Easton's Bible Dictionary

C

Cab — Charity

Cab

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

Cabins

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

Cabul

Cabul — how little! as nothing. (1.) A town on the eastern border of Asher (Joshua 19:27), probably one of the towns given by Solomon to Hiram; the modern Kabul, some 8 miles east of Accho, on the very borders of Galilee.

(2.) A district in the north-west of Galilee, near to Tyre, containing twenty cities given to Hiram by Solomon as a reward for various services rendered to him in building the temple (1 Kings 9:13), and as payment of the six score talents of gold he had borrowed from him. Hiram gave the cities this name because he was not pleased with the gift, the name signifying “good for nothing.” Hiram seems afterwards to have restored these cities to Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:2).

Caesar

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

Caesara Philippi

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

Caesarea

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

Cage

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

Caiaphas

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

Cain

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

(2.) A town of the Kenites, a branch of the Midianites (Joshua 15:57), on the east edge of the mountain above Engedi; probably the “nest in a rock” mentioned by Balaam (Numbers 24:21). It is identified with the modern Yekin, 3 miles south-east of Hebron.

Cainan

Cainan — possession; smith. (1.) The fourth antediluvian patriarch, the eldest son of Enos. He was 70 years old at the birth of his eldest son Mahalaleel, after which he lived 840 years (Genesis 5:9-14), and was 910 years old when he died. He is also called Kenan (1 Chronicles 1:2).

(2.) The son of Arphaxad (Luke 3:36). He is nowhere named in the Old Testament. He is usually called the “second Cainan.”

Cake

Cake — Cakes made of wheat or barley were offered in the temple. They were salted, but unleavened (Exodus 29:2; Leviticus 2:4). In idolatrous worship thin cakes or wafers were offered “to the queen of heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:19).

Pancakes are described in 2 Samuel 13:8, 2 Samuel 13:9. Cakes mingled with oil and baked in the oven are mentioned in Leviticus 2:4, and “wafers unleavened anointed with oil,” in Exodus 29:2; Leviticus 8:26; 1 Chronicles 23:29. “Cracknels,” a kind of crisp cakes, were among the things Jeroboam directed his wife to take with her when she went to consult Ahijah the prophet at Shiloh (1 Kings 14:3). Such hard cakes were carried by the Gibeonites when they came to Joshua (Joshua 9:5, Joshua 9:12). They described their bread as “mouldy;” but the Hebrew word nikuddim, here used, ought rather to be rendered “hard as biscuit.” It is rendered “cracknels” in 1 Kings 14:3. The ordinary bread, when kept for a few days, became dry and excessively hard. The Gibeonites pointed to this hardness of their bread as an evidence that they had come a long journey.

We read also of honey-cakes (Exodus 16:31), “cakes of figs” (1 Samuel 25:18), “cake” as denoting a whole piece of bread (1 Kings 17:12), and “a [round] cake of barley bread” (Judges 7:13). In Leviticus 2 is a list of the different kinds of bread and cakes which were fit for offerings.

Calah

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

Calamus

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

Calcol

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

Caleb

Caleb — a dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chronicles 2:9). His descendants are enumerated (1 Chronicles 2:18-20, 1 Chronicles 2:42-49).

(2.) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah” (1 Chronicles 2:50). Some would read the whole passage thus: “These [i.e., the list in ver. 1 Chronicles 2:42-49] were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc.” Thus Hur would be the name of the son and not the father of Caleb (ver. 1 Chronicles 2:19).

(3.) The son of Jephunneh (Numbers 13:6; Numbers 32:12; Joshua 14:6, Joshua 14:14). He was one of those whom Moses sent to search the land in the second year after the Exodus. He was one of the family chiefs of the tribe of Judah. He and Joshua the son of Nun were the only two of the whole number who encouraged the people to go up and possess the land, and they alone were spared when a plague broke out in which the other ten spies perished (Numbers 13; Numbers 14). All the people that had been numbered, from twenty years old and upward, perished in the wilderness except these two. The last notice we have of Caleb is when (being then eighty-five years of age) he came to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, after the people had gained possession of the land, and reminded him of the promise Moses had made to him, by virtue of which he claimed a certain portion of the land of Kirjath-arba as his inheritance (Joshua 14:6-15; Joshua 15:13-15; Joshua 21:10-12; 1 Samuel 25:2,1 Samuel 25:3; 1 Samuel 30:14). He is called a “Kenezite” in Joshua 14:6,Joshua 14:14. This may simply mean “son of Kenez” (Numbers 32:12). Some, however, read “Jephunneh, the son of Kenez,” who was a descendant of Hezron, the son of Pharez, a grandson of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:5). This Caleb may possibly be identical with (2).

(4.) Caleb gave his name apparently to a part of the south country (1 Samuel 30:14) of Judah, the district between Hebron and Carmel, which had been assigned to him. When he gave up the city of Hebron to the priests as a city of refuge, he retained possession of the surrounding country (Joshua 21:11,Joshua 21:12; comp. 1 Samuel 25:3).

Calf

Calf — Calves were commonly made use of in sacrifices, and are therefore frequently mentioned in Scripture. The “fatted calf” was regarded as the choicest of animal food; it was frequently also offered as a special sacrifice (1 Samuel 28:24; Amos 6:4; Luke 15:23). The words used in Jeremiah 34:18, Jeremiah 34:19, “cut the calf in twain,” allude to the custom of dividing a sacrifice into two parts, between which the parties ratifying a covenant passed (Genesis 15:9, Genesis 15:10, Genesis 15:17, Genesis 15:18). The sacrifice of the lips, i.e., priase, is called “the calves of our lips” (Hosea 14:2, R.V., “as bullocks the offering of our lips.” Comp. Hebrews 13:15; Psalm 116:7; Jeremiah 33:11).

The golden calf which Aaron made (Exodus 32:4) was probably a copy of the god Moloch rather than of the god Apis, the sacred ox or calf of Egypt. The Jews showed all through their history a tendency toward the Babylonian and Canaanitish idolatry rather than toward that of Egypt.

Ages after this, Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up two idol calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, that he might thus prevent the ten tribes from resorting to Jerusalem for worship (1 Kings 12:28). These calves continued to be a snare to the people till the time of their captivity. The calf at Dan was carried away in the reign of Pekah by Tiglath-pileser, and that at Bethel ten years later, in the reign of Hoshea, by Shalmaneser (2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:33). This sin of Jeroboam is almost always mentioned along with his name (2 Kings 15:28 etc.).

Calkers

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

Call

Call — (1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Genesis 4:26). Thus men are said to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21; Acts 7:59; Acts 9:14; Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 1:2).

(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Exodus 31:2; Isaiah 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 11:28; Matthew 22:4).

In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; Romans 9:24, Romans 9:25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (John 3:14-19; Matthew 22:14).

An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Acts 26:18; John 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (John 6:45; Acts 16:14; Ephesians 1:17).

Calling

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

Calneh

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

Calvary

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

Camel

Camel — from the Hebrew gamal, “to repay” or “requite,” as the camel does the care of its master. There are two distinct species of camels, having, however, the common characteristics of being “ruminants without horns, without muzzle, with nostrils forming oblique slits, the upper lip divided and separately movable and extensile, the soles of the feet horny, with two toes covered by claws, the limbs long, the abdomen drawn up, while the neck, long and slender, is bent up and down, the reverse of that of a horse, which is arched.”

(1.) The Bactrian camel is distinguished by two humps. It is a native of the high table-lands of Central Asia.

(2.) The Arabian camel or dromedary, from the Greek dromos, “a runner” (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 2:23), has but one hump, and is a native of Western Asia or Africa.

The camel was early used both for riding and as a beast of burden (Genesis 24:64; Genesis 37:25), and in war (1 Samuel 30:17; Isaiah 21:7). Mention is made of the camel among the cattle given by Pharaoh to Abraham (Genesis 12:16). Its flesh was not to be eaten, as it was ranked among unclean animals (Leviticus 11:4; Deuteronomy 14:7). Abraham’s servant rode on a camel when he went to fetch a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:10, Genesis 24:11). Jacob had camels as a portion of his wealth (Genesis 30:43), as Abraham also had (Genesis 24:35). He sent a present of thirty milch camels to his brother Esau (Genesis 32:15). It appears to have been little in use among the Jews after the conquest. It is, however, mentioned in the history of David (1 Chronicles 27:30), and after the Exile (Ezra 2:67; Nehemiah 7:69). Camels were much in use among other nations in the East. The queen of Sheba came with a caravan of camels when she came to see the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 10:2; 2 Chronicles 9:1). Benhadad of Damascus also sent a present to Elisha, “forty camels’ burden” (2 Kings 8:9).

To show the difficulty in the way of a rich man’s entering into the kingdom, our Lord uses the proverbial expression that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24).

To strain at (rather, out) a gnat and swallow a camel was also a proverbial expression (Matthew 23:24), used with reference to those who were careful to avoid small faults, and yet did not hesitate to commit the greatest sins. The Jews carefully filtered their wine before drinking it, for fear of swallowing along with it some insect forbidden in the law as unclean, and yet they omitted openly the “weightier matters” of the law.

The raiment worn by John the Baptist was made of camel’s hair (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6), by which he was distinguished from those who resided in royal palaces and wore soft raiment. This was also the case with Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), who is called “a hairy man,” from his wearing such raiment. “This is one of the most admirable materials for clothing; it keeps out the heat, cold, and rain.” The “sackcloth” so often alluded to (2 Kings 1:8; Isaiah 15:3; Zechariah 13:4, etc.) was probably made of camel’s hair.

Camon

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

Camp

Camp — During their journeys across the wilderness, the twelve tribes formed encampments at the different places where they halted (Exodus 16:13; Numbers 2:3). The diagram here given shows the position of the different tribes and the form of the encampment during the wanderings, according to Numbers 1:53; Numbers 2:2-31; Numbers 3:29, Numbers 3:35, Numbers 3:38; Numbers 10:13-28.

The area of the camp would be in all about 3 square miles. After the Hebrews entered Palestine, the camps then spoken of were exclusively warlike (Joshua 11:5, Joshua 11:7; Judges 5:19, Judges 5:21; Judges 7:1; 1 Samuel 29:1; 1 Samuel 30:9, etc.).

Camphire

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

Cana

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

Canaan

Canaan — (1.) The fourth son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). His descendants were under a curse in consequence of the transgression of his father (Genesis 9:22-27). His eldest son, Zidon, was the father of the Sidonians and Phoenicians. He had eleven sons, who were the founders of as many tribes (Genesis 10:15-18).

(2.) The country which derived its name from the preceding. The name as first used by the Phoenicians denoted only the maritime plain on which Sidon was built. But in the time of Moses and Joshua it denoted the whole country to the west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea (Deuteronomy 11:30). In Joshua 5:12 the LXX. read, “land of the Phoenicians,” instead of “land of Canaan.”

The name signifies “the lowlands,” as distinguished from the land of Gilead on the east of Jordan, which was a mountainous district. The extent and boundaries of Canaan are fully set forth in different parts of Scripture (Genesis 10:19; Genesis 17:8; Numbers 13:29; Numbers 34:8). (See CANAANITES , PALESTINE.)

Canaanite

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

Canaanites

Canaanites — the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from their original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and to have there sojourned for some time. They thence “spread to the west, across the mountain chain of Lebanon to the very edge of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying all the land which later became Palestine, also to the north-west as far as the mountain chain of Taurus. This group was very numerous, and broken up into a great many peoples, as we can judge from the list of nations (Genesis 10), the ‘sons of Canaan.’” Six different tribes are mentioned in Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Exodus 23:23; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11. In Exodus 13:5 the “Perizzites” are omitted. The “Girgashites” are mentioned in addition to the foregoing in Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10.

The “Canaanites,” as distinguished from the Amalekites, the Anakim, and the Rephaim, were “dwellers in the lowlands” (Numbers 13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centres of great commercial activity; and hence the name “Canaanite” came to signify a “trader” or “merchant” (Job 41:6; Proverbs 31:24, lit. “Canaanites;” comp. Zephaniah 1:11; Ezekiel 17:4). The name “Canaanite” is also sometimes used to designate the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general (Genesis 12:6; Numbers 21:3; Judges 1:10).

The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised Land, were commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of Canaan then possessing it (Exodus 23:23; Numbers 33:52, Numbers 33:53; Deuteronomy 20:16, Deuteronomy 20:17). This was to be done “by little and little,” lest the beasts of the field should increase (Exodus 23:29; Deuteronomy 7:22, Deuteronomy 7:23). The history of these wars of conquest is given in the Book of Joshua. The extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully carried out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Samuel 5:6, 2 Samuel 5:7). In the days of Solomon bond-service was exacted from the fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings 9:20, 1 Kings 9:21). Even after the return from captivity survivors of five of the Canaanitish tribes were still found in the land.

In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets Canaan is found under the forms of Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. Under the name of Kanana the Canaanites appear on Egyptian monuments, wearing a coat of mail and helmet, and distinguished by the use of spear and javelin and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians by the Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. By race the Canaanites were Semitic. They were famous as merchants and seamen, as well as for their artistic skill. The chief object of their worship was the sun-god, who was addressed by the general name of Baal, “lord.” Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, “lords.”

Canaan, the language of

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

Candace

Candace — the queen of the Ethiopians whose “eunuch” or chamberlain was converted to Christianity by the instrumentality of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:27). The country which she ruled was called by the Greeks Meroe, in Upper Nubia. It was long the centre of commercial intercourse between Africa and the south of Asia, and hence became famous for its wealth (Isaiah 45:14).

It is somewhat singular that female sovereignty seems to have prevailed in Ethiopia, the name Candace (compare “Pharaoh,” “Ptolemy,” “Caesar”) being a title common to several successive queens. It is probable that Judaism had taken root in Ethiopia at this time, and hence the visit of the queen’s treasurer to Jerusalem to keep the feast. There is a tradition that Candace was herself converted to Christianity by her treasurer on his return, and that he became the apostle of Christianity in that whole region, carrying it also into Abyssinia. It is said that he also preached the gospel in Arabia Felix and in Ceylon, where he suffered martyrdom. (See PHILIP.)

Candle

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

Candlestick

Candlestick — the lamp-stand, “candelabrum,” which Moses was commanded to make for the tabernacle, according to the pattern shown him. Its form is described in Exodus 25:31-40; Exodus 37:17-24, and may be seen represented on the Arch of Titus at Rome. It was among the spoils taken by the Romans from the temple of Jerusalem (A.D. 70). It was made of fine gold, and with the utensils belonging to it was a talent in weight.

The tabernacle was a tent without windows, and thus artificial light was needed. This was supplied by the candlestick, which, however, served also as a symbol of the church or people of God, who are “the light of the world.” The light which “symbolizes the knowledge of God is not the sun or any natural light, but an artificial light supplied with a specially prepared oil; for the knowledge of God is in truth not natural nor common to all men, but furnished over and above nature.”

This candlestick was placed on the south side of the Holy Place, opposite the table of shewbread (Exodus 27:21; Exodus 30:7, Exodus 30:8; Leviticus 24:3; 1 Samuel 3:3). It was lighted every evening, and was extinguished in the morning. In the morning the priests trimmed the seven lamps, borne by the seven branches, with golden snuffers, carrying away the ashes in golden dishes (Exodus 25:38), and supplying the lamps at the same time with fresh oil. What ultimately became of the candlestick is unknown.

In Solomon’s temple there were ten separate candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left of the Holy Place (1 Kings 7:49; 2 Chronicles 4:7). Their structure is not mentioned. They were carried away to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:19).

In the temple erected after the Exile there was again but one candlestick, and like the first, with seven branches. It was this which was afterwards carried away by Titus to Rome, where it was deposited in the Temple of Peace. When Genseric plundered Rome, he is said to have carried it to Carthage (A.D. 455). It was recaptured by Belisarius (A.D. 533), and carried to Constantinople and thence to Jerusalem, where it finally disappeared.

Cane

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

Canker

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

Cankerworm

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

Canneh

Canneh — Mentioned only in Ezekiel 27:23. (See CALNEH.)

Canon

Canon — This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. The canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. They contain the whole supernatural revelation of God to men. The New Testament Canon was formed gradually under divine guidance. The different books as they were written came into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon after the day of Pentecost; and thus slowly the canon increased till all the books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. Historical evidence shows that from about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was substantially such as we now possess. Each book contained in it is proved to have, on its own ground, a right to its place; and thus the whole is of divine authority.

The Old Testament Canon is witnessed to by the New Testament writers. Their evidence is conclusive. The quotations in the New from the Old are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. These quotations and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew writings under the designation of “The Scriptures;” “The Law and the Prophets and the Psalms;” “Moses and the Prophets,” etc. The appeals to these books, moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding all questions of which they treat; and that the whole collection so recognized consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. Thus they endorse as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures. The Septuagint Version (q.v.) also contained every book we now have in the Old Testament Scriptures. As to the time at which the Old Testament canon was closed, there are many considerations which point to that of Ezra and Nehemiah, immediately after the return from Babylonian exile. (See BIBLE , EZRA, QUOTATIONS.)

Capernaum

Capernaum — Nahum’s town, a Galilean city frequently mentioned in the history of our Lord. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. After our Lord’s expulsion from Nazareth (Matthew 4:13-16; Luke 4:16-31), Capernaum became his “own city.” It was the scene of many acts and incidents of his life (Matthew 8:5, Matthew 8:14, Matthew 8:15; Matthew 9:2-6, Matthew 9:10-17; Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 1:32-34, etc.). The impenitence and unbelief of its inhabitants after the many evidences our Lord gave among them of the truth of his mission, brought down upon them a heavy denunciation of judgement (Matthew 11:23).

It stood on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The “land of Gennesaret,” near, if not in, which it was situated, was one of the most prosperous and crowded districts of Palestine. This city lay on the great highway from Damascus to Acco and Tyre. It has been identified with Tell Hum, about two miles south-west of where the Jordan flows into the lake. Here are extensive ruins of walls and foundations, and also the remains of what must have been a beautiful synagogue, which it is conjectured may have been the one built by the centurion (Luke 7:5), in which our Lord frequently taught (John 6:59; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:33). Others have conjectured that the ruins of the city are to be found at Khan Minyeh, some three miles further to the south on the shore of the lake. “If Tell Hum be Capernaum, the remains spoken of are without doubt the ruins of the synagogue built by the Roman centurion, and one of the most sacred places on earth. It was in this building that our Lord gave the well-known discourse in John 6; and it was not without a certain strange feeling that on turning over a large block we found the pot of manna engraved on its face, and remembered the words, ‘I am that bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.’”, (The Recovery of Jerusalem.)

Caphtor

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

Cappadocia

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

Captain

Captain — (1.) Heb. sar (1 Samuel 22:2; 2 Samuel 23:19). Rendered “chief,” Genesis 40:2; Genesis 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Daniel 1:7; “ruler,” Judges 9:30; “governor,’ 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Exodus 18:21; 2 Kings 1:9; Deuteronomy 1:15; 1 Samuel 18:13, etc.), the “captain of the body-guard” (Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1; Genesis 41:10; Jeremiah 40:1), or, as the word may be rendered, “chief of the executioners” (marg.). The officers of the king’s body-guard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan (Jeremiah 39:13) and Arioch (Daniel 2:14) held this office in Babylon.

The “captain of the guard” mentioned in Acts 28:16 was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops.

(2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a military (Joshua 10:24; Judges 11:6, Judges 11:11; Isaiah 22:3 “rulers;” Daniel 11:18) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. kady, (Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 3:6; Micah 3:1, Micah 3:9).

(3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning “a third man,” or “one of three.” The LXX. render in plural by tristatai; i.e., “soldiers fighting from chariots,” so called because each war-chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought (Exodus 14:7; Exodus 15:4; 1 Kings 9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king’s body-guard (2 Kings 10:25; 1 Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 11:11) or aides-de-camp.

(4.) The “captain of the temple” mentioned in Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:24 was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp. “the ruler of the house of God,” 1 Chronicles 9:11; 2 Chronicles 31:13; Nehemiah 11:11.)

(5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Hebrews 2:10), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The “captain of the Lord’s host” (Joshua 5:14, Joshua 5:15) is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and to Moses in the bush (Exodus 3:2, Exodus 3:6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant. (See ANGEL.)

Captive

Captive — one taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Joshua 10:24; Judges 1:7; 2 Samuel 4:12; Judges 8:7; 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3). When a city was taken by assault, all the men were slain, and the women and children carried away captive and sold as slaves (Isaiah 20; Isaiah 47:3; 2 Chronicles 28:9-15; Psalm 44:12; Joel 3:3), and exposed to the most cruel treatment (Nahum 3:10; Zechariah 14:2; Esther 3:13; 2 Kings 8:12; Isaiah 13:16, Isaiah 13:18). Captives were sometimes carried away into foreign countries, as was the case with the Jews (Jeremiah 20:5; Jeremiah 39:9, Jeremiah 39:10; Jeremiah 40:7).

Captivity

Captivity — (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 2 Kings 15:20; 1 Chronicles 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tiglath-pileser, in the days of Pekah (B.C. 738), carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of Galilee into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 9:1). Subsequently Shalmaneser invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. During the siege he died, and was succeeded by Sargon, who took the city, and transported the great mass of the people into Assyria (B.C. 721), placing them in Halah and in Habor, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:3, 2 Kings 17:5). Samaria was never again inhabited by the Israelites. The families thus removed were carried to distant cities, many of them not far from the Caspian Sea, and their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon and Cuthah, etc. (2 Kings 17:24). Thus terminated the kingdom of the ten tribes, after a separate duration of two hundred and fifty-five years (B.C. 975-721).

Many speculations have been indulged in with reference to these ten tribes. But we believe that all, except the number that probably allied themselves with Judah and shared in their restoration under Cyrus, are finally lost.

“Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain, They are gone, and for ever.”

(2.) Of Judah. In the third year of Jehoiachim, the eighteenth king of Judah (B.C. 605), Nebuchadnezzar having overcome the Egyptians at Carchemish, advanced to Jerusalem with a great army. After a brief siege he took that city, and carried away the vessels of the sanctuary to Babylon, and dedicated them in the Temple of Belus (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:6, 2 Chronicles 36:7; Daniel 1:1, Daniel 1:2). He also carried away the treasures of the king, whom he made his vassal. At this time, from which is dated the “seventy years” of captivity (Jeremiah 25; Daniel 9:1, Daniel 9:2), Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon, there to be brought up at the court and trained in all the learning of the Chaldeans. After this, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, a great national fast was appointed (Jeremiah 36:9), during which the king, to show his defiance, cut up the leaves of the book of Jeremiah’s prophecies as they were read to him in his winter palace, and threw them into the fire. In the same spirit he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1), who again a second time (B.C. 598) marched against Jerusalem, and put Jehoiachim to death, placing his son Jehoiachin on the throne in his stead. But Jehoiachin’s counsellors displeasing Nebuchadnezzar, he again a third time turned his army against Jerusalem, and carried away to Babylon a second detachment of Jews as captives, to the number of 10,000 (2 Kings 24:13; Jeremiah 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:10), among whom were the king, with his mother and all his princes and officers, also Ezekiel, who with many of his companions were settled on the banks of the river Chebar (q.v.). He also carried away all the remaining treasures of the temple and the palace, and the golden vessels of the sanctuary.

Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, was now made king over what remained of the kingdom of Judah, under the name of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:10). After a troubled reign of eleven years his kingdom came to an end (2 Chronicles 36:11). Nebuchadnezzar, with a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem, and Zedekiah became a prisoner in Babylon. His eyes were put out, and he was kept in close confinement till his death (2 Kings 25:7). The city was spoiled of all that was of value, and then given up to the flames. The temple and palaces were consumed, and the walls of the city were levelled with the ground (B.C. 586), and all that remained of the people, except a number of the poorest class who were left to till the ground and dress the vineyards, were carried away captives to Babylon. This was the third and last deportation of Jewish captives. The land was now utterly desolate, and was abondoned to anarchy.

In the first year of his reign as king of Babylon (B.C. 536), Cyrus issued a decree liberating the Jewish captives, and permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple (2 Chronicles 36:22, 2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1; Ezra 2). The number of the people forming the first caravan, under Zerubbabel, amounted in all to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64, Ezra 2:65), besides 7,337 men-servants and maid-servants. A considerable number, 12,000 probably, from the ten tribes who had been carried away into Assyria no doubt combined with this band of liberated captives.

At a later period other bands of the Jews returned (1) under Ezra (Ezra 7:7) (B.C. 458), and (2) Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:66) (B.C. 445). But the great mass of the people remained still in the land to which they had been carried, and became a portion of the Jews of the “dispersion” (John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1). The whole number of the exiles that chose to remain was probably about six times the number of those who returned.

Carbuncle

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

Carcase

Carcase — contact with a, made an Israelite ceremonially unclean, and made whatever he touched also unclean, according to the Mosaic law (Haggai 2:13; comp. Numbers 19:16, Numbers 19:22; Leviticus 11:39).

Carchemish

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

Carmel

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

(2.) A town in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:55), the residence of Nabal (1 Samuel 25:2, 1 Samuel 25:5, 1 Samuel 25:7, 1 Samuel 25:40), and the native place of Abigail, who became David’s wife (1 Samuel 27:3). Here king Uzziah had his vineyards (2 Chronicles 26:10). The ruins of this town still remain under the name of Kurmul, about 10 miles south-south-east of Hebron, close to those of Maon.

Carmi

Carmi — vine-dresser. (1.) The last named of the four sons of Reuben (Genesis 46:9).

(2.) A descendant of Judah (1 Chronicles 4:1). He is elsewhere (1 Chronicles 2:18) called Caleb (q.v.).

(3.) The son of Zimri, and the father of Achan (Joshua 7:1), “the troubler of Israel.”

Carnal

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

Carpenter

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

Carriage

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

Cart

Cart — a vehicle moving on wheels, and usually drawn by oxen (2 Samuel 6:3). The Hebrew word thus rendered, ˒agalah (1 Samuel 6:7, 1 Samuel 6:8), is also rendered “wagon” (Genesis 45:19). It is used also to denote a war-chariot (Psalm 46:9). Carts were used for the removal of the ark and its sacred utensils (Numbers 7:3, Numbers 7:6). After retaining the ark amongst them for seven months, the Philistines sent it back to the Israelites. On this occasion they set it in a new cart, probably a rude construction, with solid wooden wheels like that still used in Western Asia, which was drawn by two milch cows, which conveyed it straight to Beth-shemesh.

A “cart rope,” for the purpose of fastening loads on carts, is used (Isaiah 5:18) as a symbol of the power of sinful pleasures or habits over him who indulges them. (See CORD.) In Syria and Palestine wheel-carriages for any other purpose than the conveyance of agricultural produce are almost unknown.

Carve

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

Casement

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

Casiphia

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

Casluhim

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

Cassia

Cassia — (1.) Hebrew kiddah’, i.e., “split.” One of the principal spices of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:24), and an article of commerce (Ezekiel 27:19). It is the inner bark of a tree resembling the cinnamon (q.v.), the Cinnamomum cassia of botanists, and was probably imported from India.

(2.) Hebrew pl. ketzi˒oth (Psalm 45:8). Mentioned in connection with myrrh and aloes as being used to scent garments. It was probably prepared from the peeled bark, as the Hebrew word suggests, of some kind of cinnamon.

Castaway

Castaway — Gr. adokimos, (1 Corinthians 9:27), one regarded as unworthy (R.V., “rejected”); elsewhere rendered “reprobate” (2 Timothy 3:8, etc.); “rejected” (Hebrews 6:8, etc.).

Castle

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

Castor and Pollux

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

Caterpillar

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

Catholic epistles

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

Cattle

Cattle — abounded in the Holy Land. To the rearing and management of them the inhabitants chiefly devoted themselves (Deuteronomy 8:13; Deuteronomy 12:21; 1 Samuel 11:5; 1 Samuel 12:3; Psalm 144:14; Jeremiah 3:24). They may be classified as,

(1.) Neat cattle. Many hundreds of these were yearly consumed in sacrifices or used for food. The finest herds were found in Bashan, beyond Jordan (Numbers 32:4). Large herds also pastured on the wide fertile plains of Sharon. They were yoked to the plough (1 Kings 19:19), and were employed for carrying burdens (1 Chronicles 12:40). They were driven with a pointed rod (Judges 3:31) or goad (q.v.).

According to the Mosaic law, the mouths of cattle employed for the threshing-floor were not to be muzzled, so as to prevent them from eating of the provender over which they trampled (Deuteronomy 25:4). Whosoever stole and sold or slaughtered an ox must give five in satisfaction (Exodus 22:1); but if it was found alive in the possession of him who stole it, he was required to make double restitution only (Exodus 22:4). If an ox went astray, whoever found it was required to bring it back to its owner (Exodus 23:4; Deuteronomy 22:1, Deuteronomy 22:4). An ox and an ass could not be yoked together in the plough (Deuteronomy 22:10).

(2.) Small cattle. Next to herds of neat cattle, sheep formed the most important of the possessions of the inhabitants of Palestine (Genesis 12:16; Genesis 13:5; Genesis 26:14; Genesis 21:27; Genesis 29:2, Genesis 29:3). They are frequently mentioned among the booty taken in war (Numbers 31:32; Joshua 6:21; 1 Samuel 14:32; 1 Samuel 15:3). There were many who were owners of large flocks (1 Samuel 25:2; 2 Samuel 12:2, comp. Job 1:3). Kings also had shepherds “over their flocks” (1 Chronicles 27:31), from which they derived a large portion of their revenue (2 Samuel 17:29; 1 Chronicles 12:40). The districts most famous for their flocks of sheep were the plain of Sharon (Isaiah 65:10), Mount Carmel (Micah 7:14), Bashan and Gilead (Micah 7:14). In patriarchal times the flocks of sheep were sometimes tended by the daughters of the owners. Thus Rachel, the daughter of Laban, kept her father’s sheep (Genesis 29:9); as also Zipporah and her six sisters had charge of their father Jethro’s flocks (Exodus 2:16). Sometimes they were kept by hired shepherds (John 10:12), and sometimes by the sons of the family (1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel 17:15). The keepers so familiarized their sheep with their voices that they knew them, and followed them at their call. Sheep, but more especially rams and lambs, were frequently offered in sacrifice. The shearing of sheep was a great festive occasion (1 Samuel 25:4; 2 Samuel 13:23). They were folded at night, and guarded by their keepers against the attacks of the lion (Micah 5:8), the bear (1 Samuel 17:34), and the wolf (Matthew 10:16; John 10:12). They were liable to wander over the wide pastures and go astray (Psalm 119:176; Isaiah 53:6; Hosea 4:16; Matthew 18:12).

Goats also formed a part of the pastoral wealth of Palestine (Genesis 15:9; Genesis 32:14; Genesis 37:31). They were used both for sacrifice and for food (Deuteronomy 14:4), especially the young males (Genesis 27:9, Genesis 27:14, Genesis 27:17; Judges 6:19; Judges 13:15; 1 Samuel 16:20). Goat’s hair was used for making tent cloth (Exodus 26:7; Exodus 36:14), and for mattresses and bedding (1 Samuel 19:13, 1 Samuel 19:16). (See GOAT.)

Caul

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

Cauls

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

Causeway

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

Cave

Cave — There are numerous natural caves among the limestone rocks of Syria, many of which have been artificially enlarged for various purposes.

The first notice of a cave occurs in the history of Lot (Genesis 19:30).

The next we read of is the cave of Machpelah (q.v.), which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (Genesis 25:9, Genesis 25:10). It was the burying-place of Sarah and of Abraham himself, also of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob (Genesis 49:31; Genesis 50:13).

The cave of Makkedah, into which the five Amorite kings retired after their defeat by Joshua (Joshua 10:16, Joshua 10:27).

The cave of Adullam (q.v.), an immense natural cavern, where David hid himself from Saul (1 Samuel 22:1, 1 Samuel 22:2).

The cave of Engedi (q.v.), now called ‘Ain Jidy, i.e., the “Fountain of the Kid”, where David cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe (1 Samuel 24:4). Here he also found a shelter for himself and his followers to the number of 600 (1 Samuel 23:29; 1 Samuel 24:1). “On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day.”

The cave in which Obadiah hid the prophets (1 Kings 18:4) was probably in the north, but it cannot be identified.

The cave of Elijah (1 Kings 19:9), and the “cleft” of Moses on Horeb (Exodus 33:22), cannot be determined.

In the time of Gideon the Israelites took refuge from the Midianites in dens and caves, such as abounded in the mountain regions of Manasseh (Judges 6:2).

Caves were frequently used as dwelling-places (Numbers 24:21; Song of Solomon 2:14; Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 3). “The excavations at Deir Dubban, on the south side of the wady leading to Santa Hanneh, are probably the dwellings of the Horites,” the ancient inhabitants of Idumea Proper. The pits or cavities in rocks were also sometimes used as prisons (Isaiah 24:22; Isaiah 51:14; Zechariah 9:11). Those which had niches in their sides were occupied as burying-places (Ezekiel 32:23; John 11:38).

Cedar

Cedar — (Heb. e˒rez, Gr. kedros, Lat. cedrus), a tree very frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was stately (Ezekiel 31:3-5), long-branched (Psalm 80:10; Psalm 92:12; Ezekiel 31:6-9), odoriferous (Song of Solomon 4:11; Hosea 14:6), durable, and therefore much used for boards, pillars, and ceilings (1 Kings 6:9, 1 Kings 6:10; 1 Kings 7:2; Jeremiah 22:14), for masts (Ezekiel 27:5), and for carved images (Isaiah 44:14).

It grew very abundantly in Palestine, and particularly on Lebanon, of which it was “the glory” (Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 60:13). Hiram supplied Solomon with cedar trees from Lebanon for various purposes connected with the construction of the temple and the king’s palace (2 Samuel 5:11; 2 Samuel 7:2, 2 Samuel 7:7; 1 Kings 5:6, 1 Kings 5:8,1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 6:9, 1 Kings 6:10, 1 Kings 6:15, 1 Kings 6:16, 1 Kings 6:18, 1 Kings 6:20; 1 Kings 7:2, 1 Kings 7:3, 1 Kings 7:7, 1 Kings 7:11, 1 Kings 7:12; 1 Kings 9:11, etc.). Cedars were used also in the building of the second temple under Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:7).

Of the ancient cedars of Lebanon there remain now only some seven or eight. They are not standing together. But beside them there are found between three hundred and four hundred of younger growth. They stand in an amphitheatre fronting the west, about 6,400 feet above the level of the sea.

The cedar is often figuratively alluded to in the sacred Scriptures. “The mighty conquerors of olden days, the despots of Assyria and the Pharaohs of Egypt, the proud and idolatrous monarchs of Judah, the Hebrew commonwealth itself, the war-like Ammonites of patriarchal times, and the moral majesty of the Messianic age, are all compared to the towering cedar, in its royal loftiness and supremacy (Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:22, Ezekiel 17:23, Ezekiel 31:3-9; Amos 2:9; Zechariah 11:1, Zechariah 11:2; Job 40:17; Psalm 29:5; Psalm 80:10; Psalm 92:12, etc).”, Groser’s Scrip. Nat. Hist. (See BOX-TREE .)

Cedron

Cedron — the black torrent, the brook flowing through the ravine below the eastern wall of Jerusalem (John 18:1). (See KIDRON.)

Ceiling

Ceiling — the covering (1 Kings 7:3,1 Kings 7:7) of the inside roof and walls of a house with planks of wood (2 Chronicles 3:5; Jeremiah 22:14). Ceilings were sometimes adorned with various ornaments in stucco, gold, silver, gems, and ivory. The ceilings of the temple and of Solomon’s palace are described 1 Kings 6:9, 1 Kings 6:15; 1 Kings 7:3; 2 Chronicles 3:5,2 Chronicles 3:9.

Cellar

Cellar — a subterranean vault (1 Chronicles 27:28), a storehouse. The word is also used to denote the treasury of the temple (1 Kings 7:51) and of the king (1 Kings 14:26). The Hebrew word is rendered “garner” in Joel 1:17, and “armoury” in Jeremiah 50:25.

Cenchrea

Cenchrea — millet, the eastern harbour of Corinth, from which it was distant about 9 miles east, and the outlet for its trade with the Asiatic shores of the Mediterranean. When Paul returned from his second missionary journey to Syria, he sailed from this port (Acts 18:18). In Romans 16:1 he speaks as if there were at the time of his writing that epistle an organized church there. The western harbour of Corinth was Lechaeum, about a mile and a half from the city. It was the channel of its trade with Italy and the west.

Censer

Censer — the vessel in which incense was presented on “the golden altar” before the Lord in the temple (Exodus 30:1-9). The priest filled the censer with live coal from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offering, and having carried it into the sanctuary, there threw upon the burning coals the sweet incense (Leviticus 16:12, Leviticus 16:13), which sent up a cloud of smoke, filling the apartment with fragrance. The censers in daily use were of brass (Numbers 16:39), and were designated by a different Hebrew name, 2 Chronicles 26:19; Ezekiel 8:11): while those used on the day of Atonement were of gold, and were denoted by a word (mahtah) meaning “something to take fire with;” LXX. pureion = a fire-pan. Solomon prepared for the temple censers of pure gold (1 Kings 7:50; 2 Chronicles 4:22). The angel in the Apocalypse is represented with a golden censer (Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:5). Paul speaks of the golden censer as belonging to the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:4). The Greek word thumiaterion, here rendered “censer,” may more appropriately denote, as in the margin of Revised Version, “the altar of incense.” Paul does not here say that the thumiaterion was in the holiest, for it was in the holy place, but that the holiest had it, i.e., that it belonged to the holiest (1 Kings 6:22). It was intimately connected with the high priest’s service in the holiest.

The manner in which the censer is to be used is described in Numbers 4:14; Leviticus 16:12.

Census

Census — There are five instances of a census of the Jewish people having been taken. (1.) In the fourth month after the Exodus, when the people were encamped at Sinai. The number of men from twenty years old and upward was then 603,550 (Exodus 38:26). (2.) Another census was made just before the entrance into Canaan, when the number was found to be 601,730, showing thus a small decrease (Numbers 26:51). (3.) The next census was in the time of David, when the number, exclusive of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin, was found to be 1,300,000 (2 Samuel 24:9; 1 Chronicles 21:5). (4.) Solomon made a census of the foreigners in the land, and found 153,600 able-bodied workmen (2 Chronicles 2:17, 2 Chronicles 2:18). (5.) After the return from Exile the whole congregation of Israel was numbered, and found to amount to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64). A census was made by the Roman government in the time of our Lord (Luke 2:1). (See TAXING.)

Centurion

Centurion — a Roman officer in command of a hundred men (Mark 15:39, Mark 15:44, Mark 15:45). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was a centurion (Acts 10:1, Acts 10:22). Other centurions are mentioned in Matthew 8:5, Matthew 8:8, Matthew 8:13; Luke 7:2, Luke 7:6; Acts 21:32; Acts 22:25, Acts 22:26; Acts 23:17, Acts 23:23; Acts 24:23; Acts 27:1, Acts 27:6, Acts 27:11, Acts 27:31, Acts 27:43; Acts 28:16. A centurion watched the crucifixion of our Lord (Matthew 27:54; Luke 23:47), and when he saw the wonders attending it, exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” “The centurions mentioned in the New Testament are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise, whether in the Gospels or in the Acts. It is interesting to compare this with the statement of Polybius (vi. 24), that the centurions were chosen by merit, and so were men remarkable not so much for their daring courage as for their deliberation, constancy, and strength of mind.”, Dr. Maclear’s N. T. Hist.

Cephas

Cephas — a Syriac surname given by Christ to Simon (John 1:42), meaning “rock.” The Greeks translated it by Petros, and the Latins by Petrus.

Cesarea

Cesarea — See CAESAREA.

Chaff

Chaff — the refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned (Exodus 15:7; Isaiah 5:24; Matthew 3:12). This word sometimes, however, means dried grass or hay (Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 33:11). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive wickedness (Psalm 1:4; Matthew 3:12). False doctrines are also called chaff (Jeremiah 23:28), or more correctly rendered “chopped straw.” The destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are likened to the carrying away of chaff by the wind (Isaiah 17:13; Hosea 13:3; Zephaniah 2:2).

Chain

Chain — (1.) A part of the insignia of office. A chain of gold was placed about Joseph’s neck (Genesis 41:42); and one was promised to Daniel (Daniel 5:7). It is used as a symbol of sovereignty (Ezekiel 16:11). The breast-plate of the high-priest was fastened to the ephod by golden chains (Exodus 39:17, Exodus 39:21).

(2.) It was used as an ornament (Proverbs 1:9; Song of Solomon 1:10). The Midianites adorned the necks of their camels with chains (Judges 8:21, Judges 8:26).

(3.) Chains were also used as fetters wherewith prisoners were bound (Judges 16:21; 2 Samuel 3:34; 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:7). Paul was in this manner bound to a Roman soldier (Acts 28:20; Ephesians 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:16). Sometimes, for the sake of greater security, the prisoner was attached by two chains to two soldiers, as in the case of Peter (Acts 12:6).

Chalcedony

Chalcedony — Mentioned only in Revelation 21:19, as one of the precious stones in the foundation of the New Jerusalem. The name of this stone is derived from Chalcedon, where it is said to have been first discovered. In modern mineralogy this is the name of an agate-like quartz of a bluish colour. Pliny so names the Indian ruby. The mineral intended in Revelation is probably the Hebrew nophekh, translated “emerald” (Exodus 28:18; Exodus 39:11; Ezekiel 27:16; Ezekiel 28:13). It is rendered “anthrax” in the LXX., and “carbunculus” in the Vulgate. (See CARBUNCLE.)

Chaldea

Chaldea — The southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used of the whole of the Mesopotamian plain. The Hebrew name is Kasdim, which is usually rendered “Chaldeans” (Jeremiah 50:10; Jeremiah 51:24,Jeremiah 51:35).

The country so named is a vast plain formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about 400 miles along the course of these rivers, and about 100 miles in average breadth. “In former days the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the surface of the country like a network. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving corn stood frequent groves of palm-trees and pleasant gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their grateful and highly-valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in corn and wine.”

Recent discoveries, more especially in Babylonia, have thrown much light on the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, and have illustrated or confirmed the Biblical narrative in many points. The ancestor of the Hebrew people, Abram, was, we are told, born at “Ur of the Chaldees.” “Chaldees” is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Kasdim, Kasdim being the Old Testament name of the Babylonians, while the Chaldees were a tribe who lived on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and did not become a part of the Babylonian population till the time of Hezekiah. Ur was one of the oldest and most famous of the Babylonian cities. Its site is now called Mugheir, or Mugayyar, on the western bank of the Euphrates, in Southern Babylonia. About a century before the birth of Abram it was ruled by a powerful dynasty of kings. Their conquests extended to Elam on the one side, and to the Lebanon on the other. They were followed by a dynasty of princes whose capital was Babylon, and who seem to have been of South Arabian origin. The founder of the dynasty was Sumu-abi (“Shem is my father”). But soon afterwards Babylonia fell under Elamite dominion. The kings of Babylon were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Elam, and a rival kingdom to that of Babylon, and governed by Elamites, sprang up at Larsa, not far from Ur, but on the opposite bank of the river. In the time of Abram the king of Larsa was Eri-Aku, the son of an Elamite prince, and Eri-Aku, as has long been recognized, is the Biblical “Arioch king of Ellasar” (Genesis 14:1). The contemporaneous king of Babylon in the north, in the country termed Shinar in Scripture, was Khammu-rabi. (See BABYLON ; ABRAHAM; AMRAPHEL.)

Chaldee language

Chaldee language — employed by the sacred writers in certain portions of the Old Testament, viz., Daniel 2:4-7, Daniel 2:28; Ezra 4:8-6:18; Ezra 7:12-26; Genesis 31:46; Jeremiah 10:11. It is the Aramaic dialect, as it is sometimes called, as distinguished from the Hebrew dialect. It was the language of commerce and of social intercourse in Western Asia, and after the Exile gradually came to be the popular language of Palestine. It is called “Syrian” in 2 Kings 18:26. Some isolated words in this language are preserved in the New Testament (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 6:24; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 27:46; Mark 3:17; Mark 5:41; Mark 7:34; Mark 14:36; Acts 1:19; 1 Corinthians 16:22). These are specimens of the vernacular language of Palestine at that period. The term “Hebrew” was also sometimes applied to the Chaldee because it had become the language of the Hebrews (John 5:2; John 19:20).

Chaldees

Chaldees — or Chaldeans, the inhabitants of the country of which Babylon was the capital. They were so called till the time of the Captivity (2 Kings 25; Isaiah 13:19; Isaiah 23:13), when, particularly in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 5:30; Daniel 9:1), the name began to be used with special reference to a class of learned men ranked with the magicians and astronomers. These men cultivated the ancient Cushite language of the original inhabitants of the land, for they had a “learning” and a “tongue” (Daniel 1:4) of their own. The common language of the country at that time had become assimilated to the Semitic dialect, especially through the influence of the Assyrians, and was the language that was used for all civil purposes. The Chaldeans were the learned class, interesting themselves in science and religion, which consisted, like that of the ancient Arabians and Syrians, in the worship of the heavenly bodies. There are representations of this priestly class, of magi and diviners, on the walls of the Assyrian palaces.

Chamber

Chamber — “on the wall,” which the Shunammite prepared for the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), was an upper chamber over the porch through the hall toward the street. This was the “guest chamber” where entertainments were prepared (Mark 14:14). There were also “chambers within chambers” (1 Kings 22:25; 2 Kings 9:2). To enter into a chamber is used metaphorically of prayer and communion with God (Isaiah 26:20). The “chambers of the south” (Job 9:9) are probably the constelations of the southern hemisphere. The “chambers of imagery”, i.e., chambers painted with images, as used by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 8:12), is an expression denoting the vision the prophet had of the abominations practised by the Jews in Jerusalem.

Chambering

Chambering — (Romans 13:13), wantonness, impurity.

Chamberlain

Chamberlain — a confidential servant of the king (Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1). In Romans 16:23 mention is made of “Erastus the chamberlain.” Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans styled him. He is almost the only convert from the higher ranks of whom mention is made (comp. Acts 17:34). Blastus, Herod’s “chamberlain” (Acts 12:20), was his personal attendant or valet-de-chambre. The Hebrew word saris, thus translated in Esther 1:10, Esther 1:15; Esther 2:3, Esther 2:14, Esther 2:21, etc., properly means an eunuch (as in the marg.), as it is rendered in Isaiah 39:7; Isaiah 56:3.

Chameleon

Chameleon — a species of lizard which has the faculty of changing the colour of its skin. It is ranked among the unclean animals in Leviticus 11:30, where the Hebrew word so translated is coah (R.V., “land crocodile”). In the same verse the Hebrew tanshemeth, rendered in Authorized Version “mole,” is in Revised Version “chameleon,” which is the correct rendering. This animal is very common in Egypt and in the Holy Land, especially in the Jordan valley.

Chamois

Chamois — only in Deuteronomy 14:5 (Heb. zemer), an animal of the deer or gazelle species. It bears this Hebrew name from its leaping or springing. The animal intended is probably the wild sheep (Ovis tragelephus), which is still found in Sinai and in the broken ridges of Stony Arabia. The LXX. and Vulgate render the word by camelopardus, i.e., the giraffe; but this is an animal of Central Africa, and is not at all known in Syria.

Champion

Champion — (1 Samuel 17:4, 1 Samuel 17:23), properly “the man between the two,” denoting the position of Goliath between the two camps. Single combats of this kind at the head of armies were common in ancient times. In ver. 1 Samuel 17:51 this word is the rendering of a different Hebrew word, and properly denotes “a mighty man.”

Chance

Chance — (Luke 10:31). “It was not by chance that the priest came down by that road at that time, but by a specific arrangement and in exact fulfilment of a plan; not the plan of the priest, nor the plan of the wounded traveller, but the plan of God. By coincidence (Gr. sungkuria) the priest came down, that is, by the conjunction of two things, in fact, which were previously constituted a pair in the providence of God. In the result they fell together according to the omniscient Designer’s plan. This is the true theory of the divine government.” Compare the meeting of Philip with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26, Acts 8:27). There is no “chance” in God’s empire. “Chance” is only another word for our want of knowledge as to the way in which one event falls in with another (1 Samuel 6:9; Ecclesiastes 9:11).

Chancellor

Chancellor — one who has judicial authority, literally, a “lord of judgement;” a title given to the Persian governor of Samaria (Ezra 4:8, Ezra 4:9, Ezra 4:17).

Changes of raiment

Changes of raiment — were reckoned among the treasures of rich men (Genesis 45:22; Judges 14:12, Judges 14:13; 2 Kings 5:22, 2 Kings 5:23).

Channel

Channel — (1.) The bed of the sea or of a river (Psalm 18:15; Isaiah 8:7).

(2.) The “chanelbone” (Job 31:22 marg.), properly “tube” or “shaft,” an old term for the collar-bone.

Chapel

Chapel — a holy place or sanctuary, occurs only in Amos 7:13, where one of the idol priests calls Bethel “the king’s chapel.”

Chapiter

Chapiter — the ornamental head or capital of a pillar. Three Hebrew words are so rendered. (1.) Cothereth (1 Kings 7:16; 2 Kings 25:17; 2 Chronicles 4:12), meaning a “diadem” or “crown.” (2.) 2 Chronicles 3:15). (3.) Rosh (Exodus 36:38; Exodus 38:17, Exodus 38:19, Exodus 38:28), properly a “head” or “top.”

Chapter

Chapter — The several books of the Old and New Testaments were from an early time divided into chapters. The Pentateuch was divided by the ancient Hebrews into 54 parshioth or sections, one of which was read in the synagogue every Sabbath day (Acts 13:15). These sections were afterwards divided into 669 sidrim or orders of unequal length. The Prophets were divided in somewhat the same manner into haphtaroth or passages.

In the early Latin and Greek versions of the Bible, similar divisions of the several books were made. The New Testament books were also divided into portions of various lengths under different names, such as titles and heads or chapters.

In modern times this ancient example was imitated, and many attempts of the kind were made before the existing division into chapters was fixed. The Latin Bible published by Cardinal Hugo of St. Cher in A.D. 1240 is generally regarded as the first Bible that was divided into our present chapters, although it appears that some of the chapters were fixed as early as A.D. 1059. This division into chapters came gradually to be adopted in the published editions of the Hebrew, with some few variations, and of the Greek Scriptures, and hence of other versions.

Charashim

Charashim — craftsmen, a valley named in 1 Chronicles 4:14. In Nehemiah 11:35 the Hebrew word is rendered “valley of craftsmen” (R.V. marg., Geha-rashim). Nothing is known of it.

Charger

Charger — a bowl or deep dish. The silver vessels given by the heads of the tribes for the services of the tabernacle are so named (Numbers 7:13, etc.). The “charger” in which the Baptist’s head was presented was a platter or flat wooden trencher (Matthew 14:8, Matthew 14:11; Mark 6:25, Mark 6:28). The chargers of gold and silver of Ezra 1:9 were probably basins for receiving the blood of sacrifices.

Chariot

Chariot — a vehicle generally used for warlike purposes. Sometimes, though but rarely, it is spoken of as used for peaceful purposes.

The first mention of the chariot is when Joseph, as a mark of distinction, was placed in Pharaoh’s second state chariot (Genesis 41:43); and the next, when he went out in his own chariot to meet his father Jacob (Genesis 46:29). Chariots formed part of the funeral procession of Jacob (Genesis 50:9). When Pharaoh pursued the Israelites he took 600 war-chariots with him (Exodus 14:7). The Canaanites in the valleys of Palestine had chariots of iron (Joshua 17:18; Judges 1:19). Jabin, the king of Canaan, had 900 chariots (Judges 4:3); and in Saul’s time the Philistines had 30,000. In his wars with the king of Zobah and with the Syrians, David took many chariots among the spoils (2 Samuel 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:18). Solomon maintained as part of his army 1,400 chariots (1 Kings 10:26), which were chiefly imported from Egypt (1 Kings 10:29). From this time forward they formed part of the armies of Israel (1 Kings 22:34; 2 Kings 9:16, 2 Kings 9:21; 2 Kings 13:7, 2 Kings 13:14; 2 Kings 18:24; 2 Kings 23:30).

In the New Testament we have only one historical reference to the use of chariots, in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:28, Acts 8:29, Acts 8:38).

This word is sometimes used figuratively for hosts (Psalm 68:17; 2 Kings 6:17). Elijah, by his prayers and his counsel, was “the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” The rapid agency of God in the phenomena of nature is also spoken of under the similitude of a chariot (Psalm 104:3; Isaiah 66:15; Habakkuk 3:8).

Chariot of the cherubim (1 Chronicles 28:18), the chariot formed by the two cherubs on the mercy-seat on which the Lord rides.

Chariot cities were set apart for storing the war-chariots in time of peace (2 Chronicles 1:14).

Chariot horses were such as were peculiarly fitted for service in chariots (2 Kings 7:14).

Chariots of war are described in Exodus 14:7; 1 Samuel 13:5; 2 Samuel 8:4; 1 Chronicles 18:4; Joshua 11:4; Judges 4:3, Judges 4:13. They were not used by the Israelites till the time of David. Elijah was translated in a “chariot of fire” (2 Kings 2:11). Comp. 2 Kings 6:17. This vision would be to Elisha a source of strength and encouragement, for now he could say, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.”

Charity

Charity — (1 Corinthians 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the three Christian graces (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13).