Smith's Bible Dictionary
Jeshurun — Joses
Jeshurun
Jesh’urun (supremely happy), and once by mistake in Authorized Version Jesurun, Isaiah 44:2, a symbolical name for Israel in Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 33:5, Deuteronomy 33:26; Isaiah 44:2. It is most probably derived from a root signifying “to be blessed.” With the intensive termination Jeshurun would then denote Israel as supremely happy or prosperous, and to this signification the context in Deuteronomy 32:15 points.
Jesiah
Jesi’ah (whom Jehovah lends).
1. A Korhite, one of the mighty men who joined David’s standard at Ziklag. 1 Chronicles 12:6. (b.c. 1055.)
2. The second son of Uzziel, the son of Kohath. 1 Chronicles 23:20.
Jesimi-el
Jesim’i-el (whom God makes), a Simeonite chief of the family of Shimei. 1 Chronicles 4:36. (b.c. about 711.)
Jesse
Jes’se (wealthy), the father of David, was the son of Obed, who again was the fruit of the union of Boaz and the Moabitess Ruth. His great-grandmother was Rahab the Canaanite, of Jericho. Matthew 1:5. Jesse’s genealogy is twice given in full in the Old Testament, viz., Ruth 4:18-22 and 1 Chronicles 2:5-12. He is commonly designated as “Jesse the Bethlehemite,” 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:18; 1 Samuel 17:58; but his full title is “the Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah.” ch. 1 Samuel 17:12. He is an “old man” when we first meet with him, 1 Samuel 17:12, with eight sons, ch. 1 Samuel 16:10; 1 Samuel 17:12, residing at Bethlehem. ch. 1 Samuel 16:5. Jesse’s wealth seems to have consisted of a flock of sheep and goats, which were under the care of David. ch. 1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel 17:35. After David’s rupture with Saul he took his father and his mother into the country of Moab and deposited them with the king, and there they disappear from our view in the records of Scripture. (b.c. 1068–61.) Who the wife of Jesse was we are not told.
Jesui
Jes’ui (even, level), the son of Asher, whose descendants the Jesuites were numbered in the plains of Moab at the Jordan of Jericho. Numbers 26:44. (b.c. 1451.) He is elsewhere called Isui, Genesis 46:17, and Ishuai. 1 Chronicles 7:30.
Jesuites
Jes’uites (the posterity of Jesui), The, a family of the tribe of Asher. Numbers 26:44.
Jesurun
Jes’urun. [JESHURUN.]
Jesus
Je’sus (saviour).
1. The Greek form of the name Joshua or Jeshua, a contraction of Jehoshua, that is, “help of Jehovah” or “saviour.” Numbers 13:16.
2. Joshua the son of Nun. Numbers 27:18; Hebrews 4:8. [JEHOSHUA.]
Jesus the son of Sirach
Je’sus the son of Sirach. [ECCLESIASTICUS.]
Jesus
Je’sus, called Justus, a Christian who was with St. Paul at Rome. Colossians 4:11. (a.d. 57.)
Jesus Christ
Je’sus Christ. “The life and character of Jesus Christ,” says Dr. Schaff, “is the holy of holies in the history of the world.” I. Name.—The name Jesus signifies saviour. It is the Greek form of Jehoshua (Joshua). The name Christ signifies anointed. Jesus was both priest and king. Among the Jews priests were anointed, as their inauguration to their office. 1 Chronicles 16:22. In the New Testament the name Christ is used as equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah (anointed), John 1:41, the name given to the long-promised Prophet and King whom the Jews had been taught by their prophets to expect. Matthew 11:3; Acts 19:4. The use of this name, as applied to the Lord, has always a reference to the promises of the prophets. The name of Jesus is the proper name of our Lord, and that of Christ is added to identify him with the promised Messiah. Other names are sometimes added to the names Jesus Christ, thus, “Lord,” “a king,” “King of Israel,” “Emmanuel,” “Son of David,” “chosen of God.”
II. Birth.—Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, God being his father, at Bethlehem of Judea, six miles south of Jerusalem. The date of his birth was most probably in December, b.c. 5, four years before the era from which we count our years. That era was not used till several hundred years after Christ. The calculations were made by a learned monk, Dionysius Exiguus, in the sixth century, who made an error of four years; so that to get the exact date from the birth of Christ we must add four years to our usual dates; i.e., a.d. 1882 is really 1886 years since the birth of Christ. It is also more than likely that our usual date for Christmas, December 25, is not far from the real date of Christ’s birth. Since the 25th of December comes when the longest night gives way to the returning sun on his triumphant march, it makes an appropriate anniversary to mark the birth of him who appeared in the darkest night of error and sin as the true Light of the world. At the time of Christ’s birth Augustus Cæsar was emperor of Rome, and Herod the Great king of Judea, but subject to Rome. God’s providence had prepared the world for the coming of Christ, and this was the fittest time in all its history.
1. All the world was subject to one government, so that the apostles could travel everywhere: the door of every land was open for the gospel. 2. The world was at peace, so that the gospel could have free course. 3. The Greek language was spoken everywhere with their other languages. 4. The Jews were scattered everywhere with synagogues and Bibles.
III. Early life.—Jesus, having a manger at Bethlehem for his cradle, received a visit of adoration from the three wise men of the East. At forty days old he was taken to the temple at Jerusalem; and returning to Bethlehem, was soon taken to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre of the infants there. After a few months stay there, Herod having died in April, b.c. 4, the family returned to their Nazareth home, where Jesus lived till he was about thirty years old, subject to his parents, and increasing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” The only incident recorded of his early life is his going up to Jerusalem to attend the passover when he was twelve years old, and his conversation with the learned men in the temple. But we can understand the childhood and youth of Jesus better when we remember the surrounding influences amid which he grew.
1. The natural scenery was rugged and mountainous, but full of beauty. He breathed the pure air. He lived in a village, not in a city. 2. The Roman dominion was irksome and galling. The people of God were subject to a foreign yoke. The taxes were heavy. Roman soldiers, laws, money, ever reminded them of their subjection, when they ought to be free and themselves the rulers of the world. When Jesus was ten years old, there was a great insurrection, Acts 5:37, in Galilee. He who was to be King of the Jews heard and felt all this. 3. The Jewish hopes of a Redeemer, of throwing off their bondage, of becoming the glorious nation promised in the prophets, were in the very air he breathed. The conversation at home and in the streets was full of them. 4. Within his view, and his boyish excursions, were many remarkable historic places—rivers, hills, cities, plains—that would keep in mind the history of his people and God’s dealings with them. 5. His school training. Mr. Deutsch, in the Quarterly Review, says, “Eighty years before Christ, schools flourished throughout the length and the breadth of the land: education had been made compulsory. While there is not a single term for ‘school’ to be found before the captivity, there were by that time about a dozen in common usage. Here are a few of the innumerable popular sayings of the period: ‘Jerusalem was destroyed because the instruction of the young was neglected.’ ‘The world is only saved by the breath of the school-children.’ ‘Even for the rebuilding of the temple the schools must not be interrupted.’ ” 6. His home training. According to Ellicott, the stages of Jewish childhood were marked as follows: “At three the boy was weaned, and wore for the first time the fringed or tasselled garment prescribed by Numbers 15:38-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12. His education began at first under the mother’s care. At five he was to learn the law, at first by extracts written on scrolls of the more important passages, the Shemà or creed of Deuteronomy 2:4, the Hallel or festival psalms, Psalm 114, Psalm 118, Psalm 136, and by catechetical teaching in school. At twelve he became more directly responsible for his obedience to the law; and on the day when he attained the age of thirteen, put on for the first time the phylacteries which were worn at the recital of his daily prayer.” In addition to this, Jesus no doubt learned the carpenter’s trade of his reputed father Joseph, and, as Joseph probably died before Jesus began his public ministry, he may have contributed to the support of his mother.
(IV. Public ministry.—Jesus began to enter upon his ministry when he was “about thirty years old”; that is, he was not very far from thirty, older or younger. He is regarded as nearly thirty-one by Andrews (in the tables of chronology referred to above) and by most others. Having been baptized by John early in the winter of 26–27, he spent the larger portion of his first year in Judea and about the lower Jordan, till in December he went northward to Galilee through Samaria. The next year and a half, from December, a.d. 27, to October or November, a.d. 29, was spent in Galilee and northern Palestine, chiefly in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee. In November, 29, Jesus made his final departure from Galilee, and the rest of his ministry was in Judea and Perea, beyond Jordan, till his crucifixion, April 7, a.d. 30. After three days he proved his divinity by rising from the dead; and after appearing on eleven different occasions to his disciples during forty days, he finally ascended to heaven, where he is the living, ever-present, all-powerful Saviour of his people.
Jesus Christ, being both human and divine, is fitted to be the true Saviour of men. In this, as in every action and character, he is shown to be “the wisdom and power of God unto salvation.” As human, he reaches down to our natures, sympathizes with us, shows us that God knows all our feelings and weaknesses and sorrows and sins, brings God near to us, who otherwise could not realize the Infinite and Eternal as a father and friend. He is divine, in order that he may be an all-powerful, all-loving Saviour, able and willing to defend us from every enemy, to subdue all temptations, to deliver from all sin, and to bring each of his people, and the whole Church, into complete and final victory.
Jesus Christ is the centre of the world’s history, as he is the centre of the Bible.—Ed.)
Jether
Je’ther (his excellence).
1. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Exodus 4:18. (b.c. 1530.)
2. The first-born of Gideon’s seventy sons. Judges 8:20. (b.c. 1256.)
3. The father of Amasa, captain-general of Absalom’s army. (b.c. 1023.) Jether is another form of Ithra. 2 Samuel 17:25. He is described in 1 Chronicles 2:17 as an Ishmaelite, which again is more likely to be correct than the “Israelite” of the Hebrew in 2 Samuel 17.
4. The son of Jada, a descendant of Hezron, of the tribe of Judah. 1 Chronicles 2:32.
5. The son of Ezra. 1 Chronicles 4:17.
6. The chief of a family of warriors of the line of Asher, and father of Jephunneh. 1 Chronicles 7:38. He is probably the same as Ithran in the preceding verse.
Jetheth
Je’theth (a nail), one of the “dukes” who came of Esau. Genesis 36:40; 1 Chronicles 1:51.
Jethlah
Jeth’lah (height), one of the cities of the tribe of Dan. Joshua 19:42.
Jethro
Je’thro (his excellence) was priest or prince of Midian. Moses married his daughter Zipporah. (b.c. 1530.) On account of his local knowledge he was entreated to remain with the Israelites throughout their journey to Canaan. Numbers 10:31, Numbers 10:33. (He is called Reuel in Exodus 2:18, and Raguel in Numbers 10:29 (the same word in the original for both). Reuel is probably his proper name, and Jethro his official title.—Ed.)
Jetur
Je’tur (an enclosure). Genesis 25:15; 1 Chronicles 1:31; 1 Chronicles 5:19. [IturÆa.]
Jeuel
Je’uel, a chief man of Judah, one of the Bene-Zerah. 1 Chronicles 9:6; comp. 1 Chronicles 9:2. [JEIEL.]
Jeush
Je’ush (assembler).
1. Son of Esau by Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Zebeon the Hivite. Genesis 36:6, Genesis 36:14, Genesis 36:18; 1 Chronicles 1:35. (b.c. after 1797.)
2. A Benjamite, son of Bilhan. 1 Chronicles 7:10, 1 Chronicles 7:11.
3. A Gershonite Levite, of the house of Shimei. 1 Chronicles 23:10, 1 Chronicles 23:11. (b.c. 1014.)
4. Son of Rehoboam king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 11:18, 2 Chronicles 11:19. (b.c. after 97.)
Jeuz
Je’uz (counsellor), head of a Benjamite house. 1 Chronicles 8:10.
Jew
Jew (a man of Judea). This name was properly applied to a member of the kingdom of Judah after the separation of the ten tribes. The term first makes its appearance just before the captivity of the ten tribes. 2 Kings 16:6. After the return the word received a larger application. Partly from the predominance of the members of the old kingdom of Judah among those who returned to Palestine, partly from the identification of Judah with the religious ideas and hopes of the people, all the members of the new state were called Jews (Judeans), and the name was extended to the remnants of the race scattered throughout the nations. Under the name of “Judeans” the people of Israel were known to classical writers. (Tac. H. v. 2, etc.) The force of the title “Jew” is seen particularly in the Gospel of St. John, who very rarely uses any other term to describe the opponents of our Lord. At an earlier stage of the progress of the faith it was contrasted with Greek as implying an outward covenant with God, Romans 1:16; Romans 2:9, Romans 2:10; Colossians 3:11, etc., which was the correlative of Hellenist [HELLENIST], and marked a division of language subsisting within the entire body, and at the same time less expressive than Israelite, which brought out with especial clearness the privileges and hopes of the children of Jacob. 2 Corinthians 11:22; John 1:47.
Jewel
Jewel. [STONES, PRECIOUS.]
Jewess
Jew’ess, a woman of Hebrew birth, without distinction of tribe. Acts 16:1; Acts 24:24.
Jewish
Jewish, of or belonging to Jews; an epithet applied to their rabbinical legends. Titus 1:14.
Jewry
Jew’ry (the country of Judea), the same word elsewhere rendered Judah and Judea. It occurs several times in the Apocalypse and the New Testament, but once only in the Old Testament—Daniel 5:13. Jewry comes to us through the Norman-French, and is of frequent occurrence in Old English.
Jezaniah
Jezani’ah (whom Jehovah hears), the son of Hoshaiah the Maachathite, and one of the captains of the forces who had escaped from Jerusalem during the final attack of the beleaguering army of the Chaldeans. (b.c. 588.) When the Babylonians had departed, Jezaniah, with the men under his command, was one of the first who returned to Gedaliah at Mizpah. In the events which followed the assassination of that officer Jezaniah took a prominent part. 2 Kings 25:23; Jeremiah 40:8; Jeremiah 42:1; Jeremiah 43:2.
Jezebel
Jez’ebel (chaste), wife of Ahab king of Israel. (b.c. 883.) She was a Phœnician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians. In her hands her husband became a mere puppet. 1 Kings 21:25. The first effect of her influence was the immediate establishment of the Phœnician worship on a grand scale in the court of Ahab. At her table were supported no less than 450 prophets of Baal and 400 of Astarte. 1 Kings 16:31, 1 Kings 16:32; 1 Kings 18:19. The prophets of Jehovah were attacked by her orders and put to the sword. 1 Kings 18:13; 2 Kings 9:7. At last the people, at the instigation of Elijah, rose against her ministers and slaughtered them at the foot of Carmel. When she found her husband cast down by his disappointment at being thwarted by Naboth, 1 Kings 21:7, she wrote a warrant in Ahab’s name, and sealed it with his seal. To her, and not to Ahab, was sent the announcement that the royal wishes were accomplished, 1 Kings 21:14, and on her accordingly fell the prophet’s curse, as well as on her husband, 1 Kings 21:23; a curse fulfilled so literally by Jehu, whose chariot-horses trampled out her life. The body was left in that open space called in modern eastern language “the mounds,” where offal is thrown from the city walls. 2 Kings 9:30-37.
Jezer
Je’zer (power), the third son of Naphtali, Genesis 46:24; Numbers 26:49; 1 Chronicles 7:13, and father of the family of Jezerites.
Jeziah
Jezi’ah (whom Jehovah expiates), a descendant of Parosh, who had married a foreign wife. Ezra 10:25.
Jezi-el
Je’zi-el (the assembly of God), a Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag. 1 Chronicles 12:3. (b.c. 1055.)
Jezliah
Jezli’ah (whom God will preserve), a Benjamite of the sons of elpaal. 1 Chronicles 8:18. (b.c. 588.)
Jezo-ar
Jez’o-ar (whiteness), the son of Helah, one of the wives of Asher. 1 Chronicles 4:7.
Jezrahiah
Jezrahi’ah (produced by Jehovah), a Levite, the leader of the choristers at the solemn dedication of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. Nehemiah 12:42. (b.c. 446.)
Jezre-el
Jez’re-el (seed of God), a descendant of the father or founder of Etam, of the line of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:3. (b.c. about 1445.)
Jezre-el
Jez’re-el.
1. A city situated in the plain of the same name between Gilboa and Little Hermon, now generally called Esdraelon. [ESDRAELON.] It appears in Joshua 19:18, but its historical importance dates from the reign of Ahab, b.c. 918–897, who chose it for his chief residence. The situation of the modern village of Zerin still remains to show the fitness of his choice. In the neighborhood, or within the town probably, were a temple and grove of Astarte, with an establishment of 400 priests supported by Jezebel. 1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 10:11. The palace of Ahab, 1 Kings 21:1; 1 Kings 18:46, probably containing his “ivory house,” 1 Kings 22:39, was on the eastern side of the city, forming part of the city wall. Comp. 1 Kings 21:1; 2 Kings 9:25, 2 Kings 9:30, 2 Kings 9:33. Whether the vineyard of Naboth was here or at Samaria is a doubtful question. Still in the same eastern direction are two springs, one 12 minutes from the town, the other 20 minutes. The latter, probably from both its size and its situation, was known as “the spring of Jezreel.” With the fall of the house of Ahab the glory of Jezreel departed.
2. A town in Judah, in the neighborhood of the southern Carmel. Joshua 15:56. Here David in his wanderings took Ahinoam the Israelitess for his first wife. 1 Samuel 27:3; 1 Samuel 30:5.
3. The eldest son of the prophet Hosea. Hosea 1:4.
Jezre-elitess
Jez’re-elitess, a woman of Jezreel. 1 Samuel 27:3; 1 Samuel 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 3:2; 1 Chronicles 3:1.
Jibsam
Jib’sam (pleasant), one of the sons of Tola, the son of Issachar. 1 Chronicles 7:2. (b.c. 1017.)
Jidlaph
Jid’laph (weeping), a son of Nahor. Genesis 22:22.
Jimna
Jim’na (prosperity), the first-born of Asher. Numbers 26:44. He is elsewhere called in the Authorized Version Jimnah, Genesis 46:17, and Imnah. 1 Chronicles 7:30.
Jimnah
Jim’nah=JIMNA=IMNAH. Genesis 46:17.
Jimnites The
Jim’nites, The, descendants of the preceding. Numbers 26:44.
Jiphtah
Jiph’tah (whom God sets free), one of the cities of Judah in the maritime lowland, or Shefelah. Joshua 15:43. It has not yet been met with.
Niphthah-el
Niph’thah-el (which God opens), The valley of, a valley which served as one of the landmarks for the boundary of both Zebulun, Joshua 19:14, and Asher. Joshua 19:27. Dr. Robinson suggests that Jiphthah-el was identical with Jotapata, and that they survive in the modern Jefat, a village in the mountains of Galilee, halfway between the Bay of Acre and the Lake of Gennesareth.
Joab
Jo’ab (whose father is Jehovah), the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David’s sister. (b.c. 1053–1012.) Joab first appears after David’s accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle Asahel, the youngest brother of Joab; and when David afterward received Abner into favor, Joab treacherously murdered him. [ABNER.] There was now no rival left in the way of Joab’s advancement, and at the siege of Jebus he was appointed for his prowess commander-in-chief—“captain of the host.” In the wide range of wars which David undertook, Joab was the acting general. He was called by the almost regal title of “lord,” 2 Samuel 11:11, “the prince of the king’s army.” 1 Chronicles 27:34. In the entangled relations which grew up in David’s domestic life he bore an important part, successfully reinstating Absalom in David’s favor after the murder of Amnon. 2 Samuel 14:1-20. When the relations between father and son were reversed by the revolt of Absalom, Joab remained true to the king, taking the rebel prince’s dangerous life in spite of David’s injunction to spare him, and when no one else had courage to act so decisive a part. 2 Samuel 18:2, 2 Samuel 18:11-15. (b.c. 1023.) The king transferred the command to Amasa, which so enraged Joab that he adroitly assassinated Amasa when pretending to welcome him as a friend. 2 Samuel 20:10. Friendly relations between himself and David seem to have existed afterward, 2 Samuel 24:2; but at the close of his long life, his loyalty, so long unshaken, at last wavered. “Though he had not turned after Absalom, he turned after Adonijah.” 1 Kings 2:28. This probably filled up the measure of the king’s long-cherished resentment. The revival of the pretensions of Adonijah after David’s death was sufficient to awaken the suspicions of Solomon. Joab fled to the shelter of the altar at Gibeon, and was there slain by Benaiah. (b.c. about 1012.)
2. One of Kenaz’s descendants. 1 Chronicles 4:14.
3. Ezra 2:6; Ezra 8:9; Nehemiah 7:11.
Joah
Jo’ah (whose brother (i.e., helper) is Jehovah).
1. The son of Asaph, and chronicler or keeper of the records to Hezekiah. Isaiah 36:3, Isaiah 36:11, Isaiah 36:22. (b.c. 776.)
2. The son or grandson of Zimmah, a Gershonite. 1 Chronicles 6:21.
3. The third son of Obed-edom, 1 Chronicles 26:4, a Korhite, and one of the doorkeepers appointed by David. (b.c. 1014.)
4. A Gershonite, the son of Zimmah and father of Eden. 2 Chronicles 29:12.
5. The son of Joahaz, and annalist or keeper of the records to Josiah. 2 Chronicles 34:8. (b.c. 623.)
Joahaz
Jo’ahaz (whom Jehovah holds), the father of Joah, the chronicler or keeper of the records to King Josiah. 2 Chronicles 34:8. (b.c. before 623.)
Jo-anan
Jo-a’nan. In Revised Version for Joanna,
1. Luke 3:27.
Jo-anna
Jo-an’na (grace or gift of God) (in Revised Version spelled Joanan).
1. Son of Rhesa, according to the text of Luke 3:27, and one of the ancestors of Christ; but according to the view explained in a previous article, son of Zerubbabel, and the same as Hananiah in 1 Chronicles 3:19.
2. The name of a woman, occurring twice in Luke (Luke 8:3; Luke 24:10), but evidently denoting the same person. (a.d. 28–30.) In the first passage she is expressly stated to have been “wife of Chuza, steward of Herod,” that is, Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.
Joash
Jo’ash (to whom Jehovah hastens, i.e., to help), contracted from Jehoash.
1. Son of Ahaziah king of Judah (b.c. 884), and the only one of his children who escaped the murderous hand of Athaliah. After his father’s sister Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, had stolen him from among the king’s sons, he was hidden for six years in the chambers of the temple. In the seventh year of his age and of his concealment, a successful revolution, conducted by Jehoiada, placed him on the throne of his ancestors, and freed the country from the tyranny and idolatries of Athaliah. For at least twenty-three years, while Jehoiada lived, his reign was very prosperous; but after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell into the hands of bad advisers, at whose suggestion he revived the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth. When he was rebuked for this by Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, Joash caused him to be stoned to death in the very court of the Lord’s house. Matthew 23:35. That very year Hazael king of Syria came up against Jerusalem, and carried off a vast booty as the price of his departure. Joash had scarcely escaped this danger when he fell into another and fatal one. Two of his servants conspired against him and slew him in his bed in the fortress of Millo. Joash’s reign lasted forty years, from 878 to 838 b.c.
2. Son and successor of Jehoahaz on the throne of Israel from b.c. 840 to 825, and for two full years a contemporary sovereign with the preceding. 2 Kings 14:1, comp. with 2 Kings 12:1; 2 Kings 13:10. When he succeeded to the crown the kingdom was in a deplorable state from the devastations of Hazael and Ben-hadad, kings of Syria. On occasion of a friendly visit paid by Joash to Elisha on his death-bed, the prophet promised him deliverance from the Syrian yoke in Aphek. 1 Kings 20:26-30. He then bade him smite upon the ground, and the king smote thrice and then stayed. The prophet rebuked him for staying, and limited to three his victories over Syria. Accordingly Joash did defeat Ben-hadad three times on the field of battle, and recovered from him the cities which Hazael had taken from Jehoahaz. The other great military event of Joash’s reign was the successful war with Amaziah king of Judah. He died in the fifteenth year of Amaziah king of Judah.
3. The father of Gideon, and a wealthy man among the Abiezrites. Judges 6:11. (b.c. before 1256.)
4. Apparently a younger son of Ahab, who held a subordinate jurisdiction in the lifetime of his father. 1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 18:25. (b.c. 896.)
5. A descendant of Shelah the son of Judah, but whether his son or the son of Jokim is not clear. 1 Chronicles 4:22.
6. A Benjamite, son of Shemaah of Gibeah, 1 Chronicles 12:3, who resorted to David at Ziklag.
7. One of the officers of David’s household. 1 Chronicles 27:28.
8. Son of Becher and head of a Benjamite house. 1 Chronicles 7:8.
Joatham
Jo’atham=JOTHAM the son of Uzziah. Matthew 1:9.
Job
Job (persecuted), the third son of Issachar, Genesis 46:13, called in another genealogy Jashub. 1 Chronicles 7:1.
Job
Job, the patriarch, from whom one of the books of the Old Testament is named. His residence in the land of Uz marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopotamia (probably to the south or southeast of Palestine, in Idumean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabeans and Chaldeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal religion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essentially to the early patriarchal type; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. What we know of his history is given in the book that bears his name.
Job Book of
Job, Book of. This book has given rise to much discussion and criticism, some believing the book to be strictly historical; others a religious fiction; others a composition based upon facts. By some the authorship of the work was attributed to Moses, but it is very uncertain. Luther first suggested the theory which, in some form or other, is now most generally received. He says, “I look upon the book of Job as a true history, yet I do not believe that all took place just as it is written, but that an ingenious, pious, and learned man brought it into its present form.” The date of the book is doubtful, and there have been many theories upon the subject. It may be regarded as a settled point that the book was written long before the exile, probably between the birth of Abraham and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt—b.c. 2000–1800. If by Moses, it was probably written during his sojourn in Midian. “The book of Job is not only one of the most remarkable in the Bible, but in literature. As was said of Goliath’s sword, ‘There is none like it’; none in ancient or in modern literature.”—Kitto. “A book which will one day, perhaps, be seen towering up alone far above all the poetry of the world.”—J. A. Froude. “The book of Job is a drama, and yet subjectively true. The two ideas are perfectly consistent. It may have the dramatic form, the dramatic interest, the dramatic emotion, and yet be substantially a truthful narrative. The author may have received it in one of three ways: the writer may have been an eye-witness; or have received it from near contemporary testimony; or it may have reached him through a tradition of whose substantial truthfulness he has no doubt. There is abundant internal evidence that the scenes and events recorded were real scenes and real events to the writer. He gives the discussions either as he had heard them or as they had been repeated over and over in many an ancient consensus. The very modes of transmission show the deep impression it had made in all the East, as a veritable as well as marvellous event.”—Tayler Lewis.
The design of the book.—Stanley says that “The whole book is a discussion of that great problem of human life: what is the intention of Divine Providence in allowing the good to suffer?” “The direct object is to show that, although goodness has a natural tendency to secure a full measure of temporal happiness, yet that in its essence it is independent of such a result. Selfishness in some form is declared to be the basis on which all apparent goodness rests. That question is tried in the case of Job.”—Cook.
Structure of the book.—The book consists of five parts:—I. Chs. Job 1-3. The historical facts. II. Chs. Job 4-31. The discussions between Job and his three friends. III. Chs. Job 32-37. Job’s discussion with Elihu. IV. Chs. Job 38-41. The theophany—God speaking out of the storm. V. Ch. Job 42. The successful termination of the trial. It is all in poetry except the introduction and the close.
The argument.—
1. One question could be raised by envy: may not the goodness which secures such direct and tangible rewards be a refined form of selfishness? Satan, the accusing angel, suggests the doubt, “Doth Job fear God for nought?” and asserts boldly that if those external blessings were withdrawn, Job would cast off his allegiance—“he will curse thee to thy face.” The problem is thus distinctly propounded which this book is intended to discuss and solve: can goodness exist irrespective of reward? The accuser receives permission to make the trial. He destroys Job’s property, then his children; and afterward, to leave no possible opening for a cavil, is allowed to inflict upon him the most terrible disease known in the East. Job’s wife breaks down entirely under the trial. Job remains steadfast. The question raised by Satan is answered.
2. “Then follows a discussion which arises in the most natural manner from a visit of condolence on the part of three men who represent the wisdom and experience of the age. Job’s friends hold the theory that there is an exact and invariable correlation between sin and suffering. The fact of suffering proves the commission of some special sin. They apply this to Job, but he disavows all special guilt. He denies that punishment in this life inevitably follows upon guilt, or proves its commission. He appeals to facts. Bad men do sometimes prosper. Here, at ch. Job 14, there is a pause. In the second colloquy the three friends take more advanced ground. They assume that Job has been actually guilty of sins, and that the sufferings and losses of Job are but an inadequate retribution for former sins. This series of accusations brings out the inmost thoughts of Job. He recognizes God’s hand in his afflictions, but denies they are brought on by wrong-doing; and becomes still clearer in the view that only the future life can vindicate God’s justice. In his last two discourses, chs. Job 26-31, he states with incomparable force and eloquence his opinion of the chief points of the controversy: man cannot comprehend God’s ways; destruction sooner or later awaits the wicked; wisdom consists wholly in the fear of the Lord, and departing from evil.”—Cook.
3. Elihu sums up the argument. “The leading principle of Elihu’s statement is that calamity, in the shape of trial, is inflicted on comparatively the best of men; but that God allows a favorable turn to take place as soon as its object has been realized.” The last words are evidently spoken while a violent storm is coming on.
4. It is obvious that many weighty truths have been developed in the course of the discussion: nearly every theory of the objects and uses of suffering has been reviewed, while a great advance has been made toward the apprehension of doctrines hereafter to be revealed, such as were known only to God. But the mystery is not as yet really cleared up; hence the necessity for the theophany. ch. Job 38:41. From the midst of the storm Jehovah speaks. In language of incomparable grandeur he reproves and silences the murmurs of Job. God does not condescend, strictly speaking, to argue with his creatures. The speculative questions discussed in the colloquy are unnoticed, but the declaration of God’s absolute power is illustrated by a marvellously beautiful and comprehensive survey of the glory of creation and his all-embracing providence. A second address completes the work. It proves that a charge of injustice against God involves the consequence that the accuser is more competent than he to rule the universe.
Jobab
Jo’bab (a desert).
1. The last in order of the sons of Joktan. Genesis 10:29; 1 Chronicles 1:23.
2. One of the “kings” of Edom. Genesis 36:33, Genesis 36:34; 1 Chronicles 1:44, 1 Chronicles 1:45.
3. King of Madon; one of the northern chieftains who attempted to oppose Joshua’s conquest, and were routed by him at Meron. Joshua 11:1 only.
4. Head of a Benjamite house. 1 Chronicles 8:9.
Jochebed
Joch’ebed (whose glory is Jehovah), the wife and at the same time the aunt of Amram and the mother of Moses and Aaron. Exodus 2:1; Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59.
Joda
Jo’da, in Revised Version for Juda. Luke 3:26.
Joed
Jo’ed (for whom Jehovah is witness), a Benjamite, the son of Pedaiah. Nehemiah 11:7.
Joel
Jo’el (to whom Jehovah is God).
1. Eldest son of Samuel the prophet, 1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 6:33; 1 Chronicles 15:17, and father of Heman the singer. (b.c. 1094.)
2. In 1 Chronicles 6:36, Authorized Version, Joel seems to be merely a corruption of Shaul in ver. 1 Chronicles 6:24.
3. A Simeonite chief. 1 Chronicles 4:35.
4. A descendant of Reuben. Junius and Tremellius make him the son of Hanoch, while others trace his descent through Carmi. 1 Chronicles 5:4. (b.c. before 1092.)
5. Chief of the Gadites, who dwelt in the land of Bashan. 1 Chronicles 5:12. (b.c. 782.)
6. The son of Izrahiah, of the tribe of Issachar. 1 Chronicles 7:3.
7. The brother of Nathan of Zobah, 1 Chronicles 11:38, and one of David’s guard.
8. The chief of the Gershomites in the reign of David. 1 Chronicles 15:7, 1 Chronicles 15:11.
9. A Gershonite Levite in the reign of David, son of Jehiel, a descendant of Laadan, and probably the same as the preceding. 1 Chronicles 23:8; 1 Chronicles 26:22. (b.c. 1014.)
10. The son of Pedaiah, and a chief of the half-tribe of Manasseh west of Jordan, in the reign of David. 1 Chronicles 27:20. (b.c. 1014.)
11. A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 29:12. (b.c. 726.)
12. One of the sons of Nebo, who returned with Ezra, and had married a foreign wife. Ezra 10:43. (b.c. 459.)
13. The son of Zichri, a Benjamite. Nehemiah 11:9.
14. The second of the twelve minor prophets, the son of Pethuel, probably prophesied in Judah in the reign of Uzziah, about b.c. 800. The book of Joel contains a grand outline of the whole terrible scene, which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets. The proximate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judah, of a two-fold character—want of water, and a plague of locusts—and continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with penitence, fasting, and prayer; and then, he says, the plague shall cease, and the rain descend in its season, and the land yield her accustomed fruit. Nay, the time will be a most joyful one; for God, by the outpouring of his Spirit, will extend the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. The prophecy is referred to in Acts 2.
Jo-elah
Jo-e’lah (Jehovah helps), son of Jeroham of Bedor. 1 Chronicles 12:7.
Jo-ezer
Jo-e’zer (whose help is Jehovah), a Korhite, one of David’s captains. 1 Chronicles 12:6. (b.c. 1155.)
Jogbehah
Jog’behah (lofty), one of the cities on the east of Jordan which were built and fortified by the tribe of Gad when they took possession of their territory. Numbers 32:35.
Jogli
Jog’li (led into exile), the father of Bukki, a Danite chief. Numbers 34:22.
Joha
Jo’ha (Jehovah gives life).
1. One of the sons of Beriah the Benjamite. 1 Chronicles 8:16. (b.c. 588 or 536.)
2. The Tizite, one of David’s guard. 1 Chronicles 11:45. (b.c. 1046.)
Johanan
Joha’nan (gift or grace of God).
1. Son of Azariah and grandson of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, and father of Azariah, 3. 1 Chronicles 6:9, 1 Chronicles 6:10, Authorized Version.
2. Son of Elioenai, the son of Neariah, the son of Shemaiah, in the line of Zerubbabel’s heirs. 1 Chronicles 3:24. (b.c. after 406.)
3. The son of Kareah, and one of the captains of the scattered remnants of the army of Judah, who escaped in the final attack upon Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. (b.c. 588.) After the murder of Gedaliah, Johanan was one of the foremost in the pursuit of his assassin, and rescued the captives he had carried off from Mizpah. Jeremiah 41:11-16. Fearing the vengeance of the Chaldeans, the captains, with Johanan at their head, notwithstanding the warnings of Jeremiah, retired into Egypt.
4. The first-born son of Josiah king of Judah. 1 Chronicles 3:15. (b.c. 638–610.)
5. A valiant Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag. 1 Chronicles 12:4. (b.c. 1055.)
6. A Gadite warrior who followed David. 1 Chronicles 12:12.
7. The father of Azariah, an Ephraimite in the time of Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28:12.
8. The son of Hakkatan, and chief of the Bene-Azgad who returned with Ezra. Ezra 8:12.
9. The son of Eliashib, one of the chief Levites. Ezra 10:6; Nehemiah 12:23.
10. The son of Tobiah the Ammonite. Nehemiah 6:18.
John
John, the same name as Johanan, a contraction of Jehohanan, Jehovah’s gift.
1. One of the high priest’s family, who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment upon the apostles Peter and John. Acts 6:6.
2. The Hebrew name of the evangelist Mark. Acts 12:12, Acts 12:25; Acts 13:5, Acts 13:13; Acts 15:37.
John the apostle
John the apostle was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee, and of Salome, and brother of James, also an apostle. Peter and James and John come within the innermost circle of their Lord’s friends; but to John belongs the distinction of being the disciple whom Jesus loved. He hardly sustains the popular notion, fostered by the received types of Christian art, of a nature gentle, yielding, feminine. The name Boanerges, Mark 3:17, implies a vehemence, zeal, intensity, which gave to those who had it the might of sons of thunder. [JAMES.] The three are with our Lord when none else are, in the chamber of death, Mark 5:37; in the glory of the transfiguration, Matthew 17:1; when he forewarns them of the destruction of the holy city, Mark 13:3; in the agony of Gethsemane. When the betrayal is accomplished, Peter and John follow afar off. John 18:15. The personal acquaintance which existed between John and Caiaphas enables him to gain access to the council chamber, and he follows Jesus thence, even to the prætorium of the Roman procurator. John 18:16, John 18:19, John 18:28. Thence he follows to the place of crucifixion, and the Teacher leaves to him the duty of becoming a son to the mother who is left desolate. John 19:26, John 19:27. It is to Peter and John that Mary Magdalene first runs with the tidings of the emptied sepulchre, John 20:2; they are the first to go together to see what the strange words meant, John running on most eagerly to the rock-tomb; Peter, the least restrained by awe, the first to enter in and look. John 20:4-6. For at least eight days they continue in Jerusalem. John 20:26. Later, on the Sea of Galilee, John is the first to recognize in the dim form seen in the morning twilight the presence of his risen Lord; Peter the first to plunge into the water and swim toward the shore where he stood calling to them. John 21:7. The last words of John’s Gospel reveal to us the deep affection which united the two friends. The history of the Acts shows the same union. They are together at the ascension and on the day of Pentecost. Together they enter the temple as worshippers, Acts 3:1, and protest against the threats of the Sanhedrin. ch. Acts 4:13. The persecution which was pushed on by Saul of Tarsus did not drive John from his post. ch. Acts 8:1. Fifteen years after St. Paul’s first visit he was still at Jerusalem, and helped to take part in the settlement of the great controversy between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians. Acts 15:6. His subsequent history we know only by tradition. There can be no doubt that he removed from Jerusalem and settled at Ephesus, though at which time is uncertain. Tradition goes on to relate that in the persecution under Domitian he is taken to Rome, and there, by his boldness, though not by death, gains the crown of martyrdom. The boiling oil into which he is thrown has no power to hurt him. He is then sent to labor in the mines, and Patmos is the place of his exile. The accession of Nerva frees him from danger, and he returns to Ephesus. Heresies continue to show themselves, but he meets them with the strongest possible protest. The very time of his death lies within the region of conjecture rather than of history, and the dates that have been assigned for it range from a.d. 89 to a.d. 120.
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was of the priestly race by both parents, for his father, Zacharias, was himself a priest of the course of Abia or Abijah, 1 Chronicles 24:10, and Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. Luke 1:5. His birth was foretold by an angel sent from God, and is related at length in Luke 1. The birth of John preceded by six months that of our Lord. John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth. Luke 1:15. Dwelling by himself in the wild and thinly-peopled region westward of the Dead Sea, he prepared himself for the wonderful office to which he had been divinely called. His dress was that of the old prophets—a garment woven of camel’s hair, 2 Kings 1:8, attached to the body by a leathern girdle. His food was such as the desert afforded—locusts, Leviticus 11:22, and wild honey. Psalm 81:16. And now the long-secluded hermit came forth to the discharge of his office. His supernatural birth, his life, and the general expectation that some great one was about to appear, were sufficient to attract to him a great multitude from “every quarter.” Matthew 3:5. Many of every class pressed forward to confess their sins and to be baptized. Jesus himself came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John. [JESUS.] From incidental notices we learn that John and his disciples continued to baptize some time after our Lord entered upon his ministry. See John 3:23; John 4:1; Acts 19:3. We gather also that John instructed his disciples in certain moral and religious duties, as fasting, Matthew 9:14; Luke 5:33, and prayer. Luke 11:1. But shortly after he had given his testimony to the Messiah, John’s public ministry was brought to a close. In daring disregard of the divine laws, Herod Antipas had taken to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; and when John reproved him for this, as well as for other sins, Luke 3:19, Herod cast him into prison. (March, a.d. 28.) The place of his confinement was the castle of Machaerus, a fortress on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. It was here that reports reached him of the miracles which our Lord was working in Judea. Nothing but the death of the Baptist would satisfy the resentment of Herodias. A court festival was kept at Machaerus in honor of the king’s birthday. After supper the daughter of Herodias came in and danced before the company, and so charmed was the king by her grace that he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask. Salome, prompted by her abandoned mother, demanded the head of John the Baptist. Herod gave instructions to an officer of his guard, who went and executed John in the prison, and his head was brought to feast the eyes of the adulteress whose sins he had denounced. His death is supposed to have occurred just before the third passover, in the course of the Lord’s ministry. (March, a.d. 29.)
John Gospel of
John, Gospel of. This Gospel was probably written at Ephesus about a.d. 78. (Canon Cook places it toward the close of John’s life, a.d. 90–100.—Ed.) The Gospel was obviously addressed primarily to Christians, not to heathen. There can be little doubt that the main object of St. John, who wrote after the other evangelists, is to supplement their narratives, whcih were almost confined to our Lord’s life in Galilee. (It was the Gospel for the Church, to cultivate and cherish the spiritual life of Christians, and bring them into the closest relations to the divine Saviour. It gives the inner life and teachings of Christ as revealed to his disciples. Nearly two-thirds of the whole book belong to the last six months of our Lord’s life, and one-third is the record of the last week.—Ed.) The following is an abridgment of its contents: A. The Prologue. ch. John 1:1-18. B. The History, ch. John 1:19-20:29. (a) Various events relating to our Lord’s ministry, narrated in connection with seven journeys, ch. John 1:19-12:50:
1. First journey, into Judea, and beginning of his ministry, ch. John 1:19-2:12 2. Second journey, at the passover in the first year of his ministry, ch. John 2:13-4. 3. Third journey, in the second year of his ministry, about the passover, ch. John 5. 4. Fourth journey, about the passover, in the third year of his ministry, beyond Jordan, ch. John 6. 5. Fifth journey, six months before his death, begun at the feast of tabernacles, chs. John 7-10:21. 6. Sixth journey, about the feast of dedication, ch. John 10:22-42. 7. Seventh journey, in Judea towards Bethany, ch. John 11:1-54. 8. Eighth journey, before his last passover, chs. John 11:55-12. (b) History of the death of Christ, chs. John 13-20:29:
1. Preparation for his passion, chs. John 13-17. 2. The circumstances of his passion and death, chs. John 19. 3. His resurrection, and the proofs of it, ch. John 20:1-29. C. The Conclusion, ch. John 20:30-21:
1. Scope of the foregoing history, ch. John 20:31. 2. Confirmation of the authority of the evangelist by additional historical facts, and by the testimony of the elders of the Church, ch. John 21:1-24. 3. Reason of the termination of the history, ch. John 21:25.
John The First Epistle General of
John, The First Epistle General of. There can be no doubt that the apostle John was the author of this epistle. It was probably written from Ephesus, and most likely at the close of the first century. In the introduction, ch. 1 John 1:1-4, the apostle states the purpose of his epistle: it is to declare the word of life to those whom he is addressing, in order that he and they might be united in true communion with each other, and with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. His lesson throughout is that the means of union with God are, on the part of Christ, his atoning blood, ch. 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 3:5; 1 John 4:14; 1 John 5:6, and advocacy, ch. 1 John 2:1; on the part of man, holiness, ch. 1 John 1:6, obedience, ch. 1 John 2:3, purity, ch. 1 John 3:3, faith, ch. 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:3; 1 John 5:5, and above all love. ch. 1 John 2:7; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1.
John The Second and Third Epistles of
John, The Second and Third Epistles of. The second epistle is addressed to an individual woman. One who had children, and a sister and nieces, is clearly indicated. According to one interpretation she is “the Lady Electa,” to another, “the elect Kyria,” to a third, “the elect Lady.” The third epistle is addressed to Caius or Gaius. He was probably a convert of St. John, Epist. 3 John 4, and a layman of wealth and distinction, Epist. 3 John 5, in some city near Ephesus. The object of St. John in writing the second epistle was to warn the lady to whom he wrote against abetting the teaching known as that of Basilides and his followers, by perhaps an undue kindness displayed by her toward the preachers of the false doctrine. The third epistle was written for the purpose of commending to the kindness and hospitality of Caius some Christians who were strangers in the place where he lived. It is probable that these Christians carried this letter with them to Caius as their introduction.
Jo-iada
Jo-i’ada (whom Jehovah favors), high priest after his father Eliashib. Nehemiah 13:28. (b.c. after 446.)
Jo-iakim
Jo-i’akim (whom Jehovah sets up), a high priest, son of the renowned Jeshua. Nehemiah 12:10. (b.c. before 446.)
Jo-iarib
Jo-i’arib (whom Jehovah defends).
1. A layman who returned from Babylon with Ezra. Ezra 8:16. (b.c. 459.)
2. The founder of one of the courses of priests, elsewhere called in full Jehoiarib. Nehemiah 12:6, Nehemiah 12:19.
3. A Shilonite—i.e., probably a descendant of Shelah the son of Judah. Nehemiah 11:5. (b.c. before 536.)
Jokde-an
Jok’de-an (possessed by the people), a city of Judah, in the mountains, Joshua 15:56, apparently south of Hebron.
Jokim
Jo’kim (whom Jehovah has set up), one of the sons of Shelah the son of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:22.
Jokme-am
Jok’me-am (gathered by the people), a city of Ephraim, given with its suburbs to the Kohathite Levites. 1 Chronicles 6:68. The situation of Jokmeam (in Authorized Version Jokneam) is to a certain extent indicated in 1 Kings 4:12, where it is named with places which we know to have been in the Jordan valley at the extreme east boundary of the tribe.
Jokne-am
Jok’ne-am (possessed by the people), a city of the tribe of Zebulun, allotted with its suburbs to the Merarite Levites. Joshua 21:34. Its modern site is Tell Kaimon, an eminence which stands just below the eastern termination of Carmel.
Jokshan
Jok’shan (fowler), a son of Abraham and Keturah, Genesis 25:2, Genesis 25:3; 1 Chronicles 1:32, whose sons were Sheba and Dedan.
Joktan
Jok’tan (small), son of Eber, Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19, and the father of the Joktanite Arabs. Genesis 10:30. (b.c. about 2200.)
Jokthe-el
Jok’the-el (subdued by God).
1. A city in the low country of Judah, Joshua 15:38, named next to Lachish.
2. “God-subdued,” the title given by Amaziah to the cliff (Authorized Version Selah)—the stronghold of the Edomites—after he had captured it from them. 2 Kings 14:7. The parallel narrative of 2 Chronicles 25:11-13 supplies fuller details.
Jona
Jo’na (a dove) (Greek form of Jonah), the father of the apostle Peter, John 1:42, who is hence addressed as Simon Barjona (i.e., son of Jona) in Matthew 16:17.
Jonadab
Jon’adab (whom Jehovah impels).
1. Son of Shimeah and nephew of David. (b.c. 1033.) He is described as “very subtile.” 2 Samuel 13:3. His age naturally made him the friend of his cousin Amnon, heir to the throne. 2 Samuel 13:3. He gave him the fatal advice for ensnaring his sister Tamar. ch. 2 Samuel 13:6. Again, when, in a later stage of the same tragedy, Amnon was murdered by Absalom, and the exaggerated report reached David that all the princes were slaughtered, Jonadab was already aware of the real state of the case. 2 Samuel 13:32, 2 Samuel 13:33.
2. Jeremiah 35:6, Jeremiah 35:8, Jeremiah 35:10, Jeremiah 35:14, Jeremiah 35:16, Jeremiah 35:18, Jeremiah 35:19. [JEHONADAB.]
Jonah
Jo’nah (dove), the fifth of the minor prophets, was the son of Amittai, and a native of Gath-hepher. 2 Kings 14:25. He flourished in or before the reign of Jeroboam II, about b.c. 820. Having already, as it seems, prophesied to Israel, he was sent to Nineveh. The time was one of political revival in Israel; but ere long the Assyrians were to be employed by God as a scourge upon them. The prophet shrank from a commission which he felt sure would result, Jonah 4:2, in the sparing of a hostile city. He attempted therefore to escape to Tarshish. The providence of God, however, watched over him, first in a storm, and then in his being swallowed by a large fish (a sea monster, probably the white shark) for the space of three days and three nights. [On this subject see article WHALE.] After his deliverance, Jonah executed his commission; and the king, “believing him to be a minister from the supreme deity of the nation,” and having heard of his miraculous deliverance, ordered a general fast, and averted the threatened judgment. But the prophet, not from personal but national feelings, grudged the mercy shown to a heathen nation. He was therefore taught by the significant lesson of the “gourd,” whose growth and decay brought the truth at once home to him, that he was sent to testify by deed, as other prophets would afterward testify by word, the capacity of Gentiles for salvation, and the design of God to make them partakers of it. This was “the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Luke 11:29, Luke 11:30. But the resurrection of Christ itself was also shadowed forth in the history of the prophet. Matthew 12:39, Matthew 12:41; Matthew 16:4. The mission of Jonah was highly symbolical. The facts contained a concealed prophecy. The old tradition made the burial-place of Jonah to be Gath-hepher; the modern tradition places it at Nebi-Yunus, opposite Mosul.
Jonam
Jo’nam (gift or grace of God), the form given to Jonan in the Revised Version of Luke 3:30.
Jonan
Jo’nan (perhaps a contraction of Johanan, gift or grace of God), son of Eliakim, in the genealogy of Christ. Luke 3:30. (b.c. before 876.)
Jonas
Jo’nas (a dove).
1. The prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:39, Matthew 12:40, Matthew 12:41; Matthew 16:4.
2. Father of Peter. John 21:15-17. [JONA.]
Jonathan
Jon’athan, that is, “the gift of Jehovah,” the eldest son of King Saul. (b.c. about 1095–1056.) He was a man of great strength and activity. 2 Samuel 1:23. He was also famous as a warrior, 1 Chronicles 12:2, as is shown by the courage he showed in attacking the garrison of the Philistines, in company with his armor-bearer only, slaying twenty men and putting an army to flight. 1 Samuel 14:6-16. During the pursuit, Jonathan, who had not heard of the rash curse, ch. 1 Samuel 14:24, which Saul invoked on any one who ate before the evening, tasted the honey which lay on the ground. Saul would have sacrificed him; but the people interposed in behalf of the hero of that great day, and Jonathan was saved. ch. 1 Samuel 14:24-45. The chief interest of Jonathan’s career is derived from the friendship with David, which began on the day of David’s return from the victory over the champion of Gath, and continued till his death. Their last meeting was in the forest of Ziph, during Saul’s pursuit of David. 1 Samuel 23:16-18. From this time forth we hear no more till the battle of Gilboa. In that battle he fell. 1 Samuel 31:2, 1 Samuel 31:8. (b.c. 1056.) His ashes were buried first at Jabesh-gilead, ch. 1 Samuel 31:13, but were afterward removed with those of his father to Zelah in Benjamin. 2 Samuel 21:12. The news of his death occasioned the celebrated elegy of David. He left a son, Mephibosheth. [MEPHIBOSHETH.]
2. A nephew of David. 2 Samuel 21:21; 1 Chronicles 20:7. He engaged in single combat with and slew a gigantic Philistine of Gath. 2 Samuel 21:21. (b.c. 1018.)
3. The son of Abiathar, the high priest, is the last descendant of Eli of whom we hear anything. 2 Samuel 15:36; 2 Samuel 17:15-21; 1 Kings 1:42, 1 Kings 1:43. (b.c. 1023.)
4. One of David’s heroes. 2 Samuel 23:32; 1 Chronicles 11:34.
5. The son or descendant of Gershom the son of Moses. Judges 18:30. [MICAH.] (b.c. about 1425.)
6. One of the Bene-Adin. Ezra 8:6.
7. A priest, the son of Asahel, in the time of Ezra. Ezra 10:15. (b.c. 459.)
8. A priest of the family of Melicu. Nehemiah 12:14.
9. One of the sons of Kareah, and brother of Johanan. Jeremiah 40:8. (b.c. 587.)
10. Son of Joiada, and his successor in the high priesthood. Nehemiah 12:11, Nehemiah 12:22, Nehemiah 12:23. (b.c. before 332.)
11. Father of Zechariah, a priest who blew the trumpet at the dedication of the wall. Nehemiah 12:35.
12. 1 Esdras 8:32. [See No. 6.] (b.c. 446.)
Jonath-elem-rechokim
Jonath-elem-rechokim (a dumb love of (in) distant places), a phrase found once only in the Bible, as a heading to the Psalm 56th psalm. Aben Ezra, who regards Jonath-elem-rechokim as merely indicating the modulation or the rhythm of the psalm, appears to come the nearest to the meaning of the passage.
Joppa
Jop’pa, or Japho (beauty), now Jaffa, a town on the southwest coast of Palestine, in the portion of Dan. Joshua 19:46. Having a harbor attached to it—though always, as still, a dangerous one—it became the port of Jerusalem in the days of Solomon, and has been ever since. Here Jonah “took ship to flee from the presence of his Maker.” Here, on the house-top of Simon the tanner, “by the seaside,” St. Peter had his vision of tolerance. Acts 11:5. The existing town contains about 4000 inhabitants.
Jaffa, the modern Joppa.
Jorah
Jo’rah (the early rain), the ancestor of a family of 112 who returned from Babylon with Ezra. Ezra 2:18. In Nehemiah 7:24 he appears under the name Hariph, or more correctly the same family are represented as the Bene-Hariph.
Jora-i
Jor’a-i (whom Jehovah teaches), one of the Gadites dwelling at Gilead in Bashan, in the reign of Jothan king of Judah. 1 Chronicles 5:13.
Joram
Jo’ram (whom Jehovah has exalted).
1. Son of Ahab king of Israel. 2 Kings 8:16, 2 Kings 8:25, 2 Kings 8:28, 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Kings 9:14, 2 Kings 9:17, 2 Kings 9:21-23, 2 Kings 9:29. [JEHORAM, 1.]
2. Son of Jehoshaphat; king of Judah. 2 Kings 8:21, 2 Kings 8:23, 2 Kings 8:24; 1 Chronicles 3:11; 2 Chronicles 22:5, 2 Chronicles 22:7; Matthew 1:8. [JEHORAM, 2.]
3. A priest in the reign of Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 17:8.
4. A Levite, ancestor of Shelomith, in the time of David. 1 Chronicles 26:25.
5. Son of Toi king of Hamath. 2 Samuel 8:10. [HADORAM.]
6. 1 Esdras 1:9. [JOZABAD, 3.]
Jordan
Jor’dan (the descender), the one river of Palestine, has a course of little more than 200 miles, from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea. (136 miles in a straight line.—Schaff.) It is the river of the “great plain” of Palestine—the “descender,” if not “the river of God” in the book of Psalms, at least that of his chosen people throughout their history. There were fords over against Jericho, to which point the men of Jericho pursued the spies. Joshua 2:7; comp. Judges 3:28. Higher up were the fords or passages of Bethbarah, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites, Judges 7:24, and where the men of Gilead slew the Ephraimites. ch. Judges 12:6. These fords undoubtedly witnessed the first recorded passage of the Jordan in the Old Testament. Genesis 32:10. Jordan was next crossed, over against Jericho, by Joshua. Joshua 4:12, Joshua 4:13. From their vicinity to Jerusalem the lower fords were much used. David, it is probable, passed over them in one instance to fight the Syrians. 2 Samuel 10:17; 2 Samuel 17:22. Thus there were two customary places at which the Jordan was fordable; and it must have been at one of these, if not at both, that baptism was afterward administered by St. John and by the disciples of our Lord. Where our Lord was baptized is not stated expressly, but it was probably at the upper ford. These fords were rendered so much more precious in those days from two circumstances. First, it does not appear that there were then any bridges thrown over or boats regularly established on the Jordan; and secondly, because “Jordan overflowed all his banks all the time of harvest.” Joshua 3:15. The channel or bed of the river became brimful, so that the level of the water and of the banks was then the same. (Dr. Selah Merrill, in his book “Galilee in the Time of Christ” (1881), says, “Near Tarichæa, just below the point where the Jordan leaves the lake (of Galilee), there was (in Christ’s time) a splendid bridge across the river, supported by ten piers.”—Ed.) The last feature which remains to be noticed in the scriptural account of the Jordan is its frequent mention as a boundary: “over Jordan,” “this” and “the other side,” or “beyond Jordan,” were expressions as familiar to the Israelites as “across the water,” “this” and “the other side of the Channel” are to English ears. In one sense indeed, that is, in so far as it was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, it was the eastern boundary of the promised land. Numbers 34:12. The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium (Bâniâs), and passes through the lakes of Merom (Hûleh) and Gennesaret. The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings. From its fountain heads to the Dead Sea it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea there are 27 rapids. The depression of the Lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediterranean is 653 feet, and that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet. (The whole descent from its source to the Dead Sea is 3000 feet. Its width varies from 45 to 180 feet, and it is from 3 to 12 feet deep.—Schaff.) Its sinuosity is not so remarkable in the upper part of its course. The only tributaries to the Jordan below Gennesaret are the Yarmûk (Hieromax) and the Zerka (Jabbok). Not a single city ever crowned the banks of the Jordan. Still Bethshan and Jericho to the west, Gerasa, Pella, and Gadara to the east of it were important cities, and caused a good deal of traffic between the two opposite banks. The physical features of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows, are treated of under PALESTINE.
The Jordan Valley.
Jorim
Jo’rim (whom Jehovah has exalted), son of Matthat, in the genealogy of Christ. Luke 3:29.
Jorko-am
Jor’ko-am (paleness of the people), either a descendant of Caleb the son of Hezron, or the name of a place in the tribe of Judah. 1 Chronicles 2:44.
Josabad
Jos’abad (whom Jehovah bestows), properly Jozabad the Gederathite, one of the warriors of Benjamin who joined David at Ziklag. 1 Chronicles 12:4. (b.c. 1055.)
Josaphat
Jos’aphat = Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Matthew 1:8.
Jose
Jo’se (another form of Joses), son of Eliezer, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Luke 3:29.
Josech
Jo’sech, the form of name given in the Revised Version for Joseph, in Luke 3:26. It is not found in the Old Testament.
Josedech
Jos’edech = Jehozadak (whom Jehovah makes just), the son of Seraiah. Haggai 1:1, Haggai 1:12, Haggai 1:14; Haggai 2:2, Haggai 2:4; Zechariah 6:11.
Joseph
Jo’seph (increase).
1. The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel. He was born in Padan-aram (Mesopotamia), probably about b.c. 1746. He is first mentioned when a youth, seventeen years old. Joseph brought the evil report of his brethren to his father, and they hated him because his father loved him more than he did them, and had shown his preference by making him a dress which appears to have been a long tunic with sleeves, worn by youths and maidens of the richer class. Genesis 37:2. He dreamed a dream foreshadowing his future power, which increased the hatred of his brethren. Genesis 37:5-7. He was sent by his father to visit his brothers, who were tending flocks in the fields of Dothan. They resolved to kill him, but he was saved by Reuben, who persuaded the brothers to cast Joseph into a dry pit, to the intent that he might restore him to Jacob. The appearance of the Ishmaelites suggested his sale for “twenty pieces (shekels) of silver.” ver. Genesis 37:28. Sold into Egypt to Potiphar, Joseph prospered and was soon set over Potiphar’s house, and “all he had he gave into his hand”; but incurring the anger of Potiphar’s wife, ch. Genesis 39:7-13, he was falsely accused and thrown into prison, where he remained at least two years, interpreting during this time the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker. Finally Pharaoh himself dreamed two prophetic dreams. Joseph, being sent for, interpreted them in the name of God, foretelling the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. Pharaoh at once appointed Joseph not merely governor of Egypt, but second only to the sovereign, and also gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah priest of On (Hieropolis), and gave him a name or title, Zaphnath-paaneah (preserver of life). Joseph’s first act was to go throughout all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years there was a very abundant produce, and he gathered the fifth part and laid it up. When the seven good years had passed, the famine began. Genesis 41:54-57. [FAMINE.] After the famine had lasted for a time, apparently two years, Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought, and brought it into Pharaoh’s house, Genesis 47:13, Genesis 47:14; and when the money was exhausted, all the cattle, and finally all the land except that of the priests, and apparently, as a consequence, the Egyptians themselves. He demanded, however, only a fifth part of the produce as Pharaoh’s right. Now Jacob, who had suffered also from the effects of the famine, sent Joseph’s brothers to Egypt for corn. The whole story of Joseph’s treatment of his brethren is so graphically told in Genesis 42-45, and is so familiar, that it is unnecessary here to repeat it. On the death of Jacob in Egypt, Joseph carried him to Canaan, and laid him in the cave of Machpelah, the burying-place of his fathers. Joseph lived “a hundred and ten years,” having been more than ninety in Egypt. Dying, he took an oath of his brethren that they should carry up his bones to the land of promise: thus showing in his latest action the father, Hebrews 11:22, which had guided his whole life. Like his father he was embalmed, “and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” Genesis 50:26. His trust Moses kept, and laid the bones of Joseph in his inheritance in Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim his offspring. His tomb is, according to tradition, about a stone’s throw from Jacob’s well.
Joseph’s Tomb and Mount Gerizim.
2. Father of Igal, who represented the tribe of Issachar among the spies. Numbers 13:7.
3. A lay Israelite who had married a foreign wife. Ezra 10:42. (b.c. 459.)
4. A representative of the priestly family of Shebaniah. Nehemiah 12:14. (b.c. after 536.)
5. One of the ancestors of Christ, Luke 3:30, son of Jonan.
6. Another ancestor of Christ, son of Judah. Luke 3:26. (b.c. between 536–410.)
7. Another, son of Mattathias. Luke 3:24. (b.c. after 400.)
8. Son of Heli, and reputed father of Jesus Christ. All that is told us of Joseph in the New Testament may be summed up in a few words. He was a just man, and of the house and lineage of David. He lived at Nazareth in Galilee. He espoused Mary, the daughter and heir of his uncle Jacob, and before he took her home as his wife received the angelic communication recorded in Matthew 1:20. When Jesus was twelve years old Joseph and Mary took him with them to keep the passover at Jerusalem, and when they returned to Nazareth he continued to act as a father to the child Jesus, and was reputed to be so indeed. But here our knowledge of Joseph ends. That he died before our Lord’s crucifixion is indeed tolerably certain, by what is related John 19:27, and perhaps Mark 6:3 may imply that he was then dead. But where, when, or how he died we know not.
9. Joseph of Arimathæa, a rich and pious Israelite, probably a member of the Great Council or Sanhedrin. He is further characterized as “a good man and a just.” Luke 23:50. We are expressly told that he did not “consent to the counsel and deed” of his colleagues in conspiring to bring about the death of Jesus; but he seems to have lacked the courage to protest against their judgment. On the very evening of the crucifixion, when the triumph of the chief priests and rulers seemed complete, Joseph “went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus.” Pilate consented. Joseph and Nicodemus then, having enfolded the sacred body in the linen shroud which Joseph had bought, consigned it to a tomb hewn in a rock, in a garden belonging to Joseph, and close to the place of crucifixion. There is a tradition that he was one of the seventy disciples.
10. Joseph, called Barsabas, and surnamed Justus; one of the two persons chosen by the assembled church, Acts 1:23, as worthy to fill the place in the apostolic company from which Judas had fallen.
Joses
Jo’ses (exalted).
1. Son of Eliezer, in the genealogy of Christ. Luke 3:29.
2. One of the Lord’s brethren. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3.