Smith's Bible Dictionary

R

Raamah — Rhoda

Raamah

Ra’amah (horse’s mane), a son of Cush and father of the Cushite Sheba and Dedan. Genesis 10:7. (b.c. after 2513.) The tribe of Raamah became afterward renowned as traders. Ezekiel 27:22. They were settled on the Persian Gulf.

Ra-amiah

Ra-ami’ah (thunder of Jehovah), one of the chiefs who returned with Zerubbabel. Nehemiah 7:7. In Ezra 2:2 he is called Reelaiah. (b.c. 445.)

Ra-amses

Ra-am’ses. Exodus 1:11. [RAMESES.]

Rabbah

Rab’bah (great).

1. A very strong place on the east of the Jordan, and the chief city of the Ammonites. In five passages—Deuteronomy 3:11; 2 Samuel 12:26; 2 Samuel 17:27; Jeremiah 49:2; Ezekiel 21:20—it is styled at length Rabbath of the Ammonites, or the children of Ammon; but elsewhere, Joshua 13:25; 2 Samuel 11:1; 2 Samuel 12:27, 2 Samuel 12:29; 1 Chronicles 20:1; Jeremiah 49:3, simply Rabbah. When first named it is mentioned as containing the bed or sarcophagus of the giant Og. Deuteronomy 3:11. David sent Joab to besiege Rabbah. 2 Samuel 11:1, 2 Samuel 11:17, etc. Joab succeeded in capturing a portion of the place—the “city of waters,” that is, the lower town, so called from its containing the perennial stream which rises in and still flows through it. The citadel still remained to be taken, but this was secured shortly after David’s arrival. 2 Samuel 12:26-31. Long after, at the date of the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 49:2, Jeremiah 49:3, it had walls and palaces. It is named in such terms as imply that it was of equal importance with Jerusalem. Ezekiel 21:20. From Ptolemy Philadelphus (b.c. 285–247) it received the name of Philadelphia. It was one of the cities of the Decapolis, and became the seat of a Christian bishop. Its ruins, which are considerable, are found at Ammôn, about 22 miles from the Jordan. It lies in a valley which is a branch, or perhaps the main course, of the Wady Zerka, usually identified with the Jabbok. The public buildings are said to be Roman, except the citadel, which is described as of large square stones put together without cement, and which is probably more ancient than the rest.

2. A city of Judah, named with Kirjath-jearim in Joshua 15:60 only. No trace of its existence has yet been discovered.

Rabbath-moab

Rab’bath-moab. [AR.]

Rabbath of the Children of Ammon

Rab’bath of the Children of Ammon, and Rabbath of the Ammonites. [See RABBATH.]

Rabbi

Rabbi, a title of respect signifying master, teacher, given by the Jews to their doctors and teachers, and often addressed to our Lord. Matthew 23:7, Matthew 23:8; Matthew 26:25, Matthew 26:49; Mark 9:5; Mark 11:21; Mark 14:45; John 1:38, John 1:49; John 3:2, John 3:26; John 4:31; John 6:25; John 9:2; John 11:8. Another form of the title was Rabboni. John 20:16. The titles were used with different degrees of honor; the lowest being rab, master; then rabbi, my master; next rabban, our master; and greatest of all, rabboni, my great master.

Rabbith

Rab’bith (multitude), a town in the territory, perhaps on the boundary, of Issachar. Joshua 19:20 only.

Rabboni

Rabbo’ni. John 20:16. [RABBI.]

Rab-mag

Rab-mag, Jeremiah 39:3, Jeremiah 39:13, a title borne by Nergal-sharezer, probably identical with the king called by the Greeks Neriglissar. [NERGAL-SHAREZER.] (It probably means chief of the magi; at all events it was “an office of great power and dignity at the Babylonian court, and probably gave its possessor special facilities for gaining the throne.”)

Rabsaris

Rab’saris (chief of the eunuchs).

1. An officer of the king of Assyria sent up with Tartan and Rabshakeh against Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah. 2 Kings 18:17. (b.c. 713.)

2. One of the princes of Nebuchadnezzar, who was present at the capture of Jerusalem, b.c. 588. Jeremiah 39:3, Jeremiah 39:13. Rabsaris is probably rather the name of an office than of an individual.

Rabshakeh

Rab’shakeh (chief cupbearer), 2 Kings 18, 2 Kings 19; Isaiah 36, Isaiah 37, one of the officers of the king of Assyria sent against Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah. [HEZEKIAH.] (b.c. 713.) The English version takes Rabshakeh as the name of a person; but it is more probably the name of the office which he held at the court, that of chief cupbearer.

Raca

Raca, a term of reproach derived from the Chaldee rêkâ, worthless. (“Raca denotes a certain looseness of life and manners, while ‘fool,’ in the same passage, means a downright wicked and reprobate person.”) Matthew 5:22.

Race

Race. [GAMES.]

Racing.

Rachab

Ra’chab. Rahab the harlot. Matthew 1:5.

Rachal

Ra’chal (trade), 1 Samuel 30:29, a town in the southern part of the tribe of Judah, one of the towns to which David sent presents out of the spoil of the Amalekites.

Rachel

Ra’chel (ewe, or sheep), the younger of the daughters of Laban, the wife of Jacob (b.c. 1753) and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. The incidents of her life may be found in Genesis 29-33, Genesis 35. The story of Jacob and Rachel has always had a peculiar interest. The beauty of Rachel, Jacob’s deep love and long servitude for her, their marriage, and Rachel’s death on giving birth to Benjamin, with Jacob’s grief at her loss, Genesis 48:7, makes a touching tale. Yet from what is related to us concerning her character there does not seem much to claim any high degree of admiration and esteem. She appears to have shared all the duplicity and falsehood of her family. See, for instance, Rachel’s stealing her father’s images, and the ready dexterity and presence of mind with which she concealed her theft. Genesis 31. “Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. (b.c. 1729.) And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” Genesis 35:19, Genesis 35:20. The site of Rachel’s tomb, “on the way to Bethlehem,” “a little way to come to Ephrath,” “in the border of Benjamin,” has never been questioned. It is about two miles south of Jerusalem and one mile north of Bethlehem.

Tomb of Rachel, near Bethlehem.

Radda-i

Rad’da-i (trampling), one of David’s brothers, fifth son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 2:14.

Ragau

Ra’gau, one of the ancestors of our Lord, son of Phalec. Luke 3:35. He is the same person with Reu, son of Peleg.

Rages

Ra’ges, an important city in northeastern Media, where that country bordered upon Parthia. Its ruins, still known by the name of Rhey, lie about five miles southeast of Teheran.

Raguel

Ragu’el, or Re-u’el (friend of God).

1. Probably the same as Jethro. [JETHRO; HOBAB.] (b.c. 1490.)

2. A pious Jew of “Ecbatane, a city of Media,” father of Sara, the wife of Tobias. Tobit 3:7, Tobit 3:17, etc.

Rahab

Ra’hab, or Ra’chab (wide), a celebrated woman of Jericho, who received the spies sent by Joshua to spy out the land, hid them in her house from the pursuit of her countrymen, was saved with all her family when the Israelites sacked the city, and became the wife of Salmon and the ancestress of the Messiah. Joshua 2:1; Matthew 1:5. (b.c. 1450.) She was a “harlot,” and probably combined the trade of lodging-keeper for wayfaring men. Her reception of the spies, the artifice by which she concealed them from the king, their escape, and the saving of Rahab and her family at the capture of the city, in accordance with their promise, are all told in the narrative of Joshua 2. As regards Rahab herself, she probably repented, and we learn from Matthew 1:5 that she became the wife of Salmon the son of Naasson, and the mother of Boaz, Jesse’s grandfather. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that “by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace,” Hebrews 11:31; and St. James fortifies his doctrine of justification by works by asking, “Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” James 2:25.

Rahab

Ra’hab, a poetical name of Egypt, Psalm 89:10; Isaiah 51:9, signifying “fierceness, insolence, pride.” Rahab, as a name of Egypt, occurs once only without reference to the exodus: this is in Psalm 87:4. In Isaiah 30:7 the name is alluded to.

Raham

Ra’ham (belly). In the genealogy of the descendants of Caleb the son of Hezron, 1 Chronicles 2:44, Raham is described as the son of Shema and father of Jorkoam.

Rahel

Ra’hel, the original form in our Authorized Version of the now familiar Rachel. Jeremiah 31:15.

Rain

Rain. In the Bible “early rain” signifies the rain of the autumn, Deuteronomy 11:14, and “latter rain” the rain of spring. Proverbs 16:15. For six months in the year, from May to October, no rain falls, the whole land becomes dry, parched and brown. The autumnal rains are eagerly looked for, to prepare the earth for the reception of the seed. These, the early rains, commence about the latter end of October, continuing through November and December. January and February are the coldest months, and snow falls, sometimes to the depth of a foot or more, at Jerusalem, but it does not lie long; it is very seldom seen along the coast and in the low plains. Rain continues to fall more or less during the month of March; it is very rare in April. Robinson observes that there are not, at the present day, “any particular periods of rain or succession of showers which might be regarded as distinct rainy seasons. The whole period from October to March now constitutes only one continued season of rain, without any regularly-intervening term of prolonged fine weather. Unless, therefore, there has been some change in the climate, the early and the latter rains, for which the husbandman waited with longing, seem rather to have implied the first showers of autumn—which revived the parched and thirsty soil and prepared it for the seed—and the later showers of spring, which continued to refresh and forward both the ripening crops and the vernal products of the fields.” James 5:7; Proverbs 16;Proverbs 16:15.

Rainbow

Rainbow, the token of the covenant which God made with Noah when he came forth from the ark that the waters should no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The right interpretation of Genesis 9:13 seems to be that God took the rainbow, which had hitherto been but a beautiful object shining in the heavens when the sun’s rays fell on falling rain, and consecrated it as the sign of his love and the witness of his promise. Sirach 43:11. The rainbow is a symbol of God’s faithfulness and mercy. In the “rainbow around the throne,” Revelation 4:3, is seen the symbol of hope and the bright emblem of mercy and love, all the more true as a symbol because it is reflected from the storm itself.

Raisins

Raisins. [VINE.]

Rakem

Ra’kem (flower garden), a descendant of Machir the son of Manasseh. 1 Chronicles 7:16. (b.c. before 1451.)

Rakkath

Rak’kath (shore), a fortified city in the tribe of Naphtali. Joshua 19:35. It was on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, not far from the warm baths of Tiberias.

Rakkon

Rak’kon (the temple) (of the head), a well-watered place in the inheritance of Dan, not far from Joppa. Joshua 19:46.

Ram

Ram. [See BATTERING-RAM.]

Battering-ram. A Besieged City. (Nineveh Sculptures.)

Ram

Ram (high, exalted).

1. A son of Hezron and the father of Amminadab, born in Egypt after Jacob’s migration there. Ruth 4:19. (b.c. 1706.) In Matthew 1:3, Matthew 1:4, and Luke 3:33 he is called Aram in the Authorized Version, but Ram in the Revised Version of Matthew 1:3, Matthew 1:4, and Arni in the Revised Version of Luke 3:33.

2. The first-born of Jerahmeel, and therefore nephew of the preceding. 1 Chronicles 2:25, 1 Chronicles 2:27. (b.c. after 1706.)

3. One of the kindred of Elihu. Job 32:2. Ewald identified this Ram with Aram in Genesis 22:21.

Rama

Ra’ma, Matthew 2:18, referring to Jeremiah 31:15. It is the Greek form of Ramah.

Ramah

Ra’mah (a hill). This is the name of several places in the holy land.

1. One of the cities of the allotment of Benjamin. Joshua 18:25. Its site is at er-Râm, about five miles from Jerusalem, and near to Gibeah. Judges 4:5; Judges 19:13; 1 Samuel 22:6. Its people returned after the captivity. Ezra 2:26; Nehemiah 7:30.

2. The home of Elkanah, Samuel’s father, 1 Samuel 1:19; 1 Samuel 2:11, the birthplace of Samuel himself, his home and official residence, the site of his altar, ch. 1 Samuel 7:17; 1 Samuel 8:4; 1 Samuel 15:34; 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Samuel 19:18, and finally his burial-place. ch. 1 Samuel 25:1; 1 Samuel 28:3. It is a contracted form of Ramathaim-zophim. All that is directly said as to its situation is that it was in Mount Ephraim, 1 Samuel 1:1, a district without defined boundaries. The position of Ramah is a much-disputed question. Tradition, however, places the residence of Samuel on the lofty and remarkable eminence of Neby Samwil, which rises four miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. Since the days of Arculf the tradition appears to have been continuous. Here, then, we are inclined, in the present state of the evidence, to place the Ramah of Samuel.

3. One of the nineteen fortified places of Naphtali. Joshua 19:36. Dr. Robinson has discovered a Rameh northwest of the Sea of Galilee, about 8 miles east-southeast of Safed.

4. One of the landmarks on the boundary of Asher, Joshua 19:29, apparently between Tyre and Zidon. Some place it 3 miles east of Tyre, others 10 miles off and east-southeast of the same city.

5. By this name in 2 Kings 8:29 and 2 Chronicles 22:6, only, is designated Ramoth-gilead.

6. A place mentioned in the catalogue of those reinhabited by the Benjamites after their return from the captivity. Nehemiah 11:33.

Ramath-lehi

Ra’math-le’hi (hill of the jawbone, or hill of Lehi), the name bestowed by Samson on the scene of his slaughter of the thousand Philistines with the jawbone, Judges 15:17; a place by the rock Elam, in western Judah, near the borders of the Philistines.

Ramath-mizpeh

Ra’math-miz’peh (high place of the watch-tower). [RAMOTH-GILEAD.]

Ramath of the south

Ra’math of the south, one of the towns at the extreme south limit of Simeon. Joshua 19:8. It is in all probability the same place as south Ramoth. 1 Samuel 30:27.

Ramathaim-zophim

Ramatha’im-zo’phim (the two heights of the watchers). [RAMAH, 2.]

Ramathite The

Ra’mathite, The. Shimei the Ramathite, i.e., a native of Ramah, had charge of the royal vineyards of King David. 1 Chronicles 27:27. (b.c. 1050.)

Rameses

Rame’ses, or Ra-am’ses (child of the sun), a city and district of lower Egypt. Genesis 47:11; Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3, Numbers 33:5. This land of Rameses either corresponds to the land of Goshen or was a district of it, more probably the former. The city was one of the two store-cities built for the Pharaoh who first oppressed the children of Israel. Exodus 1:11. (It was probably the capital of Goshen, and situated in the valley of the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. McClintock and Strong say that its location is indicated by the present Tell Ramsis, a quadrangular mound near Belbeis. Dr. Brugsch thinks that it was at Zoan-Tanis, the modern San, on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, and that it was built or enlarged by Rameses II and made his capital.—Ed.)

Ramiah

Rami’ah, one who had taken “a strange wife.” Ezra 10:25.

Ramoth-gilead

Ra’moth-gil’ead (heights of Gilead), one of the great fastnesses on the east of Jordan, and the key to an important district. 1 Kings 4:13. It was the city of refuge for the tribe of Gad, Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8; Joshua 21:38, and the residence of one of Solomon’s commissariat officers. 1 Kings 4:13. During the invasion related in 1 Kings 15:20, or some subsequent incursion, this important place had been seized by Ben-hadad I, king of Syria. The incidents of Ahab’s expedition are well known. [AHAB.] Later it was taken by Israel, and held in spite of all the efforts of Hazael, who was now on the throne of Damascus, to regain it. 2 Kings 9:14. Henceforward Ramoth-gilead disappears from our view. Eusebius and Jerome specify the position of Ramoth as 15 miles from Philadelphia (Ammân). It may correspond to the site bearing the name of Jel˒âd, exactly identical with the ancient Hebrew Gilead, which is four or five miles north of es-Salt, 25 miles east of the Jordan and 13 miles south of the brook Jabbok.

Ram’s horns

Ram’s horns. [CORNET; JUBILEE.]

Rapha

Ra’pha (tall).

1. Son of Binea, among the descendants of Saul. 1 Chronicles 8:37.

2. One of Benjamin’s descendants. 1 Chronicles 8:2.

Raphael

Ra’phael (the divine healer). According to Jewish tradition, Raphael was one of the four angels which stood round the throne of God—Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael.

Raphon

Ra’phon, a city of Gilead, 1 Maccabees 5:37, perhaps identical with Raphana, which is mentioned by Pliny as one of the cities of the Decapolis.

Raphu

Ra’phu, the father of Palti, the Benjamite spy. Numbers 13:9. (b.c. before 1490.)

Raven

Raven (black). The Hebrew oreb is applied to the several species of the crow family, a number of which are found in Palestine. The raven belongs to the order Insessores, family CorvidŜ. (It resembles the crow, but is larger, weighing three pounds; its black color is more iridescent, and it is gifted with greater sagacity. “There is something weird and shrewd in the expression of the raven’s countenance, a union of cunning and malignity which may have contributed to give it among widely-severed nations a reputation for preternatural knowledge.” One writer says that the smell of death is so grateful to them that when in passing over sheep a tainted smell is perceptible, they cry and croak vehemently. It may be that in passing over a human habitation, if a sickly or cadaverous smell arises, they would make it known by their cries, and so has arisen the idea that the croaking or a raven is the premonition of death.—Ed.) A raven was sent out by Noah from the ark. Genesis 8:7. This bird was not allowed as food by the Mosaic law. Leviticus 11:15. Elijah was cared for by ravens. 1 Kings 17:4, 1 Kings 17:6. They are expressly mentioned as instances of God’s protecting love and goodness. Job 38:41; Luke 12:24. The raven’s carnivorous habits, and especially his readiness to attack the eye, are alluded to in Proverbs 30:17. To the fact of the raven being a common bird in Palestine, and to its habit of flying restlessly about in constant search for food to satisfy its voracious appetite, may perhaps be traced the reason for its being selected by our Lord and the inspired writers as the especial object of God’s providing care.

Raven.

Razor

Razor. Besides other usages, the practice of shaving the head after the completion of a vow must have created among the Jews a necessity for the special trade of a barber. Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 6:9, Numbers 6:18; Numbers 8:7; Judges 13:5; Isaiah 7:20; Ezekiel 5:1; Acts 18:18. The instruments of his work were probably, as in modern times, the razor, the basic, the mirror, and perhaps also the scissors. See 2 Samuel 14:26. Like the Levites, the Egyptian priests were accustomed to shave their whole bodies.

Reaia

Reai’a, a Reubenite, son of Micah, and apparently prince of his tribe. 1 Chronicles 5:5. The name is identical with REAI&RSQUO;AH.

Reaiah

Reai’ah (seen of Jehovah).

1. A descendant of Shubal the son of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:2.

2. The children of Reaiah were a family of Nethinim who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:47; Nehemiah 7:50. (b.c. before 536.)

Reba

Re’ba (four), one of the five kings of the Midianites slain by the children of Israel when Balaam fell. Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21. (b.c. 1450.)

Rebecca

Rebec’ca. Romans 9:10 only. [REBEKAH.]

Rebekah

Rebek’ah (ensnarer), daughter of Bethuel, Genesis 22:23, and sister of Laban, married to Isaac. She is first presented to us in Genesis 24, where the beautiful story of her marriage is related. (b.c. 1857.) For nineteen years she was childless: then Esau and Jacob were born, the younger being the mother’s companion and favorite. Genesis 25:19-28. Rebekah suggested the deceit that was practiced by Jacob on his blind father. She directed and aided him in carrying it out, foresaw the probable consequence of Esau’s anger, and prevented it by moving Isaac to send Jacob away to Padan-aram, Genesis 27, to her own kindred. Genesis 29:12. Rebekah’s beauty became at one time a source of danger to her husband. Genesis 26:7. It has been conjectured that she died during Jacob’s sojourn in Padan-aram.

Rechab

Re’chab (rider).

1. One of the two “captains of bands” whom Ish-bosheth took into his service, and who conspired to murder him. 2 Samuel 4:2. (b.c. 1046.)

2. The father of Malchiah, ruler of part of Beth-haccerem. Nehemiah 3:14. (b.c. before 446.)

3. The father or ancestor of Jehonadab. 2 Kings 10:15, 2 Kings 10:23; 1 Chronicles 2:55; Jeremiah 35:6-19. (b.c. before 882.) It was from this Rechab that the tribe of the Rechabites derived their name. In 1 Chronicles 2:55 the house of Rechab is identified with a section of the Kenites, a Midianitish tribe who came into Canaan with the Israelites, and retained their nomadic habits. The real founder of the tribe was Jehonadab. [JEHONADAB.] He and his people had all along been worshippers of Jehovah, circumcised, though not looked upon as belonging to Israel, and probably therefore not considering themselves bound by the Mosaic law and ritual. The worship of Baal was offensive to them. Jehonadab inaugurated a reformation and compelled a more rigid adherence than ever to the old Arab life. They were neither to drink wine, nor build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant nor have any vineyard. All their days they were to dwell in tents. Jeremiah 35:6,Jeremiah 35:7. This was to be the condition of their retaining a distinct tribal existence. For two centuries and a half they adhered faithfully to this rule. The invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, in b.c. 607, drove the Rechabites from their tents to Jerusalem, where they stood proof against temptation, and were specially blessed. Jeremiah 35:2-19. There is much of interest in relation to the present condition of these people. Dr. Wolff reports that the Jews of Jerusalem and Yemen told him that he would find the Rechabites of Jeremiah 35 living near Mecca, in the mountainous country northeast of Medina. When he came near Senaa he came in contact with a tribe, the Beni-Khabir, who identified themselves with the sons of Jehonadab. They claimed to number 60,000, to adhere to the old rules, and to be a fulfillment of the promise made to Jehonadab.

Rechabites

Re’chabites. [RECHAB.]

Rechah

Re’chah (uttermost part), probably a place in Judah—a village, Rashiah, three miles south of Jerusalem.

Recorder

Recorder, an officer of high rank in the Jewish state, exercising the functions, not simply of an annalist, but of chancellor or president of the privy council. In David’s court the recorder appears among the high officers of his household. 2 Samuel 8:16; 2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Chronicles 18:15. In Solomon’s he is coupled with the three secretaries. 1 Kings 4:3; comp. 2 Kings 18:18, 2 Kings 18:37; 2 Chronicles 34:8.

Red Sea

Red Sea.

1. Name.—The sea known to us as the Red Sea was by the Israelites called “the sea,” Exodus 14:2, Exodus 14:9, Exodus 14:16, Exodus 14:21, Exodus 14:28; Exodus 15:1, Exodus 15:4, Exodus 15:8, Exodus 15:10, Exodus 15:19; Joshua 24:6, Joshua 24:7, and many other passages, and specially “the sea of sûph.” Exodus 10:19; Exodus 13:18; Exodus 15:4, Exodus 15:22; Exodus 23:31; Numbers 14:25, etc. This word signifies a sea-weed resembling wool, and such sea-weed is thrown up abundantly on the shores of the Red Sea; hence Brugsch calls it the sea of reeds or weeds. The color of the water is not red. Ébers says that it is of a lovely blue-green color, and named Red either from its red banks or from the Erythræans, who were called the red people.

2. Physical description.—In extreme length the Red Sea stretches from the straits of Báb el-Mendeb (or rather Rás Báb el-Mendeb), 18 miles wide, in lat. 12° 40’ N., to the modern head of the Gulf of Suez, lat. 30° N., a distance of 1450 miles. Its greatest width may be stated at about 210 miles. At Rás Mohammed, on the north, the Red Sea is split by the granitic peninsula of Sinai into two gulfs; the westernmost, or Gulf of Suez, is now about 150 miles in length, with an average width of about 20, though it contracts to less than 10 miles; the easternmost, or Gulf of el-’Akabeh, is about 100 miles long, from the Straits of Tirán to the ’Akabeh, and 15 miles wide. The average depth of the Red Sea is from 2500 to 3500 feet, though in places it is 6000 feet deep. Journeying southward from Suez, on our left is the peninsula of Sinai; on the right is the desert coast of Egypt, of limestone formation, like the greater part of the Nile valley in Egypt, the cliffs on the sea margin stretching landward in a great rocky plateau, while more inland a chain of volcanic mountains, beginning about lat. 28° 4’ and running south, rear their lofty peaks at intervals above the limestone, generally about 15 miles distant.

3. Ancient limits.—The most important change in the Red Sea has been the drying up of its northern extremity, “the tongue of the Egyptian Sea.” The land about the head of the gulf has risen and that near the Mediterranean become depressed. The head of the gulf has consequently retired gradually since the Christian era. Thus the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 19:5; the tongue of the Red Sea has dried up for a distance of at least 50 miles from its ancient head. An ancient canal conveyed the waters of the Nile to the Red Sea, flowing through the Wádi-t-Tumeylát and irrigating with its system of water-channels a large extent of country. It was 62 Roman miles long, 54 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. The drying up of the head of the gulf appears to have been one of the chief causes of the neglect and ruin of this canal. The country, for the distance above indicated, is now a desert of gravelly sand, with wide patches about the old sea-bottom, of rank marsh land, now called the “Bitter Lakes.” At the northern extremity of this salt waste is a small lake, sometimes called the Lake of Heroöpolis; the lake is now Birket-et-Timsáh, “the lake of the crocodile,” and is supposed to mark the ancient head of the gulf. The canal that connected this with the Nile was of Pharaonic origin. It was anciently known as the “Fossa Regum” and the “canal of Hero.” The time at which the canal was extended, after the drying up of the head of the gulf, to the present head is uncertain, but it must have been late, and probably since the Mohammedan conquest. Traces of the ancient channel throughout its entire length to the vicinity of Bubastis exist at intervals in the present day. The land north of the ancient head of the gulf is a plain of heavy sand, merging into marsh-land near the Mediterranean coast, and extending to Palestine. This region, including Wái-t-Tumeylát, was probably the frontier land occupied in part by the Israelites, and open to the incursions of the wild tribes of the Arabian desert.

4. Navigation.—The sea, from its dangers and sterile shores, is entirely destitute of boats. The coral of the Red Sea is remarkably abundant, and beautifully colored and variegated; but it forms so many reefs and islands along the shores that navigation is very dangerous, and the shores are chiefly barren rock and sand, and therefore very sparsely inhabited, so that there are but three cities along the whole 1450 miles of its west coast—Suez, at the head, a city of 14,000 inhabitants; Sanakin, belonging to Soudan, of 10,000; and Massau, in Abyssinia, of 5000. Only two ports, Elath and Ezion-geber, are mentioned in the Bible. The earliest navigation of the Red Sea (passing by the pre-historical Phœnicians) is mentioned by Herodotus:—“Sesostris (Rameses II) was the first who, passing the Arabian Gulf in a fleet of long vessels, reduced under his authority the inhabitants of the coast bordering the Erythræn Sea.” Three centuries later, Solomon’s navy was built “in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea (Yam Sûph), in the land of Edom.” 1 Kings 9:26. The kingdom of Solomon extended as far as the Red Sea, upon which he possessed the harbors of Elath and Ezion-geber.[ELATH; EZION-GEBER.] It is possible that the sea has retired here as at Suez, and that Ezion-geber is now dry land. Jehoshaphat also “made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.” 1 Kings 22:48. The scene of this wreck has been supposed to be Edh-Dhahab. The fleets appear to have sailed about the autumnal equinox, and returned in December or the middle of January. The Red Sea, as it possessed for many centuries the most important sea-trade of the East, contained ports of celebrity. The Heroöpolite Gulf (Gulf of Suez) is of the chief interest; it was near to Goshen, it was the scene of the passage of the Red Sea, and it was the “tongue of the Egyptian Sea.” It was also the seat of the Egyptian trade in this sea and to the Indian Ocean.

5. Passage of the Red Sea.—The passage of the Red Sea was the crisis of the exodus. It is usual to suppose that the most northern place at which the Red Sea could have been crossed is the present head of the Gulf of Suez. This supposition depends upon the erroneous idea that in the time of Moses the gulf did not extend farther to the northward than at present. An examination of the country north of Suez has shown, however, that the sea has receded many miles. The old bed is indicated by the Birket-et-Timsáh, or “lake of the crocodile,” and the more southern Bitter Lakes, the northernmost part of the former probably corresponding to the head of the gulf at the time of the exodus. It is necessary to endeavor to ascertain the route of the Israelites before we can attempt to discover where they crossed the sea. The point from which they started was Rameses, a place certainly in the land of Goshen, which we identify with the Wádi-t-Tumeylát. They first encamped at Succoth. At the end of the second day’s journey the camping-place was at Etham, “in the edge of the wilderness.” Exodus 13:20; Numbers 33:6. Here the Wádi-t-Tumeylát was probably left, as it is cultivable and terminates in the desert. At the end of the third day’s march—for each camping-place seems to mark the close of a day’s journey—the Israelites encamped by the sea. The place of this last encampment and that of the passage would be not very far from the Persepolitan monument at Pihahiroth. It appears that Migdol was behind Pi-hahiroth, and on the other hand Baal-zephon and the sea. From Pi-hahiroth the Israelites crossed the sea. This was not far from halfway between the Bitter Lakes and the Gulf of Suez, where now it is dry land. The Muslims suppose Memphis to have been the city at which the Pharaoh of the exodus resided before that event occurred. From opposite Memphis a broad valley leads to the Red Sea. It is in part called the Wádi-t-Teeh, or “Valley of the Wandering.” From it the traveller reaches the sea beneath the lofty Gebel-et-Tákah, which rises in the north and shuts off all escape in that direction excepting by a narrow way along the seashore, which Pharaoh might have occupied. The sea here is broad and deep, as the narrative is generally held to imply. All the local features seem suited for a great event. The only points bearing on geography in the account of this event are that the sea was divided by an east wind, whence we may reasonably infer that it was crossed from west to east, and that the whole Egyptian army perished, which shows that it must have been some miles broad. On the whole we may reasonably suppose about twelve miles as the smallest breadth of the sea. The narrative distinctly states that a path was made through the sea, and that the waters were a wall on either hand. The term “wall” does not appear to oblige us to uppose, as many have done, that the sea stood up like a cliff on either side, but should rather be considered to mean a barrier, as the former idea implies a seemingly needless addition to the miracle, while the latter seems to be not discordant with the language of the narrative. It was during the night that the Israelites crossed, and the Egyptians followed. In the morning watch, the last third or fourth of the night, or the period before sunrise, Pharaoh’s army was in full pursuit in the divided sea, and was there miraculously troubled, so that the Egyptians sought to flee. Exodus 14:23-25. Then was Moses commanded again to stretch out his hand, and the sea returned to its strength, and overwhelmed the Egyptians, of whom not one remained alive. Ibid., 26–28.

(But on the whole it is becoming more probable that the place where the Israelites crossed “was near the town of Suez, on extensive shoals which run toward the southeast, in the direction of Ayim Musa (the Wells of Moses). The distance is about three miles at high tide. This is the most probable theory. Near here Napoleon, deceived by the tidal wave, attempted to cross in 1799, and nearly met the fate of Pharaoh. But an army of 600,000 could, of course, never have crossed it without a miracle.”—Schaff’s Through Bible Lands. Several routes and places of crossing advocated by learned Egyptologists can be clearly seen by the accompanying maps. The latest theory is that which Brugsch-bey has lately revived, that the word translated Red Sea is “Sea of Reeds or Weeds,” and refers to the Serbonian bog in the northeastern part of Egypt, and that the Israelites crossed here instead of the Red Sea.

“A gulf profound, as that Serbonian bog . . .

Where armies whole have sunk.”—Milton.

And among these armies that of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, b.c. 350. But it is very difficult to make this agree with the Bible narrative, and it is the least satisfactory of all the theories.—Ed.)

A B: Supposed crossing-place. C D: The same according to LeClerc, Du Bois, Aimé, and others. E F: According to Bruce, Shaw, Raumer, and others. K F: According to another alleged Arab tradition.

Reed

Reed. Under this name may be noticed the following Hebrew words:

1. Agmôn occurs in Job 40:12, Job 40:26; Isaiah 9:14 (Authorized Version “rush”). There can be no doubt that it denotes some aquatic reed-like plant, probably the Phragmitis communis, which, if it does not occur in Palestine and Egypt, is represented by a very closely-allied species, viz., the Arundo isiaca of Delisle. The drooping panicle of this plant will answer well to the “bowing down the head” of which Isaiah speaks. Isaiah 58:5. 2. Gôme, translated “rush” and “bulrush” by the Authorized Version, without doubt denotes the celebrated paper-reed of the ancients, Papyrus antiquorum, which formerly was common in some parts of Egypt. The papyrus reed is not now found in Egypt; it grows, however, in Syria. Dr. Hooker saw it on the banks of Lake Tiberias, a few miles north of the town. The papyrus plant has an angular stem from 3 to 6 feet high, though occasionally it grows to the height of 14 feet; it has no leaves; the flowers are in very small spikelets, which grow on the thread-like flowering branchlets which form a bushy crown to each stem. (It was used for making paper, shoes, sails, ropes, mattresses, etc. The Greek name is βιβλος, from which came our word Bible—book—because books were made of the papyrus paper. This paper was always expensive among the Greeks, being worth a dollar a sheet.—Ed.) 3. Kâneh, a reed of any kind. Thus there are in general four kinds of reeds named in the Bible: (1) The water reed; No. 1 above. (2) A stronger reed, Arundo donax, the true reed of Egypt and Palestine, which grows 8 or 10 feet high, and is thicker than a man’s thumb. It has a jointed stalk like the bamboo, and is very abundant on the Nile. (3) The writing reed, Arundo scriptoria, was used for making pens. (4) The papyrus; No. 2.

Papyrus Reed.

Re-elaiah

Re-ela’iah (bearer of Jehovah), one who went up with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:2. In Nehemiah 7:7 he is called RAAMIAH. (b.c. 445.)

Refiner

Refiner. The refiner’s art was essential to the working of the precious metals. It consisted in the separation of the dross from the pure ore, which was effected by reducing the metal to a fluid state by the application of heat, and by the aid of solvents, such as alkali, Isaiah 1:25, or lead, Jeremiah 6:29, which, amalgamating with the dross, permitted the extraction of the unadulterated metal. The instruments required by the refiner were a crucible or furnace and a bellows or blow-pipe. The workman sat at his work, Malachi 3:3: he was thus better enabled to watch the process, and let the metal run off at the proper moment.

Refuge Cities of

Refuge, Cities of. [CITIES OF REFUGE.]

Regem

Re’gem (friend), a son of Jahdai. 1 Chronicles 2:47.

Regem-melech

Re’gem-me’lech (friend of the king). The names of Sherezer and Regem-melech occur in an obscure passage of Zechariah. ch. Zechariah 7:2. They were sent on behalf of some of the captivity to make inquiries at the temple concerning fasting. (b.c. 517.)

Rehabiah

Rehabi’ah (enlarged by Jehovah), the only son of Eliezer the son of Moses. 1 Chronicles 23:17; 1 Chronicles 24:21; 1 Chronicles 26:25. (b.c. about 1455.)

Rehob

Re’hob.

1. The father of Hadadezer king of Zobah, whom David smote at the Euphrates. 2 Samuel 8:3, 2 Samuel 8:12. (b.c. before 1043.)

2. A Levite or family of Levites who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:11. (b.c. 410.)

3. The northern limit of the exploration of the spies. Numbers 13:21. Robinson fixes the position of Rehob as not far from Tell el-Kady and Banias.

4. One of the towns allotted to Asher. Joshua 19:28.

5. Asher contained another Rehob, Joshua 19:30; but the situation of these towns is unknown.

Rehoboam

Rehobo’am (enlarger of the people), son of Solomon by the Ammonite princess Naamah, 1 Kings 14:21, 1 Kings 14:31, and his successor. 1 Kings 11:43. Rehoboam selected Shechem as the place of his coronation (b.c. 975), probably as an act of concession to the Ephraimites. The people demanded a remission of the severe burdens imposed by Solomon, and Rehoboam, rejecting the advice of his father’s counsellors, followed that of his young courtiers, and returned an insulting answer, which led to an open rebellion among the tribes, and he was compelled to fly to Jerusalem, Judah, and Benjamin alone remaining true to him. Jeroboam was made king of the northern tribes. [JEROBOAM.] An expedition to reconquer Israel was forbidden by the prophet Shemaiah, 1 Kings 12:24; still during Rehoboam’s lifetime peaceful relations between Israel and Judah were never restored. 2 Chronicles 12:15; 1 Kings 14:30. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign the country was invaded by a host of Egyptians and other African nations under Shishak. Jerusalem itself was taken, and Rehoboam had to purchase an ignominious peace by delivering up all the treasures with which Solomon had adorned the temple and palace. The rest of Rehoboam’s life was unmarked by any events of importance. He died b.c. 958, after a reign of 17 years, having ascended the throne b.c. 975, at the age of 41. 1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 12:13. He had 18 wives, 60 concubines, 28 sons, and 60 daughters.

Rehoboam, from sculpture at Karnak. The inscription has been read “Kingdom of Judah.”

Rehoboth

Reho’both (wide places, i.e., streets).

1. The third of the series of wells dug by Isaac, Genesis 26:22, in the Philistines’ territory, lately identified as er-Ruheibeh, 16 miles south of Beersheba.

2. One of the four cities built by Asshur, or by Nimrod in Asshur, according as this difficult passage is translated. Genesis 10:11. Nothing certain is known of its position.

3. The city of a certain Saul or Shaul, one of the early kings of the Edomites. Genesis 36:37; 1 Chronicles 1:48. The affix “by the river” fixes the situation of Rehoboth as on the Euphrates.

Rehum

Re’hum (merciful).

1. One who went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:2. (b.c. 536.)

2. “Rehum the chancellor.” Ezra 4:8, Ezra 4:9, Ezra 4:17, Ezra 4:23. He was perhaps a kind of lieutenant-governor of the province under the king of Persia. (b.c. 535.)

3. A Levite of the family of Bani, who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 3:17. (b.c. 445.)

4. One of the chief of the people, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:25. (b.c. 410.)

5. A priestly family, or the head of a priestly house, who went up with Zerubbabel. Nehemiah 12:3. (b.c. 536.)

Rei

Re’i (friendly), a person mentioned (in 1 Kings 1:8 only) as having remained firm to David’s cause when Adonijah rebelled. (b.c. 1015.)

Reins

Reins (i.e., kidneys). In the ancient system of physiology the kidneys were believed to be the seat of desire and longing, which accounts for their often being coupled with the heart. Psalm 7:9; Psalm 26:2; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10, etc.

Rekem

Re’kem (variegation).

1. One of the five kings or chieftains of Midian slain by the Israelites. Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:21.

2. One of the four sons of Hebron, and father of Shammai. 1 Chronicles 2:43, 1 Chronicles 2:44.

Rekem

Re’kem, one of the towns of the allotment of Benjamin. Joshua 18:27. Its existing site is unknown.

Remaliah

Remali’ah (protected by Jehovah), the father of Pekah, captain of Pekahiah king of Israel, who slew his master and usurped his throne. 2 Kings 15:25-37; 2 Kings 16:1, 2 Kings 16:5; 2 Chronicles 28:6; Isaiah 7:1-9; Isaiah 8:6. (b.c. 756.)

Remeth

Re’meth (height), one of the towns of Issachar. Joshua 19:21. It is probably, though not certainly, a distinct place from the Ramoth of 1 Chronicles 6:73.

Remmon

Rem’mon (pomegranate), a town in the allotment of Simeon, Joshua 19:7; elsewhere accurately given in the Authorized Version as Rimmon.

Remmon-metho-ar

Rem’mon-meth’o-ar, a place which formed one of the landmarks of Zebulun. Joshua 19:13 only. Methoar does not really form a part of the name, but should be translated (as in the margin of the Authorized Version). “Remmon which reaches to Neah.” Dr. Robinson and Mr. Van de Velde place Rummâneh on the south border of the plain of Buttauf, three miles north-northeast of Seffurich.

Remphan

Rem’phan, Acts 7:43, and Chi’un, Amos 5:26, have been supposed to be names of an idol worshipped secretly by the Israelites in the wilderness. Much difficulty has been occasioned by this corresponding occurrence of two names so wholly different in sound. The most reasonable opinion seems to be that Chiun was a Hebrew or Semitic name, and Remphan an Egyptian equivalent substituted by the LXX. This idol corresponded probably to Saturn or Molech. The mention of Chiun or Remphan as worshipped in the desert shows that this idolatry was, in part at least, that of foreigners, and no doubt of those settled in lower Egypt.

Rephael

Re’phael (healed of God), son of Shemaiah, the first-born of Obed-edom. 1 Chronicles 26:7. (b.c. about 1015.)

Rephah

Re’phah, a son of Ephraim, and ancestor of Joshua. 1 Chronicles 7:25.

Rephaiah

Reph’aiah (healed of Jehovah).

1. The sons of Rephaiah appear among the descendants of Zerubbabel in 1 Chronicles 3:21.

2. A Simeonite chieftain in the reign of Hezekiah. 1 Chronicles 4:42. (b.c. 727.)

3. Son of Tola the son of Issachar. 1 Chronicles 7:2.

4. Son of Binea, and descendant of Saul. 1 Chronicles 9:43.

5. The son of Hur, and ruler of a portion of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 3:9. (b.c. 441.)

Repha-im

Reph’a-im. [GIANTS.]

Repha-im The valley of

Reph’a-im, The valley of, 2 Samuel 5:18, 2 Samuel 5:22; 2 Samuel 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15; 1 Chronicles 14:9; Isaiah 17:5; also in Joshua 15:8 and Joshua 18:16, where it is translated in the Authorized Version “the valley of the giants,” a spot which was the scene of some of David’s most remarkable adventures. He twice encountered and defeated the Philistines there. 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 2 Samuel 23:13, etc. Since the latter part of the sixteenth century the name has been attached to the upland plain which stretches south of Jerusalem, and is crossed by the road to Bethlehem—the el Buk’ah of the modern Arabs. (This valley begins near the valley of Hinnom, southwest of Jerusalem, extending toward Bethlehem. It is about a mile long, with hills on either side. This agrees with Josephus and is the generally-accepted location of this valley.—Ed.) Tobler, however, in his last investigations conclusively adopts the Wady Dêr Jasin, on the northwest of Jerusalem. The valley appears to derive its name from the ancient nation of the Rephaim. [GIANTS.]

Rephan

Rephan, the reading, in the Revised Version, for Remphan. Acts 7:43.

Rephidim

Reph’idim. Exodus 17:1, Exodus 17:8; Exodus 19:2. The name means rests or stays, i.e., resting-places. The place lies in the march of the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai. Its site is not certain, but it is perhaps Wady Feiran, a rather broad valley about 25 miles from Jebel Musa (Mount Sinai). Others place it in Wady es Sheikh, an eastern continuation of Feiran, and about 12 miles from Sinai. Here the Israelites fought their first battle and gained their first victory after leaving Egypt, the Amalekites having attacked them; here also the people murmured from thirst, and Moses brought water for them out of the rock. From this murmuring the place was called “Massah” and “Meribah.”

Resen

Re’sen (bridle), Genesis 10:12, one of the cities built by Asshur, “between Nineveh and Calah.” Assyrian remains of some considerable extent are found near the modern village of Selamiyeh, and it is perhaps the most probable conjecture that these represent Resen.

Resheph

Re’sheph (flame), a son of Ephraim. 1 Chronicles 7:25.

Reu

Re’u (friend), son of Peleg, in the line of Abraham’s ancestors. Genesis 11:18, Genesis 11:19, Genesis 11:20, Genesis 11:21; 1 Chronicles 1:25. (b.c. about 2213.)

Reuben

Reu’ben (behold a son), Jacob’s first-born child, Genesis 29:32, the son of Leah. (b.c. 1753.) The notices of the patriarch Reuben give, on the whole, a favorable view of his disposition. To him and him alone the preservation of Joseph’s life appears to have been due, and afterward he becomes responsible for his safety. Genesis 37:18-30; Genesis 42:37. Of the repulsive crime which mars his history, and which turned the blessing of his dying father into a curse—his adulterous connection with Bilhah—we know from the Scriptures only the fact. Genesis 35:22. He was of an ardent, impetuous, unbalanced but not ungenerous nature; not crafty and cruel, as were Simeon and Levi, but rather, to use the metaphor of the dying patriarch, boiling up like a vessel of water over a rapid wood fire, and as quickly subsiding when the fuel was withdrawn. At the time of the migration into Egypt, Reuben’s sons were four. Genesis 46:9; 1 Chronicles 5:3. The census at Mount Sinai, Numbers 1:20, Numbers 1:21; Numbers 2:11, shows that at the exodus the men of the tribe above twenty years of age and fit for active warlike service numbered 46,500. The Reubenites maintained the ancient calling of their forefathers. Their cattle accompanied them in their flight from Egypt. Exodus 12:38.

Territory of the tribe.—The portion of the promised land selected by Reuben had the special name of “the Mishor,” with reference possibly to its evenness. Under its modern name of the Belka it is still esteemed beyond all others by the Arab sheep-masters. It was a fine pasture-land east of the Jordan, lying between the river Arnon on the south and Gilead on the north. Though the Israelites all aided the Reubenites in conquering the land, and they in return helped their brothers to secure their own possessions, still there was always afterward a bar, a difference in feeling and habits, between the eastern and western tribes. The pile of stones which they erected on the west bank of the Jordan to mark their boundary was erected in accordance with the unalterable habits of Bedouin tribes both before and since. This act was completely misunderstood, and was construed into an attempt to set up a rival altar to that of the sacred tent. No judge, no prophet, no hero of the tribe of Reuben is handed down to us. The Reubenites disliked war, clinging to their fields and pastures even when their brethren were in great distress. Being remote from the seat of the national government and of the national religion, it is not to be wondered at that the Reubenites relinquished the faith of Jehovah. The last historical notice which we possess of them, while it records this fact, records also as its natural consequence that they and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh were carried off by Pul and Tiglath-pileser. 1 Chronicles 5:26.

Reuel

Reu’el (friend of God), one of the sons of Esau, by his wife Bashemath, sister of Ishmael. Genesis 36:4, Genesis 36:10, Genesis 36:13, Genesis 36:17; 1 Chronicles 1:35, 1 Chronicles 1:37. (b.c. about 1790.)

2. One of the names of Moses’ father-in-law. Exodus 2:18. (b.c. 1530.)

3. Father of Eliasaph, the leader of the tribe of Gad at the time of the census at Sinai. Numbers 2:14. (b.c. 1490.)

4. A Benjamite, ancestor of Elah. 1 Chronicles 9:8.

Reumah

Reu’mah (elevated), the concubine of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. Genesis 22:24. (b.c. about 1870.)

Revelation of St John

Revela’tion of St. John, the last book of the New Testament. It is often called the Apocalypse, which is its title in Greek, signifying “Revelation.”

1. Canonical authority and authorship.—The inquiry as to the canonical authority of the Revelation resolves itself into a question of authorship. Was St. John the apostle and evangelist the writer of the Revelation? The evidence adduced in support of his being the author consists of (1) the assertions of the author, and (2) historical tradition. (1) The author’s description of himself in the and Revelation 22 chapters is certainly equivalent to an assertion that he is the apostle. He names himself simply John, without prefix or addition. He is also described as a servant of Christ, one who had borne testimony as an eye-witness of the word of God and of the testimony of Christ. He is in Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. He is also a fellow sufferer with those whom he addresses, and the authorized channel of the most direct and important communication that was ever made to the Seven Churches of Asia, of which churches John the apostle was at that time the spiritual governor and teacher. Lastly, the writer was a fellow servant of angels and a brother of prophets. All these marks are found united in the apostle John, and in him alone of all historical persons. (2) A long series of writers testify to St. John’s authorship: Justin Martyr (cir. 150 a.d.), Eusebius, Irenæus (a.d. 195), Clement of Alexandria (about 200), Tertullian (207), Origen (233). All the foregoing writers, testifying that the book came from an apostle, believed that it was a part of Holy Scripture. The book was admitted into the list of the Third Council of Carthage, a.d. 397. 2. Time and place of writing.—The date of the Revelation is given by the great majority of critics as a.d. 95–97. Irenæus says: “It (i.e., the Revelation) was seen no very long time ago, but almost in our own generation, at the close of Domitian’s reign.” Eusebius also records that, in the persecution under Domitian, John the apostle and evangelist was banished to the island Patmos for his testimony of the divine word. There is no mention in any writer of the first three centuries of any other time or place, and the style in which the messages to the Seven Churches are delivered rather suggests the notion that the book was written in Patmos. 3. Interpretation.—Modern interpreters are generally placed in three great divisions: (a) The Historical or Continuous expositors, in whose opinion the Revelation is a progressive history of the fortunes of the Church from the first century to the end of time. (b) The Præterist expositors, who are of opinion that the Revelation has been almost or altogether fulfilled in the time which has passed since it was written; that it refers principally to the triumph of Christianity over Judaism and Paganism, signalized in the downfall of Jerusalem and of Rome. (c) The Futurist expositors, whose views show a strong reaction against some extravagances of the two preceding schools. They believe that the whole book, excepting perhaps the first three chapters, refers principally, if not exclusively, to events which are yet to come. Dr. Arnold, in his sermons “On the Interpretation of Prophecy,” suggests that we should bear in mind that predictions have a lower historical sense as well as a higher spiritual sense; that there may be one or more than one typical, imperfect, historical fulfillment of the prophecy, in each of which the higher spiritual fulfillment is shadowed forth more or less distinctly.

Rezeph

Re’zeph (a hot stone), one of the places which Sennacherib mentions, in his taunting message to Hezekiah, as having been destroyed by his predecessor. 2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12.

Rezia

Rezi’a (delight), an Asherite, of the sons of Ulla. 1 Chronicles 7:39. (b.c. 1444.)

Rezin

Re’zin (firm).

1. King of Damascus. He attacked Jotham during the latter part os his reign, 2 Kings 15:37; but his chief war was with Ahaz, whose territories he invaded, in conjunction with Pekah, about b.c. 741. Though unsuccessful in his siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 16:5; Isaiah 7:1, he “recovered Elath to Syria.” 2 Kings 16:6. Soon after this he was attacked, defeated, and slain by Tiglath-pileser II, king of Assyria. 2 Kings 16:9.

2. One of the families of the Nethinim. Ezra 2:48; Nehemiah 7:50. (b.c. before 536.)

Rezon

Re’zon (prince), son of Eliadah, a Syrian, who when David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, put himself at the head of a band of freebooters and set up a petty kingdom at Damascus. 1 Kings 11:23. He harassed the kingdom of Solomon during his whole reign. (b.c. 1043–975.)

Rhegium

Rhe’gium (breach), an Italian town situated on the Bruttian coast, just at the southern entrance of the Straits of Messina. The name occurs in the account of St. Paul’s voyage from Syracuse to Puteoli, after the shipwreck at Malta. Acts 28:13. By a curious coincidence, the figures on its coin are the very “twin brothers” which gave the name to St. Paul’s ship. It was originally a Greek colony; it was miserably destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse. From Augustus it received advantages which combined with its geographical position in making it important throughout the duration of the Roman empire. The modern Reggio is a town of 10,000 inhabitants. Its distance across the straits from Messina is only about six miles.

Castor and Pollux.

Rhesa

Rhe’sa (head), son of Zorobabel in the genealogy of Christ. Luke 3:27. It is conjectured that Rhesa is no person, but merely a title.

Rhoda

Rho’da (rose), the name of a maid who announced Peter’s arrival at the door of Mary’s house after his miraculous release from prison. Acts 12:13. (a.d. 44.)