, yavkhah, "thigh," "flank"): RV substitutes "innermost parts" for AV "sides"
(2) S. submitted to the Assyr kings as did the Phoen cities generally, but revolted against Sennacherib and again under Esar-haddon. The latter destroyed a large part of the city and carried off most of the inhabitants, replacing them by captives from Babylon and Elam, and renamed it Ir-Esar-haddon ("City of Esar-haddon"). The settlers readily mingled with the Phoenicians, and S. rose to power again when Assyria fell, was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar at the time of his siege of Jerus and Tyre, and was taken, having lost about half of its inhabitants by plague. The fall of Babylon gave another short period of independence, but the Persians gained control without difficulty, and S. was prominent in the Pers period as the leading naval power among the Phoenicians who aided their suzerain in his attacks upon Greece. In 351 BC, S. rebelled under Tabnit II (Tennes), and called in the aid of Gr mercenaries to the number of 10,000; but Ochus, the Pers king, marched against him with a force of 300,000 infantry and 30,000 horse, which so frightened Tabnit that he betrayed the city to save his own Hfe. But the citizens, learning of the treachery, first burned their fleet and then their houses, perishing with their wives and children rather than fall into the hands of Ochus, who butchered all whom he seized, Tabnit among thern. It is said that 40,000 perished in the flames. A list of the kings of S. in the Pers period has been recovered from the inscriptions and the coins, but the dates of their reigns are not accurately known. The dynasty of the known kings begins with Esmunazar I, followed by Tabnit I, Amastoreth; Esmunazar II, Strato I (Bodastart), Tabnit II (Tennes) and Strato II. Inscriptions from the temple of Esmun recently discovered give the name of a Bodastart and a son Yatoimielik, but whether the first is one of the Stratos above mentioned or a third is uncertain; also whether the son ever reigned or not. As Bodastart calls himself the grandson of Esmun-
in Jon 1 5; cf 1 S 24 3.
SIDOW, sl'don (p"'? , fid/ion): The eldest son
of Canaan (Gen 10 15).
SIDON, si'dou ("i""'?, sidhon; SiSuv, SidSn; AV Sidon and Zidon ; RV SIDON only) : One of the oldest Phoen cities, situated on a
1. Location narrow plain between the range of and DisLebanon and the sea, in lat. 33° 34'
tinction nearly. The plain is well watered and
fertile, about 10 miles long, extending from a little N. of Sarepta to the Bostrenus ( Nahr
el-'Auly). The ancient city was situated near the northern end of the plain, surrounded with a strong
wall. It possessed two harbors^ the northern one about 500 yds. long by 200 wide, well protected by Uttle islets and a breakwater, and a southern about 600 by 400 yds., surrounded on three sides by
land, but open to the W., and thus exposed in bad
weather. The date of the founding of the city is unknown, but we find it mentioned in the Am Tab
in the 14th cent. BC, and in Gen 10 19 it is the
chief city of the Canaanites, and Joshua (Josh 11 8)
calls it Great S. It led all the Phoen cities in its
early development of maritime affairs, its sailors
being the first to launch out into the open sea out of
sight of land and to sail by night, guiding themselves by the stars. They were the first to come into con-
tact with the Greeks and we find the mention of them several times in Homer, while other Phoen towns are not noticed. S. became early dis-
tinguished for its manufactures and the skill of its
artisans, such as beautiful metal-work in silver and
bronze and textile fabrics embroidered and dyed
with the famous purple dye which became known
as Tyrian, but which was earher produced at b.
Notices of these choice articles are found in Homer,
Sidonians Siege THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2786
azar, he is probably Strato I who reigned about 374363 BC, and hence liis grandfather, Esmunazar I, must have reigned in 400 BC or earher. Strato II was on the throne when Alexander took possession of Phoenicia and made no resistance to him, and even aided him in the siege of Tyre, which shows that S.
with its strong^ fortified wall, was indeed formally invested—it "was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in" (Josh 6 1)—but it fell into their hands without a siege. Other cities seem to have yielded after pitched battles, or to have been taken by assault. Many of the Canaanite fortresses, like Gezer
(2 S 5 25; Josh 16 10), Taanach and Megiddo (Jgs 1 27), remained unreduced. Jerus was captured by the men of Judah (Jgs 1 8), but the fort of Jcbus remained unoonquered till the time of David (2 S 5 6). In the days of the monarchy more is heard of siege operations. At the siege of Rabbath-Ammon Joab seems to have deprived the city
2. In the of its water-supply and rendered it Monarchy untenable (2 S 11 1; 12 27). At Abel of Beth-maacah siege operations are described in which Joab distinguished himself
Coin of Sidon.
(2 S 20 15). David and Solomon, and, after the disruption of the kingdom, Rehoboam and Jeroboam built fortresses which ere long became the scene of siege operations. The war between Judah and Israel in the daj^s of Nadab, Baasha, and Elah was, for the most part, a war of sieges. It was while besieging Gibbethon that Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, was slain by Baasha (1 K 15 27), and, 27 years after, while the army of Israel was still investing the same place, the soldiery chose their commander Omri to be king over Israel (1 K 16 16). From the Egyptians, the Sja-ians, the Assyrians, and the Chaldaeans, with whom they came into relations in later times as allies or as enemies, the people of the Southern and of the Northern Kingdoms learned much regarding the art, both of attack and of defence of fortified places.
had recovered after the terrible disaster it suffered in the time of Ochus. It perhaps looked upon the advance of Alexander with content as its avenger. The destruction of Tyre increased the importance of S., and after the death of Alexander it became attached to the kingdom of the Ptolemies and remained so until the victory of Antiochus III over Scopas (198 BC), when it passed to theSeleucidsand from them to the Romans, who granted it a degree of autonomy with native magistrates and a council, and it was allowed to coin money in bronze.
S. comes into view several times in the NT; first when Christ passed into the borders of Tyre and S.
and healed the daughter of the Syro-
3. NT Phoenician woman (Mk 7 24-30); also Mention when Herod Agrippa I received a delegation from Tyre and S. at Caesarea (Acts 12 20), where it appears to have been outside his jurisdiction. St. Paul, on his way to Rome, was permitted to visit some friends at S. (Acts 27 3). See also Mt 11 21 f and Mk 3 8.
It was an instruction of the Deuteronomic Law that before a city Avas invested for a long siege, it should be summoned to capitulate 3. Pre- (Dt 20 10; cf 2 S 20 18; 2 K 18 liminaries 17 ff). If the offer of peace be to Siege declined, then the siege is to be proceeded with, and if the city be captured, all the male population is to be put to death, and the women and children reserved as a prey for the captors. To this humane reservation the cities of the Canaanites were to be an exception: their inhabitants were to be wholly exterminated (Dt 20 16-18). The same law prescribed that there should be no unnecessary destruction of fruit trees in tlie prosecution of a long siege. Trees not yielding fruit for human sustenance might be cut down: "And thou shalt build bulwarks [mdcur, "siegeworks"] against the city tli;it raaketh war with thee, until it fall" (Dt 20 19.20). This instruction to have regard to the fruit trees around a hostile city seems to have been more honored in the breach than in the observance, even in Israel. When the allied kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom were invading IVIoab and had instruction to "smite every fortified city," the prophet Elislia Ijade them also "fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones" (2 K 3 19.25). When the assault of Jerus by tlie Chaldaeans was imminent. Jeh commanded the cutting down of tlie trees (Jer 6 6). In Arabian w arfare. we are told, the destruction of the enemy's palm groves was a favorite exploit (Robertson Smith, OTJC, 369), and the Assyrians when they captured a city had no compunction in destroying its plantations (Inscription of ShaLmaneser II on Black Obelisk).
It was noted for its school of philosophy under Augustus and Tiberius, its inhabitants being largely Greek; and when Berytus was destroyed by an earthquake in .551, its great law school was removed to S. It was noti of great importance during the Crusades, being far surpassed by Acre, and in modern times it is a small town of some 15,000.
LiTER.iTURE.—See Phoenicia.
H. Porter SIDONIANS, sl-do'ni-anz : Natives or inhabitants of Sidon (Dt 3 9; Josh 13 4.6; Jgs 3 3; 1 K 5 6).
SIEGE, sej ("112:12, ma^or [Dt 28 52.53; 1 K 15 27; 2 K 25 2; 'isa 29 3; Ezk 4 2]; "to be besieged," "to suffer siege," 6a-;nafor fco' [Dt 20 19; 2 K 24 10; 25 2]):
1. In Early Hebrew History 2. In the Monarcliy 3. Preliminaries to Siege 4. Siege Operations: Attack (1) Investment of City (2) Line of Circumvallation (3) INXound. or Eartiiworks (4) Battering-Rams
(.5) Storming of Walls and Rushing of Breach 5. Siege Operations: Defence 6. Raising of Siege 7. Horrors of Siege and Capture 8. Siege in the NT Literature
From passages in the Prophets, upon which much light has been thrown by the ancient monuments of
Assyria and Chaldaea, we gain a very 4. Siege clear idea of the siege works directed Operations: against a city by Assyr or Chaldaean Attack invaders. The siege of Lachish (2 K 18 13.14; Isa 36 1.2) by Sennacherib
In early Heb history, siege operations are not described and can have been little known. Although the Israelites had acquired a certain
1. In Early degree of military discipline in the Hebrew wilderness, when they entered Canaan History they had no e.xperience of the operations of a siege and were without the engines of war necessary for the purpose. Jericho,
is the subject of a series of magnificent reliefs from the mound of Koyunjik (Layard, Monuments of Nineveh, II, plates 20, 21, 22). The downfall of Nineveh as predicted in Nahum's prophecy lets
2787 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Sidonians Siege
Assyr monuments they are found joined to movable towers holding warriors and armed men, or, in other cases, joined to a stationary tower constructed on the spot. When the men who are detailed to work the ram get it into play, with its heavy beams of planks fastened together and the great mass of
us see the siege operations proceeding with striliing reaUsm (see Der Utdergaug Ninivehs by A. Jeremias and Colonel Billerbeck). Nowhere, however, are the incidents of a siege—the gathering of hostile forces, the slaughter of peaceful inhabitants in the country around, the raising of siegeworks, the setting of engines of war against the walls, the demolition of the towers, the breach in the principal waU, the rush of men and the clatter of horses' hoofs through the streets, the slaughter, the pillage, the destruction of walls and houses—more fully and faithfully recorded than by Ezekiel when predicting the capture of Tyre by Nebuchadrezzar (Ezk 26 7-12). The siege of Tyre lasted 13 years, and Ezekiel tells how every head was made bald and every shoulder worn by the hard service of the besiegers (Ezk 29 18). There were various ways in which an invading army might deal with a fortified city so as to secure its possession. Terms might be offered to secure a capitulation (1 K 20 1 ff; 2 K 18 141?). An attempt might be made to reduce the city by starvation (2 K 6 24ff; 2 K 17 5 ff). The city might be invested and captured by assault and storm, as Lachish was by Sennacherib
(2 K 18 13; 19 8; see Layard, op cit., II, plates 20-24). The chief operations of the besiegers were as follows; (1) There wa,s the investment oi the city by the besieging army. It was sometimes necessary to establish a fortified camp, like that of Sennacherib at Lachish to guard against sorties by the defenders. Of the siege of Jerus we read that Nebuchadrezzar came, "he and aU his army, against Jerus, and encamped against it" (Jer 52 4; cf 2 K 26 1). From the commencement of the siege, slingers and archers were posted where they could keep the defenders engaged; and it is to this that reference is made when Jeremiah says: "Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her round about; let none thereof escape" (Jer 50 29).
Battering-Ram.
metal forming its head, they can hardly fail to make an impression, and gradually, by the constantly repeated shocks, a breach is opened and the besiegers are able to rush in and bear down the defenders. It is to the shelter furnished by these towers that the prophet Nahum refers (2 5) when he says,"The mantelet is prepared," and that Isaiah points when he declares that the king of Assyria "shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield [maghen], nor cast up a mound against it" (Isa 37 33). Ezekiel has the same figure when, describing the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadrezzar, he declares that he shall "cast up a mound" against her, and "raise up the buckler," the buckler (ginnah) being like the Rom testudo, or roof of shields, under cover of which the besiegers carried on operations (Ezk 26 8; Colonel Billerbeck [op. cit., 178] is doubtful whether this device was known to the Assyrians). Under the shelter of their movable towers the besiegers could push forward mines, an operation known as part of siegecraft from a high antiquity
(2) There was next the drawing of a line of circumvallation (ddyek) with detached forts round about the walls. These forts were towers manned by archers, or they were used as stations from which
to discharge missiles (Jer 52 4; Ezk 17 17). In this connection the word "munition" in AV and ERV (moQOT) in Nah 1 1 disappears in ARV and is replaced by "fortress."
(3) Following upon this was the mound (^ol'lah),
(see 2 S 20 15, where ARVm and ERVm give "undermined" as an alternative to "battered"; tunneling was well known in antiquity, as the Siloam tunnel shows).
or earthworks, built up to the height of the walls,
so as to command the streets of the city, and strike
terror into the besieged. From the mound thus
erected the besiegers were able to batter the upper and weaker part of the city wall (2 S 20 15; Isa 37 33; Jer 6 6; Ezk 4 2; Dnl 11 1.5; Lam 4 18).
(5) The culminating operation would be the storming of the walls, the rushing of the breach. Scaling-ladders were employed to cross the encircling trench or ditch (Prov 21 22) ; and Joel in his powerful description of the army of locusts which had devastated the land says that they "climb the wall like men of war" (Joel 2 7). Attempts were made to set fire to the gates and to break them open with axes (Jgs 9 52; cf Neh 13; 2 3; Ezk 26 9). Jeremiah tells of the breach that was made in the city when Jerus was captured (Jer 39 2). The breaches in the wall of Samaria are referred to by Amos (4 3), who pictures the women rushing forth headlong like a herd of kine with hooks and fishhooks in their nostrils.
If, however, the town, or fortress, was built upon an
eminence, an inclined plane reaching to the height
of the eminence might be formed of earth or stones,
or trees, and the besiegers would be able to brmg
their engines to the foot of the walls. This road was even covered with bricks, forming a kind of paved way, up which the ponderous machines
could be drawn without difficulty. To such roads
there are references in Scripture (Job 19 12; Isa
29 3 "siege works"; cf Layard, Nineveh and Its
Remains, II, 366 f). In the case of Tyre this mound, or way of approach, was a dam thrown
across the narrow strait to obtain access to the walls
While the besiegers employed this variety of means of attack, the besieged were equally ingenious
(Ezk 26 8). Very often, too, there was a trench,
sometimes filled with water, at the foot of the wall,
and active in maintaining the defence.
which had to be dealt with previous to an assault.
(4) The earthworks having been thrown up, and
5. Siege All sorts of obstructions were placed Operations: in the way of the besieging army. Defence Springs and cisterns likely to afford supplies of water to the invaders were carefully covered up, or drained off into the city. Where possible, trenches were filled with water to
approaches to the walls secured, it was possible to
set and to work the battering-rams (kdrim) which
-were to be employed in breaching the walls (f^^^ 2), or in bursting open the gates (Ezk 21 AJ.). The battering-rams were of different kinds. On
Siege Signs of Heavens THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2788
of the Egyp king failed him and he retiredin haste without encountering the Chaldaeans in a pitched
make them impassable. As the siege-works of the enemy approached the main wall, it was usual to build inner fortifications, and for this purpose houses were pulled down to provide the neetlful space and also to supply building materials (Isa 22 10). Slingers placed upon the walls hurled stones upon the advancing enemy, and archers from loopholes and protected battlements discharged arrows against the warriors in their movable towers. Sorties were made to damage the siege-works of the enemy and to prevent the battering-rams from being placed in position. To counteract the assaults of the battering-rams, sacks of chaff were let down like a ship's fender in front of the place where the engine operated—a contrivance countered again by poles with scythes upon them which cut off the sacks (Jos, BJ, III, vii, 20). So, too, the defenders, by dropping a doubled chain or rope from the battlements, caught the ram and broke the force of its blows. Attempts were made to destroy the ram also by fire. In the great bas-relief of the siege of Lachish an inhabitant is seen hurling a lighted torch from the wall; and it was a common device to pour boiling water or oil from the wall upon the assailants. Missiles, too, were thrown with deadly effect from the battlements by the defenders, and
battle. The siege was prosecuted to the bitter
end, and Jerus was captured and completely overthrown (2 K 25 1; Jer 37 3-10; Ezk 17 17). In the ancient law of Israel "siege" is classed with drought and pestilence and exile as punishments with which Jeh would visit His people
7. Horrors for their disobedience (Dt 28 49-57).
of Siege Of the horrors there described they and Capture had again and again bitter experience.
At the siege of Samaria by Ben-hadad
II, so terrible were the straits to which the besieged
it was by a piece of a millstone thrown by a woman that Abimelech met his death at Thebez (Jgs 9 53). While Uzziah of Judah furnished his soldiers with shields and spears and hehnets and coats of mail and bows and slingstones, he also "made in Jerus engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and upon the battlements, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones" (2 Ch 26 15). The Jews had, for the defence of Jerus against the army of Titus, engines which they had taken from the Twelfth Legion at Beth-horon which seem to have
Rock of Masada.
were reduced that they cooked and ate their own children (2 K 6 28). In the siege of Jerus by the Chaldaeans, which ended in the overthrow of the city and the destruction of the Temple, the sufferings of the inhabitants from hunger and disease were incredible (2 K 25 3; Jer 32 24; Lam 2 20; 4 8-10). The horrors of siege have, perhaps, reached their climax in the account given by Jos of the tragedy of Masada. To escape capture by the Romans, ten men were chosen by lot from among the occupants of the fortress, 960 in number, including combatants and non-combatants, men, women and children, to slay the rest. From these ten one was similarly chosen to slay the survivors, and he, having accomplished his awful task, ran his sword into his own body (Jos, BJ, VII, Lx, 1). While all the inhabitants of a city under siege suffered the famine of bread and the thirst for water, the combatants ran the risk of impalement and other forms of torture to which prisoners in Assyr and Chaldaean and Rom warfare were subjected.
Catapult for Hurling Missiles.
The horrors attending the siege of a city were only surpassed by the barbarities perpetrated at its capture. The emptying of a city by its capture
had a range of 1,200 ft. Many ingenious devices are described by Jos as employed by himself when conducting the defence of Jotapata in Galilee against Vespasian and the forces of Rome {BJ , III, vii).
is lilvened to the hurling of a stone from a sling (Jer 10 17.18). Deportation of the whole of the inhabitants often followed (2 K 17 6; 24 14). Not only were the inhabitants of the captured city deported, but their gods were carried off with them and the idols broken in pieces. This is predicted or recorded of Babylon (Isa 21 9; 46 1; Jer 50 2), of Egypt (Jer 43 12), of Samaria (Hos 10 6). Indiscriminate slaughter followed the entrance of the assailants, and the city was usually given over to the flames (Jer 39 8.9; Lam 4 18). "Cities without number," says Shalmaneser II in one of his inscriptions, "I wrecked, razed, burned with fire." Houses were destroyed and women dishonored (Zee 14 2). When Darius took Babylon, he impaled three thousand prisoners (Herod, iii.159). The Scythians scalped and flayed their enemies and used their skins for horse trappings (ib, iv.64). The Assyr sculptures show prisoners subjected to horrible tortures, or carried away into slavery. The captured Zedekiah had his eyes put out after he
When Nahash king of the Ammonites laid siege to Jabesh-gilead in the opening days of the reign of
Saul, the terms of peace offered to
6. Raising the inhabitants were so humiliating of the Siege and cruel that they sought a respite of seven days and appealed to Saul in their distress. When the newly chosen king heard of their desperate condition he assembled a great army, scattered the Ammonites, and raised the siege of Jabesh-gilead, thus earning the lasting gratitude of the inhabitants (1 S 11; cf 1 S 31 12. 13). When Zedekiah of Judah found himself besieged in Jerus by the Chaldaean army under Nebuzaradan, he sent intelligence to Pharaoh Hophra who crossed the frontier with his army to attack the Chaldaeans and obliged them to desist from the siege. The Chaldaeans withdrew for the moment from the walls of Jerus and offered battle to Pharaoh Hophra and his host, but the courage
2789 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Siege Signs of Heavens
had seen his own sons cruelly put to death (2 K 25 7). It is only employing the imagery famihar to Assyr warfare when Isaiah represents Jeh as saying to Sennacherib: "Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy hps, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest" (Isa 37 29). Anticipating the savage barbarities that would foUow the capture of Samaria by the Assyrians, Hosea foresees the infants being dashed to pieces and the women with child being ripped up (Hos 10 14; 13 16; cf Am 1 13). The prophet Nahum predicting the overthrow of Nineveh recalls how at the capture of No-amon (Egyp Thebes) by the Assyr conqueror, Ashurbanipal, "her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains" (Nah 3 10). The only explicit reference to siege operations in the NT is Our Lord's prediction of the complete
vahdity of such methods of intercourse between man and God as were Moses and Gideon, Peter and John.
The faith that walks by signs is not by any means
to be lightly esteemed. It has been allied with the highest nobility of character and with the most signal achievement. Moses accepted the leadership of his people in response to a succession of signs:
e.g. the burning bush, the rod which became a serpent, the leprous hand, etc (Ex 3 and 4); so, too, did Gideon, who was not above making proof of God in the sign of the fleece of wool (Jgs 6 36-40). In the training of the Twelve, Jesus did not disdain the use of signs (Lk 5 1-11, and often); and the visions by which Peter and Paul were led to the evangelization of the Gentiles were interpreted by them as signs of the Divine purpose (Acts 10 and
16). The sacramental use of the sign dates from the
earliest period, and the character of the sign is as diverse as the occasion. The rainbow furnishes radiant suggestion of God's overarching love and assurance that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy the earth (Gen 9 13; cf 4 15); the Feast of Iinleavened Bread is a reminder of God's care in bringing His people out of bondage (Ex 13 3); the Sabbath is an oft-recurring proclamation of God's gracious thought for the wellbeing of man (Ex 31 13; Ezk 20 12); the brazen serpent, an early foreshadowing of the cross, perpetuates the imperishable promise of forgiveness and redemption (Nu 21 9); circumcision is made the seal of the special covenant under which Israel became a people set apart (Gen 17 11); baptism, the Christian equivalent of circumcision, becomes the sign and seal of the dedicated life and the mark
destruction of Jerus when He wept over 8. Siege in its coming doom: "For the days shall the NT come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank lx<ip°'i, chdrax, AV, quite incorrectly, "trench"] about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another" (Lk 19 43.44). The order and particulars of the siege are in accordance with the accounts of siege operations in the OT. How completely the prediction was fulfilled we see from Jos (B/,V, vi, 10).
Figurative: In St. Paul's Epp. there are figures taken from siege operations. In 2 Cor 10 4 we have "the casting down of strongholds," where the Gr word KaOalpeais, kalhatresis, from KaBaipeTv, kathairein, is the regular word used in LXX for the reduction of a fortress (Prov 21 22; Lam 2 2; 1 Mace 5 65). In Eph 6 16 there is allusion to siege-works, for the subtle temptations of Satan are set forth as the flaming darts hurled by the besiegers of a fortress which the Christian soldier is to quench with the shield of faith.
of those avowedly seeking to share in the blessedness of the Kingdom of God (Lk 3 12-14; Acts 2 41, and often) ; bread and wine, a symbol of the spiritual manna by which soul and body are preserved unto everlasting life, is the hallowed memorial of the Lord's death until His coming again (Lk 22 14-20;
1 Cor 11 23-28). Most common of all were the local altars and mounds consecrated in simple and sincere fashion to a belief in God's ruling and overruling providence (Josh 4 1-10). Signs were offered in proof of the Divine commission of prophet (Isa 20 3) and apostle (2 Cor 12 12), and of the Messiah Himself (Jn 20 30; Acts 2 22); and they were submitted in demonstration of the Divine character of their message
Literature.—Nowack, Hebrdische Archaeologie, 71
Benzinger, " Kriegswesen" in Herzog^; Billerbeck and A. Jeremias, Der Untergang Ninivehs; Billerbeck, Der Fesiungsbau im alien Orienl.
T. NicoL SIEVE, siv, SIFT. See Agriculture; Thresh-
ing.
(2 K 20 9; Isa 38 1; Acts 3 1-16). By anticipation the child to be born of a young woman (Isa 7 10-16; cf Lk 2 12) is to certify the prophet's pledge of a deliverer for a captive people. See Immanuel.
SIGLOS, sig'los (o-t-y\os, siglos): A Pers silver
coin, twenty of which went to the gold Dario
(q.v.).
SIGN, sin (niS , 'oth, "a sign," "mark," nsi^
With increase of faith the necessity for signs will gradually decrease. Jesus hints at this (Jn 4 48), as does also Paul (1 Cor 1 22). Nevertheless "signs," in the sense of displays of miraculous powers, are to accompany the faith of believers (Mk 16 17 f), usher in and forthwith characterize the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and mark the consummation of the ages (Rev 15 1). See also Miracle.
mopheth, "wonder"; <rT]|ji€tov, semelon, "a sign,"
"signal," "mark"): A mark by which persons or
things are distinguished and made known. In
Scripture used generally of an address to the senses
to attest the existence of supersensible and there-
fore Divine power. Thus the plagues of Egypt were "signs" of Divine displeasure against the Egyptians (Ex 4 8 ff ; Josh 24 17, and often); and the miracles of Jesus were "signs" to attest His unique relationship with God (Mt 12 38; Jn
For "sign" of a ship (-wapiu-qixo^, pardsemos, "ensign," Acts 28 11) see Dioscuri; Ships and Boats, III, 2. Charles M. Stuart
2 18; Acts 2 22). Naturally, therefore, both m
the OT and the NT, "signs" are assimilated to the
miraculous, and prevaiUngly associated with imme-
diate Divine interference. The popular belief m
SIGNET, sig'net. See Seal.
this manner of communication between the visible and the invisible worlds has always been, and is
SIGNS, NUMERICAL, nil-mer'i-kal. See Number.
now, widespread. So-called "natural" explana-
tions, however ingenious or cogent, fail with the
SIGNS OF THE HEAVENS. See Astronomy, 1,4.
great majority of people to explain anything. Wes-
ley and Spurgeon were as firm believers in the
Sihon Siloam THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2790
SIHON, si'hon (pn^P , sihon): King of the Amorites, who vainly opposed Israel on their journey from Egypt to Pal, and who is frequently mentioned in the historical books and in the Pss because of his prominence and as a warning for those who rise against Jeh and His people (Nu 21
At Philippi, Lydia, a seller of purple, was con-
verted, and with her they made their abode; but the exorcism of an evil spirit from a sorceress brought upon Silas and Paul the enmity of her masters, whose source of gain was thus destroyed. On being charged before the magistrates with causing a breach of the peace and preaching false doctrine,
21, and often; Dt 1 4; 31 4; Josh 2 10; Jgs 11 19. 20.21; 1 K 4 19; Neh 9 22; Ps 135 11; 136
their garments were rent off them and they were scourged and imprisoned. In no way dismayed, they prayed and sang hymns to God, and an earthquake in the middle of the night secured them a miraculous release. The magistrates, on learning that the two prisoners whom they had so maltreated were Rom citizens, came in person and besought them to depart out of the city (Acts 16 12-39). After a short visit to the house of Lydia, where they held an interview with the brethren, they depp,rted for Thessalonica, leaving Luke behind (cf Knowling, op. cit., 354-55). There they made many converts,
19; Jer 48 45).
SIHOR, si'hor. See Shihor.
SIHOR-LIBNATH, si'hor-lib'nath. See ShihorLIBNATH.
SILAS, si'las (SCXas, Silas, probably contraction
for SiXoDttvos, Silouanos; the Heb equivalents sug-
^ or nb©
gested are lC"'bip , shallsh, "Tertius,"
shelah [Gen 10 24] [Knowling], or 51ST1J , sha'ul =
esp. among the Greeks, but upon the house of Jason, their host, being attacked by hostile Jews, they were compelled to escape by night to Beroea (16 40 17 10). There they received a better hearing from the Jews, but the enmity of the Thessalonian Jews
"asked" [Zahn]): The Silas of Acts is generally
identified with the Silvanus of the Epp. His
identification with Titus has also been suggested, based on 2 Cor 1 19; 8 23, but this is very improbable (cf Knowhng, Expositor's Gr Test., II, 326).
still pursued them, and Paul was conducted for safety to Athens, Silas and Timothy being left behind. On his arrival, he dispatched an urgent message back to Bercea for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him at that city (17 11-15). The narrative of Acts implies, however, that Paul had left Athens and had reached Corinth before he was overtaken by his two followers (18 5). Knowling
Silas, who was probably a Rom citizen (cf Acts 16 37), accompanied Paul during the greater part
of his 2d missionary journey (Acts 15-18). At the ireeting of the Christian community under James at Jerus, which decided that circumcision should not be obligatory in the case of gentile
believers, Silas and Judas Barsabas were appointed along with Paul and Barnabas to convey to the churches in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia the ep. informing them of this decision. As "leading men among the brethren" at Jerus, and therefore more
(op. cit., 363-64) suggests that they may have actually met at Athens, and that Timothy was then sent to Thessalonica (cf 1 Thess 3 1.2), and Silas to Philippi (cf Phil 4 15), and that the three came together again at Corinth. The arrival of Silas and Timothy at that city is probably referred to in 2 Cor 11 9. It is implied in Acts 18 18 that Silas did not leave Corinth at the same time as Paul, but no further definite reference is made to him in the narrative of the 2d missionary journey.
officially representative of the Jerus church than Paul and Barnabas, Silas and Judas were further commissioned to confirm the contents of the letter by "word of mouth." On arrival at Antioch, the
ep. was delivered, and Judas and Silas, "being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them." Their mission being thus completed, the four were "dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent them forth" (RV), or "unto the apostles" (AV) (Acts 15 22-33).
Assuming his identity with Silvanus, he is mentioned along with Paul and Timothy in 2 Cor 1 19 as having preached Christ among the Corinthians
(cf Acts 18 5). In 1 Thess 1 1, and 2 Thess 1 1, the same three send greetings to the church at Thessalonica (cf Acts 17 1-9). In 1 Pet 5 12 he is mentioned as a "faithful brother" and the bearer of that letter to the churches of the Dispersion (cf on this last Knowling, op. cit., 331-32). The theory which assigns He to the authorship of Silas is untenable. C. M. Kerr
Different readings now render the immediate movements of Silas somewhat obscure; ver 33 would imply that he returned to Jerus. But some texts proceed in ver 34, "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there
still," and others add "and Judas alone proceeded." Of this, the first half is accepted by AV. The principal texts however reject the whole verse and are followed in this by RV. It is held by some that he remained in Antioch till chosen by Paul (ver 40). Others maintain that he returned to Jerus where John Mark then was
SILENCE, si'lens: Five Heb roots, with various derivatives, and two Gr words are thus tr'^. The word is used lit. for dumbness, interrupted speech, as in Lam 2 10; Ps 32 3; Eccl 3 7; Am 5 13; Acts 15 12; 1 Cor 14 28; 1 Tim 2 11.12 AV (ARV "quietness"); Rev 8 1, or figuratively of the unanswered prayers of the believer (Ps 83 1; 35 22; Jer 8 14); of awe in the presence of the Divine majesty (Isa 41 1; Zee 2 13), or of death (1 S 2 9; Ps 94 17; 115 17).
(cf Acts 13 13); and that either during the interval of "some days" (Acts 15 36). when the events described In Gal 2 11 fl took place (Wendt) , he returned to Antioch along with Peter, or that ho and John Mark were summoned thither by Paul and Barnabas, subsequent to their dispute regarding Mark. (For fuller discussion, see Knowling, Expositor's Gr Test., II, 330, 332-36.) Upon Barnabas' separation from Paul, Silas was chosen by Paul in his place, and the two missionaries, "after being commended by the brethren [at Antioch] to the grace of the Lord," proceeded on
SILK, SILKWORM, silk'wtirm ([1] ilBB , jneshl [Ezk 16 10.13], perhaps from V '^1?P , mdshdh, "to
their journey (Acts 15 33m-40). Passing through
Syria, CiUcia, Galatia, Phrygia and Mysia, where they delivered the decree of the Jerus council and strengthened the churches, and were joined by Timothy, they eventually reached Troas (Acts 15 41 16 8). Indications are given that at this
draw," "to extract"; cf Arab. ,-.>*a^, TOasa',of same
meaning; LXX Tptxo-irTov, trichapton, "woven of
hair"; [2] <r<ipiKov, serikon [Rev 18 12]; [3] 1»12J,
city Luke also became one of their party (cf also the apocryphal "Actsof St. Paul," where this is definitely
shesh; cf Arab. , iXjuJ , shdsh, a thin cotton material;
stated; Budge, Conlendings of the Apostle.'i , 11, 544).
Upon the call of the Macedonian, the missionary band set sail for Greece, and after touching at Samo-
[4] T'la, but;; cf Arab. (j«Q-ol , 'abya4, "white,"
from V ^JclJ, bd4; [5] pio-o-os, Wssos, "fine linen,"
thrace, they landed at Neapolis (Acts 16 9-11).
Sihon Siloam
2791 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA
belongs to Moslem fellahin who cultivate the wellwatered gardens in the valley and on the hill slopes
later used of cotton and silk) : The only undoubted reference to silk in the Bible is the passage cited from Rev, where it is mentioned among the merchandise of Babylon. Serikon, "silk," is from Sir the Gr name of China, whence silk was first obtained. The equivalent Lat sericum occurs frequently in classical
opposite, but a southern part has re-
1. The cently been built in an extremely primiModem tive manner by Yemen Jews, immigrants Silwan from South Arabia, and still farther
S., in the commencement of the Wddy en Ndr, is the wretched settlement of the lepers. How long the site of Silwdn has been occupied it is impossible to say. The village is mentioned in the 10th cent, by the Arab writer Mukaddasi. The numerous rock cuttings, steps, houses, caves, etc, some of which have at times served as chapels, show that the site has been much inhabited in the past, and at one period at least by hermits. The mention of "those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them" (Lk 13 4) certainly suggests that there was a settlement there in NT times, although some writers consider that this may have reference to some tower on the city walls near the Pool of Siloam.
Silkworm.
1. Moth. 2. Chrysalis. 3. Cocoon.
authors, and is found in the Vulg (Est 8 15) for bwf, "fine linen." For feuf, bussos, and shesh EV has nearly always "fine linen," but for shesh in Prov 31 22, AV has "silk," and in Gen 41 42 and Ex 25 4, AVm has "silk" and RVm has "cotton." See Linen; Fine. There can be little doubt of the correctness of EV "silk" for meshl in Ezk 16 10, "I girded thee about with fine linen [shesh], and covered thee with silk [meshl]," and in the similar passage, Ezk 16 13.
Opposite to the main part of Silwdn is the "Virgin's Fount," ancient Gihon (q.v.), whose waters are practically monopolized by
2. The the villagers. It is the waters of Siloam this spring which are referred to in Aqueduct Isa 8 5.6: "Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, .... now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the River."
Silk is produced by all Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths, but it is of great economic importance only in the Chinese siUm'orm, Bombyx mori, whose larva, a yellowish-white caterpillar from 2 to 3 in. long, feeds on the leaves of tlie mulberry i^Morus). A pair of large glands on the two sides of the stomach secrete a viscous fluid, which is conveyed by duets to an oriflce under the mouth. On issuing into the air. the fine stream is hardened into the silk fiber, which the caterpillar spins into a cocoon. Within the cocoon the caterpillar is presently transformed into the chrysalis or pupa. The cocoons from which silk is to be spun are subjected to heat which kills the pupae and prevents them from being transformed into the perfect insects or moths, which would otherwise damage the cocoons as they made their
exit. The raising of silkworms, and the spinning and weaving of silk are now important industries in Syria, though the insect was unknown in Bible times. It was introduced to the Mediterranean region from China a few centuries after Christ. Coarse silk is produced from the Chinese oak silk-moth, Saturnia pernyi, and from the Japanese oak silk-moth. Saturnia yama-mai. Thelargest moth of Syria and Pal is Saturnia pyri. from which silk has also been spun, but not commercially. See, further. Weaving. Alfred Ely Day SILLA, sil'a (Xbo , ^lla'; B, ToXXd, Galld, A, PaaXXaS, Gaalldd) : joash was assassinated by his
servants "at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla" (2 K 12 20). Wherever Beth-millo stood, Silla was evidently in the valley below it; but nothing is known of what it was or where it stood.
SILOAM, si-lo'am, si-lo'am, SILOAH, si-l6'a,
SHELAH.she'la, SHILOAH,shi-lo'a: (1) n'blBn"'T3
, me ha-shiWh {shilo"h or shilWh is a passive form and means ''sent" or "conducted"), "the waters of
[the] Shiloah" (Isa 8 6). (2) nblBH nsia, b're-
khalh ha-shelah, "the pool of [the] Shelah" (AV
I -P.E.T
"Siloah") (Neh 3 15). (3) r^y KoXv^p-fidpav tou
Serpentine Course of Siloam Aqueduct.
(or Tbv) 2tXut£/i, tin kolumbithran lou {ton) Silodm,
"the pool of Siloam" (Jn 9 7). (4) 6 Tripyo^ ip Tij>^
Xi\tadfj., ho purgos en 16 Silodm, "the tower m biloam
The contrast between the little stream flowing from the Gihon and the great Euphrates is used as a figure of the vast difference between the apparent strength of the little kingdom of Judah and the House of David on the one hand, and the might of "Rezin and Remahah's eon" and "all his glory." Although it is quite probable that in those days there was an open streamlet in the valley, yet the meaning of Shiloah, "sent" or "conducted," rather implies
Although the name is chiefly used in the OT and
Jos as the name of certain "waters," the survivmg name today, Silwdn, is that of a fairly prosperous
village which extends along the steep east side ot
the Kidron valley from a little N. of the Virgin s
Fountain" as far as Bir Eyyub. The greater part
of the village, the older and better built section,
Siloam Simeon THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2792
some kind of artificial cliannel, and there is also archaeological evidence that some at least of the waters of Gihon were even at that time conducted
Siloam, the explicit statement of Jos (BJ, V, iv, 1) that the fountain of Siloam, which he says was a
plentiful spring of sweet wafer, was at the mouth of the Tyropoeon would make us sure.
by a rock-cut aqueduct along the side of the Kidron valley (see Jerusalem, VII, 5). It was not, however, till the days of Hezekiah that the great tunnel aqueduct, Siloam's most famous work, was made
A little below tills pool, at the very mouth of elWAd, is a dry pool, now a vegetable garden, known as Birket el Hamra ("the red pool")- For many 4 The years the sewage of Jerus found its way to Dt « this spot, but when in 1904 an ancient city airftet sewer was rediscovered (see PEFS, 1904, el Hamra 392-94), the sewage was diverted and the site was sold to the Gr convent which surrounded it with a wall. Although this is no longer a pool, there is no doubt but that hereabouts there existed a pool because the great and massive dam which Bliss excavated here (see Jerusalem, VI, 5) had clearly been made originally to support a large body of water. It is commonly supposed that the original pool here was older than the Birket Silwan. having been fed by an aqueduct which was constructed from Gihon along the side of the Kidron valley before Hezelciah's great tunnel. If this is correct (and excavations are needed here to conflrm this theory), then this may be the "lower pool" referred to in Isa 22 9, the waters of which Hezekiah "stopped. " and perhaps, too, that described in the same passage as the "old pool."
(2 K 20 20): "Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the City of David"
(2 Ch 32 30); "They stopped all the fountains, and the brook [nahal] that flowed through the midst of the land, saying. Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?" (2 Ch 32 4; Ecclus 48 17). Probably the exit of the water at Gihon was entirely covered up and the water flowed through the 1,700 ft. of tunnel and merged in the pool made for it (now known as the Birkel Silwan) near the mouth of the TjTopceon valley. This extraordinary winding aqueduct along which the waters of the "Virgin's Fount" still flow is described
in Jerusalem, VII, 4 (q.v.). The lower end of
The earliest known Heb inscription of any length was accidentally discovered near the lower end of the
this tunnel which now emerges under a modern arch has long been known as \iin Silwan, the "Fountain of Siloam," and indeed, until the rediscovery of the tunnel connecting this with the Virgin's Fount (a fact known to some in the 13th
Siloam aqueduct in 1880, and reported
5. The by Dr. Schick. It was inscribed upon Siloam a rock-smoothed surface about 27 in. Aqueduct square, some 15 ft. from the mouth of the aqueduct; it was about 3 ft. above the bottom of the channel on the east side. The inscription consisted of six lines in archaic Heb, and has been tr'' by Professor Sayce as follows:
cent., but by no means generallj^ known until the
last century) , it was thought this was simply a spring. So many springs all over Pal issue from artificial tunnels—it is indeed the rule in Judaea—that the mistake is natural. Jos gives no hint that he knew
of so great a work as this of Hezekiah's, and in the 5th cent, a church was erected, probably by the empress Eudoxia, at this spot, with the high altar over the sacred "spring." The only pilgrim who mentions this church is Antonius Martyr (c 570), and after its destruction, probably by the Persians in
(1) Behold the excavation. Now this [is] the history of the tunnel: while the excavators were still lifting up
(2) The pick toward each other, and while there were yet three cubits [to be broken through] .... the voice of the one called
(3) To Ills neighbor, for there was an [ ?] excess in the rock on the right. They rose up ... . they struck on the west of the
614, it was entirely lost sight of until excavated by Messrs. Bliss and Dickie. It is a church of extraordinary architectural features; the floor of the center
(4) Excavation; the excavators struck, each to meet the other, pick to pick. And there flowed
(5) The waters from their outlet to the pool for a thousand, two hundred cubits; and [ ?]
aisle is still visible.
(6) Of a cubit, was the height of the rock over the head of the excavators ....
The water from the Siloam aqueduct, emerging at 'Ain Silwan, flows today into a narrow shallow
pool, approached by a steep flight of
It is only a roughly scratched inscription of the nature of a graffito; the flowing nature of the writing is fully explained by Dr. Reissner's recent discovery of ostraca at Samaria written with pen and ink. It is not an official inscription, and consequently there is no kingly name and no date, but the prevalent view that it was made by the work people who carried out Hezekiah's great work (2 K 20 20) is now further confirmed by the character of the Heb in the ostraca which Reissner dates as of the time of Ahab.
3. The modern steps; from the southern "Pool of extremity of this pool the water crosses Siloam" under the modern road by means of an aqueduct, and after traversing a deeply cut rock channel below the scarped cliffs on the north side of el-Wdd, it crosses under the main road up the Kidron and enters a nhmber
of channels of irrigation distributed among the gardens of the people of Silwan. The water here, as at its origin, is brackish and impregnated with sewage.
Unfortunately this priceless monument of antjquity was violently removed from its place by some miscreants. The fragments have been collected and are now pieced together in the Constantinople museum. Fortunately several excellent "squeezes" as well as transcriptions were made before the inscription was broken up, so that the damage done is to be regretted rather on sentimental than on literary grounds. E. W. G. Mastebman
The modern Birket es-Silwan is but a poor survivor of the fine pool which once was here. Bliss showed by his excavations at the site that once there was a great rock-cut pool, 71 ft. N. and S., by 75 ft. E. and W., which may, in part at least, have beenthe work of Hezekiah (2 K 20 20), approached by a splendid flight of steps along its west side. The pool was surrounded by an arcade 12 ft. wide and 22J ft. high, and was divided by a central arcade, to make in all probability a pool for men and another for women. These buildings were probably Herodian, if not earlier, and therefore this, we may reasonably picture, was the condition of the pool at the time of the incident in Jn 9 7, when Jesus sent the blind man to "wash in the pool of Siloam."
SILOAM, TOWER IN. See Jerusalem; Siloam.
SILVANUS, sil-va'nus (StXouavos, Silouands
[2 Cor 1 19]). See Silas.
SILVER, sil'ver (303 , kefeph; dp-yipiov, argurion, apYupos, drguros) : Silver was known in the earliest historic times. Specimens of early Egyp and Bab silver work testify to the skill of the ancient silversmiths. In Pal, silver objects have been found antedating the occupation of the land by
This pool is also probably the Pool of Shelah described in Neh 3 15 as lying between the Fountain Gate and the King's Garden. It may also be the "king's pool" of Neh 2 14. If we were in any doubt regarding the position of the pool of
2793 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Siloam Simeon
In the "blessing" of the dying Jacob, Simeon and Levi are linked together
the Hebrews. This metal was used for making all kinds of ornamental objects. In the mound of Gezer were found bowls, vases, ladles, hairpins, rings and bracelets of silver. The rings and settings for scarabs or seals were commonly of this metal. The first mention of silver in the Bible is in Gen 13 2, where it says that Abraham was rich in cattle, in silver and gold. At that time it was commonly used in exchange in the form of bars or other shapes. Coins of that metal were of a much later date (Gen 20 16; 23 1.5; 24 53; 37 28, etc). Booty was collected in silver (Josh 6 19); tribute was paid in the same (1 K 15 19). It was also used for jewehy (Gen 44 2). The Children of Israel systematically despoiled the Egyptians of their silver before the exodus (Ex 3 22; 11 2; 12 35, etc). Ex 20 23 implies that idols were made of it. It was largely used in the fittings of the tabernacle (Ex 26 ff ) and later of the temple (2 Ch 2 ff).
1 Til "Simeon and Levi aro bretiircn; 1. Ine Weapons of violence are their swords. Patriarch: O my soui, come not tiiou into their council;
Biblical Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou
p. . united; J^aia Pop in their anger they slew a man. And in their self-will they hocked an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce
And their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel " (Gen 49 5-7)
Whatever view may be taken of the events of Gen 34 25 (and some would see in it "a tradition
of the settlement of Jacob which belongs to a cycle quite independent of the descent into Egypt and the Exodus" [see S. A. Cook, Enc Brit, art. "Simeon"]), it is clear that we have here a reference to it and the suggestion that the subsequent history
of the tribe, and its eventual absorption in Judah, was the result of violence. In the same way the priestly Levites became distributed throughout ttie other tribes without any tribal inheritance of their own (Dt 18 1; Josh 13 14). From the mention (Gen 46 10; Ex 6 15) of Shaul as being the son of a Canaanite woman, it may be supposed that the tribe was a mLxed one.
It is likely that the ancient supply of silver came from the mountains of Asia Minor where it is still found in abundance associated with lead as argentiferous galena, and with copper sulphide. The Turk-
ish, government mines this silver on shares with the natives. The Sinaitic peninsula probably also furnished some silver. Later Phoen ships brought quantities of it from Greece and Spain. The Arabian sources are doubtful (2 Ch 9 14). Although silver does not tarnish readily in the air, it does corrode badly in the limestone soil of Pal and Syria. This probably partly accounts for the small number of objects of this metal found. On the site of the ancient jewelers' shops of Tyre the writer found objects of gold, bronze, lead, iron, but none of
In the "blessing of Moses" (Dt 33) Simeon is not mentioned at all in the Heb text, although in some MSS of LXX the latter half of ver 6 is made to apply to him: "Let Simeon be a small company." The history of the tribe is scanty and raises many problems. Of the many theories advanced to meet them it cannot be said that any one answers
all difficulties.
In the wilderness of Sinai the Simeonites camped beside the Reubenites (Nu 2 12; 10 19); it was Zimri, a m.ember of one of the leading
silver.
Figurative: Silver to be as stones in Jerus (1 K 10 27) typified great abundance (cf Job 3 15; 22 25; 27 16; also Isa 60 17; Zee 9 3). The trying of men's hearts was compared to the refining of
2. The families of this tribe, who was slain by Tribe in Phinehasin the affair of Baal-peor (Nu Scripture 25 14). The statistics in Nu 1 22 f, where the Simeonites are given as
silver (Ps 66 10; Isa 48 10). Jeh's words were as pure as silver refined seven times (Ps 12 6). The gaining of understanding is better than the gaining
59,300, compared with the 2d census (Nu 26 14), where the numbers are 22,200, indicate a diminishing tribe. Some have connected this with the sin of Zimri.
of silver (Prov 3 14; ef 8 19; 10 20; 16 16; 22 1; 25 11). Silver become dross denoted deterioration
(Isa 1 22; Jer 6 30). Breast and arms of silver was interpreted by Daniel to mean the inferior kingdom to follow Nebuchadnezzar's (Dnl 2 32.
At the recital of the law at Mt. Gerizim, Simeon
is mentioned first among those that were to respond to the blessings (Dt 27 12). In the conquest
of Canaan "Judah said unto Simeon his brother. Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him" (Jgs 13; cf ver 17). (Many scholars find in Gen 34 a tribal attempt on the part of the Simeon-
39). In the NT, reference should be made esp. to Acts
19 24; Jas 5 3; Rev 18 12. James A. Patch
SILVERLING, sil'ver-ling (003 Obx, 'elevh
ke^eph [Isa 7 23]): 'A thousand of silver' means a
ites to gain possession of Shechem; if this is eo, Judah did not assist, and the utter failure may have been a cause of Simeon's subsequent dependence upon, and final absorption in, Judah.) In Jgs 4 and 5 Simeon is never mentioned. In the settlement of the land there is no account of how Simeon established himself in his territory (except the scanty reference in Jgs 1 3), but "their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah" (Josh 19 1); this is accounted
thousand shekels. See Piece of Silver.
SILVERSMITH, sil'ver-smith (dp-yupoKdiros,
argurokdpos) : Mentioned only once (Acts 19 24), where reference is made to Demetrius, a leadmg member of the silversmiths' guild of Ephesus.
SIMALCUE, si-mal-ku'e: AV = RV Imalcue
(q.v.).
for (ver 9), "for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them." Nevertheless we find there the very cities which are apportioned to Simeon, allotted to Judah (Josh 15 21-32; cf Neh 11 26-29). It is suggested (in 1 Ch 4 31) that the independent possession of these cities ceased in the time of David. David sent spoil to several Simeonite towns (1 S 30 26 f), and in
SIMEON, sim'6-on (pypiP, shim^on; 2«(ieiSv,
Sumeon; the Heb root is from yvt , shama\ "to
hear" [Gen 29 33); some modern scholars [Hitzig, W R. Smith, Stade, etc] derive it from Arab, sima ,
"the offspring of the hyena and female wolt ):
In Gen 29 33; 30 18-21; 35 23, Simeon is given
as full brother to Reuben, Levi, Judah, Issachar and
Zebulun, the son of Leah; and m Gen 34 lb;
1 Ch 12 25 it is recorded that 7,100 Simeonite warriors came to David in Hebron. In 1 Ch 27 16 we have mention of a ruler of the Simeonites, Shephatiah, son of Maacah.
49 5 as the brother of Levi and Dmah. He was
left as a hostage in Egypt by orders of Joseph (Gen
42 24; 43 23).
Simeon Simon Magus THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2794
SIMEON (NIGER, nl'jer): AV in Acts 13 1, RV "Symeon" (q.v.).
In 1 Ch 4 39 f mention is made of certain isolated exploits of Sinieonites at Gedor (q.vj, against the Meunim (q.v.), and at Mx. Seir (q.v.). Later references associate certain Sinieonites with the Northern Kingdom (2 Ch 15 9; 34 6), and tradition has come to view them as one of the ten tribes (cf Ezk 48 24.25.33; Rev 7 7), although all the history of them we have is bound up with Judah and the Southern Kingdom. There is no mention of the return of any Simeonites after the captivity; their cities fall to Judah (Neh 11 26 f). It has been supposed by many authorities that the name Shim'an occurs in the list of places plundered by Thothmes III (see 3. ReferPetrie, Hist, II, 104: also Hommel, ences in AHT, 268; Sayce, Early Heb TraEgyp and ditions, 392). In the 7th cent, we Assyr Inhave a doubtful reference in an inscripscriptions tion of Esar-haddon relating his Egyp campaign when a city Ap-ku is mentioned as in the country of Sa-me-n(a), which may possibly be a reference to Simeon. The survival of the name so late, if true, is strange, in the light of what we gather from the Bible about the tribe. (For discussion of both of these inscriptions, with references to the lit., see EB, coll. 4528-30.) The cities of Simeon as given in Josh 19 2-6 and 1 Ch 4 28.31 are (the names in parentheses are variations in the latter reference)
SIMEONITES, sim'g-on-its. See Simeon.
SIMILITUDE, si-mil' i-tud: In AV means either "an exact facsimile" (Ps 106 20 AV, RV "likeness"; Rom 5 14, etc), or else "the form itself" (Nu 12 8; Dt 4 12.15.16 for fmunah, "form" [soRV]); cf Likeness. ERV has retained the word
in 2 Ch 4 3; Dnl 10 16 (ARV "likeness"), while ERV and ARV have used "simihtudes" in Hos 12 10 (npi, damdh, "be like"). The meaning is "I have inspired the prophets to speak parables."
SIMON (Si|jiwv, Simon, Grform of Simeon [q.v.])
The persons of the name of Simon mentioned in the Apocrypha are:
(1) Simon the Maccabean (Hasmonean), surnamed Thassi (q.v.), the 2d son of Mattathias and elder brother of Judas Maccabaeus. On his deathbed, Mattathias commended Simon as a "man of counsel" to be a "father" to his brethren (1 Mace 2 65), and a "man of counsel" he proved himself. But it was not till after the death of Judas and the capture of Jonathan that he played the chief role. Dispatched by Judas with a force to the relief of the Jews in Galilee he fought with great success
(5 17 if; Jos, Ant, XII, viii. If). We find him next taking revenge along with Jonathan on the "children of Jambri" (1 Mace 9 33 ff), and cooperating in the successful campaign around Bethbasi against Bacchides (c 156 BC) (9 62 ff), and in the campaign against ApoUonius (10 74 ff). In the conflict between Tryphon and Demetrius II, Simon was appointed by Antiochus VI "captain from the Ladder of Tyre unto the borders of Egypt" (11 59). After the capture of Jonathan at Ptolemais by Tryphon, Simon became acknowledged leader of his party. He thwarted Tryphon in his attempts upon Jerus, in revenge for which the latter murdered Jonathan (13 23). Simon then took the side of Demetrius on condition of immunity for Judaea, and so 'in the 170th year' (143-142 BC) 'the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel' (13 41). Simon applied himself to rebuild the strongholds of Judaea, reduced Gazara, captured the Acra (citadel) and made Joppa a seaport. He showed his wisdom most of all in his internal administration
4. The Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, Territory Balah (Bilhah), Azem (AV) (Ezem), of Simeon Eltolad (Tolad), Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah (Ilazar Susim), Beth-lebaoth (Beth-biri), Sharuhen (Shaaraim) (Etam), Ain Rimmon, Ether (Tochen), Ashan—in all, 16 cities in Josh and 17 in 1 Ch. Ashan (1 Ch 6 59) is the only one assigned to the priests. It is written wrongly as "Ain" in Josh 21 16. All the above cities, with certain variations in form, and with the exception of Etam in 1 Ch 4 32, which is probably a mistake, occur in the list of the cities of Judah (Josh 15 26-32.42). Ziklag is mentioned (1 S 27 6) as being the private property of the kings of Judah from the days of David, who received it from Achish, king of Oath.
For the situation of these cities, so tar as is known, see separate arts, under their names. It is clear that they were all situated in the southwestern part of Pal, and that Simeon had no definite territorial boundaries, but isolated cities, with their villages, among those of the people of Judah.
"He sought the good of his country"; commerce and agriculture revived ; lawlessness was suppressed, and "the land had rest all the daj'S of Simon" (14 4 ff). His power was acknowledged by Sparta and Rome (14 16 ff). In 141 BC he was appointed by the nation leader, high priest and captain "for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet" (14 41 ff), and thus the Hasmonean dynasty was founded. A new chronological era began with the first year of his administration, and he minted his own coins. A few years later Simon again meddled in Syrian politics (139 BC), this time at the entreaty of Antiochus VII (Sidetes) in his contest against Tryphon; when, however, Antiochus was assured of success, he refused the help of Simon and sent Cendebaeus against Judaea. Judas and John, sons of Simon, defeated the invaders near Modin (137-136 BC). In 135 BC Simon met his death by treachery. Ptolemy the son of Abubus, Simon's own son-in-law, determined to secure supreme power for himself and, in order to accomplish this, to assassinate the whole family of Simon. He accordingly invited Simon and his sons to a banquet in the stronghold of Dok near Jericho, where he treacherously murdered Simon with hia two sons Mattathias and Judas. The other son, John Hyrcanus, governor of Gazara, received intimation of the plot and saved .himself to become
E. W. G. Masterman SIMEON (liypiIJ , shitn'on; 2u(i,euv, Sumeon):
(1) The 2d son of Jacob by Leah (see separate
art.).
(2) Great-grandfather of Judas Maccabaeus
(1 Mace 2 1).
(3) A man in Jerus described as "righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel." When the infant Jesus was brought into the Temple, he took Him into his arms and blessed God in words which are famous as the Nunc dimittis. Simeon bestowed his blessing on the wondering father and mother (Lk 2 25.34). Legend has made him the son of Hillel and father of Gamaliel I, but this has no historical basis.
(4) An ancestor of Jesus (Lk 3 30); RV "Symeon."
(5) RV "Symeon": one of the prophets and teachers in the Christian community at Antioch. He is also called Niger, which was the gentile name he had assumed, Symeon being Heb. He was among those who set apart Paul and Barnabas for their missionary work (Acts 13 1.2). Nothing more is known of him.
(6) RV "Symeon": the Heb name of Simon Peter (Acts 15 14). S. F. Hunter
2795 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Simeon Simon Magus
anointed them with ointment (Lk 7 36 ff ) . By some he is identified with (4), this being regarded as Luke's version of the incident recorded in Mt 26 and Mk 14. Others as strongly deny this view. For discussion see Mary, IV.
the head of the Hasmonean dynasty. "The significance of Simon's administration consists in this, that he completed the work of Jonathan and left the Jewish people absolutely independent of Syria" (Schiirer). See Maccabaeus, II, 4.
(6) A man of Cyrene, who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus (Mt 27 32; Mk 16 21; Lk 23
(2) Simon I, the high priest, son of Onias I, whom he succeeded c 300 BC. He was one of the last of the Great Synagogue, and to him is attributed the saying, "On three things the world depends the Law, worship and the showing of kindness." According to Jos {Anl, XII, ii, 5) this Simon was called "the Just" (6 5(/caios, ho dikaios), "on account of his piety and his benevolent disposition toward his countrymen."
26). Mark calls him "the father of Alexander and Rufus," well-known members of the church at (probably) Rome (of Acts 19 33; Rom 16 13). See Cyrenian.
(7) The father of Judas Iscariot (Jn 6 71; 12 4 AV, RV omits; 13 2.26).
(8) Simon Magus (Acts 8 9ff). See separate
Many authorities (Herzfeld, Derenbourg, Stanley, Ciieyue) assert that Jos is wrong in attaching this epithet to Simon I instead of Simon II. and Schurer is not certain on this question. But the Tahn passage which Derenbourg cites means the opposite of what he talces it. viz. it is intended to show how splendid and holy were the days of Simeon [ha-r^addlk) compared with the later days. Besides, Jos is more likely to have known the truth on this matter than these later authorities. The same uncertainty obtains as to whether the eulogium in Sir 50 1 ff of "the great priest" refers to Simon I or Simon II. Schurer and others refer it to Simon TI. It is more likely to refer to the Simon who was famous as "the Just," and consequently to Simon I. Besides we know of no achievements of Simon II to entitle him to such praise. The building operations mentioned would suit the time of Simon I better, as Ptolemy captured Jerus and probably caused considerable destruction. The Talm states that this Simon (and not Jaddua) met Alexander the Great.