Easton's Bible Dictionary

he twists, one of the sons of Ezer, the son of Seir the Horite ( ).

heel-catcher, a form of the name Jacob, one of the descendants of Simeon ( ).

a wild she-goat, one of the Nethinim, whose descendants returned from the Captivity ( ).

concealer, the second of Esau's three sons by Aholibamah ( , 14).

mourner, one of the chief Gadites ( ).

forests of the weavers, a Bethlehemite ( ), and the father of Elhanan, who slew Goliath. In called JAIR.

fabricator, an Israelite who renounced his Gentile wife after the Return ( ).

made by God, one of David's body-guard, the son of Abner ( ), called Jasiel in .

heard by Jehovah. (1.) The son of Jeremiah, and one of the chief Rechabites ( ).
(2.) The son of Shaphan ( ).
(3.) The son of Azur, one of the twenty-five men seen by Ezekiel (11:1) at the east gate of the temple.
(4.) A Maachathite ( 42:1). He is also called Azariah ( ).

he (God) helps, a city of the Amorites on the east of Jordan, and assigned, with neighbouring places in Gilead, to Gad ( , 35; ). It was allotted to the Merarite Levites (21:39). In David's time it was occupied by the Hebronites, i.e., the descendants of Kohath ( ). It is mentioned in the "burdens" proclaimed over Moab ( , 9; ). Its site is marked by the modern ruin called Sar or Seir, about 10 miles west of Amman, and 12 from Heshbon. "The vineyards that once covered the hill-sides are gone; and the wild Bedawin from the eastern desert make cultivation of any kind impossible."

comforted by Jehovah, a descendant of Merari the Levite ( ,27).

comforted by God, a Levitical musician ( ).

a stream, a descendant of Cain, and brother of Jubal; "the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle" ( ). This description indicates that he led a wandering life.

a pouring out, or a wrestling, one of the streams on the east of Jordan, into which it falls about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, or about 45 miles below the Sea of Galilee. It rises on the eastern side of the mountains of Gilead, and runs a course of about 65 miles in a wild and deep ravine. It was the boundary between the territory of the Ammonites and that of Og, king of Bashan ( ); also between the tribe of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh (21:24; ). In its course westward across the plains it passes more than once underground. "The scenery along its banks is probably the most picturesque in Palestine; and the ruins of town and village and fortress which stud the surrounding mountain-side render the country as interesting as it is beautiful." This river is now called the Zerka, or blue river.

dry. (1.) For Jabesh-Gilead ( ,9,10).
(2.) The father of Shallum ( , 13, 14), who usurped the throne of Israel on the death of Zachariah.

a town on the east of Jordan, on the top of one of the green hills of Gilead, within the limits of the half tribe of Manasseh, and in full view of Beth-shan. It is first mentioned in connection with the vengeance taken on its inhabitants because they had refused to come up to Mizpeh to take part with Israel against the tribe of Benjamin ( ). After the battles at Gibeah, that tribe was almost extinguished, only six hundred men remaining. An expedition went against Jabesh-Gilead, the whole of whose inhabitants were put to the sword, except four hundred maidens, whom they brought as prisoners and sent to "proclaim peace" to the Benjamites who had fled to the crag Rimmon. These captives were given to them as wives, that the tribe might be saved from extinction ( ).
This city was afterwards taken by Nahash, king of the Ammonites, but was delivered by Saul, the newly-elected king of Israel. In gratitude for this deliverance, forty years after this, the men of Jabesh-Gilead took down the bodies of Saul and of his three sons from the walls of Beth-shan, and after burning them, buried the bones under a tree near the city ( ). David thanked them for this act of piety ( ), and afterwards transferred the remains to the royal sepulchre (21:14). It is identified with the ruins of ed-Deir, about 6 miles south of Pella, on the north of the Wady Yabis.

affiction. (1.) A descendant of Judah, of whom it is recorded that "God granted him that which he requested" ( , 10).
(2.) A place inhabited by several families of the scribes ( ).

discerner; the wise. (1.) A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into Canaan ( ), whose overthrow and that of the northern chief with whom he had entered into a confederacy against Joshua was the crowning act in the conquest of the land (11:21-23; comp. 14:6-15). This great battle, fought at Lake Merom, was the last of Joshua's battles of which we have any record. Here for the first time the Israelites encountered the iron chariots and horses of the Canaanites.
(2.) Another king of Hazor, called "the king of Canaan," who overpowered the Israelites of the north one hundred and sixty years after Joshua's death, and for twenty years held them in painful subjection. The whole population were paralyzed with fear, and gave way to hopeless despondency ( ), till Deborah and Barak aroused the national spirit, and gathering together ten thousand men, gained a great and decisive victory over Jabin in the plain of Esdraelon ( comp. ). This was the first great victory Israel had gained since the days of Joshua. They never needed to fight another battle with the Canaanites ( ).

built by God. (1.) A town in the north boundary of Judah ( ), called afterwards by the Greeks Jamnia, the modern Yebna, 11 miles south of Jaffa. After the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), it became one of the most populous cities of Judea, and the seat of a celebrated school.
(2.) A town on the border of Naphtali ( ). Its later name was Kefr Yemmah, "the village by the sea," on the south shore of Lake Merom.

building, ( ), identical with Jabneel ( ).

mourner, one of the chief Gadite "brothers" in Bashan ( ).

firm. (1.) The fourth son of Simeon ( ), called also Jarib ( ).
(2.) The head of one of the courses (the twenty-first) of priests ( ).
(3.) One of the priests who returned from the Exile ( ).

the names of two brazen columns set up in Solomon's temple ( ). Each was eighteen cubits high and twelve in circumference ( , 23; ). They had doubtless a symbolical import.

properly a flower of a reddish blue or deep purple (hyacinth), and hence a precious stone of that colour ( ). It has been supposed to designate the same stone as the ligure (Heb. leshem) mentioned in as the first stone of the third row in the high priest's breast-plate. In the word is simply descriptive of colour.

one who follows on another's heels; supplanter, ( 27:36; ), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was fifty-nine and Abraham one hundred and fifty-nine years old. Like his father, he was of a quiet and gentle disposition, and when he grew up followed the life of a shepherd, while his brother Esau became an enterprising hunter. His dealing with Esau, however, showed much mean selfishness and cunning ( ).
When Isaac was about 160 years of age, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive the aged patriarch ( ), with the view of procuring the transfer of the birthright to himself. The birthright secured to him who possessed it (1) superior rank in his family ( ); (2) a double portion of the paternal inheritance ( ); (3) the priestly office in the family ( ); and (4) the promise of the Seed in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed ( ).
Soon after his acquisition of his father's blessing ( ), Jacob became conscious of his guilt; and afraid of the anger of Esau, at the suggestion of Rebekah Isaac sent him away to Haran, 400 miles or more, to find a wife among his cousins, the family of Laban, the Syrian (28). There he met with Rachel (29). Laban would not consent to give him his daughter in marriage till he had served seven years; but to Jacob these years "seemed but a few days, for the love he had to her." But when the seven years were expired, Laban craftily deceived Jacob, and gave him his daughter Leah. Other seven years of service had to be completed probably before he obtained the beloved Rachel. But "life-long sorrow, disgrace, and trials, in the retributive providence of God, followed as a consequence of this double union."
At the close of the fourteen years of service, Jacob desired to return to his parents, but at the entreaty of Laban he tarried yet six years with him, tending his flocks (31:41). He then set out with his family and property "to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan" ( ). Laban was angry when he heard that Jacob had set out on his journey, and pursued after him, overtaking him in seven days. The meeting was of a painful kind. After much recrimination and reproach directed against Jacob, Laban is at length pacified, and taking an affectionate farewell of his daughters, returns to his home in Padanaram. And now all connection of the Israelites with Mesopotamia is at an end.
Soon after parting with Laban he is met by a company of angels, as if to greet him on his return and welcome him back to the Land of Promise (32:1, 2). He called the name of the place Mahanaim, i.e., "the double camp," probably his own camp and that of the angels. The vision of angels was the counterpart of that he had formerly seen at Bethel, when, twenty years before, the weary, solitary traveller, on his way to Padan-aram, saw the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached to heaven (28:12).
He now hears with dismay of the approach of his brother Esau with a band of 400 men to meet him. In great agony of mind he prepares for the worst. He feels that he must now depend only on God, and he betakes himself to him in earnest prayer, and sends on before him a munificent present to Esau, "a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob." Jacob's family were then transported across the Jabbok; but he himself remained behind, spending the night in communion with God. While thus engaged, there appeared one in the form of a man who wrestled with him. In this mysterious contest Jacob prevailed, and as a memorial of it his name was changed to Israel (wrestler with God); and the place where this occured he called Peniel, "for", said he, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (32:25-31).
After this anxious night, Jacob went on his way, halting, mysteriously weakened by the conflict, but strong in the assurance of the divine favour. Esau came forth and met him; but his spirit of revenge was appeased, and the brothers met as friends, and during the remainder of their lives they maintained friendly relations. After a brief sojourn at Succoth, Jacob moved forward and pitched his tent near Shechem (q.v.), 33:18; but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an altar unto God (35:6,7), and where God appeared to him and renewed the Abrahamic covenant. While journeying from Bethel to Ephrath (the Canaanitish name of Bethlehem), Rachel died in giving birth to her second son Benjamin (35:16-20), fifteen or sixteen years after the birth of Joseph. He then reached the old family residence at Mamre, to wait on the dying bed of his father Isaac. The complete reconciliation between Esau and Jacob was shown by their uniting in the burial of the patriarch (35:27-29).
Jacob was soon after this deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved son Joseph through the jealousy of his brothers (37:33). Then follows the story of the famine, and the successive goings down into Egypt to buy corn (42), which led to the discovery of the long-lost Joseph, and the patriarch's going down with all his household, numbering about seventy souls ( ), to sojourn in the land of Goshen. Here Jacob, "after being strangely tossed about on a very rough ocean, found at last a tranquil harbour, where all the best affections of his nature were gently exercised and largely unfolded" ( ). At length the end of his checkered course draws nigh, and he summons his sons to his bedside that he may bless them. Among his last words he repeats the story of Rachel's death, although forty years had passed away since that event took place, as tenderly as if it had happened only yesterday; and when "he had made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost" (49:33). His body was embalmed and carried with great pomp into the land of Canaan, and buried beside his wife Leah in the cave of Machpelah, according to his dying charge. There, probably, his embalmed body remains to this day (50:1-13). (See HEBRON.)
The history of Jacob is referred to by the prophets Hosea (12:3, 4, 12) and Malachi (1:2). In the name is a poetic synonym for Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes. There are, besides the mention of his name along with those of the other patriarchs, distinct references to events of his life in Paul's epistles ( 11:21). See references to his vision at Bethel and his possession of land at Shechem in 4:5, 12; also to the famine which was the occasion of his going down into Egypt in (See LUZ ; BETHEL.)

( , 6). This is one of the few sites in Palestine about which there is no dispute. It was dug by Jacob, and hence its name, in the "parcel of ground" which he purchased from the sons of Hamor ( ). It still exists, but although after copious rains it contains a little water, it is now usually quite dry. It is at the entrance to the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, about 2 miles south-east of Shechem. It is about 9 feet in diameter and about 75 feet in depth, though in ancient times it was no doubt much deeper, probably twice as deep. The digging of such a well must have been a very laborious and costly undertaking.
"Unfortunately, the well of Jacob has not escaped that misplaced religious veneration which cannot be satisfied with leaving the object of it as it is, but must build over it a shrine to protect and make it sacred. A series of buildings of various styles, and of different ages, have cumbered the ground, choked up the well, and disfigured the natural beauty and simplicity of the spot. At present the rubbish in the well has been cleared out; but there is still a domed structure over it, and you gaze down the shaft cut in the living rock and see at a depth of 70 feet the surface of the water glimmering with a pale blue light in the darkness, while you notice how the limestone blocks that form its curb have been worn smooth, or else furrowed by the ropes of centuries" (Hugh Macmillan).
At the entrance of the enclosure round the well is planted in the ground one of the wooden poles that hold the telegraph wires between Jerusalem and Haifa.

known. (1.) One of the chiefs who subscribed the covenant ( ).
(2.) The last high priest mentioned in the Old Testament ( , 22), sons of Jonathan.

judge, a Meronothite who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem ( ).

mountain-goat, the wife of Heber the Kenite ( ). When the Canaanites were defeated by Barak, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, fled and sought refuge with the friendly tribe of Heber, beneath the oaks of Zaanaim. As he drew near, Jael invited him to enter her tent. He did so, and as he lay wearied on the floor he fell into a deep sleep. She then took in her left hand one of the great wooden pins ("nail") which fastened down the cords of the tent, and in her right hand the mallet, or "hammer," used for driving it into the ground, and stealthily approaching her sleeping guest, with one well-directed blow drove the nail through his temples into the earth ( ). She then led Barak, who was in pursuit, into her tent, and boastfully showed him what she had done. (See SISERA; DEBORAH.)

place of sojourn, a city on the southern border of Judah ( ).

a contraction for Jehovah ( ).

union. (1.) A son of Shimei, and grandson of Gershom ( ).
(2.) One of the sons of Shelomoth, of the family of Kohath ( ).
(3.) A Levite of the family of Merari, one of the overseers of the repairs of the temple under Josiah ( ).

trodden down (called also Jahaza, Jahazah, 21:36; Jahzah, ), a town where Sihon was defeated, in the borders of Moab and in the land of the Ammonites beyond Jordan, and north of the river Arnon ( ). It was situated in the tribe of Reuben, and was assigned to the Merarite Levites ( 21:36). Here was fought the decisive battle in which Sihon (q.v.) was completely routed, and his territory (the modern Belka) came into the possession of Israel. This town is mentioned in the denunciations of the prophets against Moab ( ).

beheld by God. (1.) The third son of Hebron ( ).
(2.) A Benjamite chief who joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(3.) A priest who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( ).
(4.) The son of Zechariah, a Levite of the family of Asaph ( ). He encouraged Jehoshaphat against the Moabites and Ammonites.

grasper, a descendant of Caleb, of the family of Hezron ( ).

allotted by God, the first of the sons of Naphtali ( ).

returner, the son of Meshullam, and father of Adiel ( ).

(of Philippi), . The conversion of the Roman jailer, a man belonging to a class "insensible as a rule and hardened by habit, and also disposed to despise the Jews, who were the bearers of the message of the gospel," is one of those cases which illustrate its universality and power.

enlightener. (1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions ( ). He distinguished himself in an expedition against Bashan, and settled in the part of Argob on the borders of Gilead. The small towns taken by him there are called Havoth-jair, i.e., "Jair's villages" ( ).
(2.) The eighth judge of Israel, which he ruled for twenty-two years. His opulence is described in . He had thirty sons, each riding on "ass colts." They had possession of thirty of the sixty cities ( ) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair.
(3.) A Benjamite, the father of Mordecai, Esther's uncle ( ).
(4.) The father of Elhanan, who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath ( ).

a ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum, whose only daughter Jesus restored to life ( ). Entering into the chamber of death, accompanied by Peter and James and John and the father and mother of the maiden, he went forward to the bed whereon the corpse lay, and said, Talitha cumi, i.e., "Maid, arise," and immediately the spirit of the maiden came to her again, and she arose straightway; and "at once to strengthen that life which had come back to her, and to prove that she was indeed no ghost, but had returned to the realities of a mortal existence, he commanded to give her something to eat" ( ).

pious, the father of Agur ( ). Nothing is known of him.

establisher. (1.) Chief of the twelfth priestly order ( ).
(2.) A Benjamite ( ).
(3.) Margin in means Jehoiakim.

lodger, the last of the four sons of Ezra, of the tribe of Judah ( ).

one of those who opposed Moses in Egypt ( ). (See JANNES.)

(1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter ( 27:56). With John and Peter he was present at the transfiguration ( ), at the raising of Jairus's daughter ( ), and in the garden with our Lord (14:33). Because, probably, of their boldness and energy, he and John were called Boanerges, i.e., "sons of thunder." He was the first martyr among the apostles, having been beheaded by King Herod Agrippa ( , 2), A.D. 44. (Comp. 20:20-23).
(2.) The son of Alphaeus, or Cleopas, "the brother" or near kinsman or cousin of our Lord ( , 19), called James "the Less," or "the Little," probably because he was of low stature. He is mentioned along with the other apostles ( ). He had a separate interview with our Lord after his resurrection ( ), and is mentioned as one of the apostles of the circumcision ( ). He appears to have occupied the position of head of the Church at Jerusalem, where he presided at the council held to consider the case of the Gentiles ( 15:13-29: 21:18-24). This James was the author of the epistle which bears his name.

(1.) Author of, was James the Less, the Lord's brother, one of the twelve apostles. He was one of the three pillars of the Church ( ).
(2.) It was addressed to the Jews of the dispersion, "the twelve tribes scattered abroad."
(3.) The place and time of the writing of the epistle were Jerusalem, where James was residing, and, from internal evidence, the period between Paul's two imprisonments at Rome, probably about A.D. 62.
(4.) The object of the writer was to enforce the practical duties of the Christian life. "The Jewish vices against which he warns them are, formalism, which made the service of God consist in washings and outward ceremonies, whereas he reminds them (1:27) that it consists rather in active love and purity; fanaticism, which, under the cloak of religious zeal, was tearing Jerusalem in pieces (1:20); fatalism, which threw its sins on God (1:13); meanness, which crouched before the rich (2:2); falsehood, which had made words and oaths play-things (3:2-12); partisanship (3:14); evil speaking (4:11); boasting (4:16); oppression (5:4). The great lesson which he teaches them as Christians is patience, patience in trial (1:2), patience in good works (1:22-25), patience under provocation (3:17), patience under oppression (5:7), patience under persecution (5:10); and the ground of their patience is that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, which is to right all wrong (5:8)."
"Justification by works," which James contends for, is justification before man, the justification of our profession of faith by a consistent life. Paul contends for the doctrine of "justification by faith;" but that is justification before God, a being regarded and accepted as just by virtue of the righteousness of Christ, which is received by faith.

one of the Egyptians who "withstood Moses" ( ).

or Jano'hah, rest. (1.) A town on the north-eastern border of Ephraim, in the Jordan valley ( , 7). Identified with the modern Yanun, 8 miles south-east of Nablus.
(2.) A town of Northern Palestine, within the boundaries of Naphtali. It was taken by the king of Assyria ( ).

slumber, a town in the mountains of Judah ( ).

wide spreading: "God shall enlarge Japheth" (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, . Some, however, derive the name from _yaphah_, "to be beautiful;" hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last in order ( 6:10; 7:13), perhaps first by birth (10:21; comp. 9:24). He and his wife were two of the eight saved in the ark ( ). He was the progenitor of many tribes inhabiting the east of Europe and the north of Asia ( ). An act of filial piety (9:20-27) was the occasion of Noah's prophecy of the extension of his posterity.
After the Flood the earth was re-peopled by the descendants of Noah, "the sons of Japheth" ( ), "the sons of Ham" (6), and "the sons of Shem" (22). It is important to notice that modern ethnological science, reasoning from a careful analysis of facts, has arrived at the conclusion that there is a three-fold division of the human family, corresponding in a remarkable way with the great ethnological chapter of the book of Genesis (10). The three great races thus distinguished are called the Semitic, Aryan, and Turanian (Allophylian). "Setting aside the cases where the ethnic names employed are of doubtful application, it cannot reasonably be questioned that the author [of ] has in his account of the sons of Japheth classed together the Cymry or Celts (Gomer), the Medes (Madai), and the Ionians or Greeks (Javan), thereby anticipating what has become known in modern times as the 'Indo-European Theory,' or the essential unity of the Aryan (Asiatic) race with the principal races of Europe, indicated by the Celts and the Ionians. Nor can it be doubted that he has thrown together under the one head of 'children of Shem' the Assyrians (Asshur), the Syrians (Aram), the Hebrews (Eber), and the Joktanian Arabs (Joktan), four of the principal races which modern ethnology recognizes under the heading of 'Semitic.' Again, under the heading of 'sons of Ham,' the author has arranged 'Cush', i.e., the Ethiopians; 'Mizraim,' the people of Egypt; 'Sheba and Dedan,' or certain of the Southern Arabs; and 'Nimrod,' or the ancient people of Babylon, four races between which the latest linguistic researches have established a close affinity" (Rawlinson's Hist. Illustrations).

splendid. (1.) The king of Lachish, who joined in the confederacy against Joshua ( ), and was defeated and slain. In one of the Amarna tablets he speaks of himself as king of Gezer. Called also Horam ( ).
(2.) One of the sons of David ( ), born in Jerusalem.
(3.) A town in the southern boundary of Zebulum ( ); now Yafa, 2 miles south-west of Nazareth.

beauty, a sea-port in Dan ( ); called Joppa (q.v.) in and in New Testament.

descent. (1.) The fourth antediluvian patriarch in descent from Seth ( ), the father of Enoch; called Jered in .
(2.) A son of Ezra probably ( ).

an adversary. (1.) A son of Simeon ( ).
(2.) One of the chiefs sent by Ezra to bring up the priests to Jerusalem ( ).
(3.) .

height. (1.) A town in the plain of Judah ( ), originally the residence of one of the Canaanitish kings (10:3, 5, 23). It has been identified with the modern Yarmuk, a village about 7 miles north-east of Beit-Jibrin.
(2.) A Levitical city of the tribe of Issachar ( ), supposed by some to be the Ramah of Samuel ( ).

sleeping, called also Hashem ( ); a person, several of whose sons were in David's body-guard ( ).

upright. "The Book of Jasher," rendered in the LXX. "the Book of the Upright One," by the Vulgate "the Book of Just Ones," was probably a kind of national sacred song-book, a collection of songs in praise of the heroes of Israel, a "book of golden deeds," a national anthology. We have only two specimens from the book, (1) the words of Joshua which he spake to the Lord at the crisis of the battle of Beth-horon ( , 13); and (2) "the Song of the Bow," that beautiful and touching mournful elegy which David composed on the occasion of the death of Saul and Jonathan ( ).

dweller among the people; or to whom the people turn, the Hachmonite ( ), one of David's chief heroes who joined him at Ziklag (12:6). He was the first of the three who broke through the host of the Philistines to fetch water to David from the well of Bethlehem ( ). He is also called Adino the Eznite (8).

returner. (1.) The third of Issachar's four sons ( ); called also Job ( ).
(2.) .

he that will cure, the host of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica. The Jews assaulted his house in order to seize Paul, but failing to find him, they dragged Jason before the ruler of the city ( ). He was apparently one of the kinsmen of Paul ( ), and accompanied him from Thessalonica to Corinth.

(Heb. yashpheh, "glittering"), a gem of various colours, one of the twelve inserted in the high priest's breast-plate ( ). It is named in the building of the New Jerusalem ( , 19). It was "most precious," "clear as crystal" (21:11). It was emblematic of the glory of God (4:3).

pre-eminent, a city in the mountains of Judah ( 21:14).

(1.) The fourth "son" of Japheth ( ), whose descendants settled in Greece, i.e., Ionia, which bears the name of Javan in Hebrew. Alexander the Great is called the "king of Javan" (rendered "Grecia," 10:20; comp. 11:2; ). This word was universally used by the nations of the East as the generic name of the Greek race.
(2.) A town or district of Arabia Felix, from which the Syrians obtained iron, cassia, and calamus ( ).

(1.) Heb. hanith, a lance, from its flexibility ( , 11; 19:9, 10; 20:33).
(2.) Heb. romah, a lance for heavy-armed troops, so called from its piercing ( ). (See ARMS.)

of an ass afforded Samson a weapon for the great slaughter of the Philistines ( .15), in which he slew a thousand men. In verse 19 the Authorized Version reads, "God clave a hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout." This is a mis-translation of the words. The rendering should be as in the Revised Version, "God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi," etc., Lehi (q.v.) being the name of the hill where this conflict was waged, possibly so called because it was in shape like a jaw-bone.

suspicion of a wife's purity, one of the strongest passions ( Cant. 8:6); also an intense interest for another's honour or prosperity ( ).

the name of the offering the husband was to bring when he charged his wife with adultery ( ).

an idolatrous object, seen in vision by Ezekiel ( , 5), which stood in the priests' or inner court of the temple. Probably identical with the statue of Astarte ( ).

water which the suspected wife was required to drink, so that the result might prove her guilt or innocence ( , 27). We have no record of this form of trial having been actually resorted to.

forests, a mountain on the border of Judah ( ).

trodden hard, or fastness, or "the waterless hill", the name of the Canaanitish city which stood on Mount Zion ( 18:16, 28). It is identified with Jerusalem (q.v.) in , and with the castle or city of David ( ,5). It was a place of great natural strength, and its capture was one of David's most brilliant achievements ( ).

the name of the original inhabitants of Jebus, mentioned frequently among the seven nations doomed to destruction ( 15:21; , 17; 13:5, etc.). At the time of the arrival of the Israelites in Palestine they were ruled by Adonizedek ( , 23). They were defeated by Joshua, and their king was slain; but they were not entirely driven out of Jebus till the time of David, who made it the capital of his kingdom instead of Hebron. The site on which the temple was afterwards built belonged to Araunah, a Jebusite, from whom it was purchased by David, who refused to accept it as a free gift ( , 25).

able through Jehovah, the wife of King Amaziah, and mother of King Uzziah ( ).

(1.) Invoker of Jehovah. The son of Shimri, a chief Simeonite ( ).
(2.) One of those who repaired the walls of Jerusalem after the return from Babylon ( ).
(3.) Knowing Jehovah. The chief of one of the courses of the priests ( ).
(4.) A priest in Jerusalem after the Exile ( ).

known by God. (1.) One of the sons of Benjamin, whose descendants numbered 17,200 warriors ( , 10, 11).
(2.) A Shimrite, one of David's bodyguard ( ). Probably same as in 12:20.
(3.) A Korhite of the family of Ebiasaph, and one of the gate-keepers to the temple ( ).

beloved by Jehovah, the name which, by the mouth of Nathan, the Lord gave to Solomon at his birth as a token of the divine favour ( ).

lauder; praising, a Levite of the family of Merari, and one of the three masters of music appointed by David ( , 42; 25:1-6). He is called in "the king's seer." His descendants are mentioned as singers and players on instruments ( ). He was probably the same as Ethan ( , 19). In the superscriptions to , 62, and 77, the words "upon Jeduthun" probably denote a musical instrument; or they may denote the style or tune invented or introduced by Jeduthun, or that the psalm was to be sung by his choir.

pile of testimony, the Aramaic or Syriac name which Laban gave to the pile of stones erected as a memorial of the covenant between him and Jacob ( ), who, however, called it in Hebrew by an equivalent name, Galeed (q.v.).

praiser of God. (1.) A descendant of Judah ( ).
(2.) A Levite of the family of Merari ( ).

rejoicer in Jehovah. (1.) One of the Levitical attendants at the temple, a descendant of Shubael ( ).
(2.) A Meronothite, herdsman of the asses under David and Solomon ( ).

God's living one. (1.) The father of Gibeon ( ).
(2.) One of David's guard ( ).
(3.) One of the Levites "of the second degree," appointed to conduct the music on the occasion of the ark's being removed to Jerusalem ( , 20).
(4.) A Hachmonite, a tutor in the family of David toward the close of his reign ( ).
(5.) The second of Jehoshaphat's six sons ( ).
(6.) One of the Levites of the family of Heman who assisted Hezekiah in his work of reformation ( ).
(7.) A "prince" and "ruler of the house of God" who contributed liberally to the renewal of the temple sacrifices under Josiah ( ).
(8.) The father of Obadiah ( ).
(9.) One of the "sons" of Elam ( ).
(10.) .

Jehovah strengthens, one of the chiefs of Ephraim ( ).

Jehovah his ornament, the wife of King Jehoash, and mother of King Amaziah ( ).

Jehovah his sustainer, or he whom Jehovah holdeth. (1.) The youngest son of Jehoram, king of Judah ( 22:1, 6, 8, 9); usually Ahaziah (q.v.).
(2.) The son and successor of Jehu, king of Israel ( ). He reigned seventeen years, and followed the evil ways of the house of Jeroboam. The Syrians, under Hazael and Benhadad, prevailed over him, but were at length driven out of the land by his son Jehoash (13:1-9, 25).
(3.) Josiah's third son, usually called Shallum ( ). He succeeded his father on the throne, and reigned over Judah for three months ( , 34). He fell into the idolatrous ways of his predecessors (23:32), was deposed by Pharaoh-Necho from the throne, and carried away prisoner into Egypt, where he died in captivity (23:33, 34; ).

Jehovah-given. (1.) The son of King Ahaziah. While yet an infant, he was saved from the general massacre of the family by his aunt Jehosheba, and was apparently the only surviving descendant of Solomon ( , 17). His uncle, the high priest Jehoiada, brought him forth to public notice when he was eight years of age, and crowned and anointed him king of Judah with the usual ceremonies. Athaliah was taken by surprise when she heard the shout of the people, "Long live the king;" and when she appeared in the temple, Jehoiada commanded her to be led forth to death ( ). While the high priest lived, Jehoash favoured the worship of God and observed the law; but on his death he fell away into evil courses, and the land was defiled with idolatry. Zechariah, the son and successor of the high priest, was put to death. These evil deeds brought down on the land the judgement of God, and it was oppressed by the Syrian invaders. He is one of the three kings omitted by Matthew (1:8) in the genealogy of Christ, the other two being Ahaziah and Amaziah. He was buried in the city of David ( ). (See JOASH [4].)
(2.) The son and successor of Jehoahaz, king of Israel ( comp. 12:1; 13:10). When he ascended the throne the kingdom was suffering from the invasion of the Syrians. Hazael "was cutting Israel short." He tolerated the worship of the golden calves, yet seems to have manifested a character of sincere devotion to the God of his fathers. He held the prophet Elisha in honour, and wept by his bedside when he was dying, addressing him in the words Elisha himself had used when Elijah was carried up into heaven: "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof." He was afterwards involved in war with Amaziah, the king of Judah ( ), whom he utterly defeated at Beth-shemesh, on the borders of Dan and Philistia, and advancing on Jerusalem, broke down a portion of the wall, and carried away the treasures of the temple and the palace. He soon after died (B.C. 825), and was buried in Samaria ( , 19, 20). He was succeeded by his son. (See JOASH [5.].)

Jehovah-granted, Jeroboam II. (1.) A Korhite, the head of one of the divisions of the temple porters ( ).
(2.) One of Jehoshaphat's "captains" ( ).
(3.) The father of Azariah ( ).
(4.) The son of Tobiah, an enemy of the Jews ( ).
(5.) .
(6.) .

succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days ( ). He is also called Jeconiah ( 27:20, etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1). He was succeeded by his uncle, Mattaniah = Zedekiah (q.v.). He was the last direct heir to the Jewish crown. He was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with the flower of the nobility, all the leading men in Jerusalem, and a great body of the general population, some thirteen thousand in all ( ). After an imprisonment of thirty-seven years ( , 33), he was liberated by Evil-merodach, and permitted to occupy a place in the king's household and sit at his table, receiving "every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life" (52:32-34).

Jehovah-known. (1.) The father of Benaiah, who was one of David's chief warriors ( 20:23).
(2.) The high priest at the time of Athaliah's usurpation of the throne of Judah. He married Jehosheba, or Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram ( ), and took an active part along with his wife in the preservation and training of Jehoash when Athaliah slew all the royal family of Judah.
The plans he adopted in replacing Jehoash on the throne of his ancestors are described in 12:2; 23:24. He was among the foremost of the benefactors of the kingdom, and at his death was buried in the city of David among the kings of Judah ( , 16). He is said to have been one hundred and thirty years old.

he whom Jehovah has set up, the second son of Josiah, and eighteenth king of Judah, which he ruled over for eleven years (B.C. 610-599). His original name was Eliakim (q.v.).
On the death of his father his younger brother Jehoahaz (=Shallum, ), who favoured the Chaldeans against the Egyptians, was made king by the people; but the king of Egypt, Pharaoh-necho, invaded the land and deposed Jehoahaz ( , 34; ), setting Eliakim on the throne in his stead, and changing his name to Jehoiakim.
After this the king of Egypt took no part in Jewish politics, having been defeated by the Chaldeans at Carchemish ( ). Palestine was now invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim was taken prisoner and carried captive to Babylon ( , 7). It was at this time that Daniel also and his three companions were taken captive to Babylon ( , 2).
Nebuchadnezzar reinstated Jehoiakim on his throne, but treated him as a vassal king. In the year after this, Jeremiah caused his prophecies to be read by Baruch in the court of the temple. Jehoiakim, hearing of this, had them also read in the royal palace before himself. The words displeased him, and taking the roll from the hands of Baruch he cut it in pieces and threw it into the fire ( ). During his disastrous reign there was a return to the old idolatry and corruption of the days of Manasseh.
After three years of subjection to Babylon, Jehoiakim withheld his tribute and threw off the yoke ( ), hoping to make himself independent. Nebuchadnezzar sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, and Ammonites ( ) to chastise his rebellious vassal. They cruelly harassed the whole country (comp. ). The king came to a violent death, and his body having been thrown over the wall of Jerusalem, to convince the beseieging army that he was dead, after having been dragged away, was buried beyond the gates of Jerusalem "with the burial of an ass," B.C. 599 ( , 19; 36:30). Nebuchadnezzar placed his son Jehoiachin on the throne, wishing still to retain the kingdom of Judah as tributary to him.

Jehovah defends, a priest at Jerusalem, head of one of the sacerdotal courses ( 24:7). His "course" went up from Babylon after the Exile ( ).

Jehovah is liberal; or, whom Jehovah impels. (1.) A son of Shimeah, and nephew of David. It was he who gave the fatal wicked advice to Amnon, the heir to the throne ( ). He was very "subtil," but unprincipled.
(2.) A son of Rechab, the founder of a tribe who bound themselves by a vow to abstain from wine ( ). There were different settlements of Rechabites ( 4:11; ). (See RECHABITE.) His interview and alliance with Jehu are mentioned in . He went with Jehu in his chariot to Samaria.

whom Jehovah gave. (1.) One of the stewards of David's store-houses ( ).
(2.) A Levite who taught the law to the people of Judah ( ).
(3.) .

Jehovah-exalted. (1.) Son of Toi, king of Hamath, sent by his father to congratulate David on the occasion of his victory over Hadadezer ( ).
(2.) A Levite of the family of Gershom ( ).
(3.) A priest sent by Jehoshaphat to instructruct the people in Judah ( ).
(4.) The son of Ahab and Jezebel, and successor to his brother Ahaziah on the throne of Israel. He reigned twelve years, B.C. 896-884 ( 3:1). His first work was to reduce to subjection the Moabites, who had asserted their independence in the reign of his brother. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, assisted Jehoram in this effort. He was further helped by his ally the king of Edom. Elisha went forth with the confederated army ( ), and at the solicitation of Jehoshaphat encouraged the army with the assurance from the Lord of a speedy victory. The Moabites under Mesha their king were utterly routed and their cities destroyed. At Kir-haraseth Mesha made a final stand. The Israelites refrained from pressing their victory further, and returned to their own land.
Elisha afterwards again befriended Jehoram when a war broke out between the Syrians and Israel, and in a remarkable way brought that war to a bloodless close ( ). But Jehoram, becoming confident in his own power, sank into idolatry, and brought upon himself and his land another Syrian invasion, which led to great suffering and distress in Samaria ( ). By a remarkable providential interposition the city was saved from utter destruction, and the Syrians were put to flight ( ).
Jehoram was wounded in a battle with the Syrians at Ramah, and obliged to return to Jezreel ( 9:14, 15), and soon after the army proclaimed their leader Jehu king of Israel, and revolted from their allegiance to Jehoram ( ). Jehoram was pierced by an arrow from Jehu's bow on the piece of ground at Jezreel which Ahab had taken from Naboth, and there he died ( ).
(5.) The eldest son and successor of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He reigned eight years (B.C. 892-885) alone as king of Judah, having been previously for some years associated with his father ( , 20; ). His wife was Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. His daughter Jehosheba was married to the high priest Jehoiada. He sank into gross idolatry, and brought upon himself and his kingdom the anger of Jehovah. The Edomites revolted from under his yoke, and the Philistines and the Arabians and Cushites invaded the land, and carried away great spoil, along with Jehoram's wives and all his children, except Ahaziah. He died a painful death from a fearful malady, and was refused a place in the sepulchre of the kings ( ).

Jehovah-judged. (1.) One of David's body-guard ( ).
(2.) One of the priests who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( ).
(3.) Son of Ahilud, "recorder" or annalist under David and Solomon ( ), a state officer of high rank, chancellor or vizier of the kingdom.
(4.) Solomon's purveyor in Issachar ( ).
(5.) The son and successor of Asa, king of Judah. After fortifying his kingdom against Israel ( , 2), he set himself to cleanse the land of idolatry ( ). In the third year of his reign he sent out priests and Levites over the land to instruct the people in the law ( ). He enjoyed a great measure of peace and prosperity, the blessing of God resting on the people "in their basket and their store."
The great mistake of his reign was his entering into an alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel, which involved him in much disgrace, and brought disaster on his kingdom ( ). Escaping from the bloody battle of Ramoth-gilead, the prophet Jehu ( ) reproached him for the course he had been pursuing, whereupon he entered with rigour on his former course of opposition to all idolatry, and of deepening interest in the worship of God and in the righteous government of the people ( ).
Again he entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. But the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-gaber was speedily wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the co-operation of the king of Israel, and although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted ( ).
He subsequently joined Jehoram, king of Israel, in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful. The Moabites were subdued; but the dreadful act of Mesha in offering his own son a sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth in the sight of the armies of Israel filled him with horror, and he withdrew and returned to his own land ( ).
The last most notable event of his reign was that recorded in . The Moabites formed a great and powerful confederacy with the surrounding nations, and came against Jehoshaphat. The allied forces were encamped at Engedi. The king and his people were filled with alarm, and betook themselves to God in prayer. The king prayed in the court of the temple, "O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us." Amid the silence that followed, the voice of Jahaziel the Levite was heard announcing that on the morrow all this great host would be overthrown. So it was, for they quarrelled among themselves, and slew one another, leaving to the people of Judah only to gather the rich spoils of the slain. This was recognized as a great deliverance wrought for them by God (B.C. 890). Soon after this Jehoshaphat died, after a reign of twenty-five years, being sixty years of age, and was succeeded by his son Jehoram ( ). He had this testimony, that "he sought the Lord with all his heart" ( ). The kingdom of Judah was never more prosperous than under his reign.
(6.) The son of Nimshi, and father of Jehu, king of Israel ( , 14).

mentioned in Scripture only in , 12. This is the name given in modern times to the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and the Kidron flows through it. Here Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederated enemies of Israel ( ); and in this valley also God was to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, etc. ( , 19), with an utter overthrow. This has been fulfilled; but Joel speaks of the final conflict, when God would destroy all Jerusalem's enemies, of whom Tyre and Zidon, etc., were types. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" may therefore be simply regarded as a general term for the theatre of God's final judgments on the enemies of Israel.
This valley has from ancient times been used by the Jews as a burial-ground. It is all over paved with flat stones as tombstones, bearing on them Hebrew inscriptions.

Jehovah-swearing, the daughter of Jehoram, the king of Israel. She is called Jehoshabeath in . She was the only princess of the royal house who was married to a high priest, Jehoiada ( ).

the special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord [adonai]) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews ( , 3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice was founded on a false interpretation of . The meaning of the word appears from to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a convenant-keeping God. (Comp. Mal. 3:6; , 8.)
The Hebrew name "Jehovah" is generally translated in the Authorized Version (and the Revised Version has not departed from this rule) by the word LORD printed in small capitals, to distinguish it from the rendering of the Hebrew _Adonai_ and the Greek _Kurios_, which are also rendered Lord, but printed in the usual type. The Hebrew word is translated "Jehovah" only in 26:4, and in the compound names mentioned below.
It is worthy of notice that this name is never used in the LXX., the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, or in the New Testament. It is found, however, on the "Moabite stone" (q.v.), and consequently it must have been in the days of Mesba so commonly pronounced by the Hebrews as to be familiar to their heathen neighbours.

Jehovah will see; i.e., will provide, the name given by Abraham to the scene of his offering up the ram which was caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah. The expression used in , "in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen," has been regarded as equivalent to the saying, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."

Jehovah my banner, the title given by Moses to the altar which he erected on the hill on the top of which he stood with uplifted hands while Israel prevailed over their enemies the Amalekites ( ).

Jehovah send peace, the name which Gideon gave to the altar he erected on the spot at Ophrah where the angel appeared to him ( ).

Jehovah is there, the symbolical title given by Ezekiel to Jerusalem, which was seen by him in vision ( ). It was a type of the gospel Church.

Jehovah our rightousness, rendered in the Authorized Version, "The LORD our righteousness," a title given to the Messiah ( , marg.), and also to Jerusalem (33:16, marg.).

Jehovah-given. (1.) The son of Obed-edom ( ), one of the Levite porters.
(2.) The son of Shomer, one of the two conspirators who put king Jehoash to death in Millo in Jerusalem ( ).
(3.) .

Jehovah-justified, the son of the high priest Seraiah at the time of the Babylonian exile ( , 15). He was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and probably died in Babylon. He was the father of Jeshua, or Joshua, who returned with Zerubbabel.

Jehovah is he. (1.) The son of Obed, and father of Azariah ( ).
(2.) One of the Benjamite slingers that joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(3.) The son of Hanani, a prophet of Judah ( , 7; 20:34), who pronounced the sentence of God against Baasha, the king of Israel.
(4.) King of Israel, the son of Jehoshaphat ( ), and grandson of Nimshi. The story of his exaltation to the throne is deeply interesting. During the progress of a war against the Syrians, who were becoming more and more troublesome to Israel, in a battle at Ramoth-gilead Jehoram, the king of Israel, had been wounded; and leaving his army there, had returned to Jezreel, whither his ally, Ahaziah, king of Judah, had also gone on a visit of sympathy with him ( , 29). The commanders, being left in charge of the conduct of the war, met in council; and while engaged in their deliberations, a messenger from Elisha appeared in the camp, and taking Jehu from the council, led him into a secret chamber, and there anointed him king over Israel, and immediately retired and disappeared ( , 6). On being interrogated by his companions as to the object of this mysterious visitor, he informed them of what had been done, when immediately, with the utmost enthusiasm, they blew their trumpets and proclaimed him king ( ). He then with a chosen band set forth with all speed to Jezreel, where, with his own hand, he slew Jehoram, shooting him through the heart with an arrow (9:24). The king of Judah, when trying to escape, was fatally wounded by one of Jehu's soldiers at Beth-gan. On entering the city, Jehu commanded the eunchs of the royal palace to cast down Jezebel into the street, where her mangled body was trodden under foot by the horses. Jehu was now master of Jezreel, whence he communicated with the persons in authority in Samaria the capital, commanding them to appear before him on the morrow with the heads of all the royal princes of Samaria. Accordingly on the morrow seventy heads were piled up in two heaps at his gate. At "the shearing-house" ( ) other forty-two connected with the house of Ahab were put to death ( ). As Jehu rode on toward Samaria, he met Jehonadab (q.v.), whom he took into his chariot, and they entered the capital together. By a cunning stratagem he cut off all the worshippers of Baal found in Samaria ( ), and destroyed the temple of the idol ( ).
Notwithstanding all this apparent zeal for the worship of Jehovah, Jehu yet tolerated the worship of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. For this the divine displeasure rested upon him, and his kingdom suffered disaster in war with the Syrians ( ). He died after a reign of twenty-eight years (B.C. 884-856), and was buried in Samaria (10:34-36). "He was one of those decisive, terrible, and ambitious, yet prudent, calculating, and passionless men whom God from time to time raises up to change the fate of empires and execute his judgments on the earth." He was the first Jewish king who came in contact with the Assyrian power in the time of Shalmaneser II.

able, the son of Shelemiah. He is also called Jucal ( ). He was one of the two persons whom Zedekiah sent to request the prophet Jeremiah to pray for the kingdom ( ) during the time of its final siege by Nebuchadnezzar. He was accompanied by Zephaniah (q.v.).

a Jew, son of Nethaniah. He was sent by the princes to invite Baruch to read Jeremiah's roll to them ( , 21).

snatched away by God. (1.) A descendant of Benjamin ( 8:29).
(2.) One of the Levites who took part in praising God on the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( ).
(3.) . A Levite of the sons of Asaph.
(4.) . A scribe.
(5.) . A Reubenite chief.
(6.) One of the chief Levites, who made an offering for the restoration of the Passover by Josiah ( ).
(7.) .
(8.) .

dove, the eldest of Job's three daughters born after his time of trial ( ).

whom God sets free, or the breaker through, a "mighty man of valour" who delivered Israel from the oppression of the Ammonites ( ), and judged Israel six years (12:7). He has been described as "a wild, daring, Gilead mountaineer, a sort of warrior Elijah." After forty-five years of comparative quiet Israel again apostatized, and in "process of time the children of Ammon made war against Israel" (11:5). In their distress the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob, to which he had fled when driven out wrongfully by his brothers from his father's inheritance (2), and the people made him their head and captain. The "elders of Gilead" in their extremity summoned him to their aid, and he at once undertook the conduct of the war against Ammon. Twice he sent an embassy to the king of Ammon, but in vain. War was inevitable. The people obeyed his summons, and "the spirit of the Lord came upon him." Before engaging in war he vowed that if successful he would offer as a "burnt-offering" whatever would come out of the door of his house first to meet him on his return. The defeat of the Ammonites was complete. "He smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards [Heb. 'Abel Keramim], with a very great slaughter" ( ). The men of Ephraim regarded themselves as insulted in not having been called by Jephthah to go with him to war against Ammon. This led to a war between the men of Gilead and Ephraim (12:4), in which many of the Ephraimites perished. (See SHIBBOLETH.) "Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead" (7).

( , 31). After a crushing defeat of the Ammonites, Jephthah returned to his own house, and the first to welcome him was his own daughter. This was a terrible blow to the victor, and in his despair he cried out, "Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low...I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and cannot go back." With singular nobleness of spirit she answered, "Do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth." She only asked two months to bewail her maidenhood with her companions upon the mountains. She utters no reproach against her father's rashness, and is content to yield her life since her father has returned a conqueror. But was it so? Did Jephthah offer up his daughter as a "burnt-offering"? This question has been much debated, and there are many able commentators who argue that such a sacrifice was actually offered. We are constrained, however, by a consideration of Jephthah's known piety as a true worshipper of Jehovah, his evident acquaintance with the law of Moses, to which such sacrifices were abhorrent ( 20:2-5; ), and the place he holds in the roll of the heroes of the faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:32), to conclude that she was only doomed to a life of perpetual celibacy.

nimble, or a beholder. (1.) The father of Caleb, who was Joshua's companion in exploring Canaan ( ), a Kenezite ( ). (2.) One of the descendants of Asher ( ).

loving God. (1.) The son of Hezron, the brother of Caleb ( , 25, 26, etc.).
(2.) The son of Kish, a Levite ( ).
(3.) Son of Hammelech ( ).

raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness ( ).
(2.) A Gadite warrior ( ).
(3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(4.) One of the chiefs of the tribe of Manasseh on the east of Jordan ( ).
(5.) The father of Hamutal ( ), the wife of Josiah.
(6.) One of the "greater prophets" of the Old Testament, son of Hilkiah (q.v.), a priest of Anathoth ( 32:6). He was called to the prophetical office when still young (1:6), in the thirteenth year of Josiah (B.C. 628). He left his native place, and went to reside in Jerusalem, where he greatly assisted Josiah in his work of reformation ( ). The death of this pious king was bewailed by the prophet as a national calamity ( ).
During the three years of the reign of Jehoahaz we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the enmity of the people against him broke out in bitter persecution, and he was placed apparently under restraint ( ). In the fourth year of Jehoiakim he was commanded to write the predictions given to him, and to read them to the people on the fast-day. This was done by Baruch his servant in his stead, and produced much public excitement. The roll was read to the king. In his recklessness he seized the roll, and cut it to pieces, and cast it into the fire, and ordered both Baruch and Jeremiah to be apprehended. Jeremiah procured another roll, and wrote in it the words of the roll the king had destroyed, and "many like words" besides ( ).
He remained in Jerusalem, uttering from time to time his words of warning, but without effect. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city ( , 5), B.C. 589. The rumour of the approach of the Egyptians to aid the Jews in this crisis induced the Chaldeans to withdraw and return to their own land. This, however, was only for a time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God announcing that the Chaldeans would come again and take the city, and burn it with fire (37:7, 8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (B.C. 588). The Chaldeans released him, and showed him great kindness, allowing him to choose the place of his residence. He accordingly went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea. Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, and refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, went down into Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with him ( ). There probably the prophet spent the remainder of his life, in vain seeking still to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long revolted (44). He lived till the reign of Evil-Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and must have been about ninety years of age at his death. We have no authentic record of his death. He may have died at Tahpanhes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar; but of this there is nothing certain.

consists of twenty-three separate and independent sections, arranged in five books. I. The introduction, ch. 1. II. Reproofs of the sins of the Jews, consisting of seven sections, (1.) ch. 2; (2.) ch. 3-6; (3.) ch. 7-10; (4.) ch. 11-13; (5.) ch. 14-17:18; (6.) ch. 17:19-ch. 20; (7.) ch. 21-24. III. A general review of all nations, in two sections, (1.) ch. 46-49; (2.) ch. 25; with an historical appendix of three sections, (1.) ch. 26; (2.) ch. 27; (3.) ch. 28, 29. IV. Two sections picturing the hopes of better times, (1.) ch. 30, 31; (2.) ch. 32,33; to which is added an historical appendix in three sections, (1.) ch. 34:1-7; (2.) ch. 34:8-22; (3.) ch. 35. V. The conclusion, in two sections, (1.) ch. 36; (2.) ch. 45.
In Egypt, after an interval, Jeremiah is supposed to have added three sections, viz., ch. 37-39; 40-43; and 44.
The principal Messianic prophecies are found in 23:1-8; 31:31-40; and 33:14-26.
Jeremiah's prophecies are noted for the frequent repetitions found in them of the same words and phrases and imagery. They cover the period of about 30 years. They are not recorded in the order of time. When and under what circumstances this book assumed its present form we know not.
The LXX. Version of this book is, in its arrangement and in other particulars, singularly at variance with the original. The LXX. omits 10:6-8; 27:19-22; 29:16-20; 33:14-26; 39:4-13; 52:2, 3, 15, 28-30, etc. About 2,700 words in all of the original are omitted. These omissions, etc., are capricious and arbitrary, and render the version unreliable.

place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites ( ). Its site was near the 'Ain es-Sultan, Elisha's Fountain ( ), about 5 miles west of Jordan. It was the most important city in the Jordan valley ( 34:15), and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. It was the key to Western Palestine.
This city was taken in a very remarkable manner by the Israelites ( ). God gave it into their hands. The city was "accursed" (Heb. herem, "devoted" to Jehovah), and accordingly ( comp. , 29; ) all the inhabitants and all the spoil of the city were to be destroyed, "only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron" were reserved and "put into the treasury of the house of Jehovah" ( comp. , 23, 50-54). Only Rahab "and her father's household, and all that she had," were preserved from destruction, according to the promise of the spies ( ). In one of the Amarna tablets Adoni-zedec (q.v.) writes to the king of Egypt informing him that the 'Abiri (Hebrews) had prevailed, and had taken the fortress of Jericho, and were plundering "all the king's lands." It would seem that the Egyptian troops had before this been withdrawn from Palestine.
This city was given to the tribe of Benjamin ( ), and it was inhabited in the time of the Judges ( ). It is not again mentioned till the time of David ( ). "Children of Jericho" were among the captives who returned under Zerubbabel ). Hiel (q.v.) the Bethelite attempted to make it once more a fortified city ( ). Between the beginning and the end of his undertaking all his children were cut off.
In New Testament times Jericho stood some distance to the south-east of the ancient one, and near the opening of the valley of Achor. It was a rich and flourishing town, having a considerable trade, and celebrated for the palm trees which adorned the plain around. It was visited by our Lord on his last journey to Jerusalem. Here he gave sight to two blind men ( ), and brought salvation to the house of Zacchaeus the publican ( ).
The poor hamlet of er-Riha, the representative of modern Jericho, is situated some two miles farther to the east. It is in a ruinous condition, having been destroyed by the Turks in 1840. "The soil of the plain," about the middle of which the ancient city stood, "is unsurpassed in fertility; there is abundance of water for irrigation, and many of the old aqueducts are almost perfect; yet nearly the whole plain is waste and desolate...The climate of Jericho is exceedingly hot and unhealthy. This is accounted for by the depression of the plain, which is about 1,200 feet below the level of the sea."
There were three different Jerichos, on three different sites, the Jericho of Joshua, the Jericho of Herod, and the Jericho of the Crusades. Er-Riha, the modern Jericho, dates from the time of the Crusades. Dr. Bliss has found in a hollow scooped out for some purpose or other near the foot of the biggest mound above the Sultan's Spring specimens of Amorite or pre-Israelitish pottery precisely identical with what he had discovered on the site of ancient Lachish. He also traced in this place for a short distance a mud brick wall in situ, which he supposes to be the very wall that fell before the trumpets of Joshua. The wall is not far from the foot of the great precipice of Quarantania and its numerous caverns, and the spies of Joshua could easily have fled from the city and been speedily hidden in these fastnesses.

heights. (1.) One of the sons of Bela ( ).
(2.) , a Merarite Levite.
(3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(4.) A Levitical musician under Heman his father ( ).
(5.) , ruler of Naphtali.
(6.) One of David's sons ( ).
(7.) A Levite, one of the overseers of the temple offerings ( ) in the reign of Hezekiah.

increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat ( ), "an Ephrathite," the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of Zereda, and while still young was promoted by Solomon to be chief superintendent of the "burnden", i.e., of the bands of forced labourers. Influenced by the words of the prophet Ahijah, he began to form conspiracies with the view of becoming king of the ten tribes; but these having been discovered, he fled to Egypt ( ), where he remained for a length of time under the protection of Shishak I. On the death of Solomon, the ten tribes, having revolted, sent to invite him to become their king. The conduct of Rehoboam favoured the designs of Jeroboam, and he was accordingly proclaimed "king of Israel" ( 1-20). He rebuilt and fortified Shechem as the capital of his kingdom. He at once adopted means to perpetuate the division thus made between the two parts of the kingdom, and erected at Dan and Bethel, the two extremities of his kingdom, "golden calves," which he set up as symbols of Jehovah, enjoining the people not any more to go up to worship at Jerusalem, but to bring their offerings to the shrines he had erected. Thus he became distinguished as the man "who made Israel to sin." This policy was followed by all the succeeding kings of Israel.
While he was engaged in offering incense at Bethel, a prophet from Judah appeared before him with a warning message from the Lord. Attempting to arrest the prophet for his bold words of defiance, his hand was "dried up," and the altar before which he stood was rent asunder. At his urgent entreaty his "hand was restored him again" ( , 9; comp. ); but the miracle made no abiding impression on him. His reign was one of constant war with the house of Judah. He died soon after his son Abijah ( ).
(2.) Jeroboam II., the son and successor of Jehoash, and the fourteenth king of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years, B.C. 825-784 ( ). He followed the example of the first Jeroboam in keeping up the worship of the golden calves ( ). His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah ( ) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah. He was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and extended Israel to its former limits, from "the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain" (14:25; ). His reign of forty-one years was the most prosperous that Israel had ever known as yet. With all this outward prosperity, however, iniquity widely prevailed in the land ( 4:1; 6:6; ). The prophets Hosea (1:1), Joel (3:16; , 2), Amos (1:1), and Jonah ( ) lived during his reign. He died, and was buried with his ancestors (14:29). He was succeeded by his son Zachariah (q.v.).
His name occurs in Scripture only in 14:16, 23, 27, 28, 29; 15:1, 8; 7:9, 10, 11. In all other passages it is Jeroboam the son of Nebat that is meant.

cherished; who finds mercy. (1.) Father of Elkanah, and grandfather of the prophet Samuel ( ).
(2.) The father of Azareel, the "captain" of the tribe of Dan ( ).
(3.) a Benjamite.
(4.) one whose son assisted in placing Joash on the throne.
(5.) a Benjamite.
(6.) a priest, perhaps the same as in .

contender with Baal; or, let Baal plead, a surname of Gideon; a name given to him because he destroyed the altar of Baal ( 7:1; 8:29; ).

contender with the shame; i.e., idol, a surname also of Gideon ( ).

founded by God, a "desert" on the ascent from the valley of the Dead Sea towards Jerusalem. It lay beyond the wilderness of Tekoa, in the direction of Engedi ( , 20). It corresponds with the tract of country now called el-Hasasah.

called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the "holy city;" by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning "the holy;" once "the city of Judah" ( ). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means "possession of peace," or "foundation of peace." The dual form probably refers to the two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose, to the two parts of the city, the "upper" and the "lower city." Jerusalem is a "mountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness" (comp. , 16; 87:1; 125:2; 76:1, 2; 122:3). It stands on the edge of one of the highest table-lands in Palestine, and is surrounded on the south-eastern, the southern, and the western sides by deep and precipitous ravines.
It is first mentioned in Scripture under the name Salem ( comp. ). When first mentioned under the name Jerusalem, Adonizedek was its king ( ). It is afterwards named among the cities of Benjamin ( ); but in the time of David it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. After the death of Joshua the city was taken and set on fire by the men of Judah ( ); but the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. The city is not again mentioned till we are told that David brought the head of Goliath thither ( ). David afterwards led his forces against the Jebusites still residing within its walls, and drove them out, fixing his own dwelling on Zion, which he called "the city of David" ( ). Here he built an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite ( ), and thither he brought up the ark of the covenant and placed it in the new tabernacle which he had prepared for it. Jerusalem now became the capital of the kingdom.
After the death of David, Solomon built the temple, a house for the name of the Lord, on Mount Moriah (B.C. 1010). He also greatly strengthened and adorned the city, and it became the great centre of all the civil and religious affairs of the nation ( comp. 12:14; 14:23; 16:11-16; ).
After the disruption of the kingdom on the accession to the throne of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of the two tribes. It was subsequently often taken and retaken by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and by the kings of Israel ( , 14; 18:15, 16; 23:33-35; 24:14; 26:9; 27:3, 4; 29:3; 32:30; 33:11), till finally, for the abounding iniquities of the nation, after a siege of three years, it was taken and utterly destroyed, its walls razed to the ground, and its temple and palaces consumed by fire, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon ( ), B.C. 588. The desolation of the city and the land was completed by the retreat of the principal Jews into Egypt ( ), and by the final carrying captive into Babylon of all that still remained in the land (52:3), so that it was left without an inhabitant (B.C. 582). Compare the predictions, .
But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times ( , 19, 25), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, "in the first year of Cyrus" ( , 3, 5-11). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the history of the re-building of the city and temple, and the restoration of the kingdom of the Jews, consisting of a portion of all the tribes. The kingdom thus constituted was for two centuries under the dominion of Persia, till B.C. 331; and thereafter, for about a century and a half, under the rulers of the Greek empire in Asia, till B.C. 167. For a century the Jews maintained their independence under native rulers, the Asmonean princes. At the close of this period they fell under the rule of Herod and of members of his family, but practically under Rome, till the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The city was then laid in ruins.
The modern Jerusalem by-and-by began to be built over the immense beds of rubbish resulting from the overthrow of the ancient city; and whilst it occupies certainly the same site, there are no evidences that even the lines of its streets are now what they were in the ancient city. Till A.D. 131 the Jews who still lingered about Jerusalem quietly submitted to the Roman sway. But in that year the emperor (Hadrian), in order to hold them in subjection, rebuilt and fortified the city. The Jews, however, took possession of it, having risen under the leadership of one Bar-Chohaba (i.e., "the son of the star") in revolt against the Romans. Some four years afterwards (A.D. 135), however, they were driven out of it with great slaughter, and the city was again destroyed; and over its ruins was built a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina, a name which it retained till it fell under the dominion of the Mohammedans, when it was called el-Khuds, i.e., "the holy."
In A.D. 326 Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the view of discovering the places mentioned in the life of our Lord. She caused a church to be built on what was then supposed to be the place of the nativity at Bethlehem. Constantine, animated by her example, searched for the holy sepulchre, and built over the supposed site a magnificent church, which was completed and dedicated A.D. 335. He relaxed the laws against the Jews till this time in force, and permitted them once a year to visit the city and wail over the desolation of "the holy and beautiful house."
In A.D. 614 the Persians, after defeating the Roman forces of the emperor Heraclius, took Jerusalem by storm, and retained it till A.D. 637, when it was taken by the Arabians under the Khalif Omar. It remained in their possession till it passed, in A.D. 960, under the dominion of the Fatimite khalifs of Egypt, and in A.D. 1073 under the Turcomans. In A.D. 1099 the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon took the city from the Moslems with great slaughter, and was elected king of Jerusalem. He converted the Mosque of Omar into a Christian cathedral. During the eighty-eight years which followed, many churches and convents were erected in the holy city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt during this period, and it alone remains to this day. In A.D. 1187 the sultan Saladin wrested the city from the Christians. From that time to the present day, with few intervals, Jerusalem has remained in the hands of the Moslems. It has, however, during that period been again and again taken and retaken, demolished in great part and rebuilt, no city in the world having passed through so many vicissitudes.
In the year 1850 the Greek and Latin monks residing in Jerusalem had a fierce dispute about the guardianship of what are called the "holy places." In this dispute the emperor Nicholas of Russia sided with the Greeks, and Louis Napoleon, the emperor of the French, with the Latins. This led the Turkish authorities to settle the question in a way unsatisfactory to Russia. Out of this there sprang the Crimean War, which was protracted and sanguinary, but which had important consequences in the way of breaking down the barriers of Turkish exclusiveness.
Modern Jerusalem "lies near the summit of a broad mountain-ridge, which extends without interruption from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean." This high, uneven table-land is everywhere f to 25 geographical miles in breadth. It was anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah.
"Jerusalem is a city of contrasts, and differs widely from Damascus, not merely because it is a stone town in mountains, whilst the latter is a mud city in a plain, but because while in Damascus Moslem religion and Oriental custom are unmixed with any foreign element, in Jerusalem every form of religion, every nationality of East and West, is represented at one time."
Jerusalem is first mentioned under that name in the Book of Joshua, and the Tell-el-Amarna collection of tablets includes six letters from its Amorite king to Egypt, recording the attack of the Abiri about B.C. 1480. The name is there spelt Uru-Salim ("city of peace"). Another monumental record in which the Holy City is named is that of Sennacherib's attack in B.C. 702. The "camp of the Assyrians" was still shown about A.D. 70, on the flat ground to the north-west, included in the new quarter of the city.
The city of David included both the upper city and Millo, and was surrounded by a wall built by David and Solomon, who appear to have restored the original Jebusite fortifications. The name Zion (or Sion) appears to have been, like Ariel ("the hearth of God"), a poetical term for Jerusalem, but in the Greek age was more specially used of the Temple hill. The priests' quarter grew up on Ophel, south of the Temple, where also was Solomon's Palace outside the original city of David. The walls of the city were extended by Jotham and Manasseh to include this suburb and the Temple ( 33:14).
Jerusalem is now a town of some 50,000 inhabitants, with ancient mediaeval walls, partly on the old lines, but extending less far to the south. The traditional sites, as a rule, were first shown in the 4th and later centuries A.D., and have no authority. The results of excavation have, however, settled most of the disputed questions, the limits of the Temple area, and the course of the old walls having been traced.

possession, or possessed; i.e., "by a husband", the wife of Uzziah, and mother of king Jotham ( ).

deliverance of Jehovah. (1.) A Kohathite Levite, the father of Joram, of the family of Eliezer ( ); called also Isshiah (24:21).
(2.) One of the sons of Jeduthum ( , 15).
(3.) One of the three sons of Hananiah ( ).
(4.) Son of Athaliah ( ).
(5.) A Levite of the family of Merari (8:19).

a city of the kingdom of Israel ( ).

upright towards God, the head of the seventh division of Levitical musicians ( ).

seat of his father, the head of the fourteenth division of priests ( ).

uprightness, the first of the three sons of Caleb by Azubah ( ).

the waste, probably some high waste land to the south of the Dead Sea ( 23:28; , 24); or rather not a proper name at all, but simply "the waste" or "wilderness," the district on which the plateau of Ziph (q.v.) looks down.

(1.) Head of the ninth priestly order ( ); called also Jeshuah ( ).
(2.) A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to distribute offerings in the priestly cities ( ).
(3.) .
(4.) .
(5.) The son of Jozadak, and high priest of the Jews under Zerubbabel ( 12:1, 7, 10, 26); called Joshua ( , 12; 2:2, 4; , 3, 6, 8, 9).
(6.) A Levite ( ).
(7.) .
(8.) A Levite who assisted in the reformation under Nehemiah (8:7; 9:4, 5).
(9.) Son of Kadmiel ( ).
(10.) A city of Judah ( ).
(11.) Joshua, the son of Nun.

a poetical name for the people of Israel, used in token of affection, meaning, "the dear upright people" ( 33:5, 26; ).

firm, or a gift, a son of Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth ( , 22; , 6; ). He was the father of eight sons, the youngest of whom was David ( ). The phrase "stem of Jesse" is used for the family of David ( ), and "root of Jesse" for the Messiah ( ). Jesse was a man apparently of wealth and position at Bethlehem ( , 18, 20; ). The last reference to him is of David's procuring for him an asylum with the king of Moab ( ).

(1.) Joshua, the son of Nun ( R.V., "Joshua").
(2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus ( ).
Je'sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish him from others so called, he is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" ( ), and "Jesus the son of Joseph" ( ).
This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea ( , 16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua ( ), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save ( ).
The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods, (1) that of his private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and (2) that of his public life, which lasted about three years.
In the "fulness of time" he was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter ( comp. ). His birth was announced to the shepherds ( ). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see him who was born "King of the Jews," bringing gifts with them ( ). Herod's cruel jealousy led to Joseph's flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king ( ), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (2:23; comp. , etc.). At the age of twelve years he went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with his parents. There, in the temple, "in the midst of the doctors," all that heard him were "astonished at his understanding and answers" ( , etc.).
Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that he returned to Nazareth and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" ( ).
He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to about three years. "Each of these years had peculiar features of its own. (1.) The first year may be called the year of obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because he seems during it to have been only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea. (2.) The second year was the year of public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee. (3.) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favour ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity, and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land.", Stalker's Life of Jesus Christ, p. 45.
The only reliable sources of information regarding the life of Christ on earth are the Gospels, which present in historical detail the words and the work of Christ in so many different aspects. (See CHIRST.)

surplus; excellence. (1.) Father-in-law of Moses ( marg.), called elsewhere Jethro (q.v.).
(2.) The oldest of Gideon's seventy sons ( ).
(3.) The father of Amasa, David's general ( , 32); called Ithra ( ).
(4.) .
(5.) one of Judah's posterity.
(6.) .

a peg, or a prince, one of the Edomitish kings of Mount Seir ( ).

suspended; high, a city on the borders of Dan ( ).

his excellence, or gain, a prince or priest of Midian, who succeeded his father Reuel. Moses spent forty years after his exile from the Egyptian court as keeper of Jethro's flocks. While the Israelites were encamped at Sinai, and soon after their victory over Amalek, Jethro came to meet Moses, bringing with him Zipporah and her two sons. They met at the "mount of God," and "Moses told him all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh" ( ). On the following day Jethro, observing the multiplicity of the duties devolving on Moses, advised him to appoint subordinate judges, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, to decide smaller matters, leaving only the weightier matters to be referred to Moses, to be laid before the Lord. This advice Moses adopted ( ). He was also called Hobab (q.v.), which was probably his personal name, while Jethro was an official name. (See MOSES.)

an enclosure, one of the twelve sons of Ishmael ( ).

snatched away by God, a descendant of Zerah ( ).

assembler. (1.) The oldest of Esau's three sons by Aholibamah ( , 14, 18).
(2.) A son of Bilhan, grandson of Benjamin ( ).
(3.) A Levite, one of the sons of Shimei ( , 11).
(4.) One of the three sons of Rehoboam ( ).
(5.) .

the name derived from the patriarch Judah, at first given to one belonging to the tribe of Judah or to the separate kingdom of Judah ( 25:25; 38:19; 40:11; 41:3), in contradistinction from those belonging to the kingdom of the ten tribes, who were called Israelites.
During the Captivity, and after the Restoration, the name, however, was extended to all the Hebrew nation without distinction ( , 10; , 12; 5:1, 5).
Originally this people were called Hebrews ( 40:15; 3:18; 5:3; , 9, etc.), but after the Exile this name fell into disuse. But Paul was styled a Hebrew ( ).
The history of the Jewish nation is interwoven with the history of Palestine and with the narratives of the lives of their rulers and chief men. They are now [1897] dispersed over all lands, and to this day remain a separate people, "without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image [R.V. 'pillar,' marg. 'obelisk'], and without an ephod, and without teraphim" ( ). Till about the beginning of the present century [1800] they were everywhere greatly oppressed, and often cruelly persecuted; but now their condition is greatly improved, and they are admitted in most European countries to all the rights of free citizens. In 1860 the "Jewish disabilities" were removed, and they were admitted to a seat in the British Parliament. Their number in all is estimated at about six millions, about four millions being in Europe.
There are three names used in the New Testament to designate this people, (1.) Jews, as regards their nationality, to distinguish them from Gentiles. (2.) Hebrews, with regard to their language and education, to distinguish them from Hellenists, i.e., Jews who spoke the Greek language. (3.) Israelites, as respects their sacred privileges as the chosen people of God. "To other races we owe the splendid inheritance of modern civilization and secular culture; but the religious education of mankind has been the gift of the Jew alone."

a woman of Hebrew birth, as Eunice, the mother of Timothy ( ), and Drusilla ( ), wife of Felix, and daughter of Herod Agrippa I.

chaste, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Zidonians, and the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel ( ). This was the "first time that a king of Israel had allied himself by marriage with a heathen princess; and the alliance was in this case of a peculiarly disastrous kind. Jezebel has stamped her name on history as the representative of all that is designing, crafty, malicious, revengeful, and cruel. She is the first great instigator of persecution against the saints of God. Guided by no principle, restrained by no fear of either God or man, passionate in her attachment to her heathen worship, she spared no pains to maintain idolatry around her in all its splendour. Four hundred and fifty prophets ministered under her care to Baal, besides four hundred prophets of the groves [R.V., 'prophets of the Asherah'], which ate at her table ( ). The idolatry, too, was of the most debased and sensual kind." Her conduct was in many respects very disastrous to the kingdom both of Israel and Judah (21:1-29). At length she came to an untimely end. As Jehu rode into the gates of Jezreel, she looked out at the window of the palace, and said, "Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?" He looked up and called to her chamberlains, who instantly threw her from the window, so that she was dashed in pieces on the street, and his horses trod her under their feet. She was immediately consumed by the dogs of the street ( ), according to the word of Elijah the Tishbite ( ).
Her name afterwards came to be used as the synonym for a wicked woman ( 20).
It may be noted that she is said to have been the grand-aunt of Dido, the founder of Carthage.

assembled by God, a son of Azmaveth. He was one of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag ( ).

God scatters. (1.) A town of Issachar ( ), where the kings of Israel often resided ( 21:1; ). Here Elijah met Ahab, Jehu, and Bidkar; and here Jehu executed his dreadful commission against the house of Ahab ( 10:1-11). It has been identified with the modern Zerin, on the most western point of the range of Gilboa, reaching down into the great and fertile valley of Jezreel, to which it gave its name.
(2.) A town in Judah ( ), to the south-east of Hebron. Ahinoam, one of David's wives, probably belonged to this place ( ).
(3.) A symbolical name given by Hosea to his oldest son ( ), in token of a great slaughter predicted by him, like that which had formerly taken place in the plain of Esdraelon (comp. , 5).

the murder perpetrated here by Ahab and Jehu ( comp. ).

the time predicted for the execution of vengeance for the deeds of blood committed there ( ).

( comp. 13), the fortification surrounding the city, outside of which Naboth was executed.

where Saul encamped before the battle of Gilboa ( ). In the valley under Zerin there are two considerable springs, one of which, perhaps that here referred to, "flows from under a sort of cavern in the wall of conglomerate rock which here forms the base of Gilboa. The water is excellent; and issuing from crevices in the rocks, it spreads out at once into a fine limpid pool forty or fifty feet in diameter, full of fish" (Robinson). This may be identical with the "well of Harod" ( comp. ), probably the 'Ain Jalud, i.e., the "spring of Goliath."

the field adjoining the city ( , 21, 36, 37). Here Naboth was stoned to death ( ).

one of the turrets which guarded the entrance to the city ( ).

lying on the northern side of the city, between the ridges of Gilboa and Moreh, an offshoot of Esdraelon, running east to the Jordan ( ). It was the scene of the signal victory gained by the Israelites under Gideon over the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the "children of the east" ( ). Two centuries after this the Israelites were here defeated by the Philistines, and Saul and Jonathan, with the flower of the army of Israel, fell ( ).
This name was in after ages extended to the whole of the plain of Esdraelon (q.v.). It was only this plain of Jezreel and that north of Lake Huleh that were then accessible to the chariots of the Canaanites (comp. 10:15).

Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, and "captain of the host" during the whole of David's reign ( 10:7; 11:1; ). His father's name is nowhere mentioned, although his sepulchre at Bethlehem is mentioned ( ). His two brothers were Abishai and Asahel, the swift of foot, who was killed by Abner ( ), whom Joab afterwards treacherously murdered (3:22-27). He afterwards led the assault at the storming of the fortress on Mount Zion, and for this service was raised to the rank of "prince of the king's army" ( ). His chief military achievements were, (1) against the allied forces of Syria and Ammon; (2) against Edom ( , 16); and (3) against the Ammonites ( 11:1, 11). His character is deeply stained by the part he willingly took in the murder of Uriah (11:14-25). He acted apparently from a sense of duty in putting Absalom to death (18:1-14). David was unmindful of the many services Joab had rendered to him, and afterwards gave the command of the army to Amasa, Joab's cousin ( 19:13). When David was dying Joab espoused the cause of Adonijah in preference to that of Solomon. He was afterwards slain by Benaiah, by the command of Solomon, in accordance with his father's injunction ( 20:5-13), at the altar to which he had fled for refuge. Thus this hoary conspirator died without one to lift up a voice in his favour. He was buried in his own property in the "wilderness," probably in the north-east of Jerusalem ( , 28-34). Benaiah succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the army.
(2.) .
(3.) .

Jehovah his brother; i.e., helper. (1.) One of the sons of Obed-edom ( ), a Korhite porter.
(2.) A Levite of the family of Gershom ( ), probably the same as Ethan (42).
(3.) The son of Asaph, and "recorder" (q.v.) or chronicler to King Hezekiah ( , 26, 37).
(4.) Son of Joahaz, and "recorder" (q.v.) or keeper of the state archives under King Josiah ( ).

( ), a contracted form of Jehoahaz (q.v.).

whom Jehovah has graciously given. (1.) The grandson of Zerubbabel, in the lineage of Christ ( ); the same as Hananiah ( ).
(2.) The wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee ( ). She was one of the women who ministered to our Lord, and to whom he appeared after his resurrection ( 24:10).

whom Jehovah bestowed. (1.) A contracted form of Jehoash, the father of Gideon ( , 29; 8:13, 29, 32).
(2.) One of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(3.) One of King Ahab's sons ( ).
(4.) King of Judah ( 12:19, 20). (See JEHOASH [1].)
(5.) King of Israel ( , 12, 13, 25). (See JEHOASH [2].)
(6.) .
(7.) One who had charge of the royal stores of oil under David and Solomon ( ).

persecuted, an Arabian patriarch who resided in the land of Uz (q.v.). While living in the midst of great prosperity, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity ( , 20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (Jam ). His history, so far as it is known, is recorded in his book.

A great diversity of opinion exists as to the authorship of this book. From internal evidence, such as the similarity of sentiment and language to those in the Psalms and Proverbs (see and 89), the prevalence of the idea of "wisdom," and the style and character of the composition, it is supposed by some to have been written in the time of David and Solomon. Others argue that it was written by Job himself, or by Elihu, or Isaiah, or perhaps more probably by Moses, who was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and mighty in words and deeds" ( ). He had opportunities in Midian for obtaining the knowledge of the facts related. But the authorship is altogether uncertain.
As to the character of the book, it is a historical poem, one of the greatest and sublimest poems in all literature. Job was a historical person, and the localities and names were real and not fictious. It is "one of the grandest portions of the inspired Scriptures, a heavenly-repleished storehouse of comfort and instruction, the patriarchal Bible, and a precious monument of primitive theology. It is to the Old Testament what the Epistle to the Romans is to the New." It is a didactic narrative in a dramatic form.
This book was apparently well known in the days of Ezekiel, B.C. 600 ( ). It formed a part of the sacred Scriptures used by our Lord and his apostles, and is referred to as a part of the inspired Word ( ).
The subject of the book is the trial of Job, its occasion, nature, endurance, and issue. It exhibits the harmony of the truths of revelation and the dealings of Providence, which are seen to be at once inscrutable, just, and merciful. It shows the blessedness of the truly pious, even amid sore afflictions, and thus ministers comfort and hope to tried believers of every age. It is a book of manifold instruction, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness ( ).
It consists of,
(1.) An historical introduction in prose (ch. 1,2).
(2.) The controversy and its solution, in poetry (ch. 3-42:6).
Job's desponding lamentation (ch. 3) is the occasion of the controversy which is carried on in three courses of dialogues between Job and his three friends. The first course gives the commencement of the controversy (ch. 4-14); the second the growth of the controversy (15-21); and the third the height of the controversy (22-27). This is followed by the solution of the controversy in the speeches of Elihu and the address of Jehovah, followed by Job's humble confession (42:1-6) of his own fault and folly.
(3.) The third division is the historical conclusion, in prose (42:7-15).
Sir J. W. Dawson in "The Expositor" says: "It would now seem that the language and theology of the book of Job can be better explained by supposing it to be a portion of Minean [Southern Arabia] literature obtained by Moses in Midian than in any other way. This view also agrees better than any other with its references to natural objects, the art of mining, and other matters."

dweller in the desert. (1.) One of the sons of Joktan, and founder of an Arabian tribe ( ). (2.) King of Edom, succeeded Bela ( , 34). (3.) A Canaanitish king ( ) who joined the confederacy against Joshua.

Jehovah is her glory, the wife of Amram, and the mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses ( ). She is spoken of as the sister of Kohath, Amram's father ( comp. 16, 18; 2:1-10).

Jehovah is his God. (1.) The oldest of Samuel's two sons appointed by him as judges in Beersheba ( ). (See VASHNI (n/a).) (2.) A descendant of Reuben ( ,8). (3.) One of David's famous warriors ( ). (4.) A Levite of the family of Gershom ( , 11). (5.) . (6.) . (7.) The second of the twelve minor prophets. He was the son of Pethuel. His personal history is only known from his book.

Joel was probably a resident in Judah, as his commission was to that people. He makes frequent mention of Judah and Jerusalem (1:14; 2:1, 15, 32; 3:1, 12, 17, 20, 21).
He probably flourished in the reign of Uzziah (about B.C. 800), and was contemporary with Amos and Isaiah.
The contents of this book are, (1.) A prophecy of a great public calamity then impending over the land, consisting of a want of water and an extraordinary plague of locusts (1:1-2:11). (2.) The prophet then calls on his countrymen to repent and to turn to God, assuring them of his readiness to forgive (2:12-17), and foretelling the restoration of the land to its accustomed fruitfulness (18-26). (3.) Then follows a Messianic prophecy, quoted by Peter ( ). (4.) Finally, the prophet foretells portents and judgments as destined to fall on the enemies of God (ch. 3, but in the Hebrew t ).

a Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag ( ).

Jehovah is his help, one of the Korhites who became part of David's body-guard ( ).

whom Jehovah graciously bestows. (1.) One of the Gadite heroes who joined David in the desert of Judah ( ).
(2.) The oldest of King Josiah's sons ( ).
(3.) Son of Careah, one of the Jewish chiefs who rallied round Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made governor in Jerusalem ( ). He warned Gedaliah of the plans of Ishmael against him, a warning which was unheeded ( , 16). He afterwards pursued the murderer of the governor, and rescued the captives (41:8, 13, 15, 16). He and his associates subsequently fled to Tahpanhes in Egypt (43:2, 4, 5), taking Jeremiah with them. "The flight of Gedaliah's community to Egypt extinguished the last remaining spark of life in the Jewish state. The work of the ten centuries since Joshua crossed the Jordan had been undone."

(1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John ( ). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown.
(2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He is designated by this name in the acts of the Apostles (12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37).
(3.) THE APOSTLE, brother of James the "Greater" ( 10:2; 3:17; 10:35). He was one, probably the younger, of the sons of Zebedee ( ) and Salome ( comp. ), and was born at Bethsaida. His father was apparently a man of some wealth (comp. ). He was doubtless trained in all that constituted the ordinary education of Jewish youth. When he grew up he followed the occupation of a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, John, with many others, gathered round him, and was deeply influenced by his teaching. There he heard the announcement, "Behold the Lamb of God," and forthwith, on the invitation of Jesus, became a disciple and ranked among his followers ( , 37) for a time. He and his brother then returned to their former avocation, for how long is uncertain. Jesus again called them ( 21; ), and now they left all and permanently attached themselves to the company of his disciples. He became one of the innermost circle ( 26:37; ). He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. In zeal and intensity of character he was a "Boanerges" ( ). This spirit once and again broke out ( , 54). At the betrayal he and Peter follow Christ afar off, while the others betake themselves to hasty flight ( ). At the trial he follows Christ into the council chamber, and thence to the praetorium (18:16, 19, 28) and to the place of crucifixion (19:26, 27). To him and Peter, Mary first conveys tidings of the resurrection (20:2), and they are the first to go and see what her strange words mean. After the resurrection he and Peter again return to the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord reveals himself to them (21:1, 7). We find Peter and John frequently after this together ( 4:13). John remained apparently in Jerusalem as the leader of the church there ( ). His subsequent history is unrecorded. He was not there, however, at the time of Paul's last visit ( ). He appears to have retired to Ephesus, but at what time is unknown. The seven churches of Asia were the objects of his special care ( ). He suffered under persecution, and was banished to Patmos (1:9); whence he again returned to Ephesus, where he died, probably about A.D. 98, having outlived all or nearly all the friends and companions even of his maturer years. There are many interesting traditions regarding John during his residence at Ephesus, but these cannot claim the character of historical truth.

the "forerunner of our Lord." We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia ( ), and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron ( ). The mission of John was the subject of prophecy ( Mal. 3:1). His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel. Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God's truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision ( ). After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in . John was a Nazarite from his birth ( ). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea ( ).
At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from "every quarter" were attracted to him. The sum of his preaching was the necessity of repentance. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a "generation of vipers," and warned them of the folly of trusting to external privileges ( ). "As a preacher, John was eminently practical and discriminating. Self-love and covetousness were the prevalent sins of the people at large. On them, therefore, he enjoined charity and consideration for others. The publicans he cautioned against extortion, the soldiers against crime and plunder." His doctrine and manner of life roused the entire south of Palestine, and the people from all parts flocked to the place where he was, on the banks of the Jordan. There he baptized thousands unto repentance.
The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth ( ), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John, on the special ground that it became him to "fulfil all righteousness" (3:15). John's special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now "increase" as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip ( ). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus (q.v.), a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred ( ). John's death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of our Lord's ministry. Our Lord himself testified regarding him that he was a "burning and a shining light" ( ).

the fourth of the catholic or "general" epistles. It was evidently written by John the evangelist, and probably also at Ephesus, and when the writer was in advanced age. The purpose of the apostle (1:1-4) is to declare the Word of Life to those to whom he writes, in order that they might be united in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. He shows that the means of union with God are, (1) on the part of Christ, his atoning work (1:7; 2:2; 3:5; 4:10, 14; 5:11, 12) and his advocacy (2:1); and (2), on the part of man, holiness (1:6), obedience (2:3), purity (3:3), faith (3:23; 4:3; 5:5), and love (2:7, 8; 3:14; 4:7; 5:1).

The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its genuineness, but without success.
The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself ( ). It was at one time supposed that he wrote for the purpose of supplying the omissions of the synoptical, i.e., of the first three, Gospels, but there is no evidence for this. "There is here no history of Jesus and his teaching after the manner of the other evangelists. But there is in historical form a representation of the Christian faith in relation to the person of Christ as its central point; and in this representation there is a picture on the one hand of the antagonism of the world to the truth revealed in him, and on the other of the spiritual blessedness of the few who yield themselves to him as the Light of life" (Reuss).
After the prologue (1:1-5), the historical part of the book begins with verse 6, and consists of two parts. The first part (1:6-ch. 12) contains the history of our Lord's public ministry from the time of his introduction to it by John the Baptist to its close. The second part (ch. 13-21) presents our Lord in the retirement of private life and in his intercourse with his immediate followers (13-17), and gives an account of his sufferings and of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection (18-21).
The peculiarities of this Gospel are the place it gives (1) to the mystical relation of the Son to the Father, and (2) of the Redeemer to believers; (3) the announcement of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter; (4) the prominence given to love as an element in the Christian character. It was obviously addressed primarily to Christians.
It was probably written at Ephesus, which, after the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), became the centre of Christian life and activity in the East, about A.D. 90.

is addressed to "the elect lady," and closes with the words, "The children of thy elect sister greet thee;" but some would read instead of "lady" the proper name Kyria. Of the thirteen verses composing this epistle seven are in the First Epistle. The person addressed is commended for her piety, and is warned against false teachers.

is addressed to Caius, or Gaius, but whether to the Christian of that name in Macedonia ( 29) or in Corinth ( ) or in Derbe ( ) is uncertain. It was written for the purpose of commending to Gaius some Christians who were strangers in the place where he lived, and who had gone thither for the purpose of preaching the gospel (ver. 7).
The Second and Third Epistles were probably written soon after the First, and from Ephesus.

(whom Jehovah favours) = Jehoiada. (1.) . (2.) One of the high priests (12:10, 11, 22).

(whom Jehovah has set up) = Jehoiakim, a high priest, the son and successor of Jeshua ( , 12, 26).

(whom Jehovah defends) = Jehoiarib. (1.) The founder of one of the courses of the priests ( ).
(2.) a descendant of Judah.
(3.) .
(4.) , a "man of understanding" whom Ezra sent to "bring ministers for the house of God."

a city in the mountains of Judah ( ).

whom Jehovah has set up, one of the descendants of Shelah ( ).

gathering of the people, a city of Ephraim, which was given with its suburbs to the Levites ( ). It lay somewhere in the Jordan valley ( , R.V.; but in A.V. incorrectly "Jokneam").

gathered by the people, ( 21:34), a city "of Carmel" (12:22), i.e., on Carmel, allotted with its suburbs to the Merarite Levites. It is the modern Tell Kaimon, about 12 miles south-west of Nazareth, on the south of the river Kishon.

snarer, the second son of Abraham and Keturah ( , 3; ).

little, the second of the two sons of Eber ( ). There is an Arab tradition that Joktan (Arab. Kahtan) was the progenitor of all the purest tribes of Central and Southern Arabia.

subdued by God. (1.) A city of Judah near Lachish ( , 38). Perhaps the ruin Kutlaneh, south of Gezer.
(2.) Amaziah, king of Judah, undertook a great expedition against Edom ( ), which was completely successful. He routed the Edomites and slew vast numbers of them. So wonderful did this victory appear to him that he acknowledged that it could have been achieved only by the special help of God, and therefore he called Selah (q.v.), their great fortress city, by the name of Joktheel ( ).

=Jehon'adab. (1.) The son of Rechab, and founder of the Rechabites (q.v.), , 10.
(2.) The son of Shimeah, David's brother ( ). He was "a very subtil man."

a dove, the son of Amittai of Gath-hepher. He was a prophet of Israel, and predicted the restoration of the ancient boundaries ( ) of the kingdom. He exercised his ministry very early in the reign of Jeroboam II., and thus was contemporary with Hosea and Amos; or possibly he preceded them, and consequently may have been the very oldest of all the prophets whose writings we possess. His personal history is mainly to be gathered from the book which bears his name. It is chiefly interesting from the two-fold character in which he appears, (1) as a missionary to heathen Nineveh, and (2) as a type of the "Son of man."

This book professes to give an account of what actually took place in the experience of the prophet. Some critics have sought to interpret the book as a parable or allegory, and not as a history. They have done so for various reasons. Thus (1) some reject it on the ground that the miraculous element enters so largely into it, and that it is not prophetical but narrative in its form; (2) others, denying the possibility of miracles altogether, hold that therefore it cannot be true history.
Jonah and his story is referred to by our Lord ( , 40; ), a fact to which the greatest weight must be attached. It is impossible to interpret this reference on any other theory. This one argument is of sufficient importance to settle the whole question. No theories devised for the purpose of getting rid of difficulties can stand against such a proof that the book is a veritable history.
There is every reason to believe that this book was written by Jonah himself. It gives an account of (1) his divine commission to go to Nineveh, his disobedience, and the punishment following (1:1-17); (2) his prayer and miraculous deliverance (1:17-2:10); (3) the second commission given to him, and his prompt obedience in delivering the message from God, and its results in the repentance of the Ninevites, and God's long-sparing mercy toward them (ch. 3); (4) Jonah's displeasure at God's merciful decision, and the rebuke tendered to the impatient prophet (ch. 4). Nineveh was spared after Jonah's mission for more than a century. The history of Jonah may well be regarded "as a part of that great onward movement which was before the Law and under the Law; which gained strength and volume as the fulness of the times drew near.", Perowne's Jonah.

(1.) Greek form of Jonah ( , 40, 41, etc.).
(2.) The father of the apostles Peter ( ) and Andrew; but the reading should be (also in 1:42), as in the Revised Version, "John," instead of Jonas.

dove of the dumbness of the distance; i.e., "the silent dove in distant places", title of . This was probably the name of some well known tune or melody to which the psalm was to be sung.

whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1.) A Levite descended from Gershom ( ). His history is recorded in 17:7-13 and 18:30. The Rabbins changed this name into Manasseh "to screen the memory of the great lawgiver from the stain of having so unworthy an apostate among his near descendants." He became priest of the idol image at Dan, and this office continued in his family till the Captivity.
(2.) The eldest son of king Saul, and the bosom friend of David. He is first mentioned when he was about thirty years of age, some time after his father's accession to the throne ( ). Like his father, he was a man of great strength and activity ( ), and excelled in archery and slinging ( ). The affection that evidently subsisted between him and his father was interrupted by the growth of Saul's insanity. At length, "in fierce anger," he left his father's presence and cast in his lot with the cause of David ( ). After an eventful career, interwoven to a great extent with that of David, he fell, along with his father and his two brothers, on the fatal field of Gilboa ( , 8). He was first buried at Jabesh-gilead, but his remains were afterwards removed with those of his father to Zelah, in Benjamin ( ). His death was the occasion of David's famous elegy of "the Song of the Bow" ( ). He left one son five years old, Merib-baal, or Mephibosheth ( comp. ).
(3.) Son of the high priest Abiathar, and one who adhered to David at the time of Absalom's rebellion ( , 36). He is the last descendant of Eli of whom there is any record.
(4.) Son of Shammah, and David's nephew, and also one of his chief warriors ( ). He slew a giant in Gath.

beauty, a town in the portion of Dan ( A.V., "Japho"), on a sandy promontory between Caesarea and Gaza, and at a distance of 30 miles north-west from Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest towns in Asia. It was and still is the chief sea-port of Judea. It was never wrested from the Phoenicians. It became a Jewish town only in the second century B.C. It was from this port that Jonah "took ship to flee from the presence of the Lord" ( ). To this place also the wood cut in Lebanon by Hiram's men for Solomon was brought in floats ( ); and here the material for the building of the second temple was also landed ( ). At Joppa, in the house of Simon the tanner, "by the sea-side," Peter resided "many days," and here, "on the house-top," he had his "vision of tolerance" ( ). It bears the modern name of Jaffa, and exibituds all the decrepitude and squalor of cities ruled over by the Turks. "Scarcely any other town has been so often overthrown, sacked, pillaged, burned, and rebuilt." Its present population is said to be about 16,000. It was taken by the French under Napoleon in 1799, who gave orders for the massacre here of 4,000 prisoners. It is connected with Jerusalem by the only carriage road that exists in the country, and also by a railway completed in 1892. It is noticed on monuments B.C. 1600-1300, and was attacked by Sannacharib B.C. 702.

=Jeho'ram. (1.) One of the kings of Israel ( , 25, 28). He was the son of Ahab.
(2.) Jehoram, the son and successor of Jehoshaphat on the throne of Judah ( ).

Heb. Yarden, "the descender;" Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, "the watering-place" the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name descender is significant of the fact that there is along its whole course a descent to its banks; or it may simply denote the rapidity with which it "descends" to the Dead Sea.
It originates in the snows of Hermon, which feed its perennial fountains. Two sources are generally spoken of. (1.) From the western base of a hill on which once stood the city of Dan, the northern border-city of Palestine, there gushes forth a considerable fountain called the Leddan, which is the largest fountain in Syria and the principal source of the Jordan. (2.) Beside the ruins of Banias, the ancient Caesarea Philippi and the yet more ancient Panium, is a lofty cliff of limestone, at the base of which is a fountain. This is the other source of the Jordan, and has always been regarded by the Jews as its true source. It rushes down to the plain in a foaming torrent, and joins the Leddan about 5 miles south of Dan (Tell-el-Kady). (3.) But besides these two historical fountains there is a third, called the Hasbany, which rises in the bottom of a valley at the western base of Hermon, 12 miles north of Tell-el-Kady. It joins the main stream about a mile below the junction of the Leddan and the Banias. The river thus formed is at this point about 45 feet wide, and flows in a channel f to 20 feet below the plain. After this it flows, "with a swift current and a much-twisted course," through a marshy plain for some 6 miles, when it falls into the Lake Huleh, "the waters of Merom" (q.v.).
During this part of its course the Jordan has descended about 1,100 feet. At Banias it ,080 feet above sea-level. Flowing from the southern extremity of Lake Huleh, here almost on a level with the sea, it flows for 2 miles "through a waste of islets and papyrus," and then for 9 miles through a narrow gorge in a foaming torrent onward to the Sea of Galilee (q.v.).
"In the whole valley of the Jordan from the Lake Huleh to the Sea of Galilee there is not a single settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, from the base of Hermon to the ravine of Hieromax, a region of great fertility, 30 miles long by 7 or 8 wide, there are only some three inhabited villages. The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now well nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force: 'I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation...And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it...And your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate' ( ).", Dr. Porter's Handbook.
From the Sea of Galilee, at the level of 682 feet below the Mediterranean, the river flows through a long, low plain called "the region of Jordan" ( ), and by the modern Arabs the Ghor, or "sunken plain." This section is properly the Jordan of Scripture. Down through the midst of the "plain of Jordan" there winds a ravine varying in breadth f yards to half a mile, and in depth f to 150 feet. Through it the Jordan flows in a rapid, rugged, tortuous course down to the Dead Sea. The whole distance from the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is in a straight line about 65 miles, but following the windings of the river about 200 miles, during which it falls 618 feet. The total length of the Jordan from Banias is about 104 miles in a straight line, during which it falls 2,380 feet.
There are two considerable affluents which enter the river between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, both from the east. (1.) The Wady Mandhur, called the Yarmuk by the Rabbins and the Hieromax by the Greeks. It formed the boundary between Bashan and Gilead. It drains the plateau of the Hauran. (2.) The Jabbok or Wady Zerka, formerly the northern boundary of Ammon. It enters the Jordan about 20 miles north of Jericho.
The first historical notice of the Jordan is in the account of the separation of Abraham and Lot ( ). "Lot beheld the plain of Jordan as the garden of the Lord." Jacob crossed and recrossed "this Jordan" (32:10). The Israelites passed over it as "on dry ground" ( ). Twice afterwards its waters were miraculously divided at the same spot by Elijah and Elisha ( , 14).
The Jordan is mentioned in the Old Testament about one hundred and eighty times, and in the New Testament fifteen times. The chief events in gospel history connected with it are (1) John the Baptist's ministry, when "there went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and were baptized of him in Jordan" ( ). (2.) Jesus also "was baptized of John in Jordan" ( ).

remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel ( , 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, "God hath taken away [Heb. 'asaph] my reproach." "The Lord shall add [Heb. yoseph] to me another son" ( ). He was a child of probably six years of age when his father returned from Haran to Canaan and took up his residence in the old patriarchal town of Hebron. "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age," and he "made him a long garment with sleeves" ( , R.V. marg.), i.e., a garment long and full, such as was worn by the children of nobles. This seems to be the correct rendering of the words. The phrase, however, may also be rendered, "a coat of many pieces", i.e., a patchwork of many small pieces of divers colours.
When he was about seventeen years old Joseph incurred the jealous hatred of his brothers ( ). They "hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him." Their anger was increased when he told them his dreams (37:11).
Jacob desiring to hear tidings of his sons, who had gone to Shechem with their flocks, some 60 miles from Hebron, sent Joseph as his messenger to make inquiry regarding them. Joseph found that they had left Shechem for Dothan, whither he followed them. As soon as they saw him coming they began to plot against him, and would have killed him had not Reuben interposed. They ultimately sold him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants for twenty pieces (shekels) of silver (about $2, 10s.), ten pieces less than the current value of a slave, for "they cared little what they had for him, if so be they were rid of him." These merchants were going down with a varied assortment of merchandise to the Egyptian market, and thither they conveyed him, and ultimately sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an "officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard" ( ). "The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake," and Potiphar made him overseer over his house. At length a false charge having been brought against him by Potiphar's wife, he was at once cast into the state prison (39; 40), where he remained for at least two years. After a while the "chief of the cupbearers" and the "chief of the bakers" of Pharaoh's household were cast into the same prison (40:2). Each of these new prisoners dreamed a dream in the same night, which Joseph interpreted, the event occurring as he had said.
This led to Joseph's being remembered subsequently by the chief butler when Pharaoh also dreamed. At his suggestion Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the king's dreams. Pharaoh was well pleased with Joseph's wisdom in interpreting his dreams, and with his counsel with reference to the events then predicted; and he set him over all the land of Egypt ( ), and gave him the name of Zaphnath-paaneah. He was married to Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On, and thus became a member of the priestly class. Joseph was now about thirty years of age.
As Joseph had interpreted, seven years of plenty came, during which he stored up great abundance of corn in granaries built for the purpose. These years were followed by seven years of famine "over all the face of the earth," when "all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn" ( , 57; 47:13, 14). Thus "Joseph gathered up all the money that was in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought." Afterwards all the cattle and all the land, and at last the Egyptians themselves, became the property of Pharaoh.
During this period of famine Joseph's brethren also came down to Egypt to buy corn. The history of his dealings with them, and of the manner in which he at length made himself known to them, is one of the most interesting narratives that can be read ( ). Joseph directed his brethren to return and bring Jacob and his family to the land of Egypt, saying, "I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land is yours." Accordingly Jacob and his family, to the number of threescore and ten souls, together with "all that they had," went down to Egypt. They were settled in the land of Goshen, where Joseph met his father, and "fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while" ( ).
The excavations of Dr. Naville have shown the land of Goshen to be the Wady Tumilat, between Ismailia and Zagazig. In Goshen (Egyptian Qosem) they had pasture for their flocks, were near the Asiatic frontier of Egypt, and were out of the way of the Egyptian people. An inscription speaks of it as a district given up to the wandering shepherds of Asia.
Jacob at length died, and in fulfilment of a promise which he had exacted, Joseph went up to Canaan to bury his father in "the field of Ephron the Hittite" ( 50:1-14). This was the last recorded act of Joseph, who again returned to Egypt.
"The 'Story of the Two Brothers,' an Egyptian romance written for the son of the Pharaoh of the Oppression, contains an episode very similar to the Biblical account of Joseph's treatment by Potiphar's wife. Potiphar and Potipherah are the Egyptian Pa-tu-pa-Ra, 'the gift of the sun-god.' The name given to Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah, is probably the Egyptian Zaf-nti-pa-ankh, 'nourisher of the living one,' i.e., of the Pharaoh. There are many instances in the inscriptions of foreigners in Egypt receiving Egyptian names, and rising to the highest offices of state."
By his wife Asenath, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim ( ). Joseph having obtained a promise from his brethren that when the time should come that God would "bring them unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob," they would carry up his bones out of Egypt, at length died, at the age of one hundred and ten years; and "they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin" ( ). This promise was faithfully observed. Their descendants, long after, when the Exodus came, carried the body about with them during their forty years' wanderings, and at length buried it in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor ( comp. ). With the death of Joseph the patriarchal age of the history of Israel came to a close.
The Pharaoh of Joseph's elevation was probably Apepi, or Apopis, the last of the Hyksos kings. Some, however, think that Joseph came to Egypt in the reign of Thothmes III. (see PHARAOH), long after the expulsion of the Hyksos.
The name Joseph denotes the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in the kingdom of Israel in , 19, and the whole covenant people of Israel in .
(2.) One of the sons of Asaph, head of the first division of sacred musicians ( , 9).
(3.) The son of Judah, and father of Semei ( ). Other two of the same name in the ancestry of Christ are also mentioned (3:24, 30).
(4.) The foster-father of our Lord ( ). He lived at Nazareth in Galilee ( ). He is called a "just man." He was by trade a carpenter ( ). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that he died before Jesus entered on his public ministry. This is concluded from the fact that Mary only was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. His name does not appear in connection with the scenes of the crucifixion along with that of Mary (q.v.), .
(5.) A native of Arimathea, probably the Ramah of the Old Testament ( ), a man of wealth, and a member of the Sanhedrim ( ), an "honourable counsellor, who waited for the kingdom of God." As soon as he heard the tidings of Christ's death, he "went in boldly" (lit. "having summoned courage, he went") "unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus." Pilate having ascertained from the centurion that the death had really taken place, granted Joseph's request, who immediately, having purchased fine linen ( ), proceeded to Golgotha to take the body down from the cross. There, assisted by Nicodemus, he took down the body and wrapped it in the fine linen, sprinkling it with the myrrh and aloes which Nicodemus had brought ( ), and then conveyed the body to the new tomb hewn by Joseph himself out of a rock in his garden hard by. There they laid it, in the presence of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and other women, and rolled a great stone to the entrance, and departed ( , 55). This was done in haste, "for the Sabbath was drawing on" (comp. ).
(6.) Surnamed Barsabas ( ); also called Justus. He was one of those who "companied with the apostles all the time that the Lord Jesus went out and in among them" ( ), and was one of the candidates for the place of Judas.

Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in (A.V.), and Jesus in and (R.V., Joshua).
He was born in Egypt, and was probably of the age of Caleb, with whom he is generally associated. He shared in all the events of the Exodus, and held the place of commander of the host of the Israelites at their great battle against the Amalekites in Rephidim ( ). He became Moses' minister or servant, and accompanied him part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two tables ( ). He was also one of the twelve who were sent on by Moses to explore the land of Canaan ( , 17), and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging report. Under the direction of God, Moses, before his death, invested Joshua in a public and solemn manner with authority over the people as his successor ( ). The people were encamped at Shittim when he assumed the command ( ); and crossing the Jordan, they encamped at Gilgal, where, having circumcised the people, he kept the Passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord's host, who spoke to him encouraging words (1:1-9).
Now began the wars of conquest which Joshua carried on for many years, the record of which is in the book which bears his name. Six nations and thirty-one kings were conquered by him ( 12:24). Having thus subdued the Canaanites, Joshua divided the land among the tribes, Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim being assigned to himself as his own inheritance. (See SHILOH; PRIEST.)
His work being done, he died, at the age of one hundred and ten years, twenty-five years after having crossed the Jordan. He was buried in his own city of Timnath-serah ( ); and "the light of Israel for the time faded away."
Joshua has been regarded as a type of Christ ( ) in the following particulars: (1) In the name common to both; (2) Joshua brings the people into the possession of the Promised Land, as Jesus brings his people to the heavenly Canaan; and (3) as Joshua succeeded Moses, so the Gospel succeeds the Law.
The character of Joshua is thus well sketched by Edersheim:, "Born a slave in Egypt, he must have been about forty years old at the time of the Exodus. Attached to the person of Moses, he led Israel in the first decisive battle against Amalek ( , 13), while Moses in the prayer of faith held up to heaven the God-given 'rod.' It was no doubt on that occasion that his name was changed from Oshea, 'help,' to Jehoshua, 'Jehovah is help' ( ). And this name is the key to his life and work. Alike in bringing the people into Canaan, in his wars, and in the distribution of the land among the tribes, from the miraculous crossing of Jordan and taking of Jericho to his last address, he was the embodiment of his new name, 'Jehovah is help.' To this outward calling his character also corresponded. It is marked by singleness of purpose, directness, and decision...He sets an object before him, and unswervingly follows it" (Bible Hist., iii. 103)

contains a history of the Israelites from the death of Moses to that of Joshua. It consists of three parts: (1.) The history of the conquest of the land (1-12). (2.) The allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the Levites (13-22), and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes. This section has been compared to the Domesday Book of the Norman conquest. (3.) The farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death (23, 24).
This book stands first in the second of the three sections, (1) the Law, (2) the Prophets, (3) the "other writings" = Hagiographa, into which the Jewish Church divided the Old Testament. There is every reason for concluding that the uniform tradition of the Jews is correct when they assign the authorship of the book to Joshua, all except the concluding section; the last verses (24:29-33) were added by some other hand.
There are two difficulties connected with this book which have given rise to much discussion, (1.) The miracle of the standing still of the sun and moon on Gibeon. The record of it occurs in Joshua's impassioned prayer of faith, as quoted ( ) from the "Book of Jasher" (q.v.). There are many explanations given of these words. They need, however, present no difficulty if we believe in the possibility of God's miraculous interposition in behalf of his people. Whether it was caused by the refraction of the light, or how, we know not.
(2.) Another difficulty arises out of the command given by God utterly to exterminate the Canaanites. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" It is enough that Joshua clearly knew that this was the will of God, who employs his terrible agencies, famine, pestilence, and war, in the righteous government of this world. The Canaanites had sunk into a state of immorality and corruption so foul and degrading that they had to be rooted out of the land with the edge of the sword. "The Israelites' sword, in its bloodiest executions, wrought a work of mercy for all the countries of the earth to the very end of the world."
This book resembles the Acts of the Apostles in the number and variety of historical incidents it records, and in its many references to persons and places; and as in the latter case the epistles of Paul (see Paley's Horae Paul.) confirm its historical accuracy by their incidental allusions and "undesigned coincidences," so in the former modern discoveries confirm its historicity. The Amarna tablets (see ADONIZEDEC) are among the most remarkable discoveries of the age. Dating from about B.C. 1480 down to the time of Joshua, and consisting of official communications from Amorite, Phoenician, and Philistine chiefs to the king of Egypt, they afford a glimpse into the actual condition of Palestine prior to the Hebrew invasion, and illustrate and confirm the history of the conquest. A letter, also still extant, from a military officer, "master of the captains of Egypt," dating from near the end of the reign of Rameses II., gives a curious account of a journey, probably official, which he undertook through Palestine as far north as to Aleppo, and an insight into the social condition of the country at that time. Among the things brought to light by this letter and the Amarna tablets is the state of confusion and decay that had now fallen on Egypt. The Egyptian garrisons that had held possession of Palestine from the time of Thothmes III., some two hundred years before, had now been withdrawn. The way was thus opened for the Hebrews. In the history of the conquest there is no mention of Joshua having encountered any Egyptian force. The tablets contain many appeals to the king of Egypt for help against the inroads of the Hebrews, but no help seems ever to have been sent. Is not this just such a state of things as might have been anticipated as the result of the disaster of the Exodus? In many points, as shown under various articles, the progress of the conquest is remarkably illustrated by the tablets. The value of modern discoveries in their relation to Old Testament history has been thus well described:
"The difficulty of establishing the charge of lack of historical credibility, as against the testimony of the Old Testament, has of late years greatly increased. The outcome of recent excavations and explorations is altogether against it. As long as these books contained, in the main, the only known accounts of the events they mention, there was some plausibility in the theory that perhaps these accounts were written rather to teach moral lessons than to preserve an exact knowledge of events. It was easy to say in those times men had not the historic sense. But the recent discoveries touch the events recorded in the Bible at very many different points in many different generations, mentioning the same persons, countries, peoples, events that are mentioned in the Bible, and showing beyond question that these were strictly historic. The point is not that the discoveries confirm the correctness of the Biblical statements, though that is commonly the case, but that the discoveries show that the peoples of those ages had the historic sense, and, specifically, that the Biblical narratives they touch are narratives of actual occurrences."

healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah ( ). His history is contained in , 23. He stands foremost among all the kings of the line of David for unswerving loyalty to Jehovah (23:25). He "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father." He ascended the throne at the early age of eight years, and it appears that not till eight years afterwards did he begin "to seek after the God of David his father." At that age he devoted himself to God. He distinguished himself by beginning a war of extermination against the prevailing idolatry, which had practically been the state religion for some seventy years ( comp. , 11, 29).
In the eighteenth year of his reign he proceeded to repair and beautify the temple, which by time and violence had become sorely dilapidated ( , 5, 6; 23:23; ). While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses.
When this book was read to him, the king was alarmed by the things it contained, and sent for Huldah, the "prophetess," for her counsel. She spoke to him words of encouragement, telling him that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the threatened days of judgment came. Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of their ancient national covenant with God. The Passover was then celebrated, as in the days of his great predecessor, Hezekiah, with unusual magnificence. Nevertheless, "the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah" ( 23:21-27; ). During the progress of this great religious revolution Jeremiah helped it on by his earnest exhortations.
Soon after this, Pharaoh-Necho II. (q.v.), king of Egypt, in an expedition against the king of Assyria, with the view of gaining possession of Carchemish, sought a passage through the territory of Judah for his army. This Josiah refused to permit. He had probably entered into some new alliance with the king of Assyria, and faithful to his word he sought to oppose the progress of Necho.
The army of Judah went out and encountered that of Egypt at Megiddo, on the verge of the plain of Esdraelon. Josiah went into the field in disguise, and was fatally wounded by a random arrow. His attendants conveyed him toward Jerusalem, but had only reached Hadadrimmon, a few miles south of Megiddo, when he died ( , 30; comp. ), after a reign of thirty-one years. He was buried with the greatest honours in fulfilment of Huldah's prophecy ( comp. ). Jeremiah composed a funeral elegy on this the best of the kings of Israel ( ). The outburst of national grief on account of his death became proverbial ( comp. ).

or Iota, the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, used metaphorically or proverbially for the smallest thing ( ); or it may be = yod, which is the smallest of the Hebrew letters.

Jehovah is perfect. (1.) The youngest of Gideon's seventy sons. He escaped when the rest were put to death by the order of Abimelech ( ). When "the citizens of Shechem and the whole house of Millo" were gathered together "by the plain of the pillar" (i.e., the stone set up by Joshua, 24:26; comp. ) "that was in Shechem, to make Abimelech king," from one of the heights of Mount Gerizim he protested against their doing so in the earliest parable, that of the bramble-king. His words then spoken were prophetic. There came a recoil in the feelings of the people toward Abimelech, and then a terrible revenge, in which many were slain and the city of Shechem was destroyed by Abimelech ( ). Having delivered his warning, Jotham fled to Beer from the vengeance of Abimelech (9:7-21).
(2.) The son and successor of Uzziah on the throne of Judah. As during his last years Uzziah was excluded from public life on account of his leprosy, his son, then twenty-five years of age, administered for seven years the affairs of the kingdom in his father's stead ( , 23; 27:1). After his father's death he became sole monarch, and reigned for sixteen years (B.C. 759-743). He ruled in the fear of God, and his reign was prosperous. He was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, by whose ministrations he profited. He was buried in the sepulchre of the kings, greatly lamented by the people ( ).

(1.) A day's journey in the East is f to 20 miles ( ).
(2.) A Sabbath-day's journey ,000 paces or yards from the city walls ( ). According to Jewish tradition, it was the distance one might travel without violating the law of . (See SABBATH.)

whom Jehovah bestows. (1.) One of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag ( ).
(2.) A chief of the tribe of Manasseh ( ).

Jehovah-remembered, one of the two servants who assassinated Jehoash, the king of Judah, in Millo ( ). He is called also Zabad ( ).

jubilee, music, Lamech's second son by Adah, of the line of Cain. He was the inventor of "the harp" (Heb. kinnor, properly "lyre") and "the organ" (Heb. 'ugab, properly "mouth-organ" or Pan's pipe), .

a joyful shout or clangour of trumpets, the name of the great semi-centennial festival of the Hebrews. It lasted for a year. During this year the land was to be fallow, and the Israelites were only permitted to gather the spontaneous produce of the fields ( , 12). All landed property during that year reverted to its original owner (13-34; 27:16-24), and all who were slaves were set free (25:39-54), and all debts were remitted.
The return of the jubilee year was proclaimed by a blast of trumpets which sounded throughout the land. There is no record in Scripture of the actual observance of this festival, but there are numerous allusions ( , 8, 9, 10; 61:1, 2; , 13; ) which place it beyond a doubt that it was observed.
The advantages of this institution were manifold. "1. It would prevent the accumulation of land on the part of a few to the detriment of the community at large. 2. It would render it impossible for any one to be born to absolute poverty, since every one had his hereditary land. 3. It would preclude those inequalities which are produced by extremes of riches and poverty, and which make one man domineer over another. 4. It would utterly do away with slavery. 5. It would afford a fresh opportunity to those who were reduced by adverse circumstances to begin again their career of industry in the patrimony which they had temporarily forfeited. 6. It would periodically rectify the disorders which crept into the state in the course of time, preclude the division of the people into nobles and plebeians, and preserve the theocracy inviolate."

(1.) The patriarch Judah, son of Jacob ( ). In 7:5, the word refers to the tribe of Judah.
(2.) The father of Simeon in Christ's maternal ancestry ( ).
(3.) Son of Joanna, and father of Joseph in Christ's maternal ancestry (26), probably identical with Abiud ( ), and with Obadiah ( ).
(4.) One of the Lord's "brethren" ( ).

praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in Leah's words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: "Now will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name Yehudah" ( ).
It was Judah that interposed in behalf of Joseph, so that his life was spared ( , 27). He took a lead in the affairs of the family, and "prevailed above his brethren" ( 44:14, 16-34; 46:28; ).
Soon after the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, Judah went to reside at Adullam, where he married a woman of Canaan. (See ONAN; TAMAR.) After the death of his wife Shuah, he returned to his father's house, and there exercised much influence over the patriarch, taking a principal part in the events which led to the whole family at length going down into Egypt. We hear nothing more of him till he received his father's blessing ( ).

The Authorized Version, following the Vulgate, has this rendering in . It has been suggested that, following the Masoretic punctuation, the expression should read thus, "and Judah; the Jordan was toward the sun-rising." The sixty cities (Havoth-jair, ) on the east of Jordan were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their founder, was a Manassite only on his mother's side, but on his father's side of the tribe of Judah ( , 21-23).

When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom ( ), which was called the kingdom of Judah. It was very small in extent, being only about the size of the Scottish county of Perth.
For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. For the next eighty years there was no open war between them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. For about another century and a half Judah had a somewhat checkered existence after the termination of the kingdom of Israel till its final overthrow in the destruction of the temple (B.C. 588) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard ( ).
The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of 3,435 square miles. (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF.)

Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into Egypt ( ). At the time of the Exodus, when we meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the number of 74,000 males ( , 27). Its number increased in the wilderness (26:22). Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, represented the tribe as one of the spies (13:6; 34:19). This tribe marched at the van on the east of the tabernacle ( 10:14), its standard, as is supposed, being a lion's whelp. Under Caleb, during the wars of conquest, they conquered that portion of the country which was afterwards assigned to them as their inheritance. This was the only case in which any tribe had its inheritance thus determined ( 15:13-19).
The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was at first fully one-third of the whole country west of Jordan, in all about 2,300 square miles ( ). But there was a second distribution, when Simeon received an allotment, about 1,000 square miles, out of the portion of Judah ( ). That which remained to Judah was still very large in proportion to the inheritance of the other tribes. The boundaries of the territory are described in .
This territory given to Judah was divided into four sections. (1.) The south (Heb. negeb), the undulating pasture-ground between the hills and the desert to the south ( .) This extent of pasture-land became famous as the favourite camping-ground of the old patriarchs. (2.) The "valley" (15:33) or lowland (Heb. shephelah), a broad strip lying between the central highlands and the Mediterranean. This tract was the garden as well as the granary of the tribe. (3.) The "hill-country," or the mountains of Judah, an elevated plateau stretching from below Hebron northward to Jerusalem. "The towns and villages were generally perched on the tops of hills or on rocky slopes. The resources of the soil were great. The country was rich in corn, wine, oil, and fruit; and the daring shepherds were able to lead their flocks far out over the neighbouring plains and through the mountains." The number of towns in this district was thirty-eight ( ). (4.) The "wilderness," the sunken district next the Dead Sea ( ), "averaging 10 miles in breadth, a wild, barren, uninhabitable region, fit only to afford scanty pasturage for sheep and goats, and a secure home for leopards, bears, wild goats, and outlaws" ( 22:1; ). It was divided into the "wilderness of En-gedi" ( ), the "wilderness of Judah" ( ), between the Hebron mountain range and the Dead Sea, the "wilderness of Maon" ( ). It contained only six cities.
Nine of the cities of Judah were assigned to the priests ( ).

the Graecized form of Judah. (1.) The patriarch ( , 3).
(2.) Son of Simon ( 13:2, 26), surnamed Iscariot, i.e., a man of Kerioth ( ). His name is uniformly the last in the list of the apostles, as given in the synoptic (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The evil of his nature probably gradually unfolded itself till "Satan entered into him" ( ), and he betrayed our Lord (18:3). Afterwards he owned his sin with "an exceeding bitter cry," and cast the money he had received as the wages of his iniquity down on the floor of the sanctuary, and "departed and went and hanged himself" ( ). He perished in his guilt, and "went unto his own place" ( ). The statement in that he "fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out," is in no way contrary to that in . The sucide first hanged himself, perhaps over the valley of Hinnom, "and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong on his face, and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below."
Why such a man was chosen to be an apostle we know not, but it is written that "Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him" ( ). Nor can any answer be satisfactorily given to the question as to the motives that led Judas to betray his Master. "Of the motives that have been assigned we need not care to fix on any one as that which simply led him on. Crime is, for the most part, the result of a hundred motives rushing with bewildering fury through the mind of the criminal."
(3.) A Jew of Damascus ( ), to whose house Ananias was sent. The street called "Straight" in which it was situated is identified with the modern "street of bazaars," where is still pointed out the so-called "house of Judas."
(4.) A Christian teacher, surnamed Barsabas. He was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas with the decision of the council ( , 27, 32). He was a "prophet" and a "chief man among the brethren."

= Judas. Among the apostles there were two who bore this name, (1) Judas (Ju ), called also Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus ( ); and (2) Judas Iscariot ( ). He who is called "the brother of James" ( ), may be the same with the Judas surnamed Lebbaeus. The only thing recorded regarding him is in .

The author was "Judas, the brother of James" the Less (Ju ), called also Lebbaeus ( ) and Thaddaeus ( ). The genuineness of this epistle was early questioned, and doubts regarding it were revived at the time of the Reformation; but the evidences in support of its claims are complete. It has all the marks of having proceeded from the writer whose name it bears.
There is nothing very definite to determine the time and place at which it was written. It was apparently written in the later period of the apostolic age, for when it was written there were persons still alive who had heard the apostles preach (ver. 17). It may thus have been written about A.D. 66 or 70, and apparently in Palestine.
The epistle is addressed to Christians in general (ver. 1), and its design is to put them on their guard against the misleading efforts of a certain class of errorists to which they were exposed. The style of the epistle is that of an "impassioned invective, in the impetuous whirlwind of which the writer is hurried along, collecting example after example of divine vengeance on the ungodly; heaping epithet upon epithet, and piling image upon image, and, as it were, labouring for words and images strong enough to depict the polluted character of the licentious apostates against whom he is warning the Church; returning again and again to the subject, as though all language was insufficient to give an adequate idea of their profligacy, and to express his burning hatred of their perversion of the doctrines of the gospel."
The striking resemblance this epistle bears to 2 Peter suggests the idea that the author of the one had seen the epistle of the other.
The doxology with which the epistle concludes is regarded as the finest in the New Testament.

After the Captivity this name was applied to the whole of the country west of the Jordan ( , 14; 2:2). But under the Romans, in the time of Christ, it denoted the southernmost of the three divisions of Palestine ( , 5; 3:1; 4:25), although it was also sometimes used for Palestine generally ( ).
The province of Judea, as distinguished from Galilee and Samaria, included the territories of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, and part of Ephraim. Under the Romans it was a part of the province of Syria, and was governed by a procurator.

(Heb. shophet, pl. shophetim), properly a magistrate or ruler, rather than one who judges in the sense of trying a cause. This is the name given to those rulers who presided over the affairs of the Israelites during the interval between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul ( ), a period of general anarchy and confusion. "The office of judges or regents was held during life, but it was not hereditary, neither could they appoint their successors. Their authority was limited by the law alone, and in doubtful cases they were directed to consult the divine King through the priest by Urim and Thummim ( ). Their authority extended only over those tribes by whom they had been elected or acknowledged. There was no income attached to their office, and they bore no external marks of dignity. The only cases of direct divine appointment are those of Gideon and Samson, and the latter stood in the peculiar position of having been from before his birth ordained 'to begin to deliver Israel.' Deborah was called to deliver Israel, but was already a judge. Samuel was called by the Lord to be a prophet but not a judge, which ensued from the high gifts the people recognized as dwelling in him; and as to Eli, the office of judge seems to have devolved naturally or rather ex officio upon him." Of five of the judges, Tola ( ), Jair (3), Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8-15), we have no record at all beyond the bare fact that they were judges. Sacred history is not the history of individuals but of the kingdom of God in its onward progress.
In Moses is so styled. This fact may indicate that while for revenue purposes the "taskmasters" were over the people, they were yet, just as at a later time when under the Romans, governed by their own rulers.

is so called because it contains the history of the deliverance and government of Israel by the men who bore the title of the "judges." The book of Ruth originally formed part of this book, but about A.D. 450 it was separated from it and placed in the Hebrew scriptures immediately after the Song of Solomon.
The book contains, (1.) An introduction (1-3:6), connecting it with the previous narrative in Joshua, as a "link in the chain of books." (2.) The history of the thirteen judges (3:7-16:31) in the following order:
FIRST PERIOD (3:7-ch. 5) Years I. Servitude under Chushan-rishathaim of Mesopotamia 8 1. OTHNIEL delivers Israel, rest 40 II. Servitude under Eglon of Moab: Ammon, Amalek 18 2. EHUD'S deliverance, rest 80 3. SHAMGAR Unknown. III. Servitude under Jabin of Hazor in Canaan 20 4. DEBORAH and, 5. BARAK 40 (206) SECOND PERIOD (6-10:5) IV. Servitude under Midian, Amalek, and children of the east 7 6. GIDEON 40 ABIMELECH, Gideon's son, reigns as king over Israel 3 7. TO 8. JAIR 22 (95) THIRD PERIOD (10:6-ch. 12) V. Servitude under Ammonites with the Philistin 9. JEPHTHAH 6 10. IBZAN 7 11. ELON 10 12. ABDON 8 (49) FOURTH PERIOD (13-16) VI. Seritude under Philistin 13. SAMSON 20 (60) In all 410
Samson's exploits probably synchronize with the period immediately preceding the national repentance and reformation under Samuel ( ).
After Samson came Eli, who was both high priest and judge. He directed the civil and religious affairs of the people for forty years, at the close of which the Philistines again invaded the land and oppressed it for twenty years. Samuel was raised up to deliver the people from this oppression, and he judged Israel for some twelve years, when the direction of affairs fell into the hands of Saul, who was anointed king. If Eli and Samuel are included, there were then fifteen judges. But the chronology of this whole period is uncertain.
(3.) The historic section of the book is followed by an appendix (17-21), which has no formal connection with that which goes before. It records (a) the conquest (17, 18) of Laish by a portion of the tribe of Dan; and (b) the almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin by the other tribes, in consequence of their assisting the men of Gibeah (19-21). This section properly belongs to the period only a few years after the death of Joshua. It shows the religious and moral degeneracy of the people.
The author of this book was most probably Samuel. The internal evidence both of the first sixteen chapters and of the appendix warrants this conclusion. It was probably composed during Saul's reign, or at the very beginning of David's. The words in 18:30,31, imply that it was written after the taking of the ark by the Philistines, and after it was set up at Nob ( ). In David's reign the ark was at Gibeon ( )

Gr. praitorion ( , 33; 19:9; ), "common hall." In all these passages the Revised Version renders "palace." In the word is rendered "Praetorium" (q.v.), which is a Latin word, meaning literally the residence of the praetor, and then the governor's residence in general, though not a praetor. Throughout the Gospels the word "praitorion" has this meaning (comp. ). Pilate's official residence when he was in Jerusalem was probably a part of the fortress of Antonia.
The trial of our Lord was carried on in a room or office of the palace. The "whole band" spoken of by Mark were gathered together in the palace court.

( ), a portable tribunal (Gr. bema) which was placed according as the magistrate might direct, and from which judgment was pronounced. In this case it was placed on a tesselated pavement, probably in front of the procurator's residence. (See GABBATHA.)

the sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day ( , 11; 2 Thess. 1:7-10).
The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him ( , 27; ). "It pertains to him as mediator to complete and publicly manifest the salvation of his people and the overthrow of his enemies, together with the glorious righteousness of his work in both respects."
The persons to be judged are, (1) the whole race of Adam without a single exception ( , 52; ); and (2) the fallen angels ( Ju ).
The rule of judgment is the standard of God's law as revealed to men, the heathen by the law as written on their hearts ( ,48; ); the Jew who "sinned in the law shall be judged by the law" ( ); the Christian enjoying the light of revelation, by the will of God as made known to him ( ). Then the secrets of all hearts will be brought to light ( 12:2,3) to vindicate the justice of the sentence pronounced.
The time of the judgment will be after the resurrection ( ).
As the Scriptures represent the final judgment "as certain [Eccl. 11:9], universal [ ], righteous [ ], decisive [ ], and eternal as to its consequences [ ], let us be concerned for the welfare of our immortal interests, flee to the refuge set before us, improve our precious time, depend on the merits of the Redeemer, and adhere to the dictates of the divine word, that we may be found of him in peace."

(1.) The secret decisions of God's will ( 36:6). (2.) The revelations of his will ( ). (3.) The infliction of punishment on the wicked ( 12:12; ), such as is mentioned in 19:24,25; ,7; , etc.

Jewess, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and one of Esau's wives ( ), elsewhere called Aholibamah (36:2-14).

a Christian woman at Rome to whom Paul sent his salutations ( ), supposed to be the wife of Philologus.

the centurion of the Augustan cohort, or the emperor's body-guard, in whose charge Paul was sent prisoner to Rome ( , 3, 43). He entreated Paul "courteously," showing in many ways a friendly regard for him.

( ), a Christian at Rome to whom Paul sends salutations along with Andronicus.

(Heb. rothem), called by the Arabs retem, and known as Spanish broom; ranked under the genus genista. It is a desert shrub, and abounds in many parts of Palestine. In the account of his journey from Akabah to Jerusalem, Dr. Robinson says: "This is the largest and most conspicuous shrub of these deserts, growing thickly in the water-courses and valleys. Our Arabs always selected the place of encampment, if possible, in a spot where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and during the day, when they often went on in advance of the camels, we found them not unfrequently sitting or sleeping under a bush of retem to shelter them from the sun. It was in this very desert, a day's journey from Beersheba, that the prophet Elijah lay down and slept beneath the same shrub" ( , 5). It afforded material for fuel, and also in cases of extremity for human food ( ). One of the encampments in the wilderness of Paran is called Rithmah, i.e., "place of broom" ( ).
"The Bedawin of Sinai still burn this very plant into a charcoal which throws out the most intense heat."

the principal deity of the ancient Greeks and Romans. He was worshipped by them under various epithets. Barnabas was identified with this god by the Lycaonians ( ), because he was of stately and commanding presence, as they supposed Jupiter to be. There was a temple dedicated to this god outside the gates of Lystra (14:13).

is rendering to every one that which is his due. It has been distinguished from equity in this respect, that while justice means merely the doing what positive law demands, equity means the doing of what is fair and right in every separate case.

that perfection of his nature whereby he is infinitely righteous in himself and in all he does, the righteousness of the divine nature exercised in his moral government. At first God imposes righteous laws on his creatures and executes them righteously. Justice is not an optional product of his will, but an unchangeable principle of his very nature. His legislative justice is his requiring of his rational creatures conformity in all respects to the moral law. His rectoral or distributive justice is his dealing with his accountable creatures according to the requirements of the law in rewarding or punishing them ( ). In remunerative justice he distributes rewards (Jam ); in vindictive or punitive justice he inflicts punishment on account of transgression (2 Thess. 1:6). He cannot, as being infinitely righteous, do otherwise than regard and hate sin as intrinsically hateful and deserving of punishment. "He cannot deny himself" ( ). His essential and eternal righteousness immutably determines him to visit every sin as such with merited punishment.

a forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law ( ).
It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ ( ). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness ( ).
The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness ( 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; ).
The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness ( ). Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6). (See GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO.)

(1.) Another name for Joseph, surnamed Barsabas. He and Matthias are mentioned only in . "They must have been among the earliest disciples of Jesus, and must have been faithful to the end; they must have been well known and esteemed among the brethren. What became of them afterwards, and what work they did, are entirely unknown" (Lindsay's Acts of the Apostles).
(2.) A Jewish proselyte at Corinth, in whose house, next door to the synagogue, Paul held meetings and preached after he left the synagogue ( ).
(3.) A Jewish Christian, called Jesus, Paul's only fellow-labourer at Rome, where he wrote his Epistle to the Colossians ( ).

extended, a Levitical city in the mountains or hill-country of Judah ( 21:16). Its modern name is Yutta, a place about 5 1/2 miles south of Hebron. It is supposed to have been the residence of Zacharias and Elisabeth, and the birthplace of John the Baptist, and on this account is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims belonging to the Greek Church ( ). (See MARY.)

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Today's Verse

Easton's Bible Dictionary - J

Bible Stream

Creeds & Confessions

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Today's Verse

Easton's Bible Dictionary - J

Jaakan

Jaakobah

Jaala

Jaalam

Jaanai

Jaare-oregim

Jaasau

Jaasiel

Jaaz-aniah

Jaazer

Jaaziah

Jaaziel

Jabal

Jabbok

Jabesh

Jabesh-Gilead

Jabez

Jabin

Jabneel

Jabneh

Jachan

Jachin

Jachin and Boaz

Jacinth

Jacob

Jacob's Well

Jaddua

Jadon

Jael

Jagur

Jah

Jahath

Jahaz

Jahaziel

Jahdai

Jahzeel

Jahzerah

Jailer

Jair

Jairus

Jakeh

Jakim

Jalon

Jambres

James

James, Epistle of

Jannes

Janoah

Janum

Japheth

Japhia

Japho

Jared

Jarib

Jarmuth

Jashen

Jasher

Jashobeam

Jashub

Jason

Jasper

Jattir

Javan

Javelin

Jaw-bone

Jealousy

Jealousy offering

Jealousy, Image of

Jealousy, Waters of

Jearim

Jebus

Jebusites

Jecoliah

Jedaiah

Jediael

Jedidiah

Jeduthun