32:31; Ps. 38:17). To “halt between two opinions”

(1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression

used in “allusion to birds, which hop from spray to

spray, forwards and backwards.” The LXX. render the

expression “How long go ye lame on both knees?”

The Hebrew verb rendered “halt” is used of the

irregular dance (“leaped upon”) around the altar

(ver. 26). It indicates a lame, uncertain gait, going now

in one direction, now in another, in the frenzy of wild

south; also an Egyptian word meaning “black”, the

youngest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32; comp. 9:22,24). The curse

pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his

fourth son, was accomplished when the Jews subsequently

magnificent, the name of the vizier (i.e., the prime

minister) of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Esther 3:1, etc.).

He is called an “Agagite,” which seems to denote

that he was descended from the royal family of the

Amalekites, the bitterest enemies of the Jews, as Agag was

one of the titles of the Amalekite kings. He or his parents

were brought to Persia as captives taken in war. He was

hanged on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai the

one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the

Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary

of Palestine (Num. 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon

(Josh. 13:5) towards Damascus (Zech. 9:2; Jer. 49:23). It

is called “Hamath the great” in Amos 6:2, and

(2 Chr. 8:3) is supposed by some to be a different place

the “fenced cities” of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35). It

is identified with the warm baths (the heat of the water

ranging from 136 degrees to 144 degrees) still found on the

shore a little to the south of Tiberias under the name of

designated usually “the Agagite” (Esther 3:1, 10;

father of Jerahmeel, mentioned in Jer. 36:26. Some take

this word as a common noun, “the king”, and

understand that Jerahmeel was Jehoiakim’s son.

by gold-beaters (Isa. 41:7) and by quarry-men (Jer. 23:29).

Metaphorically of Babylon (Jer. 50:23) or

daughter of Machir and sister of Gilead (1 Chr. 7:17, 18).

town in the tribe of Asher, near Zidon (Josh. 19:28),

Levitical city of Naphtali (Josh. 21:32); probably Hammath

figuratively assigned to the place in which the slaughter

and burial of the forces of Gog were to take place (Ezek.

name of the valley in which the slaughtered forces of Gog

are to be buried (Ezek. 39:11,15), “the valley of the

whom Jacob purchased the plot of ground in which Joseph was

afterwards buried (Gen. 33:19). He is called

“Emmor” in Acts 7:16. His son Shechem founded the

city of that name which Simeon and Levi destroyed because

of his crime in the matter of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter

(Gen. 34:20). Hamor and Shechem were also slain (ver.

of Pharez, son of Judah (1 Chr. 2:5). His descendants are

daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, wife of king Josiah, and

mother of king Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31), also of king

graciously given, the cousin of Jeremiah, to whom he sold

the field he possessed in Anathoth, before the siege of

Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:23). (2.) One of David’s heroes (1

Chr. 11:43). (3.) Jer. 35:4. (4.) A descendant of Saul (1

Chr. 8:38). (5.) One of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:46). (6.) One

of the Levites who assisted Ezra (Neh. 8:7). (7.) One of

given, a tower in the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:1; 12:39).

is gracious. (1.) One of the sons of Heman (1 Chr. 25:4,

25). (2.) A prophet who was sent to rebuke king Asa for

entering into a league with Benhadad I., king of Syria,

against Judah (2 Chr. 16:1-10). He was probably the father

of the prophet Jehu (1 Kings 16:7). (3.) Probably a brother

of Nehemiah (Neh. 1:2; 7:2), who reported to him the

melancholy condition of Jerusalem. Nehemiah afterwards

(1.) A chief of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:24). (2.)

One of the sons of Heman (1 Chr. 25:4,23). (3.) One of

Uzziah’s military officers (2 Chr. 26:11). (4.)

Grandfather of the captain who arrested Jeremiah (Jer.

37:13). (5.) Jer. 36:12. (6.) Neh. 10:23. (7.) Shadrach,

one of the “three Hebrew children” (Dan. 1; 6:7).

(8.) Son of Zerubbabel (1 Chr. 3:19, 21). (9.) Ezra 10:28.

(10.) The “ruler of the palace; he was a faithful man,

and feared God above many” (Neh. 7:2). (11.) Neh. 3:8.

(12.) Neh. 3:30 (13.) A priest, son of Jeremiah (Neh.

12:12). (14.) A false prophet contemporary with Jeremiah

instrument of instruments.” It is the symbol of human

action (Ps. 9:16; Job 9:30; Isa. 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:8). Washing

the hands was a symbol of innocence (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Matt.

27:24), also of sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; Isa. 51:16;

Ps. 24:3, 4). In Ps. 77:2 the correct rendering is, as in

the Revised Version, “My hand was stretched out,”

etc., instead of, as in the Authorized Version, “My

fingers, equal to about four inches (Ex. 25:25; 37:12; Ps.

Authorized Version (Acts 19:12). The Greek word (sudarion)

so rendered means properly “a sweat-cloth.” It is

rendered “napkin” in John 11:44; 20:7; Luke

Ruth 3:9; Luke 1:48). It is probable that Hagar was

Sarah’s personal attendant while she was in the house

of Pharaoh, and was among those maid-servants whom Abram

“blotting out the handwriting” is the removal by

the grace of the gospel of the condemnation of the law

mentioned only in Isa. 30:4 in connection with a reproof

given to the Jews for trusting in Egypt. It was considered

the same as Tahpanhes, a fortified town on the eastern

frontier, but has been also identified as

mark of infamy inflicted on the dead bodies of criminals

(Deut. 21:23) rather than our modern mode of punishment.

Criminals were first strangled and then hanged (Nu. 25:4;

Deut. 21:22). (See 2 Sam. 21:6 for the practice of the

the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel

(1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she

was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle

had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of

sacrifices there according to the law (Ex. 23:15; 34:18;

Deut. 16:16), probably at the feast of the Passover (comp.

Ex. 13:10). On occasion of one of these “yearly”

visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah’s conduct

toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the

Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high

priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed

her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly

condemned her conduct (1 Sam. 1:14-16). After hearing her

explanation he retracted his injurious charge and said to

her, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee

thy petition.” Perhaps the story of the wife of Manoah

was not unknown to her. Thereafter Elkanah and his family

retired to their quiet home, and there, before another

Passover, Hannah gave birth to a son, whom, in grateful

memory of the Lord’s goodness, she called Samuel, i.e.,

“heard of God.” After the child was weaned

(probably in his third year) she brought him to Shiloh into

the house of the Lord, and said to Eli the aged priest,

“Oh my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here,

praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the

Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

therefore I also have granted him to the Lord; as long as

he liveth he is granted to the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:27, 28,

R.V.). Her gladness of heart then found vent in that

remarkable prophetic song (2:1-10; comp. Luke 1:46-55)

which contains the first designation of the Messiah under

that name (1 Sam. 2:10, “Annointed” =

“Messiah”). And so Samuel and his parents parted.

He was left at Shiloh to minister “before the

Lord.” And each year, when they came up to Shiloh,

Hannah brought to her absent child “a little

coat” (Heb. meil, a term used to denote the

“robe” of the ephod worn by the high priest, Ex.

28:31), a priestly robe, a long upper tunic (1 Chr. 15:27),

in which to minister in the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:19; 15:27;

Job 2:12). “And the child Samuel grew before the

Lord.” After Samuel, Hannah had three sons and two

chief of the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 34:23). (2.) A chief

The son and successor of Nahash, king of Moab. David’s

messengers, sent on an embassy of condolence to him to

Rabbah Ammon, his capital, were so grossly insulted that he

proclaimed war against Hanun. David’s army, under the

command of Joab, forthwith crossed the Jordan, and gained a

complete victory over the Moabites and their allies (2 Sam.

province of Assyria (1 Chr. 5:26), between the Tigris and

the Euphrates, along the banks of the Khabur, to which some

of the Israelite captives were carried. It has not been

twenty-fifth station of the Israelites in their wanderings

“mountaineer.” The eldest son of Terah, brother

of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah.

He died before his father (Gen. 11:27), in Ur of the

“ass-driver”), one of the seven eunuchs or

prohibited as food according to the Mosaic law (Lev. 11:6;

Deut. 14:7), “because he cheweth the cud, but divideth

not the hoof.” The habit of this animal is to grind

its teeth and move its jaw as if it actually chewed the

cud. But, like the cony (q.v.), it is not a ruminant with

four stomachs, but a rodent like the squirrel, rat, etc.

Moses speaks of it according to appearance. It is

interdicted because, though apparently chewing the cud, it

mountains of Judah where David hid when pursued by Saul (1

Sam. 22:5). It was possibly while he was here that the

memorable incident narrated in 2 Sam. 23:14-17, 1 Chr.

11:16-19 occurred. This place has not been identified, but

perhaps it may be the modern Kharas, on the borders of the

3:8) “of the goldsmiths,” one whose son helped to

of the second course of priests (1 Chr. 24:8). (2.) Ezra

2:32, 39; Neh. 7:35, 42. (3.) Neh. 3:11. (4.) 12:3. (5.)

34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in

kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to

prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of

Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. This word is also

used in Deut. 23:17; Hos. 4:14. Thus Tamar sat by the

“to bind;” hence the act of fastening animals to

near which Gideon and his army encamped on the morning of

the day when they encountered and routed the Midianites

(Judg. 7). It was south of the hill Moreh. The present

‘Ain Jalud (“Goliath’s Fountain”), south

of Jezreel and nearly opposite Shunem, is probably the

two of David’s heroes (2 Sam. 23:25). (Comp. 1 Chr.

(Judg. 4:2) or nations, a city near Hazor in Galilee of the

Gentiles, or Upper Galilee, in the north of Palestine. It

was here that Jabin’s great army was marshalled before

it went forth into the great battlefield of Esdraelon to

encounter the army of Israel, by which it was routed and

put to flight (Judg. 4). It was situated “at the

entrance of the pass to Esdraelon from the plain of

Acre” at the base of Carmel. The name in the Hebrew is

Harosheth ha Gojim, i.e., “the smithy of the

nations;” probably, as is supposed, so called because

here Jabin’s iron war-chariots, armed with scythes,

national instrument of the Hebrews. It was invented by

Jubal (Gen. 4:21). Some think the word kinnor

denotes the whole class of stringed instruments. It was

used as an accompaniment to songs of cheerfulness as well

as of praise to God (Gen. 31:27; 1 Sam. 16:23; 2 Chr.

tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the

under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Sam. 12:31; 1

or male deer. It is ranked among the clean animals (Deut.

12:15; 14:5; 15:22), and was commonly killed for food (1

Kings 4:23). The hart is frequently alluded to in the

poetical and prophetical books (Isa. 35:6; Cant. 2:8, 9;

an epithet given to Shephatiah, one of those who joined

Meshullemeth, the wife of king Manasseh (2 Kings 21:19) and

gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or

April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a

first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the

harvest commenced (Lev. 23:9-14; 2 Sam. 21:9, 10; Ruth

2:23). It began with the feast of Passover and ended with

Pentecost, thus lasting for seven weeks (Ex. 23:16). The

harvest was a season of joy (Ps. 126:1-6; Isa. 9:3). This

word is used figuratively Matt. 9:37; 13:30; Luke 10:2;

one of the sons of Pedaiah (1 Chr. 3:20), of the royal line

(1.) Merarite Levite (1 Chr. 6:45; 9:14). (2.) A son of

Jeduthun (25:3, 19). (3.) Son of Kemuel (26:30). (4.) One

of the chief Levites (2 Chr. 35:9). (5.) A Levite (Neh.

11:22). (6.) One of the chief priests in the time of Ezra

(Ezra 8:24). (7.) A chief of the Levites (Neh. 12:24). (8.)

One of the Levites whom Ezra appointed to interpret the law

judging, stood at Ezra’s left hand when he read the law

thirtieth halting-place of the Israelites during their

wanderings in the wilderness, not far from Mount Hor (Num.

Levite of the family of Merari (Neh. 11:15; 1 Chr. 9:14).

Neh. 7:22. (2.) Stood on Ezra’s left hand while he read

the wardrobe,” i.e., of the sacerdotal vestments (2

Chr. 34:22); called Harhas 2 Kings 22:14. He was husband of

3:21), properly mantle or pallium. The Revised Version

eunuchs or chamberlains in the palace of Ahasuerus (Esther

temple porters or janitors (Ezra 2:42). He returned from

flesh (Gal. 5:20). Altogether different is the meaning of

the word in Deut. 21:15; Matt. 6:24; Luke 14:26; Rom. 9:13,

priest who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:2). (2.) Ezra

only in Ezek. 47:16, 18. It was one of the ancient

divisions of Bashan (q.v.), and lay on the south-east of

Gaulanitis or the Jaulan, and on the south of Lejah,

extending from the Arnon to the Hieromax. It was the most

fertile region in Syria, and to this day abounds in the

ruins of towns, many of which have stone doors and massive

walls. It retains its ancient name. It was known by the

Acts 27: 12). The most famous on the coast of Palestine was

that of Tyre (Ezek. 27:3). That of Crete, called “Fair

land mentioned in Gen. 2:11 rich in gold and bdellium and

onyx stone. The question as to the locality of this region

has given rise to a great diversity of opinion. It may

perhaps be identified with the sandy tract which skirts

Babylonia along the whole of its western border, stretching

enlightener a district in the east of Jordan. (1.) Jair,

the son of Manasseh, took some villages of Gilead and

expressive of strong and rapid flight, and hence

appropriate to the hawk). It is an unclean bird (Lev.

11:16; Deut. 14:15). It is common in Syria and surrounding

countries. The Hebrew word includes various species of

Falconidae, with special reference perhaps to the kestrel

(Falco tinnunculus), the hobby (Hypotriorchis subbuteo),

and the lesser kestrel (Tin, Cenchris). The kestrel remains

all the year in Palestine, but some ten or twelve other

species are all migrants from the south. Of those summer

visitors to Palestine special mention may be made of the

Falco sacer and the Falco lanarius. (See NIGHT-HAWK

in use among the Hebrews; straw was used instead. They cut

the grass green as it was needed. The word rendered

“hay” in Prov. 27:25 means the first shoots of

the grass. In Isa. 15:6 the Revised Version has correctly

“grass,” where the Authorized Version has

officer of Ben-hadad II., king of Syria, who ultimately

came to the throne, according to the word of the Lord to

Elijah (1 Kings 19:15), after he had put the king to death

(2 Kings 8:15). His interview with Elisha is mentioned in 2

Kings 8. The Assyrians soon after his accession to the

throne came against him and defeated him with very great

loss; and three years afterwards again invaded Syria, but

on this occasion Hazael submitted to them. He then turned

his arms against Israel, and ravaged “all the land of

Gilead,” etc. (2 Kings 10:33), which he held in a

degree of subjection to him (13:3-7, 22). He aimed at the

subjugation also of the kingdom of Judah, when Joash

obtained peace by giving him “all the gold that was

found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the

king’s house” (2 Kings 12:18; 2 Chr. 24:24). He

reigned about forty-six years (B.C.886-840), and was

succeeded on the throne by his son Ben-hadad (2 Kings

13:22-25), who on several occasions was defeated by

Jehoash, the king of Israel, and compelled to restore all

place in the southern boundary of Palestine (Num. 34:4), in

the desert to the west of Kadesh-barnea. It is called Adar

fountains, a place on the north-east frontier of Palestine

(Num. 34:9, 10). Some have identified it with Ayan ed-Dara

in the heart of the central chain of Anti-Libanus. More

probably, however, it has been identified with Kuryetein,

about 60 miles east-north-east of Damascus. (Comp. Ezek.

fortune, a city on the south border of Judah (Josh. 15:27),

midway, a place near Hamath in the confines of Hauran

the third son of Joktan, and a region in Arabia-Felix

settled by him (Gen. 10:26; 1 Chr. 1:20). It is probably

the modern province of Hadramaut, situated on the Indian

enclosure of the jackal, a city on the south border of

Judah (Josh. 15:28; Neh. 11:27). It has been identified

with the ruins of Saweh, half-way between Beersheba and

horse, the same as Sansannah, one of Solomon’s

“chariot cities” (Josh. 15:31; 2 Chr. 1:14), a

nutbearing tree. The Hebrew word is rendered in the Vulgate

by amygdalinus, “the almond-tree,” which is

name of the temporary villages in which the nomad Avites

consisting of “a low wall of stones in which thick

bundles of thorny acacia are inserted, the tangled branches

and long needle-like spikes forming a perfectly

impenetrable hedge around the encampment” of tents and

cattle which they sheltered. Such like enclosures abound in

the wilderness of Paran, which the Israelites entered after

leaving Sinai (Num. 11:35; 12:16; 33:17, 18). This third

encampment of the Israelites has been identified with the

modern ‘Ain el-Hudhera, some 40 miles north-east of

Sinai. Here Miriam (q.v.), being displeased that Moses had

married a Cushite wife (Num. 12:1), induced Aaron to join

with her in rebelling against Moses. God vindicated the

authority of his “servant Moses,” and Miriam was

smitten with leprosy. Moses interceded for her, and she was

healed (Num. 12:4-16). From this encampment the Israelites

marched northward across the plateau of et-Tih, and at

palm, the original name of the place afterwards called

ENGEDI (q.v.), Gen. 14:7; called also HAZAZON-TAMAR (2 Chr.

A stronghold of the Canaanites in the mountains north of

Lake Merom (Josh. 11:1-5). Jabin the king with his allied

tribes here encountered Joshua in a great battle. Joshua

gained a signal victory, which virtually completed his

conquest of Canaan (11:10-13). This city was, however,

afterwards rebuilt by the Canaanites, and was ruled by a

king with the same hereditary name of Jabin. His army,

under a noted leader of the name of Sisera, swept down upon

the south, aiming at the complete subjugation of the

country. This powerful army was met by the Israelites under

Barak, who went forth by the advice of the prophetess

Deborah. The result was one of the most remarkable

victories for Israel recorded in the Old Testament (Josh.

19:36; Judg. 4:2; 1 Sam. 12:9). The city of Hazor was taken

and occupied by the Israelites. It was fortified by Solomon

to defend the entrance into the kingdom from Syria and

Assyria. When Tiglath-pileser, the Assyrian king, invaded

the land, this was one of the first cities he captured,

carrying its inhabitants captive into Assyria (2 Kings

15:29). It has been identified with Khurbet Harrah, 2 1/2

city in the south of Judah (Josh. 15:25). It is probably

identified with the ruins of el-Hazzarah, near Beit

properly girdles or belts for the waist (Isa. 3:20, R.V.,

“sashes;” Jer. 2:32, rendered “attire”,

among the Hebrews. It is first mentioned in Ex. 28:40

(A.V., “bonnets;” R.V., “head-tires”).

It was used especially for purposes of ornament (Job 29:14;

Isa. 3:23; 62:3). The Hebrew word here used,

tsaniph, properly means a turban, folds of linen wound

round the head. The Hebrew word peer, used in Isa.

61:3, there rendered “beauty” (A.V.) and

“garland” (R.V.), is a head-dress or turban worn

by females (Isa. 3: 20, “bonnets”), priests (Ex.

39:28), a bridegroom (Isa. 61:10, “ornament;”

R.V., “garland”). Ezek. 16:10 and Jonah 2:5 are

to be understood of the turban wrapped round the head. The

Hebrew shebisim (Isa. 3:18), in the Authorized

Version rendered “cauls,” and marg.

“networks,” denotes probably a kind of netted

head-dress. The “horn” (Heb. keren) mentioned in

1 Sam. 2:1 is the head-dress called by the Druses of Mount

of Ai (Josh. 8), he burned it and “made it an heap

[Heb. tel] for ever” (8:28). The ruins of this city

were for a long time sought for in vain. It has been at

length, however, identified with the mound which simply

bears the name of “Tel.” “There are many

Tels in modern Palestine, that land of Tels, each Tel with

some other name attached to it to mark the former site. But

the site of Ai has no other name ‘unto this day.’

It is simply et-Tel, ‘the heap’ par

the heart is the centre not only of spiritual activity, but

of all the operations of human life. “Heart” and

“soul” are often used interchangeably (Deut. 6:5;

26:16; comp. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33), but this is not