well was dug by the direction of Moses, at the forty-fourth

station of the Hebrews in their wanderings (Num. 21:16-18)

probably the name given to Beer, the place where the chiefs

well-man. (1.) The father of Judith, one of the wives of

Esau (Gen. 26:34), the same as Adah (Gen. 36:2). (2.) The

well of him that liveth and seeth me,” or, as some

render it, “the well of the vision of life”, the

well where the Lord met with Hagar (Gen. 16:7-14). Isaac

dwelt beside this well (24:62; 25:11). It has been

identified with ‘Ain Muweileh, or Moilahhi, south-west

cities of the Hivites which entered by fraud into a league

with Joshua. It belonged to Benjamin (Josh. 18:25). It has

by some been identified with el-Bireh on the way to Nablus,

– (Deut. 10:6). The same as Bene-jaakan (Num.

well of seven, a well dug by Abraham, and so named because

he and Abimelech here entered into a compact (Gen. 21:31).

On re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name (Gen.

26:31-33). It was a favourite place of abode of both of

these patriarchs (21:33-22:1, 19; 26:33; 28:10). It is

mentioned among the “cities” given to the tribe

of Simeon (Josh. 19:2; 1 Chr. 4:28). From Dan to Beersheba,

a distance of about 144 miles (Judg. 20:1; 1 Chr. 21:2; 2

Sam. 24:2), became the usual way of designating the whole

Promised Land, and passed into a proverb. After the return

from the Captivity the phrase is narrowed into “from

Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom” (Neh. 11:30). The

kingdom of the ten tribes extended from Beersheba to Mount

Ephraim (2 Chr. 19:4). The name is not found in the New

Testament. It is still called by the Arabs Bir es-Seba,

i.e., “well of the seven”, where there are to the

present day two principal wells and five smaller ones. It

is nearly midway between the southern end of the Dead Sea

“leaper”). Mention of it is made only in Lev.

11:22, where it is obvious the word cannot mean properly

the beetle. It denotes some winged creeper with at least

four feet, “which has legs above its feet, to leap

withal.” The description plainly points to the locust

(q.v.). This has been an article of food from the earliest

times in the East to the present day. The word is rendered

of the word beef), a name applicable to all ruminating

animals except camels, and especially to the Bovidce, or

horned cattle (Lev. 22:19, 21; Num. 31:28, 30, 33, 38,

the Hebrews we have abundant evidence (Ex. 23:11; Deut.

15:11), but there is no mention of beggars properly so

called in the Old Testament. The poor were provided for by

the law of Moses (Lev. 19:10; Deut. 12:12; 14:29). It is

predicted of the seed of the wicked that they shall be

life practised among the Egyptians (Gen. 40:17-19). There

are instances of this mode of punishment also among the

Hebrews (2 Sam. 4:8; 20:21,22; 2 Kings 10:6-8). It is also

mentioned in the New Testament (Matt. 14:8-12; Acts

have supposed this to be an Egyptian word meaning a

“water-ox.” The Revised Version has here in the

margin “hippopotamus,” which is probably the

correct rendering of the word. The word occurs frequently

in Scripture, but, except here, always as a common name,

explanation, “a half shekel,” are given in Ex.

38:26. The word properly means a “division,” a

the national god of the Babylonians (Isa. 46:1; Jer. 50:2;

city on the shore of the Dead Sea, not far from Sodom,

called also Zoar. It was the only one of the five cities

that was spared at Lot’s intercession (Gen. 19:20,23).

frequently used in the Old Testament as a proper name. It

is first used in Deut. 13:13. In the New Testament it is

found only in 2 Cor. 6:15, where it is used as a name of

Satan, the personification of all that is evil. It is

translated “wicked” in Deut. 15:9; Ps. 41:8 (R.V.

marg.); 101:3; Prov. 6:12, etc. The expression

“son” or “man of Belial” means simply a

worthless, lawless person (Judg. 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 1:16;

in Scripture are the small golden bells attached to the hem

of the high priest’s ephod (Ex. 28:33, 34, 35). The

“bells of the horses” mentioned by Zechariah

(14:20) were attached to the bridles or belts round the

necks of horses trained for war, so as to accustom them to

6:29, in relation to the casting of metal. Probably they

consisted of leather bags similar to those common in

affections (Titus 1:12; Phil. 3:19; Rom. 16:18). The word

is used symbolically for the heart (Prov. 18:8; 20:27;

22:18, marg.). The “belly of hell” signifies the

king!, the last of the kings of Babylon (Dan. 5:1). He was

the son of Nabonidus by Nitocris, who was the daughter of

Nebuchadnezzar and the widow of Nergal-sharezer. When still

young he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and

when heated with wine sent for the sacred vessels his

“father” (Dan. 5:2), or grandfather,

Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the temple in

Jerusalem, and he and his princes drank out of them. In the

midst of their mad revelry a hand was seen by the king

tracing on the wall the announcement of God’s judgment,

which that night fell upon him. At the instance of the

queen (i.e., his mother) Daniel was brought in, and he

interpreted the writing. That night the kingdom of the

Chaldeans came to an end, and the king was slain (Dan.

king!, the Chaldee name given to Daniel by Nebuchadnezzar

(1.) The son of Jehoiada, chief priest (1 Chr. 27:5). He

was set by David over his body-guard of Cherethites and

Pelethites (2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kings 1:32; 1 Chr. 18:17). His

exploits are enumerated in 2 Sam. 23:20, 21, 22; 1 Chr.

11:22. He remained faithful to Solomon (1 Kings 1:8, 10,

26), by whom he was raised to the rank of

i.e., “born of incest”, the son of Lot by his

the Syrian kings, meaning “the son of Hadad.”

(1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His

birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and

Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His

mother died in giving him birth, and with her last breath

named him Ben-oni, son of my pain, a name which was changed

by his father into Benjamin. His posterity are called

of Sodom at the time of the invasion of the four kings

valley not far from Engedi, where Jehoshaphat overthrew the

Moabites and Ammonites (2 Chr. 20:26). It has been

identified with the valley of Bereikut. (R.V.,

which Paul with Silas and Timotheus went when persecuted at

Thessalonica (Acts 17:10, 13), and from which also he was

compelled to withdraw, when he fled to the sea-coast and

thence sailed to Athens (14, 15). Sopater, one of

Paul’s companions belonged to this city, and his

conversion probably took place at this time (Acts 20:4). It

(1.) Son of Shimea, and father of Asaph the musician (1

south of Palestine (Gen. 16:14), in the desert of Shur,

One of Asher’s four sons, and father of Heber (Gen.

eldest daughter of Agrippa I., the Herod Agrippa of Acts

12:20. After the early death of her first husband she was

married to her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis. After his

death (A.D. 40) she lived in incestuous connection with her

brother Agrippa II. (Acts 25:13, 23; 26:30). They joined

the Romans at the outbreak of the final war between them

Babylon who sent a friendly deputation to Hezekiah (2 Kings

20:12). In Isa. 39:1 he is called Merodach-baladan

Authorized Version of the Hebrew word tarshish, a

precious stone; probably so called as being brought from

Tarshish. It was one of the stones on the breastplate of

the high priest (Ex. 28:20; R.V. marg.,

“chalcedony;” 39:13). The colour of the wheels in

Ezekiel’s vision was as the colour of a beryl stone

(1:16; 10:9; R.V., “stone of Tarshish”). It is

mentioned in Cant. 5:14; Dan. 10:6; Rev. 21:20. In Ezek.

28:13 the LXX. render the word by “chrysolite,”

which the Jewish historian Josephus regards as its proper

translation. This also is the rendering given in the

Authorized Version in the margin. That was a gold-coloured

word meaning sweeper, occurs only in Isa. 14:23, of the

in the extreme south-west of Judah, where 200 of

David’s men stayed behind because they were faint,

while the other 400 pursued the Amalekites (1 Sam. 30:9,

8:21, where alone it occurs, of a Hebrew word meaning to

belonging to Hadadezer, king of Zobah, which yielded much

spoil of brass to David (2 Sam. 8:8). In 1 Chr. 18:8 it is

appellation for a house, or dwelling-place, in such

place on the east bank of the Jordan, where John was

baptizing (John 1:28). It may be identical with Bethbarah,

the ancient ford of Jordan of which the men of Ephraim took

possession (Judg. 7:24). The Revised Version reads

“Bethany beyond Jordan.” It was the great ford,

and still bears the name of “the ford,” Makhadhet

‘Abarah, “the ford of crossing over,” about

one of the fenced cities of Naphtali (Josh. 19:38). It is

perhaps identical with the modern village ‘Ainata, 6

city in the mountainous district of Judah (Josh. 15:59). It

has been identified with the modern Beit-‘Anun, about 3

The Revised Version in John 1:28 has this word instead of

Bethabara, on the authority of the oldest manuscripts. It

appears to have been the name of a place on the east of

desert, one of the six cities of Judah, situated in the

sunk valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea (Josh. 18:22). In

Josh. 15:61 it is said to have been “in the

wilderness.” It was afterwards included in the towns

i.e., “mountain-house”, one of the towns of Gad,

3 miles east of Jordan, opposite Jericho (Josh. 13:27).

Probably the same as Beth-haran in Num. 32:36. It was

called by king Herod, Julias, or Livias, after Livia, the

court, a place alluded to by Hosea (10:14) as the scene of

some great military exploit, but not otherwise mentioned in

Scripture. The Shalman here named was probably Shalmaneser,

i.e., “of idols”, a place in the mountains of

Benjamin, east of Bethel (Josh. 7:2; 18:12; 1 Sam. 13:5).

In Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5 it stands for “Bethel”

(q.v.), and it is so called because it was no longer the

“house of God,” but “the house of

place south of the scene of Gideon’s victory (Judg.

7:24). It was probably the chief ford of the Jordan in that

district, and may have been that by which Jacob crossed

when he returned from Mesopotamia, near the Jabbok (Gen.

32:22), and at which Jephthah slew the Ephraimites (Judg.

to which the Israelites pursued the Philistines west from

A city in the low country or plain of Judah, near Philistia

(Josh. 15:41); the modern Beit Degan, about 5 miles from

cakes of figs, a city of Moab, upon which Jeremiah (48:22)

denounced destruction. It is called also Almon-diblathaim

(Num. 33:46) and Diblath (Ezek. 6:14). (R.V.,

place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of

Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It

was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen.

28:19). The name Bethel was at first apparently given to

the sanctuary in the neighbourhood of Luz, and was not

given to the city itself till after its conquest by the

tribe of Ephraim. When Abram entered Canaan he formed his

second encampment between Bethel and Hai (Gen. 12:8); and

on his return from Egypt he came back to it, and again

“called upon the name of the Lord” (13:4). Here

Jacob, on his way from Beersheba to Haran, had a vision of

the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder

whose top reached unto heaven (28:10, 19); and on his

return he again visited this place, “where God talked

with him” (35:1-15), and there he “built an

altar, and called the place El-beth-el” (q.v.). To

this second occasion of God’s speaking with Jacob at

(q.v.), who rebuilt Jericho and experienced the curse

separation, certain mountains mentioned in Cant. 2:17;

reservoir (Gr. kolumbethra, “a swimming bath”)

with five porches, close to the sheep-gate or market (Neh.

3:1; John 5:2). Eusebius the historian (A.D. 330) calls it

“the sheep-pool.” It is also called

“Bethsaida” and “Beth-zatha” (John 5:2,

R.V. marg.). Under these “porches” or colonnades

were usually a large number of infirm people waiting for

the “troubling of the water.” It is usually

identified with the modern so-called Fountain of the

Virgin, in the valley of the Kidron, and not far from the

Pool of Siloam (q.v.); and also with the Birket Israel, a

pool near the mouth of the valley which runs into the

Kidron south of “St. Stephen’s Gate.” Others

again identify it with the twin pools called the

“Souterrains,” under the convent of the Sisters

of Zion, situated in what must have been the rock-hewn

ditch between Bezetha and the fortress of Antonia. But

quite recently Schick has discovered a large tank, as

sketched here, situated about 100 feet north-west of St.

Anne’s Church, which is, as he contends, very probably

the Pool of Bethesda. No certainty as to its

in the “plain country” of Moab denounced by the

prophet (Jer. 48:23); probably the modern Um-el-Jemal, near

place from which the inhabitants gathered for the purpose

of celebrating the rebuilding of the walls on the return

vineyard, a place in the tribe of Judah (Neh. 3:14) where

the Benjamites were to set up a beacon when they heard the

trumpet against the invading army of the Babylonians (Jer.

6:1). It is probable that this place is the modern ‘Ain

Karim, or “well of the vineyards,” near which

there is a ridge on which are cairns which may have served

as beacons of old, one of which is 40 feet high and 130 in

or of the cavern, the name of two towns or villages (2 Chr.

8:5; 1 Chr. 7:24) in the territory of Ephraim, on the way

from Jerusalem to Joppa. They are distinguished as

Beth-horon “the upper” and Beth-horon “the

nether.” They are about 2 miles apart, the former

being about 10 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Between the

two places was the ascent and descent of Beth-horon,

leading from Gibeon down to the western plain (Josh. 10:10,

11; 18:13, 14), down which the five kings of the Amorites

were driven by Joshua in that great battle, the most

important in which the Hebrews had been as yet engaged,

being their first conflict with their enemies in the open

field. Jehovah interposed in behalf of Israel by a terrific

hailstorm, which caused more deaths among the Canaanites

than did the swords of the Israelites. Beth-horon is

mentioned as having been taken by Shishak, B.C. 945, in the

list of his conquests, and the pass was the scene of a

victory of Judas Maccabeus. (Comp. Ex. 9:19, 25; Job 38:22,

23; Ps. 18:12-14; Isa. 30:30.) The modern name of these

places is Beit-ur, distinguished by el-Foka, “the

upper,” and el-Tahta, “the nether.” The

lower was at the foot of the pass, and the upper, 500 feet

or deserts, a town near Abel-shittim, east of Jordan, in

the desert of Moab, where the Israelites encamped not long

before crossing the Jordan (Num. 33:49; A.V.,

“Bethjesimoth”). It was within the territory of

1:10), house of dust. The Authorized Version reads “in

the house of Aphrah.” This is probably the name of a

town in the Shephelah, or “low country,” between

A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was

originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth

4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2),

Beth-lehem-judah (1 Sam. 17:12), and “the city of

David” (Luke 2:4). It is first noticed in Scripture as

the place where Rachel died and was buried “by the

wayside,” directly to the north of the city (Gen.

48:7). The valley to the east was the scene of the story of

Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she

gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to

the town. Here was David’s birth-place, and here also,

in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Sam.

16:4-13); and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three

of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their

lives when he was in the cave of Adullam (2 Sam. 23:13-17).

But it was distinguished above every other city as the

birth-place of “Him whose goings forth have been of

old” (Matt. 2:6; comp. Micah 5:2). Afterwards Herod,

“when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,”

sent and slew “all the children that were in

Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years

“temple of Baal-peor”, a place in Moab, on the

east of Jordan, opposite Jericho. It was in the tribe of

Reuben (Josh. 13:20; Deut. 3:29; 4:46). In the

“ravine” or valley over against Beth-peor Moses

fig, a village on the Mount of Olives, on the road from

Jerusalem to Jericho (Matt. 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29),

and very close to Bethany. It was the limit of a

Sabbath-day’s journey from Jerusalem, i.e., 2,000

cubits. It has been identified with the modern

town in Galilee, on the west side of the sea of Tiberias,

in the “land of Gennesaret.” It was the native

place of Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and was frequently

resorted to by Jesus (Mark 6:45; John 1:44; 12:21). It is

supposed to have been at the modern ‘Ain Tabighah, a

rest, a city which belonged to Manasseh (1 Chr. 7:29), on

the west of Jordan. The bodies of Saul and his sons were

fastened to its walls. In Solomon’s time it gave its

name to a district (1 Kings 4:12). The name is found in an

abridged form, Bethshan, in 1 Sam. 31:10, 12 and 2 Sam.

21:12. It is on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, about

5 miles from the Jordan, and 14 from the south end of the

Lake of Gennesaret. After the Captivity it was called

Scythopolis, i.e., “the city of the Scythians,”

who about B.C. 640 came down from the steppes of Southern

Russia and settled in different places in Syria. It is now

(1.) A sacerdotal city in the tribe of Dan (Josh. 21:16; 1

Sam. 6:15), on the north border of Judah (Josh. 15:10). It

was the scene of an encounter between Jehoash, king of

Israel, and Amaziah, king of Judah, in which the latter was

made prisoner (2 Kings 14:11, 13). It was afterwards taken

by the Philistines (2 Chr. 28:18). It is the modern ruined

Arabic village ‘Ain-shems, on the north-west slopes of

town of Judah, now Tuffuh, 5 miles west of Hebron (Josh.

of God, or house of God. (1.) The son of Nahor by Milcah;

nephew of Abraham, and father of Rebekah (Gen. 22:22, 23;

in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:58), about 4 miles to

the north of Hebron. It was built by Rehoboam for the

defence of his kingdom (2 Chr. 11:7). It stood near the

modern ed-Dirweh. Its ruins are still seen on a hill which

bears the name of Beit-Sur, and which commands the road

one’s truth.” Men and women were betrothed when

they were engaged to be married. This usually took place a

year or more before marriage. From the time of betrothal

the woman was regarded as the lawful wife of the man to

whom she was betrothed (Deut. 28:30; Judg. 14:2, 8; Matt.

1:18-21). The term is figuratively employed of the

spiritual connection between God and his people (Hos. 2:19,

62:4 metaphorically as the name of Judea: “Thy land

shall be married,” i.e., favoured and blessed of the

an old English word equivalent to “betray” (Prov.

27:16; 29:24, R.V., “uttereth;” Isa. 16:3; Matt.

to Jordan, signifies in the writings of Moses the west side

of the river, as he wrote on the east bank (Gen. 50:10, 11;

Deut. 1:1, 5; 3:8, 20; 4:46); but in the writings of

Joshua, after he had crossed the river, it means the east

i.e., “under his protection”, the artificer who

executed the work of art in connection with the tabernacle

in the wilderness (Ex. 31:2; 35:30). He was engaged

principally in works of metal, wood, and stone; while

Aholiab, who was associated with him and subordinate to

him, had the charge of the textile fabrics (36:1, 2;

38:22). He was of the tribe of Judah, the son of Uri, and

grandson of Hur (31:2). Mention is made in Ezra 10:30 of

residence of Adoni-bezek, in the lot of Judah (Judg. 1:5).

It was in the mountains, not far from Jerusalem. Probably

(1.) A city of the Reubenites; one of the three cities of

refuge on the east of Jordan (Deut. 4: 43; Josh. 20:8). It

has been identified with the modern ruined village of

Burazin, some 12 miles north of Heshbon; also with

of the Greek name Biblia, meaning “books,”

the name which in the fifth century began to be given to

the entire collection of sacred books, the “Library of

Divine Revelation.” The name Bible was adopted by

Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in our English

language. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books,

composed by many different writers, in three different

languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost

every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen,

fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and

uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each

other, and writing at various periods during the space of

about 1600 years: and yet, after all, it is only one book

dealing with only one subject in its numberless aspects and

fortune, one of the seven eunuchs or chamberlains who had

“kept the door” in the court of Ahasuerus. With

Teresh he conspired against the king’s life. Mordecai

detected the conspiracy, and the culprits were hanged

of Job’s friends. He is called “the Shuhite,”

probably as belonging to Shuah, a district in Arabia, in

which Shuah, the sixth son of Abraham by Keturah, settled

(Gen. 25:2). He took part in each of the three

controversies into which Job’s friends entered with him

(Job 8:1; 18:1; 25:1), and delivered three speeches, very

severe and stern in their tone, although less violent than

of the fifteenth sacerdotal course for the temple service

(1 Chr. 24:14). (2.) A priest who returned from Babylon

Rachel’s handmaid, whom she gave to Jacob (Gen. 29:29).

She was the mother of Dan and Naphtali (Gen. 30:3-8).

Reuben was cursed by his father for committing adultry with

her (35:22; 49:4). He was deprived of the birth-right,

i.e., “eloquent”, a man of some note who returned

from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2; Neh.

Mosaic law into two classes, (1) the clean (Lev. 1:14-17;

5:7-10; 14:4-7), which were offered in sacrifice; and (2)

the unclean (Lev. 11:13-20). When offered in sacrifice,

they were not divided as other victims were (Gen. 15:10).

They are mentioned also as an article of food (Deut.

14:11). The art of snaring wild birds is referred to (Ps.

124:7; Prov. 1:17; 7:23; Jer. 5:27). Singing birds are

mentioned in Ps. 104:12; Eccl. 12:4. Their timidity is

alluded to (Hos. 11:11). The reference in Ps. 84:3 to the

swallow and the sparrow may be only a comparison equivalent

to, “What her house is to the sparrow, and her nest to

king of Gomorrah whom Abraham succoured in the invasion of

born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4), and

then swathed with bandages (Job 38:9; Luke 2:7, 12). A

Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the

birth of a son, and after the birth of a daughter double

that number of days. At the close of that period she

entered into the tabernacle or temple and offered up a

sacrifice of purification (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:22). A son

was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, being

thereby consecrated to God (Gen. 17:10-12; comp. Rom.

4:11). Seasons of misfortune are likened to the pains of a

woman in travail, and seasons of prosperity to the joy that

succeeds child-birth (Isa. 13:8; Jer. 4:31; John 16:21,

22). The natural birth is referred to as the emblem of the

birth-days was common in early times (Job 1:4, 13, 18).

They were specially celebrated in the land of Egypt (Gen.

40:20). There is no recorded instance in Scripture of the

celebration of birth-days among the Jews. On the occasion

of Herod’s birth-day John the Baptist was beheaded

denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to

the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of

the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the

patriarchs, and so the priesthood of the tribes belonged to

him. That honour was, however, transferred by God from

apostolic times, it is quite manifest that there was no

difference as to order between bishops and elders or

presbyters (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Pet. 5:1, 2; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim.

3). The term bishop is never once used to denote a

different office from that of elder or presbyter. These

different names are simply titles of the same office,

“bishop” designating the function, namely, that

of oversight, and “presbyter” the dignity

appertaining to the office. Christ is figuratively called

“the bishop [episcopos] of souls” (1 Pet.

mouths of horses to restrain them. The Hebrew word (metheg)

so rendered in Ps. 32:9 is elsewhere translated

“bridle” (2 Kings 19:28; Prov. 26:3; Isa. 37:29).

Bits were generally made of bronze or iron, but sometimes

also of gold or silver. In James 3:3 the Authorized Version

translates the Greek word by “bits,” but the

place, a district in the Arabah or Jordan valley, on the

east of the river (2 Sam. 2:29). It was probably the

designation of the region in general, which is broken and

Minor, to the south of the Euxine and Propontis. Christian

congregations were here formed at an early time (1 Pet.

1:1). Paul was prevented by the Spirit from entering this

province (Acts 16:7). It is noted in church history as the

province ruled over by Pliny as Roman proconsul, who was

perplexed as to the course he should take with the numerous

Christians brought before his tribunal on account of their

profession of Christianity and their conduct, and wrote to

of affliction, misery, and servitude (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20;

Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the “bitter and

hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). The “gall of

bitterness” expresses a state of great wickedness

(Acts 8:23). A “root of bitterness” is a wicked

connection with the desolations to come upon Babylon,

Idumea, and Nineveh (Isa. 14:23; 34:11; Zeph. 2:14). This

bird belongs to the class of cranes. Its scientific name is

Botaurus stellaris. It is a solitary bird, frequenting

marshy ground. The Hebrew word (kippod) thus rendered in

the Authorized Version is rendered “porcupine” in

the Revised Version. But in the passages noted the kippod

is associated with birds, with pools of water, and with

solitude and desolation. This favours the idea that not the

“porcupine” but the “bittern” is really

margin, rendered in the A.V. “slime”), a mineral

pitch. With this the ark was pitched (6:14. See also Ex.