Smith's Bible Dictionary
Bethlehem — Bukkiah
Bethlehem
Beth’lehem (house of bread).
1. One of the oldest towns in Palestine, already in existence at the time of Jacob’s return to the country. Its earliest name was Ephrath or Ephratah. See Genesis 35:16, Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7. After the conquest Bethlehem appears under its own name, Bethlehem-judah. Judges 17:7; 1 Samuel 17:12; Ruth 1:1, Ruth 1:2. The book of Ruth is a page from the domestic history of Bethlehem. It was the home of Ruth, Ruth 1:19, and of David. 1 Samuel 17:12. It was fortified by Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles 11:6. It was here that our Lord was born, Matthew 2:1, and here that he was visited by the shepherds, Luke 2:15-17, and the Magi. Matthew 2. The modern town of Beit-lahm lies to the east of the main road from Jerusalem to Hebron, six miles from the former. It covers the east and northeast parts of the ridge of a long gray hill of Jura limestone, which stands nearly due east and west, and is about a mile in length. The hill has a deep valley on the north and another on the south. On the top lies the village in a kind of irregular triangle. The population is about 3000 souls, entirely Christians. The Church of the Nativity, built by the empress Helena a.d. 330, is the oldest Christian church in existence. It is built over the grotto where Christ is supposed to have been born.
2. A town in the portion of Zebulun, named nowhere but in Joshua 19:15. Now known as Beit-lahm.
Bethlomon
Bethlo’mon. 1 Esdras 5:17. [BETHLEHEM, 1.]
Beth-maachah
Beth-ma’achah (house of oppression), a place named only in 2 Samuel 20:14, 2 Samuel 20:15. In the absence of more information we can only conclude that it is identical with Maachah or Aram-maachah, one of the petty Syrian kingdoms in the north of Palestine. Comp. 2 Kings 15:29.
Beth-marcaboth
Beth-mar’caboth (house of the chariots), one of the towns of Simeon, situated to the extreme south of Judah. Joshua 19:5; 1 Chronicles 4:31. In the parallel list, Joshua 15:31, Madmannah occurs in place of Beth-marcaboth.
Beth-meon
Beth-me’on. Jeremiah 48:23. A contracted form of Beth-baal-meon.
Beth-nimrah
Beth-nim’rah (house of leopards), one of the fenced cities on the east of Jordan, taken and built by the tribe of Gad, Numbers 32:36, and described as lying in the valley beside Beth-haran. Joshua 13:27. In Numbers 32:3 it is called simply Nimrah. The name still survives in the modern Nahr Nimrin, above Jericho on the Jordan.
Beth-palet
Beth-pa’let (house of flight), a town among those in the extreme south of Judah, named in Joshua 15:27.
Beth-pazzez
Beth-paz’zez (house of the dispersion), a town of Issachar named with En-haddah, Joshua 19:21, and of which nothing is known.
Beth-peor
Beth-pe’or (house of Peor), a place on the east of Jordan, opposite Jericho, and six miles above Libias or Beth-haran. Joshua 13:20; Deuteronomy 3:29; Deuteronomy 4:46.
Beth-pha-ge
Beth’-pha-ge (g hard) (house of figs), the name of a place on the Mount of Olives, on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. It was apparently close to Bethany. Matthew 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29.
Beth-phelet
Beth-phe’let. Nehemiah 11:26. [BETHPALET.]
Beth-rapha
Beth’-rapha, a name which occurs in the genealogy of Judah as the son of Eshton. 1 Chronicles 4:12.
Beth-rehob
Beth-re’hob (house of Rehob), a place mentioned as having near it the valley in which lay the town of Laish or Dan. Judges 18:28. It was one of the little kingdoms of Aram or Syria. 2 Samuel 10:6. Robinson conjectures that this ancient place is represented by the modern Hûnin.
Bethsaida
Bethsa’ida (house of fish) of Galilee, John 12:21, a city which was the native place of Andrew, Peter, and Philip, John 1:44; John 12:21, in the land of Gennesareth, Mark 6:45, comp. Mark 6:53, and therefore on the west side of the lake. By comparing the narratives in Mark 6:31-53 and Luke 9:10-17 it appears certain that the Bethsaida at which the five thousand were fed must have been a second place of the same name on the east of the lake. (But in reality “there is but one Bethsaida, that known on our maps as Bethsaida Julias.”—L. Abbot in Biblical and Oriental Journal. The fact is that Bethsaida was a village on both sides of the Jordan as it enters the Sea of Galilee on the north, so that the western part of the village was in Galilee and the eastern portion in Gaulonitis, part of the tetrarchy of Philip. This eastern portion was built up into a beautiful city by Herod Philip, and named by him Bethsaida Julias, after Julia the daughter of the Roman emperor Tiberius Cæsar. On the plain of Butaiha, a mile or two to the east, the five thousand were fed. The western part of the town remained a small village.—Ed.)
Site of Bethsaida. (From an original Photograph.)
Beth-shean
Beth-she’an (house of rest), or in Samuel, Bethshan, a city which belonged to Manasseh, 1 Chronicles 7:29, though within the limits of Issachar, Joshua 17:11, and therefore on the west of Jordan. Comp. 1 Maccabees 5:52. In later times it was called Scythopolis. 2 Maccabees 12:29. The place is still known as Beisân. It lies in the Ghôr or Jordan valley, about twelve miles south of the Sea of Galilee and four miles west of the Jordan.
Beth-shemesh
Beth-she’mesh (house of the sun).
1. One of the towns which marked the north boundary of Judah. Joshua 15:10. It is now ’Ainshems, about two miles from the great Philistine plain, and seven from Ekron.
2. A city on the border of Issachar. Joshua 19:22.
3. One of the “fenced cities” of Naphtali. Joshua 19:38; Judges 1:33.
4. An idolatrous temple or place in Egypt. Jeremiah 43:13. In the middle ages Heliopolis was still called by the Arabs Ain Shems.
Beth-shittah
Beth-shit’tah (home of the acacia), one of the spots to which the flight of the host of the Midianities extended after their discomfiture by Gideon. Judges 7:22.
Beth-tappuah
Beth-tap’puah (home of apples), one of the towns of Judah, in the mountainous district, and near Hebron. Joshua 15:53; comp. 1 Chronicles 2:43. Here it has actually been discovered by Robinson under the modern name of Teffâh, five miles west of Hebron, on a ridge of high table-land.
Bethuel
Be’thuel (dweller in God), the son of Nahor by Milcah; nephew of Abraham, and father of Rebekah, Genesis 22:22, Genesis 22:23; Genesis 24:15, Genesis 24:24, Genesis 24:47; Genesis 28:2. In Genesis 25:20 and Genesis 28:5 he is called “Bethuel the Syrian.”
Bethul
Be’thul (dweller in God), a town of Simeon in the south, named with Eltolad and Hormah, Joshua 19:4; called also Chesil and Bethuel. Joshua 15:30; 1 Chronicles 4:30.
Beth-zur
Beth’-zur (house of rock), a town in the mountains of Judah, built by Jeroboam, Joshua 15:58; 2 Chronicles 11:7, now Beit-zûr. It commands the road from Beersheba and Hebron, which has always been the main approach to Jerusalem from the south.
Betonim
Bet’onim, a town of Gad, apparently on the northern boundary. Joshua 13:26.
Betrothing
Betrothing. [MARRIAGE.]
Beulah
Beu’lah (married), the name which the land of Israel is to bear when “the land shall be married.” Isaiah 62:4.
Beza-i
Be’za-i (Be’za) (conqueror). “Children of Bezai,” to the number of 323, returned from captivity with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:17; Nehemiah 7:23; Nehemiah 10:18.
Bezale-el
Bezal’e-el (in the shadow of God).
1. The son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and one of the architects of the tabernacle. Exodus 31:1-6. His charge was chiefly in all works of metal, wood and stone. (b.c. 1490.)
2. One of the sons of Pahath-moab who had taken a foreign wife. Ezra 10:30. (b.c. 458.)
Bezek
Be’zek (lightning).
1. The residence of Adonibezek, Judges 1:5, in the lot of Judah. ver. Judges 1:3.
2. Where Saul numbered the forces of Israel and Judah before going to the relief of Jabesh-gilead. 1 Samuel 11:8. This was doubtless somewhere in the centre of the country, near the Jordan valley. No identification of either place has been made in modern times.
Bezer
Be’zer (gold ore), son of Zophah, one of the heads of the houses of Asher. 1 Chronicles 7:37.
Bezer in the wilderness
Be’zer in the wilderness, a city of refuge in the downs on the east of the Jordan. Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8; Joshua 21:36; 1 Chronicles 6:78.
Bible
Bi’ble. The Bible is the name given to the revelation of God to man contained in sixty-six books or pamphlets, bound together and forming one book and only one, for it has in reality one author and one purpose and plan, and is the development of one scheme of the redemption of man.
I. Its Names.—(1) The Bible, i.e., The Book, from the Greek “ta biblia,” the books. The word is derived from a root designating the inner bark of the linden tree, on which the ancients wrote their books. It is the book, as being superior to all other books. But the application of the word Bible to the collected books of the Old and New Testaments is not to be traced farther back than the fifth century of our era. (2) The Scriptures, i.e., the writings, as recording what was spoken by God. (3) The Oracles, i.e., the things spoken, because the Bible is what God spoke to man, and hence also called (4) The Word. (5) The Testaments or Covenants, because it is the testimony of God to man, the truths to which God bears witness; and is also the covenant or agreement of God with man for his salvation. (6) The Law, to express that it contains God’s commands to men.
II. Composition.—The Bible consists of two great parts, called the Old and New Testaments, separated by an interval of nearly four hundred years. These Testaments are further divided into sixty-six books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New. These books are a library in themselves, being written in every known form of literature. Twenty-two of them are historical, five are poetical, eighteen are prophetical, twenty-one are epistolary. They contain logical arguments, poetry, songs and hymns, history, biography, stories, parables, fables, eloquence, law, letters, and philosophy.
There are at least thirty-six different authors, who wrote in three continents, in many countries, in three languages, and from every possible human standpoint. Among these authors were kings, farmers, mechanics, scientific men, lawyers, generals, fishermen, ministers and priests, a tax-collector, a doctor, some rich, some poor, some city bred, some country born—thus touching all the experiences of men—extending over 1500 years.
III. Unity.—And yet the Bible is but one book, because God was its real author, and therefore, though he added new revelations as men could receive them, he never had to change what was once revealed. The Bible is a unit, because (1) It has but one purpose, the salvation of men. (2) The character of God is the same. (3) The moral law is the same. (4) It contains the development of one great scheme of salvation.
IV. Original Languages.—The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a Shemitic language, except that parts of the books of Ezra (Ezra 5:8; Ezra 6:12; Ezra 7:12-26) and of Daniel (Daniel 2:4-7:28), and one verse in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:11), were written in the Chaldee language. The New Testament is written wholly in Greek.
V. Ancient Manuscripts of the Original.—There are no ancient Hebrew manuscripts older than the tenth century, but we know that these are in the main correct, because we have a translation of the Hebrew into Greek, called the Septuagint, made nearly three hundred years before Christ. Our Hebrew Bibles are a reprint from what is called the Masoretic text. The ancient Hebrew had only the consonants printed, and the vowels were vocalized in pronunciation, but were not written. Some Jewish scholars living at Tiberias, and at Sora by the Euphrates, from the sixth to the twelfth century, punctuated the Hebrew text, and wrote in the vowel points and other tone-marks to aid in the reading of the Hebrew; and these, together with notes of various kinds, they called Masora (tradition), hence the name Masoretic text.
Of the Greek of the New Testament there are a number of ancient manuscripts. They are divided into two kinds, the Uncials, written wholly in capitals, and the Cursives, written in a running hand. The chief of these are—(1) the Alexandrian (codex Alexandrinus, marked A), so named because it was found in Alexandria in Egypt, in 1628. It dates back to a.d. 350, and is now in the British Museum. (2) The Vatican (codex Vaticanus, B), named from the Vatican library at Rome, where it is kept. Its date is a.d. 300 to 325. (3) The Sinaitic (codex Sinaiticus), so called from the convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, where it was discovered by Dr. Tischendorf in 1844. It is now at St. Petersburg, Russia. This is one of the earliest and best of all the manuscripts.
VI. Translations.—The Old Testament was translated into Greek by a company of learned Jews at Alexandria, who began their labor about the year b.c. 286. It is called the Septuagint, i.e., the Seventy, from the tradition that it was translated by seventy (more exactly seventy-two) translators. The Vulgate, or translation of the Bible into Latin by Jerome, a.d. 385–405, is the authorized version of the Roman Catholic Church. The first English translation of the whole Bible was by John de Wickliffe (1324–1384). Then followed that of William Tyndale (1525) and several others.
As the sum and fruit of all these appeared our present Authorized Version, or Kings James Version, in 1611. It was made by forty-seven learned men, in two years and nine months, with a second revision which took nine months longer. These forty-seven formed themselves into six companies, two of whom met at Westminster, two at Oxford and two at Cambridge. The present English edition is an improvement, in typographical and grammatical correctness, upon this revision, and in these respects is nearly perfect. [See VERSIONS.]
A Revised Version of these authorized edition has been in process of preparation by eighty American and English scholars, of various denominations, the English committee having been appointed in 1870 and the American in 1871. This revision was necessary because of the changes in the English language during the last 270 years, and because much light has been thrown upon the original Scriptures, and upon all matters pertaining to biblical studies. The Revised New Testament was published simultaneously in this country and in England in May, 1881, and in less than six months more than four million copies had been issued.
VII. Divisions into Chapters and Verses.—The present division of the whole Bible into chapters was made by Cardinal Hugo de St. Cher about 1250. The present division into verses was introduced by Robert Stephens in his Greek Testament, published in 1551, in his edition of the Vulgate, in 1555. The first English Bible printed with these chapters and verses was the Geneva Bible, in 1560.
VIII. Circulation of the Bible.—The first book ever printed was the Bible; and more Bibles have been printed than any other book. It has been translated into 226 different languages. The British and Foreign Bible Society (founded in 1804) has issued (1881) 91,014,448 Bibles and portions of the Bible; and the American Bible Society (founded in 1816) has issued (1881) 38,882,814 copies. In all, so far as known, there have been issued by all the Bible societies since 1804 one hundred and sixty-five million copies; but it is said that probably as many more copies have been issued by private publishers.—Ed.
Bichri
Bich’ri (first-born), 2 Samuel 20:1, an ancestor of Sheba.
Bidkar
Bid’kar (son of stabbing, i.e., one who stabs), Jehu’s “captain,” originally his fellow officer, 2 Kings 9:25, who completed the sentence on Jehoram, son of Ahab.
Bier
Bier. [BURIAL.]
Bigtha
Big’tha (gift of God), one of the seven chamberlains or eunuchs of the harem of King Ahasuerus. Esther 1:10. (b.c. 483.)
Bigthan
Big’than, or Big’thana (gift of God), a eunuch (chamberlain, Authorized Version) in the court of Ahasuerus, one of those “who kept the door,” and conspired with Teresh against the king’s life. Esther 2:21. (b.c. 479.)
Bigva-i
Big’va-i (happy).
1. “Children of Bigvai,” 2056 (Neh. 2067) in number, returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezra 2:14; Nehemiah 7:19, and 72 of them at a later date with Ezra. Ezra 8:14. (b.c. 536.)
2. Apparently one of the chiefs of Zerubbabel’s expedition, Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7, whose family afterwards signed the covenant. Nehemiah 10:16. (b.c. 410.)
Bildad
Bil’dad (son of contention), the second of Job’s three friends. He is called “the Shuhite,” which implies both his family and nation. Job 2:11. (b.c. about 2000.)
Bileam
Bil’eam (foreigners), a town in the western half of the tribe of Manasseh, named only in 1 Chronicles 6:70; same as Ibleam and Gath-rimmon. Joshua 17:11 and Joshua 21:24.
Bilgah
Bil’gah (first-born).
1. A priest in the time of David; the head of the fifteenth course for the temple service. 1 Chronicles 24:14. (b.c. 1015.)
2. A priest or priestly family who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Nehemiah 12:5, Nehemiah 12:18. (b.c. 536.)
Bilga-i
Bil’ga-i. Nehemiah 10:8. [BILGAH, 2.]
Bilhah
Bil’hah (timid, bashful), handmaid of Rachel, Genesis 29:29, and concubine of Jacob, to whom she bore Dan and Naphtali. Genesis 30:3-8; Genesis 35:25; Genesis 46:25; 1 Chronicles 7:13. (b.c. 1753.)
Bilhan
Bil’han (modest).
1. A Horite chief dwelling in Mount Seir. Genesis 36:27; 1 Chronicles 1:42.
2. A Benjamite, son of Jediael. 1 Chronicles 7:10.
Bilshan
Bil’shan (eloquent), one of Zerubbabel’s companions on his expedition from Babylon. Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7. (b.c. 536.)
Bimhal
Bim’hal (circumcised), one of the sons of Japhlet in the line of Asher. 1 Chronicles 7:33.
Binea
Bin’ea (fountain), one of the descendants of Saul. 1 Chronicles 8:37; 1 Chronicles 9:43. (b.c. 850.)
Binnu-i
Bin’nu-i (familyship).
1. A Levite, father of Noadiah. Ezra 8:33.
2. One who had taken a foreign wife. Ezra 10:30.
3. Another Israelite who had also taken a foreign wife. Ezra 10:38.
4. Altered from Bani in the corresponding list in Ezra. Nehemiah 7:15.
5. A Levite, son of Henadad, who assisted at the reparation of the wall of Jerusalem, under Nehemiah. Nehemiah 3:24; Nehemiah 10:9.
Birds
Birds. [SPARROW.]
Birsha
Bir’sha (son of godlessness), a king of Gomorrah. Genesis 14:2.
Birthdays
Birthdays. The custom of observing birthdays is very ancient, Genesis 40:20; Jeremiah 20:15; and in Job 1:4, etc., we read that Job’s sons “feasted every one his day.” In Persia birthdays were celebrated with peculiar honors and banquets, and in Egypt those of the king were kept with great pomp. It is very probable that in Matthew 14:6 the feast to commemorate Herod’s accession is intended, for we know that such feasts were common, and were called “the day of the king.” Hosea 7:5.
Birthright
Birthright, the advantages accruing eldest son. These were not definitely fixed in patriarchal times. Great respect was paid to him in the household, and, as the family widened into a tribe, this grew into a sustained authority, undefined save by custom, in all matters of common interest. Thus the “princes” of the congregation had probably rights of primogeniture. Numbers 7:2; Numbers 21:18; Numbers 25:14. Gradually the rights of the eldest son came to be more definite: (1) The functions of the priesthood in the family, with the paternal blessing. (2) A “double portion” of the paternal property was allotted by the Mosaic law. Deuteronomy 21:15-17. (3) The eldest son succeeded to the official authority of the father. The first-born of the king was his successor by law. 2 Chronicles 21:3. In all these Jesus was the first-born of the Father.
Birzavith
Bir’zavith, a name occurring in the genealogies of Asher. 1 Chronicles 7:31.
Bishop
Bishop. The word originally signified an “overseer” or spiritual superintendent. The titles bishop and elder, or presbyter, were essentially equivalent. Bishop is from the Greek, and denotes one who exercises the function of overseeing. Presbyter was derived from the office in the synagogue. Of the order in which the first elders or bishops were appointed, as of the occasion which led to the institution of the office, we have no record. The duties of the bishop-elders appear to have been as follows:
1. General superintendence over the spiritual well-being of the flock. 1 Peter 5:2. 2. The working of teaching, both publicly and privately. 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Titus 1:9; 1 Timothy 5:17. 3. The work of visiting the sick. James 5:14. 4. Among other acts of charity, that of receiving strangers occupied a conspicuous place. 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8. Peter calls Christ “the shepherd and bishop of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25.
Bishopric
Bishopric, the district over which the jurisdiction of a bishop extended. Acts 1:20; 1 Timothy 3:1.
Bithiah
Bithi’ah (daughter of the Lord), daughter of a Pharaoh, and wife of Mered. 1 Chronicles 4:18. (b.c. about 1491.)
Bithron
Bith’ron, more accurately the Bith-ron (a craggy gorge or ravine), a place, doubtless a district, in the Jordan valley on the east side of the river. 2 Samuel 2:29.
Bithynia
Bithyn’ia, a Roman province of Asia Minor. Mentioned only in Acts 16:7 and in 1 Peter 1:1. The chief town of Bithynia was Nicæa, celebrated for the general Council of the Church held there in a.d. 325 against the Arian heresy.
Bitter herbs
Bitter herbs. The Israelites were commanded to eat the paschal lamb “with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.” Exodus 12:8. These “bitter herbs” consisted of such plants as chiccory, bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles and wild lettuces, which grow abundantly in the peninsula of Sinai, in Palestine and in Egypt. The purpose of this observance was to recall to the minds of the Israelites their deliverance from the bitter bondage of the Egyptians.
Bittern
Bittern. The word occurs in Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14, and we are inclined to believe that the Authorized Version is correct. The bittern (Botaurus stellaris) belongs to the Ardeidae, the heron family of birds, and is famous for the peculiar nocturnal booming sound which it emits.
Bizjothjah
Bizjoth’jah (contempt of Jehovah), a town in the south of Judah. Joshua 15:28.
Biztha
Biz’tha (eunuch), the second of the seven eunuchs of King Ahasuerus’ harem. Esther 1:10. (b.c. 483.)
Blains
Blains, violent ulcerous inflammations, the sixth plague of Egypt, Exodus 9:9, Exodus 9:10, and hence called in Deuteronomy 28:27, Deuteronomy 28:35 “the botch of Egypt.” It seems to have been the black leprosy, a fearful kind of elephantiasis.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy, in its technical English sense, signifies the speaking evil of God, and in this sense it is found Psalm 74:18; Isaiah 52:5; Romans 2:24, etc. But according to its derivation it may mean any species of calumny and abuse: see 1 Kings 21:10; Acts 18:6; Jude 9, etc. Blasphemy was punished by stoning, which was inflicted on the son of Shelomith. Leviticus 24:11. On this charge both our Lord and St. Stephen were condemned to death by the Jews.
The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:28, consisted in attributing to the power of Satan those unquestionable miracles which Jesus performed by “the finger of God” and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is plainly such a state of willful, determined opposition to God and the Holy Spirit that no efforts will avail to lead to repentance. Among the Jews it was a sin against God answering to treason in our times.
Blastus
Blas’tus (sprout), the chamberlain of Herod Agrippa I. Acts 12:20.
Blindness
Blindness is extremely common in the East from many causes. Blind beggars figure repeatedly in the New Testament (Matthew 12:22), and “opening the eyes of the blind” is mentioned in prophecy as a peculiar attribute of the Messiah. Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 42:7, etc. The Jews were specially charged to treat the blind with compassion and care. Leviticus 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:18. Blindness willfully inflicted for political or other purposes is alluded to in Scripture. 1 Samuel 11:2; Jeremiah 39:7.
Blood
Blood. To blood is ascribed in Scripture the mysterious sacredness which belongs to life, and God reserves it to himself when allowing man the dominion over and the use of the lower animals for food. Thus reserved, it acquires a double power: (1) that of sacrificial atonement; and (2) that of becoming a curse when wantonly shed, unless duly expiated. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26; Leviticus 17:11-13.
Blood Revenger of
Blood, Revenger of. He who avenged the blood of one who had been killed. The nearest relative of the deceased became the authorized avenger of blood. Numbers 35:19. The law of retaliation was not to extend beyond the immediate offender. Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 25:4; Jeremiah 31:29, Jeremiah 31:30; Ezekiel 18:20.
Boanerges
Boaner’ges, a name signifying sons of thunder, given by our Lord to the two sons of Zebedee, James, and John, probably on account of their fiery earnestness. Mark 3:17. See Luke 9:54; Mark 9:38; comp. Matthew 20:20, etc.
Boar
Boar. [SWINE.]
Boaz
Bo’az (fleetness).
1. A wealthy Bethlehemite, kinsman to Elimelech the husband of Naomi. He married Ruth, and redeemed the estates of her deceased husband Mahlon. Ruth 4:1-3. Boaz is mentioned in the genealogy of Christ, Matthew 1:5. (b.c. 1250, but there is great difficulty in assigning his date.)
2. The name of one of Solomon’s brazen pillars erected in the temple porch. [JACHIN.] It stood on the left, and was eighteen cubits high. 1 Kings 7:15, 1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 52:21.
Bocheru
Boch’eru (youth), son of Azel, according to the present Hebrew text of 1 Chronicles 8:38.
Bochim
Bo’chim (the weepers), a place on the west of Jordan, above Gilgal; so named from the weeping of Israel. Judges 2:1, Judges 2:5.
Bohan
Bo’han (thumb), a Reubenite. Joshua 15:6; Joshua 18:17.
Bohan Stone of
Bo’han, Stone of, a stone erected in honor of Bohan, on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, in the valley of Achor, along the eastern side of the present Wady Dahr, running into the Dead Sea.
Boil
Boil. [MEDICINE.]
Bondage
Bondage. [SLAVE.]
Book
Book. [WRITING.]
Booths
Booths. [SUCCOTH; TABERNACLES, FEAST OF.]
Booty
Booty consisted of captives of both sexes, cattle, and whatever a captured city might contain, especially metallic treasures. Within the limits of Canaan no captives were to be made, Deuteronomy 20:14, Deuteronomy 20:16; beyond these limits, in case of warlike resistance, all the women and children were to be made captives, and the men put to death. The law of booty is given in Numbers 31:26-47. As regarded the army, David added a regulation that the baggage guard should share equally with the troops engaged. 1 Samuel 30:24, 1 Samuel 30:25.
Booz
Bo’oz. Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32. [BOAZ.]
Boscath
Bos’cath. 2 Kings 22:1. [BOZKATH.]
Bosor
Bo’sor, same as Beor. 2 Peter 2:15.
Bottle
Bottle. The Arabs keep their water, milk, and other liquids in leathern bottles. These are made of goatskins. When the animal is killed they cut off its feet and its head, and draw it in this manner out of the skin without opening its belly. The great leathern bottles are made of the skin of a he-goat, and the small ones, that serve instead of a bottle of water on the road, are made of a kid’s skin. The effect of external heat upon a skin bottle is indicated in Psalm 119:83, “a bottle in the smoke,” and of expansion produced by fermentation in Matthew 9:17, “new wine in old bottles.” Vessels of metal, earthen or glassware for liquids were in use among the Greeks, Egyptians, Etruscans, and Assyrians, and also no doubt among the Jews, especially in later times. Thus Jeremiah 19:1, “a potter’s earthen bottle.” (Bottles were made by the ancient Egyptians of alabaster, gold, ivory, and stone. They were of most exquisite workmanship and elegant forms. Tear-bottles were small urns of glass or pottery, made to contain the tears of mourners at funerals, and placed in the sepulchres at Rome and in Palestine. In some ancient tombs they are found in great numbers. Psalm 56:8 refers to this custom.—Ed.)
Skin Bottles.
Arab Water-carrier.
Eastern Tear-bottles.
Box
Box. Genesis 37:10. The eastern mode of salutation, by kneeling upon one knee and bending the head forward till it touched the ground.
Box tree
Box tree. Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 60:13. A beautiful evergreen growing in many parts of Europe and Asia. Its hard wood is much prized by engravers. The reference in Isaiah 60:13 is supposed by some to mean a species of cedar.
Bozez
Bo’zez (the height), one of the two sharp rocks between the passages by which Jonathan entered the Philistine garrison. It seems to have been that on the north. 1 Samuel 14:4, 1 Samuel 14:5.
Bozkath
Boz’kath (rocky height), a city of Judah in the lowlands. Joshua 15:39; 2 Kings 22:1.
Bozrah
Boz’rah (fortress).
1. In Edom, the city of Jobab the son of Zerah, one of the early kings of that nation. Genesis 36:33; 1 Chronicles 1:44. Mentioned by Isaiah, Isaiah 34:6; Isaiah 63:1, in connection with Edom, and by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 49:22; Amos, Amos 1:12, and Micah, Micah 2:12. Its modern representative is el-Busaireh, which lies on the mountain district to the southeast of the Dead Sea.
2. In his catalogue of the cities of the land of Moab, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 48:24, mentions a Bozrah as in “the plain country” (ver. Jeremiah 48:21), i.e., the high level downs on the east of the Dead Sea.
Ruins of Bozrah. (From an original Photograph.)
Bracelet
Bracelet. [See ARMLET.] Bracelets of fine twisted Venetian gold are still common in Egypt. In Genesis 38:18, Genesis 38:25 the word rendered “bracelet” means probably a string by which a seal-ring was suspended. Men as well as women wore bracelets, as we see from Song of Solomon 5:14. Layard says of the Assyrian kings, “The arms were encircled by armlets, and the wrists by bracelets.”
Bracelets.
1. Gold Egyptian Bracelets. 2. Silver Bracelet. 3. Bronze, with Bell attached, from Mummy of a Girl. 4. Iron, with Cornelian Setting. 5. Bracelet of Cowries.
Bramble
Bramble. [THORNS.]
Brass
Brass. The word nechôsheth is improperly translated by “brass.” In most places of the Old Testament the correct translation would be copper, although it may sometimes possibly mean bronze, a compound of copper and tin. Indeed a simple metal was obviously intended, as we see from Deuteronomy 8:9; Deuteronomy 33:25; Job 28:2. Copper was known at a very early period. Genesis 4:22.
Brazen serpent
Brazen serpent. [SERPENT.]
Bread
Bread. The preparation of bread as an article of food dates from a very early period. Genesis 18:6. The corn or grain employed was of various sorts. The best bread was made of wheat, but “barley” and spelt were also used. John 6:9, John 6:13; Isaiah 28:25. The process of making bread was as follows: the flour was first mixed with water or milk; it was then kneaded with the hands (in Egypt with the feet also) in a small wooden bowl or “kneading-trough” until it became dough. Exodus 12:34, Exodus 12:39; 2 Samuel 13:3; Jeremiah 7:18. When the kneading was completed, leaven was generally added [LEAVEN]; but when the time for preparation was short, it was omitted, and unleavened cakes, hastily baked, were eaten, as is still the prevalent custom among the Bedouins. Genesis 18:6; Genesis 19:3; Exodus 12:39; Judges 6:19; 1 Samuel 28:24. The leavened mass was allowed to stand for some time, Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21; the dough was then divided into round cakes, Exodus 29:23; Judges 7:13; Judges 8:5; 1 Samuel 10:3; Proverbs 6:26, not unlike flat stones in shape and appearance, Matthew 7:9, comp. Matthew 4:3, about a span in diameter and a finger’s breadth in thickness. In the towns where professional bakers resided, there were no doubt fixed ovens, in shape and size resembling those in use among ourselves; but more usually each household possessed a portable oven, consisting of a stone or metal jar, about three feet high, which was heated inwardly with wood, 1 Kings 17:12; Isaiah 44:15; Jeremiah 7:13, or dried grass and flower-stalks. Matthew 6:30.
Egyptian Loaves and Seed Bread.
Breastplate
Breastplate. [ARMS.]
Brethren of Jesus
Brethren of Jesus. [JAMES.]
Brick
Brick. Genesis 11:3. The bricks in use among the Jews were much larger than with us, being usually from 12 to 13 inches square and 3½ inches thick; they thus possess more of the character of tiles. Ezekiel 4:1. The Israelites, in common with other captives, were employed by the Egyptian monarchs in making bricks and in building. Exodus 1:14; Exodus 5:7. Egyptian bricks were not generally dried in kilns, but in the sun. That brick-kilns were known is evident from 2 Samuel 12:31; Jeremiah 43:9. When made of the Nile mud they required straw to prevent cracking. [See STRAW.]
Assyrian Brick from Nimroud, inscribed with Shalmaneser’s Name and Title.
Jews and Captives making Bricks in Egypt.
Bride Bridegroom
Bride, Bridegroom. [MARRIAGE.]
Brigandine
Brigandine. Jeremiah 46:4; elsewhere “habergeon,” or “coat of mail.”
Brimstone
Brimstone. Brimstone, or sulphur, is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. Genesis 19:24. It is a well-known simple mineral substance, crystalline, easily melted, very inflammable, and when burning, emits a peculiar suffocating odor. It is found in great abundance near volcanoes. The soil around Sodom and Gomorrah abounded in sulphur and bitumen.
Brother
Brother. The Hebrew word is used in various senses in the Old Testament, as,
1. Any kinsman, and not a mere brother; e.g., nephew, Genesis 13:8; Genesis 14:16; husband, Song of Solomon 4:9. 2. One of the same tribe. 2 Samuel 19:13. 3. Of the same people, Exodus 2:11, or even of a cognate people. Numbers 20:14. 4. An ally. Amos 1:9. 5. Any friend. Job 5:15. 6. One of the same office. 1 Kings 9:13. 7. A fellow man. Leviticus 19:17. 8. Metaphorically of any similarity, as in Job 30:19. The word ἀδελφός has a similar range of meanings in the New Testament.
Bukki
Buk’ki (wasting).
1. Son of Abishua and father of Uzzi, fifth from Aaron in the line of the high priests in 1 Chronicles 6:5 (1 Chronicles 6:51, Authorized Version), and in the genealogy of Ezra. Ezra 7:4.
2. Son of Jogli, prince of the tribe of Dan, one of the ten men chosen to apportion the land of Canaan between the tribes. Numbers 34:22.
Bukkiah
Bukki’ah (wasting from Jehovah), a Kohathite Levite, of the sons of Heman, one of the musicians in the temple. 1 Chronicles 25:4, 1 Chronicles 25:13.