Breastplate

(1.) That piece of ancient armour that protected the breast. This word is used figuratively in Eph. 6:14 and Isa. 59:17. (See ARMOUR.) (2.) An ornament covering the breast of the high priest, first mentioned in Ex. 25:7. It was made of embroidered cloth, set with four rows of precious stones, three in each row. On each stone was engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes (Ex. 28:15-29; 39:8-21). It was in size about ten inches square. The two upper corners were fastened to the ephod by blue ribbons. It was not to be “loosed from the ephod” (Ex. 28:28). The lower corners were fastened to the girdle of the priest. As it reminded the priest of his representative character, it was called the memorial (28:29). It was also called the breastplate of judgment (28:15). (See PRIEST.)

[Arms, Armor]


Breeches

(Ex. 28:42), rather linen drawers, reaching from the waist to a little above the knee, worn by the priests (Ezek. 44:17, 18).


Brethren Of Jesus

[James The Less]


Bribe

None to be taken; “for the gift maketh open eyes blind, and perverteth the cause of the righteous” (Ex. 23:8, literally rendered).


Brick

(Genesis 11:3) The brick in use among the Jews were much larger than with us, being usually from 12 to 13 inches square and 3 1/2 inches thick; they thus possess more of the character of tiles. (Ezekiel 4:1) The Israelites, in common with other captives, were employed by the Egyptian monarchs in making bricks and in building. (Exodus 1:14; 5:7) Egyptian bricks were not generally dried in kilns, but in the sun. That brick-kilns were known is evident from (2 Samuel 12:31; Jeremiah 43:9) When made of the Nile mud they required straw to prevent cracking. [See Straw]


Bricks

The making of, formed the chief labour of the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. 1:13, 14). Those found among the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh are about a foot square and four inches thick. They were usually dried in the sun, though also sometimes in kilns (2 Sam. 12:31; Jer. 43:9; Nah. 3:14). (See NEBUCHADNEZZAR.) The bricks used in the tower of Babel were burnt bricks, cemented in the building by bitumen (Gen. 11:3).


Bride

Frequently used in the ordinary sense (Isa. 49:18; 61:10, etc.). The relation between Christ and his church is set forth under the figure of that between a bridegroom and bride (John 3:29). The church is called “the bride” (Rev. 21:9; 22:17). Compare parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13).


Bride, Bridegroom

[Marriage]


Bridle

Three Hebrew words are thus rendered in the Authorized Version. (1.) Heb. mahsom’ signifies a muzzle or halter or bridle, by which the rider governs his horse (Ps. 39:1). (2.) Me’theg, rendered also “bit” in Ps. 32:9, which is its proper meaning. Found in 2 Kings 19:28, where the restraints of God’s providence are metaphorically styled his “bridle” and “hook.” God’s placing a “bridle in the jaws of the people” (Isa. 30:28; 37:29) signifies his preventing the Assyrians from carrying out their purpose against Jerusalem. (3.) Another word, re’sen, was employed to represent a halter or bridle-rein, as used Ps. 32:9; Isa. 30:28. In Job 30:11 the restraints of law and humanity are called a bridle.


Brier

This word occurs frequently, and is the translation of several different terms. (1.) Micah 7:4, it denotes a species of thorn shrub used for hedges. In Prov. 15:19 the word is rendered “thorn” (Heb. hedek, “stinging”), supposed by some to be what is called the “apple of Sodom” (q.v.). (2.) Ezek. 28:24, sallon’, properly a “prickle,” such as is found on the shoots of the palm tree. (3.) Isa. 55:13, probably simply a thorny bush. Some, following the Vulgate Version, regard it as the “nettle.” (4.) Isa. 5:6; 7:23-25, etc., frequently used to denote thorny shrubs in general. In 10:17; 27:4, it means troublesome men. (5.) In Heb. 6:8 the Greek word (tribolos) so rendered means “three-pronged,” and denotes the land caltrop, a low throny shrub resembling in its spikes the military “crow-foot.” Comp. Matt. 7:16, “thistle.”


Brigandine

(Jer. 46:4; 51:3), an obsolete English word denoting a scale coat of armour, or habergeon, worn by light-armed “brigands.” The Revised Version has “coat of mail.”

(Jeremiah 46:4) elsewhere “habergeon,” or “coat of mail.”


Brimstone

An inflammable mineral substance found in quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. The cities of the plain were destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone (Gen. 19:24, 25). In Isa. 34:9 allusion is made to the destruction of these cities. This word figuratively denotes destruction or punishment (Job 18:15; Isa. 30:33; 34:9; Ps. 11:6; Ezek. 38:22). It is used to express the idea of excruciating torment in Rev. 14:10; 19:20; 20:10.

Brimstone, or sulphur, is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. (Genesis 19:24) It is a well-known simple mineral substance, crystalline, easily melted, very inflammable, and when burning emits a peculiar suffocating odor. It is found in great abundance near volcanoes. The soil around Sodom and Gomorrah abounded in sulphur and bitumen.


Brook

A torrent. (1.) Applied to small streams, as the Arnon, Jabbok, etc. Isaiah (15:7) speaks of the “book of the willows,” probably the Wady-el-Asha. (2.) It is also applied to winter torrents (Job 6:15; Num. 34:5; Josh. 15:4, 47), and to the torrent-bed or wady as well as to the torrent itself (Num. 13:23; 1 Kings 17:3). (3.) In Isa. 19:7 the river Nile is meant, as rendered in the Revised Version.


Brother

(1.) In the natural and common sense (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:1, 19). (2.) A near relation, a cousin (Gen. 13:8; 14:16; Matt. 12:46; John 7:3; Acts 1:14; Gal. 1:19). (3.) Simply a fellow-countryman (Matt. 5:47; Acts 3:22; Heb. 7:5). (4.) A disciple or follower (Matt. 25:40; Heb. 2:11, 12). (5.) One of the same faith (Amos 1:9; Acts 9:30; 11:29; 1 Cor. 5:11); whence the early disciples of our Lord were known to each other as brethren. (6.) A colleague in office (Ezra 3:2; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1). (7.) A fellow-man (Gen. 9:5; 19:7; Matt. 5:22, 23, 24; 7:5; Heb. 2:17). (8.) One beloved or closely united with another in affection (2 Sam. 1:26; Acts 6:3; 1 Thess. 5:1). Brethren of Jesus (Matt. 1:25; 12:46, 50: Mark 3:31, 32; Gal. 1:19; 1 Cor. 9:5, etc.) were probably the younger children of Joseph and Mary. Some have supposed that they may have been the children of Joseph by a former marriage, and others that they were the children of Mary, the Virgin’s sister, and wife of Cleophas. The first interpretation, however, is the most natural.

The Hebrew word is used in various senses in the Old Testament, as,


Bruit

A rumour or report (Jer. 10:22, R.V. “rumour;” Nah. 3:19).


Bucket

A vessel to draw water with (Isa. 40:15); used figuratively, probably, of a numerous issue (Num. 24:7).


Buckler

(1.) A portable shield (2 Sam. 22:31; 1 Chr. 5:18). (2.) A shield surrounding the person; the targe or round form; used once figuratively (Ps. 91:4). (3.) A large shield protecting the whole body (Ps. 35:2; Ezek. 23:24; 26:8). (4.) A lance or spear; improperly rendered “buckler” in the Authorized Version (1 Chr. 12:8), but correctly in the Revised Version “spear.” The leather of shields required oiling (2 Sam. 1:21; Isa. 21:5), so as to prevent its being injured by moisture. Copper (= “brass”) shields were also in use (1 Sam. 17:6; 1 Kings 14:27). Those spoken of in 1 Kings 10:16, etc.; 14:26, were probably of massive metal. The shields David had taken from his enemies were suspended in the temple as mementoes (2 Kings 11:10). (See ARMOUR, SHIELD.)


Building

Among the Jews was suited to the climate and conditions of the country. They probably adopted the kind of architecture for their dwellings which they found already existing when they entered Canaan (Deut. 6:10; Num. 13:19). Phoenician artists (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Kings 5:6, 18) assisted at the erection of the royal palace and the temple at Jerusalem. Foreigners also assisted at the restoration of the temple after the Exile (Ezra 3:7). In Gen. 11:3, 9, we have the first recorded instance of the erection of buildings. The cities of the plain of Shinar were founded by the descendants of Shem (10:11, 12, 22). The Israelites were by occupation shepherds and dwellers in tents (Gen. 47:3); but from the time of their entering Canaan they became dwellers in towns, and in houses built of the native limestone of Palestine. Much building was carried on in Solomon’s time. Besides the buildings he completed at Jerusalem, he also built Baalath and Tadmor (1 Kings 9:15, 24). Many of the kings of Israel and Judah were engaged in erecting various buildings. Herod and his sons and successors restored the temple, and built fortifications and other structures of great magnificence in Jerusalem (Luke 21:5). The instruments used in building are mentioned as the plumb-line (Amos 7:7), the measuring-reed (Ezek. 40:3), and the saw (1 Kings 7:9). Believers are “God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9); and heaven is called “a building of God” (2 Cor. 5:1). Christ is the only foundation of his church (1 Cor. 3:10-12), of which he also is the builder (Matt. 16:18).


Bukki

(wasting).


Bukkiah

(wasting from Jehovah), a Kohathite Levite, of the sons of Heman, one of the musicians in the temple. (1 Chronicles 25:4,13)


Bul

Rainy, the eighth ecclesiastical month of the year (1 Kings 6:38), and the second month of the civil year; later called Marchesvan (q.v.). (See MONTH.)

(rain). [Month]


Bull, Bullock

terms used synonymously with ox, oxen, and properly a generic name for horned cattle when a full age and fit for the plough. It is variously rendered “bullock,” (Isaiah 65:25) “cow,” (Ezekiel 4:15) “oxen,” (Genesis 12:16) Kine is used in the Bible as the plural of cow. In (Isaiah 51:20) the “wild bull” (“wild ox” in (14:5)) was possibly one of the larger species of antelope, and took its name from its swiftness. Dr. Robinson mentions larger herds of black and almost harmless buffaloes as still existing in Palestine, and these may be the animal indicated.


Bullock

(1.) The translation of a word which is a generic name for horned cattle (Isa. 65:25). It is also rendered “cow” (Ezek. 4:15), “ox” (Gen. 12:16). (2.) The translation of a word always meaning an animal of the ox kind, without distinction of age or sex (Hos. 12:11). It is rendered “cow” (Num. 18:17) and “ox” (Lev. 17:3). (3.) Another word is rendered in the same way (Jer. 31:18). It is also translated “calf” (Lev. 9:3; Micah 6:6). It is the same word used of the “molten calf” (Ex. 32:4, 8) and “the golden calf” (1 Kings 12:28). (4.) In Judg. 6:25; Isa. 34:7, the Hebrew word is different. It is the customary word for bulls offered in sacrifice. In Hos. 14:2, the Authorized Version has “calves,” the Revised Version “bullocks.”


Bulrush

(1.) In Isa. 58:5 the rendering of a word which denotes “belonging to a marsh,” from the nature of the soil in which it grows (Isa. 18:2). It was sometimes platted into ropes (Job. 41:2; A.V., “hook,” R.V., “rope,” lit. “cord of rushes”). (2.) In Ex. 2:3, Isa. 18:2 (R.V., “papyrus”) this word is the translation of the Hebrew gome, which designates the plant as absorbing moisture. In Isa. 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is rendered “rush.” This was the Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was anciently very abundant in Egypt. The Egyptians made garments and shoes and various utensils of it. It was used for the construction of the ark of Moses (Ex. 2:3, 5). The root portions of the stem were used for food. The inside bark was cut into strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming the papyrus used for writing. It is no longer found in Egypt, but grows luxuriantly in Palestine, in the marshes of the Huleh, and in the swamps at the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret. (See CANE.)

(or papyrus), a red growing in the shallow water on the banks of the Nile. It grows to the height of 12 or 15 feet, with a stalk two or three inches in diameter. The stalks are very pliable and can be very closely interwoven, as is evident from their having been used in the construction of arks. (Exodus 2:3,5) Paper was made from this plant, from which it derives its name.


Bulwarks

Mural towers, bastions, were introduced by king Uzziah (2 Chr. 26:15; Zeph. 1:16; Ps. 48:13; Isa. 26:1). There are five Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version, but the same word is also variously rendered.


Bunah

(understanding), a son of Jerahmeel, of the family of Pharez in Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:25) (understanding), a son of Jerahmeel, of the family of Pharez in Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:25)


Bunch

(1.) A bundle of twigs (Ex. 12:22). (2.) Bunch or cake of raisins (2 Sam. 16:1). (3.) The “bunch of a camel” (Isa. 30:6).


Bunni

(my understanding).


Burden

(1.) A load of any kind (Ex. 23:5). (2.) A severe task (Ex. 2:11). (3.) A difficult duty, requiring effort (Ex. 18:22). (4.) A prophecy of a calamitous or disastrous nature (Isa. 13:1; 17:1; Hab. 1:1, etc.).


Burial

The first burial we have an account of is that of Sarah (Gen. 23). The first commercial transaction recorded is that of the purchase of a burial-place, for which Abraham weighed to Ephron “four hundred shekels of silver current money with the merchants.” Thus the patriarch became the owner of a part of the land of Canaan, the only part he ever possessed. When he himself died, “his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah,” beside Sarah his wife (Gen. 25:9). Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was buried under Allon-bachuth, “the oak of weeping” (Gen. 35:8), near to Bethel. Rachel died, and was buried near Ephrath; “and Jacob set a pillar upon her grave” (16-20). Isaac was buried at Hebron, where he had died (27, 29). Jacob, when charging his sons to bury him in the cave of Machpelah, said, “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah” (49:31). In compliance with the oath which he made him swear unto him (47:29-31), Joseph, assisted by his brethren, buried Jacob in the cave of Machpelah (50:2, 13). At the Exodus, Moses “took the bones of Joseph with him,” and they were buried in the “parcel of ground” which Jacob had bought of the sons of Hamor (Josh. 24:32), which became Joseph’s inheritance (Gen. 48:22; 1 Chr. 5:1; John 4:5). Two burials are mentioned as having taken place in the wilderness. That of Miriam (Num. 20:1), and that of Moses, “in the land of Moab” (Deut. 34:5, 6, 8). There is no account of the actual burial of Aaron, which probably, however, took place on the summit of Mount Hor (Num. 20:28, 29). Joshua was buried “in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah” (Josh. 24: 30). In Job we find a reference to burying-places, which were probably the Pyramids (3:14, 15). The Hebrew word for “waste places” here resembles in sound the Egyptian word for “pyramids.” Samuel, like Moses, was honoured with a national burial (1 Sam. 25:1). Joab (1 Kings 2:34) “was buried in his own house in the wilderness.” In connection with the burial of Saul and his three sons we meet for the first time with the practice of burning the dead (1 Sam. 31:11-13). The same practice is again referred to by Amos (6:10). Absalom was buried “in the wood” where he was slain (2 Sam. 18:17, 18). The raising of the heap of stones over his grave was intended to mark abhorrence of the person buried (comp. Josh. 7:26 and 8:29). There was no fixed royal burying-place for the Hebrew kings. We find several royal burials taking place, however, “in the city of David” (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 15:8; 2 Kings 14:19, 20; 15:38; 1 Kings 14:31; 22:50; 2 Chr. 21:19, 20; 2 Chr. 24:25, etc.). Hezekiah was buried in the mount of the sepulchres of the sons of David; “and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death” (2 Chr. 32:33). Little is said regarding the burial of the kings of Israel. Some of them were buried in Samaria, the capital of their kingdom (2 Kings 10:35; 13:9; 14:16). Our Lord was buried in a new tomb, hewn out of the rock, which Joseph of Arimathea had prepared for himself (Matt. 27:57-60; Mark 15:46; John 19:41, 42). The grave of Lazarus was “a cave, and a stone lay on it” (John 11:38). Graves were frequently either natural caverns or artificial excavations formed in the sides of rocks (Gen. 23:9; Matt. 27:60); and coffins were seldom used, unless when the body was brought from a distance.


Burial, Sepulchres

[TOMBS] On this subject we have to notice—


Burnt offering

Hebrew olah; i.e., “ascending,” the whole being consumed by fire, and regarded as ascending to God while being consumed. Part of every offering was burnt in the sacred fire, but this was wholly burnt, a “whole burnt offering.” It was the most frequent form of sacrifice, and apparently the only one mentioned in the book of Genesis. Such were the sacrifices offered by Abel (Gen. 4:3, 4, here called minhah; i.e., “a gift”), Noah (Gen. 8:20), Abraham (Gen. 22:2, 7, 8, 13), and by the Hebrews in Egypt (Ex. 10:25). The law of Moses afterwards prescribed the occasions and the manner in which burnt sacrifices were to be offered. There were “the continual burnt offering” (Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:9-13), “the burnt offering of every sabbath,” which was double the daily one (Num. 28:9, 10), “the burnt offering of every month” (28:11-15), the offerings at the Passover (19-23), at Pentecost (Lev. 23:16), the feast of Trumpets (23:23-25), and on the day of Atonement (Lev. 16). On other occasions special sacrifices were offered, as at the consecration of Aaron (Ex. 29) and the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:5, 62-64). Free-will burnt offerings were also permitted (Lev. 1:13), and were offered at the accession of Solomon to the throne (1 Chr. 29:21), and at the reformation brought about by Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29: 31-35). These offerings signified the complete dedication of the offerers unto God. This is referred to in Rom. 12:1. (See ALTAR, SACRIFICE.)

The word is applied to the offering which was wholly consumed by fire on the altar, and the whole of which, except the refuse ashes “ascended” in the smoke to God. The meaning of the whole burnt offering was that which is the original idea of all sacrifice, the offering by the sacrificer of himself, soul and body, to God—the submission of his will to the will of the Lord. The ceremonies of the burnt offering are given in detail in the book of Leviticus. [Sacrifice]


Bush

In which Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness (Ex. 3:2; Acts 7:30). It is difficult to say what particular kind of plant or bush is here meant. Probably it was the mimosa or acacia. The words “in the bush” in Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37, mean “in the passage or paragraph on the bush;” i.e., in Ex. 3.

The Hebrew word seneh occurs only in those passages which refer to Jehovah’s appearance to Moses “in the flame of fire in the bush.” (Exodus 3:2,3,4; 33:16) It is quite impossible to say what kind of thorn bush is intended; but it was probably the acacia a small variety of the shittim tree found in the Sinai region.


Bushel

[Weights And Measures AND Measures]


Butler

Properly a servant in charge of the wine (Gen. 40:1-13; 41:9). The Hebrew word, mashkeh, thus translated is rendered also (plural) “cup-bearers” (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chr. 9:4). Nehemiah (1:11) was cup-bearer to king Artaxerxes. It was a position of great responsibility and honour in royal households.

One of the officers of the king’s household, (Nehemiah 1:11) who had charge of the wine and poured it out for the king. The chief butler, as the title signifies, was in charge of the butlers. (Genesis 40:1-13)


Butter

(Heb. hemah), curdled milk (Gen. 18:8; Judg. 5:25; 2 Sam. 17:29), or butter in the form of the skim of hot milk or cream, called by the Arabs kaimak, a semi-fluid (Job 20:17; 29:6; Deut. 32:14). The words of Prov. 30:33 have been rendered by some “the pressure [not churning] of milk bringeth forth cheese.”

Curdled milk. (Genesis 18:8; 32:14; Judges 5:25; Job 20:17) Milk is generally offered to travellers in Palestine in a curdled or sour state, leben, thick, almost like butter. Hasselquist describes the method of making butter employed by the Arab women: “they made butter in a leather bag, hung on three poles erected for the purpose, in the form of a cone, and drawn to and fro by two women.”


Buz

Contempt. (1.) The second son of Nahor and Milcah, and brother of Huz (Gen. 22:21). Elihu was one of his descendants (Job 32:2). (2.) One of the chiefs of the tribe of Gad (1 Chr. 5:14). (3.) A district in Arabia Petrea (Jer. 25:23).

(contempt).


Buzi

The father of the prophet Ezekiel (1:3).

(contempt), father of Ezekiel the prophet. (Ezekiel 1:3)


By

In the expression “by myself” (A.V., 1 Cor. 4:4), means, as rendered in the Revised Version, “against myself.”


By and by

Immediately (Matt. 13:21; R.V., “straightway;” Luke 21:9).


By-ways

Only in Judg. 5:6 and Ps. 125:5; literally “winding or twisted roads.” The margin has “crooked ways.”


By-word

Hebrew millah (Job 30:9), a word or speech, and hence object of talk; Hebrew mashal (Ps. 44:14), a proverb or parable. When it denotes a sharp word of derision, as in Deut. 28:37, 1 Kings 9:7, 2 Chr. 7:20, the Hebrew sheninah is used. In Jer. 24:9 it is rendered “taunt.”


Cab

Hollow (R.V., “kab”), occurs only in 2 Kings 6:25; a dry measure, the sixth part of a seah, and the eighteenth part of an ephah, equal to about two English quarts.

[Measures]


Cabbon

a town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 15:40)


Cabins

Only in Jer. 37:16 (R.V., “cells”), arched vaults or recesses off a passage or room; cells for the closer confinement of prisoners.


Cabul

How little! as nothing. (1.) A town on the eastern border of Asher (Josh. 19:27), probably one of the towns given by Solomon to Hiram; the modern Kabul, some 8 miles east of Accho, on the very borders of Galilee. (2.) A district in the north-west of Galilee, near to Tyre, containing twenty cities given to Hiram by Solomon as a reward for various services rendered to him in building the temple (1 Kings 9:13), and as payment of the six score talents of gold he had borrowed from him. Hiram gave the cities this name because he was not pleased with the gift, the name signifying “good for nothing.” Hiram seems afterwards to have restored these cities to Solomon (2 Chr. 8:2).


Caesar

The title assumed by the Roman emperors after Julius Caesar. In the New Testament this title is given to various emperors as sovereigns of Judaea without their accompanying distinctive proper names (John 19:15; Acts 17:7). The Jews paid tribute to Caesar (Matt. 22:17), and all Roman citizens had the right of appeal to him (Acts 25:11). The Caesars referred to in the New Testament are Augustus (Luke 2:1), Tiberius (3:1; 20:22), Claudius (Acts 11:28), and Nero (Acts 25:8; Phil. 4:22).

always in the New Testament the Roman emperor, the sovereign of Judea. (John 19:12,15; Acts 17:7)


Caesara Philippi

A city on the northeast of the marshy plain of el-Huleh, 120 miles north of Jerusalem, and 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, at the “upper source” of the Jordan, and near the base of Mount Hermon. It is mentioned in Matt. 16:13 and Mark 8:27 as the northern limit of our Lord’s public ministry. According to some its original name was Baal-Gad (Josh. 11:17), or Baal-Hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chr. 5:23), when it was a Canaanite sanctuary of Baal. It was afterwards called Panium or Paneas, from a deep cavern full of water near the town. This name was given to the cavern by the Greeks of the Macedonian kingdom of Antioch because of its likeness to the grottos of Greece, which were always associated with the worship of their god Pan. Its modern name is Banias. Here Herod built a temple, which he dedicated to Augustus Caesar. This town was afterwards enlarged and embellished by Herod Philip, the tetrarch of Trachonitis, of whose territory it formed a part, and was called by him Caesarea Philippi, partly after his own name, and partly after that of the emperor Tiberius Caesar. It is thus distinguished from the Caesarea of Palestine. (See JORDAN.)


Caesarea

(Palestinae), a city on the shore of the Mediterranean, on the great road from Tyre to Egypt, about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem, at the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon. It was built by Herod the Great (B.C. 10), who named it after Caesar Augustus, hence called Caesarea Sebaste (Gr. Sebastos = “Augustus”), on the site of an old town called “Strato’s Tower.” It was the capital of the Roman province of Judaea, the seat of the governors or procurators, and the headquarters of the Roman troops. It was the great Gentile city of Palestine, with a spacious artificial harbour. It was adorned with many buildings of great splendour, after the manner of the Roman cities of the West. Here Cornelius the centurion was converted through the instrumentality of Peter (Acts 10:1, 24), and thus for the first time the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles. Philip the evangelist resided here with his four daughters (21:8). From this place Saul sailed for his native Tarsus when forced to flee from Jerusalem (9:30), and here he landed when returning from his second missionary journey (18:22). He remained as a prisoner here for two years before his voyage to Rome (Acts 24:27; 25:1, 4, 6, 13). Here on a “set day,” when games were celebrated in the theatre in honour of the emperor Claudius, Herod Agrippa I. appeared among the people in great pomp, and in the midst of the idolatrous homage paid to him was suddenly smitten by an angel, and carried out a dying man. He was “eaten of worms” (12:19-23), thus perishing by the same loathsome disease as his granfather, Herod the Great. It still retains its ancient name Kaiseriyeh, but is now desolate. “The present inhabitants of the ruins are snakes, scorpions, lizards, wild boars, and jackals.” It is described as the most desolate city of all Palestine.

(Acts 8:40; 9:30; 10:1,24; 11:11; 12:19; 18:22; 21:8,16; 23:23,33; 25:1,4,6,13) was situated on the coast of Palestine, on the line of the great road from Tyre to Egypt, and about halfway between Joppa and Dora. The distance from Jerusalem was about 70 miles; Josephus states it in round numbers as 600 stadia. In Strabo’s time there was on this point of the coast merely a town called “Strato’s Tower,” with a landing-place, whereas in the time of Tacitus Caesarea is spoken of as being the head of Judea. It was in this interval that the city was built by Herod the Great. It was the official residence of the Herodian kings, and of Festus, Felix and the other Roman procurators of Judea. Here also lived Philip the deacon and his four prophesying daughters. Caesarea continued to be a city of some importance even in the time of the Crusades, and the name still lingers on the site (Kaisariyeh), which is a complete desolation, many of the building-stones having been carried to other towns.


Caesarea Philippi

is mentioned only in the first two Gospels, (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27) and in accounts of the same transactions. It was at the easternmost and most important of the two recognized sources of the Jordan, the other being at Tel-el-Kadi . The spring rises from and the city was built on a limestone terrace in a valley at the base of Mount Hermon 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It was enlarged by Herod Philip, and named after Caesar, with his own name added to distinguish it from Caesarea. Its present name is Banias, a village of some 50 houses, with many interesting ruins. Caesarea Philippi has no Old Testament history, though it has been not unreasonably identified with Baal-gad . It was visited by Christ shortly before his transfiguration, (Matthew 16:13-28) and was the northern limit of his journeys. (Mark 8:27)


Cage

(Heb. kelub’, Jer. 5:27, marg. “coop;” rendered “basket” in Amos 8:1), a basket of wicker-work in which birds were placed after being caught. In Rev. 18:2 it is the rendering of the Greek phulake, properly a prison or place of confinement.

The term so rendered in (Jeremiah 5:27) is more properly a trap in which decoy birds were placed. In (Revelation 18:2) the (Greek term means a prison.


Caiaphas

The Jewish high priest (A.D. 27-36) at the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, in the reign of Tiberius (Luke 3:2), and also at the time of his condemnation and crucifixion (Matt. 26:3, 57; John 11:49; 18:13, 14). He held this office during the whole of Pilate’s administration. His wife was the daughter of Annas, who had formerly been high priest, and was probably the vicar or deputy (Heb. sagan) of Caiaphas. He was of the sect of the Sadducees (Acts 5:17), and was a member of the council when he gave his opinion that Jesus should be put to death “for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:50). In these words he unconsciously uttered a prophecy. “Like Saul, he was a prophet in spite of himself.” Caiaphas had no power to inflict the punishment of death, and therefore Jesus was sent to Pilate, the Roman governor, that he might duly pronounce the sentence against him (Matt. 27:2; John 18:28). At a later period his hostility to the gospel is still manifest (Acts 4:6). (See ANNAS.)


Caiaphas, Or Caiaphas

(depression), in full Joseph CAIAPHAS, high priest of the Jews under Tiberius. (Matthew 26:3,57; John 11:49; 18:13,14,24,28; Acts 4:6) The procurator Valerius Gratus appointed him to the dignity, He was son-in-law of Annas. [Annas]


Cain

A possession; a spear. (1.) The first-born son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4). He became a tiller of the ground, as his brother Abel followed the pursuits of pastoral life. He was “a sullen, self-willed, haughty, vindictive man; wanting the religious element in his character, and defiant even in his attitude towards God.” It came to pass “in process of time” (marg. “at the end of days”), i.e., probably on the Sabbath, that the two brothers presented their offerings to the Lord. Abel’s offering was of the “firstlings of his flock and of the fat,” while Cain’s was “of the fruit of the ground.” Abel’s sacrifice was “more excellent” (Heb. 11:4) than Cain’s, and was accepted by God. On this account Cain was “very wroth,” and cherished feelings of murderous hatred against his brother, and was at length guilty of the desperate outrage of putting him to death (1 John 3:12). For this crime he was expelled from Eden, and henceforth led the life of an exile, bearing upon him some mark which God had set upon him in answer to his own cry for mercy, so that thereby he might be protected from the wrath of his fellow-men; or it may be that God only gave him some sign to assure him that he would not be slain (Gen. 4:15). Doomed to be a wanderer and a fugitive in the earth, he went forth into the “land of Nod”, i.e., the land of “exile”, which is said to have been in the “east of Eden,” and there he built a city, the first we read of, and called it after his son’s name, Enoch. His descendants are enumerated to the sixth generation. They gradually degenerated in their moral and spiritual condition till they became wholly corrupt before God. This corruption prevailed, and at length the Deluge was sent by God to prevent the final triumph of evil. (See ABEL.) (2.) A town of the Kenites, a branch of the Midianites (Josh. 15:57), on the east edge of the mountain above Engedi; probably the “nest in a rock” mentioned by Balaam (Num. 24:21). It is identified with the modern Yekin, 3 miles south-east of Hebron.

one of the cities in the low country of Judah, named with Zanoah and Gibeah. (Joshua 15:57) (possession). Gen. 4. He was the eldest son of Adam and Eve; he followed the business of agriculture. In a fit of jealousy, roused by the rejection of his own sacrifice and the acceptance of Abel’s, he committed the crime of murder, for which he was expelled from Eden, and led the life of an exile. He settled in the land of Nod, and built a city, which he named after his son Enoch. His descendants are enumerated together with the inventions for which they were remarkable. (B.C. 4000.)


Cainan

Possession; smith. (1.) The fourth antediluvian patriarch, the eldest son of Enos. He was 70 years old at the birth of his eldest son Mahalaleel, after which he lived 840 years (Gen. 5:9-14), and was 910 years old when he died. He is also called Kenan (1 Chr. 1:2). (2.) The son of Arphaxad (Luke 3:36). He is nowhere named in the Old Testament. He is usually called the “second Cainan.”

(possessor)


Cake

Cakes made of wheat or barley were offered in the temple. They were salted, but unleavened (Ex. 29:2; Lev. 2:4). In idolatrous worship thin cakes or wafers were offered “to the queen of heaven” (Jer. 7:18; 44:19). Pancakes are described in 2 Sam. 13:8, 9. Cakes mingled with oil and baked in the oven are mentioned in Lev. 2:4, and “wafers unleavened anointed with oil,” in Ex. 29:2; Lev. 8:26; 1 Chr. 23:29. “Cracknels,” a kind of crisp cakes, were among the things Jeroboam directed his wife to take with her when she went to consult Ahijah the prophet at Shiloh (1 Kings 14:3). Such hard cakes were carried by the Gibeonites when they came to Joshua (9:5, 12). They described their bread as “mouldy;” but the Hebrew word nikuddim, here used, ought rather to be rendered “hard as biscuit.” It is rendered “cracknels” in 1 Kings 14:3. The ordinary bread, when kept for a few days, became dry and excessively hard. The Gibeonites pointed to this hardness of their bread as an evidence that they had come a long journey. We read also of honey-cakes (Ex. 16:31), “cakes of figs” (1 Sam. 25:18), “cake” as denoting a whole piece of bread (1 Kings 17:12), and “a [round] cake of barley bread” (Judg. 7:13). In Lev. 2 is a list of the different kinds of bread and cakes which were fit for offerings.


Calah

One of the most ancient cities of Assyria. “Out of that land he [i.e., Nimrod] went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, and Resen” (Gen. 10:11, R.V.). Its site is now marked probably by the Nimrud ruins on the left bank of the Tigris. These cover an area of about 1,000 acres, and are second only in size and importance to the mass of ruins opposite Mosul. This city was at one time the capital of the empire, and was the residence of Sardanapalus and his successors down to the time of Sargon, who built a new capital, the modern Khorsabad. It has been conjectured that these four cities mentioned in Gen. 10:11 were afterwards all united into one and called Nineveh (q.v.).

(completion, old age), one of the most ancient cities of Assyria. (Genesis 10:11) The site of Calah is probably market by the Nimrud ruins. If this be regarded as ascertained, Calah must be considered to have been at one time (about B.C. 930-720) the capital of the empire.


Calamus

The Latin for cane, Hebrew Kaneh, mentioned (Ex. 30:23) as one of the ingredients in the holy anointing oil, one of the sweet scents (Cant. 4:14), and among the articles sold in the markets of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). The word designates an Oriental plant called the “sweet flag,” the Acorus calamus of Linnaeus. It is elsewhere called “sweet cane” (Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20). It has an aromatic smell, and when its knotted stalk is cut and dried and reduced to powder, it forms an ingredient in the most precious perfumes. It was not a native of Palestine, but was imported from Arabia Felix or from India. It was probably that which is now known in India by the name of “lemon grass” or “ginger grass,” the Andropogon schoenanthus. (See CANE.)

[Reed]


Calcol

(1 Chr. 2:6), sustenance, the same probably as Chalcol (1 Kings 4:31), one of the four sages whom Solomon excelled in wisdom; for “he was wiser than all men.”

(sustenance), a man of Judah, son or descendant of Zerah. (1 Chronicles 2:6) Probably identical with Chalcol.


Caldron

a vessel for boiling flesh, for either ceremonial or domestic use. (1 Samuel 2:14; 2 Chronicles 35:13; Job 41:20; Micah 3:3)


Caleb

A dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chr. 2:9). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49). (2.) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah” (1 Chr. 2:50). Some would read the whole passage thus: “These [i.e., the list in ver. 42-49] were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc.” Thus Hur would be the name of the son and not the father of Caleb (ver. 19). (3.) The son of Jephunneh (Num. 13:6; 32:12; Josh. 14:6, 14). He was one of those whom Moses sent to search the land in the second year after the Exodus. He was one of the family chiefs of the tribe of Judah. He and Joshua the son of Nun were the only two of the whole number who encouraged the people to go up and possess the land, and they alone were spared when a plague broke out in which the other ten spies perished (Num. 13; 14). All the people that had been numbered, from twenty years old and upward, perished in the wilderness except these two. The last notice we have of Caleb is when (being then eighty-five years of age) he came to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, after the people had gained possession of the land, and reminded him of the promise Moses had made to him, by virtue of which he claimed a certain portion of the land of Kirjath-arba as his inheritance (Josh. 14:6-15; 15:13-15; 21:10-12; 1 Sam. 25:2, 3; 30:14). He is called a “Kenezite” in Josh. 14:6, 14. This may simply mean “son of Kenez” (Num. 32:12). Some, however, read “Jephunneh, the son of Kenez,” who was a descendant of Hezron, the son of Pharez, a grandson of Judah (1 Chr. 2:5). This Caleb may possibly be identical with (2). (4.) Caleb gave his name apparently to a part of the south country (1 Sam. 30:14) of Judah, the district between Hebron and Carmel, which had been assigned to him. When he gave up the city of Hebron to the priests as a city of refuge, he retained possession of the surrounding country (Josh. 21:11, 12; comp. 1 Sam. 25:3).

(capable).


Calf

Calves were commonly made use of in sacrifices, and are therefore frequently mentioned in Scripture. The “fatted calf” was regarded as the choicest of animal food; it was frequently also offered as a special sacrifice (1 Sam. 28:24; Amos 6:4; Luke 15:23). The words used in Jer. 34:18, 19, “cut the calf in twain,” allude to the custom of dividing a sacrifice into two parts, between which the parties ratifying a covenant passed (Gen. 15:9, 10, 17, 18). The sacrifice of the lips, i.e., priase, is called “the calves of our lips” (Hos. 14:2, R.V., “as bullocks the offering of our lips.” Comp. Heb. 13:15; Ps. 116:7; Jer. 33:11). The golden calf which Aaron made (Ex. 32:4) was probably a copy of the god Moloch rather than of the god Apis, the sacred ox or calf of Egypt. The Jews showed all through their history a tendency toward the Babylonian and Canaanitish idolatry rather than toward that of Egypt. Ages after this, Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up two idol calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, that he might thus prevent the ten tribes from resorting to Jerusalem for worship (1 Kings 12:28). These calves continued to be a snare to the people till the time of their captivity. The calf at Dan was carried away in the reign of Pekah by Tiglath-pileser, and that at Bethel ten years later, in the reign of Hoshea, by Shalmaneser (2 Kings 15:29; 17:33). This sin of Jeroboam is almost always mentioned along with his name (2 Kings 15:28 etc.).

The calf was held in high esteem by the Jews as food. (1 Samuel 28:24; Luke 15:23) The molten calf prepared by Aaron for the people to worship, (Exodus 32:4) was probably a wooden figure laminated with gold, a process which is known to have existed in Egypt. [Aaron]


Calkers

Workmen skilled in stopping the seams of the deck or sides of vessels. The inhabitants of Gebel were employed in such work on Tyrian vessels (Ezek. 27:9, 27; marg., “strengtheners” or “stoppers of chinks”).


Call

(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2). (2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex. 31:2; Isa. 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matt. 9:13; 11:28; 22:4). In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom. 9:24, 25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (John 3:14-19; Matt. 22:14). An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Acts 26: 18; John 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (John 6:45; Acts 16:14; Eph. 1:17).


Calling

A profession, or as we usually say, a vocation (1 Cor. 7:20). The “hope of your calling” in Eph. 4:4 is the hope resulting from your being called into the kingdom of God.


Calneh

Fort, one of the four cities founded by Nimrod (Gen. 10:10). It is the modern Niffer, a lofty mound of earth and rubbish situated in the marshes on the left, i.e., the east, bank of the Euphrates, but 30 miles distant from its present course, and about 60 miles south-south-east from Babylon. It is mentioned as one of the towns with which Tyre carried on trade. It was finally taken and probably destroyed by one of the Assyrian kings (Amos 6:2). It is called Calno (Isa. 10:9) and Canneh (Ezek. 27:23).


Calvary

Only in Luke 23:33, the Latin name Calvaria, which was used as a translation of the Greek word Kranion, by which the Hebrew word Gulgoleth was interpreted, “the place of a skull.” It probably took this name from its shape, being a hillock or low, rounded, bare elevation somewhat in the form of a human skull. It is nowhere in Scripture called a “hill.” The crucifixion of our Lord took place outside the city walls (Heb. 13:11-13) and near the public thoroughfare. “This thing was not done in a corner.” (See GOLGOTHA.)

[See Golgatha]


Camel

From the Hebrew gamal, “to repay” or “requite,” as the camel does the care of its master. There are two distinct species of camels, having, however, the common characteristics of being “ruminants without horns, without muzzle, with nostrils forming oblique slits, the upper lip divided and separately movable and extensile, the soles of the feet horny, with two toes covered by claws, the limbs long, the abdomen drawn up, while the neck, long and slender, is bent up and down, the reverse of that of a horse, which is arched.” (1.) The Bactrian camel is distinguished by two humps. It is a native of the high table-lands of Central Asia. (2.) The Arabian camel or dromedary, from the Greek dromos, “a runner” (Isa. 60:6; Jer. 2:23), has but one hump, and is a native of Western Asia or Africa. The camel was early used both for riding and as a beast of burden (Gen. 24:64; 37:25), and in war (1 Sam. 30:17; Isa. 21:7). Mention is made of the camel among the cattle given by Pharaoh to Abraham (Gen. 12:16). Its flesh was not to be eaten, as it was ranked among unclean animals (Lev. 11:4; Deut. 14:7). Abraham’s servant rode on a camel when he went to fetch a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:10, 11). Jacob had camels as a portion of his wealth (30:43), as Abraham also had (24:35). He sent a present of thirty milch camels to his brother Esau (32:15). It appears to have been little in use among the Jews after the conquest. It is, however, mentioned in the history of David (1 Chr. 27:30), and after the Exile (Ezra 2:67; Neh. 7:69). Camels were much in use among other nations in the East. The queen of Sheba came with a caravan of camels when she came to see the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 10:2; 2 Chr. 9:1). Benhadad of Damascus also sent a present to Elisha, “forty camels’ burden” (2 Kings 8:9). To show the difficulty in the way of a rich man’s entering into the kingdom, our Lord uses the proverbial expression that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matt. 19:24). To strain at (rather, out) a gnat and swallow a camel was also a proverbial expression (Matt. 23:24), used with reference to those who were careful to avoid small faults, and yet did not hesitate to commit the greatest sins. The Jews carefully filtered their wine before drinking it, for fear of swallowing along with it some insect forbidden in the law as unclean, and yet they omitted openly the “weightier matters” of the law. The raiment worn by John the Baptist was made of camel’s hair (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6), by which he was distinguished from those who resided in royal palaces and wore soft raiment. This was also the case with Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), who is called “a hairy man,” from his wearing such raiment. “This is one of the most admirable materials for clothing; it keeps out the heat, cold, and rain.” The “sackcloth” so often alluded to (2 Kings 1:8; Isa. 15:3; Zech. 13:4, etc.) was probably made of camel’s hair.

The species of camel which was in common use among the Jews and the heathen nations of Palestine was the Arabian or one-humped camel, Camelus arabicus . The dromedary is a swifter animal than the baggage-camel, and is used chiefly for riding purposes; it is merely a finer breed than the other. The Arabs call it the heirie . The speed, of the dromedary has been greatly exaggerated, the Arabs asserting that it is swifter than the horse. Eight or nine miles an hour is the utmost it is able to perform; this pace, however, it is able to keep up for hours together. The Arabian camel carries about 500 pounds. “The hump on the camel’s back is chiefly a store of fat, from which the animal draws as the wants of his system require; and the Arab is careful to see that the hump is in good condition before a long journey. Another interesting adaptation is the thick sole which protects the foot of the camel from the burning sand. The nostrils may be closed by valves against blasts of sand. Most interesting is the provision for drought made by providing the second stomach with great cells in which water is long retained. Sight and smell is exceedingly acute in the camel.”—Johnson’s Encyc. It is clear from (Genesis 12:16) that camels were early known to the Egyptians. The importance of the camel is shown by (Genesis 24:64; 37:25; Judges 7:12; 1 Samuel 27:9; 1 Kings 19:2; 2 Chronicles 14:15; Job 1:3; Jeremiah 49:29,32) and many other texts. John the Baptist wore a garment made of camel hair, (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6) the coarser hairs of the camel; and some have supposed that Elijah was clad in a dress of the same stuff.


Camon

Full of stalks, a place (Judg. 10:5) where Jair was buried. It has usually been supposed to have been a city of Gilead, on the east of Jordan. It is probably, however, the modern Tell-el-Kaimun, on the southern slopes of Carmel, the Jokneam of Carmel (Josh. 12:22; 1 Kings 4:12), since it is not at all unlikely that after he became judge, Jair might find it more convenient to live on the west side of Jordan; and that he was buried where he had lived.

(full of grain), the place in which Jair the judge was buried. (Judges 10:5)


Camp

During their journeys across the wilderness, the twelve tribes formed encampments at the different places where they halted (Ex. 16:13; Num. 2:3). The diagram here given shows the position of the different tribes and the form of the encampment during the wanderings, according to Num. 1:53; 2:2-31; 3:29, 35, 38; 10:13-28. The area of the camp would be in all about 3 square miles. After the Hebrews entered Palestine, the camps then spoken of were exclusively warlike (Josh. 11:5, 7; Judg. 5:19, 21; 7:1; 1 Sam. 29:1; 30:9, etc.).

[Encampment]


Camphire

(Heb. copher), mentioned in Cant. 1:14 (R.V., “henna-flowers”); 4:13 (R.V., “henna”), is the al-henna of the Arabs, a native of Egypt, producing clusters of small white and yellow odoriferous flowers, whence is made the Oleum Cyprineum. From its leaves is made the peculiar auburn dye with which Eastern women stain their nails and the palms of their hands. It is found only at Engedi, on the shore of the Dead Sea. It is known to botanists by the name Lawsonia alba or inermis, a kind of privet, which grows 6 or 8 feet high. The margin of the Authorized Version of the passages above referred to has “or cypress,” not with reference to the conifer so called, but to the circumstance that one of the most highly appreciated species of this plant grew in the island of Cyprus.

There can be no doubt that “camphire” is the Lawsonia alba of botanists, the henna of Arabian naturalists. The henna plant grows in Egypt, Syria, Arabia and northern India. The flowers are white and grow in clusters, and are very fragrant. The whole shrub is from four to six feet high, (Song of Solomon 4:13)


Cana

Reedy, a town of Galilee, near Capernaum. Here our Lord wrought his first miracle, the turning of water into wine (John 2:1-11; 4:46). It is also mentioned as the birth-place of Nathanael (21:2). It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It has been identified with the modern Kana el-Jelil, also called Khurbet Kana, a place 8 or 9 miles north of Nazareth. Others have identified it with Kefr Kenna, which lies on the direct road to the Sea of Galilee, about 5 miles north-east of Nazareth, and 12 in a direct course from Tiberias. It is called “Cana of Galilee,” to distinguish it from Cana of Asher (Josh. 19:28).

(place of reeds) of Galilee, once Cana in Galilee, a village or town not far from Capernaum, memorable as the scene of Christ’s first miracle, (John 2:1,11; 4:46) as well as of a subsequent one, (John 4:46,54) and also as the native place of the apostle Nathanael. (John 21:2) The traditional site is at Kefr-Kenna, a small village about 4 1/2 miles northwest of Nazareth. The rival site is a village situated farther north, about five miles north of Seffurieh (Sepphoris) and nine north of Nazareth.


Canaan

(1.) The fourth son of Ham (Gen. 10:6). His descendants were under a curse in consequence of the transgression of his father (9:22-27). His eldest son, Zidon, was the father of the Sidonians and Phoenicians. He had eleven sons, who were the founders of as many tribes (10:15-18). (2.) The country which derived its name from the preceding. The name as first used by the Phoenicians denoted only the maritime plain on which Sidon was built. But in the time of Moses and Joshua it denoted the whole country to the west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea (Deut. 11:30). In Josh. 5:12 the LXX. read, “land of the Phoenicians,” instead of “land of Canaan.” The name signifies “the lowlands,” as distinguished from the land of Gilead on the east of Jordan, which was a mountainous district. The extent and boundaries of Canaan are fully set forth in different parts of Scripture (Gen. 10:19; 17:8; Num. 13:29; 34:8). (See CANAANITES, PALESTINE.)

(Ca’nan) (low, flat).


Canaan, The Land Of

(lit. lowland), a name denoting the country west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and between those waters and the Mediterranean; given by God to Abraham’s posterity, the children of Israel. (Exodus 6:4; Leviticus 25:38) [Palestina And Palestine]


Canaan, the language of

Mentioned in Isa. 19:18, denotes the language spoken by the Jews resident in Palestine. The language of the Canaanites and of the Hebrews was substantially the same. This is seen from the fragments of the Phoenician language which still survive, which show the closest analogy to the Hebrew. Yet the subject of the language of the “Canaanites” is very obscure. The cuneiform writing of Babylon, as well as the Babylonian language, was taught in the Canaanitish schools, and the clay tablets of Babylonian literature were stored in the Canaanitish libraries. Even the Babylonian divinities were borrowed by the Canaanites.


Canaanite

A name given to the apostle Simon (Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18). The word here does not, however, mean a descendant of Canaan, but is a translation, or rather almost a transliteration, of the Syriac word Kanenyeh (R.V. rendered “Cananaen”), which designates the Jewish sect of the Zealots. Hence he is called elsewhere (Luke 6:15) “Simon Zelotes;” i.e., Simon of the sect of the Zealots. (See SIMON.)


Canaanite, The

the designation of the apostle Simon, otherwise known as “Simon Zelotes.” It occurs in (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18) and is derived from a Chaldee or Syriac word by which the Jewish sect or faction of the “Zealots” was designated—a turbulent and seditious sect, especially conspicuous at the siege of Jerusalem. They taught that all foreign rule over Jews was unscriptural, and opposed that rule in every way.


Canaanites

The descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from their original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and to have there sojourned for some time. They thence “spread to the west, across the mountain chain of Lebanon to the very edge of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying all the land which later became Palestine, also to the north-west as far as the mountain chain of Taurus. This group was very numerous, and broken up into a great many peoples, as we can judge from the list of nations (Gen. 10), the ‘sons of Canaan.’” Six different tribes are mentioned in Ex. 3:8, 17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11. In Ex. 13:5 the “Perizzites” are omitted. The “Girgashites” are mentioned in addition to the foregoing in Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10. The “Canaanites,” as distinguished from the Amalekites, the Anakim, and the Rephaim, were “dwellers in the lowlands” (Num. 13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centres of great commercial activity; and hence the name “Canaanite” came to signify a “trader” or “merchant” (Job 41:6; Prov. 31:24, lit. “Canaanites;” comp. Zeph. 1:11; Ezek. 17:4). The name “Canaanite” is also sometimes used to designate the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general (Gen. 12:6; Num. 21:3; Judg. 1:10). The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised Land, were commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of Canaan then possessing it (Ex. 23:23; Num. 33:52, 53; Deut. 20:16, 17). This was to be done “by little and little,” lest the beasts of the field should increase (Ex. 23:29; Deut. 7:22, 23). The history of these wars of conquest is given in the Book of Joshua. The extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully carried out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Sam. 5:6, 7). In the days of Solomon bond-service was exacted from the fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings 9:20, 21). Even after the return from captivity survivors of five of the Canaanitish tribes were still found in the land. In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets Canaan is found under the forms of Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. Under the name of Kanana the Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments, wearing a coat of mail and helmet, and distinguished by the use of spear and javelin and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians by the Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. By race the Canaanites were Semitic. They were famous as merchants and seamen, as well as for their artistic skill. The chief object of their worship was the sun-god, who was addressed by the general name of Baal, “lord.” Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, “lords.”


Canaanites, The

a word used in two senses:


Cananaean

(Matthew 10:4) Used in the Revised Version in place of “Canaanite.” [See Canaanite, The]


Candace

The queen of the Ethiopians whose “eunuch” or chamberlain was converted to Christianity by the instrumentality of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:27). The country which she ruled was called by the Greeks Meroe, in Upper Nubia. It was long the centre of commercial intercourse between Africa and the south of Asia, and hence became famous for its wealth (Isa. 45:14). It is somewhat singular that female sovereignty seems to have prevailed in Ethiopia, the name Candace (compare “Pharaoh,” “Ptolemy,” “Caesar”) being a title common to several successive queens. It is probable that Judaism had taken root in Ethiopia at this time, and hence the visit of the queen’s treasurer to Jerusalem to keep the feast. There is a tradition that Candace was herself converted to Christianity by her treasurer on his return, and that he became the apostle of Christianity in that whole region, carrying it also into Abyssinia. It is said that he also preached the gospel in Arabia Felix and in Ceylon, where he suffered martyrdom. (See PHILIP.)


Candace, Or Candace

(prince of servants), a queen of Ethiopia (Meroe), mentioned (Acts 8:27) (A.D. 38.) The name was not a proper name of an individual, but that of a dynasty of Ethiopian queens.


Candle

Heb. ner, Job 18:6; 29:3; Ps. 18:28; Prov. 24:20, in all which places the Revised Version and margin of Authorized Version have “lamp,” by which the word is elsewhere frequently rendered. The Hebrew word denotes properly any kind of candle or lamp or torch. It is used as a figure of conscience (Prov. 20:27), of a Christian example (Matt. 5:14, 15), and of prosperity (Job 21:17; Prov. 13:9).


Candlestick

The lamp-stand, “candelabrum,” which Moses was commanded to make for the tabernacle, according to the pattern shown him. Its form is described in Ex. 25:31-40; 37:17-24, and may be seen represented on the Arch of Titus at Rome. It was among the spoils taken by the Romans from the temple of Jerusalem (A.D. 70). It was made of fine gold, and with the utensils belonging to it was a talent in weight. The tabernacle was a tent without windows, and thus artificial light was needed. This was supplied by the candlestick, which, however, served also as a symbol of the church or people of God, who are “the light of the world.” The light which “symbolizes the knowledge of God is not the sun or any natural light, but an artificial light supplied with a specially prepared oil; for the knowledge of God is in truth not natural nor common to all men, but furnished over and above nature.” This candlestick was placed on the south side of the Holy Place, opposite the table of shewbread (Ex. 27:21; 30:7, 8; Lev. 24:3; 1 Sam. 3:3). It was lighted every evening, and was extinguished in the morning. In the morning the priests trimmed the seven lamps, borne by the seven branches, with golden snuffers, carrying away the ashes in golden dishes (Ex. 25:38), and supplying the lamps at the same time with fresh oil. What ultimately became of the candlestick is unknown. In Solomon’s temple there were ten separate candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left of the Holy Place (1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chr. 4:7). Their structure is not mentioned. They were carried away to Babylon (Jer. 52:19). In the temple erected after the Exile there was again but one candlestick, and like the first, with seven branches. It was this which was afterwards carried away by Titus to Rome, where it was deposited in the Temple of Peace. When Genseric plundered Rome, he is said to have carried it to Carthage (A.D. 455). It was recaptured by Belisarius (A.D. 533), and carried to Constantinople and thence to Jerusalem, where it finally disappeared.

in (Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21) is merely a lamp-stand, made in various forms, to hold up the simple Oriental hand-lamps. which Moses was commanded to make for the tabernacle, is described (Exodus 25:31-37; 37:17-24) It was not strictly a “candlestick,” as it held seven richly-adorned lamps. With its various appurtenances it required a talent of “pure gold;” and it was not moulded, but “of beaten work,” and has been estimated to have been worth in our money over,000. From the Arch of Titus, where the sculptured the spoils taken from Jerusalem, we learn that it consisted of a central stem, with six branches, three on each side. It was about five feet high. [See Arch Of Titus OF TITUS] The candlestick was placed on the south side of the first apartment of the tabernacle, opposite the table of shewbread, (Exodus 25:37) and was lighted every evening and dressed every morning. (Exodus 27:20,21; 30:8) comp. 1Sam 3:2 Each lamp was supplied with cotton and about two wineglasses of the purest olive oil, which was sufficient to keep it burning during a long night. In Solomon’s temple, instead of or in addition to this candlestick there were ten golden candlesticks similarly embossed, five in the right and five on the left. (1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chronicles 4:7) They were taken to Babylon. (Jeremiah 52:19) In the temple of Zerubbabel there was again a single candlestick. 1Macc 1:21: 4:49.


Cane

A tall sedgy plant with a hollow stem, growing in moist places. In Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20, the Hebrew word kaneh is thus rendered, giving its name to the plant. It is rendered “reed” in 1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6; 35:7. In Ps. 68:30 the expression “company of spearmen” is in the margin and the Revised Version “beasts of the reeds,” referring probably to the crocodile or the hippopotamus as a symbol of Egypt. In 2 Kings 18:21; Isa. 36:6; Ezek. 29:6, 7, the reference is to the weak, fragile nature of the reed. (See CALAMUS.)

[Reed]


Canker

A gangrene or mortification which gradually spreads over the whole body (2 Tim. 2:17). In James 5:3 “cankered” means “rusted” (R.V.) or tarnished.


Cankerworm

(Heb. yelek), “the licking locust,” which licks up the grass of the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth, just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (Joel 1:4; 2:25). The word is rendered “caterpillar” in Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 17 (but R.V. “canker-worm”). “It spoileth and fleeth away” (Nah. 3:16), or as some read the passage, “The cankerworm putteth off [i.e., the envelope of its wings], and fleeth away.”

[Locust]


Canneh

Mentioned only in Ezek. 27:23. (See CALNEH.)

(Ezekiel 27:23) [SEE CALNEH]


Canon

This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. The canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. They contain the whole supernatural revelation of God to men. The New Testament Canon was formed gradually under divine guidance. The different books as they were written came into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon after the day of Pentecost; and thus slowly the canon increased till all the books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. Historical evidence shows that from about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was substantially such as we now possess. Each book contained in it is proved to have, on its own ground, a right to its place; and thus the whole is of divine authority. The Old Testament Canon is witnessed to by the New Testament writers. Their evidence is conclusive. The quotations in the New from the Old are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. These quotations and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew writings under the designation of “The Scriptures;” “The Law and the Prophets and the Psalms;” “Moses and the Prophets,” etc. The appeals to these books, moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding all questions of which they treat; and that the whole collection so recognized consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. Thus they endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures. The Septuagint Version (q.v.) also contained every book we now have in the Old Testament Scriptures. As to the time at which the Old Testament canon was closed, there are many considerations which point to that of Ezra and Nehemiah, immediately after the return from Babylonian exile. (See BIBLE, EZRA, QUOTATIONS.)


Canon Of Scripture, The

may be generally described as the “collection of books which form the original and authoritative written rule of the faith and practice of the Christian Church,” i.e. the Old and New Testaments. The word canon, in classical Greek, is properly a straight rod, “a rule” in the widest sense, and especially in the phrases “the rule of the Church,” “the rule of faith,” “the rule of truth,” The first direct application of the term canon to the Scriptures seems to be in the verses of Amphilochius (cir. 380 A.D.), where the word indicates the rule by which the contents of the Bible must be determined, and thus secondarily an index of the constituent books. The uncanonical books were described simply as “those without” or “those uncanonized.” The canonical books were also called “books of the testament,” and Jerome styled the whole collection by the striking name of “the holy library,” which happily expresses the unity and variety of the Bible. After the Maccabean persecution the history of the formation of the Canon is merged in the history of its contents. The Old Testament appears from that time as a whole. The complete Canon of the New Testament, as commonly received at present, was ratified at the third Council of Carthage (A.D. 397), and from that time was accepted throughout the Latin Church. Respecting the books of which the Canon is composed, see the article Bible. (The books of Scripture were not made canonical by act of any council, but the council gave its sanction to the results of long and careful investigations as to what books were really of divine authority and expressed the universally-accepted decisions of the church. The Old Testament Canon is ratified by the fact that the present Old Testament books were those accepted in the time of Christ and endorsed by him, and that of 275 quotations of the Old Testament in the New, no book out of the Canon is quoted from except perhaps the word of Enoch in Jude.—ED.)


Canopy

Judith 10:21; 13:9; 16:19. The canopy of Holofernes is the only one mentioned.


Canticles

(Song of Songs), entitled in the Authorized Version THE SONG OF Solomon. It was probably written by Solomon about B.C. 1012. It may be called a drama, as it contains the dramatic evolution of a simple love-story. Meaning.— The schools of interpretation may be divided into three: the mystical or typical, the allegorical, and the literal .


Capernaum

Nahum’s town, a Galilean city frequently mentioned in the history of our Lord. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. After our Lord’s expulsion from Nazareth (Matt. 4:13-16; Luke 4:16-31), Capernaum became his “own city.” It was the scene of many acts and incidents of his life (Matt. 8:5, 14, 15; 9:2-6, 10-17; 15:1-20; Mark 1:32-34, etc.). The impenitence and unbelief of its inhabitants after the many evidences our Lord gave among them of the truth of his mission, brought down upon them a heavy denunciation of judgement (Matt. 11:23). It stood on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The “land of Gennesaret,” near, if not in, which it was situated, was one of the most prosperous and crowded districts of Palestine. This city lay on the great highway from Damascus to Acco and Tyre. It has been identified with Tell Hum, about two miles south-west of where the Jordan flows into the lake. Here are extensive ruins of walls and foundations, and also the remains of what must have been a beautiful synagogue, which it is conjectured may have been the one built by the centurion (Luke 7:5), in which our Lord frequently taught (John 6:59; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:33). Others have conjectured that the ruins of the city are to be found at Khan Minyeh, some three miles further to the south on the shore of the lake. “If Tell Hum be Capernaum, the remains spoken of are without doubt the ruins of the synagogue built by the Roman centurion, and one of the most sacred places on earth. It was in this building that our Lord gave the well-known discourse in John 6; and it was not without a certain strange feeling that on turning over a large block we found the pot of manna engraved on its face, and remembered the words, ‘I am that bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.’”, (The Recovery of Jerusalem.)

(village of Nahum) was on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Matthew 4:13) comp. John 6:24 It was in the “land of Gennesaret,” [ (Matthew 14:34) comp. John 6:17,21,24 ] It was of sufficient size to be always called a “city,” (Matthew 9:1; Mark 1:33) had its own synagogue, in which our Lord frequently taught, (Mark 1:21; Luke 4:33,38; John 6:59) and there was also a customs station, where the dues were gathered both by stationary and by itinerant officers. (Matthew 9:9; 17:24; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) The only interest attaching to Capernaum is as the residence of our Lord and his apostles, the scene of so many miracles and “gracious words.” It was when he returned thither that he is said to have been “in the house.” (Mark 2:1) The spots which lay claim to its site are,


Caphar

one of the numerous words employed in the Bible to denote a village or collection of dwellings smaller than a city (Ir). Mr Stanley proposes to render it by “hamlet.” In names of places it occurs in Chephar-he-Ammonai, Chephirah, Caphar-salama. To us its chief interest arises from its forming a part of the name of Capernaum, i.e. Capharnahum.


Caphtor

A chaplet, the original seat of the Philistines (Deut. 2:23; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7). The name is found written in hieroglyphics in the temple of Kom Ombos in Upper Egypt. But the exact situation of Caphtor is unknown, though it is supposed to be Crete, since the Philistines seem to be meant by the “Cherethites” in 1 Sam. 30:14 (see also 2 Sam. 8:18). It may, however, have been a part of Egypt, the Caphtur in the north Delta, since the Caphtorim were of the same race as the Mizraite people (Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12).


Caphtor, Caphtorim

(a crown), thrice mentioned as the primitive seat of the Philistines, (2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7) who are once called Caphtorim . (2:23) Supposed to be in Egypt, or near to it in Africa.


Cappadocia

The easternmost and the largest province of Asia Minor. Christianity very early penetrated into this country (1 Pet. 1:1). On the day of Pentecost there were Cappadocians at Jerusalem (Acts 2:9).


Cappadocia, Cappadocians

(province of good horses), (Acts 2:3; 1 Peter 1:1) the largest province in ancient Asia Minor. Cappadocia is an elevated table-land intersected by mountain chains. It seems always to have been deficient in wood, but it was a good grain country, and particularly famous for grazing. Its Roman metropolis was Caesarea. The native Cappadocians seem to have originally belonged to the Syrian stock.


Captain

(1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered “chief,” Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Dan. 1:7; “ruler,” Judg. 9:30; “governor,’ 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Ex. 18:21; 2 Kings 1:9; Deut. 1:15; 1 Sam. 18:13, etc.), the “captain of the body-guard” (Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 41:10; Jer. 40:1), or, as the word may be rendered, “chief of the executioners” (marg.). The officers of the king’s body-guard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan (Jer. 39:13) and Arioch (Dan. 2:14) held this office in Babylon. The “captain of the guard” mentioned in Acts 28:16 was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops. (2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a military (Josh. 10:24; Judg. 11:6, 11; Isa. 22:3 “rulers;” Dan. 11:18) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. kady, (Isa. 1:10; 3:6; Micah 3:1, 9). (3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning “a third man,” or “one of three.” The LXX. render in plural by tristatai; i.e., “soldiers fighting from chariots,” so called because each war-chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought (Ex. 14:7; 15:4; 1 Kings 9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king’s body-guard (2 Kings 10:25; 1 Chr. 12:18; 2 Chr. 11:11) or aides-de-camp. (4.) The “captain of the temple” mentioned in Acts 4:1 and 5:24 was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp. “the ruler of the house of God,” 1 Chr. 9:11; 2 Chr. 31:13; Neh. 11:11.) (5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Heb. 2:10), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The “captain of the Lord’s host” (Josh. 5:14, 15) is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham (Gen. 12:7), and to Moses in the bush (Ex. 3:2, 6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant. (See ANGEL.)


Captive

One taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Josh. 10:24; Judg. 1:7; 2 Sam. 4:12; Judg. 8:7; 2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). When a city was taken by assault, all the men were slain, and the women and children carried away captive and sold as slaves (Isa. 20; 47:3; 2 Chr. 28:9-15; Ps. 44:12; Joel 3:3), and exposed to the most cruel treatment (Nah. 3:10; Zech. 14:2; Esther 3:13; 2 Kings 8:12; Isa. 13:16, 18). Captives were sometimes carried away into foreign countries, as was the case with the Jews (Jer. 20:5; 39:9, 10; 40:7).

A prisoner of war. Such were usually treated with great cruelty by the heathen nations. They were kept for slaves, and often sold; but this was a modification of the ancient cruelty, and a substitute for putting them to death Although the treatment of captives by the Jews seems sometimes to be cruel, it was very much milder than that of the heathen, and was mitigated, as far as possible in the circumstances, by their civil code.


Captivities Of The Jews

The present article is confined to the forcible deportation of the Jew; from their native land, and their forcible detention, under the Assyrian or Babylonian kings. Captives of Israel.—The kingdom of Israel was invaded by three or four successive kings of Assyria. Pul or Surdanapalus, according to Rawlinson, imposed a tribute (B.C. 771 or 712), Rawl.) upon Menahem. (2 Kings 15:19) and 1Chr 5:26 Tiglath-pileser carried away (B.C. 740) the trans-Jordanic tribes, (1 Chronicles 5:26) and the inhabitants of Galilee, (2 Kings 15:29) comp. Isai 9:1 To Assyria. Shalmaneser twice invaded, (2 Kings 17:3,5) the kingdom which remained to Hoshea, took Samaria (B.C. 721) after a siege of three years, and carried Israel away into Assyria. This was the end of the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. Captivities of Judah .—Sennacherib (B.C. 713) is stated to have carried into Assyria 200,000 captives from the Jewish cities which he took. (2 Kings 18:13) Nebuchadnezzar, in the first half of his reign (B.C. 606-562), repeatedly invaded Judea, besieged Jerusalem, carried away the inhabitants to Babylon, and destroyed the temple. The 70 years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 25:12) are dated by Prideaux from B.C. 606. The captivity of Ezekiel dates from B.C. 598, when that prophet, like Mordecai the uncle of Esther (Esther 2:6) accompanied Jehoiachin. The captives were treated not as slaves but as colonists. The Babylonian captivity was brought to a close by the decree, (Ezra 1:2) of Cyrus (B.C. 536), and the return of a portion of the nation under Sheshbazzar or Zerubbabel (B.C. 535), Ezra (B.C. 458) and Nehemiah (B.C. 445). Those who were left in Assyria, (Esther 8:9,11) and kept up their national distinctions, were known as The Dispersion. (John 7:35; 1:1; James 1:1) The lost tribes.—Many attempts have been made to discover the ten tribes existing as a distinct community; but though history bears no witness of the present distinct existence, it enables us to track the footsteps of the departing race in four directions after the time of the Captivity.


Captivity

(1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chr. 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tiglath-pileser, in the days of Pekah (B.C. 738), carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of Galilee into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; Isa. 9:1). Subsequently Shalmaneser invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. During the siege he died, and was succeeded by Sargon, who took the city, and transported the great mass of the people into Assyria (B.C. 721), placing them in Halah and in Habor, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:3, 5). Samaria was never again inhabited by the Israelites. The families thus removed were carried to distant cities, many of them not far from the Caspian Sea, and their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon and Cuthah, etc. (2 Kings 17:24). Thus terminated the kingdom of the ten tribes, after a separate duration of two hundred and fifty-five years (B.C. 975-721). Many speculations have been indulged in with reference to these ten tribes. But we believe that all, except the number that probably allied themselves with Judah and shared in their restoration under Cyrus, are finally lost. “Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain, They are gone, and for ever.” (2.) Of Judah. In the third year of Jehoiachim, the eighteenth king of Judah (B.C. 605), Nebuchadnezzar having overcome the Egyptians at Carchemish, advanced to Jerusalem with a great army. After a brief siege he took that city, and carried away the vessels of the sanctuary to Babylon, and dedicated them in the Temple of Belus (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7; Dan. 1:1, 2). He also carried away the treasures of the king, whom he made his vassal. At this time, from which is dated the “seventy years” of captivity (Jer. 25; Dan. 9:1, 2), Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon, there to be brought up at the court and trained in all the learning of the Chaldeans. After this, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, a great national fast was appointed (Jer. 36:9), during which the king, to show his defiance, cut up the leaves of the book of Jeremiah’s prophecies as they were read to him in his winter palace, and threw them into the fire. In the same spirit he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1), who again a second time (B.C. 598) marched against Jerusalem, and put Jehoiachim to death, placing his son Jehoiachin on the throne in his stead. But Jehoiachin’s counsellors displeasing Nebuchadnezzar, he again a third time turned his army against Jerusalem, and carried away to Babylon a second detachment of Jews as captives, to the number of 10,000 (2 Kings 24:13; Jer. 24:1; 2 Chr. 36:10), among whom were the king, with his mother and all his princes and officers, also Ezekiel, who with many of his companions were settled on the banks of the river Chebar (q.v.). He also carried away all the remaining treasures of the temple and the palace, and the golden vessels of the sanctuary. Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, was now made king over what remained of the kingdom of Judah, under the name of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chr. 36:10). After a troubled reign of eleven years his kingdom came to an end (2 Chr. 36:11). Nebuchadnezzar, with a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem, and Zedekiah became a prisoner in Babylon. His eyes were put out, and he was kept in close confinement till his death (2 Kings 25:7). The city was spoiled of all that was of value, and then given up to the flames. The temple and palaces were consumed, and the walls of the city were levelled with the ground (B.C. 586), and all that remained of the people, except a number of the poorest class who were left to till the ground and dress the vineyards, were carried away captives to Babylon. This was the third and last deportation of Jewish captives. The land was now utterly desolate, and was abondoned to anarchy. In the first year of his reign as king of Babylon (B.C. 536), Cyrus issued a decree liberating the Jewish captives, and permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple (2 Chr. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1; 2). The number of the people forming the first caravan, under Zerubbabel, amounted in all to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64, 65), besides 7,337 men-servants and maid-servants. A considerable number, 12,000 probably, from the ten tribes who had been carried away into Assyria no doubt combined with this band of liberated captives. At a later period other bands of the Jews returned (1) under Ezra (7:7) (B.C. 458), and (2) Nehemiah (7:66) (B.C. 445). But the great mass of the people remained still in the land to which they had been carried, and became a portion of the Jews of the “dispersion” (John 7:35; 1 Pet. 1:1). The whole number of the exiles that chose to remain was probably about six times the number of those who returned.


Carbuncle

(Ex. 28:17; 39:10; Ezek. 28:13). Heb. barkath; LXX. smaragdos; Vulgate, smaragdus; Revised Version, marg., “emerald.” The Hebrew word is from a root meaning “to glitter,” “lighten,” “flash.” When held up to the sun, this gem shines like a burning coal, a dark-red glowing coal, and hence is called “carbunculus”, i.e., a little coal. It was one of the jewels in the first row of the high priest’s breastplate. It has been conjectured by some that the garnet is meant. In Isa. 54:12 the Hebrew word is ’ekdah, used in the prophetic description of the glory and beauty of the mansions above. Next to the diamond it is the hardest and most costly of all precious stones.

This word represents two Hebrew words. The first may he a general term to denote any bright, sparkling gem, (Isaiah 54:12) the second, (Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13) is supposed to be and smaragdus or emerald.


Carcas

(severe), the seventh of the seven “chamberlains,” i.e. eunuchs, of King Ahasuerus. (Esther 1:10) (B.C. 483.).


Carcase

Contact with a, made an Israelite ceremonially unclean, and made whatever he touched also unclean, according to the Mosaic law (Hag. 2:13; comp. Num. 19:16, 22; Lev. 11:39).


Carchemish

Fortress of Chemosh, a city on the west bank of the Euphrates (Jer. 46:2; 2 Chr. 35:20), not, as was once supposed, the Circesium at the confluence of the Chebar and the Euphrates, but a city considerably higher up the river, and commanding the ordinary passage of the Euphrates; probably identical with Hierapolis. It was the capital of the kingdom of the northern Hittites. The Babylonian army, under Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, here met and conquered the army of Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt (B.C. 607). It is mentioned in monuments in B.C. 1600 and down to B.C. 717.

(fortress of Chemosh) occupied nearly the site of the later Mabug or Hierapolis. It seems to have commanded the ordinary passage of the Euphrates at Bir or Birekjik . Carchemish appears to have been taken by Pharoah Necho shortly after the battle of Megiddo (cir. B.C. 608), and retaken by Nebuchadnezzar after a battle three years later, B.C. 605. (Jeremiah 46:2)


Careah

(bald head), father of Johanan, (2 Kings 25:23) elsewhere spelt Kareah.


Caria

the southern part of the region which int he New Testament is called Asia, and the southwestern part of the peninsula of Asia Minor. (Acts 20:15; 27:7)


Carmel

A park; generally with the article, “the park.” (1.) A prominent headland of Central Palestine, consisting of several connected hills extending from the plain of Esdraelon to the sea, a distance of some 12 miles or more. At the east end, in its highest part, it is 1,728 feet high, and at the west end it forms a promontory to the bay of Acre about 600 feet above the sea. It lay within the tribe of Asher. It was here, at the east end of the ridge, at a place called el-Mukhrakah (i.e., the place of burning), that Elijah brought back the people to their allegiance to God, and slew the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Here were consumed the “fifties” of the royal guard; and here also Elisha received the visit of the bereaved mother whose son was restored by him to life (2 Kings 4:25-37). “No mountain in or around Palestine retains its ancient beauty so much as Carmel. Two or three villages and some scattered cottages are found on it; its groves are few but luxuriant; it is no place for crags and precipices or rocks of wild goats; but its surface is covered with a rich and constant verdure.” “The whole mountain-side is dressed with blossom, and flowering shrubs, and fragrant herbs.” The western extremity of the ridge is, however, more rocky and bleak than the eastern. The head of the bride in Cant. 7:5 is compared to Carmel. It is ranked with Bashan on account of its rich pastures (Isa. 33:9; Jer. 50:19; Amos 1:2). The whole ridge is deeply furrowed with rocky ravines filled with dense jungle. There are many caves in its sides, which at one time were inhabited by swarms of monks. These caves are referred to in Amos 9:3. To them Elijah and Elisha often resorted (1 Kings 18:19, 42; 2 Kings 2:25). On its north-west summit there is an ancient establishment of Carmelite monks. Vineyards have recently been planted on the mount by the German colonists of Haifa. The modern Arabic name of the mount is Kurmul, but more commonly Jebel Mar Elyas, i.e., Mount St. Elias, from the Convent of Elias. (2.) A town in the hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:55), the residence of Nabal (1 Sam. 25:2, 5, 7, 40), and the native place of Abigail, who became David’s wife (1 Sam. 27:3). Here king Uzziah had his vineyards (2 Chr. 26:10). The ruins of this town still remain under the name of Kurmul, about 10 miles south-south-east of Hebron, close to those of Maon.

(fruitful place or park).


Carmi

Vine-dresser. (1.) The last named of the four sons of Reuben (Gen. 46:9). (2.) A descendant of Judah (1 Chr. 4:1). He is elsewhere (2:18) called Caleb (q.v.). (3.) The son of Zimri, and the father of Achan (Josh. 7:1), “the troubler of Israel.”

(vine dresser).


Carnal

Unconverted men are so called (1 Cor. 3:3). They are represented as of a “carnal mind, which is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:6, 7). Enjoyments that minister to the wants and desires of man’s animal nature are so called (Rom. 15:27; 1 Cor. 9:11). The ceremonial of the Mosaic law is spoken of as “carnal,” because it related to things outward, the bodies of men and of animals, and the purification of the flesh (Heb. 7:16; 9:10). The weapons of Christian warfare are “not carnal”, that is, they are not of man’s device, nor are wielded by human power (2 Cor. 10:4).


Carpenter

An artificer in stone, iron, and copper, as well as in wood (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Chr. 14:1; Mark 6:3). The tools used by carpenters are mentioned in 1 Sam. 13:19, 20; Judg. 4:21; Isa. 10:15; 44:13. It was said of our Lord, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matt. 13:55); also, “Is not this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:3). Every Jew, even the rabbis, learned some handicraft: Paul was a tentmaker. “In the cities the carpenters would be Greeks, and skilled workmen; the carpenter of a provincial village could only have held a very humble position, and secured a very moderate competence.”

[Handicraft]


Carpus

a Christian at Troas. (2 Timothy 4:13)


Carriage

In the Authorized Version this word is found as the rendering of many different words. In Judg. 18:21 it means valuables, wealth, or booty. In Isa. 46:1 (R.V., “the things that ye carried about”) the word means a load for a beast of burden. In 1 Sam. 17:22 and Isa. 10:28 it is the rendering of a word (“stuff” in 1 Sam. 10:22) meaning implements, equipments, baggage. The phrase in Acts 21:15, “We took up our carriages,” means properly, “We packed up our baggage,” as in the Revised Version.

This word signifies what we now call “baggage.” In the margin of (1 Samuel 17:20) and 1Sam 26:5-7 And there only, “carriage” is employed int he sense of a wagon or cart.


Carshena

(illustrious), one of the seven princes of Persia and Media. (Esther 1:14)


Cart

A vehicle moving on wheels, and usually drawn by oxen (2 Sam. 6:3). The Hebrew word thus rendered, ’agalah (1 Sam. 6:7, 8), is also rendered “wagon” (Gen. 45:19). It is used also to denote a war-chariot (Ps. 46:9). Carts were used for the removal of the ark and its sacred utensils (Num. 7:3, 6). After retaining the ark amongst them for seven months, the Philistines sent it back to the Israelites. On this occasion they set it in a new cart, probably a rude construction, with solid wooden wheels like that still used in Western Asia, which was drawn by two milch cows, which conveyed it straight to Beth-shemesh. A “cart rope,” for the purpose of fastening loads on carts, is used (Isa. 5:18) as a symbol of the power of sinful pleasures or habits over him who indulges them. (See CORD.) In Syria and Palestine wheel-carriages for any other purpose than the conveyance of agricultural produce are almost unknown.

(Genesis 45:19,27; Numbers 7:3,7,8) a vehicle drawn by cattle, (2 Samuel 6:6) to be distinguished from the chariot drawn by horses. Carts and wagons were either open or covered, (Numbers 7:3) and were used for conveyance of person, (Genesis 45:19) burdens, (1 Samuel 6:7,8) or produce. (Amos 2:13) The only cart used in western Asia has two wheels of solid wood.


Carve

The arts of engraving and carving were much practised among the Jews. They were practised in connection with the construction of the tabernacle and the temple (Ex. 31:2, 5; 35:33; 1 Kings 6:18, 35; Ps. 74:6), as well as in the ornamentation of the priestly dresses (Ex. 28:9-36; Zech. 3:9; 2 Chr. 2:7, 14). Isaiah (44:13-17) gives a minute description of the process of carving idols of wood.


Carving

The arts of carving and engraving were much in request in the construction of both the tabernacle and the temple. (Exodus 31:5; 35:33; 1 Kings 6:18,35; Psalms 74:6) as well as in the ornamentation of the priestly dresses. (Exodus 28:9-36; 2 Chronicles 2:7,14; Zechariah 3:9)


Casement

A barrier of open-work placed before windows (Prov. 7:6). In Judg. 5:28 the Hebrew word is rendered “lattice,” in the LXX. “network,” an opening through which cool air is admitted.


Casiphia

Silver, a place between Babylon and Jerusalem, where Iddo resided (Ezra 8:17); otherwise unknown.

(silvery, white), a place of uncertain site on the road between Babylon and Jerusalem. (Ezra 8:17)


Casluhim

Fortified, a people descended from Mizraim (Gen. 10:14; 1 Chr. 1:12). Their original seat was probably somewhere in Lower Egypt, along the sea-coast to the south border of Palestine.

(fortified), a Mizraite people or tribe. (Genesis 10:14; 1 Chronicles 1:12)


Cassia

(1.) Hebrew kiddah’, i.e., “split.” One of the principal spices of the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:24), and an article of commerce (Ezek. 27:19). It is the inner bark of a tree resembling the cinnamon (q.v.), the Cinnamomum cassia of botanists, and was probably imported from India. (2.) Hebrew pl. ketzi’oth (Ps. 45:8). Mentioned in connection with myrrh and aloes as being used to scent garments. It was probably prepared from the peeled bark, as the Hebrew word suggests, of some kind of cinnamon.

(Exodus 30:24; Ezekiel 27:19) The cassia bark of commerce is yielded by various kinds of Cinnamomum, which grow in different parts of India. The Hebrew word in (Psalms 45:8) is generally supposed to be another term for cassia.


Castaway

Gr. adokimos, (1 Cor. 9:27), one regarded as unworthy (R.V., “rejected”); elsewhere rendered “reprobate” (2 Tim. 3:8, etc.); “rejected” (Heb. 6:8, etc.).


Castle

A military fortress (1 Chr. 11:7), also probably a kind of tower used by the priests for making known anything discovered at a distance (1 Chr. 6:54). Castles are also mentioned (Gen. 25:16) as a kind of watch-tower, from which shepherds kept watch over their flocks by night. The “castle” into which the chief captain commanded Paul to be brought was the quarters of the Roman soldiers in the fortress of Antonia (so called by Herod after his patron Mark Antony), which was close to the north-west corner of the temple (Acts 21:34), which it commanded.

[Fenced Cities CITIES]


Castor and Pollux

The “Dioscuri”, two heroes of Greek and Roman mythology. Their figures were probably painted or sculptured on the prow of the ship which Luke refers to (Acts 28:11). They were regarded as the tutelary divinities of sailors. They appeared in the heavens as the constellation Gemini.

(Acts 28:11) the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, were regarded as the tutelary divinities of sailors; hence their image was often used as a figure-head for ships. They appeared in heaven as the constellation Gemini . In art they were sometimes represented simply as stars hovering over a ship.


Caterpillar

The consumer. Used in the Old Testament (1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chr. 6:28; Ps. 78:46; Isa. 33:4) as the translation of a word (hasil) the root of which means “to devour” or “consume,” and which is used also with reference to the locust in Deut. 28:38. It may have been a species of locust, or the name of one of the transformations through which the locust passes, locust-grub. It is also found (Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 27; R.V., “cankerworm”) as the rendering of a different Hebrew word, yelek, a word elsewhere rendered “cankerworm” (q.v.), Joel 1:4; 2:25. (See LOCUST.)

The representative in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew word chasil and yelek .


Catholic epistles

The epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude; so called because they are addressed to Christians in general, and not to any church or person in particular.


Cattle

Abounded in the Holy Land. To the rearing and management of them the inhabitants chiefly devoted themselves (Deut. 8:13; 12:21; 1 Sam. 11:5; 12:3; Ps. 144:14; Jer. 3:24). They may be classified as, (1.) Neat cattle. Many hundreds of these were yearly consumed in sacrifices or used for food. The finest herds were found in Bashan, beyond Jordan (Num. 32:4). Large herds also pastured on the wide fertile plains of Sharon. They were yoked to the plough (1 Kings 19:19), and were employed for carrying burdens (1 Chr. 12:40). They were driven with a pointed rod (Judg. 3:31) or goad (q.v.). According to the Mosaic law, the mouths of cattle employed for the threshing-floor were not to be muzzled, so as to prevent them from eating of the provender over which they trampled (Deut. 25:4). Whosoever stole and sold or slaughtered an ox must give five in satisfaction (Ex. 22:1); but if it was found alive in the possession of him who stole it, he was required to make double restitution only (22:4). If an ox went astray, whoever found it was required to bring it back to its owner (23:4; Deut. 22:1, 4). An ox and an ass could not be yoked together in the plough (Deut. 22:10). (2.) Small cattle. Next to herds of neat cattle, sheep formed the most important of the possessions of the inhabitants of Palestine (Gen. 12:16; 13:5; 26:14; 21:27; 29:2, 3). They are frequently mentioned among the booty taken in war (Num. 31:32; Josh. 6:21; 1 Sam. 14:32; 15:3). There were many who were owners of large flocks (1 Sam. 25:2; 2 Sam. 12:2, comp. Job 1:3). Kings also had shepherds “over their flocks” (1 Chr. 27:31), from which they derived a large portion of their revenue (2 Sam. 17:29; 1 Chr. 12:40). The districts most famous for their flocks of sheep were the plain of Sharon (Isa. 65: 10), Mount Carmel (Micah 7:14), Bashan and Gilead (Micah 7:14). In patriarchal times the flocks of sheep were sometimes tended by the daughters of the owners. Thus Rachel, the daughter of Laban, kept her father’s sheep (Gen. 29:9); as also Zipporah and her six sisters had charge of their father Jethro’s flocks (Ex. 2:16). Sometimes they were kept by hired shepherds (John 10:12), and sometimes by the sons of the family (1 Sam. 16:11; 17:15). The keepers so familiarized their sheep with their voices that they knew them, and followed them at their call. Sheep, but more especially rams and lambs, were frequently offered in sacrifice. The shearing of sheep was a great festive occasion (1 Sam. 25:4; 2 Sam. 13:23). They were folded at night, and guarded by their keepers against the attacks of the lion (Micah 5:8), the bear (1 Sam. 17:34), and the wolf (Matt. 10:16; John 10:12). They were liable to wander over the wide pastures and go astray (Ps. 119:176; Isa. 53:6; Hos. 4:16; Matt. 18:12). Goats also formed a part of the pastoral wealth of Palestine (Gen. 15:9; 32:14; 37:31). They were used both for sacrifice and for food (Deut. 14:4), especially the young males (Gen. 27:9, 14, 17; Judg. 6:19; 13:15; 1 Sam. 16:20). Goat’s hair was used for making tent cloth (Ex. 26:7; 36:14), and for mattresses and bedding (1 Sam. 19:13, 16). (See GOAT.)

[Bull, Bullock].


Cauda

(Acts 27:16) The form given in the Revised Version to Clauda, an island south of Crete. It bears a closer relation to the modern name Gaudonesi of the Greek, the Gauda of P. Mela. (Clauda .—ED.)


Caul

(Heb. yothe’reth; i.e., “something redundant”), the membrane which covers the upper part of the liver (Ex. 29:13, 22; Lev. 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9; 7:4; marg., “midriff”). In Hos. 13:8 (Heb. seghor; i.e., “an enclosure”) the pericardium, or parts about the heart, is meant.

a sort of ornamental head-dress, (Isaiah 3:18) with a net for its base. The name is derived from the caul, the membranous bag which encloses the heart—the pericardium.—ED.


Cauls

In Isa. 3:18 this word (Heb. shebisim), in the marg. “networks,” denotes network caps to contain the hair, worn by females. Others explain it as meaning “wreaths worn round the forehead, reaching from one ear to the other.”


Causeway

A raised way, an ascent by steps, or a raised slope between Zion and the temple (1 Chr. 26:16, 18). In 2 Chr. 9:11 the same word is translated “terrace.”