BETH-BIREI

term, and therefore probably an echo of

ancient

BETH-BIREI, RV

Ch.

See B

ETH

LEBAOTH

BETH-CAR

Jos.

Ant.

vi.

[Targ.]), a

place, presumably in the district of

to which

the Israelites pursued the defeated Philistines

(

[Dt.]). The phrase under Beth-car is remarkable.
Does it mean under the gates of Beth-car (so We.

68)

or does it mean to the foot of the hill on

some part of which Beth-car stood

No such name

Beth-car is mentioned elsewhere hence it is at first

sight too bold to identify it

(as

P E F , not disapproved by

GASm.

224)

with ‘Ain

the name of a flourish-

ing village a good way to the

Nebi Samwil, and

of Jerusalem.

The name Beth-car, however, is

self-evidently corrupt, and if we may emend it into

Beth-haccerem the identification with

becomes probable (see B

ETH

HACCEREM

). Only

to the N. of

KHrim is

not improbably

to be identified with the

or Jeshanah of

40.

(see

HEN

), which

not be the same

the Jeshanah of

Ch.

The alternative

to read Beth-horon

;

and

from phonetic causes easily confounded.
would

a very

expression: hut

certainly too

north.

The reading Beth-jashan

quoted

from Pesh.

A. Smith

( H G

is no

all,

but

cor

of the text of

as We. has pointed

out.

T. K.

name.’

T. K. C.

Under Beth-horon

BETH-DAGON

95,

Dagon,’

[AL]).

city of Judah, enumerated

in the third group of ‘lowland‘ towns (Josh.

[B]).

The list is

scattered and irregular

that nothing can with certainty be inferred from it as to
the site of Beth-dagon but

which

mentioned in the same verse, must have lain off the

mouth of Aijalon (Josh.

Here we find,

SE.

from

and,

m. farther

Each of these has been identified with Beth-dagon (see

3298,

Clermont Ganneau, P E F Q ,

and one of them (the former, according to Friedr. Del.)

probably the Bit-daganna mentioned in Sennacherib‘s

prism-inscription (col.

It must be

remembered, however, that the name occurred in several
places through Palestine-Beit Dejan nearly 7 m.

and, according to Jos.

(Ant.

xiii.

3),

Dagon near Jericho, each

an important

trade route from Philistia to the Jordan Valley.

There

may, then; have been more than one Beth-dagon on
the borders of Philistia, and it ought not to be over-
looked that neither

nor Beit Dejan lies in the

proper.

the doubtful phrase ‘land of

Dagon’ in

inscription, and on the god

Dagon, see D

AGON

see especially

Ganneau,

Arch.

Res. in

locality not

identified (but cp Conder

268)

on the border of Asher (Josh. 19

Dagon in Ashdod

1083,

BETH-DIBLATHAIM

foundation

but see N

AMES

a town in Moab

mentioned along with Dibon

[

]

and

[iii.] (Jer.

[KA]), evidently the same as

which also occurs in connection with Dibon

(Nu.

This place (called

and

are stated by Mesha

his stele to

have been fortified by himself

30).

BETH-EDEN,

EV house of Eden’

city or land, with a ruler of its

own,

but presumably

allied to Damascus

(Am.

15).

satisfactory identifi-

cation of this place has been made.

The

BETHEL

tion

not

forbids us to see

it the

of Strabo

and equally forbids us to regard

it with Wetzstein (Del.

702

;

cp Vg. de

as a

poetical name of Damascus. The view,

however, adopted

and favoured

(see above), that Beth-eden is the

of the inscriptions (see

DEN

is not less inadmissible,

for this is too far to the N.

Damascus, and had,

in the time

Amos,

long been subject to Assyria

183

cp Nold.

33326

N o

doubt there were

called

DEN

There is equal uncertainty

to the name Bikath-aven

(see

3),

which corresponds to Beth-eden in the

BETH-EKED

EV ‘shearing house’;

house of gathering

where Jehu met

brethren, is either a place-name or (more probably)

the designation of an isolated house used on certain
occasions by the shepherds of the district

but

21.

[AL] Pesh. has and he was overthrowing the

altars that were on the way

and

40.14

cp Cod. Vind. of Vet. Lat.

BETHEL

always one word

on Gen. 128 Josh.

wrongly with

hyphen

‘house of

[BADEL]

hut Gen.

357,

gentilic Bethelite, see

town

the border between Benjamin and Ephraim,

the wilderness of Beth-aven (Josh.

16,

where

the clause, and

has

for Bethel or

Makkedah, see

APPUAH

without doubt the present

(from Beitil, by the common interchange of

and

small village (said to have 400 inhabitants),

with ruins of early Christian and Crusaders’ buildings,
about

m. N. of Jerusalem.

It lies on the

bone of the central range, a little

of the watershed,

and 2890 ft. above the sea. From the village itself
the view is confined to the plateau, which, like most
of the territory of Benjamin, presents a bleak prospect
of gray rocks and very stony fields, relieved by few
trees and a struggling cultivation. A few minutes SE.,
however, lies one of the great view-points

Palestine,

the Burj-Beitin or Tower of Bethel (probably the
of an early Christian monastery), supposed to mark

traditional site of the tent and altar of Abraham

to the

of Bethel’ (Gen.

and of Lot’s view

of the Circle of Jordan

(13

3-10).

Four

good springs

parallel line.

T. K. C.

ETHULIA

); see

DOLATRY

and a great reservoir

certify the

present village

the site of the city,

which was called Luz at

first (Gen.

[ADEL]).

The sanctuary, ‘God‘s house,’ the

place

(as

it is called in Gen.

where it is distinct

from the city) which grew famous enough to absorb
the city’s name in its own, may have lain either on

site of the

or on one of the neigh-

bouring slopes, where there is a natural stone circle

1881,

and the curious formation of

the rocks in terraces and ramparts has been taken

the material suggestion of the ‘flight of steps’ (see

ADDER

)

which Jacob

saw

in his dream (Gen.

There he raised

pillar, or

and afterwards is said (Gen.

by the

same narrator,

(it is J who gives the previous story of

Abraham’s altar), to have built

altar and called the

‘place’ (not yet ‘city’) ‘God of Bethel’

Pesh., and Vg. read ‘Bethel’). Here Deborah, Rebecca’s

Cp the Targ.

‘place of the gathering

together of the

For

however, we should

perhaps read

and omit the next word (in

not in

14)

as a

gloss

was a less

common word for shepherds’ than

Schlatter

236)

infers from Gen.

Jos.

(om.

that the sanctuary lay

of the

town,

in Deir

BETHEL

foster-mother, died. She was buried

the town,

beneath

oak called the

of weeping (see

BACUTH,

ULBERRY

)

trees, it is probable, would not

be found

the stony plateau above. The next notice

of Bethel is in the J E narrative of Joshua’s conquests
(Jos.

[om. BAF

L]),

in which Bethel is

not yet the name of

city (so also the

Jos.

[A] in

Bethel’ is with

to be

omitted), but is still distinct from

does

not distinguish them, reading

after

The later priestly writer, however,

makes them the same

(1813,

[B],

in Judg.

the parenthesis is probably a

gloss).‘

In Judg.

the prophetess Deborah is said to have sat

under the palm-tree

Deborah between

and

Bethel-a statement which the critics who understand
the song of Deborah to imply that she belonged to the
tribe of Issachar suppose tn have arisen from confusion
with the other Deborah (see D

EBORAH

). There is

cogent reason, however, for their inference from the song,
and while a palm is an unusual, it is not an impossible,
tree at the altitude of Bethel : there is one at Jerusalem.
In the story of the crime of the Benjamites the priestly
writing tells of a national gathering before God at Bethel
(Judg. 21

the records

the period after the Judges

name

does not occur we may suppose it by this

have been absorbed in that of

ethel, which was still a sanctuary

( I

new opportunity : its ancient sanctity was taken ad-

vantage of by Jeroboam for political ends, and he made
it one of the two national shrines which he established
in North Israel in order that his people might not go
over to Jerusalem.

In these shrines he set up the golden

calves--‘ Thy God,

Israel, which brought thee up out

of the land of Egypt’

(

A priesthood, not

Levitical, was established, and a

new

altar, pilgrimages,

and feasts were ordained

(

In the words

of Amaziah to Amos, Bethel became a royal and national
temple sanctuary of the king,’ house of the kingdom,’
Am.

A later (perhaps post-exilic) narrative records

prophecy

made by a prophet from Judah, by which

Jeroboam was judged according to the Deuteronomic
standard,

overthrow of Bethel was predicted

( I

There was no such feeling of

guilt or foreboding of doom, however, among the
prophets of the

kingdom, for we find

company of them settled

Bethel, and the place

visited by

and

23).

For a national sanctuary the position was convenient.

The present village lies about a furlong off the most

easterly of the three parallel branches
into which the great north road here
divides, very near its junction with the

road by Michmash to Jericho, and not many miles from
the heads

those two other roads which come up

from the coast by the Beth-horons, and by Goplina,
respectively, to meet the north road just mentioned.
That

to say, the main lines of traffic

and

to W. crossed at the

of Bethel.

Like other

ancient sanctuaries, it must have had a market its mer-
cenariness and wealth are implied by Amos

(84,

etc.).

Moreover, Bethel lay upon the natural frontier between
the two kingdoms on the plateau ‘between the passes of
Beth-horon and Michmash (on the Chronicler’s story of
its capture by

of Judah, see A

JAH

The

prophets Hosea and Amos appear in opposition to
Bethel, not

the ground (taken by the later

nomists) that it was the seat of

schism, but because of

Judg.

Bethel ought probably to be read for

AV for it is the king’s

chapel, and it is the king’s court’;

‘for it is the king’s

sanctuary, and it is

royal house.’

The

of the kingdoms brought Bethel

553

BETHER

the superstitious and immoral nature

its cult, even

though the object

this was Yahwk himself.

They

regard it as apostasy from Yahwk (Am.

44,

Bethel and revolt

‘Seek not

Bethel, seek Yahwk

’),

and its crimes culminate

in the silencing of his prophet Amos by its priest Amazixh
[see A

MOS

It shall, therefore, bear the brunt of

the impending

(Am.

Hos.

BAQ]).

scorn Amos had said Bethel shall

become A

VEN

vanity, falseness, false worship,

idolatry

( 5

Hosea calls it Beth-aven (415

oftener than he calls it Bethel. The nickname was the
readier because of the actual B

ETH

-A

VEN

which

once stood, and perhaps in the eighth century still stood,
in the neighbourhood. After the fall of the northern
kingdom the heathen colonists naturally adopted the
cult of the ‘god of the land,’ and Bethel retained its
importance as a religious centre

Isaiah

and Micah do not mention Bethel it is very doubtful if
Jeremiah does

(Giesebrecht on Jer.

4813).

The frontier

of Judah, however, must have been gradually pushed

as to enclose it, for when Josiah put down the high

places in the cities of Judah’ he destroyed the altar in
Bethel and desecrated the site

The city

itself must have been inhabited by Jews, for its families

are

reckoned in the great post-exilic list [see

ZRA

ii.

Ezra228

[B])

Neh.

7 3 2

Esd.

[B],

[A])].

It was the

most northerly site repeopled by Jews (Neh.

W e hear nothing more of

Bethel till it is described as one of the strong places

Judah which Bacchides refortified in 161

(

Macc.

Jos.

Ant.

xiii.

and then it disappears from

history.

.D.

garrisoned Bethel before his advance

on Jerusalem (Jos.

and

132

Hadrian placed a

post there to intercept Jewish fugitives

Neub.

T h e

deaux

(333)

gives it as Betthar

from Jerusalem.

Robinson’s theory

(LBR,

that Bethel is therefore the Bether of Hadrian’s war, is un-
founded.

Jerome call it a village: the latter

adds (under Aggai) that where Jacob dreamed there was

church-perha s part of the ruins a t Burj-Beitin. T h e

Crusaders exhibited

rock under the Dome of the

Rock

Jerusalem as Jacob‘s

hut the

‘

Cartulary of the Church

the Holy Sepulchre’ gives Bethel as a

ceded

that

church in

and the site of a tower and chapel built hy

Hugues

(Key, 378). See

chap.

;

Stanley,

GASm.

chap.

and

298.

A place to which David sent part

the spoil

the Amalekites

(

: probably the same

if we are not with

(and Budde) to read

BETH-EMEK

99,

‘house in the

om.

ETH

ZUR

valley’),

place on the boundary of Asher (Josh. 1927).

Before Beth-emek some words appear to have dropped out

perhaps the are represented by
(After

continues

where

seems to

he a corruption of

prefixed wrongly

[

[L] Symm.

The

not

clear there would seem to be two

of the northern

boundary (if ‘on the left hand,’ v. 28 means ‘northward,’ and
if the equivalent of

’is

to be inserted before

‘

northward in

27).

Robinson was struck

the resemblance of the name

that of ‘Amka,

NE.

of ‘Akka (Acre) but, as

he himself points out

the situation of

‘Amka is too far

(Jiphtah-el?), and, even if

this objection be waived, ‘Amka is at

rate too far

(which must be the ancient

K. C.

BETHER

additional cities of Judah m Josh. 1559

(cp

mentioned after Karem (‘Ain

and Gallim (cp

IBBAR

doubt it is the modern

m. SW.

On this

list see

also

occurs

’

Ch. 659 [A], a s a substitute for

554

BETHER

Jerusalem), which” stands on the slope of a steep

projecting hill between the WZdy Bittir and a smaller

valley.

If we ascend higher we shall reach

site

admirably adapted for

fortress, where there are still

some ruins connected by popular legend with the Jews.

the

side are chambers in the rock and old cisterns.

Neubauer

90)

and

2387-395)

had all but demonstrated that this was

the Bether

rather Beth-ter

within whose

walls Bar Cochba so obstinately resisted the Romans
under Julius

(A.D.

The proof has now

been completed by the discovery of an inscription stating
which divisions of the Roman army were stationed

It is, therefore,

longer possible to maintain

with Gratz

that the Beth-ter of Bar Cochba

was identical with the Bettbar

the itineraries, which

was situated between Antipatris

Diospolis and

(see A

NTIPATRIS

end). See G

IBBAR

Only two ancient statements respecting the position of Bether

need be here quoted.

Eus. (HE

56)

describes

these terms :

and the Talm. of Jerus.

‘ I f

thou thinkest that Beth-ter [spelt with two

almost

always

this section] was near

sea, thou art in error:

truly it was

away from the sea.

T. K.

BETHER, The mountains

Cant.

EV, following Vg.

The word Bether, how-

ever, all recent critics agree,

not a proper name : it

qualifies t e preceding words. Putting aside the old,
forced exp

the phrase, such as mountains

of ravines’

ITHRON

), and mountains of separation’ (between the

lovers), one might conjecture that

Bether was the

Syrian plant malobathron, from which a costly oil was
procured, used in the toilet of banqueters (Hor. Od. ii.

and also

medicine

Symm. (Field,

Hex.

on Cant.

Wellh.

399

Others emend

into

‘spices,’ in conformity with

(so

Pesh., Theod.,

Meier, Gratz). The best solution, however, has yet to
be mentioned :

for

‘cypresses’

(Che.

Mountains of cypresses

appro-

priate term for Lebanon ; cp

‘

mountains of panthers

’

(48).

and cp C

ANTICLES

BETHESDA

--‘house of mercy’

[Ti. WH]), the reading

of T R in Jn.52, for which the best authorities
B

ETHZATHA

ETHSAIDA

On the topographical

question, see J

ERUSALEM

‘near her’), an unidentified place in the

mentioned by Micah

who foresees the

captivity of its noble ones

emended

from

reading

where

M T

has

’98).

It is scarcely the same as Azel (cp

ZAL

BETH-GADER

town, whose

father Hareph was of Calebite origin

(

Ch.

the genealogy

to represent post-exilic relations.

On the analogy of the other great divisions Shobal

and Salma abi Bethlehem, Beth-gader

was perhaps no unimportant place, and we may possibly
identify it with

It is noticeable that the further

divisions of Hareph are not enumerated, as they are in
the cases of Shobal and Salma.

BETH-GAMUL

place

recompense

[A],

om.

In Moab on

the table-land

of the Jordan

identified by

CI.

Gan.

Acad.

des

The position of

EDER

which

otherwise be

connected, is unknown.

555

BETH-HARAM

with

which lies to the east

the well-

known

;

according to others, it

its modern

representative in

about five hours

Neh.

R V ; see

ILGAL

AV Beth-Haccherem

‘vineyard place’), is expressly called, not

but a district

near Jerusalem, Neh.

[L]).

From Jer.

it appears to have included

a conspicuous height to

of Jerusalem which was

used as a beacon-station

[B],

[K],

Jerome (in

comment on the latter passage) says that it was

one of the villages which he could see every day with his own eyes
from Bethlehem, that it was called Bethacharma, and that it
on a

mountain.

many since Pococke have placed it on

the so-called

‘Frank

Mountain’ (2487 ft.

the

sea-level), between Bethlehem and Tekoa, and very near the
latter (so even Giesebrecht). Jerome’s statement we are unable

t o

criticise but there

is now no name near the Frank Mountain’

which confirms this theory, and the special fertility which the
name Beth-haccerem implies to have characterised the district

suggests lookingelsewhere. After all, it was rather hasty

t o

infer

from Jer. 6

that

Beth-haccerem was bound

t o

be near Tekoa.

Since we have found reason elsewhere (B

ETH

CAR

)

to correct Beth-car’ in

into Beth-haccerem,

and

identify this with the beautiful village of

about an hour and a half

of Jerusalem,

it becomes difficult to resist the conclusion that the hill
referred to by Jeremiah was the

at the foot of

which lies the village in question. The fruitful
groves and vineyards of ‘Ain KHrim are watered from a
superb fountain, and would justify the name Beth-
haccerem. The summit of the Jebel

commands

view

the Mediterranean, the Mount of Olives, and

part of Jerusalem

Conder mentions that

there are still cairns on the ridge above ‘Ain

which

may have served

beacons

1881,

p. 271).

One is

ft. high and

130

ft. in diameter, with a flat

top measuring

ft. across.

Two more references to Beth-haccerem may be indi-

cated.

the Mishna treatise,

it is

stated that the stones for the great altar

the second

temple came from the valley of Beth-cerem, which Adler

8390)

identifies with

and ‘Ain

and among the eleven towns which

has

(but not MT)

Josh.

occurs Karem

which, from the context, can only be ‘Ain

AHCHEMONITE

For

another (probable) Beth-carem

see B

ATH

KABBIM

BETH-HAGGAN

the garden-

as a proper name,

Beth-horon [L]), a place, apparently to the

,of Jezreel,

on the road to which Ahaziah fled in his chariot when
he saw Jehoram slain by Jehu

( z

Jenin, the

first village which one ,travelling southwards would

encounter, may very well be

(

place of gardens‘),

GANNIM

If,

however, we hold with Conder that Megiddo, which

Ahaziah reached at last-to die-was

at the

foot of Gilboa, a little to the

it will become

natural to identify

with a northern

Beit

between Mt. Tabor and the

end of the Lake

of Gennesaret (Beit Jenn is, in Arabic nomenclature,

favourite name).

Against this view of the flight

Ahaziah, see GASm.

HG 387,

K. C.

BETH-HANAN. See

BETH

AV incorrectly B

ETH

ARAM

For

the true form of the name

[AL]),

Josh.

(P).

see B

ETH

HARAN

BETH-HARAN

probably ‘house

[E]), the correct and original pronunciation of

the name of the place also called B

ETH

-HARAM (Cp

for G

ERSHON

). The place thus designated

was an ancient Amorite city, fortified by the conquering
Gadites.

The site is occupied by the modern

which stands

in a

of the same name,

between

and the Jordan, at no great distance

from the river.

The objection to this raised by

is not decisive.

does indeed imply

form,

but this

form is vouched for by the existence of the

Aramaic

Beth-ramtha

(see below).

arose out

ETH

HARAM

phonetic modifica-

tion

Beth-haran) when the older and correct

form

of the

name had passed out

of use,

and

the later form, Beth-haram,

came to

misinterpreted. Moreover Tristram’s discovery

conspicuous mound called Beit

has not

been

verified by subsequent travellers though

still

recognised in

(map of

and

the identification

(which

stands

comm.) is retained

von

the assumption that

Beit

Harran

(or

nearer

the

outlet

of the

than

Tell

The really conspicuous mound is surely that

Tell

which is

673

ft. above the sea-level, and

certainly marks the site of an ancient town of importance
(Conder,

E. Pal.

1238).

Such a town

was the Beth-ramtha of the Talmud (Neubauer,

the name of which

attested by Josephus,

Eusebius, and Jero

here

Ant.

xvii.

;

Herod Antipas

3’

and called it Julias

the wife of

the same time that Herod Philip rebuilt Bethsaida

and gave

the same

name after

the emperor’s

daughter

(Jos.

Ant.

xviii. 2

;

)

Jerome, however, enables

to correct

this statement

(OS

103

The older

name

of the city

was

Livias ;

the

name

was changed

Julias when

was

received into

the

gens

the

emperor’s

testament

(see Schiirer,

Eus.

(OS

23488) and Theodosius

also

call

Livias

the latter

(De

Situ

65)

describes

from

Jericho, near warm springs

that

were efficacious

against leprosy.

T. K. C .

Herod had

BETH-HOGLAR,

once (Josh.

156)

Beth-hogla

104,

‘place of partridge,’ cp

Benjamite city on the border of Judah (Jos.

156,

[A];

1 8 1 9 2 1 ,

and

is the modern

(and

Hajla,

fine

ruin situated be-

tween Jericho and the Jordan

of Gilgal (cp Di. on

Gen.

and

Under the form Beth-

alaga it is, according to Jos.

(Ant.

xiii.

the place

to which Jonathan fled before Bacchides,

Macc.

(but see B

ETHBASI

The

erroneously identifies

Beth-hoglah with

(see A

BEL

MIZRAIM

, end). The

interpretation

gyri’

of Jer., according

to W R S

191,

may rest upon a local

tradition

ritual procession around some sacred

object there (cp Ar.

hobble, hop ‘)-similar

perhaps to the Ar. ceremonial

(for which see We.

The form

survives also in

Hajla (see B

ETH

ARABAH

noted

place for pilgrims at the mouth of the WHdy el-Kelt
(Baed.

169).

BETH-HORON

also

and

and in Ch.

the modern form Beit

probably ‘ t h e

place of the hollow’ or ‘hollow way’) was the name

two neighbouring villages,

Beth-horon

Josh.

[L]) and lower Beth-horon

Josh. 163 ; but in

Ch.

and

See

Schick

cp p.

the

and

;

once

106)

the

text

gives

with a

fragmentary reference to

the

(OS 25

;

domus

vel

The in Hoglah

supported, and

all

the evidence points

t o

the reading Haglah.

For another explanation

see

EGLAIM

quae

dicitur

5 57

BETH-HORON

the dual form preserved

but

AL], Josh.

near the head and the

Coot,

of the ascent from the Maritime Plain

the

Benjamin, and represented to-day by

Beit

and

Beit

(large

Surv.

Sheet xvii.

The road leaves Beit Sira fin which

see

840

ft. above sea-level, on the high

of Aiialon : climbs

the

the Benjamite

in about

minutes to

horon,

1240

ft. ; and thence, dropping

first for

ascends the ridge, with the gorges of

to the

S.,

and WHdy

and

el-

‘Imeish to the

N.,

to the upper Beth-horon,

from its fellow and

ft. above the sea ; and thence,

still following the ridge, comes out on the Benjamite
plateau about

m. farther on, to the

of el-Jib

(Gibeon),

height of about

2300

ft.

The

ascent to Beth-horon (Josh.

may be the road

towards the upper Beth-horon from Gibeon

it does

rise at first from the plateau before descending; the

or descent to the two Beth-horons (Josh.

is the whole road from the edge

the plateau.

probably, the two are the same taken from opposite
ends.

This Beth-horon road is now no longer the high

road from Jerusalem and the watershed to the Maritime

Plain but it was used

such from the very earliest

to at least the sixteenth century of our era, and

indeed forms the most natural, convenient, and least
exposed of all the possible descents from the neighbour-
hood of Jerusalem to the plain

Sharon. The line of

it bears many marks of its age and long use.

Carried

for the most part over the bare rock and rocky debris,
it has had steps cut upon it in its steeper portions, and
has remains of Roman pavement.

Standing as they

do upon mounds, the two Beth-horons command the
most difficult passages of this route and form its double
key.

T h e constancy with which the Beth-horons appear in

history is, therefore, easily explicable (they do not occur,

however, in either the lists of the conquests
of Thotmes 111. or

Amarna letters).

According to

JE,

after Joshua had won

for Israel

footing on the Benjamite plateau and made

peace with Gibeon, the latter was threatened by the
Canaanites.

Joshua defeated them at Gibeon, and

pursued them

all

the way down by the Beth-horons

(Josh.

I n the days of Saul the Philistines must

have held the pass from their camp a t Michmash

(

Solomon fortified Beth-horon the nether, along

with Gezer, on the opposite side of Aijalon

[om, BL, Jos.

Ch.

adds Beth-horon the upper

B]).

During his son Rehoboam’s

Egypt invaded Judah by the Beth-horon passage,
it would appear, for both Ai-yu-ru-u (Aijalon) and

(Beth-horon) occur in his lists of the

towns he conquered

(Nos. 26

24 see WMM,

As.

166).

I n the Syro-Maccabean wars, Seron, a Syrian general,

advanced on Judah by Beth-horou ; Judas with a small
force met him on the ascent, defeated him, and pursued
him

upon the plain

Macc.

Jos.

Ant.

xii.

A few years afterwards,

having retired from Jerusalem upon Beth-

horon, Judas attacked and slew him, and routed his
army

far as Gezer

( I

Macc.

;

Jos.

Ant.

Beth-horon was among the places fortified by Bacchides

Macc.

Jos.

Ant.

1 3 ) .

See

also

Judith44

[A]).

similar dual

be read

with We.,

Dr.,

and Bu.

following

[Avid],

was

probably by the Beth-horons that the Philistines

were routed by Saul

(

13 14) and ‘from Gibeon south

t o

Gezer,’ by David

558

BETH-JESHIMOTH

a Roman army under Cestius

ascending

had their rear disordered by the Jews, and after a

BETHLEHEM

(Josh.

[B],

[AL]), an unidentified site in

the Negeb of Judah (Josh.

assigned to Simeon

(Josh.

The parallel passage in

Ch.

has

ETH

BIRI

which has probablyarisen from a

corruption of the text.

For 'and at Beth-biri and at

has

[B],

[A],

[L].

BETHLEHEM

etc.

206, etc.

commonly] some codd.

gentilic Bethlehemite,

S .

etc.) meant, to the Hebrew,

'house of bread

AMES

less obvious

explanation of H.

see E

LHANAN

end.

Beth-lehem-judah

Judg.

etc.),

the modem

Beit

above sea-level,

of Jerusalem (Jos.,

stadia, Ant.

a little

off

the high road to Hebron, on a spur

running

from the watershed, surrounded by valleys

among the most fertile of

The site is without

springs (the nearest being one 800 yards SE. of the
town, and others at

m. away), but receives

water from an aqueduct from the

Pools

of Solomon

ONDUITS

3 )

compassing the

SE.

end of the spur,

from many cisterns-of which the greatest are

three in front

the great basilica; there are three

others from

ft. deep, on the

N.,

called

The immediate neighbourhood is very fertile,

bearing, besides wheat and barley, groves of olive and
almond, and vineyards.

The wine of Bethlehem

('Talhami') is among the best of Palestine.

So great fertility must mean that the site was occupied,

in spite of the want of springs, from the earliest times

but the references to it in Judges-as the
home of the Levite who sojourned in

Micah's house

and of the young

woman whom

Benjamites maltreated

(19

in the Book of Ruth are of uncertain date,

into the

clear light of history Bethlehem first emerges with
It was his home

206

very early), for the waters

of which, when it was occupied by the Philistines, he
expressed

great a longing-probably as a pledge of

his fatherland's enfranchisement-that his three captains
broke the enemy's lines, and drewwater from the cistern

in the town's gate

from the same

source), which tradition has identified with the

(but

following Quaresmius,

prefers those

front of the basilica). Other references

to Bethlehem as David's home are

S .

15 58

(from later strata).

brother of Joab, was buried

in Bethlehem

his father's grave

( z

232). Thus,

Joab, like his leader, was a Bethlehemite. Except for

statement of

Ch.

1 1 6

that

fortified Bethlehem, the town is not mentioned

again till Micah, who describes it

still one of the

smallest of the townships of Judah, but illustrious

the birthplace of the Messianic king (see M

ICAH

According to Jer. 41

17.

the Jews

586

.C.

fled to

Egypt rested at Gidroth-chimham (see C

HIMHAM

Bethlehem. The Bethlehemites carried into captivity

by Nebuchadrezzar repeopled their town after the return

[B],

[A]; Neh.

726

Bom.,

[K],

[A],

Esd.

[B],

[A],

[L]).

Bethlehem

is the scene of the beautiful story of Ruth, in connection
with which it is necessary

note that Moab is clearly

visible from about Bethlehem: thus, Ruth in her
adopted home must often have had her own fatherland
in sight.

In the lists of the M T of Joshua

(P)

Beth-

lehem is not given

;

but it is added with ten. others in

the

text of

reading must be genuine, since the group which it

it does so even then

see

AVID

.D.

Beth-horon,
short and futile siege of Jerusalem retreated pell-mell by
same way. Josephus describes the difficulties of

ground in

a manner that leads us to suppose that the Romans in their
haste cannot have kept to the high road by the Beth-horons,

were swept down the gorges on either side

Perhaps

because of this experience, Titus, in his advance upon Jerusalem
two years later, took another road and Beth-horon is not again
mentioned in

military history of Palestine.

the division of the land among the tribes of Israel,

the border line between

and

ran bv

the

(Josh.

which were counted

Ephraim (Josh. 21

They remained part of the

N. kingdom and we do not read of any Jews settled
there in post-exilic times. That is to say, they were held
by the Samaritans. Sanballat, one of the chief foes of
the Jews in Nehemiah's day, is called

the H

ORONITE

(Neh. 210,

[BA].

[L]

om.

etc.). Schlatter

Topog.

Pal. 4,

' W a r Beth-horon der

Wohnort

seeks to prove that Horonite

means 'from Horonaim,' the town in

Moab

(Is.

Jer. 483

5 34,

and Moabite stone), partly on the ground

that Sanballat is associated with Tobiah the Ammonite
but Ammonite may mean from C

HEPHAR

-A

MMONI

( a town of Benjamin, Josh.

and Buhl

1 6 9 )

points out that

b ' s

form of

(Josh.

[B cp

1334)

confirms the possibility of

'from Beth-horon.'

1 6 1

Beth-horon

had become a city of

Macc.

Jos.

Ant.

xiii.

According to

Talmud it was the

of many rabbis

(Neub.

'Jerome gives it

the itinerary of

Paula who came to it from Nicopolis

Post-biblical

ed. Migne, i. 883). There

are the

of a mediaeval castle in upper

Beth-horon, but the substructions in both

villages are probably more ancient. T h e name is given by very
few mediaeval travellers (Brocardus, ch. 9

;

Sanutus,

and not at all, it would appear, by the Arab
the

mentioned by

but not located he the same

place. T h e mediaeval pilgrim's d e n t to

Ramleh

and

present line of road. In

Dr. Clarke

vol.

rediscovered

name.

See Rob.

3 59

1338,346

Stanley,

;

GASm.

BETH-JESHIMOTH, once

3349) AV Beth-

jesimoth

is assigned

to the

(cp

3349,

[BFL],

[A]) but probably it was, like most of the

neighbouring places, in the possession of the Moabites
during a considerable period of the Hebrew monarchy.
We know that it was Moabite in the time of Ezekiel

(Ezek.

[B],

[Qa]),

who speaks of it

along with Baal-meon and Kiriathaim a s the glory of
the country.'

it is mentioned by Josephus

as having been taken by

Eus. writes

Jerome

103

writing

describes it

village bearing in his day the name

opposite

Jericho at a distance of

juxta mare mortuum.'

The name and description point

to the modern

The name

moth may be compared with the Jeshimon on the face'
of which the headland of Pisgah looked down

(Nu.

for probably this Jeshimon

(

desolation

not

the Jeshimon of Judah, but the barren land

off

the

NE.

end of the Dead Sea. With this name Hommel

compares,

the name of a

Palestinian district mentioned by

early Assyrian king.

Cp GASm.

HG 564,

BETH-LE-APHRAH

Mic.

RV,

AV A

PHRAH

, H

OUSE

'abode of lions,'-Josh. 196,

559

A .

266

27)

and

(233

)

BETH-LEBAOTH

BETHLEHEM

includes is too important to have been omitted from the
original.

The name Ephrathah or Ephrath of this passage

assigned to Bethlehem also in Mic.

6 [

]

(the reading

is not certain but the refer-

ence to Bethlehem is clear), in

Ru.

virtually in

Ru.

om.) in

S .

( B

and

probably

also

in Ps.

1326.

Apart from Micah, the

documents in which

occurs are probably

late that we might reasonably suppose that Bethlehem

was

the earlier name of the town.

On the other hand,

these documents are probably based on very early
material: Micah (if Mic.

6 2

is his work) takes the

name

well known.

It is possible to argue from

Ch.

4 4

[A]), that

was the name of the whole district

which Bethlehem lay.

Bethlehem is not mentioned by Josephus after Solo-

mon’s time, nor in the Books of Maccabees; which
proves how insignificant it continued to be.

the

place commanded the fertile

and water-supply

around it,-the Philistines had deemed it important
enough to occupy-this silence is very remarkable.

Bethlehem reappears in Mt.

Lk. 2 as the

birthplace of Jesus, distinguished still as

(Mt.

6 8

‘the city of David’ (Lk.

cp Jn.

742).

Lk. de-

scribes the new-born child

having been laid in

manger

omit the definite article of

because there

was

no room for them in the

they had retired then ‘ t o

stall or cave where there

was room for the mother and

crib for the babe.’

It is significant that Bethlehem appears to have been

chosen, along with the sites of the crucifixion and the
resurrection, for special treatment by the Emperor
Hadrian.

he set up there an image of Jupiter and

an image of Venus, so he devastated Bethlehem and
planted upon it a grove sacred to Adonis (Jer.

Paul.,

583).

This proves that even before 132

Bethlehem was the scene of Christian pilgrimage and
worship,

the birthplace of Jesus.

(The Talmud also

admits that from Bethlehem the Messiah must come :
Berachoth,

About

Justin Martyr

78)

describes the scene of the birth as in

cave near the village. This tradition may be correct

there were many ancient cave-stables in Palestine

(Conder,

Tent

chap.

and caves are still used

stables.

.D.

the site of Bethlehem was

still ‘ a wild wood’ (Cyr. Jerus.

1220).

Con-

stantine cleared it and built a basilica. Soon after, in
Jerome’s time, a cave in the rock near the basilica was
venerated as the stable, and in a neighbouring grotto
Jerome himself prepared his translation of the Bible.

From that day to this the tradition has been constant.

The centre of interest in modern Bethlehem is, there-

fore, the large basilica

Maria a

surrounded

and fortified by the Latin, the Greek, and the Armenian

Although the architecture is mixed and of

many periods, the bulk of the church is that built by
Constantine. Cp De

Eutychius (circa

quoted by

indeed

that the church is a

Dulled ddwn

BETH-MERH

Under the chancel is the Grotto of the Nativity, called

also the Milk-Grotto and the Grotto of

our

Lady;

and

We have

seen the precariousness of the tradition which sanctions
it

it is only probable that Jesus was born in a cave, and

there is nothing to prove that this was the cave, for the
site lay desolate for three centnries.

Among recent works, consult Tobler’s monograph

in.

and Palmer ‘Das jetzige

with map and

Bethlehem of

(Josh.

[B]),

now

7 m.

NW.

of Nazareth, a miserable

village among oak woods

3113).

In the Talmud it receives the designation

perhaps a corruption for

of Nazareth

(Neubauer,

The combination,

two names

famous in the Gospel history is remark-

able.

Most scholars take this Bethlehem to have been

the home and burial-place of the judge Ibzan (Judg.

128

Josephus and Jewish tradition assign him to

BETHLOMON

[A]),

Esd.

BETH MAACHAH

S. 20

14.

See

Bethlehem Judah

(Ant. v.

G .

A. S.

ETHLEHEM

BEL

BETH

MAACHAH

‘the house of chariots’) and

station

horses are mentioned together

in Josh.

( P ) in the list of Simeonite towns.

The

readings are

for Beth-marcaboth ; in

Josh.

[A]

; in

Ch.

where’the

For Hazar-susah ;

in Josh. 19

Ch. 431, Hazar-susim

[A],

The names seem to indicate posts of war-horses and

chariots, such as Solomon is said to have established

( I

9191026).

The two places

possibly be

identical respectively with M

ADMANNAH

and

‘cities’ in the Negeb towards Edom.

The

latter are the older names for Madmannah, at least,
appears in

Ch.

(which belongs to the list of

exilic settlements of the Calebites), whilst it is impossible
to assign a very early date to

Ch.

where Beth-

marcaboth and

are mentioned

Simeonite towns

‘

before the reign of David.

That

the two places actually were regular stations for horses
and chariots may be taken for granted but it may be
questioned whether they were

before post-exilic times,

when the Persians ,established post-stations on the route
from the

into Egypt (by

Gaza

On this view Sansannah may very well be the modern

village in an olive-grove on the road from

Eleutheropolis to Gaza

m. NE. from the latter

town), and

may be conjectured to be the

modern

Yzinus,

m. SW. from

has always been

an important station.

It may be noted that in the time

of Micah

13)

Lachish (about

m. from

also

BETH-MEON

Jer.

See

BETH-MERHAK,

place that was afar

off,’

‘the Far House,’

E N

[BAL],

domo).

either the proper name

(so

doubtfully),-

in which case the name is

like Beth-

description

The., Ke., Kau.

the last house

of the place outside Jerusalem where

David waited with his attendantsuntil the people and the
body-guard had passed,

S. 1517

(on the text, which

is doubtful, see Dr.

and Klo. ad

I t is evident that chariots went down to Egypt by

this

way

least a s

the eighth cent.

Cp Gen.

Mic. 113.

BETH-MARCABOTH

was

chariot city.

Cp M

ARCABOTH

,562

basilica there of his construction a s had there been one he must
have done. Probably Justinian

added to

church and the building is, therefore, the most ancient church

and one of the most ancient in the world. The fine

mosaics are from the court of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus
(circa

and the rafters by Philip of Burgundy (in

1482).

In the lntter two passages Ephrathite means, of course,

‘of

’=Bethlehem. I t is interesting that in

PEFQ Jan.

1898

Schick attempts to prove that

the

Ephrathite was in the neighbourhobd of

Bethlehem.

Ephrathite’ in

probably means Ephraimite

(cp

where

for

has

but

BETH-MILL0

BETH-MILLO

see

ERUSALEM

BETH-NIMRAH

perhaps place of pure

water‘ cp Ar.

Ass.

‘transparent’ but

see N

IMRIM

and N

AMES

Nu.

[BF],

Josh.

(Nu.

one of the Amorite cities which were after-

wards

built’ by Gad (Nu.

is the

and

of Eusebius and Jerome

102

), a village still extant in their day, about

R. m.

from Livias (B

ETH

-H

ARAN

the

and

of the Talmud (cp Del. ad

the modern

well-watered oasis

the brink of the Jordan

valley some

miles

of Jordan (cp Baed.

162).

Beth-nimrah is nowhere mentioned under this name in

outside of Numbers and Joshua, but it is identified

modern critics with the waters of N

IMRIM

and, as stated elsewhere (B

ETHANY

Beth-nimrah

may be the original of the variants Bethany, Bethabara,

1 2 8 .

RV B

ETH

HORON

BETH-PALET,

or (Neh. 1126) B

ETH

PHELET

, RV

always

Bethpelet

‘house of escape’), a n

unknown Calebite town (cp

Ch.

on the

Edomite border of Judah, Josh.

[B],

of Judahite villages (see E

ZRA

[b],

Neh.

For the gentilic Paltite

corruptly

ELONITE (I),

see P

ALTITE

BETH-PAZZEZ

a n unknown point

the border of Issachar, Josh.

equally obscure name H

APPIZZEZ

Josh.

the cities of Reuben in Dt. 329

the ravine

front of

it is mentioned as the place where Israel

was encamped when the Deuteronomy discourses were
delivered and in Dt. 346 the same ravine is mentioned
a s the place of Moses‘ burial.

The exact site

un-

certain; but it seems clear that it cannot have been
very far from the Pisgah ridge.

Eusebius states

23378) that

was near Mount

(cp the

top, or head, of Peor,’

Nu.

opposite

to Jericho,

m. above Livias

Tell

see

ETH

HARAN

)

and

that Mount

was opposite to Jericho,

the side of the road leading

up from Livias to

part of it being

m. from

the latter place

we may judge from

in the

the ascent from Livias to

Heshbon would be made naturally either along the

WZdy

(cp Palmer,

Desert of the Exodus,

Tristram, Moab,

346)

or along the more circuitous road

of this, said by Tristram

343)

to be the

ordinarily used. The statements of Eusebius, if correct,
would thus point to a site near one of these two
roads, some four or five miles

of Nebs.

The

‘head of Peor’

might be an eminence in

the same locality.

The opinion that this was the site

supported by the mention, in Josh.

of Beth-

peor next to the ‘slopes

all probability, the declivities on the

side of the

‘Ayiin

The ‘ravine in front of Beth-

poor’ might thus be the WZdy

(PEFQ

1882,

8 5

a n d

146

suggests a site farther to the

on the crest of

hill above

el-Minyeh, 8 m. SW. of Nebs., com-

manding (see

Nu.

and

compared with 25

)

BETH-PEOR

563

BETH-REHOB

extensive view

the lower valley of the Jordan.

however, the spot at which Baal of Peor was

vorshipped (which can hardly have been far from

would seem

to have been more

accessible from the plain of

(the

than

el-Minyeh would be Nu.

with

makes it probable also that it was

ess distant from Pisgah whilst, as we have seen,

other indications we possess point to a site N.

he Nebo-Pisgah ridge (the modern Nebs,

than to one

of it.

Until, therefore, it has

shown that there is no eminence in the neighbour-

of the

commanding the prospect

mplied in

and

(cp

it is here that

,he ancient Beth-peor must be sought. Travellers will

explore this region with the view of ascertaining
there is such a height.

[Ti.

locality near the Mt. of Olives, on a small

the

road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

It is mentioned

together with B

ETHANY

and probably lay to

the E. of it

Mt. (vol. xvi.

describes it as a place of priests’

(cp

According to various passages of

the Talmud, Beth-phagb was the name of the district
extending from the base of

to the walls of

Jerusalem, and, according to the Talm. Bab. (Men. xi. 2,
78

was one of the limits of the Sabbatic

zone around Jerusalem (cp G

EZER

), whence

Ganneau

would identify it with Kefr

(see

PEFQ 1878,

p. 60

but see B

ETH

-Z

The current explanation of the name is a little more

plausible than that of B

ETHANY

(the

of Talm.) would naturally

‘place

young figs’ cp

in Cant. 213 with Delitzsch’s note.

This, however, may be no more than a popular ety-
mology. Nestle

Sac.

1896

etc.

148)

is convinced that the narrative of the barren fig-

tree, which in

Mk.

Bethany, has arisen out of this faulty popular explanation
of Beth-phagb.

It has often been remarked that there

is a startling peculiarity in this narrative as compared
with the other evangelical traditions.

See also L

ORD

BIRTHRIGHT

Gen.

Heb.

see

IRSTBORN

, L

AND

USTICE

14.

the story of Esau and Jacob see

BIRZAITH

Kr.

Kt.

BISHOP

well of

s e e k to suggest a lbcality.

E N

E N

[L]),

for which

Esd.

216

has
the name of a Persian officer of unknown origin, who
joined with others in writing a letter

complaint

against the Jews.

takes the name as descriptive

of the tranquil state of the writers of the letter

Bishlam is clearly a proper name.

either means 'in peace,' cp B

EZALEEL

, B

IRSHA

. or,

more probably, like those names, it is a corruption.
The true name may be Babylonian.

It may perhaps be

recovered if we start from one or the other

the forms

presented in the MSS of

Esd., where the proper

names are sometimes more accurately preserved. Ball

(

adopting

supposes a

corruption of Bab. Bel-ibus-Le.,

Bel made.'

would seem, however, that the

must

be more original, and this form may have arisen from

Bel made a name (Nestle,

E V

'the day of the king's birth every month':

Pesh., Vg. om.

Grimm suggested that 'every month

is from

Macc. 1 5 9 ; but it is probably genuine (see

BISHLAM

577

BISHOP

The word

of rare

'ence in the NT.l

The elders of the church summoned from Ephesus to

receive Paul's farewell

(Acts 20

are thus addressed

Take heed to yourselves and to the whole

flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath set you

name in

overseers

. .

feed (or rule

the church of God'

28).

I t is not clear from this passage whether the word is

as a definite title, or merely as a description implying that

oversight or superintendence was a function of the

In the address of the

the Philippians,

we have 'bishops and deacons formally mentioned

;

view

of the later usage of the words, to suppose

.hat this is merely a general description of 'those who rule and
.hose who serve.'

Tim. 3

the bishop and the deacon

again brought together.

The qualifications of a bishop are

:numerated :

where the article is

regarded

generic, or a t least as not implying that

:here was only one bishop in the Ephesian church. I n Tit.

n connection

with

the duty of appointing presbyters

the

.owns of Crete, a similar description of a bishop's qualifications

given

but no reference is

nade to deacons. The only other occurrence of the word is in

Pet. 2

where it is applied to Christ himself, 'the shepherd

md bishop of

souls.

is not necessary to interpret these

metaphors drawn from the Christian ministry.

W e note, then, that the word is found in all cases on

ground, and it would seem as if those who in the

Palestinian churches were called presbyters were in
the Greek churches spoken of at first as 'bishops and
then indifferently as presbyters or as bishops.

This

view, however, assumes that

was already at

this time in use as a title of office and the assumption
requires a careful examination.

It will be best to begin

an examination with what is admittedly the latest

portion of the

N T

evidence.

Tim.

If a man seeketh

he desireth

good work. The bishop, therefore, must be without

The whole conception of the function of an

as it is here described, suggests that the

authority which he wields is independent, not merely
that of

member of a governing board.

T o begin

with,

does not give any idea of assessors : it

distinctly personal.

It is a position of independent

importance and control, such

man may naturally

desire. Secondly, the epithet

given to hospitality

suggests a personal responsibility

the

Church's duty of show-ing hospitality to Christians from
other parts seems naturally to centre in some one person ;
we could scarcely have had Presbyters must be given
to hospitality
I n like manner, 'apt to teach

would scarcely

be a qualification for a member of the presbyteral body
as such and the same may be said of the epithets

not passionate or ungoverned in

temper.'

The control of his own house, again, gives

the thought of independent jurisdiction in the case to
which it is made a parallel--'how shall he act as

of the church of God ?

The singular noun with the article may, according to

Greek usage, be taken generically; but we must ob-
serve that

(

)

when the writer passes

to give

similar

list of qualifications for a deacon the plural is used :

Deacons in like manner

in like manner

. .

Let deacons be husbands of one wife'

. .

(in the last case the use of the

singular with the generic article would have avoided an
awkward phrase)]

( z )

in Tit. 17, we have an exact

parallel:

where we

might easily have had

(3)

the usage of the article in the Pastoral Epistles is a
further reason for hesitating to explain it here as
for the

is very sparingly employed, and thera

[Analogous

t o

M H

superintendent in the synagogue or

elsewhere. See

BISHOP

seems

example at all

to these in any

the

three Epistles.

The difficulty is to some extent met by insisting on

the use of

descriptive epithet rather than

formal title : H e who exercises

In so

far as his status in the Church is dwelt on, such

man

would be spoken of most naturally as 'one of the
elders

but here the subject in hand is the function to

be exercised by him individually. That function is

: in the exercise of it he is

The

watchful oversight which is regarded

' a n excellent

work' is not

eminent position, but a responsible

activity.

H e who is

exercise it needs to have certain

special qualifications, W e feel the contrast when we
come to

which introduces in an

ordinary way the members of

large and subordinate

class.

The passage in Acts20 is, a s we have seen, quite

indeterminate.

can be shown to be

title

in use at the time in question, we may
render the words,

hath set you as

bishops.'

Otherwise we should perhaps

render them,

hath set you for oversight.' The phrase

in the Epistle to the Philippians, if taken quite

itself,

would,

the light of later history, be naturally rendered

'with the bishops and deacons'

notwithstanding the absence of the definite

article.

If, however,

be not yet found as

title,

less definite interpretation may be allowed. T h e

decision between the two views must depend

further consideration which shall include the use of the

term

at this period [see

and

the use of

outside the N T , in other than

Christian contexts, and

the earliest Christian

writings.

In the use of

in other than

Christian contexts, a great width of meaning is notice-

able, due,

doubt, to the original

tion which fitted the words for application
to any person who exercised an office of
superintendence.

The commissioners who

superintended Athenian colonies, various other commis-
sioners or inspectors, magistrates who

the sale

of provisions, and, apparently, financial officers of a
temple or of

guild (Lightf.

Hatch,

Churches,

these are

spoken of as

or are said

Nor

was this the only term which had

similar largeness

reference : quite parallel is the usage of

and

(Hatch, see above).

In the

LXX

the word

is equally wide in

the persons and offices which it embraces. Taskmasters,
captains or presidents, and commissioners, are in turn

entitled and

synonym in the last of these cases

we find also

(Lightf. see above).

All this evidence points to the fact that

and

were words which naturally offered themselves

as descriptions of any persons charged with responsible
oversight, and were the more available in that they had
no

predominant association with any one class of officers

in particular.

The words were, as far

possible,

colourless, much

words preside and president'

are to-day.

Hatch's position, adopted by Harnack,

reference

is asfollows

important corporate

function of the earliest Christian communities
was that of providing for their poor and sick
members. They were, in fact, benevolent

societies, and as such they had parallels a11 around
them

the heathen world, in the countless clubs and

guilds which combined social purposes with certain
religious practices. The finance officers of these heathen
societies were called

Now, the dnties which

the Christian

had to perform are described

intimately connected with the care of the poor, with
hospitality to travelling brethren, and with the

579

BISHOP

ment of the common fund which was devoted to these
and similar purposes.

is probable, therefore, that

both the title and the functions of the Christian
are directly derived from his heathen counterpart.

The best examination of this theory is that by

des

After pointing out the

general

cation of the word

in Greek

literature-a signification which enabled

to be applied to any person in authority for whom

there was no fixed title already, and

to be used with

great freedom by the

LXX

as a rendering for various

officers mentioned in the

takes up the evidence

of the inscriptions on which Hatch's theory mainly rests.
They fall chronologically into two classes. The first
class is pre-Christian: one inscription of the Macedonian
period in the island

Thera, which contains a decree

ordering certain

to receive moneys and invest

them

and two inscriptions of the second century

the island of Rhodes, relating to municipal officers

not further defined. Those of the second class belong
to the second and the third century

and are found

in a district

of the Jordan.

They are ten, and

refer to municipal officers.

one case the officers are

charged with some responsibility for the moneys of

temple.

I n this district they seem to have formed a

kind of municipal board, chosen from various tribes

or divisions of the community. Further, in

Latin

inscription of the fonrth century certain

regulate

prices in the market.

This appears to be the whole of the evidence

which

the statement that

were the finance-officers of

clubs and guilds is found to rest.

In Loening's opinion

it points exactly in the opposite direction.

As to the other part of the

that the

Christian

is, as a matter of fact, a

is no peculiarity of function linking itself

especially to the title. T o the presbyters at Jerusalem
gifts are brought

and presbyters are warned not to

exercise their office for filthy lucre (EV

Pet.

moreover, in Polycarp's letter to the Philip-

pians (chap.

11)

presbyters are charged with duties to-

wards the poor and are warned against covetousness.
The word

in itself suggests a far wider re-

sponsibility than the mere charge of finance : it implies
superintendence of persons

well

of things.

Loening even goes

far as to suggest that the word

was chosen just because it had

fixed

associations either in the Jewish or in the

world,

and was, therefore, free to be used in a community
which stood

contrast

all other communities sur-

rounding it.

the extreme scarcity of evidence, we may be

content to say that the theory that the Christian

derived his title and functions from those

the officers of the Greek guilds or

the Greek munici-

palities has not been established.

W e may say, then, that the

N T

evidence seems to

point to the existence in the apostolic age of two classes

of administration-a class of rulers and
a

class of humbler ministrants who acted

under their orders.

far as the first

of these has a distinctive official title its members are
called Elders

but, since their function was summed

up in the general responsibility of oversight
they could be

of as overseers

term which was

passing from

mere description

of function into a definite title. The men of the second
class aided those of the first

the humbler parts of

their ministration. They were naturally described by
the general designation of

servants

but

this term too is passing in the apostolic age into a
recognised title.

On the whole, it seems simpler to

suppose that the latter stage has been reached in Phil.

and in the Pastoral Epistles but the decision of this
point is not a matter of serious importance.

BISHOP

the later history, the second class retains its

designation, which in some localities comes to be a title
of considerable dignity. The first class, on the other
hand, presently undergoes a subdivision

one member

comes to stand out above his fellows, and, whilst all
continue alike to be Elders, the title of
which in itself connotes an individual responsibility and
importance, is not unnaturally appropriated as the

designation of the one who has come to be the supreme
officer of the community. The causes which led to

monarchical development are still wrapt in obscurity
but the appropriation of the name

to the

chief ruler is not hard to understand.

We are fortunate

in possessing a document of the last
decade of the first century, by which we
can, to some extent, test the position

The Epistle of Clement of

which we have taken up.

Rome to the Corinthians was occasioned

the ejection

from their office of certain Elders of the church in
Corinth.

the writer may quite well have had

personal knowledge of one or more of the apostles, his
evidence is of high importance, not only for determining
the existing organisation of the church

Corinth (and

probably in Rome as well) in his time, but also as
indicating the belief that this organisation was instituted
by the apostles themselves.

First let

consider the use of the designations

question in the most important passage.

42)

‘The apostles

. . .

appointed their first fruits (cp

Cor.

having tested them by the Spirit, to be overseers

and

of them which should

believe.’ The words have clearly become titles and their use
as such is justified-as

not new, hut

in Is.616.

is curious that

in this citation

an insertion

Clement’s,

is not found in the

LXX.

H e is clearly quoting

from memory, and his memory has played him false.

($44) The

foresaw that there would he strife

the, title (or

office’) of oversight

Hence

they ap ointed the aforesaid and provided for successors t o
them.

is a sin to turn such, if

have discharged their

ministry blamelessly out of their

Blessed,’ he goes

on a t once, ‘are

who have gone before,’ and are safe

from such treatment. I n

we have the offence described as

revolt ‘against the Elders

we read ‘Let the flock of

Christ he a t peace along

the appointed Elders’; and in

57,

‘

ye who

this sedition submit yourselves to the

Elders.

It is plain, then, that the persons whom the apostles

‘appointed as

and as their successors, are

spoken of also as the appointed Elders.’ These Elders
are not to be rashly ejected from their

The difficulty which Clement’s epistle’ presents in the

matter of these designations belongs to the earlier
chapters, before he has come to

definitely of the

Corinthian disorders : he seems to use the term elders
as though he referred not to an office, but only to

grade of persons dignified by that name in contrast to
the young

I n the first of the passages in question

)

he. praises their

former orderliness ‘submitting yourselves to your rulers (or

“leaders,”

apd paying the due honour to

the elders that were among you :

the young ye

modesty and gravity; and on the women’ certain appropriate
duties. Similarly, in

we have, ‘let us reverence our rulers

and let

us honour our elders, let us

instruct the young

. . .

let us guide our women aright.’ Here

we seem to have a contrast between

‘elders’ : and

has been held

Harnack) that the ‘rulers’ are a class

of persons whose

came from their possessing the

Heh. 137

whilst the Elders are an

undefined grade of senior members of the Church to whom
honour is due

account of age and length of discipleship.

But the word

occurring in both passages (not

elsewhere so often), is an important clue, which has not been
sufficiently attended to. Clement is in fact alluding to a passage
of Isaiah, which he cites with some additions in

says, ‘of old the mean rose up against the hononrahle, the
young against the elder

Is.

35.

would he possible to interpret ‘the rulers’ as h e civil

rulers to whom Clement several times applied the term

but on the whole it seems most natural t o sup-

pose that at first he is carefully avoiding definite references
t o the Corinthian. revolt, and only preparing the way for its

Thus he speaks in the most general terms

the rulers,’ and passes rapidly away from the word

‘

elders,

introducing

a hint beforehand but dwelling

on the

coot-meaning which was still strongly

in the word, and

contrasting it with

in accordance with the

passage

which is in his mind.

argument, therefore, can safely be based on the

rhetorical use of the word

‘

elders

the opening part

of the letter.

doubt the Elders were elder men;

and no doubt the revolt came from some of the younger
men

this was a part of its heinousness, and the covert

allusion would be understood by those to whom the
letter was addressed.

The development of the monarchical episcopate lies

outside the limits of the

but even

within the Canon we find indications of

tendency which the later history enables

to interpret as moving in this direction.

W e have noticed that all passages which describe

functions and responsibilities of Elders speak of them
as

class and in the plural number; whilst, on the

other hand, where the duties of oversight
are pourtrayed, the

is spoken of as a single

person, charged with responsibility-and this in one
place in sharp contrast to the

and in the other

immediately after Elders have been mentioned in the
plural number.

From this we may gather that,

far as a member of the ruling class was thought of as

it was natural to consider him by himself as

exercising an independent control and holding

position

of eminent authority.

far as terminology, then, is concerned, the way was

prepared for the distinction that presently came into force.

The word

suggests an in-

dividual, just as the word
suggests the member of a ruling class,
or the word

the member of a

serving class. The class of rnlers, however, did not
need two designations, and when the course of develop-
ment led to a supreme officer it was easy and natural to
appropriate to him the word

while his inferior

colleagues were simply termed

But this consideration does not really give

any

guidance as to the causes of the change from

by a body of

to government by a single

with a consultative colleee

inter

pares.

The apostolic age, however, presents us

with several foreshadowings of the monarchical rule
which presently became universal.

In the church in

Jerusalem the position of James, the Lord’s brother,
was one of real if undefined authority, and, though not
marked by any special title, it closely resembles that

of the bishop of the second century.

We have the

statement of Hegesippus that on the death of James his
cousin Symeon was appointed by general consent to
fill his place

H E

11).

Here, then, was a

monarchical type of government, naturally evolved and
continuously recognised

and such an example could

not

as time went on,

exercise an influence on

other communities.

In the Greek world the churches of Paul’s foundation

were from the first controlled by the strong hand of
their founder.

I t

true that he urged them to corporate

action of their own in the exercise of jurisdiction and
discipline; but he himself commanded them with an
authority beyond challenge, and his commands were

obeyed. I n certain cases he transferred this his apos-
tolic authority to delegates, such as Timothy and Titus

only, it would

for a period, and in order to

cope with special needs.

Still, in doing this, he had

given a practical proof of the advantage gained by the
presence in a community of one who could rule with
supreme authority

and this temporary sway would

doubtless help in determining the tendency of subse-
quent development.

These examples, however, would have been powerless

BISHOP

BITHIAH

by themselves to produce

great a change,

not

been elements in the life of the communities
which made for the concentration of authority
in particular hands.

It is often said that

such an element is discoverable in the

working of the presbyteral college itself. Any board
which meets for the transaction of business must
needs have a president.

The hoder of this position

would naturally acquire a large share of the authority
of the board itself in time he would tend to become

supreme officer over the whole commnnity.

This

suggestion is open to two serious criticisms.

the

one hand, there is

ground for thinking that

parallel cases at that period such

development from

oligarchical to monarchical rule came about. Presidents
of this kind were often elected for a month or for

year, and in any case did not acquire an independent
authority.

Moreover, the term

presbyteral college

may be challenged, if it is intended to suggest that the
practical

of the Church was carried on

by means of formal meetings

the Elders as such.

We have no evidence of any

that they regularly

met in this way.

It is probable that they had special

seats in the assembly of the community but that they
met by themselves for the transaction of business and
required

chairman is

hypothesis for which

evi-

dence has yet been given.

It is only when we turn

our

attention away from the

administration and fix it on the common worship of the

church, that we begin to get any rays of

light on this problem.

If we knew better

the history of the eucharist, it is not

un-

likely that the history

the episcopate

would cease to

perplexing..

the disorders

which disgraced the Lord’s Supper in Corinth, and in

Paul’s regulations for checking them, we hear nothing

at all of any kind of presidency or leadership.

In the

same church before the end of the century we find
elders spoken of as the leaders of the eucharistic worship
and

offering the gifts.‘

The picture which, fifty years later, Justin draws of

the eucharist in Rome, shows us a single officer, spoken

of simply

the president

( 6

receiving and offering the

eucharistic elements, and making the

eucharistic prayer, to which the whole congregation re-
sponds with the A

MEN

(§

3).

Likewise, after the read-

ing of the Gospels or the Prophets

‘

the president

’

makes

an exhortation based upon what has been read.

He is,

moreover, the depositary of the collection made in
behalf of the poor, and has a general responsibility for
widows

for the sick and needy, for prisoners,

and for travelling brethren from other communities

65-67).

This president is clearly the bishop,

though

language does not help

to decide

whether he was at that time known in Rome by the
title

or not.

he was, it by

means

follows that ‘Justin would have said

so.

H e

writing

for heathen readers, and he avoids technical terms or,
if he finds it convenient to use them, he explains them.
Thus,

speaking of the deacons, he describes them

those who with

are called

and his usual term for the Gospels

is ‘the memoirs of the apostles,’ t o . which in one
place he adds which are called gospels

We can argue nothing from the absence

of the designation bishop : had he cared to introduce
it, he would no doubt have done so by the phrase ‘ h e
who with us is called

rap’

But the person is there, if the name

is not and we see that important collateral functions
belong to the officer who presides at the eucharistic
service. H e appears as at once the instructor and the

of, the

community.

It is a long step, however, from Clement to Justin, and

it is of some importance to

that we should have evidence

like development in other parts of the Church.

passages may be cited which point in the same

direction for the eastern side of the
terranean.

In the

the prophets are spoken of as holding a

special importance in reference to the eucharist:

.hey are not bonnd by the prescribed formulie of

but may ‘give thanks as they will.’

This

mplies that, if present, they naturally

prominent

in the service. They may order an

to be

ield

and to them the first fruits are

be given, for they are your chief-priests’ (chap.

The same document declares, however, that the ministry

of the prophets and teachers was likewise

by the bishops and deacons (chap.

15).

It is

to suppose that if

prophet were present

of the service would be in the hands of the

permanent local ministry, although in this case there
would be no exemption from the duty of using the
prescribed formulie.

The Ignatian Epistles,

is well known, portray

the completed development of the three orders for
certain Asiatic churches at a comparatively early period.
It is noteworthy that the one bishop is expressly con-
nected with the one eucharist (for references, see

UCHARIST

eucharist is to be held without

the bishop, or some person deputed by him to conduct
it. There is ‘One bishop, one altar, one eucharist’

pla

We may feel confident, then, that in the development

the eucharistic service we have

element-perhaps

the most important element-of the development of the
monarchical episcopate.

As soon

as this monarchical

had been established

church various sacred parallels which would be

taken as confirmatory of the divine order of
the institution, would be observed.

The

bishop and his presbyters might be com-

pared with Christ and his apostles. Or again, the three
orders of the Christian Church-bishop, presbyters,
and deacons-would find

ready analogy in the high

priest, priests, and Levites of the Jewish ritual.
parallels would serve to confirm -the validity of the
institution, and would facilitate its adoption in other
localities.

Meanwhile, the extraordinary ministry of apostles

and prophets had passed or was rapidly passing away.
Some of the functions which they had exercised were
essential in the Church; and these devolved as a heritage
upon the permanent ministry. The prestige which had
attached to their exercise passed over in the

the chief officers of the community, who thus

be regarded, with a large measure of truth,

the

successors of the apostles, wielding apostolic authority

the rulers of the Church

the defenders of the

BISON

Dt.

has

BIT

Ps.

EV.

Christian faith.

A .

YCARG

See B

RIDLE

BITHIAH

‘daughter of Pharaoh,’ and wife of Mered

ben

in the genealogy

( I

Ch. 418).

the assumption that Pharaoh

is correctly read,

Bithiah (which might be explained
worshipper-of

be a

Hebraised form of an Egyptian name such as

daughter of Anta (‘Anath), to indicate that the bearer

of the name had entered the Israelitish community.

This, however, does not accord with the view implied

in the vowels of the name of Bithiah’s husband.

Mered

apparently means ‘rebellion,’ and suggests

warning

against the wickedness of taking foreign wives (see

and cp

It would he inconsistent

with this that Mered‘s wife should bear the honourable

584

BIT H

name daughter of

: we should expect to find

the old heathen name retained.

Perhaps, then, Bithiah

is not the right name;

suggests to Kittel

and

may conceivably be based on

which in turn may have sprung from

pro-

ducing a description of Mered's non-Jewish wife as

young Egyptian princess (Mered's other wife

the

Jewess'

is not named).

However,

the corruption is antecedent to

and the whole story

(half-told, half-implied, by the text as it now stands) is
imaginary. The idea of the double marriage of Mered
had not occurred to the original compiler the true text
conveys no warning against mixed marriages.

Four at

least out of the'five names, Mered, Bithiah, Pharaoh,
Jehudijah,

Hodiah, are corrupt; perhaps indeed

all five are.

Mered, or, more strictly, M-R-D, has

probably come from

which is an incorrect

form of

Ramoth-or rather of Jarmuth

(see

Bithiah is not improbably a corruption

Bealiah'

Ch.

[Gi. Ba.

Pharaoh

should rather be

a clan name (cp

IRATHON

Ha-Jehudijah

and Hodiah are plainly the

same name (in

19 read

his wife

').

Accepting

this view, we have two accounts of the family of Mered.
It is not quite certain, however, that the person mis-
called Mered is represented as having two wives.
Hodiah may have been deliberately substituted for
Bealiah, from a dislike to the first element in that name.

We are now rid of the only case in the O T of

name

compounded with Jah

such names there are

--being borne by a foreigner (cp Gray,

158).

Next, another mistake has to be noted.

It is plain that

Ch.

as it stands is not right.

The remedy is (with

Berth. and

to transpose

to the middle

17.

inserting of course

after

This gives

as the children of Bithiah or Realiah, Miriam

and Ishbah

father of Eshtemoa. Eshtemoa

also occurs (together with Keilah) in the list of the
children of Hodiah

(v.

while Gedor, Soco, and

Zanoah are connected with Mered through Hodiah's
double, Ha- Jehudijah-animportant notice

It is perhaps sad to have lost what was supposed to be
an early testimony to the presence of an Egyptian ele-
ment at and about Eshtemoa, as contrasted with the
more purely Jewish character

Gedor, Soco, and

Zanoah; but we gain an attestation of the traditional
importance

Jarmuth.

It may be added that in

Jewish legend Bithiah becomes the foster-mother

Moses

(

par.

T H N

groove

or cleft

p u r

situated between the Jordan and

naim

and possibly to be identified with

the

along which, though at a later time,

ran

Roman road from

to Mahanaim (Buhl,

see

PHRAIM

OOD OF.

For the sense

rendering of

in Cant.217

(like

for

The reading

Bithron is not certain, and the

Vss.

give little

although Vg. (cp also

suggests that

there was another Beth-horon

E. of

Jordan (see

NAIM).

conjecture, B

ETH

HARAM

, is

prohable.

[Ti.

WH]),

the district round

the central Sangarius

in the NW. corner

BITHYNIA

eastern frontier is often made to coincide with the
with the Parthenios, or even to extend beyond the latter river
in spite of Strabo's statement that the

of the

marked the boundary

(543,

Inland, it ran out far

of the river hut the line

is indeterminate. According to

the Hieros or

separated Bithynia from the province

hut the

boundary fell some

m. E. of that stream (Rams.

A M

whence it ran

between the Sangarius and its

tributary, the

The will of Nicomedes III., the last of its kings, left

Bithynia to the Romans in

but it was not until

when the sultan of Pontus had been

nally expelled from Asia, that

could

the organisation of the province (cp

Plin.

Ep. ad

79). With it was now combined

the whole of the kingdom

Pontus, with the exception

of those districts towards the

E.,

as well as those in

the interior (Paphlagonia), which were assigned to native
dynasts in recognition of their services to Rome (Str.

See Niese in

and

Rhein Mus.

567

which lay immediately

of the

Halys

was the most easterly community

of that part

Pontus which was combined with the old

kingdom of

to form the Roman province.

This dual origin of the province was recognised

in its official

title, Pontus et

(so

generally in inscriptions, both Lat.

and Gr. cp Appian,

CZG

3548,

55262).

T h e reverse order is perhaps

the whole later, encouraged

the gradual growth in importance of the western section.

Either name, apparently might be

to denote the entire

province (cp

Ann.

with Dio Cas.

;

In administration also the two parts

retained a certain degree of formal independence, each having
its own metropolis and Diet

the distribution

provinces by Augnstus in 27

Pontus- Bithynia remained

its

governors, who were of
bore the title 'proconsul' (Str.

840,

Ann.

The official residence

was Nicomedeia. Under the ineffective supervision of
the Senate the province gradually became disorganised :
its finances fell into disorder, and unregulated
gave birth to turbulence and faction. In order to carry
out the necessary reforms, the younger Pliny was sent
into the province in

A.D.

His importance arises

from his official contact with Christianity

and

97.

See Hardy,

Correspondence,

Rams.

Church,

and cp C

HRISTIAN

63).

In the early period of post-apostolic history Bithynia

is illustrious

but it has little connection with the

apostles themselves. The salutation

Pet.

where

Pontus and Bithynia are mentioned separately, bears
witness to the rapid evangelisation of the province.
Before

A.D.

Christianity had made such progress in

Bithynia that pagan ritual was interrnpted and the
temples in great part deserted (Pliny,

96).

W e get a hint that there, as in Ephesus, trade interests
were at the bottom of the attack then made upon
the Christians. The

a s Pliny calls the faith, would

most easily enter the province by way of Amisus, along
the route leading from the

Gates by

and

in Cappadocia.

(Church,

conjectures from Pliny's letter that its introduction

must

about

65-75

Amisus

is now

Even in Strabo's time it was

gradually displacing

the great harbour on

the north coast. T h e route from

northwards

Aqua:

Euagina, and

Amisus,

even

to-day 'the only road practicable for arabas, and must always
have

great trade-route' (Rams.

Hist.

AM,

268).

The interpretation

the word Bithynia

Acts

1 6 7

is connected with the question concerning the Galatian

Asia Minor, extending from the mouth
of the Rhyndacus

east-

wards to that of the Sangarius.

The boundary between Bithynia and the province of Asia

coincided not as might have been expected with the line of the

with that of the range of the

Olympus

lying

of the river (Pliny,

T h e

unintelligible and, to judge from its similarity to the

Heb. (cp We. Dr.

has arisen perhaps from a trans-

literation.

churches (see G

ALATIA

the N.

Galatian theory, the object of Paul's

attempt to enter Bithynia must have been to reach either
Amisus or Amastris; for a design of preaching

the

barbarous interior is improbable. The direct route to
Amastris went, it is true, by way of Ancyra in

586

BITTER HERBS

but on the other hand no such route could have brought
the apostle over against Mysia

(so

Further, both in Roman and in ordinary

Amastris, and still more Amisus, was

city of

Pontus, not of Bithynia; and only the word Pontus
could have been allowable

single term to express

the dual province to which it belonged

(as

is clear from

Str.

compared with

543,

in speaking of Heraclea).

T h e expression to go into Bithynia’ can only be taken
to imply

the district round

and Nicomedeia, where the wealth and administrative
machinery of the province were centred.

Dorylaion

only a few miles

of the Bithynian

frontier, was the point to which

all

the roads from the

south converged Paul and his companions must have
been somewhere in this neighbourhood when they were
suddenly diverted westwards (Acts

BITTER HERBS, BITTERNESS

1 2 8 Nu.

;

Lam. 3

in Mishna also in sing.

)

are

twice mentioned along with

the accompaniment

of the paschal feast.

Probably such herbs-whether

separately or mixed-as lettuce

sativa),

chicory

and endive

are meant.

Doubtless they originally

came into use

a relish or

though the

prescription of them in the Law may have to do with the
atoning significance of the Passover their association
with the sufferings of the people in Egypt is probably
a

later new

See, further,

Bitter herbs,’ rather than

bitterness

EV),

seems to he the proper rendering in

Lam.315,

where

answers to

‘wormwood,’ in the parallel

w. w.

OVER.

T.-D.

BITTERN,

Porcupine

Is.

Zeph.

The

of this animal

BITUMEN

the use

the noun

in Ezek.

accords well enough

this derivation.

is equivalent in form

Aram.

4r.

;

and that these are the words for ‘hedge-

hog

’

in their respective languages is made clear for Ar.

)

by Damiri’s account

ii.

219) and for Aram. by the Syr.

[Lands

The instances of

in late Heb. and Aram. prove the same for

post-biblical Jewish usage (see Lewysohn,

Whilst the philological evidence

entirely in

favour of the rendering hedgehog’ or porcupine,’ it

must be admitted that, zoologically,
there are considerable difficulties. The

animal is always spoken of in connection with desola-
tion, and once in relation to pools

water: and,

whilst both these conditions would be natural in the
habitat of the Bittern, they have no particular associa-
tion with either the Hedgehog or the Porcupine.
Again, in Is.

3411,

the

is mentioned among birds

and in Zeph.

214

it is prophesied that the Pelican and

the

shall lodge together in the capitals of ruined

Nineveh, while ‘ a voice’ (if the text may be trusted)
shall sing in the windows.

The answers made by

Bochart to these objections-that the Porcupine or
Hedgehog was regarded

an unfriendly, desert-loving

animal on account of its formidable equipments ; that
we can find parallels to the mention of

beast among

birds in such enumerations as Lucian’s large oxen, and
horses, and eagles, and bears, and lions

and that the

capitals on which the animal is to sit may be those

fallen columns-are ingenious, but perhaps scarcely
satisfying. It has been suggested that the translation

‘bittern’ may be reconciled with the etymology by

considering the fact that this bird has the power of

drawing

its long neck

that its head almost rests

upon

its

Still, it, is not easy to set aside the

argument derived from the meaning of the word in the
cognate languages.

The Bittern,

is found in marshy

and reedy places throughout Europe, Asia (including
India), and Africa.

Canon Tristram records its occur-

rence in the marshes of

It is a nocturnal bird

considerable size, and is remarkahle for its loud

booming note.

Formerly

common bird

suitable

localities in Britain, it is

but a winter visitor.

grouped with the Herons in the family

C O R M O R A N T

and PELICAN.

)

For Is. 34

‘bittern see

BITTERNESS, WATER OF

Nu.

RV, AV

‘

bitter water.’

BITUMEN,

the proper rendering

(

)

recognises

bitumen; EV has

This evidence seems enough to

show that the original sense

was

‘ t o contract or ‘cause contraction by striking not to

‘cut ; and that those were misled who, like Fuller

nearly

all

the older scholars, explained the name of the animal from

the latter sense. I n post-biblical Hebrew and W. Aramaic the
sense of cutting is fairly common

;

but this may be explained

partly perhaps from a misinterpretation of

Is. 38

partly from association with Gr.

and

derivatives

(N.S.

piece of flesh’-late Gr.

I t seems more probable that the

Arabic word is a loan-word from Aramaic, than that

M.-A. E.

See

EALOUSY

RDE

OF.

is far from certain : opinions

of great variety have been held.

T h e ancient

unanimously render Hedgehog’ (or

Porcupine’-the two were scarcely distinguished), and this is

in general supported by Jewish tradition though Rashi thinks
that in

a bird is

and D.

interprets

in all three passages (see their com-

mentaries in

Of modern

has in all

three places

and so Luther (followed as usual by the

Dutch).

and

their Latin

render

Coverdale followed

the Great

Bible, bas ‘Otter’ in

and

Zeph.

while the Geneva Bible has in Isaiah Hedgehog’

mg. or ‘tortoise’), and in Zephaniah

‘Owl’

hog’). The French Protestant version seems alone to have
anticipated

in the rendering

The Roman Catholic Bibles follow the

The etymology of the Hebrew word is not, however,

unchtain.

I t

derived from a verb which in Assyrian means ‘to plot

transitively (Sargon,

and in Arabic (

)

‘to

a blow on the neck of another’

have a thick or loose

neck.‘ The original sense is

better seen in Syriac

where the same verb means ‘ t o gather

a heap or

(trans. or

the sense of

also

Assyrian

(cp intrigue,’

T h e

occurs

but once in

Hebrew (in

form) Is. 38

have

(or possibly shortened,’ see

like a weaver

my life,’-a simile referring to the treatment of the finished

is, according to Dioscorides

the wild variety of

(chicory or endive): Pliny

838)

mentions

it as the

bitterest sort of

(see the

in Di. on

and

in Nowack,

H A 2

probably

by both. I t does not of course follow that the meaning of

is identical with that of

Vegetable food with meat is a dietetic necessity, and would

naturally be eaten raw until it was discovered that certain kinds
were

cooked. It is a matter for curious inquiry why so

many salad

were bitter, a t any rate in their feral form.

Dandelion is a striking example.

Also used to render

Is.

and

Is.

Which he wrongly supposes to he the meaning of

Explanations of these various renderings will he found in

Fuller‘s

;

Bochart’s

3 36.

587

horrowed.

however (Aram.

holds that

the latter is the

Cp, for Syriac the other references cited

Smith.

appears’to he used for the ‘owl’ in

Cp Brehm’s

‘79) 6388.

‘When it

(the Bittern) rests and is a t ease, it holds the body erect in a
somewhat forward position and draws in its long neck to such
a n extent that its head rests upon its neck.’

Perhaps with reference to the reddish colour

occasionally observed

Ar.

BIZJOTHJAH

slime’) in Gen.

1 1 3

but also

which, like its Aram. cognate, is an

loan-word

(EV P

ITCH

) in Gen. 6

where its occurrence furnishes

one of the proofs of the Babylonian origin of the

Deluge-Story (see D

ELUGE

13).

I n the Bab.

Deluge-Story six

bitumen

and

three of

(naphtha

Jensen)

are

poured upon the

outer and inner sides of the ship, respectively.

naphtha,’ is the word used in the legendary account of

the infancy of Sargon

56)

she

placed me in a basket of reeds, with

my door

‘she shut’ in the similar story of Moses the words

and

ITCH

are combined

but

[B AF]).

The origin

bitumen, or asphalt, and

naphtha need

not

delay us long.

Together with

petroleum and mineral tax, they form

series of sub-

stances which

are

the result of certain changes in

organised matter.

These substances merge into each

other by insensible degrees, and it

impossible to

say at what point mineral tar ends and asphalt ,begins.

Naphtha, which is

the

first of the series is in some places

found flawing out

the earth

clear

and colourless

liquid.

such it

is a

mixture of hydrdcarbons, some

which

are

very

volatile and evaporate on exposure it takes

oxygen

from

the

air,

becomes brown and thick, and in this

state

called

petroleum.

continuation

of the same process of

evaporation

and oxidation gradually transforms the material

into

tar,

and still later into solid glassy asphalt.

Asphaltic deposits are widely diffused throughout

the world, more especially in tropical and sub-tropical
regions-for example in the basin of the D

EAD

$6).

The asphalt of the Dead Sea (which was

very well known to the ancients) is not a t present of
commercial importance but the sources of the supply of
ancient Babylon, the bitumen springs of Hit (the

Herod.

are still used.

At this very old city on

the Euphrates the shipwrights adhere to the ancient
fashion of boat- building.

Tamarisk and mulberry

branches form the substratum, which is covered with

mats

and thickly besmeared with bitumen (cp Ex.

Bitumen was much used in architecture (see Gen.

3).

Unburned brick protected by a plaster of bitumen
proved the most indestructible of materials (see A

SSYRIA

ABYLONIA

and cp Peters,

Bitumen was used in ancient times as

fuel (Verg.

for medicinal purposes (Jos.

8 4 )

and for embalming

(see

MBALMING

Biziothiah

among

the cities

the Negeb (Josh.

1528).

ad.

om.]) enables us to

restore

her villages

’).

See

We.

and

14.

BIZTHA

Ginsb. for common

chamberlain

of Ahasuerus (Esth.

any reliance

be put on

the reading of the

one

might, with Marq.

(Fund.

compare

with

Pers.

with

the name

eunuch of Darius 111.

Job 616

see

BLACKNESS

for

Prov.

RV and Joel26

see

for Job 3

BLAINS

Ex.

See

OIL

BLACK

and

BLACKISH

for Is.

5 0 3

BLASPHEMY

. 373

Neh. 9 18

Ezek. 85

Tob. 118

Macc. 26 Mt.

2665). The word

translated is derived from

root

meaning literally to scorn or reject’ (see

Ps.

Is.

I n Hebrew, therefore, it can

naturally be used to describe an attitude of hostility

Perhaps connected with

‘burning.

fiery’

See the illustration called ‘ A Noachian

Hit,’

Peter.,

589

BLASPHEMY

towards God or man, things holy or things
(Jer. 33 24

Is.

14 I

17).

Blaspheme’ (cp the verb

‘ t o

blame,’ Romanic

and see Murray,

however, occurs in the

also

the following ,words

‘renounce

cp Dav. on

Job

EV,

Nu.

‘reproach’),

EV, and the Gk.

(not V)

Mt.

Mk.

328

(followed by

Rev.136,

I n

Macc. 738 ‘blasphemies’

the rendering of

‘ t o blaspheme’ represent: the

related verb

the object of the blasphemies

is the temple,

It is important to determine

the

sense of

accurately, because the sense of to blas-

pheme’ in E V follows this exactly.

I n

word, the

conception of ‘blasphemy in current English is narrower
than the conception that we find in this supposed pattern
of English speech, which includes all modes of reviling

calumniating God or man (see

196 [Heb.

[Heb.

and

Is.

[Heb.

uncertain

conj.], and cp Acts

186 Jude

with Lk.

Jn.

36).

Among the Hebrews (whose view, it is needless

say, profoundly affected our own

law)

blasphemy or the expression of unjust,
derogatory opinions regarding God or his
government of the world was made a

capital offence-(Lev. 24

c p

and

see

Jos.

Ant.

iv.

8 6 )

the blasphemer must be cut off’ from his

people (Lev. 2415

see

AW AND

USTICE

13).

I t was forbidden

use the name of God lightly

Dt.

whether to ask a blessing or to invoke

curse

(cp Ex.

and see B

LESSING

URSING

and

Schultz,

O T

[ET]).

Whenever Israel

brought to shame G o d s name is scoffed a t by the

heathen (Ps.

At a later date it was held to be

mark of profanity even to pronounce the real name of

the God of Israel (see Lev. 2411 and cp N

AMES

Josephus

(Ant.

and the

interpret Ex.

2228 as a prohibition of blaspheming strange gods
but the interpretation, however much in the interests of
the Jews themselves, implies

misunderstanding of the

use

(see Schultz, 2127). I t was on

charge

of blasphemy-claiming to be the Christ, the

Son

of God-that Jesus was found worthy of

death (Mk.

Mt.

cp Jn.

and for

blasphemons words against ‘the holy place and the
law’ Stephen was condemned to be stoned (Acts613

See

TEPHEN

By blasphemy against the

Holy Spirit in Mk.

Mt.

was meant originally

definite offence of the scribes and Pharisees, who had

ascribed Jesus’ cures of demoniacs to

power derived

from the prince of the demons. This was blasphemy
against the divine power which had come upon
Jesus a t his baptism

Mt.

316

Lk. 322). I n

Mt.

however,

later interpretation is given, which

implies that the disciples of Jesus had thoroughly
absorbed the idea

the indwelling

The Holy

Spirit is put in antithesis to the ‘Son of Man.’

One

who fails to pierce below the

exterior of Jesus

may be forgiven.

One

who not merely rejects, but

openly disparages, that great gift which

‘

the Heavenly

Father will give to those who ask him’
cannot be forgiven : the inward impediment in the man
himself is too strong. The idea of the original distinc-
tion was suggested by that

the Law (Num.

A parallel to it will be found in the Mishna (Sanhedr.

He who says that the Law is not from Heaven

has no part in the world to come’

The

later interpretation, however, has no parallel, and

This rendering of

is very doubtful: but it is quite

possihle that in passa

Job 1 5

later

editor

substituted

for

we may

even

have

side

by side the correction

and the original reading

BLASTING

product of the Spirit of Christ working in the hearts

the first disciples.

BLASTING

[Hag.

is, as we learn from Gen.

41,

a term specially applied to the blighting effect of wind
upon corn.

The root in Arabic means blackness and

the Heb. word thus describes a blackening (almost
burning) process which is regarded

due to a severe wind

-a sense which is expressed by the various renderings
of

The word is in each passage coupled with

mildew.’ Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether wind is

in itself sufficient to account for such

blackening.

British Islands wheat when young assumes a yellow

colour from cold, a well-known physiological effect.
Under a burning drying wind, it might turn brown,
but scarcely

Further, it must be noted that in

Gen.

the corn was in ear it had made its growth,

but the ears were

thin-i.

e . , diseased.

It seems prob-

able, then, that the effect conceived in the dream was
that produced by corn smut,‘

Carbo;

and that

this is the real meaning

Mildew

the other

common disease of corn,

T. T.-D.

(

[Ti.

WH]), the chamberlain

Herod

(Acts

BLESSINGS

and

to bless-a

denominative from

the knee, with the lower part of

the leg; perhaps ‘ t o cause to make progress,’-and

to curse

Ass.

(

)

to curse,’

bind

and their derivatives

in parallelism,

chiefly in poetic and legal sources of JED ‘and later
imitations cp Gen.

Dt.

Josh.

etc.

represents

(also

words).

I n

Hebrew for cursing

’

we find also (a)

(prop.

verb and noun, c p

‘oath of cursing’

Nu.

‘adjuration’), rendered

‘execration,’

4422, and R V only Jer.2918; its

derivative

occurs in Lam. 3

(c)

see

only in the Balaam stories

(Nu.

)

and

possibly to be connected

(prop. to pierce rendered in

Lev. 24

‘blaspheme.

From the Jewish tradition which

explained it to mean ‘pronounce, speak aloud’ arose the d e e p
rooted belief that the divine name was not to be uttered
any circumstance (see

AMES

DOLATRY

Is. 65

E V ‘curse,’ properly oath a s

see

ATH

and cp

OVENANT

, $3

T h e

N T

words are (a)

Mk. 1471 (in

;

Mt.

26 74 Rev. 22 3

;

see B

Rom. 12 14 Jam. 3 (in

for

Gal. 3

and

accursed

Rev. 22 3

;

cp also

under a curse,’ Gal.

Mt. 15 4 Mk.

speak

evil

of’ (in

for

see

ATH

the primitive sense of the word, a blessing

was a spell, pronounced by holy persons, and

containing a divine name, or divine names, which drew
down the divine favour

disfavour

e . ,

prosperity

adversity), as the case might require,

certain

persons.

It was a consequence of the hardness of life

that curses were more frequently in demand than
blessings.

Thus

the breaking out of

between states naturally led to the solemn utterance

of cursing against the enemy. These

would be uttered at the opening

a campaign,

especially when the warriors were

the point o

advancing against the foe.

Goliath, we are told

‘cursed David by his gods’

(

43).

The battle

shout certainly had a religious character and, if it
not always devote the enemy to destruction, at any
it invoked a blessing on the national side.

Cp Ps.

and the story of B

ALAAM

The laws too hac

Nu.

22 6

shows that Balak, according to

the narrator, wa

about to fight with

the

Israelites.

BLUE

an increased sanction through the cursing

attached.

Thus

iv. mentions

statute

the maintenance of boundaries, which is

iforced by a curse on any one who should violate it.

this category of curses belong those in Dt.

28.

It is true that a series of blessings is attached to the

of cursings. Moses, from his close connection with

Deity, had a special power of blessing and cursing.

him the priests had a similar power, which they

xerted in the interests of the faithful community (cp
J

R I M

AND

HUMMIM

6).

The uplifted hands of the

riest drew down

(as

it were) a blessing on Israel (cp

Nu.

23-27)

and a curse on Israel’s enemies.

potent, indeed, were the blessings and the curses ot

he reputed founder of Israel that they could be said to

the two sacred mountains which enclose the

centre of the people-the valley of Shechem-

eady to descend, as the case might be, ,with rewards or

(Dt.

Within the family it was the father who (according to

ideas not unconnected with the worship of

had the mystic privilege of determining the

veal or woe of his children

and more

:specially when his days were manifestly numbered (see

SAAC

COB

Nor

does it appear

hat the early Israelites

this power by moral

(see Gen.

35).

Obviously, however, such

limitation was a necessary consequence of a pure

nonotheism. The post-exilic writers declare that only
.he offspring

the righteous can be blessed

(Ps.

that the observance of

God‘s

laws ensures his favour

without the aid of priests or enchanters.

Fear not,

.hen, said the later sages to their pupils, if thine enemy

thee

the curse causeless shall not come (I’rov.

Still, even

post-exilic time we sometimes find

half-consciousness that curses had an inherent

power.

I t was worth while to curse

bad

man,

ensure his full punishment-such is the idea of

Ps.

109-a

strange survival of primitive superstition.

In the discourses of Jesus we find blessings and

curses. They are, however, simply authoritative declara-
tions of the eternal connection between right-doing and
happiness. wrong-doing and misery

in the case of

Judas).

Parallels to the Israelitish view

blessings and

cursings outside of the Semitic peoples hardly need to be
quoted.

The objective existence of both, but especially

of curses, was strongly felt by the Assyrians and
Babylonians,

the magical texts show. The Arabian

beliefs

the subject

also very suggestive, as

Goldziher has pointed out. See M

AGIC

n.,

and

on the curse-bringing water’

(Nu.

)

see J

EALOUSY

BLINDNESS

Gen.

1911

618

See

ISEASES

, and M

EDI

For blood in law and ritual, see S

ACRIFICE

For

‘avenger of blood’

For ‘issue of

WATER

OF.

K. C.

Dt.

Zech.

CINE.

BLOOD.

PASSOVER; CLEAN

A N D

UNCLEAN,

COVENANT,

INSHIP

and

Dt.

see

Mk.

see

ISEASE

MEDICINE.

BLOOD, Field of

Mt.

278.

See

BLUE

Ex.

etc., a variety

Purple.

See

OLOURS

Blue is employed

E V of Esth.

1 6

distinguish certain

kinds of stones. Thus for

we have AV ‘blue marble,’

The blessing and the curse referred to were those attaching

to the fulfilment and the non-fulfilment of the commands of the
Law.

They were ‘laid before’ Israel by Moses and were

be ‘laid’ by them on their arrival in the

land,

probably by solemn proclamation on Mounts

and Ebal

respectively. In Dt. 27

a later writer’s interpreta-

tion of this command. See

Kue.

BOANERGES

‘marble’ RV ‘white marble’: and for

‘stone

of blue ’colour,’ E V ‘black marble.’ See, however, M

ARBLE

and cp

For

‘blueness’ in Prov. 20 30t AV

‘blueness

wound’) RV has, better, ‘stripes that wound.

BOANERGES

[Ti. Treg. W H follow-

ing

etc.

;

T R

aname

given, according to

to James

[I]

and John

the sons of Zebedee. The reading of

etc., points to

as the accepted analysis of the name, and

the evangelist explains it by

‘sons of

thunder.’

Each element, however, presents some

difficulty.

The difficulty in taking Boane- to be

‘sons of,’ is

for

Attempts to explain it as a phonetic ‘corruption’ have been

unsatisfactory. There does not appear to he any

Bretschneider’s

corrupt pro-

nunciation of a provincial (Galilean) a,

for Hugh Broughton’s

statement4 (Works

620)

that the Jews pronounced

oa.

I t is more

to regard the corruption a s textual.

Since

is natural enough (cp

Josh.

[A]), and

is not unknown (cp

might be a conflate

Dalman (Gram.

supposed the transposition of an o which originally stood after

(see below).

H e now prefers to regard either

as a

(

39, n.

4).

I n some such way the double

vowel must have arisen it is strange that the

MSS

have not

preserved any trace of variation in the first syllable.

The orthography, therefore, cannot he explained

quite satisfactorily.

W e may be reasonably certain,

however, about the signification.

a. This cannot be said of the second element in the

word. The evangelist (or a scholiast) understood
to mean

thunder’ but we do not know what

Semitic word it was supposed to represent, nor can we
say whether the interpretation

an original hypothesis

or a really current belief.

(a)

In the Syriac versions (Pesb. and Sin.)

appears as

That may, however, be nothing more than a translitera-

tion. Only in Arabic does

mean ‘thunder.’ If it occurs in

the O T a t

it probably

‘throng.

it means

‘tumult,’ ‘rushing,’ etc. If

therefore, it can hardly

BOCHIM

dural of

Beza on the other hand

to improve on

ng that a mistake had occurred

Semitic text:

was

nisread

text containing the name

would not need to give

explanation of the name (cp col.

)

On the other

hand, a Greek translator could not have given the supposed

translation if he had misread the

There remains the possibility that

(see

NAZ

OAZ

Kautzsch

suggests that

may

‘anger’ (cp Dan.

and,

of thunder, the Ar.

and this solution is adopted by Dalman

who further accounts for the translation

The historical origin of the name not being known

(cp J

AMES

) ,

we cannot determine the second

Semitic element with certainty.

There is no evidence

that Boanerges can ever have meant strictly sons of
thunder.’

On the other hand, what is said in the

Gospels of the sons

Zebedee gives a certain appro-

priateness to such a title as

taken in the sense of

See

WINE

(end).

hardly, ‘quickness’ [BDB

Ass.

means a wild boar or the like;

but see

and

in Ru.

2 1 5

4 8

Ch.

of Bethlehem, kinsman

of Naomi and husband of R

UTH

According to

the post-exilic genealogy, Ru.

(cp

Ch.

he was the son of S

ALMON

ALMAH

and the ancestor

of D

AVID

n. a ) .

The name of one of the two pillars set up before

Solomon‘s temple

(

Ch.

17).

See J

ACHIN

Esd.

BOCHERU

for the ending

cp J

ETHRO

and see G

ESHEM

), a son of Azrikam, Saul’s descendant

(

Ch.

44).

however, punctuated and

read

doubtless correctly

Azrikam his firstborn

makes up the six

sons

of Azel by enumerating

the fifth place, besides

in the third.

[BAL]), the name of a place near Gilgal, where the
b‘ne Israel sacrificed after the visit of the angel of

(Judg.

and

probably of a place in Judah (Mic.

emended text

see below). The name of the former place is interpreted

Weepers

but the passage which refers to this

an insertion (see J

UDGES

4 ) based upon

where we may expect to find the older and more gener-

used name

the place. Here, however,

com-

bining two readings gives

(on the corrupt

see

Moore ad

and the latter, which suits the con-

text well, is accepted a s correct by most critics (Bu.

Sam.

We., Mey., Kue., Bu., Kitt.).

W e must

therefore correct

‘Bethel.’

The explanation of ‘Bochim’ in v.

suggests

doubt as to the correctness of the present

form, which may have been changed to agree with a
more than half sportive derivation from

weep.’

The correct pronunciation must have been

‘Baca-trees‘ (see M

LBERRY

). These

trees were probably abundant near Bethel, and it is
possible that the ‘Tree

Weeping’

grew near them. The play on the name would, at any
rate, be familiar to the ancient Israelites, and may have
led to a variety in the pronunciation of the name (cp
Mareshah, Moresheth).

I t is difficult to see how this could

angry,’ soon angered’ (or the like).

H. W. H.

BOAR

Ps.

BOAZ.

See RUTH,

AND

BOCHIM

103,

‘weepers,’

. .

mean

Jerome, indeed, conscious of this, declares

ad Dan.

that the true readine is

sons of

Ex.

Pseudo- Jon.)-and this

he quietly assumes in his

L i d .

under ‘John.

That he ignores it in the Comm.

Mk.

however, probably shows that it is a mere hypothetical

not a variant reading (cp

Apparently: therefore, we must adhere to

The second letter of

however, might represent not

hut

as in

but

is no nearer

than

Besides,

a s a rule only when it is represented in

Arabic

not by

but

there is in Ar. a word

the phonetic

of which in Hebrew would be

(not

agrees most closely with

meaning, and

would not as a

appear as

common word for ‘thunder’ in Hebrew and Aramaic

would not conflict with this phonetic principle

;

nearest word

in Arabic to Hebrew

Drusius

( A d voces

prior

therefore and Glassius

Sacra,

revived the theory of Jerome that

should

be p

regarding the

as merely a Greek termination

final consonant dropped as

in Gehenna. No doubt

would be rather

for a man’s name’: but

Boanerges is not a

name

it is the name of two ’men.

Indeed Suidas gives the name a s

(as if the

There

no hint of such a name anywhere else in the N T

(cp, however,

Lk.

; but too much must not be made of

that. Glassius pointed out that Boanerges is professedly a name
shared by two men (more conveniently called ‘ t h e sons of
Zebedee ’), one of whom met a n early death (Acts 12).

Cp the strong language of Kautzsch, Gram. d.

dram. 9.

Adopted

Lightf.

who instances

(practically) Glassius (d. 1656).

now Arnold Meyer,

See below
M T has

Ps.

and

in 643 (cp

21)

but

each case it has been questioned whether the text

correct. See Che.

There

is no reason to suppose

in the passage cited ,hy

Lightfoot

mid.) the word means ‘thunder.

A corruption-of

into

(see

would be easy.

(Strabo, 764) for

593

Of course a gloss embodying a true tradition may have made

J. F . K.

Gurlitt had considered this word in his careful

So now also Arnold Meyer,

its way into a translation of a faulty

discussion in

(1829,

594

BOHAN

forerunner of leprosy, and that

the speeches

Job

of his malady, though poetically expressed, point (a

most scholars admit) to leprosy in its worst form. See

[The text is disfigured by two errors due to

One is the word ‘not’ before ‘upon them,’ repeated from v. 17
the other is

nations that go not up to

the Feast o

Booths,’ repeated from v.

has simply

595

BOIL

asses and camels).

596

T h e r e

is an

e a r l y testimony

to the

form Bochim i n

Mic.

( E V weep

not at

all’)

may be

e m e n d e d into

‘in

weep (Elhorst,

We.,

Now.,

omitting

the

intrusive

n o t ’

c p Che.

July

1898).

locality called

n e a r Micah’s native

town is k n o w n t o

us.

T h i s causes

difficulty.

T h e r e

h a v e been m a n y places where Baca-trees grew.

T h e alternative correction, I n

weep n o t ’ (Reland,

etc.

i s geographically inadmissible.

c a n n o t

well s u p p o s e

Philistine city

that name

(G.

A. Smith),

nor

d o e s Micah concern himself with

ILOH

BOHAN,

THE

STONE

u n k n o w n point

t h e h o n n d a r y between J u d a h

and

Josh.

[A],

[L]).

B o h a n

called i n b o t h places t h e

son

(sometimes

sons

in 18

EUBEN

;

possibly,

however,

the

s t o n e o r r o c k w a s

well-known l a n d m a r k ,

t h u s designated

account of its supposed resemblance

to a

t h u m b

The Heb. word

(lit.

‘an

inflammation. f r o m

root f o u n d

BOIL,

BOIL

of Egypt.

i n

Syr. and

Ar., m e a n i n g

b e h o t

for

the

‘ b o i l ’ i n

the

sixth plague of E g y p t ,

and the

‘

botch of

i n

Dt.

applied a g a i n t o

the

‘ b o i l ’ of Hezekiah

and to

s o m e

diagnostic s i g n t h a t occurred i n o n e

m o r e of t h e

various contagious a n d mostly parasite skin-affections
included u n d e r t h e c o m m o n n a m e

(see

EPROSY

)

i n Lev.

variety called

burn-

i n g

(really

pleonasm) b e i n g clean,

and

t h e

variety of boil which g a v e place t o

o r bright

s p o t being unclean.

The

reference i s almost certainly

local o r limited s p o t s of inflammation, although it

h a r d l y possible t o give

m o d e r n n a m e

t h e m

or to

the same word is applied to a

disease ‘from the sole of the foot

the crown of the head’ ; but

probably it is so used without any precise nosological intention,
and merely to express a peculiarly loathsome affliction.

I n Dt. 28

and Job 2

It is

only t h e

disease specially associated with

E g y p t t h a t i s h e r e considered.

There occur four other references to diseases specially

Egyptian

not called

Two of

and

evil diseases of Egypt,’ and ‘all

diseases of Egypt’) are in admonitory passages written in

popular style.

the third

a plague is to

smite the Egyptians if they do not comd up to keep the
Feast of Booths. I t is the same

that is to

the other peoples who neglect this ordinance, and there
nothing, as the text now

to indicate that the writer is

Botch

a name commonly and with the definite article

distinctively, given to plague

Elizabethan and the Stuart

periods.

the Edinburgh treatise on

Gilbert

Skene (1568) it occurs in the form of ‘boiche.

I n the

Vision

Piers

the spelling is

and the meaning specific

generic(‘

and boches and brennyngagues’). The most

probable etymology

Fr.

meaning pocket, poke, pock

(cp also It.

a bubble), and applied in the plural

like the Spanish

bubas,

to epidemics of camp

ness, about

1528,

which seem to have been typhus,

may have included bubonic cases, or perhaps cases of
plague. The translators of the AV seem to have meant

‘

botch’ the familiar bubo plague of

time. Milton

may use the word

its exact sense of bubo plague, where

says of the sixth

of Egypt

‘botches and blains must

his flesh emboss

12 180). With the disappearance o

plague from Britain after 1666, the word lost its

meaning.

Rather, ‘scar of the boil,’

(v. 23

cp RV).

[As

points out the expressions in

a n

borrowed from the

to Job. That section of the

appears to be based on a folk-tale; the designation which i
gives to Job’s malady is, therefore, general, not technical.
must remember, however, that

Lev. 13

the

linking of the ‘botch of Egypt.’ The reference in the

), however, may possibly be to some actual epidemic

the history of the northern kingdom. T h e ‘pestilence in

of Egypt’ may well be equivalent to the

Dt.

which should mean some specific disease such

(KV

;

or plague-boils) of

with

it is coupled, certainly means. As the sixth plague is

pecially called one of ‘boils and blains,’ this also may be taken

stand for some definite

of Egypt.

m u s t

now

consider which of t h e boil diseases of

i s m e a n t b y

is s t a t e d

that

boil

accompanied b y blains broke forth

T h i s , if nosologically

would exclude b u b o plague,

b e i n g

i n cattle.

O n t h e other h a n d , a n t h r a x , which

night

correctly described a s

the

boil of cattle,

excluded,

in man

i s never

b u t only sporadic.

I f we might s u p p o s e

narrative,

or (as

t h e critics s a y ) t h e interwoven

t h e plagues

based

simpler narratives, which would

bear to be

reated

matter-of-fact description, w e might expect

hat

i n

the

original narrative

the

sixth p l a g u e

t h e p l a g u e proper ( b u b o plague), which i s

i n e d t o

man,

whilst

the

fifth stood for epizootic disease

general.

Certainly

the

special association of b u b o plague with

E g y p t

historically correct,

that

t h e word

b o t c h ’ i n

the

i s

h a p p y choice ( c p

Besides t h e constructive evidence

the

disaster

is said t o have befallen Sennacherib’s a r m y

Pelusinm

(see

ESTILENCE

and,

t h e historical

there is, indeed,

extra-biblical

t o

p l a g u e i n E g y p t earlier t h a n a b o u t

300

and

even this testimony

has

been only indirectly

?reserved.

Oribasius, who was physician to the Emperor

cites a

from Rufus of Ephesus, a physician in

wherein he describes bubo plague with singular clear-

; it is indeed rare as

remarks to find in ancient

such positive d a r k s of the identity of pestilential type.

Rufus says that the disease was most common, and very mortal,
in Libya, Egypt,

Syiia. H e adds that

and

Poseidonios had enlarged upon pestilential buboes in writing
upon the pestilence which in their time ravaged
supposed to have been the same great epidemic, about

.c.,

which is mentioned by Livy, Julius Obsequens and Orosius.
Rufus further says that the pupils of one
make mention of these pestilential buboes. An

to the Vatican codex of Oribasius explains that
the above surname (‘Hunchback’) conies into the

of Hermippus.

This would fix his date prior to

280

B.C.

W h i l s t

the

botch

E g y p t cannot, u p o n independent

testimony, b e traced farther

t h a n

300

i t

highly improbable t h a t i t was first seen then.

A s

points out,

the

endemic inflnences favouring

plague i n E g y p t , depending u p o n

the

peculiar alterna-

tions of

wet

a n d

(caused

t h e periodic rise

and

fall of

the

Nile), were t h e r e l o n g before.

Pariset

etc., Paris, 1837) has argued

with great cogency that the elaborate pains taken in the best
period of ancient Egypt to preserve the soil from putrefying

matters

and other were inspired by the risk of

plague, and

have been in

high degree effective.

It is

clear however that

failure of the sanitary code would give

its

the pressure of population and the

climate or hydrology

constant, and that such failure may

reasonably be assumed at first as an occasional thing and
from the time that the ancient civilisation, with

(en-

forced by religious sanctions) a principal part of it, began to
decay under the influence

Persian, Greek, and Roman

con-

quests-as permanent.

b o t h

man

a n d beast.

without the negative particle, but ‘it has the second insertion.

critical edition should give

text thus

‘And if the

Egyptian people go not up nor come, upon

will the stroke

come with which Yahwk will strike.

The close of the

sentence may early have become effaced. The plague intended
was, at

rate, not that

the other nations. which was want

What is said

of the ‘murrain’ upon the horses, camels, asses, oxen and
sheep is expressed in a sense too comprehensive for any
epizootic malady

anthrax is a disease that oxen and sheep

suffer

from in common, but not

so far as is known,

The qualification (‘in general’)

is designed.

BOILS, PLAGUE

and

BOILING HOUSES

24,

RV.

BOILING PLACES

Ezek.

See C

OOKING

BOLLED

swollen,'. see Skeat,

in flower'

Ex.

The Hebrew word occurs only once, but

evidently (see Ges.

Levy,

1 2 9 6 )

connected with

cup

and the

usage (Ges.

is in favour of its referring to

the flower-cup (perhaps as a closed bud), rather than

(as

supposed) to the formation of the seed-pods (see,

however, Tristram,

445).

BOLSTER

267.

( u ) .

BONDAGE

Ex.

1 1 4

Rom.

15,

and BONDMAN

Dt.

Rom.

16,

etc.

See

LAVERY

BONNET. For

Ex.

etc. (RV

'headtire'), see M

ITRE

(I);

for

Is.

320

(RV 'headtire'),

(RV 'tire'), see

URBAN

BOOK

Gen.51 etc.

Lk.

3 4

etc.,

etc.).

See W

RITING

end;

ISTORICAL

ANON

4 3

Rev.

35.

Ex.

and see

AND

14.

BOOT

Is.

9 5

See S

HOES

BOOTHS

Lev.

See T

ABERNACLE

AVILION

UCCOTH

, and cp

ENT

and

ATTLE

BOOTY

etc.), Jer.

etc.

[Ti. WH],

[Ti.

Lk.

332).

RV has B

OAZ

[BL]

Vg.

Pesh.

the true

M T

reading (Gi.

where many printed

edd. have

(AV

For

in Ex.

om.),

P's

description of the 'table

see

;

tion of the lavbr bases

[A];

[A;

om.

BL];

'panels'), see

AVER

for

in Nu.

'corner' [of garment]), see

F R I N G E S ;

for

Mt.

14 36

RV,

see

RINGES

BORITH

Esd.

BORROW

Ex.

;

Ex.

See

AND

USTICE

16,

RADE AND

OMMERCE

BOSCATH

K. 221

BOSOR

[Ti.]),

AV, RV

BOSOR

and in v.

[A cp Is. 346

631,

town of

Galaaditis, taken by Judas the Maccabee in

164

B.C.

Macc.

is identified by some with B

EZER

in Moab. Galaaditis, however, was the name of

the country

of Moab (GASm.

549,

5),

and

the campaign in which Judas took Bosor was waged
in the latitude of the

the present

Bosor may be the present

in the

SE.

corner of the

which the

Arabian geographer

A.D.

(1621)

still calk

only Busr [sic]. The passage in which it is mentioned
is obscure;

are probably corrupt.

(Cp

We.

See S

POIL

Probably the same

BORDER.

See B

UKKI

That the sanitary precautions did utterly break down

under Mohammedan conquest, and that bubo plague
did become for fourteen centuries the standing pestilence

of Egypt, we know as matter of fact. We know also
that it was from Pelusium that the great' plague

Justinian's reign

D.)

started-to overrun the

whole known world.

It is probable, further, that

the pestilence in Lower Egypt 'at the time

the

massacre of Christians in the episcopate' of Cyprian
included bubo plague. The valuable testimony pre-
served by Oribasins as to Egyptian, Libyan, and
Syrian pestilential buboes, as early as 300

has

been already cited. If beyond that date we are left to
conjecture, there is still a high probability that the plague
was known

'Egypt at a

earlier date.

This historical bubo plague of Egypt answers best

the sixth plague.

The boil breaks out in the

manner of the plague bubo, which may be
single or multiple. Its situations are the
armpits, groins, and the sides of the neck

and it consists of one (or

packet) of the natural

lymphatic or absorbent glands

those regions enlarged

to the size

hen's (or even a turkey's) egg, often

livid colour, hard, tense, painful, and attended with

inflammatory swelling of the skin for some distance
around it. Just as in Asiatic cholera and yellow fever
there are explosive attacks

suddenly fatal that the

distinctive symptoms have hardly time to develop,

there may be death from plague without the bubo

the botch.

Still, the latter is the distinctive mark

plagne, the same in all countries and in all periods

history.

Other signs of plague were livid

red

spots

the skin (called ' t h e tokens' in English epidemics), large car-
buncles (especially

on the fleshy parts), and blains

which were really smaller carbuncular formations or cores with
a

collection of fluid

their summits. Besides the pain of the

hard and tense buboes there were often delirium gentle or
raving, vomiting,

of muscles

gait and

speech), and many other symptoms a s if from a deadly poison.
About three days was perhaps the average duration of fatal
cases.

Usually half the attacks were mortal.

beginning

of the epidemic there would be but few recoveries, while

at the end of it as many

four out of

Recovery was most

five might recover.

likely when the buboes broke and ran sometimes the
suppuration, especially in the groin, would continue for
months, the

being able to go limping in the

streets.

the history of plague in London, which is

continuous from the Black Death of

1348

1666,

the

great epidemics came at intervals, and, in those for
which we have the statistics, carried

off

from a fifth to

sixth of the population, including but few of the richer
class.

With

population of nearly half

million in

1665,

the highest mortality from plague was

7165

the week

September. Sometimes for

suc-

cession

years' the deaths from plague kept at a high

annual level, especially during the summer and autumn
months.

During the whole three centuries of plague

in London there were few years which did not have
some deaths in the warmer months.

From what

is known of the mediaeval history of plague in Cairo

(from Arabic annals cp von

Phil.

Hist. Class. Bd. xcvi.), and of its modern history (cp
Pruner,

des

Orients),

it appears to have come,

a s in London, in terrific outbursts at intervals of years,
and to have been at a low level

apparently extinct in

the years between.

T h e plagoe season in Egypt; within the period

exact

records has begun as early as September and a s late as

has reached its height in March and April, and

has

ended with great regularity almost suddenly about

John's

day (24th

the height

the epidemic

with

the. lowest level of

Nile. There bas been no plague since

last

was that of

described hy

in Eothen.

BOILS, PLAGUE

See

597

BOSORA

Herod the Great, in order to keep

the

in his power (Jos.

Ant.

xvii.

fortified

village called Bathyra, and this may have been the

BOSORA

Ch.

Macc.

;

Jos.

in Gilead, held by some to be the Bozrah in Moab
spoken of in Jer. 4824, must have lain farther N. (see

ii.

Hence many (Ewald PEF Map etc.)

more plausibly take it to have been Bostra, the capital

the Roman province of Arabia, modern

SE.

of Edrei (cp Porter,

Merrill,

Jordan,

53,

;

Rey,

Dans

Atlas; Buhl,

same as Bosor (cp GASm.

618).

See, however, Bathyra under

BOSS

text doubtful),

See

HIELD

BOTCH

A V ;

OIL

BOTTLE.

The statement that ‘what we call

bottles were unknown to the Hebrews’ (Riehm,

art.

needs qualification.

It has

long been known that the Egyptians manufactured
glass from an early period.

The Phcenicians and the

Assyrians were well acquainted with glass (see the
relative volumes of

and Chipiez,

Hist. de

etc.

that manufactured by the former being of special

repute in antiquity (see G

LASS

It is impossible,

therefore, that among the imports from

glass bottles should have had no place.

They must

always, however, have been

luxury of the rich (cp Job

[RV]).

The bottles’ of Scripture fall into two ‘very different

classes :

(I)

leather skins for holding and carrying water,

wine, and other liquids, and

earthenware jars for

the same and other purposes.

For the Hebrews in the nomadic stage of civilisation,

as for the Bedouin of the present day, the skins of

beasts of their flocks supplied the readiest
and most efficient means of storing and
transporting the necessary supply of water

in the camp and on the march.

This method was

found so simple and so satisfactory that it was retained
in a more settled state of society, and, indeed, has
prevailed throughout the East until the present day.
The writers

classical antiquity, from Homer down-

wards, contain many references to this use of the skins
of domestic animals.

The skins used by the Hebrews

for this purpose, as in modern Syria and Arabia, were
chiefly skins of the goat and of the sheep.

When

smaller size than ordinary was required, the skin of
a

lamb or of

kid sufficed for larger quantities there

was the skin of the

and, perhaps, of the camel

(Herod.

39).

Among the Hebrews the pig-skin was, of

course, excluded.

T h e method of preparation varied in complexity and

efficiency according a s the peasant prepared his own skins (cp
Doughty,

Des.

1227) or employed a professional tanner.

T h e head and the lower part of the legs are cut off (such is the
method a t the present day), and the animal is skinned from the
neck downwards, somewhat as one removes a tight-fitting glove
care being taken that no incision is made in the skin of
carcase. When the tanning process is completed (cp Tristram

92,

Robinson,

all

other apertures

previously been closed, the neck is fitted with a leather thong,

by means of which the

skin is opened and closed (cp

EATHER

the

we find such skin bottles designated by

variety of names.

Such are

( a )

the water-skin

(probably of a kid) which Abraham put upon

shoulder

The Bedouin name is

(Doughty,

index).

I n

(RV ‘heat’)’ and in

Hab.

(RV

mg. ‘fury’), the R V more

finds

another word of similar

(6)

like the

of the modern Bedouin, is the milk-skin of

the nomad Jael (Judg. 4 19 cp Doughty

passim). I t

According to Lane

(Mod.

Eg.) an ox-hide holds three

times a s much as a goat-skin

599

BOX TREE

lso

occurs frequently as a wine-skin-Josh. 9 4

etc.

a water-skin it is used metaphorically in Ps.

(‘put my

ears into thy bottle’), where there is no reference to the much
ater tear-bottles,’ so called, and where the

text

is doubted

see

T h e exact sense of Ps.11983, where the poet likens

himself to a ‘bottle

“wine-skin”) in the smoke,’ is

(see the comm.

(c)

and

frequently of

ordinary wine-skin

etc.

( d )

has the same signification in

we read of ‘new bottles

. . .

ready to burst.

Budde

’96)

renders ‘skins with new (wine),’ which gives us an

the familiar passage in the N T (Mt. 9

Neither do men

new wine into old wine-

the ,RV has rightly discarded the

rendering

we have the curious

leathern bottle’ of wine.

Vessels of earthenware also are mentioned in the O T

receptacles for wine.

Such was ( a ) the

Jer.

(

made by the

potter, perhaps with

narrow neck

which caused a gurgling sound (Ar.

when the jar was being emptied.

It was

used to hold honey,

[AL

EV C

RUSE

(6)

The name

was also

to wine-jars or

of earthenware, as is

from Is.

(EV [potters’] vessel

‘bottle

potters’), and Lam.

(EV ‘pitcher’). In both

passages

has

W e have no indication

the size or even of the shape of the earthen

‘see

POTTERY

also C

RUSE

R. S. K.

BOW

Gen.

Bowstrings

RV.

See W

EAPONS

be dealt with in the articles mentioned below.

BOWL.

Ex.

the bowl or reservoir of a lamp, Zech.

;

see

ANDLESTICK

Used in a simile in Eccles.

126

The globe-shaped bowls or capitals of the

twin pillars of

JACHIN A N D

[as

see

RING

]

AV ‘pommels,’

See

ILL

The various Hebrew and Greek words will

See

EALS

Ch. 28

etc., RV.

Ex. 273.

5 .

[BAFL], used in temple

ritual especially upon the table of shew-bread, Ex. 25

Nu.

4 7

(where AV ‘cups

See

haph,

see

a larger bowl or

probably of wood,

Jud.

[BAL] in 5

[AL]); cp

Bel, 33, a vessel for holding food (in Acts 27

30 32,

boat).

it represents

see

3 ;

EALS

and cp generally

, G

OBLET

OTTERY

BOX,

synonymous in AV with jar

cruise, not

case of wood or

; RV and in

AV vial

’

For the ‘alabaster box’

of Mk.

etc.

AV (RV

cruse’) see

RUSE

LABASTER

I n

of Jn. 126’13 29, where E V has B

; ‘box’ is

suggested as an alternative rendering of

which

originally and etymologically signified a case in which the mouth-
pieces

of wind instruments were kept.

Later it

assumed a more general significance and denoted any similarly
shaped

or case.

employs it to indicate the chest

set up

Josiah in the Temple

Ch.

whilst

Josephususes it

‘coffer

E V

;

see

OFFER

or small chest, in which the Philistine princes deposited
golden mice. I n the Mishna it is used to signify a case for
books

in Lexx.) and even a coffin (cp the parallel use

in the latter sense also in

(Gen.

5026,

Joseph’s

see C

OFFIN

). Thus it would appear

that the preferable rendering in

is that of

Rev. 58 157, etc.

‘vial’).

Shape and material are both uncertain.

R. S. K.

BOX TREE, BOX,

cypress

once

276;

Boxwood

For this

employs ‘chest.’

boo

Document Outline

Title
Preface
Abbreviations, symbols, and Biblioraphical Notes
Practical Hints to the Reader
Aalar - Achsah
Acts of the Apostles
Acua - Ain
Airus - Amphipolis
Amplias - Apocalypse
Apocalyptic Literature
Apocrypha - Ariel
Arimathaea - Asshurim
Assideans - Azzur
Baal - Baca
Bacchides - Bastard
Bat - Beth-Basi
Beth-Birie -Box Tree
Bozez - Bush
Bushel - Canon
Canopy - Chariot
Charity, Feasts of - Chronology
Chronology - Circumcision
Cis - Conduits
Coney - Covenant
Coverlet - Cyrus
Dabarah - David
David, City of - Dial and Sun-Dial
Diamond - Dysentary

Encyclopedia Biblica Vol 1 Beth Birei Boxtree

Document Outline