Egyptians at a very early period of their national history,

at least B.C. 1500. Various articles both useful and

ornamental were made of it, as bottles, vases, etc. A glass

bottle with the name of Sargon on it was found among the

ruins of the north-west palace of Nimroud. The Hebrew word

zekukith (Job 28:17), rendered in the Authorized

Version “crystal,” is rightly rendered in the

Revised Version “glass.” This is the only

allusion to glass found in the Old Testament. It is

referred to in the New Testament in Rev. 4:6; 15:2; 21:18,

21. In Job 37:18, the word rendered

“looking-glass” is in the Revised Version

properly rendered “mirror,” formed, i.e., of some

metal. (Comp. Ex. 38:8: “looking-glasses” are

brazen mirrors, R.V.). A mirror is referred to also in

were not to be reaped, and the sheaf accidentally left

behind was not to be fetched away, according to the law of

Moses (Lev. 19:9; 23:22; Deut. 24:21). They were to be left

for the poor to glean. Similar laws were given regarding

the common kite, mentioned only in Deut. 14:13 (Heb.

ra’ah), the Milvus ater or black kite. The Hebrew word

does not occur in the parallel passage in Leviticus (11:14,

da’ah, rendered “vulture;” in R.V.,

“kite”). It was an unclean bird. The Hebrew name

is from a root meaning “to see,” “to

look,” thus designating a bird with a keen sight. The

bird intended is probably the buzzard, of which there are

(1.) Abundance, wealth, treasure, and hence honour (Ps.

zolel, from a word meaning “to shake out,”

“to squander;” and hence one who is prodigal, who

wastes his means by indulgence. In Prov. 23:21, the word

means debauchees or wasters of their own body. In Prov.

28:7, the word (pl.) is rendered Authorized Version

“riotous men;” Revised Version,

“gluttonous.” Matt. 11:19, Luke 7:34, Greek

“to grate the teeth”, (Job 16:9; Ps. 112:10; Lam.

2:16), denotes rage or sorrow. (See also Acts 7:54; Mark

small two-winged stinging fly of the genus Culex, which

includes mosquitoes. Our Lord alludes here to the gnat in a

proverbial expression probably in common use, “who

strain out the gnat;” the words in the Authorized

Version, “strain at a gnat,” being a mere

typographical error, which has been corrected in the

Revised Version. The custom of filtering wine for this

purpose was common among the Jews. It was founded on Lev.

11:23. It is supposed that the “lice,” Ex. 8:16

(marg. R.V., “sand-flies”), were a species of

Judg. 3: 31), an instrument used by ploughmen for guiding

their oxen. Shamgar slew six hundred Philistines with an

ox-goad. “The goad is a formidable weapon. It is

sometimes ten feet long, and has a sharp point. We could

now see that the feat of Shamgar was not so very wonderful

she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is

also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num.

28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may

be regarded as the generic name of the animal as

domesticated. It literally means “strength,” and

points to the superior strength of the goat as compared

washing garments. In Cant. 7:2, a bowl or drinking vessel,

Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the

rendering (1) of the Hebrew ‘El, from a word

meaning to be strong; (2) of ‘Eloah_, plural

_’Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used

only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in

all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the

only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme

Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by

“LORD,” printed in small capitals. The existence

of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere

any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is

1:20; Col. 2:9), the essential being or the nature of

practical piety (1 Tim. 4:8; 2 Pet. 1:6). “It supposes

knowledge, veneration, affection, dependence, submission,

gratitude, and obedience.” In 1 Tim. 3:16 it denotes

of the verb gaal, “to redeem.” It is

rendered in the Authorized Version “kinsman,”

Num. 5:8; Ruth 3:12; 4:1,6,8; “redeemer,” Job

19:25; “avenger,” Num. 35:12; Deut. 19:6, etc.

The Jewish law gave the right of redeeming and

repurchasing, as well as of avenging blood, to the next

(Deut. 4:43), one of the three cities of refuge east of

Jordan, about 12 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee

(Josh. 20:8). There are no further notices of it in

Scripture. It became the head of the province of

Gaulanitis, one of the four provinces into which Bashan was

divided after the Babylonish captivity, and almost

identical with the modern Jaulan, in Western Hauran, about

called from its yellow colour (Ex. 25:11; 1 Chr. 28:18; 2

9:16; Neh. 9:18). This was a molten image of a calf which

the idolatrous Israelites formed at Sinai. This symbol was

borrowed from the custom of the Egyptians. It was destroyed

40:19; 41:7; 46:6). The word so rendered means properly a

the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by

the evangelists as meaning “the place of a skull”

(Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents

in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the

Hebrew Gulgoleth (Num. 1:2; 1 Chr. 23:3, 24; 2 Kings 9:35),

meaning “a skull.” It is identical with the word

Calvary (q.v.). It was a little knoll rounded like a bare

skull. It is obvious from the evangelists that it was some

well-known spot outside the gate (comp. Heb. 13:12), and

near the city (Luke 23:26), containing a “garden”

(John 19:41), and on a thoroughfare leading into the

country. Hence it is an untenable idea that it is embraced

within the present “Church of the Holy

Sepulchre.” The hillock above Jeremiah’s Grotto,

to the north of the city, is in all probability the true

site of Calvary. The skull-like appearance of the rock in

the southern precipice of the hillock is very

giant of Gath, who for forty days openly defied the armies

of Israel, but was at length slain by David with a stone

from a sling (1 Sam. 17:4). He was probably descended from

the Rephaim who found refuge among the Philistines after

they were dispersed by the Ammonites (Deut. 2:20, 21). His

height was “six cubits and a span,” which, taking

the cubit at 21 inches, is equal to 10 1/2 feet. David cut

off his head (1 Sam. 17:51) and brought it to Jerusalem,

while he hung the armour which he took from him in his

tent. His sword was preserved at Nob as a religious trophy

(21:9). David’s victory over Goliath was the turning

point in his life. He came into public notice now as the

deliverer of Israel and the chief among Saul’s men of

(1.) The daughter of Diblaim, who (probably in vision only)

the five cities of the plain of Siddim (q.v.) which were

destroyed by fire (Gen. 10:19; 13:10; 19:24, 28). These

cities probably stood close together, and were near the

northern extremity of what is now the Dead Sea. This city

is always mentioned next after Sodom, both of which were

types of impiety and wickedness (Gen. 18:20; Rom. 9:29).

Their destruction is mentioned as an “ensample unto

those that after should live ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:6;

Jude 1:4-7). Their wickedness became proverbial (Deut.

32:32; Isa. 1:9, 10; Jer. 23:14). But that wickedness may

be exceeded (Matt. 10:15; Mark 6:11). (See DEAD SEA

to be carried in festive procession on the first day of the

feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40). This was probably the

olive tree (Neh. 8:15), although no special tree is

passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to

wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral

of his character which he exercises towards his creatures

according to their various circumstances and relations (Ps.

145:8, 9; 103:8; 1 John 4:8). Viewed generally, it is

benevolence; as exercised with respect to the miseries of

his creatures it is mercy, pity, compassion, and in the

case of impenitent sinners, long-suffering patience; as

exercised in communicating favour on the unworthy it is

grace. “Goodness and justice are the several aspects

of one unchangeable, infinitely wise, and sovereign moral

perfection. God is not sometimes merciful and sometimes

just, but he is eternally infinitely just and

merciful.” God is infinitely and unchangeably good

(Zeph. 3:17), and his goodness is incomprehensible by the

finite mind (Rom. 11: 35, 36). “God’s goodness

which Noah was directed to build the ark (Gen. 6:14). It is

mentioned only there. The LXX. render this word by

“squared beams,” and the Vulgate by “planed

wood.” Other versions have rendered it

“pine” and “cedar;” but the weight of

authority is in favour of understanding by it the cypress

Egypt where Jacob and his family settled, and in which they

remained till the Exodus (Gen. 45:10; 46:28, 29, 31, etc.).

It is called “the land of Goshen” (47:27), and

also simply “Goshen” (46:28), and “the land

of Rameses” (47:11; Ex. 12:37), for the towns Pithom

and Rameses lay within its borders; also Zoan or Tanis (Ps.

78:12). It lay on the east of the Nile, and apparently not

far from the royal residence. It was “the best of the

land” (Gen. 47:6, 11), but is now a desert. It is

first mentioned in Joseph’s message to his father. It

has been identified with the modern Wady Tumilat, lying

between the eastern part of the Delta and the west border

of Palestine. It was a pastoral district, where some of the

king’s cattle were kept (Gen. 47:6). The inhabitants

were not exclusively Israelites (Ex. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35,

origin, and meaning “God’s spell”, i.e., word

of God, or rather, according to others, “good

spell”, i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the

Greek evangelion, i.e., “good message.” It

denotes (1) “the welcome intelligence of salvation to

man as preached by our Lord and his followers. (2.) It was

afterwards transitively applied to each of the four

histories of our Lord’s life, published by those who

are therefore called ‘Evangelists’, writers of the

history of the gospel (the evangelion). (3.) The term is

often used to express collectively the gospel doctrines;

and ‘preaching the gospel’ is often used to include

not only the proclaiming of the good tidings, but the

teaching men how to avail themselves of the offer of

salvation, the declaring of all the truths, precepts,

promises, and threatenings of Christianity.” It is

termed “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts

20:24), “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23),

“the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 1:16), “the

gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), “the glorious

gospel,” “the everlasting gospel,” “the

Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour

had come into the world (Matt. 4:23; Rom. 10:15); and the

first Christian preachers who called their account of the

person and mission of Christ by the term evangelion_ (=

good message) were called _evangelistai (= evangelists)

(Jonah 4:6-10), bearing the Hebrew name kikayon

(found only here), was probably the kiki of the Egyptians,

the croton. This is the castor-oil plant, a species of

ricinus, the palma Christi, so called from the palmate

division of its leaves. Others with more probability regard

it as the cucurbita the el-keroa of the Arabs, a kind of

pumpkin peculiar to the East. “It is grown in great

abundance on the alluvial banks of the Tigris and on the

plain between the river and the ruins of Nineveh.” At

the present day it is trained to run over structures of mud

and brush to form boots to protect the gardeners from the

heat of the noon-day sun. It grows with extraordinary

rapidity, and when cut or injured withers away also with

the powers which fit a man for a place of influence in the

church; “the steersman’s art; the art of guiding

prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as,

chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6),

chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of

the Aaronites (1 Chr. 12:27), keeper of the sacred treasury

(26:24), captain of the army (13:1), the king (1 Sam.

to which the Israelites were carried away captive (2 Kings

17:6; 1 Chr. 5:26; 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). It was

situated in Mesopotamia, on the river Habor (2 Kings 17:6;

18:11), the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates. The

“river of Gozan” (1 Chr. 5:26) is probably the

upper part of the river flowing through the province of

(Prov. 1:9; 3:22; Ps. 45:2). (2.) Favour, kindness,

friendship (Gen. 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Tim. 1:9). (3.)

God’s forgiving mercy (Rom. 11:6; Eph. 2:5). (4.) The

gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Rom. 6:14;

1 Pet. 5:12). (5.) Gifts freely bestowed by God; as

miracles, prophecy, tongues (Rom. 15:15; 1 Cor. 15:10; Eph.

3:8). (6.) Christian virtues (2 Cor. 8:7; 2 Pet. 3:18).

not used in Scripture, but employed (1) to denote those

institutions ordained by God to be the ordinary channels of

grace to the souls of men. These are the Word, Sacraments,

inoculating fruit-trees (Rom. 11:17-24). It is peculiarly

appropriate to olive-trees. The union thus of branches to a

stem is used to illustrate the union of true believers to

small stone or kernel; in Matt. 13:31, of an individual

seed of mustard; in John 12:24, 1 Cor. 15:37, of wheat. The

Hebrews sowed only wheat, barley, and spelt; rye and oats

which was extensively cultivated in Palestine. Grapes are

spoken of as “tender” (Cant. 2:13, 15),

“unripe” (Job 15:33), “sour” (Isa.

18:5), “wild” (Isa. 5:2,4). (See Rev. 14:18;

Micah 7:1; Jer. 6:9; Ezek. 18:2, for figurative use of the

grass fit for mowing (1 Kings 18:5; Job 40:15; Ps. 104:14).

As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is

used as an image of the brevity of human life (Isa. 40:6,

7; Ps. 90:5). In Num. 11:5 this word is rendered

class of neuropterous insects called Gryllidae. This insect

the bottom of the great altar of sacrifice (Ex. 27:4;

Hebrews graves were outside of cities in the open field

(Luke 7:12; John 11:30). Kings (1 Kings 2:10) and prophets

(1 Sam. 25:1) were generally buried within cities. Graves

were generally grottoes or caves, natural or hewn out in

rocks (Isa. 22:16; Matt. 27:60). There were family

cemeteries (Gen. 47:29; 50:5; 2 Sam. 19:37). Public

burial-places were assigned to the poor (Jer. 26:23; 2

Kings 23:6). Graves were usually closed with stones, which

were whitewashed, to warn strangers against contact with

them (Matt. 23:27), which caused ceremonial pollution (Num.

97:7 (Heb. pesel), refers to the household gods of

idolaters. “Every nation and city had its own

gods…Yet every family had its separate household or

19:24, rendered “graven,” but generally means

piece of defensive armour (q.v.) reaching from the foot to

the knee; from French greve, “the shin.” They

Greek-Jews; Jews born in a foreign country, and thus did

not speak Hebrew (Acts 6:1; 9:29), nor join in the Hebrew

services of the Jews in Palestine, but had synagogues of

the four provinces of Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, and

Peleponnesus. In Acts 20:2 it designates only the Roman

province of Macedonia. Greece was conquered by the Romans

B.C. 146. After passing through various changes it was

Testament, where a distinction is observed between

“Greek” and “Grecian” (q.v.). The

former is (1) a Greek by race (Acts 16:1-3; 18:17; Rom.

1:14), or (2) a Gentile as opposed to a Jew (Rom. 2:9, 10).

The latter, meaning properly “one who speaks

Greek,” is a foreign Jew opposed to a home Jew who

rendering of the Hebrew zarzir mothnayim, meaning

literally “girded as to the lions.” Some (Gesen.;

R.V. marg.) render it “war-horse.” The LXX. and

Vulgate versions render it “cock.” It has been by

some interpreters rendered also “stag” and

“warrior,” as being girded about or panoplied,

and “wrestler.” The greyhound, however, was

evidently known in ancient times, as appears from Egyptian

Judg. 16:21), to crush small (Heb. tahan); to oppress the

poor (Isa. 3:5). The hand-mill was early used by the

Hebrews (Num. 11:8). It consisted of two stones, the upper

(Deut. 24:6; 2 Sam. 11:21) being movable and slightly

concave, the lower being stationary. The grinders mentioned

properly a wooden image, or a pillar representing

Ashtoreth, a sensual Canaanitish goddess, probably usually

set up in a grove (2 Kings 21:7; 23:4). In the Revised

Version the word “Asherah” (q.v.) is introduced

as a proper noun, the name of the wooden symbol of a

goddess, with the plurals Asherim (Ex. 34:13) and Asheroth

(properly a “cook,” and in a secondary sense

“executioner,” because this office fell to the

lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the

kings of Egypt (Gen. 37:36) and Babylon (2 Kings 25:8; Jer.

on the upper floor of an Eastern dwelling (Mark 14:14; Luke

22:11). In Luke 2:7 the word is translated “inn”

Ibleam where Jehu’s servants overtook and mortally

wounded king Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27); an ascent from the

place in Arabia (2 Chr. 26:7) where there was probably a

5:8). This Hebrew word occurs only elsewhere in Ps. 42:7 in

the plural, where it is rendered “waterspouts.”

It denotes some passage through which water passed; a

of the twelve minor prophets. Of his personal history we

have no reliable information. He was probably a member of

the Levitical choir. He was contemporary with Jeremiah and

probably written about B.C. 650-627, or, as some think, a

few years later. This book consists of three chapters, the

contents of which are thus comprehensively described:

“When the prophet in spirit saw the formidable power

of the Chaldeans approaching and menacing his land, and saw

the great evils they would cause in Judea, he bore his

complaints and doubts before Jehovah, the just and the pure

(1:2-17). And on this occasion the future punishment of the

Chaldeans was revealed to him (2). In the third chapter a

presentiment of the destruction of his country, in the

inspired heart of the prophet, contends with his hope that

the enemy would be chastised.” The third chapter is a

sublime song dedicated “to the chief musician,”

and therefore intended apparently to be used in the worship

of God. It is “unequalled in majesty and splendour of

for breastplate. In Job 41:26 (Heb. shiryah) it is properly

a “coat of mail;” the Revised Version has

“pointed shaft.” In Ex. 28:32, 39:23, it denotes

a military garment strongly and thickly woven and covered

with mail round the neck and breast. Such linen corselets

have been found in Egypt. The word used in these verses is

tahra, which is of Egyptian origin. The Revised

habitation of his people, who find rest and safety in him

(Ps. 71:3; 91:9). Justice and judgment are the habitation

of God’s throne (Ps. 89:14, Heb. mekhon,

“foundation”), because all his acts are founded

on justice and judgment. (See Ps. 132:5, 13; Eph. 2:22, of

Canaan, Jerusalem, and the temple as God’s habitation.)

God inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15), i.e., dwells not only

among men, but in eternity, where time is unknown; and

“the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3), i.e., he

dwells among those praises and is continually surrounded by

according to others, with beautiful banks, the name of a

river in Assyria, and also of the district through which it

flowed (1 Chr. 5:26). There is a river called Khabur which

rises in the central highlands of Kurdistan, and flows

south-west till it falls into the Tigris, about 70 miles

above Mosul. This was not, however, the Habor of

one of the peaks of the long ridge of el-Kolah, running out

of the Ziph plateau, “on the south of Jeshimon”

(i.e., of the “waste”), the district to which one

looks down from the plateau of Ziph (1 Sam. 23:19). After

his reconciliation with Saul at Engedi (24:1-8), David

returned to Hachilah, where he had fixed his quarters. The

Ziphites treacherously informed Saul of this, and he

immediately (26:1-4) renewed his pursuit of David, and

“pitched in the hill of Hachilah.” David and his

nephew Abishai stole at night into the midst of Saul’s

camp, when they were all asleep, and noiselessly removed

the royal spear and the cruse from the side of the king,

and then, crossing the intervening valley to the height on

the other side, David cried to the people, and thus awoke

the sleepers. He then addressed Saul, who recognized his

voice, and expostulated with him. Saul professed to be

penitent; but David could not put confidence in him, and he

now sought refuge at Ziklag. David and Saul never

of a Syrian god. (1.) An Edomite king who defeated the

called also Hadarezer, Adod is his help, the king of Zobah.

Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, hired among others the

army of Hadadezer to assist him in his war against David.

Joab, who was sent against this confederate host, found

them in double battle array, the Ammonities toward their

capital of Rabbah, and the Syrian mercenaries near Medeba.

In the battle which was fought the Syrians were scattered,

and the Ammonites in alarm fled into their capital. After

this Hadadezer went north “to recover his border”

(2 Sam. 8:3, A.V.); but rather, as the Revised Version

renders, “to recover his dominion”, i.e., to

recruit his forces. Then followed another battle with the

Syrian army thus recruited, which resulted in its being

totally routed at Helam (2 Sam. 10:17). Shobach, the leader

of the Syrian army, died on the field of battle. The

Syrians of Damascus, who had come to help Hadadezer, were

also routed, and Damascus was made tributary to David. All

the spoils taken in this war, “shields of gold”

and “very much brass,” from which afterwards the

“brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of

brass” for the temple were made (1 Chr. 18:8), were

brought to Jerusalem and dedicated to Jehovah. Thus the

power of the Ammonites and the Syrians was finally broken,

and David’s empire extended to the Euphrates (2 Sam.

names of two Syrian idols), the name of a place in the

valley of Megiddo. It is alluded to by the prophet

Zechariah (12:11) in a proverbial expression derived from

the lamentation for Josiah, who was mortally wounded near

this place (2 Chr. 35:22-25). It has been identified with

the modern Rummaneh, a village “at the foot of the

Megiddo hills, in a notch or valley about an hour and a

son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:15); in 1 Chr. 1:30 written

the name given to Hadadezer (2 Sam. 8:3-12) in 2 Sam.

sight, a Greek word used to denote the state or place of

the dead. All the dead alike go into this place. To be

buried, to go down to the grave, to descend into hades, are

equivalent expressions. In the LXX. this word is the usual

rendering of the Hebrew sheol, the common receptacle of the

departed (Gen. 42:38; Ps. 139:8; Hos. 13:14; Isa. 14:9).

This term is of comparatively rare occurrence in the Greek

New Testament. Our Lord speaks of Capernaum as being

“brought down to hell” (hades), i.e., simply to

the lowest debasement, (Matt. 11:23). It is contemplated as

a kind of kingdom which could never overturn the foundation

of Christ’s kingdom (16:18), i.e., Christ’s church

tribe of Benjamin near Lydda, or Lod, and Ono (Ezra 2:33;

Neh. 7:37). It is identified with the modern el-Haditheh, 3

son of Tou, king of Hamath, sent by his father to

congratulate David on his victory over Hadarezer, king of

(Zech. 9:1) which cannot be identified. Rawlinson would

identify it with Edessa. He mentions that in the Assyrian

inscriptions it is recorded that “Shalmanezer III.

made two expeditions, the first against Damascus B.C. 773,

and the second against Hadrach B.C. 772; and again that

Asshurdanin-il II. made expeditions against Hadrach in B.C.

bleeding piles known to the ancient Romans as mariscae, but

more probably malignant boils of an infectious and fatal

character. With this loathsome and infectious disease the

men of Ashdod were smitten by the hand of the Lord. This

calamity they attributed to the presence of the ark in

their midst, and therefore they removed it to Gath (1 Sam.

5:6-8). But the same consequences followed from its

presence in Gath, and therefore they had it removed to

Ekron, 11 miles distant. The Ekronites were afflicted with

the same dreadful malady, but more severely; and a panic

seizing the people, they demanded that the ark should be

others, stranger, an Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid (Gen.

16:1; 21:9, 10), whom she gave to Abraham (q.v.) as a

secondary wife (16:2). When she was about to become a

mother she fled from the cruelty of her mistress, intending

apparently to return to her relatives in Egypt, through the

desert of Shur, which lay between. Wearied and worn she had

reached the place she distinguished by the name of

Beer-lahai-roi (“the well of the visible God”),

where the angel of the Lord appeared to her. In obedience

to the heavenly visitor she returned to the tent of

Abraham, where her son Ishmael was born, and where she

remained (16) till after the birth of Isaac, the space of

fourteen years. Sarah after this began to vent her

dissatisfaction both on Hagar and her child. Ishmael’s

conduct was insulting to Sarah, and she insisted that he

and his mother should be dismissed. This was accordingly

done, although with reluctance on the part of Abraham (Gen.

21:14). They wandered out into the wilderness, where

Ishmael, exhausted with his journey and faint from thirst,

seemed about to die. Hagar “lifted up her voice and

wept,” and the angel of the Lord, as before, appeared

unto her, and she was comforted and delivered out of her

of David’s mighty men (1 Chr. 11:38), the son of a

twelve so-called minor prophets. He was the first of the

three (Zechariah, his contemporary, and Malachi, who was

about one hundred years later, being the other two) whose

ministry belonged to the period of Jewish history which

began after the return from captivity in Babylon. Scarcely

anything is known of his personal history. He may have been

one of the captives taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. He

began his ministry about sixteen years after the Return.

The work of rebuilding the temple had been put a stop to

through the intrigues of the Samaritans. After having been

suspended for fifteen years, the work was resumed through

the efforts of Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 6:14), who by

their exhortations roused the people from their lethargy,

and induced them to take advantage of the favourable

opportunity that had arisen in a change in the policy of

the Persian government. (See DARIUS ¯T0000975 [2].)

Haggai’s prophecies have thus been characterized:,

“There is a ponderous and simple dignity in the

emphatic reiteration addressed alike to every class of the

community, prince, priest, and people, ‘Be strong, be

strong, be strong’ (2:4). ‘Cleave, stick fast, to

the work you have to do;’ or again, ‘Consider your

ways, consider, consider, consider’ (1:5, 7;2:15, 18).

It is the Hebrew phrase for the endeavour, characteristic

of the gifted seers of all times, to compel their hearers

to turn the inside of their hearts outwards to their own

view, to take the mask from off their consciences, to

‘see life steadily, and to see it wholly.'”,

two brief, comprehensive chapters. The object of the

prophet was generally to urge the people to proceed with

wife of David and the mother of Adonijah (2 Sam. 3:4; 1

Kings 1:5, 11; 2:13; 1 Chr. 3:2), who, like Absalom, was

a term which came early into use in the Christian church to

denote the third division of the Old Testament scriptures,

called by the Jews Kethubim, i.e., “Writings.” It

consisted of five books, viz., Job, Proverbs, and Psalms,

and the two books of Chronicles. The ancient Jews

classified their sacred books as the Law, the Prophets, and

of a wish for the welfare of the person addressed; the

translation of the Greek Chaire, “Rejoice”

the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 9:23). It is mentioned by Haggai

as a divine judgment (Hag. 2:17). A hail-storm destroyed

the army of the Amorites when they fought against Joshua

(Josh. 10:11). Ezekiel represents the wall daubed with

untempered mortar as destroyed by great hail-stones (Ezek.

the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were

in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So

particular were they on this point that to have neglected

it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever

they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition,

or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a

beard.” Joseph shaved himself before going in to

Pharoah (Gen. 41:14). The women of Egypt wore their hair

long and plaited. Wigs were worn by priests and laymen to

cover the shaven skull, and false beards were common. The

great masses of hair seen in the portraits and statues of

which captive Israelites were transported by the Assyrian

kings (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chr. 5:26). It lay along the

banks of the upper Khabur, from its source to its junction

with the Jerujer. Probably the district called by Ptolemy

the southern extremity of Canaan (Josh. 11:17). It is

referred to as if it were a landmark in that direction,

being prominent and conspicuous from a distance. It has by

some been identified with the modern Jebel el-Madura, on

the south frontier of Judah, between the south end of the

in the highlands of Judah (Josh. 15:58). It is now a small

village of the same name, and is situated about 5 miles

north-east of Hebron on the way to Jerusalem. There is an

old Jewish tradition that Gad, David’s seer (2 Sam.

R.V., “court”), the open court or quadrangle

belonging to the high priest’s house. In Matt. 26:69

and Mark 14:66 this word is incorrectly rendered

“palace” in the Authorized Version, but correctly

“court” in the Revised Version. In John 10:1,16

it means a “sheep-fold.” In Matt. 27:27 and Mark

15:16 (A.V., “common hall;” R.V.,

“palace”) it refers to the proetorium or

residence of the Roman governor at Jerusalem. The

“porch” in Matt. 26:71 is the entrance-hall or

passage leading into the central court, which is open to

to the group of Psalms 113-118, which are preeminently

psalms of praise. It is called “The Egyptian

Hallel,” because it was chanted in the temple whilst

the Passover lambs were being slain. It was chanted also on

other festival occasions, as at Pentecost, the feast of

Tabernacles, and the feast of Dedication. The Levites,

standing before the altar, chanted it verse by verse, the

people responding by repeating the verses or by intoned

hallelujahs. It was also chanted in private families at the

feast of Passover. This was probably the hymn which our

Saviour and his disciples sung at the conclusion of the

Passover supper kept by them in the upper room at Jerusalem

frequently rendered “Praise ye the LORD,” stands

at the beginning of ten of the psalms (106, 111-113, 135,

146-150), hence called “hallelujah psalms.” From

its frequent occurrence it grew into a formula of praise.

The Greek form of the word (alleluia) is found in Rev.

consecrate (Ex. 28:38; 29:1). This word is from the Saxon,

and properly means “to make holy.” The name of

God is “hallowed”, i.e., is reverenced as holy