Smith's Bible Dictionary
Concubine — Cyrus
Concubine
Concubine. The difference between wife and concubine was less marked among the Hebrews than among us, owing to the absence of moral stigma. The difference probably lay in the absence of the right of the bill of divorce, without which the wife could not be repudiated. With regard to the children of wife and of concubine, there was no such difference as our illegitimacy implies. The latter were a supplementary family to the former; their names occur in the patriarchal genealogies, Genesis 22:24; 1 Chronicles 1:22, and their position and provision would depend on the father’s will. Genesis 25:6. The state of concubinage is assumed and provided for by the law of Moses. A concubine would generally be either (1) a Hebrew girl bought of her father; (2) a Gentile captive taken in a war; (3) a foreign slave bought; or (4) a Canaanitish woman, bond or free. The rights of the first two werre protected by the law, Exodus 21:7; Deuteronomy 21:10-14; but the third was unrecognized, and the fourth prohibited. Free Hebrew women also might become concubines. To seize on royal concubines for his use was often a usurper’s first act. Such was probably the intent of Abner’s act, 2 Samuel 3:7, and similarly the request on behalf of Adonijah was construed. 1 Kings 2:21-24.
Conduit
Conduit, meaning an aqueduct or trench through which water was carried. Tradition, both oral and as represented by Talmudical writers, ascribes to Solomon the formation of the original aqueduct by which water was brought to Jerusalem.
Coney
Coney (shâphân), a gregarious animal of the class Pachydermata, which is found in Palestine, living in the caves and clefts of the rocks, and has been erroneously identified with the rabbit or coney. Its scientific name is Hyrax syriacus. The hyrax satisfies exactly the expressions in Psalm 104:18; Proverbs 30:26. Its color is gray or brown on the back, white on the belly; it is like the alpine marmot, scarcely of the size of the domestic cat, having long hair, a very short tail, and round ears. It is found on Lebanon and in the Jordan and Dead Sea valleys.
The Coney.
Congregation
Congregation. This describes the Hebrew people in its collective capacity under its peculiar aspect as a holy community, held together by religious rather than political bonds. Sometimes it is used in a broad sense as inclusive of foreign settlers, Exodus 12:19, but more properly as exclusively appropriate to the Hebrew element of the population. Numbers 15:15. The congregation was governed by the father or head of each family and tribe. The number of these representatives being inconveniently large for ordinary business, a further selection was made by Moses of 70, who formed a species of standing committee. Numbers 11:16. Occasionally indeed the whole body of the people was assembled at the door of the tabernacle, hence usually called the tabernacle of the congregation. Numbers 10:3. The people were strictly bound by the acts of their representatives, even in cases where they disapproved of them. Joshua 9:18.
Coniah
Coni’ah. [JECONIAH.]
Cononiah
Cononi’ah (appointed by the Lord), a Levite, ruler of the offerings and tithes in the time of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 31:12, 2 Chronicles 31:13. (b.c. 726.)
Consecration
Consecration. [PRIEST.]
Convocation
Convocation. This term (with one exception—Isaiah 1:13) is applied invariably to meetings of a religious character, in contradistinction to congregation.
Cooking
Cooking. As meat did not form an article of ordinary diet among the Jews, the art of cooking was not carried to any perfection. Few animals were slaughtered except for purposes of hospitality or festivity. The proceedings on such occasions appear to have been as follows:—On the arrival of a guest, the animal, either a kid, lamb, or calf, was killed, Genesis 18:7; Luke 15:23, its throat being cut so that the blood might be poured out, Leviticus 7:26; it was then flayed, and was ready for either roasting or boiling. In the former case the animal was preserved entire, Exodus 12:46, and roasted either over a fire, Exodus 12:8, of wood, Isaiah 44:16, or perhaps in an oven, consisting simply of a hole dug in the earth, well heated, and covered up. Boiling, however, was the more usual method of cooking.
Coos
Copper
Copper, Heb. nechôsheth, in the Authorized Version always rendered “brass,” except in Ezra 8:27 and Jeremiah 15:12. It was almost exclusively used by the ancients for common purposes, and for every kind of instrument, as chains, pillars, lavers, and the other temple vessels. We read also of copper mirrors, Exodus 38:8, and even of copper arms, as helmets, spears, etc. 1 Samuel 17:5, 1 Samuel 17:6, 1 Samuel 17:38; 2 Samuel 21:16.
Coral
Coral. Ezekiel 27:16. A production of the sea, formed by minute animals called zoophites. It is their shell or house. It takes various forms, as of trees, shrubs, hemispheres. The principal colors are red and white. It was used for beads and ornaments. With regard to the estimation in which coral was held by the Jews and other Orientals, it must be remembered that coral varies in price with us. Pliny says that the Indians valued coral as the Romans valued pearls. Job 28:18.
Corban
Corban, an offering to God of any sort, bloody or bloodless, but particularly in fulfillment of a vow. The law laid down rules for vows, (1) affirmative; (2) negative. Leviticus 27; Numbers 30. Upon these rules the traditionists enlarged, and laid down that a man might interdict himself by vow, not only from using for himself, but from giving to another or receiving from him, some particular object, whether of food or any other kind whatsoever. The thing thus interdicted was considered as corban. A person might thus exempt himself from any inconvenient obligation under plea of corban. It was practices of this sort that our Lord reprehended, Matthew 15:5; Mark 7:11, as annulling the spirit of the law.
Cord
Cord. The materials of which cord was made varied according to the strength required; the strongest rope was probably made of strips of camel hide, as still used by the Bedouins. The finer sorts were made of flax, Isaiah 19:9, and probably of reeds and rushes. In the New Testament the term is applied to the whip which our Saviour made, John 2:15, and to the ropes of a ship. Acts 27:32.
Core
Co’re. Jude 11. [KORAH, 1.]
Coriander
Coriander. The plant called Coriandrum sativum is found in Egypt, Persia, and India, and has a round tall stalk; it bears umbelliferous white or reddish flowers, from which arise globular, grayish, spicy seed-corns, marked with fine striæ. It is mentioned twice in the Bible. Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:7.
The Coriander.
Corinth
Cor’inth, an ancient and celebrated city of Greece, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and about 40 miles west of Athens. In consequence of its geographical position it formed the most direct communication between the Ionian and Ægean seas. A remarkable feature was the Acrocorinthus, a vast citadel of rock, which rises abruptly to the height of 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and the summit of which is so extensive that it once contained a whole town. The situation of Corinth, and the possession of its eastern and western harbors, Cenchreæ and Lechæum, are the secrets of its history. Corinth was a place of great mental activity, as well as of commercial and manufacturing enterprise. Its wealth was so celebrated as to be proverbial; so were the vice and profligacy of its inhabitants. The worship of Venus here was attended with shameful licentiousness. Corinth is still an episcopal see. The city has now shrunk to a wretched village, on the old site and bearing the old name, which, however, is corrupted into Gortho. St. Paul preached here, Acts 18:11, and founded a church, to which his Epistles to the Corinthians are addressed. [EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS.]
Acrocorinthus, Corinth.
Coin of Corinth.
Corinth.
Remains of Ruined Temple at Corinth.
Corinthians First Epistle to the
Corinth’ians, First Epistle to the, was written by the apostle St. Paul toward the close of his nearly three-years stay at Ephesus, Acts 19:10; Acts 20:31, which, we learn from 1 Corinthians 16:8, probably terminated with the Pentecost of a.d. 57 or 58. The bearers were probably (according to the common subscription) Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. It appears to have been called forth by the information the apostles had received of dissension in the Corinthian church, which may be thus explained:—The Corinthian church was planted by the apostle himself, 1 Corinthians 3:6, in his second missionary journey. Acts 18:1, seq. He abode in the city a year and a half. Acts 18;11. A short time after the apostle had left the city the eloquent Jew of Alexandria, Apollos, went to Corinth, Acts 19:1, and gained many followers, dividing the church into two parties, the followers of Paul and the followers of Apollos. Later on Judaizing teachers from Jerusalem preached the gospel in a spirit of direct antagonism to St. Paul personally. To this third party we may perhaps add a fourth, that, under the name of “the followers of Christ,” 1 Corinthians 2:12, sought at first to separate themselves from the factious adherence to particular teachers, but eventually were driven by antagonism into positions equally sectarian and inimical in the unity of the church. At this momentous period, before parties had become consolidated and had distinctly withdrawn from communion with one another, the apostle writes; and in the outset of the epistle, 1 Corinthians 1:1-4:21, we have his noble and impassioned protest against this fourfold rending of the robe of Christ.
Corinthians Second Epistle to the
Corinth’ians, Second Epistle to the, was written a few months subsequent to the first, in the same year—about the autumn of a.d. 57 or 58—at Macedonia. The epistle was occasioned by the information which the apostle had received from Titus, and also, as it would certainly seem probable, from Timothy, of the reception of the first epistle. This information, as it would seem from our present epistle, was mainly favorable; the better part of the church were returning to their spiritual allegiance to their founder, 2 Corinthians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 7:9, 2 Corinthians 7:15, 2 Corinthians 7:16; but there was still a faction who strenuously denied Paul’s claim to apostleship. The contents of this epistle comprise, (1) the apostle’s account of the character of his spiritual labors, chs. 2 Corinthians 1-7; (2) directions about the collections, chs. 2 Corinthians 9; (3) defence of his own apostolical character, chs. 2 Corinthians 10-13:10. The words in 1 Corinthians 5:9 seem to point to further epistles to this church by Paul, but we have no positive evidence of any.
Cormorant
Cormorant, the representative in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew words kâath and shâlâc. As to the former, see PELICAN. Shâlâc occurs only as the name of an unclean bird in Leviticus 11:17; Deuteronomy 14:17. The word has been variously rendered. The etymology points to some plunging bird. The common cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), which some writers have identified with the shâlâc, is unknown in the eastern Mediterranean; another species is found south of the Red Sea, but none of the west coast of Palestine.
The Cormorant.
Corn
Corn. The most common kinds were wheat, barley, spelt, Authorized Version, Exodus 9:32 and Isaiah 28:25, “rye”; Ezekiel 4:9 “fitches” and millet; oats are mentioned only by rabbinical writers. Our Indian corn was unknown in Bible times. Corn-crops are still reckoned at twenty-fold what was sown, and were anciently much more. Genesis 41:22. The Jewish law permitted any one in passing through a field of standing corn to pluck and eat. Deuteronomy 23:25; see also Matthew 12:1. From Solomon’s time, 2 Chronicles 2:10, 2 Chronicles 2:15, as agriculture became developed under a settled government, Palestine was a corn-exporting country, and her grain was largely taken by her commercial neighbor Tyre, Ezekiel 27:17; comp. Amos 8:5.
Cornelius
Corne’lius (of a horn), a Roman centurion of the Italian cohort stationed in Cæsarea, Acts 10:1, etc., a man full of good works and alms-deeds. With his household he was baptized by St. Peter, and thus Cornelius became the first-fruits of the Gentile world to Christ.
Corner
Corner. The “corner” of the field was not allowed, Leviticus 19:9, to be wholly reaped. It formed a right of the poor to carry off what was so left, and this was a part of the maintenance from the soil to which that class were entitled. Under the scribes, minute legislation fixed one-sixtieth as the portion of a field which was to be left for the legal “corner.” The proportion being thus fixed, all the grain might be reaped, and enough to satisfy the regulation subsequently separated from the whole crop. This “corner” was, like the gleaning, tithe-free.
Corner-stone
Corner-stone, a quoin or corner-stone, of great importance in binding together the sides of a building. The phrase “corner-stone” is sometimes used to denote any principal person, as the princes of Egypt, Isaiah 19:13, and is thus applied to our Lord. Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:6, 1 Peter 2:7.
Cornet
Cornet (Heb. shôphâr), a loud-sounding instrument, made of the horn of a ram or of a chamois (sometimes of an ox), and used by the ancient Hebrews for signals, Leviticus 25:9, and much used by the priests. 1 Chronicles 15:28.
Cos
Cos, or Co’os (now Stanchio or Stanko). This small island of the Grecian Archipelago has several interesting points of connection with the Jews. Herod the Great conferred many favors on the island. St. Paul, on the return from his third missionary journey, passed the night here, after sailing from Miletus. Probably referred to in Acts 21:1.
Cosam
Co’sam (a diviner), son of Elmodam, in the line of Joseph the husband of Mary. Luke 3:28.
Cotton
Cotton. Cotton is now both grown and manufactured in various parts of Syria and Palestine; but there is no proof that, till they came in contact with Persia, the Hebrews generally knew of it as a distinct fabric from linen. [LINEN.]
Couch
Couch. [BED.]
Council
Council.
1. The great council of the Sanhedrin, which sat at Jerusalem. [SANHEDRIN.]
2. The lesser courts, Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:9, of which there were two at Jerusalem and one in each town of Palestine. The constitution of these courts is a doubtful point. The existence of local courts, however constituted, is clearly implied in the passages quoted from the New Testament; and perhaps the “judgment,” Matthew 5:21, applies to them.
3. A kind of jury or privy council, Acts 25:12, consisting of a certain number of assessors, who assisted Roman governors in the administration of justice and in other public matters.
Court
Court (Heb. châtsêr), an open enclosure surrounded by buildings, applied in the Authorized Version most commonly to the enclosures of the tabernacle and the temple. Exodus 27:9; Exodus 40:33; Leviticus 6:16; 1 Kings 6:36; 1 Kings 7:8; 2 Kings 23:12; 2 Chronicles 33:5, etc.
Covenant
Covenant. The Heb. berı̂th means primarily “a cutting,” with reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two and passing between the parts in ratifying a covenant. Genesis 15; Jeremiah 34:18, Jeremiah 34:19. In the New Testament the corresponding word is diathıce (διαθ́ηκη), which is frequently translated testament in the Authorized Version. In its biblical meaning of a compact or agreement between two parties the word is used—
1. Of a covenant between God and man; e.g., God covenanted with Noah, after the flood, that a like judgment should not be repeated. It is not precisely like a covenant between men, but was a promise or agreement by God. The principal covenants are the covenant of works—God promising to save and bless men on condition of perfect obedience—and the covenant of grace, or God’s promise to save men on condition of their believing in Christ and receiving him as their Master and Saviour. The first is called the Old Covenant, from which we name the first part of the Bible the Old Testament, the Latin rendering of the word covenant. The second is called the New Covenant, or New Testament. 2. Covenant between man and man, i.e., a solemn compact or agreement, either between tribes or nations, Joshua 9:6, Joshua 9:15; 1 Samuel 11:1, or between individuals, Genesis 31:44, by which each party bound himself to fulfill certain conditions and was assured of receiving certain advantages. In making such a covenant God was solemnly invoked as witness, Genesis 31:50, and an oath was sworn. Genesis 21:31. A sign or witness of the covenant was sometimes framed, such as a gift, Genesis 21:30, or a pillar or heap of stones erected. Genesis 31:52.
Cow
Cow. [BULL.]
Coz
Coz (thorn), a man among the descendants of Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:8.
Cozbi
Coz’bi (deceitful), daughter of Zur, a chief of the Midianites. Numbers 25:15, Numbers 25:18.
Crane
Crane. The crane (Grus cinerea) is a native of Europe and Asia. It stands about four feet high. Its color is ashen gray, with face and neck nearly black. It feeds on seeds, roots, insects, and small quadrupeds. It retires in winter to the warmer climates. Jeremiah 8:7.
The Crane.
Create
Create. To create is to cause something to exist which did not exist before, as distinguished from make, to re-form something already in existence.
Creation
Creation. (The creation of all things is ascribed in the Bible to God, and is the only reasonable account of the origin of the world. The method of creation is not stated in Genesis, and as far as the account there is concerned, each part of it may be, after the first acts of creation, by evolution, or by direct act of God’s will. The word create (bârâ) is used but three times in the first chapter of Genesis—(1) as to the origin of matter; (2) as to the origin of life; (3) as to the origin of man’s soul; and science has always failed to do any of these acts thus ascribed to God. All other things are said to be made. The order of creation as given in Genesis is in close harmony with the order as revealed by geology, and the account there given, so long before the records of the rocks were read or the truth discoverable by man, is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible was inspired by God.—Ed.)
Creditor
Creditor. [LOAN.]
Crescens
Cres’cens (growing), 2 Timothy 4:10, an assistant of St. Paul, said to have been one of the seventy disciples.
Crete
Crete, the modern Candia. This large island, which closes in the Greek Archipelago on the south, extends through a distance of 140 miles between its extreme points. Though exceedingly bold and mountainous, this island has very fruitful valleys, and in early times it was celebrated for its hundred cities. It seems likely that a very early acquaintance existed between the Cretans and the Jews. Cretans, Acts 2:11, were among those who were at Jerusalem at the great Pentecost. In Acts 27:7-12 we have an account of Paul’s shipwreck near this island; and it is evident from Titus 1:5 that the apostle himself was here at no long interval of time before he wrote the letter. The Cretans were proverbial liars. Titus 1:12.
View of Crete. Mount Ida in the distance.
Coin of Crete.
Cretes
Cretes. Acts 2:11. Cretans, inhabitants of Crete.
Crisping pins
Crisping pins. Isaiah 3:22. The original word means some kind of female ornament, probably a reticule or richly-ornamented purse, often made of silk inwrought with gold or silver.
Crispus
Cris’pus (curled), ruler of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth, Acts 18:8; baptized with his family by St. Paul. 1 Corinthians 1:14. (a.d. 50.)
Cross
Cross. As the emblem of a slave’s death and a murderer’s punishment, the cross was naturally looked upon with the profoundest horror. But after the celebrated vision of Constantine, he ordered his friends to make a cross of gold and gems, such as he had seen, and “the towering eagles resigned the flags unto the cross,” and “the tree of cursing and shame” “sat upon the sceptres and was engraved and signed on the foreheads of kings.” (Jer. Taylor, “Life of Christ,” iii., xv. 1.) The new standards were called by the name Labarum, and may be seen on the coins of Constantine the Great and his nearer successors. The Latin cross, on which our Lord suffered, was in the form of the letter T, and had an upright above the cross-bar, on which the “title” was placed. There was a projection from the central stem, on which the body of the sufferer rested. This was to prevent the weight of the body from tearing away the hands. Whether there was also a support to the feet (as we see in pictures) is doubtful. An inscription was generally placed above the criminal’s head, briefly expressing his guilt, and generally was carried before him. It was covered with white gypsum, and the letters were black.
Three Forms of the Cross.
Crown
Crown. This ornament, which is both ancient and universal, probably originated from the fillets used to prevent the hair from being dishevelled by the wind. Such fillets are still common; they gradually developed into turbans, which by the addition of ornamental or precious materials assumed the dignity of mitres or crowns. Both the ordinary priests and the high priest wore them. The crown was a symbol of royalty, and was worn by kings, 2 Chronicles 23:11, and also by queens. Esther 2:17. The head-dress of bridegrooms, Ezekiel 24:17; Isaiah 61:10; Baruch 5:2, and of women, Isaiah 3:20; a head-dress of great splendor, Isaiah 28:5; a wreath of flowers, Proverbs 1:9; Proverbs 4:9, denote crowns. In general we must attach to it the notion of a costly turban irradiated with pearls and gems of priceless value, which often form aigrettes for feathers, as in the crowns of modern Asiatic sovereigns. Such was probably the crown which weighed (or rather “was worth”) a talent, mentioned in 2 Samuel 12:30, taken by David from the king of Ammon at Rabbah, and used as the state crown of Judah. 2 Samuel 12:30. In Revelation 12:3; Revelation 19:12, allusion is made to “many crowns” worn in token of extended dominion. The laurel, pine or parsley crowns given to victors in the great games of Greece are finely alluded to by St. Paul. 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 2:5, etc.
Crowns.
1. Crown of Upper Egypt. 2. Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt united. 3. Assyrian Crown, from Nineveh Marbles. 4. Laurel Crown. 5. Crown of Herod the Great. 6. Crown of Aretas, King of Arabia.
Crown of thorns
Crown of thorns, Matthew 27:29. Our Lord was crowned with thorns in mockery by the Roman soldiers. Obviously some small flexile thorny shrub is meant; perhaps Capparis spinosa. “Hasselquist, a Swedish naturalist, supposes a very common plant, naba or nubka of the Arabs, with many small and sharp spines; soft, round, and pliant branches; leaves much resembling ivy, of a very deep green, as if in designed mockery of a victor’s wreath.”—Alford.
Crucifixion
Crucifixion was in use among the Egyptians, Genesis 40:19, the Carthaginians, the Persians, Esther 7:10, the Assyrians, Scythians, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one to be crucified was stripped naked of all his clothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laid down upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along the cross-beams, and at the centre of the open palms the point of a huge iron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven home into the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly through both together, as they were placed one over the other, another huge nail tore its way through the quivering flesh. Whether the sufferer was also bound to the cross we do not know; but, to prevent the hands and feet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not “rest upon nothing but four great wounds,” there was, about the centre of the cross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, a human body, which soon became a weight of agony. Then the “accursed tree” with its living human burden was slowly heaved up and the end fixed firmly in a hole in the ground. The feet were but a little raised above the earth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose to strike. A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds, all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries, especially of the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and, while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst. Such was the death to which Christ was doomed.—Farrar’s “Life of Chist.” The crucified was watched, according to custom, by a party of four soldiers, John 19:23, with their centurion, Matthew 27:66, whose express office was to prevent the stealing of the body. This was necessary from the lingering character of the death, which sometimes did not supervene even for three days, and was at last the result of gradual benumbing and starvation. But for this guard, the persons might have been taken down and recovered, as was actually done in the case of a friend of Josephus. Fracture of the legs was especially adopted by the Jews to hasten death. John 19:31. In most cases the body was suffered to rot on the cross by the action of sun and rain, or to be devoured by birds and beasts. Sepulture was generally therefore forbidden; but in consequence of Deuteronomy 21:22, Deuteronomy 21:23, an express national exception was made in favor of the Jews. Matthew 27:58. This accursed and awful mode of punishment was happily abolished by Constantine.
Cruse
Cruse, a small vessel for holding water, such as was carried by Saul when on his night expedition after David, 1 Samuel 26:11, 1 Samuel 26:12, 1 Samuel 26:16, and by Elijah. 1 Kings 19:6.
Crystal
Crystal, the representative in the Authorized Version of two Hebrew words.
1. Zecûcı̂th occurs only in Job 28:17, where “glass” probably is intended. 2. Kerach occurs in numerous passages in the Old Testament to denote “ice,” “frost,” etc.; but once only, Ezekiel 1:22, as is generally understood, to signify “crystal.” The ancients supposed rock-crystal to be merely ice congealed by intense cold. The similarity of appearance between ice and crystal caused no doubt the identity of the terms to express these substances. The Greek word occurs in Revelation 4:6; Revelation 21:1. It may mean either “ice” or “crystal.”
Cubit
Cubit. [WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.]
Cuckoo
Cuckoo, Leviticus 11:16; Deuteronomy 14:15, the name of some unclean bird, and probably of some of the larger petrels which abound in the east of the Mediterranean.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers (Heb. kishshuı̂m). This word occurs in Numbers 11:5 as one of the good things of Egypt for which the Israelites longed. Egypt produces excellent cucumbers, melons, etc., the Cucumis chate being the best of its tribe yet known. Besides the Cucumis chate, the common cucumber (C. sativus), of which the Arabs distinguish a number of varieties, is common in Egypt. “Both Cucumis chate and C. sativus,” says Mr. Tristram, “are now grown in great quantities in Palestine. On visiting the Arab school in Jerusalem (1858) I observed that the dinner which the children brought with them to school consisted, without exception, of a piece of barley-cake and a raw cucumber, which they ate rind and all.” The “lodge in a garden of cucumbers,” Isaiah 1:8, is a rude temporary shelter erected in the open grounds where vines, cucumbers, gourds, etc., are grown, in which some lonely man or boy is set to watch, either to guard the plants from robbers or to scare away the foxes and jackals from the vines.
Cummin
Cummin, one of the cultivated plants of Palestine. Isaiah 28:25, Isaiah 28:27; Matthew 23:23. It is an umbelliferous plant something like fennel. The seeds have a bitterish warm taste and an aromatic flavor. The Maltese are said to grow it at the present day, and to thresh it in the manner described by Isaiah.
Cup
Cup. The cups of the Jews, whether of metal or earthenware, were possibly borrowed, in point of shape and design, from Egypt and from the Phœnicians, who were celebrated in that branch of workmanship. Egyptian cups were of various shapes, either with handles or without them. In Solomon’s time all his drinking vessels were of gold, none of silver. 1 Kings 10:21. Babylon is compared to a golden cup. Jeremiah 51:7. The great laver, or “sea,” was made with a rim like the rim of a cup (côs), “with flowers of lilies,” 1 Kings 7:26, a form which the Persepolitan cups resemble. The cups of the New Testament were often no doubt formed on Greek and Roman models. They were sometimes of gold. Revelation 17:4.
Cupbearer
Cupbearer, an officer of high rank with Egyptian, Persian, and Assyrian as well as Jewish monarchs. 1 Kings 10:5. It was his duty to fill the king’s cup and present it to him personally. Nehemiah 1:11. The chief cupbearer, or butler, to the king of Egypt was the means of raising Joseph to his high position. Genesis 40:1, Genesis 40:21; Genesis 41:9.
Cush
Cush (black), a Benjamite mentioned only in the title to Psalm 7. He was probably a follower of Saul, the head of his tribe. (b.c. 1061.)
Cush
Cush, the name of a son of Ham, apparently the eldest, and of a territory or territories occupied by his descendants. The Cushites appear to have spread along tracts extending from the higher Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris. History affords many traces of this relation of Babylonia, Arabia, and Ethiopia.
Cushan
Cu’shan (blackness), Habakkuk 3:7, possibly the same as Cushan-rishathaim (Authorized Version Cushan-) king of Mesopotamia. Judges 3:8, Judges 3:10.
Cushi
Cu’shi. Properly “the Cushite,” “the Ethiopian,” a man apparently attached to Joab’s person. 2 Samuel 18:21-25, 2 Samuel 18:31, 2 Samuel 18:32.
Cuth
Cuth, or Cu’thah, one of the countries whence Shalmaneser introduced colonists into Samaria. 2 Kings 17:24, 2 Kings 17:30. Its position is undecided.
Cuttings in the flesh
Cuttings [in the flesh]. Cuttings in the flesh, or the laceration of one’s body for the “propitiation of their gods,” 1 Kings 18:28, constituted a prominent feature of idolatrous worship, especially among the Syrians. The Israelites were prohibited from indulging in such practices. Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5; Deuteronomy 14:1; Jeremiah 16:6.
Cymbal Cymbals
Cymbal, Cymbals, a percussive musical instrument. Two kinds of cymbals are mentioned in Psalm 150:5, “loud cymbals” or castagnettes, and “high-sounding cymbals.” The former consisted of four small plates of brass or of some other hard metal; two plates were attached to each hand of the performer, and were struck together to produce a great noise. The latter consisted of two larger plates, one held in each hand and struck together as an accompaniment to other instruments. Cymbals were used not only in the temple but for military purposes, and also by Hebrew women as a musical accompaniment to their national dances. Both kinds of cymbals are still common in the East.
Cypress
Cypress (Heb. tirzâh). The Hebrew word is found only in Isaiah 44:14. We are quite unable to assign any definite rendering to it. The true cypress is a native of the Taurus. The Hebrew word points to some tree with a hard grain, and this is all that can be positively said of it.
Cyprus
Cy’prus, an island of Asia in the Mediterranean. It is about 140 miles long and 50 miles wide at the widest part. Its two chief cities were Salamis, at the east end of the island, and Paphos, at the west end. “Cyprus occupies a distinguished place in both sacred and profane history. It early belonged to the Phœnicians of the neighboring coast; was afterwards colonized by Greeks; passed successively under the power of the Pharaohs, Persians, Ptolemics, and Romans, excepting a short period of independence in the fourth century b.c. It was one of the chief seats of the worship of Venus, hence called Cypria. Recently the discoveries in Cyprus by Cesnola have excited new interest.—Appleton’s Am. Encyc. It was the native place of Barnabas, Acts 4:36, and was visited by Paul. Acts 13:4-13; Acts 15:39; Acts 21:3. See also Acts 27:4.
Cyprus.
Cyrene
Cyre’ne, the principal city of that part of northern Africa which was anciently called Cyrenaica, lying between Carthage and Egypt, and corresponding with the modern Tripoli. Though on the African coast, it was a Greek city, and the Jews were settled there in large numbers. The Greek colonization of this part of Africa under Battus began as early as b.c. 631. After the death of Alexander the Great it became a dependency of Egypt, and a Roman province b.c. 75. Simon, who bore our Saviour’s cross, Matthew 27:32, was a native of Cyrene. Jewish dwellers in Cyrenaica were in Jerusalem at Pentecost, Acts 2:10, and gave their name to one of the synagogues in Jerusalem. Acts 6:9. Christian converts from Cyrene were among those who contributed actively to the formation of the first Gentile church at Antioch. Acts 11:20.
Coin of Cyrene.
Cyrenius
Cyre’nius (warrior), the Greek form of the Roman name of Quirinus. The full name is Publius Sulpicius Quirinus. He was consul b.c. 12, and was made governor of Syria after the banishment of Archelaus in a.d. 6. He probably was twice governor of Syria; his first governorship extended from b.c. 4 (the year of Christ’s birth) to b.c.
1. It was during this time that he was sent to make the enrollment which caused Joseph and Mary to visit Bethlehem. Luke 2:2. The second enrollment is mentioned in Acts 5:37.
Cyrus
Cy’rus (the sun), the founder of the Persian empire—see 2 Chronicles 36:22, 2 Chronicles 36:23; Daniel 6:28; Daniel 10:1, Daniel 10:13—was, according to the common legend, the son of Cambyses, a Persian of the royal family of the Achæmenidæ. When he grew up to manhood his courage and genius placed him at the head of the Persians. His conquests were numerous and brilliant. He defeated and captured the Median king b.c. 559. In b.c. 546(?) he defeated Crœsus, and the kingdom of Lydia was the prize of his success. Babylon fell before his army, and the ancient dominions of Assyria were added to his empire b.c. 538. The prophet Daniel’s home for a time was at his court. Daniel 6:28. The edict of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple, 2 Chronicles 36:22, 2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 3:7; Ezra 4:3; Ezra 5:13, Ezra 5:17; Ezra 6:3, was in fact the beginning of Judaism; and the great changes by which the nation was transformed into a church are clearly marked. His tomb is still shown at Pasargadæ, the scene of his first decisive victory.