Smith's Bible Dictionary

Shittah tree Shittim — Sodomites

Shittah tree Shittim

Shittah tree, Shittim (Heb. shittâh, the thorny), is without doubt correctly referred to some species of Acacia, of which three or four kinds occur in the Bible lands. The wood of this tree—perhaps the Acacia seyal is more definitely signified—was extensively employed in the construction of the tabernacle. See Exodus 25-26, Exodus 36-38. (This tree is sometimes three or four feet in diameter (Tristram). The wood is close-grained and hard, of a fine orange-brown color, and admirably adapted to cabinet work.—Ed.) The A. seyal is very common in some parts of the peninsula of Sinai. It yields the well-known substance called gum arabic, which is botained by incisions in the bark, but it is impossible to say whether the ancient Jews were acquainted with its use. From the tangled thicket into which the stem of this tree expands, Stanley well remarks that hence is to be traced the use of the plural form of the Heb. noun shittim, the singular number occurring once only in the Bible. This acacia must not be confounded with the tree (Robinia pseudo-acacia) popularly known by this name in England, which is a North American plant, and belongs to a different genus and suborder. The true acacias belong to the order Leguminosoe, sub-order Mimoseoe.

Shittim-wood. (Acacia.)

Shittim

Shit’tim (the acacias), the place of Israel’s encampment between the conquest of the transjordanic highlands and the passage of the Jordan. Numbers 25:1; Numbers 33:49; Joshua 2:1; Joshua 3:1; Micah 6:5. Its full name appears to be given in the first of these passages—Abel has-Shittim, “the meadow, or moist place, of the acacias.” It was “in the Arboth-moab, by Jordan-Jericho,” Numbers 22:1; Numbers 26:3; Numbers 31:12; Numbers 33:48-49; that is to say, it was in the Arabah or Jordan valley, opposite Jericho.

Shiza

Shi’za (splendor), a Reubenite, father of Adina, 1 Chronicles 11:42, one of David’s warriors. (b.c. 1043.)

Shoa

Sho’a (rich), a proper name which occurs only in Ezekiel 23:23, in connection with Pekod and Koa. The three apparently designate districts of Assyria with which the southern kingdom of Judah had been intimately connected, and which were to be arrayed against it for punishment.

Shobab

Sho’bab (rebellious).

1. Son of David by Bath-sheba. 2 Samuel 5:14; 1 Chronicles 3:5; 1 Chronicles 14:4. (b.c. about 1045.)

2. Apparently the son of Caleb the son of Hezron by his wife Azubah. 1 Chronicles 2:18. (b.c. after 1706.)

Shobach

Sho’bach (expansion), the general of Hadarezer king of the Syrians of Zoba, who was defeated by David. 2 Samuel 10:15-18. In 1 Chronicles 19:16, 1 Chronicles 19:18 he is called SHOPHACH. (b.c. 1034.)

Shoba-i

Sho’ba-i (glorious). The children of Shobai were a family of the doorkeepers of the temple, who returned with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:42; Nehemiah 7:45. (b.c. before 536.)

Shobal

Sho’bal (flowing).

1. Second son of Seir the Horite, Genesis 36:20; 1 Chronicles 1:38, and one of the “dukes” of the Horites. Genesis 36:29.

2. Son of Caleb the son of Hur, and founder or prince of Kirjath-jearim. 1 Chronicles 2:50, 1 Chronicles 2:52. (b.c. about 1445.)

3. In 1 Chronicles 4:1-2, Shobal appears with Hur among the sons of Judah. He is possibly the same as the preceding.

Shobek

Sho’bek (free), one of the heads of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:24. (b.c. 446.)

Shobi

Sho’bi (glorious), son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon. 2 Samuel 17:27. He was one of the first to meet David at Mahanaim on his flight from Absalom. (b.c. 1023.)

Shocho

Sho’cho, 2 Chronicles 28:18, one of the four varieties of the name Socoh.

Shoco

Sho’co, 2 Chronicles 11:7, a variation in the Authorized Version of the name Socoh.

Shochoh

Sho’choh, 1 Samuel 17:1, same as Socoh.

Shoe

Shoe. [SANDAL.]

Shoham

Sho’ham (onyx), a Merarite Levite, son of Jaaziah. 1 Chronicles 24:27. (b.c. 1043.)

Shomer

Sho’mer (keeper).

1. An Asherite, 1 Chronicles 7:32; also called Shamer, ver. 1 Chronicles 7:34.

2. The father (mother?) of Jehozabad, who slew King Joash. 2 Kings 12:21. In the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 24:26 the name is converted into the feminine form Shimrith, who is further described as a Moabitess. [SHIMRITH.] (b.c. 839.)

Shophach

Sho’phach (expansion), Shobach, the general of Hadarezer. 1 Chronicles 19:16, 1 Chronicles 19:18. (b.c. 1034.)

Shophan

Sho’phan (bareness), one of the fortified towns on the east of Jordan which were taken possession of and rebuilt by the tribe of Gad. Numbers 32:35.

Shoshannim

Shoshan’nim (lilies). “To the chief musician upon Shoshannim” is a musical direction to the leader of the temple choir which occurs in Psalm 45, Psalm 69, and most probably indicates the melody “after” or “in the manner of” (Authorized Version “upon”) which the psalms were to be sung. Shoshannim-eduth occurs in the same way in the title of Psalm 80. As the words now stand they signify “lilies, a testimony,” and the two are separated by a large distinctive accent. In themselves they have no meaning in the present text, and must therefore be regarded as probably a fragment of the beginning of an older psalm with which the choir were familiar.

Shuah

Shu’ah (wealth).

1. Son of Abraham by Keturah. Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32. (b.c. before 1820.)

2. Properly Shuchah, brother of Chelub. 1 Chronicles 4:11.

3. The father of Judah’s wife, Genesis 38:2, Genesis 38:12; called also Shua in the Authorized Version. (b.c. before 1725.)

Shual

Shu’al (a jackal), son of Zophah, an Asherite. 1 Chronicles 7:36. (b.c. after 1445.)

Shual The land of

Shu’al, The land of, a district named in 1 Samuel 13:17 only. It is pretty certain from the passage that it lay north of Michmash. If therefore it be identical with the “land of Shalim,” 1 Samuel 9:4—as is not impossible—we have the first and only clue yet obtained to Saul’s journey in quest of the asses. The name Shual has not yet been identified.

Shubael

Shu’bael.

1. Shebuel the son of Gershon. 1 Chronicles 24:20.

2. Shebuel the son of Heman the minstrel. 1 Chronicles 25:20.

Shuham

Shu’ham (pit-digger), son of Dan and ancestor of the Shuhamites. Numbers 26:42.

Shuhamites The

Shu’hamites, The. [SHUHAM.]

Shuhite

Shu’hite (descendant of Shuah). This ethnic appellative “Shuhite” is frequent in the book of Job, but only as the epithet of one person, Bildad. The local indications of this book point to a region on the western side of Chaldæa, bordering on Arabia; and exactly in this locality, above Hit and on both sides of the Euphrates, are found, in the Assyrian inscriptions, the Tsukhi, a powerful people. It is probable that these were the Shuhites.

Shulamite The

Shu’lamite, The, one of the personages in the poem of Solomon’s Song of Solomon 6:13. The name denotes a woman belonging to a place called Shulem, which is probably the same as Shunem. [SHUNEM.] If, then, Shulamite and Shunammite are equivalent, we may conjecture that the Shunammite who was the object of Solomon’s passion was Abishag, the most lovely girl of her day, and at the time of David’s death the most prominent person at Jerusalem.

Shumathites The

Shu’mathites, The, one of the four families who sprang from Kirjath-jearim. 1 Chronicles 2:53.

Shunammite The

Shu’nammite, The, i.e., the native of Shunem, is applied to two persons: Abishag, the nurse of King David, 1 Kings 1:3, 1 Kings 1:15; 1 Kings 2:17, 1 Kings 2:21-22, and the nameless hostess of Elisha. 2 Kings 4:12, 2 Kings 4:25, 2 Kings 4:36.

Shunem

Shu’nem (double resting-place), one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Issachar. Joshua 19:18. It is mentioned on two occasions—1 Samuel 28:4; 2 Kings 4:8. It was besides the native place of Abishag. 1 Kings 1:3. It is mentioned by Eusebius as five miles south of Mount Tabor, and then known as Sulem. This agrees with the position of the present Solam, a village three miles north of Jezreel and five from Gilboa.

Shuni

Shu’ni (fortunate), son of Gad, and founder of the family of the Shunites. Genesis 46:16; Numbers 26:15. (b.c. 1706.)

Shunites The

Shu’nites, The, the descendants of Shuni.

Shupham

Shu’pham. [SHUPPIM.]

Shuphamites The

Shu’phamites, The, the descendants of Shupham or Shephupham, the Benjamite. Numbers 26:39.

Shuppim

Shup’pim (serpents). In the genealogy of Benjamin “Shuppim and Huppim, the children of Ir,” are reckoned in 1 Chronicles 7:12. Ir is the same as Iri the son of Bela the son of Benjamin, so that Shuppim was the great-grandson of Benjamin.

Shur

Shur (a wall), a place just without the eastern border of Egypt. Shur is first mentioned in the narrative of Hagar’s flight from Sarah. Genesis 16:7. Abraham afterward “dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.” Genesis 20:1. It is also called Ethami. The wilderness of Shur was entered by the Israelites after they had crossed the Red Sea. Exodus 15:22-23. It was also called the wilderness of Etham. Numbers 33:8. Shur may have been a fortified town east of the ancient head of the Red Sea; and from its being spoken of as a limit, it was probably the last Arabian town before entering Egypt.

Shushan

Shu’shan, or Su’sa (a lily), is said to have received its name from the abundance of the lily (shûshan or shûshanah) in its neighborhood. It was originally the capital of the country called in Scripture Elam, and by the classical writers Susis or Susiana. In the time of Daniel Susa was in the possession of the Babylonians, to whom Elam had probably passed at the division of the Assyrian empire made by Cyaxares and Nabopolassar. Daniel 8:2. The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus transferred Susa to the Persian dominion; and it was not long before the Achæmenian princes determined to make it the capital of their whole empire and the chief place of their own residence. According to some writers the change was made by Cyrus; according to others it had at any rate taken place before the death of Cambyses; but, according to the evidence of the place itself and of the other Achæmenian monuments, it would seem most probable that the transfer was really the work of Darius Hystaspes. Nehemiah resided here. Nehemiah 1:1. Shushan was situated on the Ulai or Choaspes. It is identified with the modern Sus or Shush, and its ruins are about three miles in circumference. (Here have been found the remains of the great palace built by Darius, the father of Xerxes, in which and the surrounding buildings took place the scenes recorded in the life of Esther. The great central hall was 343 feet long by 244 feet wide. The king’s gate, says Schaff, where Mordecai sat, “was probably a hall 100 feet square, 150 feet from the northern portico. Between these two was probably the inner court, where Esther appeared before the king.”—Ed.)

Shushan-eduth

Shu’shan-e’duth (the lily of testimony), Psalm 60, is probably an abbreviation of “Shoshannim-eduth.” Psalm 80. [SHOSHANNIM.]

Shuthalhites The

Shu’thalhites, The. [SHUTHELAH.]

Shuthelah

Shu’thelah (noise of breaking), head of an Ephraimite family, called after him Shuthalhites, Numbers 26:35, and lineal ancestor of Joshua the son of Nun. 1 Chron. 1 Chronicles 7:20-27.

Sia

Si’a. The “children of Sia” were a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. Nehemiah 7:47. The name is written SIAHA in Ezra 2:44 and SUD in 1 Esdras 5:29.

Siaha

Si’aha = SIA. Ezra 2:44.

Sibbeca-i

Sib’beca-i = SIBBECHAI the Hushathite.

Sibbecha-i

Sib’becha-i (a weaver), one of David’s guard, and eighth captain for the eighth month of 24,000 men of the king’s army. 1 Chronicles 11:29; 1 Chronicles 27:11. (b.c. 1043.) He belonged to one of the principal families of Judah, the Zarhites or descendants of Zerah, and is called “the Hushathite,” probably from the place of his birth. Sibbechai’s great exploit, which gave him a place among the mighty men of David’s army, was his single combat with Saph or Sippai, the Philistine giant, in the battle of Gezer or Gob. 2 Samuel 21:18; 1 Chronicles 20:4.

Sibboleth

Sibboleth, the Ephraimite pronunciation of the word Shibboleth. Judges 12:6. [SHIBBOLETH.]

Sibmah

Sib’mah. [SHEBAM.]

Sibraim

Sibra’im (twofold hope), one of the landmarks on the northern boundary of the holy land as stated by Ezekiel. Ezekiel 47:16. It has not been identified.

Sichem

Si’chem. Genesis 12:6. [SHECHEM.]

Sicyon

Sic’yon (sish’eon), 1 Maccabees 15:23, a celebrated Greek city in Peloponnesus, upon the Corinthian Gulf.

Siddim

Sid’dim (field, plain), The value of, a place named only in one passage of Genesis—Genesis 14:3, Genesis 14:8, Genesis 14:10. It was one of that class of valleys which the Hebrews designated by the word emek. This term appears to have been assigned to a broad, flattish tract, sometimes of considerable width, enclosed on each side by a definite range of hills. It was so far a suitable spot for the combat between the four and five kings, ver. Genesis 14:8; but it contains a multitude of bitumen-pits sufficient materially to affect the issue of the battle. In this valley the kings of the five allied cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela seem to have awaited the approach of the invaders. It is therefore probable that it was in the neighborhood of the “plain or circle of Jordan” in which those cities stood. If we could venture, as some have done, to interpret the latter clause of ver. Genesis 14:3, “which is near,” or “which is at, or by, the Salt Sea,” then we might agree with Dr. Robinson and others in identifying the valley of Siddim with the enclosed plain which intervenes between the south end of the lake and the range of heights which terminate the Ghôr and commence the Wady Arabah. But the original of the passage seems to imply that the Salt Sea covers the actual space formerly occupied by the vale of Siddim. [SEA, THE SALT.]

Side

Si’de, a city on the coast of Pamphylia, 10 or 12 miles to the east of the river Eurymedom. It is mentioned in 1 Maccabees 15:23, and was a colony of Cumæans.

Sidon

Si’don, the Greek form of the Phoenician name Zidon. [ZIDON.]

Sidonians

Sido’nians, the Greek form of the word Zidonians, usually so exhibited in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament. It occurs Deuteronomy 3:9; Joshua 13:4, Joshua 13:6; Judges 3:3; 1 Kings 5:6. [ZIDON.]

Sihon

Si’hon (warrior), king of the Amorites when Israel arrived on the borders of the promised land. Numbers 21:21. (b.c. 1451.) Shortly before the time of Israel’s arrival he had dispossessed the Moabites of a splendid territory, driving them south of the natural bulwark of the Arnon. Ibid. Numbers 21:26-29. When the Israelite host appeared, he did not hesitate or temporize like Balak, but at once gathered his people together and attacked them. But the battle was his last. He and all his host were destroyed, and their district from Arnon to Jabbok became at once the possession of the conqueror.

Sihor

Si’hor (dark), accurately Shi’hor, once The Shihor, or Shihor of Egypt, when unqualified a name of the Nile. It is held to signify “the black” or “turbid.” In Jeremiah the identity of Shihor with the Nile seems distinctly stated. Jeremiah 2:18. The stream mentioned in 1 Chronicles 13:5 is possibly that of the Wádi-l˒ Areesh.

Silas

Si’las (contracted form of Silvanus, woody), an eminent member of the early Christian Church, described under that name in the Acts, but as Silvanus in St. Paul’s epistles. He first appears as one of the leaders of the church at Jerusalem, Acts 15:22, holding the office of an inspired teacher. Acts 15:32. His name, derived from the Latin silva, “wood,” betokens him a Hellenistic Jew, and he appears to have been a Roman citizen. Acts 16:37. He was appointed as a delegate to accompany Paul and Barnabas on their return to Antioch with the decree of the Council of Jerusalem. Acts 15:22, Acts 15:32. Having accomplished this mission, he returned to Jerusalem. Acts 15:33. He must, however, have immediately revisited Antioch, for we find him selected by St. Paul as the companion of his second missionary journey. Acts 15:40-17:10. At Berea he was left behind with Timothy while St. Paul proceeded to Athens, Acts 17:14, and we hear nothing more of his movements until he rejoined the apostle at Corinth. Acts 18:5. His presence at Corinth is several times noticed. 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1. Whether he was the Silvanus who conveyed St. Peter’s first epistle to Asia Minor, 1 Peter 5:12, is doubtful; the probabilities are in favor of the identity. A tradition of very slight authority represents Silas to have become bishop of Corinth.

Silk

Silk. The only undoubted notice of silk in the Bible occurs in Revelation 18:12, where it is mentioned among the treasures of the typical Babylon. It is, however, in the highest degree probable that the texture was known to the Hebrews from the time that their commercial relations were extended by Solomon. The well-known classical name of the substance does not occur in the Hebrew language.

Silla

Sil’la (a highway). “The house of Millo which goeth down to Silla” was the scene of the murder of King Joash. 2 Kings 12:20. What or where Silla was is entirely matter of conjecture. Some have suggested the pool of Siloam.

Siloah The pool of

Sil’oah, The pool of, properly “the pool of Shelach.” Nehemiah 3:15. [SILOAM.]

Siloam

Sil’oam (sent). Shiloach, Isaiah 8:6; Siloah, Nehemiah 3:15; Siloam, John 9:7, John 9:11. Siloam is one of the few undisputed localities in the topography of Jerusalem; still retaining its old name (with Arabic modification, Silwân), while every other pool has lost its Bible designation. This is the more remarkable as it is a mere suburban tank of no great size, and for many an age not particularly good or plentiful in its waters, though Josephus tells us that in his day they were both “sweet and abundant.” A little way below the Jewish burying-ground, but on the opposite side of the valley, where the Kedron turns slightly westward and widens itself considerably, is the fountain of the Virgin, or Um-ed-Deraj, near the beginning of that saddle-shaped projection of the temple hill supposed to be the Ophel of the Bible and the Ophlas of Josephus. At the back part of this fountain a subterraneous passage begins, through which the water flows, and through which a man may make his way, sometimes walking erect, sometimes stopping, sometimes kneeling, and sometimes crawling, to Siloam. This conduit is 1708 feet long, 16 feet high at the entrance, but only 16 inches at its narrowest part. At a former time it had tributaries which sent their waters down from the city pools or temple wells to swell Siloam. It enters Siloam at the northwest angle; or rather enters a small rock-cut chamber which forms the vestibule of Siloam, about five or six feet broad. To this you descend by a few rude steps, under which the water pours itself into the main pool. This pool is oblong, about 52 feet long, 18 feet broad, and 19 feet deep; but it is never filled, the water either passing directly through or being maintained at a depth of three or four feet. The present pool is a ruin, with no moss or ivy to make it romantic: its sides fallen in; its pillars broken; its stair a fragment; its walls giving way; the edge of every stone worn round or sharp by time; in some parts mere dıbris, though around its edges wild flowers, and among other plants the caper tree, grow luxuriantly. The present pool is not the original building; it may be the work of crusaders, perhaps even improved by Saladin, whose affection for wells and pools led him to care for all these things. Yet the spot is the same. This pool, which we may call the second, seems anciently to have poured its waters into a third before it proceeded to water the royal gardens. This third is perhaps that which Josephus calls “Solomon’s pool,” and which Nehemiah calls the “king’s pool.” Nehemiah 2:14. The expression in Isaiah 8:6, “waters of Shiloah that go softly,” seems to point to the slender rivulet, flowing gently though once very profusely out of Siloam into the lower breadth of level where the king’s gardens, or royal paradise, stood, and which is still the greenest spot about the holy city. Siloam is a sacred spot even to the Moslem; much more to the Jew. It was to Siloam that the Levite was sent with the golden pitcher on the “last and great day of the feast” of Tabernacles; it was from Siloam that he brought the water which was then poured over the sacrifice, in memory of the water from the rock of Rephidim; and it was to this Siloam water that the Lord pointed when he stood in the temple on that day and cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” The Lord sent the blind man to wash, not in, as our version has it, but at (είς), the pool of Siloam; for it was the clay from his eyes that was to be washed off.

Siloam.

Pool of the Virgin.

Pool of Siloam.

Siloam Tower in

Siloam, Tower in. Luke 13:4. Of this we know nothing definitely beyond these words of the Lord. In connection with Ophel, there is mention made of “a tower that lieth out,” Nehemiah 3:26; and there is no unlikelihood in connecting this projecting tower with the tower in Siloam, while one may be almost excused for the conjecture that its projection was the cause of its ultimate fall.

Silvanus

Silva’nus. [SILAS.]

Silver

Silver. In very early times silver was used for ornaments, Genesis 24:53, and for vessels of various kinds. Images for idolatrous worship were made of silver or overlaid with it, Exodus 20:23; Hosea 13:2; Habakkuk 2:19; Baruch 6:39, and the manufacture of silver shrines for Diana was a trade in Ephesus. Acts 19:24. But its chief use was as a medium of exchange, and throughout the Old Testament we find “silver” used for money, like the French argent. Silver was brought to Solomon from Arabia, 2 Chronicles 9:14, and from Tarshish, 2 Chronicles 9:21, which supplied the markets of Tyre. Ezekiel 27:12. From Tarshish it came in the form of plates, Jeremiah 10:9, like those on which the sacred books of the Singhalese are written to this day. Spain appears to have been the chief source whence silver was obtained by the ancients. Possibly the hills of Palestine may have afforded some supply of this metal. Silver mixed with alloy is referred to in Jeremiah 6:30, and a finer kind, either purer in itself or more thoroughly purified, is mentioned in Proverbs 8:19.

Silver.

Silverlings

Silverlings, a word used once only in the Authorized Version, Isaiah 7:23, as a translation of the Hebrew word elsewhere rendered “silver” or “money.”

Simeon

Sim’eon (heard).

1. The second of Jacob’s sons of Leah. His birth is recorded in Genesis 29:33. The first group of Jacob’s children consists, besides Simeon, of the three other sons of Leah—Reuben, Levi, Judah. Besides the massacre of Shechem, Genesis 34:25, the only personal incident related of Simeon is the fact of his being selected by Joseph as the hostage for the appearance of Benjamin. Genesis 42:19, Genesis 42:24, Genesis 42:36; Genesis 43:23. The chief families of the tribe of Simeon are mentioned in the lists of Genesis 46:10. At the census of Sinai Simeon numbered 59,300 fighting men, Numbers 1:23. When the second census was taken, at Shittim, the numbers had fallen to 22,200, and it was the weakest of all the tribes. This was no doubt partly due to the recent mortality following the idolatry of Peor, but there must have been other causes which have escaped mention. To Simeon was allotted a portion of land out of the territory of Judah, on its southern frontier, which contained eighteen or nineteen cities, with their villages, spread round the venerable well of Beersheba. Joshua 19:1-8; 1 Chronicles 4:28-33. Of these places, with the help of Judah, the Simeonites possess themselves, Judges 1:3, Judges 1:17; and here they were found, doubtless by Joab, residing in the reign of David. 1 Chronicles 4:31. What part the tribe took at the time of the division of the kingdom we are not told. The only thing which can be interpreted into a trace of its having taken any part with the northern kingdom are the two casual notices of 2 Chronicles 15:9 and 2 Chronicles 34:6, which appear to imply the presence of Simeonites there in the reigns of Asa and Josiah. On the other hand the definite statement of 1 Chronicles 4:41-43 proves that at that time there were still some of them remaining in the original seat of the tribe, and actuated by all the warlike, lawless spirit of their progenitor.

2. A devout Jew, inspired by the Holy Ghost, who met the parents of our Lord in the temple, took him in his arms, and gave thanks for what he saw and knew of Jesus. Luke 2:25-35. There was a Simeon who succeeded his father Hillel as president of the Sanhedrin about a.d. 13, and whose son Gamaliel was the Pharisee at whose feet St. Paul was brought up. Acts 22:3. It has been conjectured that he may be the Simeon of St. Luke.

Simeon Niger

Sim’eon Niger. Acts 13:1. [NIGER.]

Simon

Si’mon (contracted form of Simeon, a hearing).

1. Son of Mattathias. [MACCABEES.]

2. Son of Onias the high priest, whose eulogy closes the “praise of famous men” in the book of Ecclesiasticus, ch. Sirach 4. (b.c. 302–293.)

3. A “governor of the temple” in the time of Seleucus Philopator, whose information as to the treasures of the temple led to the sacrilegious attack of Heliodorus. 2 Maccabees 3:4, etc. (b.c. 175.)

4. Simon the brother of Jesus. The only undoubted notice of this Simon occurs in Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3. He has been identified by some writers with Simon the Canaanite, and still more generally with Symeon who became bishop of Jerusalem after the death of James, a.d. 62. The former of these opinions rests on no evidence whatever, nor is the latter without its difficulties.

5. Simon the Canaanite, one of the twelve apostles, Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18, otherwise described as Simon Zelotes, Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13. (a.d. 28.) The latter term, which is peculiar to Luke, is the Greek equivalent for the Chaldee term preserved by Matthew and Mark. [CANAANITE.] Each of these equally points out Simon as belonging to the faction of the Zealots, who were conspicuous for their fierce advocacy of the Mosaic ritual.

6. Simon of Cyrene, a Hellenistic Jew, born at Cyrene, on the north coast of Africa, who was present at Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, either as an attendant at the feast, Acts 2:10, or as one of the numerous settlers at Jerusalem from that place. Acts 6:9. (a.d. 30.) Meeting the procession that conducted Jesus to Golgotha, as he was returning from the country, he was pressed into the service to bear the cross, Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26, when Jesus himself was unable to carry it any longer. Comp. John 19:17. Mark describes him as the father of Alexander and Rufus, perhaps because this was the Rufus known to the Roman Christians, Romans 16:13, for whom he more especially wrote.

7. Simon, a resident at Bethany, distinguished as “the leper.” It is not improbable that he had been miraculously cured by Jesus. In his house Mary anointed Jesus preparatory to his death and burial. Matthew 26:6, etc.; Mark 14:3, etc.; John 12:1, etc.

8. Simon Magus, a Samaritan living in the apostolic age, distinguished as a sorcerer or “magician,” from his practice of magical arts. Acts 8:9. According to ecclesiastical writers he was born at Gitton, a village of Samaria, and was probably educated at Alexandria in the tenets of the Gnostic school. He is first introduced to us as practicing magical arts in a city of Samaria, perhaps Sychar, Acts 8:5; comp. John 4:5, and with such success that he was pronounced to be “the power of God which is called great.” Acts 8:10. The preaching and miracles of Philip having excited his observation, he became one of his disciples, and received baptism at his hands, a.d. 36, 37. Subsequently he witnessed the effect produced by the imposition of hands, as practiced by the apostles Peter and John, and, being desirous of acquiring a similar power for himself, he offered a sum of money for it. His object evidently was to apply the power to the prosecution of magical arts. The motive and the means were equally to be reprobated; and his proposition met with a severe denunciation from Peter, followed by a petition on the part of Simon, the tenor of which bespeaks terror, but not penitence. Acts 8:9-24. The memory of his peculiar guilt has been perpetuated in the word simony, as applied to all traffic in spiritual offices. Simon’s history, subsequent to his meeting with Peter, is involved in difficulties. Early Church historians depict him as the pertinacious foe of the apostle Peter, whose movements he followed for the purpose of seeking encounters, in which he was signally defeated. He is said to have followed the apostle to Rome. His death is associated with this meeting. According to Hippolytus, the earliest authority on the subject, Simon was buried alive at his own request, in the confident assurance that he would rise on the third day.

9. Simon Peter. [PETER.]

10. Simon, a Pharisee, in whose house a penitent woman anointed the head and feet of Jesus. Luke 7:40.

11. Simon the tanner, a Christian convert living at Joppa, at whose house Peter lodged. Acts 9:43. The house was near the seaside, Acts 10:6, Acts 10:32, for the convenience of the water. (a.d. 37.)

12. Simon the father of Judas Iscariot. John 6:71; John 13:2, John 13:26.

House of Simon the Tanner.

Simri

Sim’ri (vigilant), properly Shimri, son of Hosah, a Merarite Levite in the reign of David. 1 Chronicles 26:10.

Sin

Sin, a city of Egypt, mentioned only by Ezekiel. Ezekiel 30:15-16. The name is Hebrew, or at least Semitic, perhaps signifying clay. It is identified in the Vulgate with Pelusium, “the clayey or muddy” town. Its antiquity may perhaps be inferred from the mention of “the wilderness of Sin” in the journeys of the Israelites. Exodus 16:1; Numbers 33:11. Ezekiel speaks of Sin as “Sin the stronghold of Egypt.” Ezekiel 30:15. This place was held by Egypt from that time until the period of the Romans. Herodotus relates that Sennacherib advanced against Pelusium, and that near Pelusium Cambyses defeated Psammenitus. In like manner the decisive battle in which Ochus defeated the last native king, Nectanebos, was fought near this city.

Sin Wilderness of

Sin, Wilderness of, a tract of the wilderness which the Israelites reached after leaving the encampment by the Red Sea. Numbers 33:11-12. Their next halting-place, Exodus 16:1; Exodus 17:1, was Rephidim, probably the Wady Feirân [REPHIDIM]; on which supposition it would follow that Sin must lie between that wady and the coast of the Gulf of Suez, and of course west of Sinai. In the wilderness of Sin the manna was first gathered, and those who adopt the supposition that this was merely the natural product of the tarfa bush find from the abundance of that shrub in Wady es-Sheikh, southeast of Wady Ghurundel, a proof of local identity.

Sin offering

Sin offering. The sin offering among the Jews was the sacrifice in which the ideas of propitiation and of atonement for sin were most distinctly marked. The ceremonial of the sin offering is described in Leviticus 4 and Leviticus 6. The trespass offering is closely connected with the sin offering in Leviticus, but at the same time clearly distinguished from it, being in some cases offered with it as a distinct part of the same sacrifice; as, for example, in the cleansing of the leper. Leviticus 14. The distinction of ceremonial clearly indicates a difference in the idea of the two sacrifices. The nature of that difference is still a subject of great controversy. We find that the sin offerings were—

1. Regular. (a) For the whole people, at the New Moon, Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets and Feast of Tabernacles, Numbers 28:15-29:38; besides the solemn offering of the two goats on the Great Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16. (b) For the priests and Levites at their consecration, Exodus 29:10-14, Exodus 29:36; besides the yearly sin offering (a bullock) for the high priest on the Great Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16. 2. Special. For any sin of “ignorance” and the like, recorded in Leviticus 4 and Leviticus 5. It is seen that in the law most of the sins which are not purely ceremonial are called sins of “ignorance,” see Hebrews 9:7; and in Numbers 15:30 it is expressly said that while such sins can be atoned for by offerings, “the soul that doeth aught presumptuously” (Heb. with a high hand) “shall be cut off from among his people.” … “His inquity shall be upon him.” Comp. Hebrews 10:26. But here are sufficient indications that the sins here called “of ignorance” are more strictly those of “negligence” or “frailty,” repented of by the unpunished offender, as opposed to those of deliberate and unrepentant sin. It is clear that the two classes of sacrifices, although distinct, touch closely upon each other. It is also evident that the sin offering was the only regular and general recognition of sin in the abstract, and accordingly was far more solemn and symbolical in its ceremonial; the trespass offering was confined to special cases, most of which related to the doing of some material damage, either to the holy things or to man. Josephus declares that the sin offering is presented by those “who fall into sin in ignorance,” and the trespass offering by “one who has sinned and is conscious of his sin, but has no one to convict him thereof.” Without attempting to decide so difficult and so controverted a question, we may draw the following conclusions: First, that the sin offering was far the more solemn and comprehensive of the two sacrifices. Secondly, that the sin offering looked more to the guilt of the sin done, irrespective of its consequences, while the trespass offering looked to the evil consequences of sin, either against the service of God or against man, and to the duty of atonement, as far as atonement was possible. Thirdly, that in the sin offering especially we find symbolized the acknowledgment of sinfulness as inherent in man, and of the need of expiation by sacrifice to renew the broken covenant between man and God. In considering this subject, it must be remembered that the sacrifices of the law had a temporal as well as a spiritual significance and effect. They restored an offender to his place in the commonwealth of Israel; they were therefore an atonement to the King of Israel for the infringement of his law.

Sina Mount

Si’na, Mount, the Greek form of the well-known name Sinai. Acts 7:30, Acts 7:38.

Sina-i

Si’na-i, or Sin’a-i (thorny). Nearly in the centre of the peninsula which stretches between the horns of the Red Sea lies a wedge of granite, grünstein, and porphyry rocks rising to between 8000 and 9000 feet above the sea. Its shape resembles a scalene triangle. These mountains may be divided into two great masses—that of Jebel Serbal (6759 feet high), in the northwest above Wady Feirán, and the central group, roughly denoted by the general name of Sinai. This group rises abruptly from the Wady es-Sheikh at its north foot, first to the cliffs of the Ras Sufsâfeh, behind which towers the pinnacle of Jebel Mûsa (the Mount of Moses), and farther back to the right of it the summit of Jebel Katerin (Mount St. Catherine, 8705 feet), all being backed up and overtopped by Um Shamer (the mother of fennel, 9300 feet), which is the highest point of the whole peninsula.

1. Names.—These mountains are called Horeb, and sometimes Sinai. Some think that Horeb is the name of the whole range, and Sinai the name of a particular mountain; others, that Sinai is the range and Horeb the particular mountain; while Stanley suggests that the distinction is one of usage, and that both names are applied to the same place.

2. The mountain from which the law was given.—Modern investigators have generally come to the conclusion that of the claimants Jebel Serbal, Jebel Mûsa, and Ras Sufsâfeh, the last, the modern Horeb of the monks—viz., the northwest and lower face of the Jebel Mûsa, crowned with a range of magnificent cliffs, the highest point called Ras Sufsâfeh, as overlooking the plain er Râhah—is the scene of the giving of the law, and that peak the mountain into which Moses ascended. (But Jebel Mûsa and Ras Sufsâfeh are really peaks of the same mountain, and Moses may have received the law on Jebel Mûsa, but it must have been proclaimed from Ras Sufsâfeh. Jebel Mûsa is the traditional mount where Moses received the law from God. It is a mountain mass two miles long and one mile broad. The southern peak is 7363 feet high; the northern peak, Ras Sufsâfeh, is 6830 feet high. It is in full view of the plain er Râhah, where the children of Israel were encamped. This plain is a smooth camping-ground, surrounded by mountains. It is about two miles long by half a mile broad, embracing 400 acres of available standing-ground made into a natural amphitheatre by a low semicircular mound about 300 yards from the foot of the mountain. By actual measurement it contains over 2,000,000 square yards, and with its branches over 4,000,000 square yards, so that the whole people of Israel, two million in number, would final ample accommodations for seeing and hearing. In addition to this, the air is wonderfully clear, both for seeing and hearing. Dean Stanley says that “from the highest point of Ras Sufsâfeh to its lower peak, a distance of about 60 feet, the page of a book distinctly but not loudly read was perfectly audible.” It was the belief of the Arabs who conducted Niebuhr that they could make themselves heard across the Gulf of Akabah—a belief fostered by the great distance to which the voice can actually be carried. There is no other place known among all these mountains so well adapted for the purpose of giving and receiving the law as this rocky pulpit of Ras Sufsâfeh and the natural amphitheatre of er Râhah.

Sinai and the Plain of Er Râhah. (From a Photograph.)

Outline Map of Mount Sinai. (After Ordnance Survey.)

Sinim

Si’nim, a people noticed in Isaiah 49:12, as living at the extremity of the known world. They may be identified with the classical Sinoe, the inhabitants of the southern part of China.

Sinite

Sin’ite, a tribe of Canaanites, Genesis 10:17; 1 Chronicles 1:15, whose position is to be sought for in the northern part of the Lebanon district.

Sion

Si’on (lofty), Mount.

1. One of the various names of Mount Hermon. Deuteronomy 4:48 only.

2. The Greek form of the Hebrew name Zion, the famous mount of the temple. 1 Maccabees 4:37, 1 Maccabees 4:60; 1 Maccabees 5:54; 1 Maccabees 6:48, 1 Maccabees 6:62; 1 Maccabees 7:33; 1 Maccabees 10:11; 1 Maccabees 14:27; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1. [JERUSALEM.]

Siphmoth

Siph’moth (fruitful), one of the places in the south of Judah which David frequented during his freebooting life. 1 Samuel 30:28.

Sippa-i

Sip’pa-i (threshold), Saph, one of the sons of Rephaim, or “the giants,” slain by Sibbechai at Gezer. 1 Chronicles 20:4. (b.c. about 1050.)

Sirach

Si’rach, the father of Jesus (Joshua), the writer of the Hebrew original of the book of Ecclesiasticus. (b.c. 310–220.)

Sirah

Si’rah (the turning), The well of, from which Abner was recalled by Joab to his death at Hebron. 2 Samuel 3:26 only. It was apparently on the northern road from Hebron. There is a spring and reservoir on the western side of the ancient northern road, about one mile out of Hebron, which is called Ain Sara.

Sirion

Sir’ion (breastplate), one of the various names of Mount Hermon, that by which it was known to the Zidonians. Deuteronomy 3:9. The use of the name in Psalm 29:6 (slightly altered in the original—Shirion instead of Sirion) is remarkable.

Sisama-i

Sisam’a-i, a descendant of Sheshan in the line of Jerahmeel. 1 Chronicles 2:40. (b.c. about 1450.)

Sisera

Sis’era (battle array).

1. Captain of the army of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. He himself resided in Harosheth of the Gentiles. The particulars of the rout of Megiddo and of Sisera’s flight and death are drawn out under the heads of BARAK, DEBORAH, JAEL, KISHON. (b.c. 1296.)

2. After a long interval the name reappears in the lists of the Nethinim who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:53; Nehemiah 7:55. It doubtless tells of Canaanitic captives devoted to the lowest offices of the temple. (b.c. before 536.)

Sitnah

Sit’nah (strife), the second of the two wells dug by Isaac in the valley of Gerar, the possession of which the herdmen of the valley disputed with him. Genesis 26:21.

Sivan

Sivan. [MONTH.]

Slave

Slave. The institution of slavery was recognized, though not established, by the Mosaic law with a view to mitigate its hardship and to secure to every man his ordinary rights.

I. Hebrew slaves.—

1. The circumstances under which a Hebrew might be reduced to servitude were—(1) poverty; (2) the commission of theft; and (3) the exercise of paternal authority. In the first case, a man who had mortgaged his property, and was unable to support his family, might sell himself to another Hebrew, with a view both to obtain maintenance and perchance a surplus sufficient to redeem his property. Leviticus 25:25, Leviticus 25:39. (2) The commission of theft rendered a person liable to servitude whenever restitution could not be made on the scale prescribed by the law. Exodus 22:1, Exodus 22:3. The thief was bound to work out the value of his restituion money in the service of him on whom the theft had been committed. (3) The exercise of paternal authority was limited to the sale of a daughter of tender age to be a maidservant, with the ulterior view of her becoming the concubine of the purchaser. Exodus 21:7. 2. The servitude of a Hebrew might be terminated in three ways: (1) by the satisfaction or the remission of all claims against him; (2) by the recurrence of the year of of jubilee, Leviticus 25:40; and (3) the expiration of six years from the time that his servitude commenced. Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12. (4) To the above modes of obtaining liberty the rabbinists added, as a fourth, the death of the master without leaving a son, there being no power of claiming the slave on the part of any heir except a son. If a servant did not desire to avail himself of the opportunity of leaving his service, he was to signify his intention in a formal manner before the judges (or more exactly at the place of judgment), and then the master was to take him to the door-post, and to bore his car through with an awl, Exodus 21:6, driving the awl into or “unto the door,” as stated in Deuteronomy 15:17, and thus fixing the servant to it. A servant who had submitted to this operation remained, according to the words of the law, a servant “forever.” Exodus 21:6. These words are, however, interpreted by Josephus and by the rabbinists as meaning until the year of jubilee. 3. The condition of a Hebrew servant was by no means intolerable. His master was admonished to treat him, not “as a bond-servant, but as an hired servant and as a sojourner,” and, again, “not to rule over him with rigor.” Leviticus 25:30, Leviticus 25:40, Leviticus 25:43. At the termination of his servitude the master was enjoined not to “let him go away empty,” but to remunerate him liberally out of his flock, his floor and his wine-press. Deuteronomy 15:13-14. In the event of a Hebrew becoming the servant of a “stranger,” meaning a non-Hebrew, the servitude could be terminated only in two ways, viz., by the arrival of the year of jubilee, or by the repayment to the master of the purchase money paid for the servant, after deducting a sum for the value of his services proportioned to the length of his servitude. Leviticus 25:47-55. A Hebrew woman might enter into voluntary servitude on the score of poverty, and in this case she was entitled to her freedom after six years service, together with her usual gratuity at leaving, just as in the case of a man. Deuteronomy 15:12-13. Thus far we have seen little that is objectionable in the condition of Hebrew servants. In respect to marriage there were some peculiarities which, to our ideas, would be regarded as hardships. A master might, for instance, give a wife to a Hebrew servant for the time of his servitude, the wife being in this case, it must be remarked, not only a slave but a non-Hebrew. Should he leave when his term had expired, his wife and children would remain the absolute property of the master. Exodus 21:4-5. Again, a father might see his young daughter to a Hebrew, with a view either of marrying her himself or of giving her to his son. Exodus 21:7-9. It diminishes the apparent harshness of this proceeding if we look on the purchase money as in the light of a dowry given, as was not unusual, to the parents of the birde; still more, if we accept the rabbinical view that the consent of the maid was required before the marriage could take place. The position of a maiden thus sold by her father was subject to the following regulations: (1) She could not “go out as the men-servants do,” i.e., she could not leave at the termination of six years, or in the year of jubilee, if her master was willing to fulfill the object for which he had purchased her. (2) Should he not wish to marry her, he should call upon her friends to procure her release by the repayment of the purchase money. (3) If he betrothed her to his son, he was bound to make such provision for her as he would for one of his own daughters. (4) If either he or his son, having married her, took a second wife, it should not be to the prejudice of the first. (5) If neither of the three first specified alternatives took place, the maid was entitled to immediate and gratuitous liberty. Exodus 21:7-11. The custom of reducing Hebrews to servitude appears to have fallen into disuse subsequent to the Babylonish captivity. Vast numbers of Hebrews were reduced to slavery as war-captives at different periods by the Phoenicians, Joel 3:6, the Philistines, Joel 3:6; Amos 1:6, the Syrians, 1 Maccabees 3:41; 2 Maccabees 8:11, the Egyptians, Joseph. Ant. xii. 2, §3, and above all by the Romans. Joseph. B. J. vi. 9, §3.

II. Non-Hebrew slaves.—

1. The majority of non-Hebrew slaves were war-captives, either of the Canaanites who had survived the general extermination of their race under Joshua or such as were conquered from the other surrounding nations. Numbers 31:26-28ff. Besides these, many were obtained by purchase from foreign slave-dealers, Leviticus 25:44-45; and others may have been resident foreigners who were reduced to this state by either poverty or crime. The children of slaves remained slaves, being the class described as “born in the house,” Genesis 14:14; Genesis 17:12; Ecclesiastes 2:7, and hence the number was likely to increase as time went on. The average value of a slave appears to have been thirty shekels. Exodus 21:32. 2. That the slave might be manumitted appears from Exodus 21:26-27; Leviticus 19:20. 3. The slave is described as the “possession” of his master, apparently with a special reference to the power which the latter had of disposing of him to his heirs, as he would any other article of personal property. Leviticus 25:45-46. But, on the other hand, provision was made for the protection of his person. Exodus 21:20; Leviticus 24:17, Leviticus 24:22. A minor personal injury, such as the loss of an eye or a tooth, was to be recompensed by giving the servant his liberty. Exodus 21:26-27. The position of the slave in regard to religious privileges was favorable. He was to be circumcised, Genesis 17:12, and hence was entitled to partake of the paschal sacrifice, Exodus 12:44, as well as of the other religious festivals. Deuteronomy 12:12, Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 16:11, Deuteronomy 16:14. The occupations of slaves were of a menial character, as implied in Leviticus 25:39, consisting partly in the work of the house and partly in personal attendance on the master. It will be seen that the whole tendency of the Bible legislation was to mitigate slavery, making it little more than hired service, and to abolish it, as indeed it was practically abolished among the Jews six hundred years before Christ.

Slime

Slime, translated bitumen in the Vulgate. The three instances in which it is mentioned in the Old Testament are illustrated by travellers and historians. It is first spoken of as used for cement by the builders in the plain of Shinar or Babylonia. Genesis 11:3. The bitumen pits in the vale of Siddim are mentioned in the ancient fragment of Canaanitish history, Genesis 14:10; and the ark of papyrus in which Moses was placed was made impervious to water by a coating of bitumen and pitch. Exodus 2:3. Herodotus, i. 179, tells us of the bitumen found at Is, the modern Heet, a town of Babylonia, eight days journey from Babylon. (Bitumen, or asphalt, is “the product of the decomposition of vegetable and animal substances. It is usually found of a black or brownish-black color, externally not unlike coal, but it varies in consistency from a bright, pitchy condition, with a conchoidal fracture, to thick, viscid masses of mineral tar.”—Encyc. Brit. In this last state it is called in the Bible slime, and is of the same nature as our petroleum, but thicker, and hardens into asphalt. It is obtained in various places in Europe, and even now occasionally from the Dead Sea.—Ed.)

Sling

Sling. [ARMS.]

Smith

Smith. [HANDICRAFT.]

Smyrna

Smyr’na (myrrh), a city of Asia Minor, situated on the AEgean Sea, 40 miles north of Ephesus. Allusion is made to it in Revelation 2:8-11. It was founded by Alexander the Great, and was situated twenty stades (2½ miles) from the city of the same name, which after a long series of wars with the Lydians had been finally taken and sacked by Halyattes. The ancient city was built by some piratical Greeks 1500 years before Christ. It seems not impossible that the message to the church in Smyrna contains allusions to the ritual of the pagan mysteries which prevailed in that city. In the time of Strabo the ruins of the old Smyrna still existed, and were partially inhabited, but the new city was one of the most beautiful in all Asia. The streets were laid out as near as might be at right angles. There was a large public library there, and also a handsome building surrounded with porticos which served as a museum. It was consecrated as a heroüm to Homer, whom the Smyrnæans claimed as a countryman. Olympian games were celebrated here, and excited great interest. (Smyrna is still a large city of 180,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, of which a larger proportion are Franks than in any other town in Turkey; 20,000 are Greeks, 9000 Jews, 8000 Armenians, 1000 Europeans, and the rest are Moslems.—Ed.)

Smyrna (modern).

Snail

Snail.

1. The Hebrew word shablûl occurs only in Psalm 58:8. The rendering of the Authorized Version is probably correct. The term would denote either a limax or a helix, which are particularly noticeable for the slimy track they leave behind them, by which they seem to waste themselves away. To this, or to the fact that many of them are shrivelled up among the rocks in the long heat of the summer, the psalmist refers. 2. The Hebrew word chômet occurs only as the name of some unclean animal in Leviticus 11:30. Perhaps some kind of lizard may be intended.

Snail.

Snow

Snow. The historical books of the Bible contain only two notices of snow actually falling—2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Maccabees 13:22; but the allusions in the poetical books are so numerous that there can be no doubt as to its being an ordinary occurrence in the winter months. Psalm 147:16; Psalm 148:8. The snow lies deep in the ravines of the highest ridge of Lebanon until the summer is far advanced, and indeed never wholly disappears; the summit of Hermon also perpetually glistens with frozen snow. From these sources probably the Jews obtained their supplies of ice for the purpose of cooling their beverages in summer. Proverbs 25:13. The liability to snow must of course vary considerably in a country of such varying altitude as Palestine. At Jerusalem snow oftens falls to the depth of a foot or more in January or February, but it seldom lies. At Nazareth it falls more frequently and deeply, and it has been observed to fall even in the maritime plain of Joppa and about Carmel.

So

So. “So, king of Egypt,” is once mentioned in the Bible—2 Kings 17:4. So has been identified by different writers with the first and second kings of the Ethiopian twenty-fifth dynasty, called by Manetho, Sabakôn (Shebek) and Sebichôs (Shebetek).

Soap

Soap. The Hebrew term bôrith is a general term for any substance of cleansing qualities. As, however, it appears in Jeremiah 2:22 in contradistinction to nether, which undoubtedly means “natron” or mineral alkali, it is fair to infer that bôrı̂th refers to vegetable alkali, or some kind of potash, which forms one of the usual ingredients in our soap. Numerous plants capable of yielding alkalies exist in Palestine and the surrounding countries; we may notice one named hubeibeh (the Salsola kali of botanists) found near the Dead Sea, the ashes of which are called el-kuli, from their strong alkaline properties.

Salsola Kali.

Socho

So’cho (bushy). 1 Chronicles 4:18. Probably one of the towns called Socoh, in Judah, though which of the two cannot be ascertained.

Sochoh

So’choh, another form of the name which is more correctly given in the Authorized Version as Socoh. The present one occurs in 1 Kings 4:10, and is therefore probably, though not certainly, Socoh, 1.

Socoh

So’coh, the name of two towns in the tribe of Judah.

1. In the district of the Shefelah. Joshua 15:35; 1 Samuel 17:1; 2 Chronicles 11:7; 2 Chronicles 28:18. In the time of Eusebius it bore the name of Socchoth, and lay between eight and nine Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, on the road to Jerusalem. It may be identified with esh-Shuweikeh, in the western part of the mountains of Judah. From this village probably came Antigonus of Soco, who lived about the commencement of the third century b.c.

2. Also a town of Judah, but in the mountain district. Joshua 15:48. It has been discovered about 10 miles southwest of Hebron; bearing, like the other Socoh, the name of esh-Shuweikeh.

Sodi

So’di (intimate), the father of Geddiel, the spy selected from the tribe of Zebulun. Numbers 13:10. (b.c. 1490.)

Sodom

Sod’om (burning), one of the most ancient cities of Syria. It is commonly mentioned in connection with Gomorrah, but also with Admah and Zeboim, and on one occasion—Genesis 14—with Bela or Zoar. Sodom was evidently the chief town in the settlement. The four are first named in the ethnological records of Genesis 10:19 as belonging to the Canaanites. The next mention of the name of Sodom, Genesis 13:10-13, gives more certain indication of the position of the city. Abram and Lot are standing together between Bethel and Ai, ver. Genesis 13:3, taking a survey of the land around and below them. Eastward of them, and absolutely at their feet, lay the “circle of Jordan.” The whole circle was one great oasis—“a garden of Jehovah.” ver. Genesis 13:10. In the midst of the garden the four cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim appear to have been situated. It is necessary to notice how absolutely the cities are identified with the district. In the subsequent account of their destruction, Genesis 19, the topographical terms are employed with all the precision which is characteristic of such early times. The mention of the Jordan is conclusive as to the situation of the district, for the Jordan ceases where it enters the Dead Sea, and can have no existence south of that point. The catastrophe by which they were destroyed is described in Genesis 19 as a shower of brimstone and fire from Jehovah. However we may interpret the words of the earliest narrative, one thing is certain—that the lake was not one of the agents in the catastrophe. From all these passages, though much is obscure, two things seem clear:

1. That Sodom and the rest of the cities of the plain of Jordan stood on the north of the Dead Sea; 2. That neither the cities nor the district were submerged by the lake, but that the cities were overthrown and the land spoiled, and that it may still be seen in its desolate condition. When, however, we turn to more modern views, we discover a remarkable variance from these conclusions.

1. The opinion long current that the five cities were submerged in the lake, and that their remains—walls, columns, and capitals—might be still discerned below the water, hardly needs refutation after the distinct statement and the constant implication of Scripture. But, 2. A more serious departure from the terms of the ancient history is exhibited in the prevalent opinion that the cities stood at the south end of the lake. This appears to have been the belief of Josephus and Jerome. It seems to have been universally held by the mediæval historians and pilgrims, and it is adopted by modern topographers probably without exception. There are several grounds for this belief; but the main point on which Dr. Robinson rests his argument is the situation of Zoar. (a) “Lot,” says he, “fled to Zoar, which was near to Sodom; and Zoar lay almost at the southern end of the present sea, probably in the mouth of Wady Kerak.” (b) Another consideration in favor of placing the cities at the southern end of the lake is the existence of similar names in that direction. (c) A third argument, and perhaps the weightiest of the three, is the existence of the salt mountain at the south of the lake, and its tendency to split off in columnar masses presenting a rude resemblance to the human form. But it is by no means certain that salt does not exist at other spots round the lake. (d) (A fourth and yet stronger argument is drawn from the fact that Abraham saw the smoke of the burning cities from Hebron. (e) A fifth argument is found in the numerous lime-pits found at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Robinson, Schaff, Baedeker, Lieutenant Lynch, and others favor this view.—Ed.) It thus appears that on the situation of Sodom no satisfactory conclusion can at present be reached. On the one hand, the narrative of Genesis seems to state positively that it lay at the northern end of the Dead Sea. On the other hand, long-continued tradition and the names of the existing spots seem to pronounce with almost equal positiveness that it was at its southern end. Of the catastrophe which destroyed the city and the district of Sodom we can hardly hope ever to form a satisfactory conception. Some catastrophe there undoubtedly was; but what secondary agencies, besides fire, were employed in the accomplishment of the punishment cannot be safely determined in the almost total absence of exact scientific description of the natural features of the ground round the lake. We may suppose, however, that the actual agent in the ignition and destruction of the cities had been of the nature of a tremendous thunder-storm accompanied by a discharge of meteoric stones, (and that these set on fire the bitumen with which the soil was saturated, and which was used in building the city. And it may be that this burning out of the soil caused the plain to sink below the level of the Dead Sea, and the waters to flow over it—if indeed Sodom and its sister cities are really under the water.—Ed.) The miserable fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is held up as a warning in numerous passages of the Old and New Testaments. Mark 6:11; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 4-7.

Sodoma

Sod’oma. Romans 9:29. In this place alone the Authorized Version has followed the Greek and Vulgate form of the well-known name Sodom.

Sodomites

Sod’omites. This word does not denote the inhabitants of Sodom; but it is employed in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament for those who practiced as a religious rite the abominable and unnatural vice from which the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have derived their lasting infamy.