Part 9
fats to absorb odors was made use of by the ancient perfumers. The composition of the holy anointing
oil used in the tabernacle worship is mentioned
in Ex 30 2.3-25. Olive oil formed the base. This was scented with "flowing myrrh .... sweet cinnamon .... sweet calamus .... and .... cas-
sia." The oil was probably mixed with the above
ingredients added in a powdered form and heated
until the oil had absorbed their odors and then allowed to stand until the insoluble matter settled, when the oil could be decanted. Olive oil, being a non-drying oil which does not thicken readily, yielded an ointment of oily consistency. This is indicated by Ps 133 2, where it says that the precious oil ran down on Aaron's beard and on the collar of his outer garment. Anyone attempting to make the holy anointing oil would be cut off from his people (Ex 30 33). The scented oils or ointments were kept in
There are several difBcultie-s in tlie text. In ver 1 1 , AV reads "his sons came" instead of "one of his sons came,"
and tr ver \2b: "And his sons shewed ttie O Pri+iral ^^^ ^^^ man of God went." There is a i. \^Ti\.n,<u gj^p j^ ^^^
jyjrj, j^j^gj, (jjg ^^^^^ "table" in ver 20; and ver 2.3 should be tr<^, "And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled for himself the ass. and departed again" (following LXX, B with W. B. Stevenson, HDB. Ill, 594a, n.).
Old Testament Olives, Mount of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2184
tree"; eXa£a, elaia): The olive tree has all through history been one of the most characteristic, most valued and most useful of trees in Pal.
Benzinger ("Die Bucher der Konige," Kurz. Hand-Komm. zum AT, 91) holds that wc have here an example of a midrash, i.e. according to LOT, 529, "an imaginative development of a thought or theme suggested by Scripture, esp. a didactic or homiletio exposition or an edifying religious story." 2 Ch 24 27 refers to a "midhrash of the book of the kings," and 2 Ch 13 22 to a "midhrash of the prophet Iddo." In 2 Ch 9 29 we have a reference to "the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Jos names the Judaean prophet Jadon (Ant, VIII, viii, 5), and so some would trace this narrative to the midrash of Iddo, which would be a late Jewish work. There is a trace of late Heb in ver 3, and evidence in several places of a later editing of the original narrative. Kittel and Benzinger think it possible that the section may be based on a historical incident. If the narrative
1. The It is only right that it is the first named Olive Tree "king" of the trees (Jgs 9 8.9). When the children of Israel came to the land they acquired olive trees which they planted
is historical in the main, the mention of Josiah by name in ver 2 may be a later insertion; if not historical, the prophecy there is ex eventu, and the whole section a midrash on 2 K 23 15-20.
(1) Several questions are suggested by the narrative, but in putting as well as in answering these
Typical Grove of Olive Trees at Jerusalem.
questions, it must be remembered that 3. Central the old prophet himself, as has been Truths pointed out, is not the chief character of the piece. Hence it is a little pointless to ask what became of the old prophet, or whether he was not piunished for his falsehood. The passage should be studied, like the parables of Jesus, with an eye on the great central truth, which
not (Dt 6 11; cf Josh 24 13). The cultivation of the olive goes back to the earliest times in Canaan. The frequent references in the Bible, the evidences (see 4 below) from archaeology and the important place the product of this tree has held in the economy of the inhabitants of Syria make it highly probable that this land is the actual home of the cultivated olive. The wild olive is indigenous there. The most fruitful trees are the product of bare and rocky ground (cf Dt 32 13) situated preferably at no great distance from the sea. The terraced hills of Pal, where the earth lies never many inches above the limestone rocks, the long rainless summer of unbroken sunshine, and the heavy "dews" of the autumn afford conditions which are extraordinarily favorable to at least the indigenous olive.
is, here, that God punishes disobedience even in
"a, man of God." It is not inconsistent with this to regard the old prophet as an example of "Satan fashioning himself into an angel of light" (2 Cor 11 14), or of the beast which "had two horns like unto a lamb" (Rev 13 11).
(2) It must also be remembered that the false prophets of the OT are called prophets in spite of their false prophecies. So here the old prophet in spite of his former lie is given a Divine message to declare that death will follow the other's disobedience.
The olive, Olea Europaea (N.O. Oleaceae), is a slowgrowing tree, requiring years of patient labor before reaching full fruitfulness. Its growth implies a certain degree of settlement and peace, for a hostile army can in a few days destroy the patient work of two generations. Possibly this may have something to do with its being the emblem of peace. Enemies of a village or of an individual often today carry out revenge by cutting away a ring of bark from the trunks of the olives, thus killing the trees in a few months. The beauty of this tree is referred to in Jer 11 16; Hos 14 6, and its fruitfulness in Ps 128 3. The characteristic olive-green of its foliage, frosted silver below and the twisted and gnarled trunks—often hollow in the center—are some of the most picturesque and constant signs of settled habitations. In some parts of the land large plantations occur: the famous olive grove near Beirut is 5 miles square; there are also fine, ancient trees in great nmnbers near Bethlehem.
(.3) One other question suggests itself, and demands an answer. Why did the old prophet make the request that at death he should be buried in the same grave as the .Tudaean {ver 31) ? The answer is implied in ver 32, and is more fully given in 2 K 23 15-20, where King Josiah defiles the graves of the prophets at Bethel. On seeing a "monument" or grave-stone by one of the graves, he inquires what it is, and is told that it marks the grave of the prophet from Judah. Thereupon he orders that his bones be not disturbed. "With these the bones of the old prophet escape. Perhaps no clearer instance of a certain kind of meanness exists in the OT. The very man who has been the cause of another's downfall and ruin is tiase enough to plan his own escape imder cover of the virtues of his victim. And the parallels in modern life are many.
David Francis Roberts OLD TESTAMENT. See Text of the OT.
OLD TESTAMENT CANON. THE OT.
See Canon of
OLD TESTAMENT LANGUAGES. See Languages OP THE OT.
In starting an oliveyard the fellah not infrequently plants young wild olive trees which grow plentifully over many parts of the land, or he may grow from cuttings. When the young trees are 3 years old they are grafted from a choice stock and after another three or four years they may commence to bear fruit, but they take quite a decade more before reaching full fruition. Much attention is, however, required. The soil around the trees must be frequently plowed and broken up; water must be conducted to the roots from the earliest rain, and the soil must be freely enriched with a kind of marl known in Arab, as huwwarah. If neglected, the older trees soon send up a great many shoots from the roots all around the parent stem (perhaps the
OLEASTER, o-le-as'ter (Isa 41 19 RVm). See Oil Tree.
OLIVE. See Olive Tree.
OLIVE BERRIES, bcr'iz. Sec Olive Tree.
OLIVE, GRAFTED. See Olive Tree.
OLIVE TREE, ol'iv tre (rT^T, zayilh, a word occurring also in Aram., Ethiopic and Arab.; in the last it means "olive oil," and zaitiin, "the olive
^wm
z >
2185 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Old Testament Olives, Mount of
stone (cf Ex 27 20), from which a shallow channel runs for the oil. It is an old custom to tread them by foot (Mic 6 15). Oil is obtained
idea in Ps 128 3) ; these must be pruned away, altiiougli, should the parent stem decay, some of these may be capable of taking its place. Being, however, from the root, below the original point of grafting, they are of the wild olive type—with smaller, stiffcr leaves and prickly stem—and need grafting before they are of use. The olive tree furnishes a wood valuable for many forms of carpentry, and in modern Pal is extensively burnt as fuel.
3. Olive Oil on a larger scale in one of the many varieties of oil mills. The berries are carried in baskets, by donkeys, to the mill, and they are crushed by heavy weights. A better class of oil can be obtained by collecting the first oil to come off separately, but not much attention is given to this in Pal, and usually the berries are crushed, stones and all, by a circular millstone revolving upright round a central pivot. A plenteous harvest of oil was looked upon as one of God's blessings
The olive is in flower about May; it produces clusters of small white flowers, springing from the
axils of the leaves, which fall as 2. The showers to the ground (Job 15 33). Fruit The first olives mature as early as September in some places, but, in the mountain districts, the olive harvest is not till November or even December. Much of the earliest fruit falls to the ground and is left by the o'ivner ungathered until the harvest. The trees are beaten with long sticks (Dt 24 20), the young folks often cliinbing into the branches to reach the highest fruit, while the women and older girls gather up the fruit from the ground. The immature fruit left after such an ingathering is described graphically in Isa 17 6: "There shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking [m "beating"] of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree." Such gleanings belonged to the poor (Dt
(Joel 2 24; 3 13). That the "labor of the olive" should fail was one of the trials to faith in Jeh (Hab 3 17). Olive oil is extensively used as food, morsels of bread being dipped into it in eating; also medicinally (Lk 10 34; Jas 6 14). In ancient times it was greatly used for anointing the person (Ps 23 5; Mt 6 17). In Rome's days of luxury it was a common maxim that a long and pleasant life depended upon two fluids—"wine within and oil without." In modern times this use of oil for the person is replaced by the employment of soap, which in Pal is made from olive oil. In all ages this oil has been used for illumination (Mt 25 3). Comparatively plentiful as olive trees are today in Pal, there is abundant evidence that the cultivation was once much more extensive.
4. Greater "The countless rock-cut oiland winePlenty of presses, both within and without the Olive Trees walls of the city [of Gezer], show that in Ancient the cultivation of the olive and vine Times was of much greater importance than
'C^^ mA. \
it is anywhere in Pal today Excessive taxation has made olive culture unprofitable" ("Gezer Mem," PEF, II, 23). A further evidence of this is seen today in many now deserted
sites which are covered with wild olive trees, descendants of large plantations of the
5. Wild cultivated tree which have quite disOlives appeared. Many of these spring from the old roots; others are from the fallen drupes. Isolated trees scattered over many parts of the land, esp. in Galilee, are sown by the birds. As a rule the wild olive is but a shrub, with small leaves, a stem more or less prickly, and a small, hard drupe with but little or no oil. That a wild olive branch should be grafted into a fruitful tree would be a proceeding useless and contrary to Nature (Rom 11 17.24). On the mention of "branches of wild olive" in Neh 8 15, see Oil Tree. E. W. G. Masterman OLIVE, WILD: Figuratively used in Rom 11 17.24 for the Gentiles, grafted into "the good olive tree" of Israel. See Olive Tree.
OLLVE YARD, ol'iv yard. See Olive Tree.
OLIVES, ol'ivz, MOUNT OF (D'Tli-'in—IH , har
Olive (Olea Europaea).
ha-zelhlm [Zee 14 4], DTllTnTlbyiQ , ma'aleh ha-
24 20), as is the case today. Modem villages in Pal allow the poor of even neighboring villages to glean the olives. The yield of an olive tree is very uncertain; a year of great fruitfulness may be followed by a very scanty crop or by a succession
zethlm, "the ascent of the mount of Olives" [2 S 15 30, AV "the ascent of (mount) Olivet"]; to dpos Tuv 4X.aiwv, 16 6ros ton elaion, "the Mount of Olives" [Mt 21 1; 24 3; 26 30; Mk 11 1; 13 3; 14 26; Lk 19 37; 22 39; Jn 8 1], to dpos to KaXoipicvov cXaiuv, 16 6ros t6 kaloiimenon elaion, "the mount that is called Olivet" [Lk 19 29; 21 37; in both references in AV "the mount called (the mount) of Olives"], Tov eXaiuvos, toil elaionos [Acts 1 12, EV "Olivet" lit. "olive garden"]):
of such.
The olive is an important article of diet in Pal. Some are gathered green and pickled in brine, after
slight bruising, and others, the "black" olives, are gathered quite ripe and are either packed in salt
or in Ijrine. In both cases the salt modifies the
1. Names 2. Situation and Extent 3. OT Associations
bitter taste. They are eaten with bread. More important commercially is the oil. This
(1) David's Escape from Absaiom
is sometimes extracted in a primitive way by crushing a few berries by hand in the hollow of a
(2) Tlie Vision of Ezoldel
(3) Tiie Vision of Zecliariah
Olives, Mount of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2186
summits and two subsidiary spurs. The northern
4. High Places 5. Olivet and Jesus 6. View of tlie City from Olivet 7. Churches and Ecclesiastical Traditions Literature
of the two main summits is that knowm as Karem
ej Sayydd, "the vineyard of the hunter," and also as "Galilee," or, more correctly, as Viri Galilaei
(see below, 7). It reaches a height of 2,723 ft. above the Mediterranean and is separated from the southern summit by a narrow neck traversed today by the carriage road. The southern summit, of practically the same elevation, is the traditional "Moimt of the Ascension," and for several years has been distinguished by a lofty, though somewhat inartistic, tower erected by the Russians. The two subsidiary spurs referred to above are: (1) a somewhat isolated ridge running S.E., upon which
Olivet comes to us through the Vulg Olivelum, "an oliveyard."
Jos frequently uses the expression "Motint of Olives" (e.g. Ant, VII, ix, 2; XX, viii, 6; BJ, V, ii, 3; xii, 2), but later Jewish
1. Names writings give the name nnT2J'Qn""in
har ha-mishhdh, "Mount of Oil"; this occurs in some MSS in 2 K 23 13, and the common
reading n^n'lJ5'Qn~"in , har ha-rnashhith, "Mount of Corruption," m "destruction," may possibly be a deliberate alteration (see below). In later ages the Mount was termed "the mountain of lights," because here there used to be kindled at one time the
lies the squalid village of el ^Azareyeh—Bethany;
(2) a small spur running S., covered with grass, which is known as "the Prophets," on account of a remarkable 4th-cent. Christian tomb found there, which is known as "the tomb of the Prophets"— a spot much venerated by modern Jews.
first beacon light to announce throughout Jewry the appearance of the new moon.
A further extension of the ridge as Bain el Hawa, "the belly of the wind," or traditionally as "the Mount of Offence" (cf 1 K 11 7; 2 K 23 13), is usually included in the Mount of Olives, but its lower altitude—it is on a level with the templeplatform—and its position S. of the city mark
To the natives of Pal today it is usually known as Jehel et THr ("mountain of the elevation," or "tower"), or, less commonly, as Jebel Tur ez zait ("mountain of the elevation of oil"). The name Jehel ez-znitUn ("Mount of Olives") is also well known. Early Arab, writers use the term THr Zait, "Mount of Oil."
it off as practically a distinct hill. Upon its lower slopes are clustered the houses of Silwdn (Siloam).
The mountain ridge which lies E. of Jerus leaves the central range near the valley of Sha'phat and
The notices of the Mount of Olives in the OT are, considering its nearness to Jerus, remarkably scanty.
runs for about 2 miles due S. After
2. Situation culminating in the mountain mass on and Extent which lies the "Church of the Ascension," it may be considered as giving
(1) David fleeing before his rebellious son Absalom (2 S 15 16) crossed the Kidron and "went up by the ascent of the mount of
off two branches: one lower one, which runs S.S.W., forming the southern side of the Kidron valley, terminating at the Wwly en Ndr, and another, higher one, which slopes eastward and terminates a little beyond el-'Azareyeh (modern Bethany). The main ridge is considerably higher than the site of ancient Jerus, and still retains a thick cap of the soft chalky limestone, mixed with flint, known variously as Nari and Ka'kuli, which has been entirely denuded over the Jerus site (see Jerusalem, II, 1). The
3. OT Olives, and wept as he went up; and Associations he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went [ver 30] And it came to pass, that, when David was come to the top of the ascent, where he was wont to worship God, [m], behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head [ver 32]. And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine" (16 1). It is highly probable that David's route to the wilderness was neither by the much-trodden Anathoth road nor over the summit of the mountain, but by the path running N.E. from the city, which runs between the Viri Galilaei hill and that supporting the German Sanatorium and descends into the wilderness by WAdy er Rawdbi. See Bahurim.
flints were the cause of a large settlement of paleo-
lithic man which occurred in prehistoric times on the northern end of the ridge, while the soft chalky stone breaks down to form a soil valuable for the cultivation of olives and other trees and shrubs. The one drawback to arboriculture upon this ridge
is the strong northwest wind which permanently bends most trees toward the S.E., but affects the sturd}', slow-growing olive less than the quickergrowing pine. The eastern slopes are more sheltered. In respect of -ndnd the Mount of Olives is far more exposed than the site of old Jerus.
The lofty ridge of Olivet is visible from far, a fact now emphasized by the high Russian tower which can be seen for many scores of m.iles on the E. of the Jordan. The range presents, from such a point of view particularly, a succession of summits. Taking as the northern limit the dip which is crossed by the ancient Anathoth {'ariatd) road, the most northerly summit is that now crowned by the house and garden of Sir John Gray Hill, 2,690 ft. above sea-
(2) Ezekiel in a vision (11 23) saw the glory of Jeh go up from the midst of the city and stand "upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (cf 43 2). In connection with this the Rabbi Janna records the tradition that the sh'khindh stood 3i years upon Olivet, and preached, saying, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near"—a strange story to come from a Jewish source, suggesting some overt reference to Christ.
level. This is sometimes incorrectly pointed out as Scopus, which lay farther to the N.W. A second sharp dip in the ridge separates this northern summit from the next, a broad plateau now occupied by the great Kaiserin Augusta Victoria Stiftung and grounds. The road makes a sharp descent into a valley which is traversed from W. to E. by an important and ancient road from Jerus, which runs eastward along the Wady er Rawaheh. S. of this dip lies the main mass of the mountain, that known characteristically as the Olivet of ecclesiastical tradition. This mass consists of two principal
(3) In Zee 14 4 the prophet sees Jeh in that day stand upon the Mount of Olives, "and the Mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
In addition to these direct references, Jewish tradition associates with this mount—this "mount of Corruption"—the rite of the red heifer (Nu 19); and many authorities consider that this is also the
2187 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Olives, Mount of
of Olives" (Mk 11 1; Mt 21 1; Lk 19 29); over a shoulder of this mount—very probably by the route of the present Jericho carriage road—He made His triumphal entry to the city (Mt 21; Mk 11; Lk 19), and on this road, when probably the full sight of the city first burst into view, He
mount referred to in Neh 8 15, whence the people are directed to fetch ohve branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of thick trees to make their booths.
It is hardly possible that a spot with such a wide outlook—esp. the marvelous view over the Jordan
valley and Dead Sea to the lands of 4. High Ammon and Moab—should have been Places neglected in the days when Sem religion crowned such spots with their sanctuaries. There is OT evidence that there was a "high place" here. In the account of David's flight mention is made of the spot on the summit "where he was wont to worship God" (2 S 15 32 m). This
is certainly a reference to a sanctuary, and there are strong reasons for believing that this place may have been Nob (q.v.) (see 1 S 21 1; 22 9.11.19; Neh 11 32; but esp. Isa 10 32). This last reference seems to imply a site more commanding in its outlook over the ancient city than Ras el Musharif proposed by Driver, one at least as far S. as the Anathoth road, or even that from Wddy er Rawabi. But besides this we have the definite statement
(1 K 11 7): "Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before [i.e. E. of] Jcrus, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon," and the further account that the "high places that were before [E. of] Jerus, which were on the right hand [S.] of the mount of corruption [m "destruction"], which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king [Josiah] defile" (2 K 23 13). That these high places were somewhere upon what is generally recognized as the Mount of Olives, seems
Mount of Olives from the Golden Gate.
wept over Jerus (Lk 19 41). During all that week "every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet" (Lk 21 37)—the special part of the mount being Bethany (Mt 21 17; Mk 11 11). It was on the road from Bethany that He gave the sign of the withering of the fruitless fig tree (Mt 21
17-19; Mk 11 12-14.20-24), and "as he sat on the mount of Olives" (Mt 24 3 f ; Mk 13 3 f) Jesus gave His memorable sermon with the doomed city lying below Him.
clear, and the most probable site is the main mass where are today the Christian sanctuaries, though Graetz and Dean Stanley favor the summit known as Viri Galilaei. It is the recognition of this which has kept alive the Jewish name "Mount of Corruption" for this mount to this day. The term Mons offensionis, given to the southeastern exten-
On the lower slopes of Olivet, in the Garden of Gethsemane (q.v.), Jesus endured His agony, the betrayal and arrest, while upon one of its higher points—not, as tradition has it, on the inhabited highest summit, but on the secluded eastern slopes "over against Bethanj'" (Lk 24 50-52)—He took leave of His disciples (cf Acts 1 12). The view of Jerus from the Mount of Olives must ever be one of the most striking impressions which
sion, S. of the city, is merely an ecclesiastical tradidition going back to Quaresmius in the 17th cent., which is repeated by Burckhardt (1823 AD).
More important to us are the NT associations of
this sacred spot. In those days the mountain must have been far different from its con-
5. Olivet dition today. Titus in his siege of and Jesus Jerus destroyed all the timber here as elsewhere in the environs, but before
any visitor to Jerus carries away with
6. View of him. It has been described countless the City times. It is today a view but of ruin from Olivet and departed glory compared with that over which Jesus wept. A modern writer "with historic imagination has thus graphically sketched the salient features of that sight
this the hillsides must have been clothed with verdure—oliveyards, fig orchards and palm groves, with myrtle and other shrubs. Here in the fresh breezes and among the thick foliage, Jesus, the country-bred Galilean, must gladly have taken Himself from the noise and closeness of the overcrowded city. It is to the Passion Week, with the exception of Jn 8 1, that all the incidents belong which are expressly mentioned as occurring on the Mount of Olives; while there would be a special reason at this time in the densely packed city, it is probable that on other occasions also Our Lord
"We are standing on the road from Bethany as it breaks round the Mount of Olives and on looking northwest this is what we see There spreads a vast stone stage, almost ^ectang^llar, some 400 yds. N. and S. by 300 E. and W., held up above Ophel and the Kidron valley by a high and massive wall, from 50 to 150 ft. and more in height, according to the levels of the rock from which it rises. Deep cloisters surround this platform on the inside of the walls Every gate has its watch and other guards patrol the courts. The crowds, which pour through the south gates upon the platform for the most part keep to the right; the e.xceptions, turning westward, are excommunicated or in mourning. But the crowd are not all Israelites. Numbers ol Gentiles mingle with them; there are costumes and colors from all lands. In the cloisters sit teachers with groups of disciples about them. On the open pavement stand the booths of hucksters and money changers
preferred to stay outside the walls. Bethany would indeed appear to have been His home in Judaea, as Capernaum was in Galilee. Here we read of Him as staying with Mary and Martha (Lk
10 38-42); again He comes to Bethany from the
wilderness road from Jericho for the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11), and later He is at a feast, six days before the Passover (Jn 12 1), at the house of Simon (Mt 26 6-12; Mk 14 3-9; Jn 12 1-9). The Mount of Olives is expressly mentioned in many
and from the N. sheep and bullocks are being driven toward the Inner Sanctuary. This lies not in the centet of the great platform, but in the northwest corner. It
is a separately fortified, oblong enclosiu-e; its high walls with their 9 gates rising from a narrow terrace at a slight elevation above the platlorm and the terrace encom-
of the events of the Passion Week. He approached
Jerus, "unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount
Olives, Mount of Omnipotence THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2188
Warren, art. "Mount of Olives," in HDB; Gauthier, in EB, s.v. ; Vincent (Pere), "The Tombs of the Prophets," Retue Biblique, 1901. E. W. G. Mastehman OLIVET, ol'i-vet. See Olives, Mount op.
passed by a fence within which none but Israelites may pass Upon its higher western end rises a house 'lilie a lion broad in front and narrow behind.' . . . . Prom the open porch of this house stone steps descend to a great blocli of an altar perpetually smoking with sacrifices Off the N.W. of the Outer Sanctuary a castle (the Antonla) dominates the whole with its 4 lofty towers. Beyond .... the Upper City rises in curved tiers lilie a theater, while all the lower slopes to the S. are a crowded mass of houses, girded by the eastern wall of the city. Against that crowded background the sanctuary with its high house gleams white and fresh. But the front of the house, glittering mtli gold plates, is obscured by a column of smoke rising from the altar; and the Priests' Court about the latter is colored by the slaughterers and sacrifices—a splash of red, as our imagination takes it, in the center of the prevailing white. At intervals there are bursts of music; the singing of psalms, the clash of cymbals and a great blare of trumpets, at which the people in their court in the Inner Sanctuary fall down and worship" (extracts from G. A. Smith's Jerusalem, II, 518-20).
OLYMPAS, 6-lim'pas ('OXv|nrds, Olumpds) : The name of a Rom Christian to whom Paul sent greetings (Rom 16 15). Olympas is an abbreviated form of Olympiadorus. The joining in one salutation of the Christians mentioned in ver 15 suggests that they formed by themselves a small community in the earliest Rom church.
OLYMPrUS, 5-lim'pi-us ('OXv|j.irios, Olumpios)
An epithet of Jupiter or Zeus (q.v.) from Mt. Oljonpus in Thessaly, where the gods held court presided over by Zeus. Antiochus Epiphanes, "who on God's altars dansed," insulted the Jewish religion by dedicating the temple of Jerus to Jupiter Olympius, 168 BC (2 Mace 6 2; 1 Mace 1 54 ff).
To the Bible student the NT ia the best guide to Olivet; tradition and "sites" only bewilder him.
Once the main hilltop was a mass of
7. Churches churches. There was the "Church of and Ecclethe Ascension" to mark the spot siastical whereby tradition (contrary to the Traditions direct statement of Luke) states that the Ascension occurred; now the site
OMAERUS, om-a-e'rus: AV = RV "Ismaerus"
(1 Esd 9 34).
OMAR, o'mar ("ipiS, 'mnar, connected perhaps with 'dmar, "speak"; LXX 'liiidv, Oman, or 'Ii|iap, Omar) : Grandson of Esau and son of Eliphaz in Gen 36 11; 1 Ch 1 36; given the title "duke" or "chief" in Gen 36 15.
is marked by a small octagonal chapel, built in 1834, which is in the hands of the Moslems. There a "footprint of Christ" is shown in the rock. A large basilica of Helena was built over the place where it was said that Christ taught His disciples. In 1869 the Princess de Latour d'Auvergne, learning that there was a Moslem tradition that this site was at a spot called el Battaniyeh south of the summit, here erected a beautiful church known as the Church of the Pater Noster and around the courtyard she had the Lord's Prayer inscribed in 32 languages. When the church was in course of erection certain fragments of old walls and mosaics were found, but, in 1911, as a result of a careful excavation of the site, the foundations of a more extensive mass of old buildings, with some beautiful mosaic in the baptistry, were revealed in the neighborhood; there is little doubt but that these foundations belonged to the actual Basilica of Helena. It
OMEGA, o'me-ga, 5-me'ga, 6-meg'a. See Alpha AND Omega.
OMENS, o'menz. See Augury; Divination.
OMER, o'mer (yCtS , 'omer): A dry measure, the tenth of an ephah, equal to about 7i pints. See Weights and Measures.
OMNIPOTENCE, om-nip'g-tens: The noun "omnipotence" is not found in the Eng. Bible, nor any noun exactly corresponding to it
1. Terms in the original Heb or Gr. and Usage rpj^^ ^^^ "omnipotent" occurs in Rev 19 6 AV; the Gr for this, TTayrotcpaTiup, pantokrdtor. Occurs also in 2 Cor 6 18; Rev 18; 4 8; 11 17; 15 3; 16 7.14; 19 15; 21 22 (in all of which AV and RV render " almighty "). It is also found frequently in LXX, esp. iri the rendering of the Divine names Jeh ^ebhaoth and 'El Shadday. In pantokrator, the element of "authority," "sovereignty," side by side with that of "power," makes itself more distinctly felt than it does to the modern ear in "omnipotent," although it is meant to be included in the latter also. Cf further 6 {tii-nTo;, ho dunaios, in Lk 1 49. The formal conception of omnipotenceas worked out in theology does not occur in the OT. The substance of the idea is conveyed in 2. Inherent various indirect ways. The notion of in OT "strength" is inherent in the OT conNames of ception of God from the beginning, God being already represented in one of the two Divine names inherited by Israel from ancient Sem rehgion, the name 'El. According to one etymology it is also inherent in the other, the nanie 'Elohlm, and in this case the pi. form, by bringing out the fulness of power in God, would mark an approach to the idea of omnipotence. See God, Names of.
is proposed to rebuild the church.
Mention has been made of the name Viri Galilaei or Galilee as given to the northern summit of the main mass of Olivet. The name "Mount Galilee" appears to have been first given to this
hill early in the 4th cent, and in 1573 AD Rauwolf explains the name by the statement that here was anciently a khan where the Galileans lodged who came up to Jerus. In 1620 Quaresmius applies the names "Galilee" and Viri Galilaei to this site and thinks the latter name may be due to its having been the spot where the two angels appeared and addressed the disciples as "Ye men of Galilee" (Acts 1 11). Attempts have been made, without much success, to maintain that this "Galilee" was the spot which Our Lord intended (Mt 28 10.16) to indicate to His disciples as the place of meeting.
The Russian inclosure includes a chapel, a lofty tower—from which a magnificent view is obtainable—a hospice and a pleasant pine grove. Between the Russian buildings to the N. and the Church of the Ascension lies the squalid village of
et THr, inhabited by a peculiarly turbulent and rapacious crowd of Moslems, who prey upon the passing pilgrims and do much to spoil the sentiment of a visit to this sacred spot. It is possible it may be the original site of Bethphage (q.v.). Literature.—PEF, Memoirs, "Jerusalem" volume; G. A. Smith, Jerusalem; Robinson, BRP, I, 18.38; Stanley, Sinai and Pal; Baedeker's Pal and Syria (by Socin and Bensinger); Tobler, Die Siloahquelle und der Oelberg, 1852; Porter, Murray's Pal and Syria; R Hofmann, Galilaea auf dem Oelberg, Leipzig, 1896 Schick, "The Mount of Olives," PEFS, 1889, 174-84
In the patriarchal religion the conception of "might" occupies a prominent place, as is indicated by the name characteristic of this period, 'El Shadday; cf Gen 17 1; 28 3; 35 11; 43 14; 48 3; 49 24.25; Ex 6 3. Tliis name, however, designates the Divine power as standing in the service of His covenant-relation to the patriarchs, as transcending Nature and overpowering it in the Interests of redemption.
Another Divine name which signalizes this attribute is Jeh Q'bhd'oth, Jeh of Hosts. This name, characteristic
2189 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Olives, Mount of Omnipotence
ol the prophetic period, describes God as the King surrounded and followed by the angelic hosts, and since the might of an oriental king is measured by the splendor of his retinue, as of great, incomparable power, the King Omnipotent (Ps 24 10; Isa 2 12; 6 3.5; 8 13; Jer 46 18; Mai 1 14). Still another name expressive of the same idea is 'Abhlr. " Strong One," compounded with Jacob or Israel (Gen 49 24; Ps 132 2.5; Isa 1 24; 49 26; 60 16). Further, 'El Gibbor, "God-Hero" (Isa 9 6 [of the Messiah]; cl for the adj. jidftor, Jer 20 11); and tho figurative designation of God as C^ur, " Rock," occurring esp. in the address to God in the Psalter (Isa 30 29. AV "Mighty One"). The specific energy with which the Divine nature operates finds expression also in the name 'Kt Hay, "Living God," which God bears over against the impotent idols (1 S 17 26.36; 2 K 19 4.16; Ps 18 46; Jer 23 36; Dnl 6 20.26 f). An anthropomorphic description of tlie power of God is in the figures of His "hand," His "arm," His "finger." See God. Some of the attributes of Jeh have an intimate connection with His omnipotence. Under this head esp. God's nature as Spirit and
It is chiefly through its forms of manifestation that the distinctive quality of the Divine power which renders it omnipotent becomes
5. Forms of apparent. The Divine power operates Manifesnot merely in single concrete acts, but tation is comprehensively related to the world as such. Both in Nature and history, in creation and in redemption, it produces and controls and directs everything that comes to pass. Nothing in the realm of actual or conceivable things
is withdrawn from it (Am 9 2.3; Dnl 4 35); even to the minutest and most recondite sequences of cause and effect it extends and masters all details of reality (Mt 10 30; Lk 12 7). There is no accident (1 S 6 9; cf with ver 12; Prov 16 33). It need not operate through second causes; it itself underlies all second causes and makes them what they are.
It is creative power producing its effect through a mere word (Gen 1 3 ff ; Dt 8 3; Ps 33 9; Rom 4 17; He
3. Other His hoUness come under consideration. Modes of The representation of God as Spirit in Expression the OT does not primarily refer to the incorporealness of the Divine nature, but to its inherent energy. The physical element underlying the conception of Spirit is that of air in motion, and in this at first not the invisibility but the force forms the point of comparison. The opposite of "Spirit" in this sense is "flesh," which expresses the weakness and impotence of the creature over against God (Isa 2 22; 31 3). The holiness of God in its earliest and widest sense (not restricted to the ethical sphere) describes the majestic, specifically Divine character of His being, that which evokes in man religious awe. It is not a single attribute coordinated with others, but a peculiar aspect under which all the attributes can be viewed, that which renders them distinct from anything analogous in the creature
I 3; 11 30). Among the prophets, esp. Isaiah emphasizes this manner of the working of the Divine power in its immediateness and suddenness (Isa 9 8; 17 13; 18 4-6; 29 5). All the processes of Nature are ascribed to the causation of Jeh (Job 5 9 H; 9 5 if; chs 38 and 39; Isa 40 12 fl; Am 4 13; 5 8.9; 9 5.6); esp. God's control of the sea is named as illustrative of this (Ps 65 7; 104 9; Isa 50 2; Jer 5 22; 31 35). The OT seldom says "it rains" (Am 4 7), but usually God causes it to rain (Lev 26 4; Dt 11 17; 1 S 12 17; Job 36 27; Pss 29 and 65; Mt 5 45; Acts 14 17).
The same is true of the processes of history. God sovereignly disposes, not merely of Israel, but of all other nations, even of the most powerful, e.g. the Assyrians, as His instruments for the accomplishment of His purpose (Am 1—2 3; 9 7; Isa 10
5.15; 28 2; 45 1; Jer 25 9; 27 6; 43 10). The prophets ascribe to Jeh not merely relatively greater power than to the gods of the nations, but His power extends into the sphere of the nations, and the heathen gods are ignored in the estimate put upon His might (Isa 31 3). Even more than the sphere of Nature and history, that of redemption reveals the Divine omnipotence, from the point of view of the supernatural and miraculous. Thus Ex 15 celebrates the power of Jeh in the wonders of the exodus. It is God's exclusive prerogative to do wonders (Job 5 9; 9 10; Ps 72 18); He alone can make "a new thing" (Nu 16 30; Isa 43 19; Jer 31 22). In the NT the great embodiment of this redemptive omnipotence
(1 S 2 2; Hos 11 9). In this way holiness becomes closely associated with the power of God, indeed sometimes becomes synonymous with Divine power =oninipotence (Ex 15 11; Nu 20 12), and esp. in Ezk, where God's "holy name" is often equivalent to His renown tor power, hence interchangeable with His " great name" (Ezk 36 20-24). The objective Spirit as a distinct hypostasis and the executive of the Godhead on its one side also represents the Divine power (Isa 32 15; Mt 12 28; Lk 1 35; 4 14; Acts 10 38; Rom 15 19; 1 Cor 2 4).
In aU these forms of expression a great and specificaUy Divine power is predicated of God. Statements in which the absolutely un-
4. Unlimitlimited extent of this power is explicitly ed Extent affirmed are rare. The reason, howof the ever, lies not in any actual restriction Divine placed on this power, but in the conPower Crete practical form of religious thinking which prevents abstract formulation of the principle. The point to be noticed is that no statement is anywhere made exempting aught from the reach of Divine power. Nearest to a general formula come such statements as nothing is "too hard for Jeh" (Gen 18 14; Jer 32
is the resurrection of believers (Mt 22 29; Mk 12 24) and specifically the resurrection of Christ (Rom 4 17.21.24; Eph 1 19 ff); but it is evidenced in the whole process of redemption (Mt 19 26; Mk 10 27; Rom 8 31; Eph 3 7.20; 1 Pet 1 5; Rev II 17). The significance of the idea may be traced along two distinct lines. On the one hand the Divine omnipotence appears as a support of
6. Signififaith. On the other hand it is procance for ductive of that specifically religious Biblical state of consciousness which Scripture Religion calls "the fear of Jeh." Omnipotence in God is that to which human faith addresses itself. In it lies the ground for assurance that He is able to save, as in His love that He is willing to save (Ps 65 5.6; 72 18; 118 14-16; Eph 3 20).
17); or "I know that thou canst do everything," or "God .... hath done whatever he pleased" (Ps 115 3; 135 6), or, negatively, no one "can hinder" God in carrying out His purpose (Isa 43 13), or God's hand is not "waxed short" (Nu 11 23); in the NT: "With God all things are possible" (Mt 19 26; Mk 10 27; Lk 18 27); "Nothing is impos-
sible with God" (RV "No word from God shall be void of power," Lk 1 37). Indirectly the omnipotence of God is implied in the effect ascribed to
As to the other aspect of its significance, the Divine omnipotence in itself, and not merely for
faith (Mt 17 20: "Nothing shall be impossible unto you"; Mk 9 23: "All things are possible to him that believeth"), because faith puts the Divine power at the disposal of the believer. On its sub-
soteriological reasons, evokes a specific religious response. This is true, not only of the OT, where the element of the fear of God stands comparatively
in the foreground, but remains true also of the NT. Even in Our Lord's teaching the prominence given
jective side the principle of inexhaustible power
finds expression in Isa 40 28: God is not subject to weariness. Because God is conscious of the unUmited extent of His resources nothing is marvelous
to the fatherhood and love of God does not preclude that the transcendent majesty of the Divine nature, including omnipotence, is kept in full view and
in His eyes (Zee 8 6).
Omnipresence Omniscience THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2190
presence of being is intended may be seen from Jer 23 24, where in the former half of the verse the omnipresence of ver 23 is expressed in terms of omniscience, while in the latter half the idea finds ontological expression. Similarly, in Ps 139, cf ver 2 with vs 7 ff, and vs 13 ff. As here, so in other passages the presence of God with His being in all space is explicitly affirmed (1 K 8 27; 2 Ch 2 6; Isa 66 1; Acts 17 28). Omnipresence being the correlate of monotheism, the presence of the idea in the earlier parts of the OT is de-
made a potent factor in the cultivation of the religious mind (Mt 6 9). The beauty of Jesus' teaching on the nature of God consists in this, that He keeps the exaltation of God above every creature and His loving condescension toward the creature in perfect equilibrium and makes them mutually fructified by each other. Religion is more than the inclusion of God in the general altruistic movement of the human mind; it is a devotion at every point colored by the consciousness of that Divine uniqueness in which God's omnipotence occupies a foremost place.
nied by all those who assign the develop4. Denial ment of monotheism in the OT religion to
of the ^^^ prophetic period from the 8th cent. p f OQward. It is undoubtedly true that the presence or earliest narratives speak very anthropothe Idea in morphlcally of God's relation to space; the Earlier f^ey describe Him as coming and going
LiTEEATUKE.—OeMer, Theologie des AT'. 131, 139 ff; Riehm, AlUestamentliche Theologie, 2.50 ff; DiUmann, Handbuch der alttestameniUchen Theologie, 244; Davidson. OT Theology, 163 ff; Konig, Geschichte der altlestamenllichen Religion, 127, 135 ff, 391, 475.
T5 , f in language such as might be used of a ±'arts 01 human person. But it does not follow the OT from this that the writers who do so conceive of God's being as circumscribed by space. Where such forms of statement occur, not the presence of God in general, but His visible presence in theophany is referred to. If from the local element entering into the description God's subjection to the limitations of space were inferred, then one might with equal warrant, on the basis of the physical, sensual elements entering into the representation, impute to the writers the view that the Divine nature is corporeal.
Geeehardus Vos OMNIPRESENCE, om-ni-prez'ens: Neither the noun "omnipresence" nor adj. "omnipresent" occurs
in Scripture, but the idea that God
1. Nonis everywhere present is throughout Occurrence presupposed and sometimes explicitly of the Term formulated. God's omnipresence is in Scripture closely related to His omnipotence and omniscience: that He is everywhere enables Him to act everywhere and to know all things, and, conversely, through omnipotent action and omniscient knowledge He has access to all places and all secrets (cf Ps 139). Thus conceived, the attribute is but the correlate of the monotheistic conception of God as the Infinite Creator, Preserver and Governor of the universe, immanent in His works as well as transcendent above them.
The theophanic form of appearance does not disclose what God is ontologically in Himself, but merely how He
condescends to appear and work for the 5. The redemption of His people. It establishes Special ^ redemptive and revelatory presence in Ppj .- definite localities, which does not, in the Keaemprive mind of the writer, detract from the Diana vine omnipresence. Hence, it is not conRevelatory fined to one place; the altars built in p recognition of it are in patriarchal history
« r^ J erected in several places and coexist as of God each and all offering access to the special Divine presence. It is significant that already during the patriarchal period these theophanies and the altars connected with them are confined to the Holy Land. This shows that the idea embodied in them has nothing to do with a crude conception of the Deity as locally circumscribed, but marks the beginning of that gradual restoration of the gracious presence of God to fallen humanity, the completion of which forms the goal of redemption. Thus God is said to dwell in the ark, in the tabernacle, on Mt. Zion (Nu 10 35; 2 S 6 2; 2 K 19 15; Ps 3 4; 99 1); in the temple (1 K 8; Ps 20 2; 26 8; 46 5; 48 2; Isa 8 18; Joel 3 16.21; Am 1 2); in the Holy Land (1 S 26 19; Hos 9 3); in Christ (Jn 1 14; 2 19; Col 2 9); in the church (Jn 14 23; Rom 8 9.11; 1 Cor 3 16; 6 19; Eph 2 21.22; 3 11; 2 Tim 3 15; He 10 21; 1 Pet 3 5); in the esehatological assembly of His people (Rev 21 3). In the light of the same principle must be interpreted the presence of God in heaven. This also is not to be understood as an ontological presence, but as a presence of specific theocratic manifestation (1 K 8 27; Ps 2 4; 11 4 ; 33 13 ff; 104 3; Isa 6 1 ft; 63 15; 66 1; Hab 2 20; Mt 5 34; 6 9; Acts 7 48; 17 28; Eph 1 20; He 1 3). How little this is meant to exclude the presence of God elsewhere may be seen from the fact that the two representations, that of God's self-manifestation in heaven and in the earthly sanctuary, occur side by side
The philosophical idea of omnipresence is that of exemption from the limitations of space, subject-
ively as well as objectively; subject2. Philoively, in so far as space, which is a sophical necessary form of all created consciousand Popular ness in the sphere of sense-perception. Ideas of is not thus constitutionally inherent Onmiin the mind of God; objectively, in so presence far as the actuality of space-relations in the created world imposes no limit upon the presence and operation of God. This metaphysical conception of transcendence above
all space is, of course, foreign to the Bible, which in regard to this, as in regard to the other transcendent attributes, clothes the truth of revelation
in popular language, and speaks of exemption from the limitations of space in terms and figures derived from space itself. Thus the very term "omnipresence" in its two component parts "everywhere" and "present" contains a double inadequacy of expression, both the notion of "everjTvhere" and that of "presence" being spacial concepts. Another point, in regard to which the popular nature of the Scriptural teaching on this subject must be kept
(1 K 8 26-53; Ps 20 2-6; Am 9 6). It has been alleged that the idea of God's dwelling in heaven marks a comparatively late attainment in the religion of Israel, of wliich in the pre-prophetic period no trace can as vet be discovered (so Stade. Bibl. Theol. des AT, I, 103, 1()4). There are, however, a number of passages in the Pent bearing witness to the early existence of this belief (Gen 11 1-9; 19 24; 21 17; 22 11; 28 12). Jeh comes, according to the belief of the earliest period, with the
in mind, concerns the mode of the Divine omnipresence. In treating the concept philosophically,
?l?H5''' iS^ 14 19-20; 19 9.18; 24 15; Nu 11 25; 12 5). That even in the opinion of the people Jeh's local presence in an earthly sanctuary need not have excluded Him from heaven follows also from the unhesitating belief in His simultaneous presence in a plurality of sanctuaries. If it was not a question of locally circumscribed presence as between sanctuary and sanctuary, it need not have been as between earth and heaven (cf Gunkel, Gen. 157). Both from a generally religious and from a specifically soteriological point of view the omnipresence
it is of importance to distinguish between its application to the essence, to the activity, and to the knowledge of God. The Bible does not draw these distinctions in the abstract. Although sometimes
it speaks of God's omnipresence with reference to the pervasive immanence of His being, it frequently contents itself with affirming the universal extent of God's power and knowledge (Dt 4 39; 10 14; Ps 139 6-16; Prov 15 3; Jer 23 23.24; Am 9 2). This observation has given rise to the theories of a mere omnipresence of power or omnipresence by an act
of God is of great practical importance 6. Religious for the rehgious life. In the former Significance respect it contains the guaranty that the actual nearness of God and a real communion with Him may be enjoyed everywhere, even apart from the places hallowed for such purpose by a specific gracious self-manifestation (Ps 139 5-10). In the other respect the Divine omnipresence assures the believer that God is at hand
of will, as distinct from an omnipresence of 3 Theories ''eing. But it is plain that in this anti_J . thetical form such a distinction is foreign Uenymg to the intent of the Bib. statements in Omnir question. The writers in these passages ^^p(,p-pp content themselves with describing the f' ° . practical effects of the attribute without 01 iiemg reflecting upon the difference between this and its ontological aspect; the latter is neither affirmed nor denied. That no denial of the omni-
2191 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Omnipresence Omniscience
to save in every place where from any danger or foe His people need salvation (Isa 43 2) LiTERATHBE.—Oehler, Theologie des AT'. 174 ff; Riehm, AlUestamenUiche Theotogie, 262 11; nillmann, Handbuch der alUestamentlichen Theologie, 246 fif; DavidSon, OT Theology, 180 fl; Kbnig, GescMchte der alUestamentlichen Religion, 197 ff.
the knowledge of that which is to be actual, is not identical with such knowledge or with the purpose on which such knowledge rests, for in God, as well as in man, the intellect and the will are distinct faculties. In the last analysis, God's knowledge of the world has its source in His self-knowledge. The world is a revelation of God. All that is actual or possible in it therefore is a reflection in created form of what exists uncreated in God, and thus the knowledge of the one becomes a reproduction of the knowledge of the other (Acts 17 27; Rom 1 20). The Divine knowledge of the world also partakes of the quality of the Divine self-knowledge in this respect, that it is never dormant. God does not depend for embracing the multitude and complexity of the existing world on such mental processes
Geerhardus Vos OMNISCIENCE, om-nish'ens : The term does not occur in Scripture, either in its nominal or in its adjectival form.
In the OT it is expressed in connection witli such words as ri?!. da'ath, n213, bindh, nDIDP. I'bhunah, nUDn,
hokhmah; also "seeing" and "hearing," 1. Words ''the eye" and "the ear" occur as figures nnH TToocro 'o'' W^^ linowledge of God, as "arm," auu us.<ige "hand," "finger" serve to express His
_ power. In the NT are found yLfdttrKeLi', gindskein, yvwait;, gndsis, ei5ecat, eidlnai, <70(/)ta, Sophia, in the same connections.
'as abstraction and generalization.
The Bible nowhere represents Him as attaining to knowledge by reasoning, but everywhere as simply knowing. From what has been said about the immanent sources of the Divine knowledge, it follows that the latter is not a posteriori derived from its objects, as all human knowledge based on experience is, but is exercised without receptivity or dependence. In knowing, as well as in all other activities of His nature, God is sovereign and selfsufficient. In cognizing the reality of all things He needs not wait upon the things, but draws His knowledge directly from the basis of reality as it
Scripture everywhere teaches the absolute universality of the Divine knowledge. In the historical books, although there is no 2. Tacit abstract formula, and occasional anAssumption thropomorphic references to God's and Explicit taking knowledge of things occur (Gen Aflarmation 11 5; .18 21; Dt 8 3), none the less the principle is everywhere presupposed in what is related about God's cognizance of the doings of man, about the hearing of prayer, the disclosing of the future (1 S 16 7; 23 9-12;
1 K 8 39; 2 Ch 16 9). Explicit affirmation of the principle is made in the Psalter, the Prophets, the hokhmah literature and in the NT. This is due to the increased internalizing of religion, by which
lies in Himself. While the two are thus closely connected it is nevertheless of importance to distinguish between God's knowledge of Himself and God's knowledge of the world, and also between His knowledge of the actual and His knowledge of the possible. These distinctions mark off the theistic conception of omniscience from the panthe-
its hidden side, to which the Divine omniscience corresponds, receives greater emphasis (Job 26 6; 28 24; 34 22; Ps 139 12; 147 4; Prov 15 3.11; Isa 40 26; Acts 1 24; He 4 13; Rev 2 23). This absolute universality is affirmed with reference to the various categories that comprise within
istic idea regarding it. God is not bound up in His life with the world in such a sense as to have no scope of activity beyond it. Since Scripture includes in the objects of the Divine knowledge also the issue of the exercise of
themselves all that is possible or ac-
3. Extends tual. It extends to God's own being,
to All as well as to what exists outside of Him Spheres in the created world. God has perfect possession in consciousness of His own being. The unconscious finds no place in Him (Acts 15 18; 1 Jn 1 5). Next to Himself God knows the world in its totality. This knowledge extends to small as well as to great affairs (Mt 6
freewill on the part of man, the prob-
5. God's lem arises, how the contingent charOmnisacter of such decisions and the cercience and tainty of the Divine knowledge can Human coexist. It is true that the knowledge Freewill of God and the purposing will of God are distinct, and that not the former but the latter determines the certainty of the outcome. Consequently the Divine omniscience in such cases adds or detracts nothing in regard to the certainty of the event. God's omniscience does not produce but presupposes the certainty by which the problem is raised. At the same time, precisely because omniscience presupposes certainty, it appears to exclude every conception of contingency in the free acts of man, such as would render the latter in their very essence undetermined. The knowledge of the issue must have a fixed point of certainty to terminate upon, if it is to be knowledge at all. Those who make the essence of freedom absolute indeterminateness must, therefore, exempt this class of events from the scope of the Di-vine omniscience. But this is contrary to all the testimony of Scripture, which distinctly makes God's absolute knowledge extend to such acts (Acts 2 23). It has been attempted to construe a peculiar form of the Divine knowledge, which would relate to this class of acts specifically, the so-called scienlia media, to be distinguished from the scienlia necessaria, which has for its object God Himself, and the scienlia libera which terminates upon the certainties of the world outside of God, as determined by His
8.32; 10 30); to the hidden heart and mind of man as well as to that which is open and manifest
(Job 11 11; 34 21.23; Ps 14 2; 17 2ff; 33 13-
18; 102 19 f; 139 1-4; Prov 5 21; 15 3; Isa 29
15; Jer 17 10; Am 4 13; Lk 16 1.5; Acts 1 24;
1 Thess 2 4; He 4 13; Rev 2 23). It extends
to all the divisions of time, the past, present and
future alike (Job 14 17; Ps 66 8; Isa 41 22-24; 44 6-8; Jer 1 5; Hos 13 12; Mai 3 16). It embraces that which is contingent from the human viewpoint as well as that which is certain (1 S 23 9-12; Mt 11 22.23). Scripture brings God's knowledge into connection with His omnipresence. Ps 139 is the clearest expression of this. Omniscience is the
4. Mode of omnipresence of cognition (Jer 23
the Divine 23 ff). It is also closely related to Knowledge God's eternity, for the latter makes Him in His knowledge independent
of the limitations of time (Isa 43 8-12). God's
creative relation to all that exists is represented as underlying His omniscience (Ps 33 15; 97 9; 139
13; Isa 29 15). His all-comprehensive purpose forms the basis of His knowledge of all events and developments (Isa 41 22-27; Am 3 7). This, however, does not mean that God's knowledge of things is identical with His creation of them,
freewill. This scienlia media would then be based on God's foresight of the outcome of the free choice of man. It would involve a knowledge of recep-
as has been suggested by Augustine and others. The act of creation, while necessarily connected with
tivity, a contribution to the sum total of what God
Omri On THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2192
brother Joram (1 K 16 22 LXX) and by a large number of the people. Civil war followed this rivalry for the throne, which seems to have lasted for a period of four years (cf 1 K 16 15, with vs 23 and 29) before O. gained full control. O.'s military ability is seen from his choice of Samaria as the royal residence and capital of the Northern Kingdom. This step may have been suggested to O. by his own easy conquest of Tirzah, the former capital. Accordingly, he purchased the
knows derived from observation on His part of the world-process. That is to say, it would be knowledge a posteriori in essence, although not in point of time. It is, however, difficult to see how such a knowledge can be possible in God, when the outcome is psychologically undetermined and undeterminable. The knowledge could originate no sooner than the determination originates through the free decision of man. It would, therefore, necessarily become an a posteriori knowledge in time as well as in essence. The appeal to God's eternity as bringing Him equally near to the future as to the present and enabling Him to see the future deci-
hill Shomeron of Shemer for two talents of silver, about ,$4,352.00 in American money. The conical
hill, which rose from the surrounding plain to the height of 400 ft., and on the top of which there was room for a large city, was capable of easy defence.
isions of man's free will as though they were present cannot remove this difficulty, for when once the observation and knowledge of God are made dependent on any temporal issue, the Divine eternity
The superior strategic importance of Samaria
is evidenced by the sieges it endured repeatedly by the Syrians and Assyrians. It 2. The was finally taken by Sargon in 722, Founding after the siege had lasted for 3 years. of Samaria That the Northern Kingdom endured as long as it did was due largely to the strength of its capital. With the fall of Samaria, the nation fell.
itself is thereby virtually denied. Nothing remains but to recognize that God's eternal knowledge of the outcome of the freewill choices of man implies that there enters into these choices, notwithstanding their free character, an element of predetermination, to which the knowledge of God can attach
itself.
Tne Di\'ine omniscience is most important for the religious life. The very essence of religion as communion with God depends on His
6. Religious all-comprehensive cognizance of the Importance life of man at every moment. Hence
it is characteristic of the irreligious to deny the omniscience of God (Ps 10 11.12; 94 7-9; Isa 29 15; Jer 23 2.3; Ezk 8 12; 9 9). Esp. along three lines this fundamental religious importance reveals itself: (a) it lends support and comfort when the pious suffer from the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of men; (h) it acts as a deterrent to tfiose tempted by sin, esp. secret
sin, and becomes a judging principle to all hypocrisy and false security; (c) it furnishes the source from which man's desire for self-knowledge can obtain satisfaction (Ps 19 12; 51 6; 139 23.24). LiTEHATTjBE.—Oehlef, Theologie lies AT', S76; Riehm, Alttestameniliche Theologie, 263; Dilimann, Handhuch der altteslamentlichen Theologie, 249; Davidson, OT Theology, 180 fl. Geerhardus Vos OMRI, om'ri Oip? , 'omri; LXX 'A|iPpC, Ambri; Assyr "Humri" and "Humria"):
Palace ot Omri and Ahab at Samaria.
Recent excavations in Samaria under the direction of Harvard University throw new light upon the ancient capital of Israel. The first results were the xmcovering of massive foundation walls of a large building, including a stairway 80 ft. wide. This building, which is Rom in architecture, is supposed to have been a temple, the work of Herod, Under this Rom building was recovered a part of a massive Heb structure, believed to be the palace of O. and Ahab. During the year 1910 the explorations revealed a building covering 15 acres of ground. Pour periods of construction were recognized, which, on archaeological grounds, were tentatively assigned to the reigns of O., Ahab, Jehu, and Jeroboam II. See Samaria and articles by David G. Lyon in Harvard
(1) The 6th king of Northern Israel, and founder of the Hid Dynasty which reigned for nearly 50 years. Omri reigned 12 years, c 887-876 BC. The historical sources of his reign are contained in 1 K 16 15-28; 20 34, the M S, Assyr inscriptions, and in the published accounts of recent excavations in Samaria. In spite of the brief passage given to Omri in the OT, he was one of the most important of the military kings of Northern Israel.
Theological Review, IV, 1911; JBL, V, XXX, Part I 1911PEFS, 1911, 79-83.
Concerning O.'s foreign policy the OT is silent beyond a single hint contained in 1 K 20 34. Here we learn that he had to bow 3. His before the stronger power of Syria. It Foreign is probable that Ben-hadad I besieged Policy Samaria shortly after it was built, for he forced O. to make "streets" in the city for the Syrians. It is probable, too, that at this time Ramoth-gilead was lost to the Syrians. Evidently O. was weakened in his foreign poUcy at the beginning of his reign by the civil conflict engendered by his accession. However, he showed strength of character in his dealings with foreign powers. At least he regained control over the northern part of Moab, as we learn from the M S. Lmes 4-8 tell us that "Omri was king of Israel and afflicted Moab many days because Chemosh was angry with his land Omri obtained possession of the land of Medeba and dwelt therein during his days and half the days of his son, forty years."
O. is first mentioned as an officer in the army of Elah, which was engaged in the siege of the Phili
town of Gibbethon. XMiile O. was
1. His thus engaged, Zimri, another officer Accession of Elah's army, conspired against the king, whom he assassinated in a drunken debauch, exterminating at the same time the remnant of the house of Baasha. The conspiracy evidently lacked the support of the people, for the report that Zimri had usurped the throne no sooner reached the army at Gibbethon, than the people proclaimed O., the more powerful military leader, Idng over Israel. O. lost not a moment, but leaving Gibbethon in the hands of the Philis, he marched to Tirzah, which he besieged and captured, while Zimri perished in the flames of the palace to which he had set fu-e with his own hands (1 K 16
IS). O., however, had still another opponent in Tibni the son of Ginath, who laid claim to the throne, and who was supported in his claims by his
O. was the first king of Israel to pay tribute to the Assyrians under their king Asurnaoirpal III,
2193 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Omri On
the time of lowest Nile are now about 11 ft. above the floor-level of the temple.
in 876 BC. From the days of Shahnaneser II (860 BC) down to the time of Sargon (722 BC), Northern Israel was known to the Assyrians as "the land of the house of Omri." On Shalmaneser's black obehsk, Jehu, who overthrew the dynasty
The history of On is very obscure, yet its very great importance is in no doubt. No clear description of the ancient city or sanc-
2. History tuary has come down to us, but there are so many incidental references, and so much is implied in ancient records, that it stands
of O., is called Ja'ua abal Humri, "Jehu son of Omri."
O. entered into an alliance with the Phoenicians by the marriage of his son Ahab to Jezebel, daughter
of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. This may have been done as protection against the powers from the East, and as such would have seemed to be a wise pohtical move, but it was one fraught with evil
for Israel.
Although O. laid the foundation of a strong kingdom, he failed to impart to it the vitaUzing and rejuvenating force of a healthy
4. His spiritual rehgion. The testimony of Religious 1 K 16 25.26, that he "dealt wickedly Influence above all that were before him," and Death coupled with the reference to "the statutes of Omri" in Mic 6 16, indicates that he may have had a share in substituting foreign religions for the worship of Jeh, and therefore the unfavorable light in which he is regarded