BIBLES NET. COM
Dictionary]
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
(1.) One of the Levites who assisted Ezra in expounding the
law (Neh. 8:7; 9:5). (2.) Neh. 10:18, a Levite who sealed
the covenant.
Hoglah – partridge, one of the
daughters of Zelophehad the Gileadite, to whom portions
were assigned by Moses (Num. 26:33; 27:1; 36:11).
Hoham – Jehovah impels, the king
of Hebron who joined the league against Gibeon. He and his
allies were defeated (Josh. 10:3, 5, 16-27).
Hold – a fortress, the name given
to David’s lurking-places (1 Sam. 22:4, 5; 24:22).
Holiness – in the highest sense
belongs to God (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4), and to Christians as
consecrated to God’s service, and in so far as they are
conformed in all things to the will of God (Rom. 6:19, 22;
Eph. 1:4; Titus 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:15). Personal holiness is a
work of gradual development. It is carried on under many
hindrances, hence the frequent admonitions to watchfulness,
prayer, and perseverance (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph.
4:23, 24).
Holy Ghost – the third Person of
the adorable Trinity.
His personality is proved (1) from the fact that the
attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition,
are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:10,
11; 12:11). He reproves, helps, glorifies, intercedes (John
16:7-13; Rom. 8:26). (2) He executes the offices peculiar
only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves
personal distinction (Luke 12:12; Acts 5:32; 15:28; 16:6;
28:25; 1 Cor. 2:13; Heb. 2:4; 3:7; 2 Pet. 1:21).
His divinity is established (1) from the fact that the
names of God are ascribed to him (Ex. 17:7; Ps. 95:7; comp.
Heb. 3:7-11); and (2) that divine attributes are also
ascribed to him, omnipresence (Ps. 139:7; Eph. 2:17, 18; 1
Cor. 12:13); omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10, 11); omnipotence
(Luke 1:35; Rom. 8:11); eternity (Heb. 9:4). (3) Creation
is ascribed to him (Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 104:30), and
the working of miracles (Matt. 12:28; 1 Cor. 12:9-11). (4)
Worship is required and ascribed to him (Isa. 6:3; Acts
28:25; Rom. 9:1; Rev. 1:4; Matt. 28:19).
Holy of holies – the second or
interior portion of the tabernacle. It was left in total
darkness. No one was permitted to enter it except the high
priest, and that only once a year. It contained the ark of
the covenant only (Ex. 25:10-16). It was in the form of a
perfect cube of 20 cubits.
portions into which the tabernacle was divided (Ex. 26:31;
37:17-25; Heb. 9:2). It was 20 cubits long and 10 in height
and breadth. It was illuminated by the golden candlestick,
as it had no opening to admit the light. It contained the
table of showbread (Ex. 25:23-29) and the golden altar of
incense (30:1-11). It was divided from the holy of holies
by a veil of the most costly materials and the brightest
colours.
The arrangement of the temple (q.v.) was the same in this
respect. In it the walls of hewn stone were wainscotted
with cedar and overlaid with gold, and adorned with
beautiful carvings. It was entered from the porch by
folding doors overlaid with gold and richly embossed.
Outside the holy place stood the great tank or
“sea” of molten brass, supported by twelve oxen,
three turned each way, capable of containing two thousand
baths of water. Besides this there were ten lavers and the
brazen altar of burnt sacrifice.
Homer – heap, the largest of dry
measures, containing about 8 bushels or 1 quarter English =
10 ephahs (Lev. 27:16; Num. 11:32) = a COR.
“Half a homer,” a grain measure mentioned only in
Hos. 3:2.
occurs only 1 Sam. 14:25, 27, 29; Cant. 5:1, where it
denotes the honey of bees. Properly the word signifies a
forest or copse, and refers to honey found in woods.
(2.) Nopheth, honey that drops (Ps. 19:10; Prov. 5:3; Cant.
4:11).
(3.) Debash denotes bee-honey (Judg. 14:8); but also
frequently a vegetable honey distilled from trees (Gen.
43:11; Ezek. 27:17). In these passages it may probably mean
“dibs,” or syrup of grapes, i.e., the juice of
ripe grapes boiled down to one-third of its bulk.
(4.) Tsuph, the cells of the honey-comb full of honey
(Prov. 16:24; Ps. 19:10).
(5.) “Wild honey” (Matt. 3:4) may have been the
vegetable honey distilled from trees, but rather was honey
stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deut. 32:13; Ps.
81:16; 1 Sam. 14:25-29).
Canaan was a “land flowing with milk and honey”
(Ex. 3:8). Milk and honey were among the chief dainties in
the earlier ages, as they are now among the Bedawin; and
butter and honey are also mentioned among articles of food
(Isa. 7:15). The ancients used honey instead of sugar (Ps.
119:103; Prov. 24:13); but when taken in great quantities
it caused nausea, a fact referred to in Prov. 25:16, 17 to
inculcate moderation in pleasures. Honey and milk also are
put for sweet discourse (Cant. 4:11).
round the head (Isa. 3:23; R.V., pl., “turbans”).
Rendered “diadem,” Job 29:14; high priest’s
“mitre,” Zech. 3:5; “royal diadem,”
Isa. 62:3.
Hoof – a cleft hoof as of neat
cattle (Ex. 10:26; Ezek. 32:13); hence also of the horse,
though not cloven (Isa. 5:28). The “parting of the
hoof” is one of the distinctions between clean and
unclean animals (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:7).
“ring” inserted in the nostrils of animals to
which a cord was fastened for the purpose of restraining
them (2 Kings 19:28; Isa. 37:28, 29; Ezek. 29:4; 38:4).
“The Orientals make use of this contrivance for
curbing their work-beasts…When a beast becomes unruly
they have only to draw the cord on one side, which, by
stopping his breath, punishes him so effectually that after
a few repetitions he fails not to become quite tractable
whenever he begins to feel it” (Michaelis). So
God’s agents are never beyond his control.
(2.) Hakkah, a fish “hook” (Job 41:2, Heb. Text,
40:25; Isa. 19:8; Hab. 1:15).
(3.) Vav, a “peg” on which the curtains of the
tabernacle were hung (Ex. 26:32).
(4.) Tsinnah, a fish-hooks (Amos 4:2).
(5.) Mazleg, flesh-hooks (1 Sam. 2:13, 14), a kind of fork
with three teeth for turning the sacrifices on the fire,
etc.
(6.) Mazmeroth, pruning-hooks (Isa. 2:4; Joel 3:10).
(7.) ‘Agmon (Job 41:2, Heb. Text 40:26), incorrectly
rendered in the Authorized Version. Properly a rush-rope
for binding animals, as in Revised Version margin.
elements of Christian character (1 Cor. 13:13). It is
joined to faith and love, and is opposed to seeing or
possessing (Rom. 8:24; 1 John 3:2). “Hope is an
essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so
essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself
designate the essence of Christianity (1 Pet. 3:15; Heb.
10:23). In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is
centred (Eph. 1:18; 4:4).” Unbelievers are without
this hope (Eph. 2:12; 1 Thess. 4:13). Christ is the actual
object of the believer’s hope, because it is in his
second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled (1
Tim. 1:1; Col. 1:27; Titus 2:13). It is spoken of as
“lively”, i.e., a living, hope, a hope not frail
and perishable, but having a perennial life (1 Pet. 1:3).
In Rom. 5:2 the “hope” spoken of is probably
objective, i.e., “the hope set before us,”
namely, eternal life (comp. 12:12). In 1 John 3:3 the
expression “hope in him” ought rather to be, as
in the Revised Version, “hope on him,” i.e., a
hope based on God.
Hophni – pugilist or client, one
of the two sons of Eli, the high priest (1 Sam. 1:3; 2:34),
who, because he was “very old,” resigned to them
the active duties of his office. By their scandalous
conduct they brought down a curse on their father’s
house (2:22, 12-27, 27-36; 3:11-14). For their wickedness
they were called “sons of Belial,” i.e.,
worthless men (2:12). They both perished in the disastrous
battle with the Philistines at Aphek (4:11).
(called Apries by the Greek historian Herodotus) king of
Egypt (B.C. 591-572) in the time of Zedekiah, king of Judah
(Jer. 37:5 44:30; Ezek. 29:6, 7).
Hor – mountain. (1.) One of the
mountains of the chain of Seir or Edom, on the confines of
Idumea (Num. 20:22-29; 33:37). It was one of the stations
of the Israelites in the wilderness (33:37), which they
reached in the circuitous route they were obliged to take
because the Edomites refused them a passage through their
territory. It was during the encampment here that Aaron
died (Num. 33:37-41). The Israelites passed this mountain several
times in their wanderings. It bears the modern name of
Jebel Harun, and is the highest and most conspicious of the
whole range. It stands about midway between the Dead Sea
and the Elanitic gulf. It has two summits, in the hallow
between which it is supposed that Aaron died. Others,
however, suppose that this mountain is the modern Jebel
Madurah, on the opposite, i.e., the western, side of the
Arabah.
(2.) One of the marks of the northern boundary of Palestine
(Num. 34:7, 8). Nowhere else mentioned. Perhaps it is one
of the peaks of Lebanon.
Horeb – desert or mountain of the
dried-up ground, a general name for the whole mountain
range of which Sinai was one of the summits (Ex. 3:1; 17:6;
33:6; Ps. 106:19, etc.). The modern name of the whole range
is Jebel Musa. It is a huge mountain block, about 2 miles
long by about 1 in breadth, with a very spacious plain at
its north-east end, called the Er Rahah, in which the
Israelites encamped for nearly a whole year.
Horem – consecrated, one of the
fenced cities of Naphtali (Josh. 19:38).
Troglodytes who dwelt in the limestone caves which abounded
in Edom. Their ancestor was “Seir,” who probably
gave his name to the district where he lived. They were a
branch of the Hivites (Gen. 14:6; 36:20-30; 1 Chr. 1:38,
39). They were dispossessed by the descendants of Esau, and
as a people gradually became extinct (Deut. 2:12-22).
Hormah – banning; i.e., placing
under a “ban,” or devoting to utter destruction.
After the manifestation of God’s anger against the
Israelites, on account of their rebellion and their
murmurings when the spies returned to the camp at Kadesh,
in the wilderness of Paran, with an evil report of the
land, they quickly repented of their conduct, and presumed
to go up “to the head of the mountain,” seeking
to enter the Promised Land, but without the presence of the
Lord, without the ark of the convenant, and without Moses.
The Amalekites and the Canaanites came down and “smote
and discomfited them even unto Hormah” (Num. 14:45).
This place, or perhaps the watch-tower commanding it, was
originally called Zephath (Judg. 1:17), the modern
Sebaiteh. Afterwards (Num. 21:1-3) Arad, the king of the
Canaanites, at the close of the wanderings, when the
Israelites were a second time encamped at Kadesh,
“fought against them, and took some of them
prisoners.” But Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord
utterly to destroy the cities of the Canaanites; they
“banned” them, and hence the place was now called
Hormah. But this “ban” was not fully executed
till the time of Joshua, who finally conquered the king of
this district, so that the ancient name Zephath became
“Hormah” (Josh. 12:14; Judg. 1:17).
horns perforated at the tip, used for various purposes
(Josh. 6:4,5).
Flasks or vessels were made of horn (1 Sam. 16:1, 13; 1
Kings 1:39).
But the word is used also metaphorically to denote the
projecting corners of the altar of burnt offerings (Ex.
27:2) and of incense (30:2). The horns of the altar of
burnt offerings were to be smeared with the blood of the
slain bullock (29:12; Lev. 4:7-18). The criminal, when his
crime was accidental, found an asylum by laying hold of the
horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).
The word also denotes the peak or summit of a hill (Isa.
5:1, where the word “hill” is the rendering of
the same Hebrew word).
This word is used metaphorically also for strength (Deut.
33:17) and honour (Job 16:15; Lam. 2:3). Horns are emblems
of power, dominion, glory, and fierceness, as they are the
chief means of attack and defence with the animals endowed
with them (Dan. 8:5, 9; 1 Sam. 2:1; 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39;
22:11; Josh. 6:4, 5; Ps. 75:5, 10; 132:17; Luke 1:69,
etc.). The expression “horn of salvation,”
applied to Christ, means a salvation of strength, or a
strong Saviour (Luke 1:69). To have the horn
“exalted” denotes prosperity and triumph (Ps.
89:17, 24). To “lift up” the horn is to act
proudly (Zech. 1:21).
Horns are also the symbol of royal dignity and power (Jer.
48:25; Zech. 1:18; Dan. 8:24).
“stinging”, (Ex. 23:28; Deut. 7:20; Josh. 24:12).
The word is used in these passages as referring to some
means by which the Canaanites were to be driven out from
before the Israelites. Some have supposed that the word is
used in a metaphorical sense as the symbol of some panic
which would seize the people as a “terror of God”
(Gen. 35:5), the consternation with which God would inspire
the Canaanites. In Palestine there are four species of
hornets, differing from our hornets, being larger in size,
and they are very abundant. They “attack human beings
in a very furious manner.” “The furious attack of
a swarm of hornets drives cattle and horses to madness, and
has even caused the death of the animals.”
Horonaim – two caverns, a city of
Moab to the south of the Arnon, built, apparently, upon an
eminence, and a place of some importance (Isa. 15:5; Jer.
48:3, 5, 34).
Sanballat (Neh. 2:10, 19), a native of Horonaim, or of one
of the two Beth-horons, the “upper” or the
“nether,” mentioned in Josh. 16:3,5.
Horse – always referred to in the
Bible in connection with warlike operations, except Isa.
28:28. The war-horse is described Job 39:19-25. For a long
period after their settlement in Canaan the Israelites made
no use of horses, according to the prohibition, Deut.
17:16. David was the first to form a force of cavalry (2
Sam. 8:4). But Solomon, from his connection with Egypt,
greatly multiplied their number (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26, 29).
After this, horses were freely used in Israel (1 Kings
22:4; 2 Kings 3:7; 9:21, 33; 11:16). The furniture of the
horse consisted simply of a bridle (Isa. 30:28) and a curb
(Ps. 32:9).
Horse-gate – a gate in the wall
of Jerusalem, at the west end of the bridge, leading from
Zion to the temple (Neh. 3:28; Jer. 31:40).
Prov. 30:15 (Heb. ‘alukah); the generic name for any
blood-sucking annelid. There are various species in the
marshes and pools of Palestine. That here referred to, the
Hoemopis, is remarkable for the coarseness of its bite, and
is therefore not used for medical purposes. They are spoken
of in the East with feelings of aversion and horror,
because of their propensity to fasten on the tongue and
nostrils of horses when they come to drink out of the
pools. The medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis), besides
other species of leeches, are common in the waters of
Syria.
“master of a horse.” The “horsemen”
mentioned Ex. 14:9 were “mounted men”, i.e., men
who rode in chariots. The army of Pharaoh consisted of a
chariot and infantry force. We find that at a later period,
however, the Egyptians had cavalry (2 Chr. 12:3).
Hosah – refuge. (1.) A place on
the border of the tribe of Asher (Josh. 19:29), a little to
the south of Zidon.
(2.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 16:38).
Hosanna – Save now! or Save, we
beseech, (Matt. 21:9). This was a customary form of
acclamation at the feast of Tabernacles. (Comp. Ps.
118:25.)
Hose – (Dan. 3:21), a tunic or
undergarment.
Beeri, and author of the book of prophecies bearing his
name. He belonged to the kingdom of Israel. “His
Israelitish origin is attested by the peculiar, rough,
Aramaizing diction, pointing to the northern part of
Palestine; by the intimate acquaintance he evinces with the
localities of Ephraim (5:1; 6:8, 9; 12:12; 14:6, etc.); by
passages like 1:2, where the kingdom is styled ‘the
land’, and 7:5, where the Israelitish king is
designated as ‘our’ king.” The period of his
ministry (extending to some sixty years) is indicated in
the superscription (Hos. 1:1, 2). He is the only prophet of
Israel who has left any written prophecy.
Hosea, Prophecies of – This book
stands first in order among the “Minor Prophets.”
“The probable cause of the location of Hosea may be
the thoroughly national character of his oracles, their
length, their earnest tone, and vivid
representations.” This was the longest of the
prophetic books written before the Captivity. Hosea
prophesied in a dark and melancholy period of Israel’s
history, the period of Israel’s decline and fall. Their
sins had brought upon them great national disasters.
“Their homicides and fornication, their perjury and
theft, their idolatry and impiety, are censured and
satirized with a faithful severity.” He was a
contemporary of Isaiah. The book may be divided into two
parts, the first containing chapters 1-3, and symbolically
representing the idolatry of Israel under imagery borrowed
from the matrimonial relation. The figures of marriage and
adultery are common in the Old Testament writings to
represent the spiritual relations between Jehovah and the
people of Israel. Here we see the apostasy of Israel and
their punishment, with their future repentance,
forgiveness, and restoration.
The second part, containing 4-14, is a summary of
Hosea’s discourses, filled with denunciations,
threatenings, exhortations, promises, and revelations of
mercy.
Quotations from Hosea are found in Matt. 2:15; 9:15; 12:7;
Rom. 9:25, 26. There are, in addition, various allusions to
it in other places (Luke 23:30; Rev. 6:16, comp. Hos. 10:8;
Rom. 9:25, 26; 1 Pet. 2:10, comp. Hos. 1:10, etc.).
As regards the style of this writer, it has been said that
“each verse forms a whole for itself, like one heavy
toll in a funeral knell.” “Inversions (7:8; 9:11,
13; 12: 8), anacolutha (9:6; 12:8, etc.), ellipses (9:4;
13:9, etc.), paranomasias, and plays upon words, are very
characteristic of Hosea (8:7; 9:15; 10:5; 11:5;
12:11).”
original name of the son of Nun, afterwards called Joshua
(Num. 13:8, 16; Deut. 32:44).
(2.) 1 Chr. 27:20. The ruler of Ephraim in David’s
time.
(3.) The last king of Israel. He conspired against and slew
his predecessor, Pekah (Isa. 7:16), but did not ascend the
throne till after an interregnum of warfare of eight years
(2 Kings 17:1, 2). Soon after this he submitted to
Shalmaneser, the Assyrian king, who a second time invaded
the land to punish Hoshea, because of his withholding
tribute which he had promised to pay. A second revolt
brought back the Assyrian king Sargon, who besieged
Samaria, and carried the ten tribes away beyond the
Euphrates, B.C. 720 (2 Kings 17:5, 6; 18:9-12). No more is
heard of Hoshea. He disappeared like “foam upon the
water” (Hos. 10:7; 13:11).
16:23); a tavern-keeper, the keeper of a caravansary (Luke
10:35).
In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at
first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1
Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to
fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when
necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5).
Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2;
24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1),
and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and
Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).
Hostage – a person delivered into
the hands of another as a security for the performance of
some promise, etc. (2 Kings 14:14; 2 Chr. 25:24).
Host of heaven – The sun, moon,
and stars are so designated (Gen. 2:1). When the Jews fell
into idolatry they worshipped these (Deut. 4:19; 2 Kings
17:16; 21:3,5; 23:5; Jer. 19:13; Zeph. 1:5; Acts 7:42).
Hough – to hamstring, i.e., sever
the “tendon of Achilles” of the hinder legs of
captured horses (Josh. 11:6; 2 Sam. 8:4; 1 Chr. 18:4), so
as to render them useless.
Hour – First found in Dan. 3:6;
4:19, 33;5:5. It is the rendering of the Chaldee shaah,
meaning a “moment,” a “look.” It is
used in the New Testament frequently to denote some
determinate season (Matt. 8:13; Luke 12:39).
With the ancient Hebrews the divisions of the day were
“morning, evening, and noon-day” (Ps. 55:17,
etc.). The Greeks, following the Babylonians, divided the
day into twelve hours. The Jews, during the Captivity,
learned also from the Babylonians this method of dividing
time. When Judea became subject to the Romans, the Jews
adopted the Roman mode of reckoning time. The night was
divided into four watches (Luke 12:38; Matt. 14:25; 13:25).
Frequent allusion is also made to hours (Matt. 25:13;
26:40, etc.).
An hour was the twelfth part of the day, reckoning from
sunrise to sunset, and consequently it perpetually varied
in length.
Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first
time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9).
From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites
were builders of cities. The Hebrews after the Conquest
took possession of the captured cities, and seem to have
followed the methods of building that had been pursued by
the Canaanites. Reference is made to the stone (1 Kings
7:9; Isa. 9:10) and marble (1 Chr. 29:2) used in building,
and to the internal wood-work of the houses (1 Kings 6:15;
7:2; 10:11, 12; 2 Chr. 3:5; Jer. 22:14). “Ceiled
houses” were such as had beams inlaid in the walls to
which wainscotting was fastened (Ezra 6:4; Jer. 22:14; Hag.
1:4). “Ivory houses” had the upper parts of the
walls adorned with figures in stucco with gold and ivory (1
Kings 22:39; 2 Chr. 3:6; Ps. 45:8).
The roofs of the dwelling-houses were flat, and are often
alluded to in Scripture (2 Sam. 11:2; Isa. 22:1; Matt.
24:17). Sometimes tents or booths were erected on them (2
Sam. 16:22). They were protected by parapets or low walls
(Deut. 22:8). On the house-tops grass sometimes grew (Prov.
19:13; 27:15; Ps. 129:6, 7). They were used, not only as
places of recreation in the evening, but also sometimes as
sleeping-places at night (1 Sam. 9:25, 26; 2 Sam. 11:2;
16:22; Dan. 4:29; Job 27:18; Prov. 21:9), and as places of
devotion (Jer. 32:29; 19:13).
Zebulun, not far from Jordan, on the border of Naphtali
(Josh. 19:34).
Hul – circle, the second son of
Aram (Gen. 10:23), and grandson of Shem.
Huldah – weasel, a prophetess;
the wife of Shallum. She was consulted regarding the
“book of the law” discovered by the high priest
Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chr. 34:22-28). She resided in
that part of Jerusalem called the Mishneh (A.V., “the
college;” R.V., “the second quarter”),
supposed by some to be the suburb between the inner and the
outer wall, the second or lower city, Akra. Miriam (Ex.
15:20) and Deborah (Judg. 4:4) are the only others who bear
the title of “prophetess,” for the word in Isa.
8:3 means only the prophet’s wife.
Humiliation of Christ – (Phil.
2:8), seen in (1) his birth (Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7; John 1:46;
Heb. 2:9), (2) his circumstances, (3) his reputation (Isa.
53; Matt. 26:59, 67; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:68), (4) his soul
(Ps. 22:1; Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 22:44; Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15),
(5) his death (Luke 23; John 19; Mark 15:24, 25), (6) and
his burial (Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57, 58, 60).
His humiliation was necessary (1) to execute the purpose of
God (Acts 2:23, 24; Ps. 40:6-8), (2) fulfil the Old
Testament types and prophecies, (3) satisfy the law in the
room of the guilty (Isa. 53; Heb. 9:12, 15), procure for
them eternal redemption, (4) and to show us an example.
Humility – a prominent Christian
grace (Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5-7; 2 Cor. 3:5;
Phil. 4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God
(1 Pet. 3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquillity (Ps.
69:32, 33), and makes us patient under trials (Job
1:22).
Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6-8). We
should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam.
3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour
(Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to
the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is
a “great paradox in Christianity that it makes
humility the avenue to glory.”
Hunting – mentioned first in Gen.
10:9 in connection with Nimrod. Esau was “a cunning
hunter” (Gen. 25:27). Hunting was practised by the
Hebrews after their settlement in the “Land of
Promise” (Lev. 17:15; Prov. 12:27). The lion and other
ravenous beasts were found in Palestine (1 Sam. 17:34; 2
Sam. 23:20; 1 Kings 13:24; Ezek. 19:3-8), and it must have
been necessary to hunt and destroy them. Various snares and
gins were used in hunting (Ps. 91:3; Amos 3:5; 2 Sam.
23:20).
War is referred to under the idea of hunting (Jer. 16:16;
Ezek. 32:30).
Hur – a hole, as of a viper, etc.
(1.) A son of Caleb (1 Chr. 2:19, 50; 4:1, 4; comp. 2 Chr.
1:5).
(2.) The husband of Miriam, Moses’ sister (Ex.
17:10-12). He was associated with Aaron in charge of the
people when Moses was absent on Sinai (Ex. 24:14). He was
probably of the tribe of Judah, and grandfather of Bezaleel
(Ex. 31:2; 35:30; 1 Chr. 2:19).
(3.) One of the five princes of Midian who were defeated
and slain by the Israelites under the command of Phinehas
(Num. 31:8).
David’s heroes, a native of the valley of Mount Gaash
(1 Chr. 11:32).
“house-band,” connecting and keeping together the
whole family. A man when betrothed was esteemed from that
time a husband (Matt. 1:16, 20; Luke 2:5). A recently
married man was exempt from going to war for “one
year” (Deut. 20:7; 24:5).
Husbandman – one whose business
it is to cultivate the ground. It was one of the first
occupations, and was esteemed most honourable (Gen. 9:20;
26:12, 14; 37:7, etc.). All the Hebrews, except those
engaged in religious services, were husbandmen.
Archite,” “the king’s friend” (1 Chr.
27:33). When David fled from Jerusalem, on account of the
rebellion of Absalom, and had reached the summit of Olivet,
he there met Hushai, whom he sent back to Jerusalem for the
purpose of counteracting the influence of Ahithophel, who
had joined the ranks of Absalom (2 Sam. 15:32, 37;
16:16-18). It was by his advice that Absalom refrained from
immediately pursuing after David. By this delay the cause
of Absalom was ruined, for it gave David time to muster his
forces.
Husk – In Num. 6:4 (Heb. zag) it
means the “skin” of a grape. In 2 Kings 4:42
(Heb. tsiqlon) it means a “sack” for grain, as
rendered in the Revised Version. In Luke 15:16, in the
parable of the Prodigal Son, it designates the beans of the
carob tree, or Ceratonia siliqua. From the supposition,
mistaken, however, that it was on the husks of this tree
that John the Baptist fed, it is called “St.
John’s bread” and “locust tree.” This
tree is in “February covered with innumerable
purple-red pendent blossoms, which ripen in April and May
into large crops of pods from 6 to 10 inches long, flat,
brown, narrow, and bent like a horn (whence the Greek name
keratia, meaning ‘little horns’), with a sweetish
taste when still unripe. Enormous quantities of these are
gathered for sale in various towns and for
exportation.” “They were eaten as food, though
only by the poorest of the poor, in the time of our
Lord.” The bean is called a “gerah,” which
is used as the name of the smallest Hebrew weight, twenty
of these making a shekel.
Hymn – occurs only Eph. 5:19 and
Col. 3:16. The verb to “sing an hymn” occurs
Matt. 26:30 and Mark 14:26. The same Greek word is rendered
to “sing praises” Acts 16:25 (R.V., “sing
hymns”) and Heb. 2:12. The “hymn” which our
Lord sang with his disciples at the last Supper is
generally supposed to have been the latter part of the
Hallel, comprehending Ps. 113-118. It was thus a name given
to a number of psalms taken together and forming a
devotional exercise.
The noun hymn is used only with reference to the services
of the Greeks, and was distinguished from the psalm. The
Greek tunes required Greek hymns. Our information regarding
the hymnology of the early Christians is very limited.
mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler
in religion. Our Lord severely rebuked the scribes and
Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). “The
hypocrite’s hope shall perish” (Job 8:13). The
Hebrew word here rendered “hypocrite” rather
means the “godless” or “profane,” as it
is rendered in Jer. 23:11, i.e., polluted with crimes.
hyssopos), first mentioned in Ex. 12:22 in connection with
the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards
mentioned in Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; Num. 19:6, 18; Heb. 9:19. It
is spoken of as a plant “springing out of the
wall” (1 Kings 4:33). Many conjectures have been
formed as to what this plant really was. Some contend that
it was a species of marjoram (origanum), six species of
which are found in Palestine. Others with more probability
think that it was the caper plant, the Capparis spinosa of
Linnaeus. This plant grew in Egypt, in the desert of Sinai,
and in Palestine. It was capable of producing a stem three
or four feet in length (Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36. Comp. John
19:29).
David’s sons (1 Chr. 3:6; 2 Sam. 5:15).
Ibleam – people-waster, a city
assigned to Manasseh (Josh. 17:11), from which the
Israelites, however, could not expel the Canaanites (Judg.
1:27). It is also called Bileam (1 Chr. 6:70). It was
probably the modern Jelamah, a village 2 1/2 miles north of
Jenin.
Ibzan – illustrious, the tenth
judge of Israel (Judg. 12:8-10). He ruled seven years.
Ice – frequently mentioned (Job
6:16; 38:29; Ps. 147:17, etc.).
Ichabod – When the tidings of the
disastrous defeat of the Israelites in the battle against
the Philistines near to Mizpeh were carried to Shiloh, the
wife of Phinehas “was near to be delivered. And when
she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and
that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed
herself and travailed” (1 Sam. 4:19-22). In her great
distress she regarded not “the women that stood by
her,” but named the child that was born
“Ichabod” i.e., no glory, saying, “The glory
is departed from Isreal;” and with that word on her
lips she expired.
Iconium – the capital of ancient
Lycaonia. It was first visited by Paul and Barnabas from
Antioch-in-Pisidia during the apostle’s first
missionary journey (Acts 13:50, 51). Here they were
persecuted by the Jews, and being driven from the city,
they fled to Lystra. They afterwards returned to Iconium,
and encouraged the church which had been founded there
(14:21,22). It was probably again visited by Paul during
his third missionary journey along with Silas (18:23). It
is the modern Konieh, at the foot of Mount Taurus, about
120 miles inland from the Mediterranean.
Idalah – snares(?), a city near
the west border of Zebulun (Josh. 19:15). It has been
identified with the modern Jeida, in the valley of
Kishon.
Iddo – (1.) Timely (1 Chr. 6:21).
A Gershonite Levite.
(2.) Lovely. The son of Zechariah (1 Chr. 27:21), the ruler
of Manasseh in David’s time.
(3.) Timely. The father of Ahinadab, who was one of
Solomon’s purveyors (1 Kings 4:14).
(4.) Lovely. A prophet of Judah who wrote the history of
Rehoboam and Abijah (2 Chr. 12:15). He has been identified
with Oded (2 Chr. 15:1).
(5.) Lovely. The father of Berachiah, and grandfather of
the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 1:1, 7). He returned from
Babylon (Neh. 12:4).
“nothingness;” “vanity” (Isa. 66:3;
41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19,
etc.).
(2.) ‘Elil, “a thing of naught” (Ps. 97:7;
Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of the gods of Noph
(Ezek. 30:13).
(3.) ‘Emah, “terror,” in allusion to the
hideous form of idols (Jer. 50:38).
(4.) Miphletzeth, “a fright;” “horror”
(1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chr. 15:16).
(5.) Bosheth, “shame;” “shameful thing”
(Jer. 11:13; Hos. 9:10); as characterizing the obscenity of
the worship of Baal.
(6.) Gillulim, also a word of contempt, “dung;”
“refuse” (Ezek. 16:36; 20:8; Deut. 29:17, marg.).
(7.) Shikkuts, “filth;” “impurity”
(Ezek. 37:23; Nah. 3:6).
(8.) Semel, “likeness;” “a carved
image” (Deut. 4:16).
(9.) Tselem, “a shadow” (Dan. 3:1; 1 Sam. 6:5),
as distinguished from the “likeness,” or the
exact counterpart.
(10.) Temunah, “similitude” (Deut. 4:12-19). Here
Moses forbids the several forms of Gentile idolatry.
(11.) ‘Atsab, “a figure;” from the root
“to fashion,” “to labour;” denoting
that idols are the result of man’s labour (Isa. 48:5;
Ps. 139:24, “wicked way;” literally, as some
translate, “way of an idol”).
(12.) Tsir, “a form;” “shape” (Isa.
45:16).
(13.) Matztzebah, a “statue” set up (Jer. 43:13);
a memorial stone like that erected by Jacob (Gen. 28:18;
31:45; 35:14, 20), by Joshua (4:9), and by Samuel (1 Sam.
7:12). It is the name given to the statues of Baal (2 Kings
3:2; 10:27).
(14.) Hammanim, “sun-images.” Hamman is a synonym
of Baal, the sun-god of the Phoenicians (2 Chr. 34:4, 7;
14:3, 5; Isa. 17:8).
(15.) Maskith, “device” (Lev. 26:1; Num. 33:52).
In Lev. 26:1, the words “image of stone” (A.V.)
denote “a stone or cippus with the image of an idol,
as Baal, Astarte, etc.” In Ezek. 8:12, “chambers
of imagery” (maskith), are “chambers of which the
walls are painted with the figures of idols;” comp.
ver. 10, 11.
(16.) Pesel, “a graven” or “carved
image” (Isa. 44:10-20). It denotes also a figure cast
in metal (Deut. 7:25; 27:15; Isa. 40:19; 44:10).
(17.) Massekah, “a molten image” (Deut. 9:12;
Judg. 17:3, 4).
(18.) Teraphim, pl., “images,” family gods
(penates) worshipped by Abram’s kindred (Josh. 24:14).
Put by Michal in David’s bed (Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17,
18, 20; 1 Sam. 19:13).
“Nothing can be more instructive and significant than
this multiplicity and variety of words designating the
instruments and inventions of idolatry.”
divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes
the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God,
and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28).
The forms of idolatry are, (1.) Fetishism, or the worship
of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc.
(2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and
stars, as the supposed powers of nature.
(3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of
heroes.
In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin,
and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact
with heathen nations. The first allusion to idolatry is in
the account of Rachel stealing her father’s teraphim
(Gen. 31:19), which were the relics of the worship of other
gods by Laban’s progenitors “on the other side of
the river in old time” (Josh. 24:2). During their long
residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it
was long before they were delivered from it (Josh. 24:14;
Ezek. 20:7). Many a token of God’s displeasure fell
upon them because of this sin.
The idolatry learned in Egypt was probably rooted out from
among the people during the forty years’ wanderings;
but when the Jews entered Palestine, they came into contact
with the monuments and associations of the idolatry of the
old Canaanitish races, and showed a constant tendency to
depart from the living God and follow the idolatrous
practices of those heathen nations. It was their great
national sin, which was only effectually rebuked by the
Babylonian exile. That exile finally purified the Jews of
all idolatrous tendencies.
The first and second commandments are directed against
idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were
equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual
offender was devoted to destruction (Ex. 22:20). His
nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and
deliver him up to punishment (Deut. 13:20-10), but their
hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence
of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deut. 17:2-7). To
attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of
equal enormity (13:6-10). An idolatrous nation shared the
same fate. No facts are more strongly declared in the Old
Testament than that the extermination of the Canaanites was
the punishment of their idolatry (Ex. 34:15, 16; Deut. 7;
12:29-31; 20:17), and that the calamities of the Israelites
were due to the same cause (Jer. 2:17). “A city guilty
of idolatry was looked upon as a cancer in the state; it
was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to
the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were
put to death.” Jehovah was the theocratic King of
Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, and therefore
to an Israelite idolatry was a state offence (1 Sam.
15:23), high treason. On taking possession of the land, the
Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of
the existing idolatry of the Canaanites (Ex. 23:24, 32;
34:13; Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:1-3).
In the New Testament the term idolatry is used to designate
covetousness (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5).
Idumaea – the Greek form of Edom
(Isa. 34:5, 6; Ezek. 35:15; 36:5, but in R.V.
“Edom”). (See EDOM ¯T0001129).
Igal – avengers. (1.) Num. 13:7,
one of the spies of the tribe of Issachar. (2.) Son of
Nathan of Zobah, and one of David’s warriors (2 Sam.
23:36). (3.) 1 Chr. 3:22.
Iim – ruins. (1.) A city in the
south of Judah (Josh. 15:29).
(2.) One of the stations of the Israelites in the
wilderness (Num. 33:45).
Ije-abarim – ruins of Abarim, the
forty-seventh station of the Israelites in the wilderness,
“in the border of Moab” (Num. 33:44).
Naphtali, captured by Ben-hadad of Syria at the instance of
Asa (1 Kings 15:20), and afterwards by Tiglath-pileser of
Assyria (2 Kings 15:29) in the reign of Pekah; now
el-Khiam.
David’s chief warriors (1 Chr. 11:29); called also
Zalmon (2 Sam. 23:28).
north-west of Macedonia, on the eastern shores of the
Adriatic, now almost wholly comprehended in Dalmatia, a
name formerly given to the southern part of Illyricum (2
Tim. 4:10). It was traversed by Paul in his third
missionary journey (Rom. 15:19). It was the farthest
district he had reached in preaching the gospel of Christ.
This reference to Illyricum is in harmony with Acts 20:2,
inasmuch as the apostle’s journey over the parts of
Macedonia would bring him to the borders of Illyricum.
“chambers of his imagery” (Ezek. 8:12).
Imla – replenisher, the father of
Micaiah the prophet (2 Chr. 18:7,8).
Immanuel – God with us. In the
Old Testament it occurs only in Isa. 7:14 and 8:8. Most
Christian interpreters have regarded these words as
directly and exclusively a prophecy of our Saviour, an
interpretation borne out by the words of the evangelist
Matthew (1:23).
Immer – talkative. (1.) The head
of the sixteenth priestly order (1 Chr. 24:14). (2.) Jer.
20:1. (3.) Ezra 2:37; Neh. 7:40. (4.) Ezra 2:59; Neh. 7:61.
(5.) The father of Zadok (Neh. 3:29).
existence. The doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old
Testament. It is plainly implied in the writings of Moses
(Gen. 5:22, 24; 25:8; 37:35; 47:9; 49:29, comp. Heb.
11:13-16; Ex. 3:6, comp. Matt. 22:23). It is more clearly
and fully taught in the later books (Isa. 14:9; Ps. 17:15;
49:15; 73:24). It was thus a doctrine obviously well known
to the Jews.
With the full revelation of the gospel this doctrine was
“brought to light” (2 Tim. 1:10; 1 Cor. 15; 2
Cor. 5:1-6; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
Imputation – is used to designate
any action or word or thing as reckoned to a person. Thus
in doctrinal language (1) the sin of Adam is imputed to all
his descendants, i.e., it is reckoned as theirs, and they
are dealt with therefore as guilty; (2) the righteousness
of Christ is imputed to them that believe in him, or so
attributed to them as to be considered their own; and (3)
our sins are imputed to Christ, i.e., he assumed our
“law-place,” undertook to answer the demands of
justice for our sins. In all these cases the nature of
imputation is the same (Rom. 5:12-19; comp. Philemon 1:18,
19).
Incarnation – that act of grace
whereby Christ took our human nature into union with his
Divine Person, became man. Christ is both God and man.
Human attributes and actions are predicated of him, and he
of whom they are predicated is God. A Divine Person was
united to a human nature (Acts 20:28; Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor.
2:8; Heb. 2:11-14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Gal. 4:4, etc.). The union
is hypostatical, i.e., is personal; the two natures are not
mixed or confounded, and it is perpetual.
Incense – a fragrant composition
prepared by the “art of the apothecary.” It
consisted of four ingredients “beaten small” (Ex.
30:34-36). That which was not thus prepared was called
“strange incense” (30:9). It was offered along
with every meat-offering; and besides was daily offered on
the golden altar in the holy place, and on the great day of
atonement was burnt by the high priest in the holy of
holies (30:7, 8). It was the symbol of prayer (Ps. 141:1,2;
Rev. 5:8; 8:3, 4).
India – occurs only in Esther 1:1
and 8:9, where the extent of the dominion of the Persian
king is described. The country so designated here is not
the peninsula of Hindustan, but the country surrounding the
Indus, the Punjab. The people and the products of India
were well known to the Jews, who seem to have carried on an
active trade with that country (Ezek. 27:15, 24).
rendered means simply a round vessel or cup for containing
ink, which was generally worn by writers in the girdle
(Ezek. 9:2, 3,11). The word “inkhorn” was used by
the translators, because in former times in this country
horns were used for containing ink.
unknown in the East. The khans or caravanserais, which
correspond to the European inn, are not alluded to in the
Old Testament. The “inn” mentioned in Ex. 4:24
was just the halting-place of the caravan. In later times
khans were erected for the accommodation of travellers. In
Luke 2:7 the word there so rendered denotes a place for
loosing the beasts of their burdens. It is rendered
“guest-chamber” in Mark 14:14 and Luke 22:11. In
Luke 10:34 the word so rendered is different. That inn had
an “inn-keeper,” who attended to the wants of
travellers.
Inspiration – that extraordinary
or supernatural divine influence vouchsafed to those who
wrote the Holy Scriptures, rendering their writings
infallible. “All scripture is given by inspiration of
God” (R.V., “Every scripture inspired of
God”), 2 Tim. 3:16. This is true of all the
“sacred writings,” not in the sense of their
being works of genius or of supernatural insight, but as
“theopneustic,” i.e., “breathed into by
God” in such a sense that the writers were
supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended
them to express as a revelation of his mind and will. The
testimony of the sacred writers themselves abundantly
demonstrates this truth; and if they are infallible as
teachers of doctrine, then the doctrine of plenary
inspiration must be accepted. There are no errors in the
Bible as it came from God, none have been proved to exist.
Difficulties and phenomena we cannot explain are not
errors. All these books of the Old and New Testaments are
inspired. We do not say that they contain, but that they
are, the Word of God. The gift of inspiration rendered the
writers the organs of God, for the infallible communication
of his mind and will, in the very manner and words in which
it was originally given.
As to the nature of inspiration we have no information.
This only we know, it rendered the writers infallible. They
were all equally inspired, and are all equally infallible.
The inspiration of the sacred writers did not change their
characters. They retained all their individual
peculiarities as thinkers or writers. (See BIBLE
¯T0000580; WORD OF.)
Christ’s priestly office consists of these two parts,
(1) the offering up of himself as a sacrifice, and (2)
making continual intercession for us.
When on earth he made intercession for his people (Luke
23:34; John 17:20; Heb. 5:7); but now he exercises this
function of his priesthood in heaven, where he is said to
appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:12,24).
His advocacy with the Father for his people rests on the
basis of his own all-perfect sacrifice. Thus he pleads for
and obtains the fulfilment of all the promises of the
everlasting covenant (1 John 2:1; John 17:24; Heb. 7:25).
He can be “touched with the feeling of our
infirmities,” and is both a merciful and a faithful
high priest (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15, 16). This intercession is
an essential part of his mediatorial work. Through him we
have “access” to the Father (John 14:6; Eph.
2:18; 3:12). “The communion of his people with the
Father will ever be sustained through him as mediatorial
Priest” (Ps. 110:4; Rev. 7:17).
(Rom. 8:26, 27; John 14:26). “Christ is a royal Priest
(Zech. 6:13). From the same throne, as King, he dispenses
his Spirit to all the objects of his care, while as Priest
he intercedes for them. The Spirit acts for him, taking
only of his things. They both act with one consent, Christ
as principal, the Spirit as his agent. Christ intercedes
for us, without us, as our advocate in heaven, according to
the provisions of the everlasting covenant. The Holy Spirit
works upon our minds and hearts, enlightening and
quickening, and thus determining our desires ‘according
to the will of God,’ as our advocate within us. The
work of the one is complementary to that of the other, and
together they form a complete whole.”, Hodge’s
Outlines of Theology.
Iphedeiah – set free by Jehovah,
a chief of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:25).
Ira – citizen; wakeful. (1.) A
Tekoite, one of David’s thirty warriors (2 Sam.
23:26).
(2.) An Ithrite, also one of David’s heroes (2 Sam.
23:38).
(3.) A Jairite and priest, a royal chaplain (2 Sam. 20:26)
or confidential adviser (comp. 2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Chr. 18:17).
Irad – runner; wild ass, one of
the antediluvian patriarchs, the father of Mehujael (Gen.
4:18), and grandson of Cain.
Edomite tribe in Mount Seir (Gen. 36:43).
Irha-heres – according to some
MSS., meaning “city of destruction.” Other MSS.
read ‘Irhahares; rendered “city of the
sun”, Isa. 19:18, where alone the word occurs. This
name may probably refer to Heliopolis. The prophecy here
points to a time when the Jews would so increase in number
there as that the city would fall under their influence.
This might be in the time of the Ptolemies.
first-mentioned worker in iron (Gen. 4:22). The Egyptians
wrought it at Sinai before the Exodus. David prepared it in
great abundance for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3: 29:7). The
merchants of Dan and Javan brought it to the market of Tyre
(Ezek. 27:19). Various instruments are mentioned as made of
iron (Deut. 27:5; 19:5; Josh. 17:16, 18; 1 Sam. 17:7; 2
Sam. 12:31; 2 Kings 6:5, 6; 1 Chr. 22:3; Isa. 10:34).
Figuratively, a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48) denotes hard
service; a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9), a stern government; a
pillar of iron (Jer. 1:18), a strong support; a furnace of
iron (Deut. 4:20), severe labour; a bar of iron (Job
40:18), strength; fetters of iron (Ps. 107:10), affliction;
giving silver for iron (Isa. 60:17), prosperity.
Irrigation – As streams were few
in Palestine, water was generally stored up in winter in
reservoirs, and distributed through gardens in numerous
rills, which could easily be turned or diverted by the foot
(Deut. 11:10).
For purposes of irrigation, water was raised from streams
or pools by water-wheels, or by a shaduf, commonly used on
the banks of the Nile to the present day.
Isaac – laughter. (1) Israel, or
the kingdom of the ten tribes (Amos 7:9, 16).
(2.) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest
lived of the three patriarchs (Gen. 21:1-3). He was
circumcised when eight days old (4-7); and when he was
probably two years old a great feast was held in connection
with his being weaned.
The next memorable event in his life is that connected with
the command of God given to Abraham to offer him up as a
sacrifice on a mountain in the land of Moriah (Gen. 22).
When he was forty years of age Rebekah was
chosen for his wife (Gen. 24). After the death and burial
of his father he took up his residence at Beer-lahai-roi
(25:7-11), where his two sons, Esau and Jacob, were born
(21-26), the former of whom seems to have been his
favourite son (27,28).
In consequence of a famine (Gen. 26:1) Isaac went to Gerar,
where he practised deception as to his relation to Rebekah,
imitating the conduct of his father in Egypt (12:12-20) and
in Gerar (20:2). The Philistine king rebuked him for his
prevarication.
After sojourning for some time in the land of the
Philistines, he returned to Beersheba, where God gave him
fresh assurance of covenant blessing, and where Abimelech
entered into a covenant of peace with him.
The next chief event in his life was the blessing of his
sons (Gen. 27:1). He died at Mamre, “being old and
full of days” (35:27-29), one hundred and eighty years
old, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah.
In the New Testament reference is made to his having been
“offered up” by his father (Heb. 11:17; James
2:21), and to his blessing his sons (Heb. 11:20). As the
child of promise, he is contrasted with Ishmael (Rom. 9:7,
10; Gal. 4:28; Heb. 11:18).
Isaac is “at once a counterpart of his father in
simple devoutness and purity of life, and a contrast in his
passive weakness of character, which in part, at least, may
have sprung from his relations to his mother and wife.
After the expulsion of Ishmael and Hagar, Isaac had no
competitor, and grew up in the shade of Sarah’s tent,
moulded into feminine softness by habitual submission to
her strong, loving will.” His life was so quiet and
uneventful that it was spent “within the circle of a
few miles; so guileless that he let Jacob overreach him
rather than disbelieve his assurance; so tender that his
mother’s death was the poignant sorrow of years; so
patient and gentle that peace with his neighbours was
dearer than even such a coveted possession as a well of
living water dug by his own men; so grandly obedient that
he put his life at his father’s disposal; so firm in
his reliance on God that his greatest concern through life
was to honour the divine promise given to his race.”,
Geikie’s Hours, etc.
i.e., “the salvation of Jehovah”). (1.) The son
of Amoz (Isa. 1:1; 2:1), who was apparently a man of humble
rank. His wife was called “the prophetess” (8:3),
either because she was endowed with the prophetic gift,
like Deborah (Judg. 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), or
simply because she was the wife of “the prophet”
(Isa. 38:1). He had two sons, who bore symbolical
names.
He exercised the functions of his office during the reigns
of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1).
Uzziah reigned fifty-two years (B.C. 810-759), and Isaiah
must have begun his career a few years before Uzziah’s
death, probably B.C. 762. He lived till the fourteenth year
of Hezekiah, and in all likelihood outlived that monarch
(who died B.C. 698), and may have been contemporary for
some years with Manasseh. Thus Isaiah may have prophesied
for the long period of at least sixty-four years.
His first call to the prophetical office is not recorded. A
second call came to him “in the year that King Uzziah
died” (Isa. 6:1). He exercised his ministry in a
spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness in regard to
all that bore on the interests of religion. He conceals
nothing and keeps nothing back from fear of man. He was
also noted for his spirituality and for his deep-toned
reverence toward “the holy One of Israel.”
In early youth Isaiah must have been moved by the invasion
of Israel by the Assyrian monarch Pul (q.v.), 2 Kings
15:19; and again, twenty years later, when he had already
entered on his office, by the invasion of Tiglath-pileser
and his career of conquest. Ahaz, king of Judah, at this
crisis refused to co-operate with the kings of Israel and
Syria in opposition to the Assyrians, and was on that
account attacked and defeated by Rezin of Damascus and
Pekah of Samaria (2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chr. 28:5, 6). Ahaz, thus
humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of
Tiglath-pileser against Israel and Syria. The consequence
was that Rezin and Pekah were conquered and many of the
people carried captive to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; 16:9; 1
Chr. 5:26). Soon after this Shalmaneser determined wholly
to subdue the kingdom of Israel. Samaria was taken and
destroyed (B.C. 722). So long as Ahaz reigned, the kingdom
of Judah was unmolested by the Assyrian power; but on his
accession to the throne, Hezekiah (B.C. 726), who
“rebelled against the king of Assyria” (2 Kings
18:7), in which he was encouraged by Isaiah, who exhorted
the people to place all their dependence on Jehovah (Isa.
10:24; 37:6), entered into an alliance with the king of
Egypt (Isa. 30:2-4). This led the king of Assyria to
threaten the king of Judah, and at length to invade the
land. Sennacherib (B.C. 701) led a powerful army into
Palestine. Hezekiah was reduced to despair, and submitted
to the Assyrians (2 Kings 18:14-16). But after a brief
interval war broke out again, and again Sennacherib (q.v.)
led an army into Palestine, one detachment of which
threatened Jerusalem (Isa. 36:2-22; 37:8). Isaiah on that
occasion encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians
(37:1-7), whereupon Sennacherib sent a threatening letter
to Hezekiah, which he “spread before the Lord”
(37:14). The judgement of God now fell on the Assyrian
host. “Like Xerxes in Greece, Sennacherib never
recovered from the shock of the disaster in Judah. He made
no more expeditions against either Southern Palestine or
Egypt.” The remaining years of Hezekiah’s reign
were peaceful (2 Chr. 32:23, 27-29). Isaiah probably lived
to its close, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh, but
the time and manner of his death are unknown. There is a
tradition that he suffered martyrdom in the heathen
reaction in the time of Manasseh (q.v.).
(2.) One of the heads of the singers in the time of David
(1 Chr. 25:3,15, “Jeshaiah”).
(3.) A Levite (1 Chr. 26:25). (4.) Ezra 8:7. (5.) Neh.
11:7.
Isaiah, The Book of – consists of
prophecies delivered (Isa. 1) in the reign of Uzziah (1-5),
(2) of Jotham (6), (3) Ahaz (7-14:28), (4) the first half
of Hezekiah’s reign (14:28-35), (5) the second half of
Hezekiah’s reign (36-66). Thus, counting from the
fourth year before Uzziah’s death (B.C. 762) to the
last year of Hezekiah (B.C. 698), Isaiah’s ministry
extended over a period of sixty-four years. He may,
however, have survived Hezekiah, and may have perished in
the way indicated above.
The book, as a whole, has been divided into three main
parts: (1.) The first thirty-five chapters, almost wholly
prophetic, Israel’s enemy Assyria, present the Messiah
as a mighty Ruler and King. (2.) Four chapters are
historical (36-39), relating to the times of Hezekiah. (3.)
Prophetical (40-66), Israel’s enemy Babylon, describing
the Messiah as a suffering victim, meek and lowly.
The genuineness of the section Isa. 40-66 has been keenly
opposed by able critics. They assert that it must be the
production of a deutero-Isaiah, who lived toward the close
of the Babylonian captivity. This theory was originated by
Koppe, a German writer at the close of the last century.
There are other portions of the book also (e.g., ch. 13;
24-27; and certain verses in ch. 14 and 21) which they
attribute to some other prophet than Isaiah. Thus they say
that some five or seven, or even more, unknown prophets had
a hand in the production of this book. The considerations
which have led to such a result are various: (1.) They
cannot, as some say, conceive it possible that Isaiah,
living in B.C. 700, could foretell the appearance and the
exploits of a prince called Cyrus, who would set the Jews
free from captivity one hundred and seventy years after.
(2.) It is alleged that the prophet takes the time of the
Captivity as his standpoint, and speaks of it as then
present; and (3) that there is such a difference between
the style and language of the closing section (40-66) and
those of the preceding chapters as to necessitate a
different authorship, and lead to the conclusion that there
were at least two Isaiahs. But even granting the fact of a
great diversity of style and language, this will not
necessitate the conclusion attempted to be drawn from it.
The diversity of subjects treated of and the peculiarities
of the prophet’s position at the time the prophecies
were uttered will sufficiently account for this.
The arguments in favour of the unity of the book are quite
conclusive. When the LXX. version was made (about B.C. 250)
the entire contents of the book were ascribed to Isaiah,
the son of Amoz. It is not called in question, moreover,
that in the time of our Lord the book existed in the form
in which we now have it. Many prophecies in the disputed
portions are quoted in the New Testament as the words of
Isaiah (Matt. 3:3; Luke 3:4-6; 4:16-41; John 12:38; Acts
8:28; Rom. 10:16-21). Universal and persistent tradition
has ascribed the whole book to one author.
Besides this, the internal evidence, the similarity in the
language and style, in the thoughts and images and
rhetorical ornaments, all points to the same conclusion;
and its local colouring and allusions show that it is
obviously of Palestinian origin. The theory therefore of a
double authorship of the book, much less of a manifold
authorship, cannot be maintained. The book, with all the
diversity of its contents, is one, and is, we believe, the
production of the great prophet whose name it bears.
Haran and sister of Milcah and Lot (Gen. 11:29, 31).
JUDAS.)
Abraham’s sons by Keturah (Gen. 25:2).
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