Easton's Bible Dictionary
D
Daberath — Dog
Daberath
Daberath — pasture, a Levitical town of Issachar (Joshua 19:12; Joshua 21:28), near the border of Zebulum. It is the modern small village of Deburich, at the base of Mount Tabor. Tradition has incorrectly made it the scene of the miracle of the cure of the lunatic child (Matthew 17:14).
Daemon
Daemon — the Greek form, rendered “devil” in the Authorized Version of the New Testament. Daemons are spoken of as spiritual beings (Matthew 8:16; Matthew 10:1; Matthew 12:43-45) at enmity with God, and as having a certain power over man (James 2:19; Revelation 16:14). They recognize our Lord as the Son of God (Matthew 8:20; Luke 4:41). They belong to the number of those angels that “kept not their first estate,” “unclean spirits,” “fallen angels,” the angels of the devil (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7-9). They are the “principalities and powers” against which we must “wrestle” (Ephesians 6:12).
Daemoniac
Daemoniac — one “possessed with a devil.” In the days of our Lord and his apostles, evil spirits, “daemons,” were mysteriously permitted by God to exercise an influence both over the souls and bodies of men, inflicting dumbness (Matthew 9:32), blindness (Matthew 12:22), epilepsy (Mark 9:17-27), insanity (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1-5). Daemoniacs are frequently distinguished from those who are afflicted with ordinary bodily maladies (Mark 1:32; Mark 16:17, Mark 16:18; Luke 6:17, Luke 6:18). The daemons speak in their own persons (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:23, Mark 1:24; Mark 5:7). This influence is clearly distinguished from the ordinary power of corruption and of temptation over men. In the daemoniac his personality seems to be destroyed, and his actions, words, and even thoughts to be overborne by the evil spirit (Mark, l.c.; Acts 19:15).
Dagon
Dagon — little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-god; the national god of the Philistines (Judges 16:23). This idol had the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man. It was an Assyrio-Babylonian deity, the worship of which was introduced among the Philistines through Chaldea. The most famous of the temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:23-30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1-7). (See FISH.)
Dagon’s house
Dagon’s house — (1 Samuel 5:2), or Beth-dagon, as elsewhere rendered (Joshua 15:41; Joshua 19:27), was the sanctuary or temple of Dagon.
The Beth-dagon of Joshua 15:41 was one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, in the lowland or plain which stretches westward. It has not been identified.
The Beth-dagon of Joshua 19:27 was one of the border cities of Asher.
That of 1 Chronicles 10:10 was in the western half-tribe of Manasseh, where the Philistines, after their victory at Gilboa, placed Saul’s head in the temple of their god. (Comp. 1 Samuel 31:8-13).
Daily sacrifice
Daily sacrifice — (Daniel 8:12; Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11), a burnt offering of two lambs of a year old, which were daily sacrificed in the name of the whole Israelitish people upon the great altar, the first at dawn of day, and the second at evening (Daniel 9:21), or more correctly, “between the two evenings.” (See SACRIFICE.)
Dale, the king’s
Dale, the king’s — the name of a valley, the alternative for “the valley of Shaveh” (q.v.), near the Dead Sea, where the king of Sodom met Abraham (Genesis 14:17). Some have identified it with the southern part of the valley of Jehoshaphat, where Absalom reared his family monument (2 Samuel 18:18).
Dalmanutha
Dalmanutha — a place on the west of the Sea of Galilee, mentioned only in Mark 8:10. In the parallel passage it is said that Christ came “into the borders of Magdala” (Matthew 15:39). It is plain, then, that Dalmanutha was near Magdala, which was probably the Greek name of one of the many Migdols (i.e., watch-towers) on the western side of the lake of Gennesaret. It has been identified in the ruins of a village about a mile from Magdala, in the little open valley of ‘Ain-el-Barideh, “the cold fountain,” called el-Mejdel, possibly the “Migdal-el” of Joshua 19:38.
Dalmatia
Dalmatia — a mountainous country on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, a part of the Roman province of Illyricum. It still bears its ancient name. During Paul’s second imprisonment at Rome, Titus left him to visit Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10) for some unknown purpose. Paul had himself formerly preached in that region (Romans 15:19).
The present Emperor of Austria bears, among his other titles, that of “King of Dalmatia.”
Damaris
Damaris — a heifer, an Athenian woman converted to Christianity under the preaching of Paul (Acts 17:34). Some have supposed that she may have been the wife of Dionysius the Areopagite.
Damascus
Damascus — activity, the most ancient of Oriental cities; the capital of Syria (Isaiah 7:8; Isaiah 17:3); situated about 133 miles to the north of Jerusalem. Its modern name is Esh-Sham; i.e., “the East.”
The situation of this city is said to be the most beautiful of all Western Asia. It is mentioned among the conquests of the Egyptian king Thothmes III. (B.C. 1500), and in the Amarna tablets (B.C. 1400).
It is first mentioned in Scripture in connection with Abraham’s victory over the confederate kings under Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:15). It was the native place of Abraham’s steward (Genesis 15:2). It is not again noticed till the time of David, when “the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer” (q.v.), 2 Samuel 8:5; 1 Chronicles 18:5. In the reign of Solomon, Rezon became leader of a band who revolted from Hadadezer (1 Kings 11:23), and betaking themselves to Damascus, settled there and made their leader king. There was a long war, with varying success, between the Israelites and Syrians, who at a later period became allies of Israel against Judah (2 Kings 15:37).
The Syrians were at length subdued by the Assyrians, the city of Damascus was taken and destroyed, and the inhabitants carried captive into Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-9; comp. Isaiah 7:8). In this, prophecy was fulfilled (Isaiah 17:1; Amos 1:4; Jeremiah 49:24). The kingdom of Syria remained a province of Assyria till the capture of Nineveh by the Medes (B.C. 625), when it fell under the conquerors. After passing through various vicissitudes, Syria was invaded by the Romans (B.C. 64), and Damascus became the seat of the government of the province. In A.D. 37 Aretas, the king of Arabia, became master of Damascus, having driven back Herod Antipas.
This city is memorable as the scene of Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-25). The street called “Straight,” in which Judas lived, in whose house Saul was found by Ananias, is known by the name Sultany, or “Queen’s Street.” It is the principal street of the city. Paul visited Damascus again on his return from Arabia (Galatians 1:16, Galatians 1:17). Christianity was planted here as a centre (Acts 9:20), from which it spread to the surrounding regions.
In A.D. 634 Damascus was conquered by the growing Mohammedan power. In A.D. 1516 it fell under the dominion of the Turks, its present rulers. It is now the largest city in Asiatic Turkey. Christianity has again found a firm footing within its walls.
Damnation
Damnation — in Romans 13:2, means “condemnation,” which comes on those who withstand God’s ordinance of magistracy. This sentence of condemnation comes not from the magistrate, but from God, whose authority is thus resisted.
In 1 Corinthians 11:29 (R.V., “judgment”) this word means condemnation, in the sense of exposure to severe temporal judgements from God, as the following verse explains.
In Romans 14:23 the word “damned” means “condemned” by one’s own conscience, as well as by the Word of God. The apostle shows here that many things which are lawful are not expedient; and that in using our Christian liberty the question should not simply be, Is this course I follow lawful? but also, Can I follow it without doing injury to the spiritual interests of a brother in Christ? He that “doubteth”, i.e., is not clear in his conscience as to “meats”, will violate his conscience “if he eat,” and in eating is condemned; and thus one ought not so to use his liberty as to lead one who is “weak” to bring upon himself this condemnation.
Dan
Dan — a judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Genesis 30:6, “God hath judged me”, Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, “Dan shall judge his people” (Genesis 49:16), probably in allusion to the judgeship of Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan.
The tribe of Dan had their place in the march through the wilderness on the north side of the tabernacle (Numbers 2:25, Numbers 2:31; Numbers 10:25). It was the last of the tribes to receive a portion in the Land of Promise. Its position and extent are described in Joshua 19:40-48.
The territory of Dan extended from the west of that of Ephraim and Benjamin to the sea. It was a small territory, but was very fertile. It included in it, among others, the cities of Lydda, Ekron, and Joppa, which formed its northern boundary. But this district was too limited. “Squeezed into the narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, its energies were great beyond its numbers.” Being pressed by the Amorites and the Philistines, whom they were unable to conquer, they longed for a wider space. They accordingly sent out five spies from two of their towns, who went north to the sources of the Jordan, and brought back a favourable report regarding that region. “Arise,” they said, “be not slothful to go, and to possess the land,” for it is “a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth” (Judges 18:10). On receiving this report, 600 Danites girded on their weapons of war, and taking with them their wives and their children, marched to the foot of Hermon, and fought against Leshem, and took it from the Sidonians, and dwelt therein, and changed the name of the conquered town to Dan (Joshua 19:47). This new city of Dan became to them a new home, and was wont to be spoken of as the northern limit of Palestine, the length of which came to be denoted by the expression “from Dan to Beersheba”, i.e., about 144 miles.
“But like Lot under a similar temptation, they seem to have succumbed to the evil influences around them, and to have sunk down into a condition of semi-heathenism from which they never emerged. The mounds of ruins which mark the site of the city show that it covered a considerable extent of ground. But there remains no record of any noble deed wrought by the degenerate tribe. Their name disappears from the roll-book of the natural and the spiritual Israel.”, Manning’s Those Holy Fields.
This old border city was originally called Laish. Its modern name is Tell el-Kady, “Hill of the Judge.” It stands about four miles below Caesarea Philippi, in the midst of a region of surpassing richness and beauty.
(2.) This name occurs in Ezekiel 27:19, Authorize Version; but the words there, “Dan also,” should be simply, as in the Revised Version, “Vedan,” an Arabian city, from which various kinds of merchandise were brought to Tyre. Some suppose it to have been the city of Aden in Arabia. (See MAHANEH-DAN .)
Dance
Dance — found in Judges 21:21, Judges 21:23; Psalm 30:11; Psalm 149:3; Psalm 150:4; Jeremiah 31:4, Jeremiah 31:13, etc., as the translation of hul, which points to the whirling motion of Oriental sacred dances. It is the rendering of a word (rakad’) which means to skip or leap for joy, in Ecclesiastes 3:4; Job 21:11; Isaiah 13:21, etc.
In the New Testament it is in like manner the translation of different Greek words, circular motion (Luke 15:25); leaping up and down in concert (Matthew 11:17), and by a single person (Matthew 14:6).
It is spoken of as symbolical of rejoicing (Ecclesiastes 3:4. Comp. Psalm 30:11; Matthew 11:17). The Hebrews had their sacred dances expressive of joy and thanksgiving, when the performers were usually females (Exodus 15:20; 1 Samuel 18:6).
The ancient dance was very different from that common among Western nations. It was usually the part of the women only (Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; comp. Judges 5:1). Hence the peculiarity of David’s conduct in dancing before the ark of the Lord (2 Samuel 6:14). The women took part in it with their timbrels. Michal should, in accordance with the example of Miriam and others, have herself led the female choir, instead of keeping aloof on the occasion and “looking through the window.” David led the choir “uncovered”, i.e., wearing only the ephod or linen tunic. He thought only of the honour of God, and forgot himself.
From being reserved for occasions of religious worship and festivity, it came gradually to be practised in common life on occasions of rejoicing (Jeremiah 31:4). The sexes among the Jews always danced separately. The daughter of Herodias danced alone (Matthew 14:6).
Daniel
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chronicles 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Samuel 3:3).
(2.) One of the four great prophets, although he is not once spoken of in the Old Testament as a prophet. His life and prophecies are recorded in the Book of Daniel. He was descended from one of the noble families of Judah (Daniel 1:3), and was probably born in Jerusalem about 623, during the reign of Josiah. At the first deportation of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar (the kingdom of Israel had come to an end nearly a century before), or immediately after his victory over the Egyptians at the second battle of Carchemish, in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim ( 606), Daniel and other three noble youths were carried off to Babylon, along with part of the vessels of the temple. There he was obliged to enter into the service of the king of Babylon, and in accordance with the custom of the age received the Chaldean name of Belteshazzar, i.e., “prince of Bel,” or “Bel protect the king!” His residence in Babylon was very probably in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, now identified with a mass of shapeless mounds called the Kasr, on the right bank of the river.
His training in the schools of the wise men in Babylon (Daniel 1:4) was to fit him for service to the empire. He was distinguished during this period for his piety and his stict observance of the Mosaic law (Daniel 1:8-16), and gained the confidence and esteem of those who were over him. His habit of attention gained during his education in Jerusalem enabled him soon to master the wisdom and learning of the Chaldeans, and even to excel his compeers.
At the close of his three years of discipline and training in the royal schools, Daniel was distinguished for his proficiency in the “wisdom” of his day, and was brought out into public life. He soon became known for his skill in the interpretation of dreams (Daniel 1:17; Daniel 2:14), and rose to the rank of governor of the province of Babylon, and became “chief of the governors” (Chald. Rab-signin) over all the wise men of Babylon. He made known and also interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; and many years afterwards, when he was now an old man, amid the alarm and consternation of the terrible night of Belshazzar’s impious feast, he was called in at the instance of the queen-mother (perhaps Nitocris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar) to interpret the mysterious handwriting on the wall. He was rewarded with a purple robe and elevation to the rank of “third ruler.” The place of “second ruler” was held by Belshazzar as associated with his father, Nabonidus, on the throne (Daniel 5:16). Daniel interpreted the handwriting, and “in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”
After the taking of Babylon, Cyrus, who was now master of all Asia from India to the Dardanelles, placed Darius (q.v.), a Median prince, on the throne, during the two years of whose reign Daniel held the office of first of the “three presidents” of the empire, and was thus practically at the head of affairs, no doubt interesting himself in the prospects of the captive Jews (Daniel 9), whom he had at last the happiness of seeing restored to their own land, although he did not return with them, but remained still in Babylon. His fidelity to God exposed him to persecution, and he was cast into a den of lions, but was miraculously delivered; after which Darius issued a decree enjoining reverence for “the God of Daniel” (Daniel 6:26). He “prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian,” whom he probably greatly influenced in the matter of the decree which put an end to the Captivity ( 536).
He had a series of prophetic visions vouch-safed to him which opened up the prospect of a glorious future for the people of God, and must have imparted peace and gladness to his spirit in his old age as he waited on at his post till the “end of the days.” The time and circumstances of his death are not recorded. He probably died at Susa, about eighty-five years of age.
Ezekiel, with whom he was contemporary, mentions him as a pattern of righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20) and wisdom (Ezekiel 28:3). (See NEBUCHADNEZZAR.)
Daniel, Book of
Daniel, Book of — is ranked by the Jews in that division of their Bible called the Hagiographa (Heb. Khethubim. (See BIBLE.) It consists of two distinct parts. The first part, consisting of the first six chapters, is chiefly historical; and the second part, consisting of the remaining six chapters, is chiefly prophetical.
The historical part of the book treats of the period of the Captivity. Daniel is “the historian of the Captivity, the writer who alone furnishes any series of events for that dark and dismal period during which the harp of Israel hung on the trees that grew by the Euphrates. His narrative may be said in general to intervene between Kings and Chronicles on the one hand and Ezra on the other, or (more strictly) to fill out the sketch which the author of the Chronicles gives in a single verse in his last chapter: ‘And them that had escaped from the sword carried he [i.e., Nebuchadnezzar] away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia’” (2 Chronicles 36:20).
The prophetical part consists of three visions and one lengthened prophetical communication.
The genuineness of this book has been much disputed, but the arguments in its favour fully establish its claims. (1.) We have the testimony of Christ (Matthew 24:15; Matthew 25:31; Matthew 26:64) and his apostles (1 Corinthians 6:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:3) for its authority; and (2) the important testimony of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20; Ezekiel 28:3). (3.) The character and records of the book are also entirely in harmony with the times and circumstances in which the author lived. (4.) The linguistic character of the book is, moreover, just such as might be expected. Certain portions (Daniel 2:4; Daniel 7) are written in the Chaldee language; and the portions written in Hebrew are in a style and form having a close affinity with the later books of the Old Testament, especially with that of Ezra. The writer is familiar both with the Hebrew and the Chaldee, passing from the one to the other just as his subject required. This is in strict accordance with the position of the author and of the people for whom his book was written. That Daniel is the writer of this book is also testified to in the book itself (Daniel 7:1, Daniel 7:28; Daniel 8:2; Daniel 9:2; Daniel 10:1, Daniel 10:2; Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:5). (See BELSHAZZAR.)
Dan-Jaan
Dan-Jaan — woodland Dan, a place probably somewhere in the direction of Dan, near the sources of the Jordan (2 Samuel 24:6). The LXX. and the Vulgate read “Dan-ja’ar”, i.e., “Dan in the forest.”
Dannah
Dannah — murmuring, a city (Joshua 15:49) in the mountains of Judah about 8 miles south-west of Hebron.
Darda
Darda — pearl of wisdom, one of the four who were noted for their wisdom, but whom Solomon excelled (1 Kings 4:31).
Daric
Daric — in the Revised Version of 1 Chronicles 29:7; Ezra 2:69; Ezra 8:27; Nehemiah 7:70-72, where the Authorized Version has “dram.” It is the rendering of the Hebrew darkemon and the Greek dareikos. It was a gold coin, bearing the figure of a Persian King with his crown and armed with bow and arrow. It was current among the Jews after their return from Babylon, i.e., while under the Persian domination. It weighed about 128 grains troy, and was of the value of about one guinea or rather more of our money. It is the first coin mentioned in Scripture, and is the oldest that history makes known to us.
Darius
Darius — the holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Daniel 11:1), “the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes” (Daniel 9:1). On the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean he “received the kingdom” of Babylon as viceroy from Cyrus. During his brief reign ( 538-536) Daniel was promoted to the highest dignity (Daniel 6:1, Daniel 6:2); but on account of the malice of his enemies he was cast into the den of lions. After his miraculous escape, a decree was issued by Darius enjoining “reverence for the God of Daniel” (Daniel 6:26). This king was probably the “Astyages” of the Greek historians. Nothing can, however, be with certainty affirmed regarding him. Some are of opinion that the name “Darius” is simply a name of office, equivalent to “governor,” and that the “Gobryas” of the inscriptions was the person intended by the name.
(2.) Darius, king of Persia, was the son of Hystaspes, of the royal family of the Achaemenidae. He did not immediately succeed Cyrus on the throne. There were two intermediate kings, viz., Cambyses (the Ahasuerus of Ezra), the son of Cyrus, who reigned from 529-522, and was succeeded by a usurper named Smerdis, who occupied the throne only ten months, and was succeeded by this Darius ( 521-486). Smerdis was a Margian, and therefore had no sympathy with Cyrus and Cambyses in the manner in which they had treated the Jews. He issued a decree prohibiting the restoration of the temple and of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:17-22). But soon after his death and the accession of Darius, the Jews resumed their work, thinking that the edict of Smerdis would be now null and void, as Darius was in known harmony with the religious policy of Cyrus. The enemies of the Jews lost no time in bringing the matter under the notice of Darius, who caused search to be made for the decree of Cyrus (q.v.). It was not found at Babylon, but at Achmetha (Ezra 6:2); and Darius forthwith issued a new decree, giving the Jews full liberty to prosecute their work, at the same time requiring the Syrian satrap and his subordinates to give them all needed help. It was with the army of this king that the Greeks fought the famous battle of Marathon ( 490). During his reign the Jews enjoyed much peace and prosperity. He was succeeded by Ahasuerus, known to the Greeks as Xerxes, who reigned for twenty-one years.
(3.) Darius the Persian (Nehemiah 12:22) was probably the Darius II. (Ochus or Nothus) of profane history, the son of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who was the son and successor of Ahasuerus (Xerxes). There are some, however, who think that the king here meant was Darius III. (Codomannus), the antagonist of Alexander the Great ( 336-331).
Darkness
Darkness — The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21) is described as darkness “which may be felt.” It covered “all the land of Egypt,” so that “they saw not one another.” It did not extend to the land of Goshen (ver. Exodus 10:23).
When Jesus hung upon the cross (Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44), from the “sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”
On Mount Sinai, Moses (Exodus 20:21) “drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” This was the “thick cloud upon the mount” in which Jehovah was when he spake unto Moses there. The Lord dwelt in the cloud upon the mercy-seat (1 Kings 8:12), the cloud of glory. When the psalmist (Psalm 97:2) describes the inscrutable nature of God’s workings among the sons of men, he says, “Clouds and darkness are round about him.” God dwells in thick darkness.
Darkness (Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:10; Matthew 24:29) also is a symbol of the judgments that attend on the coming of the Lord. It is a symbol of misery and adversity (Job 18:6; Psalm 107:10; Isaiah 8:22; Ezekiel 30:18). The “day of darkness” in Joel 2:2, caused by clouds of locusts, is a symbol of the obscurity which overhangs all divine proceedings. “Works of darkness” are impure actions (Ephesians 5:11). “Outer darkness” refers to the darkness of the streets in the East, which are never lighted up by any public or private lamps after nightfall, in contrast with the blaze of cheerful light in the house. It is also a symbol of ignorance (Isaiah 9:2; Isaiah 60:2; Matthew 6:23) and of death (Job 10:21; Job 17:13).
Darling
Darling — (Psalm 22:20; Psalm 35:17) means an “only one.”
Dart
Dart — an instrument of war; a light spear. “Fiery darts” (Ephesians 6:16) are so called in allusion to the habit of discharging darts from the bow while they are on fire or armed with some combustible material. Arrows are compared to lightning (Deuteronomy 32:23, Deuteronomy 32:42; Psalm 7:13; Psalm 120:4).
Date
Date — the fruit of a species of palm (q.v.), the Phoenix dactilifera. This was a common tree in Palestine (Joel 1:12; Nehemiah 8:15). Palm branches were carried by the Jews on festive occasions, and especially at the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40; Nehemiah 8:15).
Dathan
Dathan — welled; belonging to a fountain, a son of Eliab, a Reubenite, who joined Korah (q.v.) in his conspiracy, and with his accomplices was swallowed up by an earthquake (Numbers 16:1; Numbers 26:9; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalm 106:17).
Daughter
Daughter — This word, besides its natural and proper sense, is used to designate, (1.) A niece or any female descendant (Genesis 20:12; Genesis 24:48; Genesis 28:6). (2.) Women as natives of a place, or as professing the religion of a place; as, “the daughters of Zion” (Isaiah 3:16), “daughters of the Philistines” (2 Samuel 1:20). (3.) Small towns and villages lying around a city are its “daughters,” as related to the metropolis or mother city. Tyre is in this sense called the daughter of Sidon (Isaiah 23:12). (4.) The people of Jerusalem are spoken of as “the daughters of Zion” (Isaiah 37:22). (5.) The daughters of a tree are its boughs (Genesis 49:22). (6.) The “daughters of music” (Ecclesiastes 12:4) are singing women.
David
David — beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Samuel 17:25. As to his personal appearance, we only know that he was red-haired, with beautiful eyes and a fair face (1 Samuel 16:12; 1 Samuel 17:42).
His early occupation was that of tending his father’s sheep on the uplands of Judah. From what we know of his after history, doubtless he frequently beguiled his time, when thus engaged, with his shepherd’s flute, while he drank in the many lessons taught him by the varied scenes spread around him. His first recorded exploits were his encounters with the wild beasts of the field. He mentions that with his own unaided hand he slew a lion and also a bear, when they came out against his flock, beating them to death in open conflict with his club (1 Samuel 17:34, 1 Samuel 17:35).
While David, in the freshness of ruddy youth, was thus engaged with his flocks, Samuel paid an unexpected visit to Bethlehem, having been guided thither by divine direction (1 Samuel 16:1-13). There he offered up sacrifice, and called the elders of Israel and Jesse’s family to the sacrificial meal. Among all who appeared before him he failed to discover the one he sought. David was sent for, and the prophet immediately recognized him as the chosen of God, chosen to succeed Saul, who was now departing from the ways of God, on the throne of the kingdom. He accordingly, in anticipation, poured on his head the anointing oil. David went back again to his shepherd life, but “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward,” and “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul” (1 Samuel 16:13, 1 Samuel 16:14).
Not long after this David was sent for to soothe with his harp the troubled spirit of Saul, who suffered from a strange melancholy dejection. He played before the king so skilfully that Saul was greatly cheered, and began to entertain great affection for the young shepherd. After this he went home to Bethlehem. But he soon again came into prominence. The armies of the Philistines and of Israel were in battle array in the valley of Elah, some 16 miles south-west of Bethlehem; and David was sent by his father with provisions for his three brothers, who were then fighting on the side of the king. On his arrival in the camp of Israel, David (now about twenty years of age) was made aware of the state of matters when the champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath, came forth to defy Israel. David took his sling, and with a well-trained aim threw a stone “out of the brook,” which struck the giant’s forehead, so that he fell senseless to the ground. David then ran and slew him, and cut off his head with his own sword (1 Samuel 17). The result was a great victory to the Israelites, who pursued the Philistines to the gates of Gath and Ekron.
David’s popularity consequent on this heroic exploit awakened Saul’s jealousy (1 Samuel 18:6-16), which he showed in various ways. He conceived a bitter hatred toward him, and by various stratagems sought his death (1 Samuel 18-30). The deep-laid plots of the enraged king, who could not fail to observe that David “prospered exceedingly,” all proved futile, and only endeared the young hero the more to the people, and very specially to Jonathan, Saul’s son, between whom and David a life-long warm friendship was formed.
A fugitive. To escape from the vengeance of Saul, David fled to Ramah (1 Samuel 19:12-18) to Samuel, who received him, and he dwelt among the sons of the prophets, who were there under Samuel’s training. It is supposed by some that the sixth, seventh, and eleventh Psalms were composed by him at this time. This place was only 3 miles from the residence of Saul, who soon discovered whither the fugitive had gone, and tried ineffectually to bring him back. Jonathan made a fruitless effort to bring his father to a better state of mind toward David (1 Samuel 20), who, being made aware of the fact, saw no hope of safety but in flight to a distance. We accordingly find him first at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1-9) and then at Gath, the chief city of the Philistines. The king of the Philistines would not admit him into his service, as he expected that he would, and David accordingly now betook himself to the stronghold of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-4; 1 Chronicles 12:8-18). Here in a short time 400 men gathered around him and acknowledged him as their leader. It was at this time that David, amid the harassment and perils of his position, cried, “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem;” when three of his heroes broke through the lines of the Philistines and brought him the water for which he longed (2 Samuel 23:13-17), but which he would not drink.
In his rage at the failure of all his efforts to seize David, Saul gave orders for the massacre of the entire priestly family at Nob, “persons who wore a linen ephod”, to the number of eighty-five persons, who were put to death by Doeg the Edomite. The sad tidings of the massacre were brought to David by Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, the only one who escaped. Comp. Psalm 52.
Hearing that Keilah, a town on the western frontier, was harassed by the Philistines, David with his men relieved it (1 Samuel 23:1-14); and then, for fear of Saul, he fled to the strongholds in the “hill country” of Judah. Comp. Psalm 31. While encamped there, in the forest in the district of Ziph, he was visited by Jonathan, who spoke to him words of encouragement (1 Samuel 23:16-18). The two now parted never to meet again. Saul continued his pursuit of David, who narrowly escaped from him at this time, and fled to the crags and ravines of Engedi, on the western shore of the Dead Sea (1 Samuel 23:29). Here Saul, who still pursued him with his army, narrowly escaped, through the generous forbearance of David, and was greatly affected by what David had done for him. He returned home from pursuing him, and David betook himself to Maon, where, with his 600 men, he maintained himself by contributions gathered from the district. Here occurred the incident connected with Nabal and his wife Abigail (1 Samuel 25), whom David married after Nabal’s death.
Saul again went forth (1 Samuel 26) in pursuit of David, who had hid himself “in the hill Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon,” in the wilderness of Ziph, and was a second time spared through his forbearance. He returned home, professing shame and penitence for the way in which he had treated David, and predicting his elevation to the throne.
Fighting against Israel. Harassed by the necessity of moving from place to place through fear of Saul, David once more sought refuge among the Philistines (1 Samuel 27). He was welcomed by the king, who assigned him Ziklag as his residence. Here David lived among his followers for some time as an independent chief engaged in frequent war with the Amalekites and other tribes on the south of Judah.
Achish summoned David with his men to join his army against Saul; but the lords of the Philistines were suspicious of David’s loyalty, and therefore he was sent back to Ziklag, which he found to his dismay may had been pillaged and burnt during his brief absence. David pursued after the raiders, the Amalekites, and completely routed them. On his return to Ziklag tidings reached him of Saul’s death (2 Samuel 1). An Amalekite brought Saul’s crown and bracelet and laid them at his feet. David and his men rent their clothes and mourned for Saul, who had been defeated in battle near Mount Gilboa. David composed a beautiful elegy, the most beautiful of all extant Hebrew odes, a “lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son” (2 Samuel 1:18-27). It bore the title of “The Bow,” and was to be taught to the children, that the memory of Saul and Jonathan might be preserved among them. “Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher” (q.v.).
David king over Judah. David and his men now set out for Hebron under divine direction (2 Samuel 2:1-4). There they were cordially welcomed, and he was at once anointed as king. He was now about thirty years of age.
But his title to the throne was not undisputed. Abner took Ish-bosheth, Saul’s only remaining son, over the Jordan to Mahanaim, and there crowned him as king. Then began a civil war in Israel. The first encounter between the two opposing armies, led on the one side by Abner, and on the other by Joab, took place at the pool of Gibeon. It resulted in the defeat of Abner. Other encounters, however, between Israel and Judah followed (2 Samuel 3:1, 2 Samuel 3:5), but still success was on the side of David. For the space of seven and a half years David reigned in Hebron. Abner now sided with David, and sought to promote his advancement; but was treacherously put to death by Joab in revenge for his having slain his brother Asahel at Gibeon (2 Samuel 3:22-39). This was greatly to David’s regret. He mourned for the death of Abner. Shortly after this Ish-bosheth was also treacherously put to death by two Canaanites of Beeroth; and there being now no rival, David was anointed king over all Israel (2 Samuel 4:1-12).
David king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-5; 1 Chronicles 11:1-3). The elders of Israel now repaired to Hebron and offered allegiance to David in name of all the people, among whom the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. He was anointed king over all Israel, and sought out a new seat of government, more suitable than Hebron, as the capital of his empire. At this time there was a Jebusite fortress, “the stronghold”, on the hill of Zion, called also Jebus. This David took from the Jebusites, and made it Israel’s capital, and established here his residence, and afterwards built for himself a palace by the aid of Tyrian tradesmen. The Philistines, who had for some time observed a kind of truce, now made war against David; but were defeated in battle at a place afterwards called, in remembrance of the victory, Baal-perazim. Again they invaded the land, and were a second time routed by him. He thus delivered Israel from their enemies.
David now resolved to bring up the ark of the covenant to his new capital (2 Samuel 6). It was in the house of Abinadab at Kirjath-jearim, about 7 miles from Jerusalem, where it had been for many years, from the time when the Philistines had sent it home (1 Samuel 6; 1 Samuel 7). In consequence of the death of Uzzah (for it was a divine ordinance that only the Levites should handle the ark, Numbers 4), who had put forth his hand to steady the ark when the cart in which it was being conveyed shook by reason of the roughness of the road, David stayed the procession, and conveyed the ark into the house of Obed-edom, a Philistine from Gath. After three months David brought the ark from the house of Obed-edom up to Jerusalem. Comp. Psalm 24. Here it was placed in a new tent or tabernacle which David erected for the purpose. About seventy years had passed since it had stood in the tabernacle at Shiloh. The old tabernacle was now at Gibeah, at which Zadok ministered. David now (1 Chronicles 16) carefully set in order all the ritual of divine worship at Jerusalem, along with Abiathar the high priest. A new religious era began. The service of praise was for the first time introduced into public worship. Zion became henceforth “God’s holy hill.”
David’s wars. David now entered on a series of conquests which greatly extended and strengthened his kingdom (2 Samuel 8). In a few years the whole territory from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt, and from Gaza on the west to Thapsacus on the east, was under his sway (2 Samuel 8:3-13; 2 Samuel 10).
David’s fall. He had now reached the height of his glory. He ruled over a vast empire, and his capital was enriched with the spoils of many lands. But in the midst of all this success he fell, and his character became stained with the sin of adultery (2 Samuel 11:2-27). It has been noted as characteristic of the Bible that while his military triumphs are recorded in a few verses, the sad story of his fall is given in detail, a story full of warning, and therefore recorded. This crime, in the attempt to conceal it, led to another. He was guilty of murder. Uriah, whom he had foully wronged, an officer of the Gibborim, the corps of heros (2 Samuel 23:39), was, by his order, “set in the front of the hottest battle” at the siege of Rabbah, in order that he might be put to death. Nathan the prophet (2 Samuel 7:1-17; 2 Samuel 12:1-23) was sent by God to bring home his crimes to the conscience of the guilty monarch. He became a true penitent. He bitterly bewailed his sins before God. The thirty-second and fifty-first Psalms reveal the deep struggles of his soul, and his spiritual recovery.
Bathsheba became his wife after Uriah’s death. Her first-born son died, according to the word of the prophet. She gave birth to a second son, whom David called Solomon, and who ultimately succeeded him on the throne (2 Samuel 12:24, 2 Samuel 12:25).
Peace. After the successful termination of all his wars, David formed the idea of building a temple for the ark of God. This he was not permitted to carry into execution, because he had been a man of war. God, however, sent Nathan to him with a gracious message (2 Samuel 7:1-16). On receiving it he went into the sanctuary, the tent where the ark was, and sat before the Lord, and poured out his heart in words of devout thanksgiving (2 Samuel 7:18-29). The building of the temple was reserved for his son Solomon, who would be a man of peace (1 Chronicles 22:9; 1 Chronicles 28:3).
A cloudy evening. Hitherto David’s carrer had been one of great prosperity and success. Now cloudy and dark days came. His eldest son Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel, was guilty of a great and shameful crime (2 Samuel 13). This was the beginning of the disasters of his later years. After two years Absalom terribly avenged the crime against Tamar, and put Amnon to death. This brought sore trouble to David’s heart. Absalom, afraid of the consequences of his guilt, fled to Geshur beyond Jordan, where he remained for three years, when he was brought back through the intrigue of Joab (2 Samuel 14).
After this there fell upon the land the calamity of three years’ famine (2 Samuel 21:1-14). This was soon after followed by a pestilence, brought upon the land as a punishment for David’s sinful pride in numbering the people (2 Samuel 24), in which no fewer than 70,000 perished in the space of three days.
Rebellion of Absalom. The personal respect for David was sadly lowered by the incident of Bathsheba. There was a strong popular sentiment against the taking of the census, and the outburst of the plague in connection with it deepened the feeling of jealously that had begun to manifest itself among some of the tribes against David. Absalom, taking full advantage of this state of things, gradually gained over the people, and at length openly rebelled against his father, and usurped the throne. Ahithophel was Absalom’s chief counsellor. The revolt began in Hebron, the capital of Judah. Absalom was there proclaimed king. David was now in imminent danger, and he left Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:13-20), and once more became a fugitive. It was a momentous day in Israel. The incidents of it are recorded with a fulness of detail greater than of any other day in Old Testament history. David fled with his followers to Mahanarm, on the east of Jordan. An unnatural civil war broke out. After a few weeks the rival armies were mustered and organized. They met in hostile array at the wood of Ephraim (2 Samuel 18:1-8). Absalom’s army was defeated, and himself put to death by the hand of Joab (2 Samuel 18:9-18). The tidings of the death of his rebellious son filled the heart of David with the most poignant grief. He “went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept” (2 Samuel 18:33), giving utterance to the heart-broken cry, “Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” Peace was now restored, and David returned to Jerusalem and resumed the direction of affairs. An unhappy dispute arose between the men of Judah and the men of Israel (2 Samuel 19:41-43). Sheba, a Benjamite, headed a revolt of the men of Israel. He was pursued to Abelbeth-maachah, and was there put to death, and so the revolt came to an end.
The end. After the suppression of the rebellion of Absalom and that of Sheba, ten comparatively peaceful years of David’s life passed away. During those years he seems to have been principally engaged in accumulating treasures of every kind for the great temple at Jerusalem, which it was reserved to his successor to build (1 Chronicles 22; 1 Chronicles 28; 1 Chronicles 29), a house which was to be “exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries” (1 Chronicles 22:5). The exciting and laborious life he had spent, and the dangers and trials through which he had passed, had left him an enfeebled man, prematurely old. It became apparent that his life was now drawing to its close. A new palace conspiracy broke out as to who should be his successor. Joab favoured Adonijah. The chiefs of his party met at the “Fuller’s spring,” in the valley of Kidron, to proclaim him king; but Nathan hastened on a decision on the part of David in favour of Solomon, and so the aim of Adonijah’s party failed. Solomon was brought to Jerusalem, and was anointed king and seated on his father’s throne (1 Kings 1:11-53). David’s last words are a grand utterance, revealing his unfailing faith in God, and his joyful confidence in his gracious covenant promises (2 Samuel 23:1-7).
After a reign of forty years and six months (2 Samuel 5:5; 1 Chronicles 3:4) David died (B.C. 1015) at the age of seventy years, “and was buried in the city of David.” His tomb is still pointed out on Mount Zion.
Both in his prophetical and in his regal character David was a type of the Messiah (1 Samuel 16:13). The book of Psalms commonly bears the title of the “Psalms of David,” from the circumstance that he was the largest contributor (about eighty psalms) to the collection. (See PSALMS.)
“The greatness of David was felt when he was gone. He had lived in harmony with both the priesthood and the prophets; a sure sign that the spirit of his government had been throughly loyal to the higher aims of the theocracy. The nation had not been oppressed by him, but had been left in the free enjoyment of its ancient liberties. As far as his power went he had striven to act justly to all (2 Samuel 8:15). His weak indulgence to his sons, and his own great sin besides, had been bitterly atoned, and were forgotten at his death in the remembrance of his long-tried worth. He had reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem and seven and a half at Hebron (2 Samuel 5:5). Israel at his accession had reached the lowest point of national depression; its new-born unity rudely dissolved; its territory assailed by the Philistines. But he had left it an imperial power, with dominions like those of Egypt or Assyria. The sceptre of Solomon was already, before his father’s death, owned from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and from the Orontes to the Red Sea.”, Geikie’s Hours etc., iii.
David, City of
David, City of — (1.) David took from the Jebusites the fortress of Mount Zion. He “dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David” (1 Chronicles 11:7). This was the name afterwards given to the castle and royal palace on Mount Zion, as distinguished from Jerusalem generally (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 8:1), It was on the south-west side of Jerusalem, opposite the temple mount, with which it was connected by a bridge over the Tyropoeon valley.
(2.) Bethlehem is called the “city of David” (Luke 2:4, Luke 2:11), because it was David’s birth-place and early home (1 Samuel 17:12).
Day
Day — The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Leviticus 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Psalm 55:17). “The heat of the day” (1 Samuel 11:11; Nehemiah 7:3) was at our nine o’clock, and “the cool of the day” just before sunset (Genesis 3:8). Before the Captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (1) from sunset to midnight (Lamentations 2:19); (2) from midnight till the cock-crowing (Judges 7:19); and (3) from the cock-crowing till sunrise (Exodus 14:24). In the New Testament the division of the Greeks and Romans into four watches was adopted (Mark 13:35). (See WATCHES.)
The division of the day by hours is first mentioned in Daniel 3:6, Daniel 3:15; Daniel 4:19; Daniel 5:5. This mode of reckoning was borrowed from the Chaldeans. The reckoning of twelve hours was from sunrise to sunset, and accordingly the hours were of variable length (John 11:9).
The word “day” sometimes signifies an indefinite time (Genesis 2:4; Isaiah 22:5; Hebrews 3:8, etc.). In Job 3:1 it denotes a birthday, and in Isaiah 2:12, Acts 17:31, and 2 Timothy 1:18, the great day of final judgment.
Day’s journey
Day’s journey — The usual length of a day’s journey in the East, on camel or horseback, in six or eight hours, is about 25 or 30 miles. The “three days’ journey” mentioned in Exodus 3:18 is simply a journey which would occupy three days in going and returning.
Daysman
Daysman — an umpire or arbiter or judge (Job 9:33). This word is formed from the Latin diem dicere, i.e., to fix a day for hearing a cause. Such an one is empowered by mutual consent to decide the cause, and to “lay his hand”, i.e., to impose his authority, on both, and enforce his sentence.
Dayspring
Dayspring — (Job 38:12; Luke 1:78), the dawn of the morning; daybreak. (Comp. Isaiah 60:1, Isaiah 60:2; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:16.)
Daystar
Daystar — which precedes and accompanies the sun-rising. It is found only in 2 Peter 1:19, where it denotes the manifestation of Christ to the soul, imparting spiritual light and comfort. He is the “bright and morning star” of Revelation 2:28; Revelation 22:16. (Comp. Numbers 24:17.)
Deacon
Deacon — Anglicized form of the Greek word diaconos, meaning a “runner,” “messenger,” “servant.” For a long period a feeling of mutual jealousy had existed between the “Hebrews,” or Jews proper, who spoke the sacred language of palestine, and the “Hellenists,” or Jews of the Grecian speech, who had adopted the Grecian language, and read the Septuagint version of the Bible instead of the Hebrew. This jealousy early appeared in the Christian community. It was alleged by the Hellenists that their widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of alms. This spirit must be checked. The apostles accordingly advised the disciples to look out for seven men of good report, full of the Holy Ghost, and men of practical wisdom, who should take entire charge of this distribution, leaving them free to devote themselves entirely to the spiritual functions of their office (Acts 6:1-6). This was accordingly done. Seven men were chosen, who appear from their names to have been Hellenists. The name “deacon” is nowhere applied to them in the New Testament; they are simply called “the seven” (Acts 21:8). Their office was at first secular, but it afterwards became also spiritual; for among other qualifications they must also be “apt to teach” (1 Timothy 3:8-12). Both Philip and Stephen, who were of “the seven,” preached; they did “the work of evangelists.”
Deaconess
Deaconess — Romans 16:1, Romans 16:3, Romans 16:12; Philippians 4:2, Philippians 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:9, 1 Timothy 5:10; Titus 2:3, Titus 2:4). In these passages it is evident that females were then engaged in various Christian ministrations. Pliny makes mention of them also in his letter to Trajan (A.D. 110).
Dead Sea
Dead Sea — the name given by Greek writers of the second century to that inland sea called in Scripture the “salt sea” (Genesis 14:3; Numbers 34:12), the “sea of the plain” (Deuteronomy 3:17), the “east sea” (Ezekiel 47:18; Joel 2:20), and simply “the sea” (Ezekiel 47:8). The Arabs call it Bahr Lut, i.e., the Sea of Lot. It lies about 16 miles in a straight line to the east of Jerusalem. Its surface is 1,292 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of about 300 square miles. Its depth varies from 1,310 to 11 feet. From various phenomena that have been observed, its bottom appears to be still subsiding. It is about 53 miles long, and of an average breadth of 10 miles. It has no outlet, the great heat of that region causing such rapid evaporation that its average depth, notwithstanding the rivers that run into it (see JORDAN ), is maintained with little variation. The Jordan alone discharges into it no less than six million tons of water every twenty-four hours.
The waters of the Dead Sea contain 24.6 per cent. of mineral salts, about seven times as much as in ordinary sea-water; thus they are unusually buoyant. Chloride of magnesium is most abundant; next to that chloride of sodium (common salt). But terraces of alluvial deposits in the deep valley of the Jordan show that formerly one great lake extended from the Waters of Merom to the foot of the watershed in the Arabah. The waters were then about 1,400 feet above the present level of the Dead Sea, or slightly above that of the Mediterranean, and at that time were much less salt.
Nothing living can exist in this sea. “The fish carried down by the Jordan at once die, nor can even mussels or corals live in it; but it is a fable that no bird can fly over it, or that there are no living creatures on its banks. Dr. Tristram found on the shores three kinds of kingfishers, gulls, ducks, and grebes, which he says live on the fish which enter the sea in shoals, and presently die. He collected one hundred and eighteen species of birds, some new to science, on the shores, or swimming or flying over the waters. The cane-brakes which fringe it at some parts are the homes of about forty species of mammalia, several of them animals unknown in England; and innumerable tropical or semi-tropical plants perfume the atmosphere wherever fresh water can reach. The climate is perfect and most delicious, and indeed there is perhaps no place in the world where a sanatorium could be established with so much prospect of benefit as at Ain Jidi (Engedi).”, Geikie’s Hours, etc.
Deal, Tenth
Deal, Tenth — See OMER.
Dearth
Dearth — a scarcity of provisions (1 Kings 17). There were frequent dearths in Palestine. In the days of Abram there was a “famine in the land” (Genesis 12:10), so also in the days of Jacob (Genesis 47:4, Genesis 47:13). We read also of dearths in the time of the judges (Ruth 1:1), and of the kings (2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 18:2; 2 Kings 4:38; 2 Kings 8:1).
In New Testament times there was an extensive famine in Palestine (Acts 11:28) in the fourth year of the reign of the emperor Claudius (A.D. 44 and 45).
Death
Death — may be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (1.) “The dust shall return to the earth as it was” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
(2.) “Thou takest away their breath, they die” (Psalm 104:29).
(3.) It is the dissolution of “our earthly house of this tabernacle” (2 Corinthians 5:1); the “putting off this tabernacle” (2 Peter 1:13, 2 Peter 1:14).
(4.) Being “unclothed” (2 Corinthians 5:3, 2 Corinthians 5:4).
(5.) “Falling on sleep” (Psalm 76:5; Jeremiah 51:39; Acts 13:36; 2 Peter 3:9.
(6.) “I go whence I shall not return” (Job 10:21); “Make me to know mine end” (Psalm 39:4); “to depart” (Philippians 1:23).
The grave is represented as “the gates of death” (Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18). The gloomy silence of the grave is spoken of under the figure of the “shadow of death” (Jeremiah 2:6).
Death is the effect of sin (Hebrews 2:14), and not a “debt of nature.” It is but once (Hebrews 9:27), universal (Genesis 3:19), necessary (Luke 2:28-30). Jesus has by his own death taken away its sting for all his followers (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
There is a spiritual death in trespasses and sins, i.e., the death of the soul under the power of sin (Romans 8:6; Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 2:13).
The “second death” (Revelation 2:11) is the everlasting perdition of the wicked (Revelation 21:8), and “second” in respect to natural or temporal death.
THE DEATH OF CHRIST is the procuring cause incidentally of all the blessings men enjoy on earth. But specially it is the procuring cause of the actual salvation of all his people, together with all the means that lead thereto. It does not make their salvation merely possible, but certain (Matthew 18:11; Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:16; Romans 8:32-35).
Debir
Debir — oracle town; sanctuary. (1.) One of the eleven cities to the west of Hebron, in the highlands of Judah (Joshua 15:49; Judges 1:11-15). It was originally one of the towns of the Anakim (Joshua 15:15), and was also called Kirjath-sepher (q.v.) and Kirjath-sannah (Joshua 15:49). Caleb, who had conquered and taken possession of the town and district of Hebron (Joshua 14:6-15), offered the hand of his daughter to any one who would successfully lead a party against Debir. Othniel, his younger brother (Judges 1:13; Judges 3:9), achieved the conquest, and gained Achsah as his wife. She was not satisfied with the portion her father gave her, and as she was proceeding toward her new home, she “lighted from off her ass” and said to him, “Give me a blessing [i.e., a dowry]: for thou hast given me a south land” (Joshua 15:19, A.V.); or, as in the Revised Version, “Thou hast set me in the land of the south”, i.e., in the Negeb, outside the rich valley of Hebron, in the dry and barren land. “Give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.”
Debir has been identified with the modern Edh-Dhaheriyeh, i.e., “the well on the ridge”, to the south of Hebron.
(2.) A place near the “valley of Achor” (Joshua 15:7), on the north boundary of Judah, between Jerusalem and Jericho.
(3.) The king of Eglon, one of the five Canaanitish kings who were hanged by Joshua (Joshua 10:3, Joshua 10:23) after the victory at Gibeon. These kings fled and took refuge in a cave at Makkedah. Here they were kept confined till Joshua returned from the pursuit of their discomfited armies, when he caused them to be brought forth, and “Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees” (Joshua 10:26).
Deborah
Deborah — a bee. (1.) Rebekah’s nurse. She accompanied her mistress when she left her father’s house in Padan-aram to become the wife of Isaac (Genesis 24:59). Many years afterwards she died at Bethel, and was buried under the “oak of weeping”, Allon-bachuth (Genesis 35:8).
(2.) A prophetess, “wife” (woman?) of Lapidoth. Jabin, the king of Hazor, had for twenty years held Israel in degrading subjection. The spirit of patriotism seemed crushed out of the nation. In this emergency Deborah roused the people from their lethargy. Her fame spread far and wide. She became a “mother in Israel” (Judges 4:6, Judges 4:14; Judges 5:7), and “the children of Israel came up to her for judgment” as she sat in her tent under the palm tree “between Ramah and Bethel.” Preparations were everywhere made by her direction for the great effort to throw off the yoke of bondage. She summoned Barak from Kadesh to take the command of 10,000 men of Zebulun and Naphtali, and lead them to Mount Tabor on the plain of Esdraelon at its north-east end. With his aid she organized this army. She gave the signal for attack, and the Hebrew host rushed down impetuously upon the army of Jabin, which was commanded by Sisera, and gained a great and decisive victory. The Canaanitish army almost wholly perished. That was a great and ever-memorable day in Israel. In Judges 5 is given the grand triumphal ode, the “song of Deborah,” which she wrote in grateful commemoration of that great deliverance. (See LAPIDOTH , JABIN [2].)
Debt
Debt — The Mosaic law encouraged the practice of lending (Deuteronomy 15:7; Psalm 37:26; Matthew 5:42); but it forbade the exaction of interest except from foreigners. Usury was strongly condemned (Proverbs 28:8; Ezekiel 18:8, Ezekiel 18:13, Ezekiel 18:17; Ezekiel 22:12; Psalm 15:5). On the Sabbatical year all pecuniary obligations were cancelled (Deuteronomy 15:1-11). These regulations prevented the accumulation of debt.
Debtor
Debtor — Various regulations as to the relation between debtor and creditor are laid down in the Scriptures.
(1.) The debtor was to deliver up as a pledge to the creditor what he could most easily dispense with (Deuteronomy 24:10, Deuteronomy 24:11).
(2.) A mill, or millstone, or upper garment, when given as a pledge, could not be kept over night (Exodus 22:26, Exodus 22:27).
(3.) A debt could not be exacted during the Sabbatic year (Deuteronomy 15:1-15).
For other laws bearing on this relation see Leviticus 25:14, Leviticus 25:32, Leviticus 25:39; Matthew 18:25, Matthew 18:34.
(4.) A surety was liable in the same way as the original debtor (Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs 17:18).
Decalogue
Decalogue — the name given by the Greek fathers to the ten commandments; “the ten words,” as the original is more literally rendered (Exodus 20:3-17). These commandments were at first written on two stone slabs (Exodus 31:18), which were broken by Moses throwing them down on the ground (Exodus 32:19). They were written by God a second time (Exodus 34:1). The decalogue is alluded to in the New Testament five times (Matthew 5:17, Matthew 5:18, Matthew 5:19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; Romans 7:7, Romans 7:8; Romans 13:9; 1 Timothy 1:9, 1 Timothy 1:10).
These commandments have been divided since the days of Origen the Greek father, as they stand in the Confession of all the Reformed Churches except the Lutheran. The division adopted by Luther, and which has ever since been received in the Lutheran Church, makes the first two commandments one, and the third the second, and so on to the last, which is divided into two. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house” being ranked as ninth, and “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife,” etc., the tenth. (See COMMANDMENTS.)
Decapoils
Decapoils — ten cities=deka, ten, and polis, a city, a district on the east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee containing “ten cities,” which were chiefly inhabited by Greeks. It included a portion of Bashan and Gilead, and is mentioned three times in the New Testament (Matthew 4:25; Mark 5:20; Mark 7:31). These cities were Scythopolis, i.e., “city of the Scythians”, (ancient Bethshean, the only one of the ten cities on the west of Jordan), Hippos, Gadara, Pella (to which the Christians fled just before the destruction of Jerusalem), Philadelphia (ancient Rabbath-ammon), Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, and Damascus. When the Romans conquered Syria (B.C. 65) they rebuilt, and endowed with certain privileges, these “ten cities,” and the province connected with them they called “Decapolis.”
Decision, Valley of
Decision, Valley of — a name given to the valley of Jehoshaphat (q.v.) as the vale of the sentence. The scene of Jehovah’s signal inflictions on Zion’s enemies (Joel 3:14; marg., “valley of concision or threshing”).
Decrees of God
Decrees of God — “The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurition. The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore styled Decrees.” The decree being the act of an infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, comprehending a plan including all his works of all kinds, great and small, from the beginning of creation to an unending eternity; ends as well as means, causes as well as effects, conditions and instrumentalities as well as the events which depend upon them, must be incomprehensible by the finite intellect of man. The decrees are eternal (Acts 15:18; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), unchangeable (Psalm 33:11; Isaiah 46:9), and comprehend all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11; Matthew 10:29, Matthew 10:30; Ephesians 2:10; Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27, Acts 4:28; Psalm 17:13, Psalm 17:14).
The decrees of God are (1) efficacious, as they respect those events he has determined to bring about by his own immediate agency; or (2) permissive, as they respect those events he has determined that free agents shall be permitted by him to effect.
This doctrine ought to produce in our minds “humility, in view of the infinite greatness and sovereignty of God, and of the dependence of man; confidence and implicit reliance upon wisdom, rightenousness, goodness, and immutability of God’s purpose.”
Dedan
Dedan — low ground. (1.) A son of Raamah (Genesis 10:7). His descendants are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13, and Ezekiel 27:15. They probably settled among the sons of Cush, on the north-west coast of the Persian Gulf.
(2.) A son of Jokshan, Abraham’s son by Keturah (1 Chronicles 1:32). His descendants settled on the Syrian borders about the territory of Edom. They probably led a pastoral life.
Dedanim
Dedanim — the descendants of Dedan, the son of Raamah. They are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13 as sending out “travelling companies” which lodged “in the forest of Arabia.” They are enumerated also by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:20) among the merchants who supplied Tyre with precious things.
Dedication, Feast of the
Dedication, Feast of the — (John 10:22, John 10:42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders had been driven out by Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight days, beginning on the 25th of the month Chisleu (December), which was often a period of heavy rains (Ezra 10:9, Ezra 10:13). It was an occasion of much rejoicing and festivity.
But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chronicles 5:3); (2) the dedication in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29); and (3) the dedication of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 6:16).
Deep
Deep — used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Romans 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Psalm 69:15); (3) the chaos mentioned in Genesis 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:2; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 20:13).
Degrees, Song of
Degrees, Song of — song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen psalms, Psalm 120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on the ascents or goings up to Jerusalem to attend the three great festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16). They were well fitted for being sung by the way from their peculiar form, and from the sentiments they express. “They are characterized by brevity, by a key-word, by epanaphora [i.e, repetition], and by their epigrammatic style … More than half of them are cheerful, and all of them hopeful.” They are sometimes called “Pilgrim Songs.” Four of them were written by David, one (Psalm 127) by Solomon, and the rest are anonymous.
Dehavites
Dehavites — villagers, one of the Assyrian tribes which Asnapper sent to repopulate Samaria (Ezra 4:9). They were probably a nomad Persian tribe on the east of the Caspian Sea, and near the Sea of Azof.
Delaiah
Delaiah — freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division of the priestly order (1 Chronicles 24:18).
(2.) A son of Shemaiah, and one of the courtiers to whom Jeremiah’s first roll of prophecy was read (Jeremiah 36:12).
(3.) The head of one of the bands of exiles that returned under Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:60; Nehemiah 7:62).
Delilah
Delilah — languishing, a Philistine woman who dwelt in the valley of Sorek (Judges 16:4-20). She was bribed by the “lords of the Philistines” to obtain from Samson the secret of his strength and the means of overcoming it (Judges 16:4-18). She tried on three occasions to obtain from him this secret in vain. On the fourth occasion she wrung it from him. She made him sleep upon her knees, and then called the man who was waiting to help her; who “cut off the seven locks of his head,” and so his “strength went from him.” (See SAMSON.)
Deluge
Deluge — the name given to Noah’s flood, the history of which is recorded in Genesis 7 and Genesis 8.
It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar months and ten days, or exactly one solar year.
The cause of this judgment was the corruption and violence that filled the earth in the ninth generation from Adam. God in righteous indignation determined to purge the earth of the ungodly race. Amid a world of crime and guilt there was one household that continued faithful and true to God, the household of Noah. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations.”
At the command of God, Noah made an ark 300 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high. He slowly proceeded with this work during a period of one hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3). At length the purpose of God began to be carried into effect. The following table exhibits the order of events as they occurred:
In the six hundredth year of his life Noah is commanded by God to enter the ark, taking with him his wife, and his three sons with their wives (Genesis 7:1-10).
The rain begins on the seventeenth day of the second month (Genesis 7:11-17).
The rain ceases, the waters prevail, fifteen cubits upward (Genesis 7:18-24).
The ark grounds on one of the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, or one hundred and fifty days after the Deluge began (Genesis 8:1-4).
Tops of the mountains visible on the first day of the tenth month (Genesis 8:5).
Raven and dove sent out forty days after this (Genesis 8:6-9).
Dove again sent out seven days afterwards; and in the evening she returns with an olive leaf in her mouth (Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11).
Dove sent out the third time after an interval of other seven days, and returns no more (Genesis 8:12).
The ground becomes dry on the first day of the first month of the new year (Genesis 8:13).
Noah leaves the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month (Genesis 8:14-19).
The historical truth of the narrative of the Flood is established by the references made to it by our Lord (Matthew 24:37; comp. Luke 17:26). Peter speaks of it also (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5). In Isaiah 54:9 the Flood is referred to as “the waters of Noah.” The Biblical narrative clearly shows that so far as the human race was concerned the Deluge was universal; that it swept away all men living except Noah and his family, who were preserved in the ark; and that the present human race is descended from those who were thus preserved.
Traditions of the Deluge are found among all the great divisions of the human family; and these traditions, taken as a whole, wonderfully agree with the Biblical narrative, and agree with it in such a way as to lead to the conclusion that the Biblical is the authentic narrative, of which all these traditions are more or less corrupted versions. The most remarkable of these traditions is that recorded on tablets prepared by order of Assur-bani-pal, the king of Assyria. These were, however, copies of older records which belonged to somewhere about B.C. 2000, and which formed part of the priestly library at Erech (q.v.), “the ineradicable remembrance of a real and terrible event.” (See NOAH ; CHALDEA.)
Demas
Demas — a companion and fellow-labourer of Paul during his first imprisonment at Rome (Philemon 24; Colossians 4:14). It appears, however, that the love of the world afterwards mastered him, and he deserted the apostle (2 Timothy 4:10).
Demetrius
Demetrius — (1.) A silversmith at Ephesus, whose chief occupation was to make “silver shrines for Diana” (q.v.), Acts 19:24,i.e., models either of the temple of Diana or of the statue of the goddess. This trade brought to him and his fellow-craftsmen “no small gain,” for these shrines found a ready sale among the countless thousands who came to this temple from all parts of Asia Minor. This traffic was greatly endangered by the progress of the gospel, and hence Demetrius excited the tradesmen employed in the manufacture of these shrines, and caused so great a tumult that “the whole city was filled with confusion.”
(2.) A Christian who is spoken of as having “a good report of all men, and of the truth itself” (3 John 12).
Demon
Demon — See DAEMON.
Den
Den — a lair of wild beasts (Psalm 10:9; Psalm 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isaiah 11:8); a recess for secrecy “in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17). Daniel was cast into “the den of lions” (Daniel 6:16, Daniel 6:17). Some recent discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have brought to light the fact that the practice of punishing offenders against the law by throwing them into a den of lions was common.
Deputy
Deputy — in 1 Kings 22:47, means a prefect; one set over others. The same Hebrew word is rendered “officer;” i.e., chief of the commissariat appointed by Solomon (1 Kings 4:5, etc.).
In Esther 8:9; Esther 9:3 (R.V., “governor”) it denotes a Persian prefect “on this side” i.e., in the region west of the Euphrates. It is the modern word pasha.
In Acts 13:7, Acts 13:8, Acts 13:12; Acts 18:12, it denotes a proconsul; i.e., the governor of a Roman province holding his appointment from the senate. The Roman provinces were of two kinds, (1) senatorial and (2) imperial. The appointment of a governor to the former was in the hands of the senate, and he bore the title of proconsul (Gr. anthupatos). The appointment of a governor to the latter was in the hands of the emperor, and he bore the title of propraetor (Gr. antistrategos).
Derbe
Derbe — a small town on the eastern part of the upland plain of Lycaonia, about 20 miles from Lystra. Paul passed through Derbe on his route from Cilicia to Iconium, on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1), and probably also on his third journey (Acts 18:23; Acts 19:1). On his first journey (Acts 14:20, Acts 14:21) he came to Derbe from the other side; i.e., from Iconium. It was the native place of Gaius, one of Paul’s companions (Acts 20:4). He did not here suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:11).
Desert
Desert — (1.) Heb. midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the desert” (Exodus 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the region in front. The same Hebrew word is rendered “wildernes,” and is used of the country lying between Egypt and Palestine (Genesis 21:14, Genesis 21:21; Exodus 4:27; Exodus 19:2; Joshua 1:4), the wilderness of the wanderings. It was a grazing tract, where the flocks and herds of the Israelites found pasturage during the whole of their journey to the Promised Land.
The same Hebrew word is used also to denote the wilderness of Arabia, which in winter and early spring supplies good pasturage to the flocks of the nomad tribes than roam over it (1 Kings 9:18).
The wilderness of Judah is the mountainous region along the western shore of the Dead Sea, where David fed his father’s flocks (1 Samuel 17:28; 1 Samuel 26:2). Thus in both of these instances the word denotes a country without settled inhabitants and without streams of water, but having good pasturage for cattle; a country of wandering tribes, as distinguished from that of a settled people (Isaiah 35:1; Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 4:11). Such, also, is the meaning of the word “wilderness” in Matthew 3:3; Matthew 15:33; Luke 15:4.
(2.) The translation of the Hebrew Aribah’, “an arid tract” (Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:6; Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 51:3, etc.). The name Arabah is specially applied to the deep valley of the Jordan (the Ghor of the Arabs), which extends from the lake of Tiberias to the Elanitic gulf. While midbar denotes properly a pastoral region, arabah denotes a wilderness. It is also translated “plains;” as “the plains of Jericho” (Joshua 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5), “the plains of Moab” (Numbers 22:1; Deuteronomy 34:1, Deuteronomy 34:8), “the plains of the wilderness” (2 Samuel 17:16).
(3.) In the Revised Version of Numbers 21:20 the Hebrew word jeshimon is properly rendered “desert,” meaning the waste tracts on both shores of the Dead Sea. This word is also rendered “desert” in Psalm 78:40; Psalm 106:14; Isaiah 43:19, Isaiah 43:20. It denotes a greater extent of uncultivated country than the other words so rendered. It is especially applied to the desert of the peninsula of Arabia (Numbers 21:20; Numbers 23:28), the most terrible of all the deserts with which the Israelites were acquainted. It is called “the desert” in Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24. (See JESHIMON.)
(4.) A dry place; hence a desolation (Psalm 9:6), desolate (Leviticus 26:34); the rendering of the Hebrew word horbah’. It is rendered “desert” only in Psalm 102:6, Isaiah 48:21, and Ezekiel 13:4, where it means the wilderness of Sinai.
(5.) This word is the symbol of the Jewish church when they had forsaken God (Isaiah 40:3). Nations destitute of the knowledge of God are called a “wilderness” (Isaiah 32:15, midbar). It is a symbol of temptation, solitude, and persecution (Isaiah 27:10, Isaiah 33:9, arabah).
Desire of all nations
Desire of all nations — (Haggai 2:7), usually interpreted as a title of the Messiah. The Revised Version, however, more correctly renders “the desirable things of all nations;” i.e., the choicest treasures of the Gentiles shall be consecrated to the Lord.
Desolation, Abomination of
Desolation, Abomination of — (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; comp. Luke 21:20), is interpreted of the eagles, the standards of the Roman army, which were an abomination to the Jews. These standards, rising over the site of the temple, were a sign that the holy place had fallen under the idolatrous Romans. The references are to Daniel 9:27. (See ABOMINATION.)
Destroyer
Destroyer — (Exodus 12:23), the agent employed in the killing of the first-born; the destroying angel or messenger of God. (Comp. 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Samuel 24:15, 2 Samuel 24:16; Psalm 78:49; Acts 12:23.)
Destruction
Destruction — in Job 26:6, Job 28:22 (Heb. abaddon is sheol, the realm of the dead.
Destruction, City of
Destruction, City of — (Isaiah 19:18; Heb. Ir-ha-Heres, “city of overthrow,” because of the evidence it would present of the overthrow of heathenism), the ideal title of On or Heliopolis (q.v.).
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy — In all the Hebrew manuscripts the Pentateuch (q.v.) forms one roll or volume divided into larger and smaller sections called parshioth and sedarim. It is not easy to say when it was divided into five books. This was probably first done by the Greek translators of the book, whom the Vulgate follows. The fifth of these books was called by the Greeks Deuteronomion, i.e., the second law, hence our name Deuteronomy, or a second statement of the laws already promulgated. The Jews designated the book by the two first Hebrew words that occur, ‘Elle haddabharim, i.e., “These are the words.” They divided it into eleven parshioth. In the English Bible it contains thirty-four chapters.
It consists chiefly of three discourses delivered by Moses a short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of their wanderings.
The first discourse (Deuteronomy 1-4:40) recapitulates the chief events of the last forty years in the wilderness, with earnest exhortations to obedience to the divine ordinances, and warnings against the danger of forsaking the God of their fathers.
The seond discourse (Deuteronomy 5-26:19) is in effect the body of the whole book. The first address is introductory to it. It contains practically a recapitulation of the law already given by God at Mount Sinai, together with many admonitions and injunctions as to the course of conduct they were to follow when they were settled in Canaan.
The concluding discourse (ch. Deuteronomy 27-30) relates almost wholly to the solemn sanctions of the law, the blessings to the obedient, and the curse that would fall on the rebellious. He solemnly adjures them to adhere faithfully to the covenant God had made with them, and so secure for themselves and their posterity the promised blessings.
These addresses to the people are followed by what may be called three appendices, namely (1), a song which God had commanded Moses to write (Deuteronomy 32:1-47); (2) the blessings he pronounced on the separate tribes (ch. Deuteronomy 33); and (3) the story of his death (Deuteronomy 32:48-52) and burial (ch. Deuteronomy 34), written by some other hand, probably that of Joshua.
These farewell addresses of Moses to the tribes of Israel he had so long led in the wilderness “glow in each line with the emotions of a great leader recounting to his contemporaries the marvellous story of their common experience. The enthusiasm they kindle, even to-day, though obscured by translation, reveals their matchless adaptation to the circumstances under which they were first spoken. Confidence for the future is evoked by remembrance of the past. The same God who had done mighty works for the tribes since the Exodus would cover their head in the day of battle with the nations of Palestine, soon to be invaded. Their great lawgiver stands before us, vigorous in his hoary age, stern in his abhorrence of evil, earnest in his zeal for God, but mellowed in all relations to earth by his nearness to heaven. The commanding wisdom of his enactments, the dignity of his position as the founder of the nation and the first of prophets, enforce his utterances. But he touches our deepest emotions by the human tenderness that breathes in all his words. Standing on the verge of life, he speaks as a father giving his parting counsels to those he loves; willing to depart and be with God he has served so well, but fondly lengthening out his last farewell to the dear ones of earth. No book can compare with Deuteronomy in its mingled sublimity and tenderness.” Geikie, Hours, etc.
The whole style and method of this book, its tone and its peculiarities of conception and expression, show that it must have come from one hand. That the author was none other than Moses is established by the following considerations: (1.) The uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Church down to recent times. (2.) The book professes to have been written by Moses (Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 29:1; Deuteronomy 31:1, Deuteronomy 31:9-11, etc.), and was obviously intended to be accepted as his work. (3.) The incontrovertible testimony of our Lord and his apostles (Matthew 19:7, Matthew 19:8; Mark 10:3, Mark 10:4; John 5:46, John 5:47; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37; Romans 10:19) establishes the same conclusion. (4.) The frequent references to it in the later books of the canon (Joshua 8:31; 1 Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 23:18; 2 Chronicles 25:4; 2 Chronicles 34:14; Ezra 3:2; Ezra 7:6; Nehemiah 8:1; Daniel 9:11, Daniel 9:13) prove its antiquity; and (5) the archaisms found in it are in harmony with the age in which Moses lived. (6.) Its style and allusions are also strikingly consistent with the circumstances and position of Moses and of the people at that time.
This body of positive evidence cannot be set aside by the conjectures and reasonings of modern critics, who contended that the book was somewhat like a forgery, introduced among the Jews some seven or eight centuries after the Exodus.
Devil
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Revelation 2:10; Zechariah 3:1). He is called also “the accuser of the brethen” (Revelation 12:10).
In Leviticus 17:7 the word “devil” is the translation of the Hebrew sair, meaning a “goat” or “satyr” (Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship among the heathen.
In Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalm 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew shed, meaning lord, and idol, regarded by the Jews as a “demon,” as the word is rendered in the Revised Version.
In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the “casting out of devils” a different Greek word (daimon) is used. In the time of our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal possession (Matthew 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; Luke 10:18, etc.).
Dew
Dew — “There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago (Genesis 31:40). To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant-life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands. At sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. By the kindling light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which presently break into separate masses and rise up the mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by the increasing heat. These are ‘the morning clouds and the early dew that go away’ of which Hosea (Hosea 6:4; Hosea 13:3) speaks so touchingly” (Geikie’s The Holy Land, etc., i., p. 72). Dew is a source of great fertility (Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 33:13; Zechariah 8:12), and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God (2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1). It is the symbol of a multitude (2 Samuel 17:12; Psalm 110:3); and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of brotherly love and harmony (Psalm 133:3), and of rich spiritual blessings (Hosea 14:5).
Diadem
Diadem — the tiara of a king (Ezekiel 21:26; Isaiah 28:5; Isaiah 62:3); the turban (Job 29:14). In the New Testament a careful distinction is drawn between the diadem as a badge of royalty (Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1; Revelation 19:12) and the crown as a mark of distinction in private life. It is not known what the ancient Jewish “diadem” was. It was the mark of Oriental sovereigns. (See CROWN.)
Dial
Dial — for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isaiah 38:8). The Hebrew word (ma’aloth) is rendered “steps” in Exodus 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and “degrees” in 2 Kings 20:9, 2 Kings 20:10, 2 Kings 20:11. The ma˒aloth was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high.
Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Daniel 3:6) is the first to make mention of the “hour.”
Diamond
Diamond — (1.) A precious gem (Heb. yahalom’, in allusion to its hardness), otherwise unknown, the sixth, i.e., the third in the second row, in the breastplate of the high priest, with the name of Naphtali engraven on it (Exodus 28:18; Exodus 39:11; R.V. marg., “sardonyx.”)
(2.) A precious stone (Heb. shamir’, a sharp point) mentioned in Jeremiah 17:1. From its hardness it was used for cutting and perforating other minerals. It is rendered “adamant” (q.v.) in Ezekiel 3:9, Zechariah 7:12. It is the hardest and most valuable of precious stones.
Diana
Diana — so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the “great” goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was built outside the city walls, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. “First and last it was the work of 220 years; built of shining marble; 342 feet long by 164 feet broad; supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high; a sacred museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At the centre, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have fallen from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as in ‘the safest bank in Asia,’ nations and kings stored their most precious things. The temple as St. Paul saw it subsisted till 262, when it was ruined by the Goths” (Acts 19:23-41)., Moule on Ephesians: Introd.
Diblaim
Diblaim — doubled cakes, the mother of Gomer, who was Hosea’s wife (Hosea 1:3).
Diblathaim
Diblathaim — two cakes, a city of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea (Numbers 33:46; Jeremiah 48:22).
Dibon
Dibon — pining; wasting. (1.) A city in Moab (Numbers 21:30); called also Dibon-gad (Numbers 33:45), because it was built by Gad and Dimon (Isaiah 15:9). It has been identified with the modern Diban, about 3 miles north of the Arnon and 12 miles east of the Dead Sea. (See MOABITE STONE .)
(2.) A city of the tribe of Judah, inhabited after the Captivity (Nehemiah 11:25); called also Dimonah (Joshua 15:22). It is probably the modern ed-Dheib.
Didymus
Didymus — (Gr. twin = Heb. Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; John 20:24; John 21:2.
Dimnah
Dimnah — dunghill, a city of Zebulun given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:35). In 1 Chronicles 6:77 the name “Rimmon” is substituted.
Dinah
Dinah — judged; vindicated, daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi (Genesis 30:21). She was seduced by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite chief, when Jacob’s camp was in the neighbourhood of Shechem. This led to the terrible revenge of Simeon and Levi in putting the Shechemites to death (Genesis 34). Jacob makes frequent reference to this deed of blood with abhorrence and regret (Genesis 34:30; Genesis 49:5-7). She is mentioned among the rest of Jacob’s family that went down into Egypt (Genesis 46:8, Genesis 46:15).
Dine
Dine — (Genesis 43:16). It was the custom in Egypt to dine at noon. But it is probable that the Egyptians took their principal meal in the evening, as was the general custom in the East (Luke 14:12).
Dinhabah
Dinhabah — robbers’ den, an Edomitish city, the capital of king Bela (Genesis 36:32). It is probably the modern Dibdiba, a little north-east of Petra.
Dionysius
Dionysius — the Areopagite, one of Paul’s converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).
Diotrephes
Diotrephes — Jove-nourished, rebuked by John for his pride (3 John 9). He was a Judaizer, prating against John and his fellow-labourers “with malicious words” (3 John 10).
Disciple
Disciple — a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14), and of the Pharisees (Matthew 22:16), but principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matthew 10:24; Luke 14:26, Luke 14:27, Luke 14:33; John 6:69).
Dish
Dish — for eating from (2 Kings 21:13). Judas dipped his hand with a “sop” or piece of bread in the same dish with our Lord, thereby indicating friendly intimacy (Matthew 26:23). The “lordly dish” in Judges 5:25 was probably the shallow drinking cup, usually of brass. In Judges 6:38 the same Hebrew word is rendered “bowl.”
The dishes of the tabernacle were made of pure gold (Exodus 25:29; Exodus 37:16).
Dishan
Dishan — antelope, the youngest son of Seir the Horite, head of one of the tribes of Idumaea (Genesis 36:21, Genesis 36:28, Genesis 36:30).
Dispensation
Dispensation — (Gr. oikonomia, “management,” “economy”). (1.) The method or scheme according to which God carries out his purposes towards men is called a dispensation. There are usually reckoned three dispensations, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic or Jewish, and the Christian. (See COVENANT , Administration of.) These were so many stages in God’s unfolding of his purpose of grace toward men. The word is not found with this meaning in Scripture.
(2.) A commission to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:2; Colossians 1:25).
Dispensations of Providence are providential events which affect men either in the way of mercy or of judgement.
Dispersion
Dispersion — (Gr. diaspora, “scattered,” James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1) of the Jews. At various times, and from the operation of divers causes, the Jews were separated and scattered into foreign countries “to the outmost parts of heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:4).
(1.) Many were dispersed over Assyria, Media, Babylonia, and Persia, descendants of those who had been transported thither by the Exile. The ten tribes, after existing as a separate kingdom for two hundred and fifty-five years, were carried captive ( 721) by Shalmaneser (or Sargon), king of Assyria. They never returned to their own land as a distinct people, although many individuals from among these tribes, there can be no doubt, joined with the bands that returned from Babylon on the proclamation of Cyrus.
(2.) Many Jews migrated to Egypt and took up their abode there. This migration began in the days of Solomon (2 Kings 18:21, 2 Kings 18:24; Isaiah 30:7). Alexander the Great placed a large number of Jews in Alexandria, which he had founded, and conferred on them equal rights with the Egyptians. Ptolemy Philadelphus, it is said, caused the Jewish Scriptures to be translated into Greek (the work began 284), for the use of the Alexandrian Jews. The Jews in Egypt continued for many ages to exercise a powerful influence on the public interests of that country. From Egypt they spread along the coast of Africa to Cyrene (Acts 2:10) and to Ethiopia (Acts 8:27).
(3.) After the time of Seleucus Nicator ( 280), one of the captains of Alexander the Great, large numbers of Jews migrated into Syria, where they enjoyed equal rights with the Macedonians. From Syria they found their way into Asia Minor. Antiochus the Great, king of Syria and Asia, removed 3,000 families of Jews from Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and planted them in Phrygia and Lydia.
(4.) From Asia Minor many Jews moved into Greece and Macedonia, chiefly for purposes of commerce. In the apostles’ time they were found in considerable numbers in all the principal cities.
From the time of Pompey the Great ( 63) numbers of Jews from Palestine and Greece went to Rome, where they had a separate quarter of the city assigned to them. Here they enjoyed considerable freedom.
Thus were the Jews everywhere scattered abroad. This, in the overruling providence of God, ultimately contributed in a great degree toward opening the way for the spread of the gospel into all lands.
Dispersion, from the plain of Shinar. This was occasioned by the confusion of tongues at Babel (Genesis 11:9). They were scattered abroad “every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations” (Genesis 10:5, Genesis 10:20,Genesis 10:31).
The tenth chapter of Genesis gives us an account of the principal nations of the earth in their migrations from the plain of Shinar, which was their common residence after the Flood. In general, it may be said that the descendants of Japheth were scattered over the north, those of Shem over the central regions, and those of Ham over the extreme south. The following table shows how the different families were dispersed:
- Japheth
- Gomer
Cimmerians, Armenians
- Magog
Caucasians, Scythians
- Madal
Medes and Persian tribes
- Javan
- Elishah
Greeks
- Tarshish
Etruscans, Romans
- Chittim
Cyprians, Macedonians
- Dodanim
Rhodians
- Tubal
Tibareni, Tartars
- Mechech
Moschi, Muscovites
- Tiras
Thracians
- Shem
- Elam
Persian tribes
- Asshur
Assyrian
- Arphaxad
- Abraham
- Isaac
- Jacob
Hebrews
- Esau
Edomites
- Ishmael
Mingled with Arab tribes
- Lud
Lydians
- Aram
Syrians
- Ham
- Cush
Ethiopans
- Mizrain
Egyptians
- Phut
Lybians, Mauritanians
- Canaan
Canaanites, Phoenicians
Distaff
Distaff — (Heb. pelek, a “circle”), the instrument used for twisting threads by a whirl (Proverbs 31:19).
Divination
Divination — of false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 18:14; Micah 3:6, Micah 3:7, Micah 3:11), of necromancers (1 Samuel 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Samuel 6:2), of Balaam (Joshua 13:22). Three kinds of divination are mentioned in Ezekiel 21:21, by arrows, consulting with images (the teraphim), and by examining the entrails of animals sacrificed. The practice of this art seems to have been encouraged in ancient Egypt. Diviners also abounded among the aborigines of Canaan and the Philistines (Isaiah 2:6; 1 Samuel 28). At a later period multitudes of magicians poured from Chaldea and Arabia into the land of Israel, and pursued their occupations (Isaiah 8:19; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6). This superstition widely spread, and in the time of the apostles there were “vagabond Jews, exorcists” (Acts 19:13), and men like Simon Magus (Acts 8:9), Bar-jesus (Acts 13:6, Acts 13:8), and other jugglers and impostors (Acts 19:19; 2 Timothy 3:13). Every species and degree of this superstition was strictly forbidden by the law of Moses (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:26, Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 18:11).
But beyond these various forms of superstition, there are instances of divination on record in the Scriptures by which God was pleased to make known his will.
(1.) There was divination by lot, by which, when resorted to in matters of moment, and with solemnity, God intimated his will (Joshua 7:13). The land of Canaan was divided by lot (Numbers 26:55, Numbers 26:56); Achan’s guilt was detected (Joshua 7:16-19), Saul was elected king (1 Samuel 10:20, 1 Samuel 10:21), and Matthias chosen to the apostleship, by the solem lot (Acts 1:26). It was thus also that the scape-goat was determined (Leviticus 16:8-10).
(2.) There was divination by dreams (Genesis 20:6; Deuteronomy 13:1, Deuteronomy 13:3; Judges 7:13, Judges 7:15; Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:12, Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:19, Matthew 2:22). This is illustrated in the history of Joseph (Genesis 41:25-32) and of Daniel (Daniel 2:27; Daniel 4:19-28).
(3.) By divine appointment there was also divination by the Urim and Thummim (Numbers 27:21), and by the ephod.
(4.) God was pleased sometimes to vouch-safe direct vocal communications to men (Deuteronomy 34:10; Exodus 3:4; Exodus 4:3; Deuteronomy 4:14, Deuteronomy 4:15; 1 Kings 19:12). He also communed with men from above the mercy-seat (Exodus 25:22), and at the door of the tabernacle (Exodus 29:42, Exodus 29:43).
(5.) Through his prophets God revealed himself, and gave intimations of his will (2 Kings 13:17; Jeremiah 51:63, Jeremiah 51:64).
Divorce
Divorce — The dissolution of the marriage tie was regulated by the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). The Jews, after the Captivity, were reguired to dismiss the foreign women they had married contrary to the law (Ezra 10:11-19). Christ limited the permission of divorce to the single case of adultery. It seems that it was not uncommon for the Jews at that time to dissolve the union on very slight pretences (Matthew 5:31, Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:1-9; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18). These precepts given by Christ regulate the law of divorce in the Christian Church.
Dizahab
Dizahab — region of gold, a place in the desert of Sinai, on the western shore of the Elanitic gulf (Deuteronomy 1:1). It is now called Dehab.
Doctor
Doctor — (Luke 2:46; Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34), a teacher. The Jewish doctors taught and disputed in synagogues, or wherever they could find an audience. Their disciples were allowed to propose to them questions. They assumed the office without any appointment to it. The doctors of the law were principally of the sect of the Pharisees. Schools were established after the destruction of Jerusalem at Babylon and Tiberias, in which academical degrees were conferred on those who passed a certain examination. Those of the school of Tiberias were called by the title “rabbi,” and those of Babylon by that of “master.”
Dodai
Dodai — loving, one of David’s captains (1 Chronicles 27:4). (See DODO [2].)
Dodanim
Dodanim — leaders, a race descended from Javan (Genesis 10:4). They are known in profane history as the Dardani, originally inhabiting Illyricum. They were a semi-Pelasgic race, and in the ethnographical table (Genesis 10) they are grouped with the Chittim (q.v.). In 1 Chronicles 1:7, they are called Rodanim. The LXX. and the Samaritan Version also read Rhodii, whence some have concluded that the Rhodians, the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, are meant.
Dodo
Dodo — amatory; loving. (1.) A descendant of Issachar (Judges 10:1).
(2.) An Ahohite, father of Eleazar, who was one of David’s three heroes (2 Samuel 23:9; 1 Chronicles 11:12). He was the same with Dodai mentioned in 1 Chronicles 27:4.
(3.) A Bethlehemite, and father of Elhanan, who was one of David’s thirty heroes (2 Samuel 23:24).
Doeg
Doeg — fearful, an Edomite, the chief overseer of Saul’s flocks (1 Samuel 21:7). At the command of Saul he slew the high priest Ahimelech (q.v.) at Nob, together with all the priests to the number of eighty-five persons. (Comp. Psalm 52, title.)
Dog
Dog — frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testaments. Dogs were used by the Hebrews as a watch for their houses (Isaiah 56:10), and for guarding their flocks (Job 30:1). There were also then as now troops of semi-wild dogs that wandered about devouring dead bodies and the offal of the streets (1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:19, 1 Kings 21:23; 1 Kings 22:38; Psalm 59:6, Psalm 59:14).
As the dog was an unclean animal, the terms “dog,” “dog’s head,” “dead dog,” were used as terms of reproach or of humiliation (1 Samuel 24:14; 2 Samuel 3:8; 2 Samuel 9:8; 2 Samuel 16:9). Paul calls false apostles “dogs” (Philippians 3:2). Those who are shut out of the kingdom of heaven are also so designated (Revelation 22:15). Persecutors are called “dogs” (Psalm 22:16). Hazael’s words, “Thy servant which is but a dog” (2 Kings 8:13), are spoken in mock humility—impossible that one so contemptible as he should attain to such power.