International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Mem — Middle Wall

Mem

Mem - mam, mem "m" : The 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "m". It came also to be used for the number 40.

See ALPHABET, for name, etc.

Member - mem'-ber ((1) yatsur; melos; (2) shaphekhah, "membrum virile" (Deuteronomy 23:1)): The first Hebrew word is derived from a root meaning "to knead," "to mold in clay," "to create." It therefore denotes any feature or part of the body. "So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things" (James 3:5). "The members" is equivalent with "the body" (which see; compare Psalms 139:16 the King James Version). The members are not self-governing, but execute the orders of the mind, obeying either the lower nature in the commission of sin or iniquity, unrighteousness and uncleanness (Romans 6:13, 19), or following the higher nature, the Divine impulses in the fulfilling of the law of Christ (Romans 6:19).

By nature, the "law in my members" (Romans 7:23) is opposed to the better nature (James 4:1) until by "regeneration" (which see) this condition is changed, when the Spirit of Christ becomes the governing power, using our members, i.e. all our abilities, in the execution of His plans. This is not done while we remain passive, but only when we have actively presented or yielded our members to His service (Romans 6:19). Therefore our bodies must not be desecrated by baser uses (1 Corinthians 6:15, 19-20). The Lord Jesus illustrates the severe discipline which is needed to subdue the members of even the regenerate to perfect submission under the higher law of the Spirit by the simile of the right eye, which is to be plucked out, and the right hand, which is to be cut off (Matthew 5:29-30), and Paul speaks of putting to death (the King James Version "mortifying") the "members which are upon the earth" (Colossians 3:5).

It is the difference in character and gifts of individual Christians which leads Paul to speak of the variety of members, which, though of manifold functions, are equally important to the completeness of the body. It is thus in the manifold variety of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:16), and Christians being members of Christ, who is the head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; 5:23), are members one of another (Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:25).

In Deuteronomy 23:1 the Israelite Law against emasculation is referred to, and a religious disability is stated for the eunuch. Heathen Semites and other neighbors of Israel often castrated for religious purposes in the temple service of various divinities and for functions in princely palaces and harems. Heathen monarchs almost invariably had large numbers of these unfortunates, who frequently attained to positions of high power and responsibility. Herodotus states their frequent occurrence among the Persians (Hist. vi.32), and in the light of 2 Kings 20:18 and Daniel 1:3 it appears as not impossible that Daniel and his friends belonged to this class. In later years their existence is certain in Israel (1 Samuel 8:15 the Revised Version margin; Jeremiah 38:7; Matthew 19:12).

Memeroth

Memeroth - mem'-e-roth (Codex Alexandrinus, Mareroth; Codex Vaticanus here omits Memeroth and two other names; the King James Version Meremoth): A name in the genealogy of Ezra (1 Esdras 8:2) = "Meraioth" in Ezra 7:3, also "Marimoth" in 2 Esdras 1:2.

Memmius, Quintus

Memmius, Quintus - mem'-i-us, kwin'-tus (Kointos Memmios): One of the 2 Roman legates who bore a letter to the Jews after their victory over Lysias 163 BC (2 Maccabees 11:34). No Quintus Memmius is otherwise known to history, and no Memmius among the list of legates sent to Asia. Polybius (xxxi.18) mentions a Quintus and a Canuleius as sent to Egypt, 162 BC, and again (xxxiii.15) the same Quintus as sent as an ambassador to Rhodes, 153 BC. A Titus Memmius had been an envoy of the senate to Achaia and Macedonia before the date of this letter (Livy xliii.5). None of these is likely to be the one referred to in 2 Maccabees 11:34, and it is possible that no such person was sent with the letter, which is spurious.

See MANIUS.

S. Angus

Memorial; Memory

Memorial; Memory - me-mo'-ri-al, mem'-o-ri ('azkarah, zekher, zekher, zikkaron; mnemosunon): "Memorial" as the translation of 'azkdrah is a sacrificial term, that which brings the offerer into remembrance before God, or brings God into favorable remembrance with the offerer; it is used of the burning of a portion of the meal offering, the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "meat-offering"); better, cereal offering, on the altar (Leviticus 2:2, the Revised Version (British and American) "as the memorial"; Leviticus 2:9, 16; 5:12, the Revised Version (British and American) "as"; Leviticus 24:7; Numbers 5:26, the Revised Version (British and American) "as"); as the translation of zekher (zekher), zikkaron, it is a memorial in the sense of a remembrance (zekher, zekher, Exodus 3:15; the memorial (name) of Yahweh); hence, we have in the Revised Version (British and American) "memorial name" for "remembrance" (Psalms 30:4 the American Standard Revised Version; Psalms 97:12, the English Revised Version "holy name," marin "Hebrew memorial"; Psalms 102:12; 135:13; Isaiah 26:8; Hosea 12:5, the English Revised Version "memorial"); for "memorial" (Esther 9:28; Psalms 9:6, the American Standard Revised Version "remembrance"); zikkaron, "a remembrance" (Exodus 12:14; 13:9; Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 5:15 (of the meal offering); Joshua 4:7; Nehemiah 2:20; Zechariah 6:14); the Passover feast was to be in this sense "a memorial .... for ever" (Exodus 12:14; 13:9); so also the shema` (Deuteronomy 6:4 f) ; "memorial" occurs in Wisdom of Solomon 4:1 (mneme), the Revised Version (British and American) "memory"; Wisdom of Solomon 4:19; Ecclesiasticus 45:1 (mnemosunon); Ecclesiasticus 49:1; 1 Maccabees 3:7; 12:53, the Revised Version (British and American) "memorial."

"Memorial" occurs in the New Testament as the translation of mnemosunon, "a token of remembrance" (Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9; Acts 10:4, "Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God," which suggests the sense in which "memorial" was used in the sacrificial ritual, and also the "better sacrifices" of the new dispensation).

Memory is the translation of zekher (zekher) (Psalms 109:15; 145:7; Proverbs 10:7; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Isaiah 26:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "remembrance"); it occurs also in 1 Maccabees 13:29; 2 Maccabees 7:20. Katecho, "to have or hold fast," is rendered in 1 Corinthians 15:2 the King James Version "keep in memory," margin "hold fast," the American Standard Revised Version "hold fast," the English Revised Version "hold it fast," i.e. the word preached to them.

W. L. Walker

Memphis

Memphis - mem'-fis:

1. Name: The ancient capital of Egypt, 12 miles South of the modern Cairo. This Greek and Roman form of the name was derived from the Coptic form Menfi (now Arabic Menf), the abbreviation of the Egyptian name Men-nofer, "the good haven." This name was applied to the pyramid of Pepy I, in the cemetery above the city; some have thought the city name to have been derived from the pyramid, but this is unlikely, as the city must have had a regular name before that. It may perhaps mean "the excellence of Mena," its founder. It appears still more shortened in Hos (9:6) as Moph (moph), and in Isa (19:13), Jer (2:16), and Ezek (30:13) as Noph (noph).

2. Political Position: The classical statements show that the city in Roman times was about 8 miles long and 4 miles wide, and the indications of the site agree with this. It was the sole capital of Position Egypt from the Ist to the XVIIth Dynasty; it shared supremacy with Thebes during the XVIIIth to XXVth Dynasties, and with Sais to the XXXth Dynasty. Alexandria then gradually obscured it, but the governor of Egypt signed the final capitulation to the Arabs in the old capital. While other cities assumed a political equality, yet commercially Memphis probably remained supreme until the Ptolemies.

3. The Founders and the City: The oldest center of settlement was probably the shrine of the sacred bull, Apis or Hapy, which was in the South of the city. This worship was doubtless prehistoric, so that when the first king of all Egypt, Mena, founded his capital, there was already a nucleus. His great work was taking in land to the North, and founding the temple of the dynastic god Ptah, which was extended until its enclosure included as much as the great temple of Amon at Thebes, about 3 furlongs long and 2 furlongs wide. To the North of this was the sacred lake; beyond that, the palace and camp. Gradually the fashionable quarters moved northward in Egypt, in search of fresher air; the rulers had moved 10 miles North to Babylon by Roman times, then to Fostat, then Cairo, and lastly now to Abbasiyeh and Kubkeh, altogether a shift of 18 miles in 8,000 years.

4. Archaeological Results: After the shrine of Apis the next oldest center is that of Ptah, founded by Mena. This was recently cleared in yearly sections by the British School, finding principally sculptures of the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties. The account of the north gate given by Herodotus, that it was built by Amenemhat III, has been verified by finding his name on the lintel. An immense sphinx of alabaster 26 ft. long has also been found. To the East of this was the temple of the foreign quarter, the temple of King Proteus in Greek accounts, where foreign pottery and terra cotta heads have been found. Other temples that are known to have existed in Memphis are those of Hathor, Neit, Amen, Imhotep, Isis, Osiris-Sokar, Khnumu, Bastel, Tahuti, Anubis and Sebek.

A large building of King Siamen (XXIst Dynasty) has been found South of the Ptah temple. To the North of the great temple lay the fortress, and in it the palace mound of the XXVIth Dynasty covered two acres. It has been completely cleared, but the lower part is still to be examined. The north end of it was at least 90 ft. high, of brickwork, filled up to half the height by a flooring raised on cellular brickwork. The great court was about 110 ft. square, and its roof was supported by 16 columns 45 ft. high.

The principal sights of Memphis now are the great colossus of Rameses II, the lesser colossus of the same, and the immense alabaster sphinx. The cemetery of the city is the most important in Egypt; it lies 2 miles to the West on the desert, and is known as Saqqareh, from So-kar, the god of the dead.

See SAQQAREH .

W. M. Flinders Petrie

Memucan

Memucan - me-mu'-kan (memukhan; derivation unknown but probably of Persian origin (Esther 1:14, 16, 21)): One of "the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom." Ahasuerus consults these men, as those "that knew law and judgment," as to the proper treatment of the rebellious Vashti. Memucan is the spokesman of the reply. He recommends Vashti's deposition so that "all the wives will give to their husbands honor, both to great and small." This advice is adopted and incorporated into a royal decree--with what success is not said.

Menahem

Menahem - men'-a-hem (menachem, "one who comforts"; Manaem; 2 Kings 15:14-22):

1. Accession and Reign: Son of Gadi and 16th king of Israel. He reigned 10 years. Menahem was probably the officer in charge of the royal troops in Tirzah, one of the king's residences, at the time of the murder of Zechariah by Shallum. Hearing of the deed, he brought up his troops and avenged the death of his master by putting Shallum to death in Samaria. He then seized the vacant throne. His first full year may have been 758 BC (others, as seen below, put later).

2. Early Acts: The country at this time, as depicted by Hosea and Amos, was in a deplorable condition of anarchy and lawlessness. Menahem, with a strong hand, enforced his occupation of the throne. One town only seems to have refused to acknowledge him. This was Tiphsah, a place 6 miles Southwest of Shechem, now the ruined village of Khurbet Tafsah. As Menahem is said to have attacked this enclosed city from Tirzah, lying to its North, it is probable that he took it on the way to Samaria, before proceeding to do battle with Shallum. If this was so, it is some explanation of the cruelty with which he treated its inhabitants (2 Kings 15:16). One such instance of severity was enough. The whole kingdom was at his feet. He proved to be a strong and determined ruler, and during the 9 or 10 years of his governorship had no further internecine trouble to contend with.

3. Menahem and Assyria: But there was another source of disquiet. Assyria, under Pul, had resumed her advance to the West and threatened the kingdoms of Palestine. Menahem resolved on a policy of diplomacy, and, rather than risk a war with the conqueror of the East, agreed to the payment of a heavy tribute of 1,000 talents of silver. To raise this sum he had to assess his wealthier subjects to the extent of 50 shekels each. As there are 3,000 shekels in a talent of silver, it is obvious that some 60,000 persons, "mighty men of wealth," must have been laid under contribution in this levy--an indication at once of the enormity of the tribute, and of the prosperity of the country at the time. However short-sighted the policy, its immediate purpose was attained, which was that the hand of the Assyrian king "might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand" (2 Kings 15:19).

4. A Conflict of Dates: A difficulty attaches to the dates of this period. The Pul of 2 Kings 15:19 and 1 Chronicles 5:26 is now identified with Tiglath-pileser III, who took this title on ascending the throne of Assyria in 745 BC. In an inscription of Tiglath-pileser, Menahem appears as Minehimmu Samarina (Menahem the Samarian), together with Racunnu (Rezin) of Damascus and Hirumu (Hiram) of Tyre. The date given to this inscription is 738 BC, whereas the last year we can give to Menahem is 749, or 10 years earlier.

5. Proposed Solutions: The chronological difficulty which thus arises may be met in one of two ways. Either the inscription, like that on the black obelisk of Kurkh (see JEHU), was written some years after the events to which it refers and contains records of operations in which Tiglath-pileser took part before he became king; or Pekah--who was on the throne of Israel in 738 (?)--is spoken of under the dynastic name Menahem, though he was not of his family. The former of these hypotheses is that which the present writer is inclined to adopt. (By others the dates of Menahem are lowered in conformity with the inscription.)

See CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

6. Character: Menahem attempted no reformation in the national religion, but, like all his predecessors, adhered to the worship of the golden calves. On this account, like them, he incurs the heavy censure of the historian.

W. Shaw Caldecott

Menan

Menan - me'-nan.

See MENNA.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin - me'-ne, me'-ne, te'-kel, u-far'-sin, men'-a, men'a, tek'-el, oo-far'-sin (mene' ~mene' ~teqel ~upharcin; Theodotion, Mane, thekel, phares): These are the words that, according to Daniel's reading, were inscribed on the walls of Belshazzar's palace and that caused the great commotion on the occasion of his last feast (Daniel 5:25). As the only authority that we have for the reading is that of Daniel, it seems but fair that the interpretation of the terms be left to the person who gave us the text. According to his interpretation, there is a double sense to be found in the three different words of the inscription (Daniel 5:26-28).

Mene', which, however it is pointed, must be taken from the verb menah (Hebrew manah; Babylonian manu), is said to have indicated that God had numbered (the days of) Belshazzar's kingdom and finished it (or delivered it up). Both of these meanings can be shown to be proper to the menah.

Teqel, on the contrary, is interpreted as coming from two roots: the first, teqal, "to weigh," and the second, qal, "to be light or wanting" (Hebrew qalal; Babylonian qalalu).

Perec (or parcin) also is interpreted as coming from two roots: first, perac, "to divide" (Hebrew paras or parash; Babylonian parasu), and the second as denoting the proper name Parac, "Persia." Thus interpreted, the whole story hangs together, makes good sense, and is fully justified by the context and by the language employed. If the original text was in Babylonian, the signs were ambiguous; if they were in Aramaic, the consonants alone were written, and hence, the reading would be doubtful. In either case, the inscription was apparent but not readable, except by Daniel with the aid of God, through whom also the seer was enabled to give the proper interpretation. That Daniel's interpretation was accepted by Belshazzar and the rest shows that the interpretation of the signs was reasonable and convincing when once it had been made. We see, therefore, no good reason for departing from the interpretation that the Book of Daniel gives as the true one.

As to the interpretation of the inscription, it makes no difference whether the signs represented a mina, a shekel, and two perases, as has been recently suggested by M. Clermont-Ganneau. In this case the meaning was not so apparent, but the puns, the play upon the sounds, were even better. We doubt, however, if it can be shown that teqel means sheqel. On the old Aramaic documents of Egypt and Assyria, it is with one exception spelled sheqel. In the Targum of Onkelos, sheqel is always rendered by cela`; in the Peshitta and Arabic VSS, by mathqal; in the Samaritan Targum, by mathqal (except only perhaps in Genesis 23:16, where we have ethqel). In the Targum of Onkelos, wherever tiqla' occurs, it translates the Hebrew beqa` (Genesis 24:22 and Exodus 38:26 only). Mene', to be sure, may have meant the mina, and perec, the half-mina. The parash is mentioned in the inscription of Panammu and in an Aramaic inscription on an Assyrian weight. Besides this, it is found in the New Hebrew of the Mishna It is not found, however, in the Targum of Onkelos, nor in Syriac, nor in the Old Testament Hebrew; nor in the sense of half-shekel in the Aramaic papyri. While, then, it may be admitted that Daniel may have read, "A mina, a mina, a shekel, and two half-minas," it is altogether unlikely, and there is certainly no proof that he did. Yet, if he did, his punning interpretations were justified by the usage of ancient oracles and interpreters of signs, and also by the event.

R. Dick Wilson

Menelaus

Menelaus - men-e-la'-us (Menelaos): According to the less likely account of Josephus (Ant., XII, v, 1; XV, iii, 1; XX, x, 3), Menelaus was a brother of Jason and Onias III, and his name was really Onias. But it is very unlikely that there should be two brothers of the same name. The account of 2 Maccabees is more credible--that Menelaus was the brother of the notorious Simon who suggested to the Syrians the plundering of the temple; he was thus of the tribe of Benjamin (2 Maccabees 4:23; compare with 3:4) and not properly eligible to the high-priesthood. He was entrusted by Jason (171 BC), who had supplanted Onias, with contributions to the king of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes, and by outbidding Jason in presents he secured the office of high priest for himself (2 Maccabees 4:23 f), 171 BC. Menelaus returned with "the passion of a cruel tyrant" to Jerusalem, and Jason fled. But as Menelaus failed to pay the promised amount, both he and Sostratus, the governor, were summoned to appear before the king. Lysimachus, the brother of Menelaus, was left at Jerusalem in the meantime as deputy high priest. The king was called from his capital to suppress an insurrection of Tarsus and Mallus. Menelaus took advantage of his absence to win over Andronicus, the king's deputy, by rich presents stolen from the temple. For this sacrilege Onias III sharply reproved him and fled to a sanctuary, Daphne, near Antioch. Andronicus was then further persuaded by Menelaus to entice Onias from his retreat and murder him (2 Maccabees 4:34 f)--an act against which both Jews and Greeks protested to the king on his return, and secured deserved punishment for Andronicus. Meanwhile, the oppression of Lysimachus, abetted by Menelaus, caused a bloody insurrection in Jerusalem, in connection with which a Jewish deputation brought an accusation against Menelaus on the occasion of Antiochus' visit to Tyre. Menelaus bribed Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, to win over the king to acquit himself and secure the execution of "those hapless men, who, if they had pleaded even before Scythians, would have been discharged uncondemned" (2 Maccabees 4:39 ff). Menelaus returned in triumph to his office. But Jason, taking advantage of Epiphanes' absence in Egypt and a false rumor of his death, made a bloody but unsuccessful attempt upon the city, in order to secure his office again; his rival took refuge in the citadel. The king returned in fury, caused a three days' slaughter of the citizens, rifled the temple with Menelaus as guide, and left him as one of his agents to keep the Jews in subjection (2 Maccabees 5:1 ff). He appears next and for the last time in the reign of Eupator in 162 BC. Lysias, the king's chancellor, accused him to the king as the cause of all the troubles in Judea (2 Maccabees 13:3-8). Eupator caused him to be brought to Berea and there--before, according to 2 Maccabees, loc. cit., or after, according to Josephus, Ant, XII, ix, 7, the invasion of Judea by Eupator and Lysias--to be put to death by being flung from the top of a high tower into the ashes of which it was full--a fitting end for such a wretch.

S. Angus

Menestheus

Menestheus - me-nes'-thus, me-nes'-the-us (Menestheus Codex Alexandrinus, Menestheseos): The father of Apollonius, a general of Epiphanes (2 Maccabees 4:21 and in 2 Maccabees 4:4 the Revised Version (British and American), following a conjecture of Hort Menestheos for mainesthai heos the latter is retained in Swete and Fritzache]). "Son of Menestheus" is added to distinguish this Apollonius from "Apollonius, Son of Thrasaeus" (2 Maccabees 3:5) and "Apollonius, Son of Gennaeus" (2 Maccabees 12:2).

See APOLLONIUS.

Meni

Meni - me'-ni: Destiny, a god of Good Luck, possibly the Pleiades (Isaiah 65:11 margin).

See ASTROLOGY, 10; GAD.

Menna

Menna - men'-a (Menna Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Tregelles, Tischendorf; Mainan Textus Receptus of the New Testament; the King James Version Menan): An ancestor of Jesus, a great-grandson of David (Luke 3:31).

Menuhah

Menuhah - men-u'-ha, men-u'-ka (menuchah, "place of rest"; the King James Version Menuchah): Rendered in Judges 20:43 the King James Version "with ease," the Revised Version (British and American) "at their resting-place." Both, however, have a marginal suggestion which would make the word a place-name, which would then more naturally read "from Nuhah over against Gibeah," thus describing the ground over which the slaughter of the Benjamites occurred. In 1 Chronicles 8:2 the word "Nohah" occurs as that of a Benjamite elan. The place intended is perhaps MANAHATH (which see).

Menuhoth

Menuhoth - men-u'-hoth (menuchoth, "dwellings"; the King James Version manachti Manahethites): The first form is the Revised Version (British and American) transliterated in the name; the second form is the King James Version retained by the Revised Version (British and American) in the passages where the word occurs (1 Chronicles 2:52; compare 1 Chronicles 2:54). The people here spoken of by the King James Version as "half of the Manahethites" are mentioned as descendants of Salma (1 Chronicles 2:54), while those mentioned as Menuhoth are mentioned as descendants of Judah through Shobal, father of Kiriath-jearim. Both words are from the same root. the King James Version keeps the same designation for both passages, while the Revised Version (British and American) has marked the difference in spelling by changing the first passage and following the King James Version in the second. Both sections of the family belong to the Caleb clan, and it would seem that they became the dominant people in the otherwise unknown town of Manahath, so that it came to be regarded as belonging to Judah. It may be connected with the Menuchah (the Revised Version (British and American) "Menuhah") suggested as a place-name in Judges 20:43 margin. In the Septuagint, between Joshua 15:59 and 60, the names of Joshua 11:1-23 cities are inserted, among them being a Manocho whose Hebrew equivalent gives the word. It is difficult to identify, and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) cuts the knot by translating "dimidium requietionum"!

See MANAHATH.

Henry Wallace

Meonenim, Oak of

Meonenim, Oak of - me-on'-e-nim, me-o'-ne-nim: ('elon me`onenim; Codex Vaticanus, Elonmaonemein, Codex Alexandrinus, druos apobleponton; the King James Version Plain of): This was a sacred tree which apparently could be seen from the gate of Shechem (Judges 9:37). No doubt it took its name from the soothsayers who sat under it, practicing augury, etc. Several times mention is made of sacred trees in the vicinity of Shechem (Genesis 35:4; Joshua 24:26; Judges 9:6, etc.). Where this tree stood is not known.

See AUGUR'S OAK.

Meonothai

Meonothai - me-on'-o-thi, me-o'-no-thi, me-o-no'-thi (me`onothai, "my dwellings"): A son of Othniel, nephew of Caleb (1 Chronicles 4:14). Possibly, as the King James Version margin suggests, and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and Complutensian Septuagint say, 1 Chronicles 4:13-14 should read "the sons of Othniel, Hathath and Meonothai; and Meonothai begat Ophrah," etc. The latter may be founder of the town of that name.

Mephaath

Mephaath - mef'-a-ath, me-fa'-ath (mepha`ath and meypha`ath, mopha`ath; Codex Vaticanus, Maiphaath, Mephaath): A city of the Amorites in the territory allotted to Reuben, named with Kedemoth and Kiriathaim (Joshua 13:18), and given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79). It appears again as a Moabite town in Jeremiah 48:21. It was known to Eusebius and Jerome (Onom) as occupied by a Roman garrison, but the site has been lost.

Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth - me-fib'-o-sheth (mephibhosheth, "idol-breaker," also MERIB-BAAL (which see); Memphibosthe):

(1) Son of Saul by his concubine RIZPAH (which see), daughter of Aiah (2 Samuel 21:8).

Merab

Merab - me'-rab (merabh "increase"; Merob): The elder daughter of Saul (1 Samuel 14:49), promised, though not by name, to the man who should slay the Philistine Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25). David did this and was afterward taken by Saul to court (1 Samuel 18:2), where he was detained in great honor. Merab was not, however, given to him as quickly as the incident would lead one to expect, and the sequel showed some unwillingness on the part of some persons in the contract to complete the promise. The adulation of the crowd who met David on his return from Philistine warfare and gave him a more favorable ascription than to Saul (1 Samuel 18:6-16) awoke the angry jealousy of Saul. He "eyed David from that day and forward" (1 Samuel 18:9). Twice David had to "avoid" the "evil spirit" in Saul (1 Samuel 18:11). Saul also feared David (1 Samuel 18:12), and this led him to incite the youth to more dangerous deeds of valor against the Philistines by a renewed promise of Merab. He will have David's life, but rather by the hand of the Philistines than his own (1 Samuel 18:17). Merab was to be the bait. But now another element complicated matters--Michal's love for David (1 Samuel 18:20), which may have been the retarding factor from the first. At any rate Merab is finally given to Adriel the Meholathite (1 Samuel 18:19). The passage in 2 Samuel 21:8 doubtless contains an error--Michal's name occurring for that of her sister Merab--though the Septuagint, Josephus, and a consistent Hebrew text all perpetuate it, as well as the concise meaning of the Hebrew word Yaladh, which is a physiological word for bearing children, and cannot be translated "brought up." A Targum explanation reads: "The 5 sons of Merab (which Michal, Saul's daughter brought up) which she bare," etc. Another suggestion reads the word "sister" after Michal in the possessive case, leaving the text otherwise as it stands. It is possible that Merab died comparatively young, and that her children were left in the care of their aunt, especially when it is said she herself had none (2 Samuel 6:23). The simplest explanation is to assume a scribal error, with the suggestion referred to as a possible explanation of it. The lonely Michal (2 Samuel 6:20-23) became so identified with her (deceased) sister's children that they became, in a sense, hers.

Henry Wallace

Meraiah

Meraiah - me-ra'-ya, me-ri'-a (merayah, "contumacious"): A priest in the time of Joiakim son of Jeshua, and head of the priestly house of Seraiah to which Ezra belonged (Nehemiah 12:12; compare Ezra 7:1).

Meraioth

Meraioth - me-ra'-yoth, me-ri'-oth (merayoth): The name varies much in the Greek.

(1) A Levite, a descendant of Aaron (1 Chronicles 6:6 f; Ezra 7:3), called "Memeroth" in 1 Esdras 8:2; and "Marimoth" in 2 Esdras 1:2.

(2) The son of Ahitub and father of Zadok (1 Chronicles 9:11).

(3) A priestly house of which, in the days of Joiakim, Helkai was head (Nehemiah 12:15). In Nehemiah 12:3 the name is given as "Meremoth."

Meran

Meran - me'-ran.

See MERRAN.

Merari

Merari - me-ra'-ri (merari, "bitter"; Mararei):

(1) The 3rd son of Levi, his brothers, Gershon and Kohath, being always mentioned together with him (Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:16 ff). He was among those 70 who went down to Egypt with Jacob (Genesis 46:8, 11; compare Genesis 46:26 and Exodus 1:5).

(2) The family of Merari, descendants of above, and always (with one exception, for which see MERARITES) spoken of as "sons of Merari" in numerous references, such as 1 Chronicles 6:1, 16, 19, 29, which only repeat without additional information the references to be found in the body of this article. We early find them divided into two families, the Mahli and Mushi (Exodus 6:19; Numbers 3:17, 20, 33). At the exodus they numbered, under their chief Zuriel, 6,200, and they were assigned the north side of the tabernacle as a tenting-place (Numbers 3:34-35), thus sharing in the honor of those who immediately surrounded the tabernacle--the south side being given to the Kohathites, the west to the Gershonites, and the east--toward the sun-rising--being reserved for Moses, Aaron and his sons (Numbers 3:23, 29, 35, 38). To the Merarites was entrusted the care of the boards, bars, pillars, sockets, vessels, pins and cords of the tabernacle (Numbers 3:36-37; Numbers 4:29-33). They and the Gershonites were "under the hand" of Ithamar, son of Aaron, the sons of Gershon having charge of the softer material of the tabernacles --curtains, covers, hangings, etc. (Numbers 3:25-26). When reckoned by the number fit for service, i.e. between 30 and 50 years, the sons of Merari were 3,200 strong (Numbers 4:42-45). Because of the weight of the material in their charge they were allowed 4 wagons and 8 oxen for carriage (Numbers 7:8). In marching, when the tabernacle was taken down, the standard of Judah went first (Numbers 10:14); then followed the Merarites bearing the tabernacle (Numbers 10:17), and after them came the standard of Reuben (Numbers 10:18). After the settlement in Canaan they had 12 cities assigned them out of Gad, Reuben and Zebulun (Joshua 21:7, 34-40; 1 Chronicles 6:63, 77-81), just as the other two branches of Levi's family had their 12 cities respectively assigned out of the other tribes (Joshua 21:1-45). The names of these Merarite cities are given (loc. cit.), and among them is Ramoth-gilead, one of the cities of refuge (Joshua 21:38). It is evident from 1 Chronicles 6:44-47; 16:41; 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 15, 19, 21 f; compare 1 Chronicles 15:6, 17-19 that they had charge under Ethan or Jeduthun of the temple music in the service. In David's time Asaiah was their chief (1 Chronicles 15:6). Himself and 220 of the family helped David to bring up the Ark. David divided the Levites into courses among the Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites (1 Chronicles 23:6; compare 1 Chronicles 23:21-23; 1 Chronicles 24:26-30). The functions of certain Merarites are described in 1 Chronicles 26:10-19. They also took part in cleansing the temple in Hezekiah's time (2 Chronicles 29:12) as well as in the days of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:12), helping to repair the house of the Lord. Among the helpers of Ezra, too, we find some of them numbered (Ezra 8:18-19). The family seems to have played a very important part in keeping steady and true such faithfulness as remained in Israel.

(3) The father of Judith (Judith 8:1; 16:7).

Henry Wallace

Merarites

Merarites - me-ra'-rits (merari, "bitter"): The descendants of MERARI (which see), son of Levi. The only place where this form of the word occurs is Numbers 26:57. Elsewhere they are always referred to as "sons of Merari."

Merathaim

Merathaim - mer-a-tha'-im (merathayim "double rebellion"): A name used for Babylon in Jeremiah 50:21. According to Delitzsch it may be equivalent to the Babylonian Marratun, i.e. land by the nar Marratu, "the bitter river" (Persian Gulf) = Southern Babylonia (OHL, under the word).

Merchandise

Merchandise - mur'-chan-diz ((1) `amar (2) cachar, (3) cachar, (4) cechorach, (5) rekhullah, (6) ma`arabh, (7) markoleth; (8) emporia (9) emporion, (10) gomos): There seem to be 4 distinct meanings of the word according to the Revised Version (British and American), namely: (1) The products, i.e. goods or things sold or exchanged, and so merchandise in the present-day usage: (a) cachar is translated thus in Proverbs 31:18; Isaiah 23:18; (b) cachar is translated thus in Isaiah 45:14; these two are from a root meaning "to travel around as a peddler"; (c) rekhullah, translated thus in Ezekiel 26:12, from a root meaning "to travel for trading purposes"; (d) ma`arabh, translated thus in Ezekiel 27:9, 27, 33-34, from a root meaning "to intermix, to barter"; (e) markoleth, translated thus in Ezekiel 27:24 (the above 5 Hebrew words are all used to designate the goods or wares which were bartered); (f) `amar, occurring in Deuteronomy 21:14; 24:7, translated in the King James Version "make merchandise of," but in the Revised Version (British and American) "deal with as a slave," or the Revised Version margin "deal with as a chattel"; (g) emporia, translated "merchandise" in Matthew 22:5; (h) emporion, likewise in John 2:16 (the same Greek word is used in 2 Peter 2:3 for the American Standard Revised Version "make merchandise of you"); (i) gomos, "merchandise," margin "cargo."

(2) The process of trade itself, i.e. the business: rekhullah has in it the root meaning of "itinerant trading", and so in Ezekiel 28:16 the correct translation is not "merchandise," as in the King James Version, but "traffic," "abundance of thy traffic," i.e. doing a thriving business: "trade was good."

(3) The place of trading, i.e. emporium, mart, etc.: cechorah in Ezekiel 27:15 is translated "mart." In John 2:16 reference is made to the "house of merchandise."

(4) The profits of trading: In Proverbs 3:14, cachar is translated "gaining." Referring to wisdom, "For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit thereof than fine gold"; the King James Version "merchandise."

William Edward Raffety

Merchant; Merchantman

Merchant; Merchantman - mur'-chant, mur'-chant-man.

See COMMERCE; MERCHANDISE; TRADE.

Mercury; Mercurius

Mercury; Mercurius - mur'-ku-ri, mer-ku'ri-us: The translation of Hermes, in Acts 14:12: "They called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker." Hermes was the god of eloquence (and also of theft), the attendant, messenger and spokesman of the gods. The more commanding presence of Barnabas (compare 2 Corinthians 10:10) probably caused him to be identified with Zeus (the Roman Jupiter), while his gift of eloquence suggested the identification of Paul with Hermes (the Roman Mercury). The temple of Jupiter was before Lystra, and to him the Lycaonians paid their chief worship. Compare the legend of Baucis and Philemon (Ovid, Metam. viii.611 f).

See HERMES; JUPITER; GREECE,RELIGION IN ANCIENT .

M. O. Evans

Mercy; Merciful

Mercy; Merciful - mur'-si, mur'-si-fool (checedh, racham, chanan; eleos, eleeo, oiktirmos): "Mercy" is a distinctive Bible word characterizing God as revealed to men.

In the Old Testament it is most often the translation of checedh, "kindness," "loving-kindness" (see LOVINGKINDNESS), but rachamim, literally, "bowels" (the sympathetic region), and chanan, "to be inclined to," "to be gracious," are also frequently translated "mercy"; eleos, "kindness," "beneficence," and eleeo, "to show kindness," are the chief words rendering "mercy" in the New Testament; oiktirmos, "pity," "compassion," occurs a few times, also oiktirmon, "pitiful," eleemon, "kind," "compassionate," twice; hileos, "forgiving," and anileos, "not forgiving," "without mercy," once each (Hebrews 8:12; James 2:13).

(1) Mercy is (a) an essential quality of God (Exodus 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalms 62:12, etc.); it is His delight (Micah 7:18, 20; Psalms 52:8); He is "the Father of mercies" (2 Corinthians 1:3), "rich in mercy" (Ephesians 2:4), "full of pity, and merciful" (James 5:11); (b) it is associated with forgiveness (Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; 1 Timothy 1:13, 16); (c) with His forbearance (Psalms 145:8, "Yahweh is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great lovingkindness"; compare Romans 2:4; 11:32); (d) with His covenant (1 Kings 8:23; Nehemiah 1:5), with His justice (Psalms 101:1), with His faithfulness (Psalms 89:24), with His truth (Psalms 108:4); mercy and truth are united in Proverbs 3:3; 14:22, etc. (in Psalms 85:10 we have "Mercy and truth are met together"); (e) it goes forth to all (Psalms 145:9, "Yahweh is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works"; compare Psalms 145:16, "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing," the Revised Version margin "satisfiest every living thing with favor"); (f) it shows itself in pitying help (Exodus 3:7; Ezra 9:9 f), supremely in Christ and His salvation (Luke 1:50, 54, 58; Ephesians 2:4); (g) it is abundant, practically infinite (Psalms 86:5, 15; 119:64); (h) it is everlasting (1 Chronicles 16:34, 41; Ezra 3:11; Psalms 100:5; Psalms 136:1-26 repeatedly).

(2) "Mercy" is used of man as well as of God, and is required on man's part toward man and beast (Deuteronomy 25:4; Psalms 37:21; 109:16; Proverbs 12:10; Daniel 4:27; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 6:36, "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful"; Luke 10:30 f, the Good Samaritan; Luke 14:12-16; James 3:17).

(3) In the New Testament "mercy" (eleos, usually the Septuagint translation of checedh) is associated with "grace" (charis) in the apostolical greetings and elsewhere. Trench points out that the difference between them is that the freeness of God's love is the central point of charis, while eleos has in view misery and its relief; charis is His free grace and gift displayed in the forgiveness of sins--extended to men as they are guilty; His eleos (is extended to them) as they are miserable. The lower creation may be the object of His mercy (eleos), but man alone of His grace (charis); he alone needs it and is capable of receiving it (Synonyms of the New Testament, 163 f).

(4) From all the foregoing it will be seen that mercy in God is not merely His pardon of offenders, but His attitude to man, and to the world generally, from which His pardoning mercy proceeds. The frequency with which mercy is enjoined on men is specially deserving of notice, with the exclusion of the unmerciful from sonship to the all-merciful Father and from the benefits of His mercifulness. Shakespeare's question, "How canst thou hope for mercy rendering none?" is fully warranted by our Lord's teaching and by Scripture in general; compare especially the parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35).

(5) As the rule, the American Standard Revised Version has "lovingkindness" for "mercy" when checedh is used of God, and "kindness" when it is used of men in relation to each other. "Compassion" (translation of racham) is also in several instances substituted for "mercy" (Isaiah 9:17; 14:1; 27:11; Jeremiah 13:14; 30:18), also "goodness" (translation of checedh referring to man) (Hosea 4:1; 6:6).

W. L. Walker

Mercy-seat, The

Mercy-seat, The - mur'-si-set (kapporeth; New Testament hilasterion, Hebrews 9:5): The name for the lid or covering of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:17, etc.). The Old Testament term means "covering," then, like the New Testament word, "propitiatory" (compare kipper, "to cover guilt," "to make atonement"). The ark contained the two tables of stone which witnessed against the sin of the people. The blood of sacrifice, sprinkled on the mercy-seat on the great day of atonement, intercepted, as it were, this condemning testimony, and effected reconciliation between God and His people. See ATONEMENT; ATONEMENT, DAY OF; PROPITIATION; ARK OF THE COVENANT. In Romans 3:25, Jesus is said to be set forth as "a propitiation (literally, "propitiatory"), through faith, in his blood," thus fulfilling the idea of the mercy-seat (compare Hebrews 9:5, 7, 11-12, etc.).

W. Shaw Caldecott

Mered

Mered - me'-red (meredh, "rebellion"; Septuagint has at least four variants in 1 Chronicles 4:17-18): A descendant of Judah through Caleb, and mentioned as a "son of Ezrah" (1 Chronicles 4:17).

Revised Version, rightly following the orthography of the Hebrew which has here the Hebrew letter he (h) instead of 'aleph (') , as in the name of the well-known Ezra, saves us from confusing this Ezrah with the other by giving him the correct terminal letter. Moreover, even if the question of spelling were waived, the absence of the mention of children in any known passages of the life of the scribe Ezra should settle the question, since this passage (1 Chronicles 4:17) is associated with progeny.

A difficulty meets us in 1 Chronicles 4:18, where Mered is mentioned as taking to wife "Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh." That Pharaoh is not the proper name of some individual but the official title of Egypt's sovereign seems evident from the fact that the King James Version margin and the Revised Version (British and American) text agree in translating the other wife of Mered as "the Jewess," rather than as a proper name Jehudijah, as if to distinguish the "Jewess" from the Egyptian. Probably "Hodiah" also is a corruption of Jehudijah in 1 Chronicles 4:19, and should be translated again "the Jewess." Targums and traditions have so changed and transposed and "interpreted" this passage that a sufficiently confused text has become worse confounded, and the only solid fact that emerges is that once a comparatively obscure Judahite (though the founder of several towns--Gedor, Soco, Eshtemoa, etc., 1 Chronicles 4:18) married an Egyptian princess, whether as a captive or a freewoman we do not know.

See BITHIAH.

Henry Wallace

Meremoth

Meremoth - mer'-e-moth, me-re'-moth (meremoth, "heights"; Mereimoth):

(1) Son of Uriah (Ezra 8:33), who was head of the 7th course of priests appointed by David (1 Chronicles 24:10, Hakkoz = Koz; compare Nehemiah 3:4, 21). The family of Koz were among those unable to prove their pedigree on the return from Babylon, and were therefore deposed as polluted (Ezra 2:61-62). Meremoth's division of the family must, however, have been scatheless, for he is employed in the temple after the return as weigher of the gold and the vessels (Ezra 8:33), a function reserved for priests alone (Ezra 8:24-28). He takes a double part in the reconstruction under Nehemiah, first as a builder of the wall of the city (Nehemiah 3:4), then as a restorer of that part of the temple abutting on the house of Eliashib the priest (Nehemiah 3:21); "Marmoth" in 1 Esdras 8:62.

(2) A member of the house of Bani, and, like so many of that house, among those who married and put away foreign wives (Ezra 10:36). He seems to be named Carabasion (!) in the corresponding list of 1 Esdras 9:34.

(3) The name occurs in Nehemiah 10:5 among those who "seal the covenant" with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:1). It may there be the name of an individual (in which case there were 4 of the name), or it may be a family name. Certainly a "Meremoth" came back under Zerubbabel 100 years before (Nehemiah 12:3), and the signatory in question may be either a descendant of the same name or a family representative. The name recurs later in the same list (Nehemiah 12:15) as "Meraioth" through a scribal error confusing the two Hebrew letters yodh (y) and cholem (o) for mem (m). A comparison of Nehemiah 12:1-3 and Nehemiah 12:12-15 shows clearly that it is the same person. Note that in Nehemiah 12:15 "Helkai" is the name of the contemporary leader.

(4) For Meremoth (1 Esdras 8:2 the King James Version).

See MEMEROTH.

Henry Wallace

Meribah

Meribah - mer'-i-ba, me-re'-ba.

See MASSAH AND MERIBAH.

Meribath-kadesh; Meriboth-kadesh

Meribath-kadesh; Meriboth-kadesh - mer'-i-bath-ka'-desh, mer'-i-both-k (Ezekiel 48:28; 47:19): The southern limit of Ezekiel's ideal land of Israel.

See MERIBAH.

Merib-baal

Merib-baal - mer-ib-ba'-al (meribhba`al; also meri-bha`al, "Baal contends"): The spelling varies in a single verse; 1 Chronicles 9:40 contains the name twice: first, in the first form above; second, in the second form. The name is given also in 1 Chronicles 8:34. It is the other name of MEPHIBOSHETH (2) (which see).

In Jeremiah 11:13 and Hosea 9:10 the terms "Baal" and "Bosheth" seem to stand in apposition, the latter form being a slightly contemptuous alternative rendered "shame." This is akin to other like changes, such as Esh-baal for Ish-bosheth, Jerub-besheth for Jerub-baal, etc. The change in the first part of the name could occur through a clerical confusion of the Hebrew aspirate pe (p) and resh (r) in Hebrew.

Henry Wallace

Merodach

Merodach - me-ro'-dak, mer'-o-dak (merodhakh): The supreme deity of the Babylonians (Jeremiah 50:2); the Nimrod of Genesis 10:8-12; and among the constellations, Orion.

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 11; BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF; NIMROD.

Merodach-baladan

Merodach-baladan - me-ro'-dak-bal'-a-dan, mer'-o-dak-b. (mero'dhakh bal'adhan; Marodach Baladan): The son of Baladan, is mentioned in Isaiah 39:1, as a king of Babylon who sent an embassy to Hezekiah, king of Judah, apparently shortly after the latter's illness, in order to congratulate him on his recovery of health, and to make with him an offensive and defensive alliance. This Merodach-baladan was a king of the Chaldeans of the house of Yakin, and was the most dangerous and inveterate foe of Sargon and his son Sennacherib, kings of Assyria, with whom he long and bitterly contested the possession of Babylon and the surrounding provinces. Merodach-Baladan seems to have seized Babylon immediately after the death of Shalmaneser in 721 BC; and it was not till the 12th year of his reign that Sargon succeeded in ousting him. From that time down to the 8th campaign of Sennacherib, Sargon and his son pursued with relentless animosity Merodach-Baladan and his family until at last his son Nabushumishkun was captured and the whole family of Merodach-Baladan was apparently destroyed. According to the monuments, therefore, it was from a worldly point of view good politics for Hezekiah and his western allies to come to an understanding with Merodach-Baladan and the Arameans, Elamites, and others, who were confederated with him. From a strategical point of view, the weakness of the allied powers consisted in the fact that the Arabian desert lay between the eastern and western members of the confederacy, so that the Assyrian kings were able to attack their enemies when they pleased and to defeat them in detail.

R. Dick Wilson

Merom, Waters of

Merom, Waters of - me'-rom (me-merom; hudor Marron or hudor Merron): The place which was the scene of Joshua's victory over Jabin and his confederates (Joshua 11:7), commonly identified with Lake Huleh in the upper part of the Jordan valley, but with doubtful propriety. Josephus says (Ant., V, i, 18) that the camp of the allies was at Beroth in upper Galilee, and that Beroth was not far from Kadesh, which is upon the summit of the Galilean hills. According to the Scriptural account, the pursuit was to Sidon and Hazor on the West of the mountains (see HAZOR), while the names of the confederates are those of places in lower Galilee and the maritime plain. It seems improbable that a force of chariots should be brought over to be hemmed in by the rugged mountains which border the narrow plain of Huleh on both sides, plains that are made still narrower by the swamps surrounding the lake (see JORDAN VALLEY) in Joshua's time, when they were much larger than they are now after having been filled with the accumulation of sediment brought down by mountain streams for 3,000 years. Conder, with much reason, supposes the "waters of Merom" to be the perennial stream Wady el-Melek, near Shimrom-Merom (Semunieh), 5 miles West of Nazareth. Were Lake Huleh referred to, the proper phrase would be Sea (yam) of Merom, rather than waters (mayim).

George Frederick Wright

Meronothite

Meronothite - me-ron'-thit, me-ro'-no-thit (meronothi, root meaning "fertility"): The designation of two persons in the Old Testament:

(1) Jehdeiah, who was in charge of the royal asses under David (1 Chronicles 27:30).

(2) Jadon who was among the repairers of the wall under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7). No place of the name Meronoth can be identified. That Jadon worked on the wall near Gibeonites and Mizpahites affords no clear clue to the place, unless it be shown that there was some geographical rota in the wall repairers.

Meroz

Meroz - me'-roz (meroz; Codex Vaticanus, Meroz; Codex Alexandrinus, Mazor): This name occurs only once in Scripture. The angel of the Lord is represented as invoking curses upon Meroz because the inhabitants "came not to the help of Yahweh" on the day of Deborah and Barak's victory (Judges 5:23). It is a strange fate, shared with Chorazin, to be preserved from oblivion only by the record of a curse. The bitterness in the treatment of Meroz, not found in the references to any of the other delinquents, must be due to the special gravity of her offense. Reuben, Gilead and Dan were far away. This, however, is not true of Asher, who was also absent. Perhaps Meroz was near the field of battle and, at some stage of the conflict, within sight and hearing of the strife. If, when Zebulun "jeopardized their lives unto the death, and Naphtali, upon the high places of the field," they turned a deaf ear and a cold heart to the dire straits of their brethren, this might explain the fierce reproaches of Deborah.

Meroz may possibly be identified with el-Murussus, a mud-built village about 5 miles Northwest of Beisan, on the slopes to the North of the Vale of Jezreel. If the Kedesh where Heber's tent was pitched be identical with Qadish to the West of the Sea of Galilee, Sisera's flight, avoiding the Israelites in the neighborhood of Mt. Tabor, may have carried him past el-Murussus. If the inhabitants had it in their power to arrest him, but suffered him to escape (Moore, "Jgs," ICC, 163), such treachery to the na tion's cause might well rouse the indignation of the heroic prophetess.

W. Ewing

Merran

Merran - mer'-an (Merran; the King James Version Meran): Many identifications have been suggested on the assumption that the text as it stands is correct. Some of these are the Sidonian Meareh (Grotius), Marane, a city of which Pliny speaks as being near the Red Sea (Keil), and the desert of Mahrah in Arabia (Fritzsche). It is very probable, however, that the name represents an error in transcription from the original Semitic text, confusing the Hebrew letter daleth ("d") with the Hebrew letter resh ("r"), so that we should read Meddan, or Medan, i.e. Midian. The phrase will then run, "the merchants of Midian and Teman" (Baruch 3:23). The merchants of Midian are referred to in Genesis 37:28.

W. Ewing

Meruth

Meruth - me'-ruth.

See EMMERUTH.

Mesaloth

Mesaloth - mes'-a-loth (Messaloth, Maisaloth): A place mentioned in the account of the march of Bacchides and Alcimus into Judah, as "in Arbela" (1 Maccabees 9:2). If Arbela be identical with Irbil or Irbid on the southern lip of Wady el-Chamam, West of the Sea of Galilee, this fixes the locality; but no name resembling Mesaloth has been found.

Mesech

Mesech - me'-sek.

See MESHECH.

Mesha

Mesha - me'-sha:

(1) (mesha`; Codex Vaticanus, Marisa; Codex Alexandrinus, Marisas): Caleb's firstborn son, the father of Ziph, probably the ancestor of the Ziphites (1 Chronicles 2:42).

(2) (mesha'; Codex Vaticanus, Misa; Codex Alexandrinus, Mosa): A Benjamite, son of Shaharaim by his wife Hodesh, born in the land of Moab (1 Chronicles 8:9).

(3) (mesha`; Mosa): A king of Moab. All the Biblical information regarding this monarch is contained in 2 Kings 3:1-27. Here we gather that Mesha was contemporary with Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram. He was tributary to Israel, his annual contribution consisting of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams. after the death of Ahab he asserted his independence. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king of Edom joined forces with Jehoram in an attempt to quell the rebellion at the instance of Elisha, who accompanied the host, water was miraculously provided when the army of the allies was ready to perish of thirst. Mesha came out against them and fell upon the camp. His attack was repulsed with heavy slaughter, and the defeated king was chased by the victors until he took refuge in the great fortress of Kir-hareseth. A vigorous siege was begun. Seeing that his case was desperate, Mesha attempted, with 700 men, to break through the lines. Failing in this, he offered his firstborn as a burnt offering upon the wall. Then "there came great wrath upon Israel" (by which, probably, panic is meant), and the besiegers retired, leaving their conquest incomplete.

In his inscription (see MOABITE STONE) Mesha gives an account of his rebellion, naming the places captured and fortified by him. It is not surprising that he says nothing of his defeat by Jehoram and his allies. There is, however, one serious discrepancy. The time Moab was under the supremacy of Israel, during the reign of Omri and half the reign of Ahab, he puts at 40 years. According to Biblical chronology, Omri and Ahab together reigned only 34 years. If, with Mesha, we deduct half the reign of Ahab, the period is reduced to 23 years. It is impossible to add to the length of either reign. So great a difference cannot be explained by the use of round numbers. Why Mesha should wish to increase the time of his people's subjection is not clear, unless, indeed, he thought in this way to magnify the glory of their deliverer.

In Mesha the sentiment of patriotism was wedded to some measure of military capacity. Judging by his inscription, he was also a deeply religious man according to his lights. Substitute "Yahweh" for "Chemosh," and his phraseology might be that of a pious Hebrew king. The sacrifice of his son is at once the mark of the heathen and an index of the strength of his devotion.

(4) (mesha'; Masse): This appears to mark the western boundary of the land occupied by the descendants of Joktan (Genesis 10:30). No certain identification is possible, but several more or less probable have been suggested: e.g. (a) The Greek Mesene, on the Persian Gulf, not far from the mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates; (b) the Syro-Arabian desert, called Mashu in the Assyrian inscriptions; the name here, however, could hardly cover such a vast tract as this; more probably it denoted a place; (c) Dillmann would alter the vowels and identify it with Massa', a branch of the Ishmaelite stock (Genesis 25:14; 1 Chronicles 1:30). This, however, furnishes no clue to the locality, the territory of that tribe being also unidentified.

W. Ewing

Meshach

Meshach - me'-shak (meshakh): Possibly the Sumerian form of the Babylonian Cil-Asharidu, "the shadow of the prince," just as Shadrach probably means "the servant of Sin," and Abednego the "servant of Ishtar." Meshach was one of the three Hebrew companions of Daniel, whose history is given in the first chapters of the Book of Daniel.

See, further, under SHADRACH.

Meshech; Mesech

Meshech; Mesech - me'-shek, me'-sek (meshekh, "long," "tall"; Mosoch): Son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5, 17 is a scribal error for "Mash"; compare Genesis 10:22-23). His descendants and their dwelling-place (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of armenia (Herodotus iii.94)) seem to be regarded in Scripture as synonyms for the barbaric and remote (Psalms 120:5; compare Isaiah 66:19, where Meshech should be read instead of "that draw the bow"). It is thought that the "Tibareni and Moschi" of the classical writers refer to the same people. Doubtless they appear in the annals of Assyria as enemies of that country under the names Tabali and Mushki--the latter the descendants of Meshech and the former those of Tubal to whom the term "Tibareni" may refer in the clause above. This juxtaposition of names is in harmony with practically every appearance of the word in Scripture. It is seldom named without some one of the others--Tubal, Javan, Gog and Magog. It is this which forms a good justification for making the suggested change in Isaiah 66:19, where Meshech would be in the usual company of Tubal and Javan. Ezekiel mentions them several times, first, as engaged in contributing to the trade of Tyre (Tiras of Genesis 10:2?), in "vessels of brass" and--very significantly--slaves; again there is the association of Javan and Tubal with them (Ezekiel 27:13); second, they are included in his weird picture of the under-world: "them that go down into the pit" (Ezekiel 32:18, 26). They are mentioned again with Gog and Magog twice as those against whom the prophet is to "set his face" (Ezekiel 38:2-3; 39:1).

Henry Wallace

Meshelemiah

Meshelemiah - me-shel-e-mi'-a (meshelemyah, "Yah repays"): Father of Zechariah, one of the porters of the tabernacle (1 Chronicles 9:21; 1 Chronicles 26:1-2, 9). In the latter passage Meshelemiah, with a final "-u", is credited with "sons and brethren, valiant men, 18." He is the "Shelemiah" of 1 Chronicles 26:14, the "Shallum" of 1 Chronicles 9:17, 19, 31, and the "Meshullam" of Nehemiah 12:25.

Meshezabel

Meshezabel - me-shez'-a-bel (meshezebhe'el, "God a deliverer"; the King James Version Meshezabeel, me-shez'-a-bel):

(1) A priest, ancestor of Meshullam, who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:4).

(2) One of the chiefs of the people giving name to the family which sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:21).

(3) A descendant of Judah through Zerah, and father of Pethahiah (Nehemiah 11:24).

Meshillemith

Meshillemith - me-shil'-e-mith (meshillemith, "retribution"): A priest, son of Immer, ancestor, according to 1 Chronicles 9:12, of Adaiah and Pashhur, and according to Nehemiah 11:13, of Amashai. In the latter passage this name is spelled MESHILLEMOTH (which see).

Meshillemoth

Meshillemoth - me-shil'-e-moth, me-shil'-e-moth (meshillemoth, "recompense"):

(1) An Ephraimite ancestor of Berechiah, chief of the tribe, in the reign of Pekah (2 Chronicles 28:12).

(2) The "Meshillemith" of Nehemiah 11:13.

Meshobab

Meshobab - me-sho'-bab (meshobhabh): A Simeonite (1 Chronicles 4:34). This name heads the list of those who, for the sake of wider pasturelands, occupied a Hamitic settlement in the neighborhood of Gerar (Mount GEDOR (which see)), and a Maonite settlement in Edomite territory (1 Chronicles 4:39-41). The latter event is dated in the days of Hezekiah (see Curtis, Chronicles, in the place cited.).

Meshullam

Meshullam - me-shul'-am (meshullam, "resigned" or "devoted"; compare Arabic Muslim; Mesollam): An Old Testament name very common in post-exilic times.

(1) The grandfather of Shaphan (2 Kings 22:3).

(2) A son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:19).

(3) A Gadite (1 Chronicles 5:13).

(4) (5) (6) Three Benjamites (1 Chronicles 8:17; 1 Chronicles 9:7-8).

(7) The father of Hilkiah (1 Chronicles 9:11; Nehemiah 11:11).

(8) A priest, son of Meshillemith (1 Chronicles 9:12); the parallel list (Nehemiah 11:13) omits the name.

(9) A Kohathite appointed by Josiah as one of the overseers to direct the repairs of the temple (2 Chronicles 34:12).

(10) One of the chief men sent by Ezra to procure Levites to go up with him to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:16; compare 1 Esdras 8:44).

(11) A Levite opposed to Ezra's regulations anent marriage with foreigners (Ezra 10:15; 1 Esdras 9:14).

(12) One of those who had married foreign wives (Ezra 10:29; compare 1 Esdras 9:30).

(13) One of the repairers of the wall (Nehemiah 3:4, 30). His daughter was married to Jehohanan, the son of Tobiah the Ammonite (Nehemiah 6:18).

(14) One of the repairers of the Old Gate (Nehemiah 3:6).

(15) A supporter of Ezra at the reading of the Law (Nehemiah 8:4).

(16) One of those who subscribed the Covenant (Nehemiah 10:20).

(17) A priest who subscribed the Covenant (Nehemiah 10:7).

(18) (19) Two priests at the time of the high priest Joiakim (Nehemiah 12:13, 16).

(20) A porter at the time of the high priest Joiakim (Nehemiah 12:25).

(21) A processionist at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:33).

John A. Less

Meshullemeth

Meshullemeth - me-shul'-e-meth (meshullemeth): The wife of King Manasseh and mother of Amon (2 Kings 21:19). She is further designated "daughter of Haruz of Jotbah." This is the earliest instance of the birthplace being added to the designation of the queen mother. The name is properly the feminine of the frequently occurring MESHULLAM (which see).

Mesobaite

Mesobaite - me-so'-ba-it.

See MEZOBAITE.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia - mes-o-ta'-mi-a.

See SYRIA.

Mess

Mess - mes (mas'eth): Any dish of food sent (Latin missum; French messe) to the table. It occurs in the Old Testament in Genesis 43:34 (twice); 2 Samuel 11:8 English Versions of the Bible, and in the New Testament in Hebrews 12:16, translating brosis.

Messenger

Messenger - mes'-en-jer: The regular Hebrew word for "messenger" is mal'akh, the Greek aggelos. This may be a human messenger or a messenger of God, an angel. The context must decide the right translation. In Haggai 1:13 the prophet is called God's messenger; Job 33:23 changes the King James Version to "angel" (margin "messenger"); and Malachi 3:1 margin, suggests "angel" instead of "messenger." Malachi 2:7 and Malachi 3:1 (twice) have caused a great deal of comment. See MALACHI. The Greek apostolos, "apostle," is rendered "messenger" in 2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25; 1 Samuel 4:17 translations literally, from Hebrew basar, "to tell good news," "he that brought the tidings." Genesis 50:16 reads "message" instead of "messenger."

A. L. Breslich

Messiah

Messiah - me-si'-a (mashiach; Aramaic meshicha'; Septuagint Christos, "anointed"; New Testament "Christ"):

1. Meaning and Use of the Term

2. The Messianic Hope

I. THE MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. The Messianic King

(1) Isaiah

(2) Jeremiah and Ezekiel

(3) Later Prophets

2. Prophetic and Priestly Relations

3. Servant of Yahweh

4. Transformation of the Prophetic Hope into the Apocalyptic

II. THE MESSIAH IN THE PRE-CHRISTIAN AGE

1. Post-prophetic Age

2. Maccabean Times

3. Apocalyptic Literature

III. THE MESSIAH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1. The Jewish Conception

(1) The Messiah as King

(2) His Prophetic Character

(3) The Title "Son of God"

2. Attitude of Jesus to the Messiahship

3. The Christian Transformation

4. New Elements Added

(1) Future Manifestation

(2) Divine Personality

(3) Heavenly Priesthood

5. Fulfillment in Jesus

LITERATURE

1. Meaning and Use of the Term: "Messias" (John 1:41; 4:25 the King James Version) is a transcription of Messias, the Greek representation of the Aramaic. "Messiah" is thus a modification of the Greek form of the word, according to the Hebrew.

The term is used in the Old Testament of kings and priests, who were consecrated to office by the ceremony of anointing. It is applied to the priest only as an adjective--"the anointed priest" (Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16; 6:22 (Hebrews 15)). Its substantive use is restricted to the king; he only is called "the Lord's anointed," e.g. Saul (1 Samuel 24:6, 10 (Hebrews 7:1-28, 11), etc.); David (2 Samuel 19:21 (Hebrews 22); 2 Samuel 23:1, "the anointed of the God of Jacob"); Zedekiah (Lamentations 4:20). Similarly in the Psalms the king is designated "mine," "thine," "his anointed." Thus also even Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1), as being chosen and commissioned by Yahweh to carry out His purpose with Israel. Some think the singular "mine anointed" in Habakkuk 3:13 denotes the whole people; but the Hebrew text is somewhat obscure, and the reference may be to the king. The plural of the substantive is used of the patriarchs, who are called "mine anointed ones" (Psalms 105:15; 1 Chronicles 16:22), as being Yahweh's chosen, consecrated servants, whose persons were inviolable.

It is to be noted that "Messiah" as a special title is never applied in the Old Testament to the unique king of the future, unless perhaps in Daniel 9:25 f (mashiach naghidh, "Messiah-Prince"), a difficult passage, the interpretation of which is very uncertain. It was the later Jews of the post-prophetic period who, guided by a true instinct, first used the term in a technical sense.

2. The Messianic Hope: The Messiah is the instrument by whom God's kingdom is to be established in Israel and in the world. The hope of a personal deliverer is thus inseparable from the wider hope that runs through the Old Testament. The Jews were a nation who lived in the future. In this respect they stand alone among the peoples of antiquity. No nation ever cherished such strong expectations of a good time coming, or clung more tenaciously amid defeat and disaster to the certainty of final triumph over all enemies and of entrance upon a state of perfect peace and happiness. The basis of this larger hope is Yahweh's covenant with Israel. "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God" (Exodus 6:7). On the ground of this promise the prophets, while declaring God's wrath against His people on account of their sin, looked beyond the Divine chastisements to the final era of perfect salvation and blessedness, which would be ushered in when the nation had returned to Yahweh.

The term "Messianic" is used in a double sense to describe the larger hope of a glorious future for the nation, as well as the narrower one of a personal Messiah who is to be the prominent figure in the perfected kingdom. It may be remarked that many writers, both prophetic and apocalyptic, who picture the final consummation, make no allusion whatever to a coming deliverer.

This article will treat of the personal Messianic hope as it is found in the Old Testament, in the pre-Christian age, and in the New Testament.

I. The Messiah in the Old Testament. 1. The Messianic King: The chief element in the conception of the Messiah in the Old Testament is that of the king. Through him as head of the nation Yahweh could most readily work out His saving purposes. But the kingdom of Israel was a theocracy. In earlier times Moses, Joshua, and the judges, who were raised up by Yahweh to guide His people at different crises in their history, did not claim to exercise authority apart from their Divine commission. Nor was the relation of Yahweh to the nation as its real ruler in any way modified by the institution of the monarchy. It was by His Spirit that the king was qualified for the righteous government of the people, and by His power that he would become victorious over all enemies. The passage on which the idea of the Messianic king who would rule in righteousness and attain universal dominion was founded is Nathan's oracle to David in 2 Samuel 7:11 ff. In contrast to Saul, from whom the kingdom had passed away, David would never want a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel. How strong an impression this promise of the perpetuity of his royal house had made on David is seen in his last words (2 Samuel 23:1-39); and to this "everlasting covenant, and sure," the spiritual minds in Israel reverted in all after ages.

(1) Isaiah. Isaiah is the first of the prophets to refer to an extraordinary king of the future. Amos (9:11) foretold the time when the shattered fortunes of Judah would be restored, while Hosea (3:5) looked forward to the reunion of the two kingdoms under David's line. But it is not till we reach the Assyrian age, when the personality of the king is brought into prominence against the great world-power, that we meet with any mention of a unique personal ruler who would bring special glory to David's house.

The kings of Syria and Israel having entered into a league to dethrone Ahaz and supplant him by an obscure adventurer, Isaiah 7:10-17 announces to the king of Judah that while, by the help of Assyria, he would survive the attack of the confederate kings, Yahweh would, for his disobedience, bring devastation upon his own land through the instrumentality of his ally. But the prophet's lofty vision, though limited as in the case of other seers to the horizon of his own time, reaches beyond Judah's distress to Judah's deliverance. To the spiritual mind of Isaiah the revelation is made of a true king, Immanuel, "God-with-us," who would arise out of the house of David, now so unworthily represented by the profligate Ahaz. While the passage is one of the hardest to interpret in all the Old Testament, perhaps too much has been made by some scholars of the difficulty connected with the word `almah, "virgin." It is the mysterious personality of the child to which prominence is given in the prophecy. The significance of the name and the pledge of victory it implies, the reference to Immanuel as ruler of the land in Isaiah 8:8 (if the present rendering be correct), as well as the parallelism of the line of thought in the prophecy with that of Isaiah 9:1-21, would seem to point to the identity of Immanuel with the Prince of the four names, "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6 the Revised Version margin). These Divine titles do not necessarily imply that in the mind of the prophet the Messianic king is God in the metaphysical sense--the essence of the Divine nature is not a dogmatic conception in the Old Testament--but only that Yahweh is present in Him in perfect wisdom and power, so that He exercises over His people forever a fatherly and peaceful rule. In confirmation of this interpretation reference may be made to the last of the great trilogy of Isaianic prophecies concerning the Messiah of the house of David (Isaiah 11:2), where the attributes with which He is endowed by the Spirit are those which qualify for the perfect discharge of royal functions in the kingdom of God.

See IMMANUEL.

A similar description of the Messianic king is given by Isaiah's younger contemporary Micah (5:2 ff), who emphasizes the humble origin of the extraordinary ruler of the future, who shall spring from the Davidic house, while his reference to her who is to bear him confirms the interpretation which regards the virgin in Isaiah as the mother of the Messiah.

(2) Jeremiah and Ezekiel. After the time of Isaiah and Micah the throne of David lost much of its power and influence, and the figure of the ideal king is never again portrayed with the same definiteness and color. Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk make no reference to him at all. By the great prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, however, the hope of a Davidic ruler is kept before the people. While there are passages in both of these writers which refer to a succession of pious rulers, this fact should not dominate our interpretation of other utterances of theirs which seem to point to a particular individual. By Jeremiah the Messiah is called the "righteous Branch" who is to be raised unto David and be called "Yahweh (is) our righteousness," that is, Yahweh as the one making righteous dwells in him (Jeremiah 23:5 f; compare Jeremiah 30:9). In Ezekiel he is alluded to as the coming one "whose right it is" (Jeremiah 21:14), and as Yahweh's "servant David" who shall be "prince" or "king" forever over a reunited people (Jeremiah 34:22 f; Jeremiah 37:21). It is difficult to resist the impression which the language of Ezekiel makes that it is the ideal Messianic ruler who is here predicted, notwithstanding the fact that afterward, in the prophet's vision of the ideal theocracy, not only does the prince play a subordinate part, but provision is made in the constitution for a possible abuse of his authority.

(3) Later Prophets. After Ezekiel's time, during the remaining years of the exile, the hope of a preeminent king of David's house naturally disappears. But it is resuscitated at the restoration when Zerubbabel, a prince of the house of David and the civil head of the restored community, is made by Yahweh of hosts His signet-ring, inseparable from Himself and the symbol of His authority (Haggai 2:23). In the new theocracy, however the figure of the Messianic ruler falls into the background before that of the high priest, who is regarded as the sign of the coming Branch (Zechariah 3:8). Still we have the unique prophecy of the author Of Zechariah 9:9, who pictures the Messiah as coming not on a splendid charger like a warrior king, but upon the foal of an ass, righteous and victorious, yet lowly and peaceful, strong by the power of God to help and save. There is no mention of the Messianic king in Joel or Malachi; but references in the later, as in the earlier, Psalms to events in the lives of the kings or the history of the kingdom prove that the promise made to David was not forgotten, and point to one who would fulfill it in all its grandeur.

2. Prophetic and Priestly Relations: The Messianic king is the central figure in the consummation of the kingdom. It is a royal son of David, not a prophet like unto Moses, or a priest of Aaron's line, whose personal features are portrayed in the picture of the future. The promise in Deuteronomy 18:15-20, as the context shows, refers to a succession of true prophets as opposed to the diviners of heathen nations. Though Moses passed away there would always be a prophet raised up by Yahweh to reveal His will to the people, so that they would never need to have recourse to heathen soothsayers. Yet while the prophet is not an ideal figure, being already fully inspired by the Spirit, prophetic functions are to this extent associated with the kingship, that the Messiah is qualified by the Spirit for the discharge of the duties of His royal office and makes known the will of God by His righteous decisions (Isaiah 11:2-5).

It is more difficult to define the relationship of the priesthood to the kingship in the final era. They are brought into connection by Jeremiah (30:9,21) who represents the new "David" as possessing the priestly right of immediate access to Yahweh, while the Levitical priesthood, equally with the Davidic kingship, is assured of perpetuity on the ground of the covenant (Jeremiah 33:18 ff). But after the restoration, when prominence is given to the high priest in the reconstitution of the kingdom, Joshua becomes the type of the coming "Branch" of the Davidic house (Zechariah 3:8), and, according to the usual interpretation, receives the crown--a symbol of the union of the kingly and priestly offices in the Messiah (Zechariah 6:11 ff). Many scholars, however, holding that the words "and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" can only refer to two persons, would substitute "Zerubbabel" for "Joshua" in Zechariah 6:11, and read in Zechariah 6:13, "there shall be a priest upon his right hand" (compare the Revised Version (British and American), Septuagint (Septuagint). The prophet's meaning would then be that the Messianic high priest would sit beside the Messianic king in the perfected kingdom, both working together as Zerubbabel and Joshua were then doing. There is no doubt, however, that the Messiah is both king and priest in Psalms 110:1-7.

3. Servant of Yahweh: The bitter experiences of the nation during the exile originated a new conception, Messianic in the deepest sense, the Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 40:1-31--Isaiah 66:1-24; chiefly Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 42:1-7, 19 f; Isaiah 43:8, 10; 44:1 f,Isaiah 21:1-17; Isaiah 49:3-6; Isaiah 50:4-9; 52:13--Isaiah 53:1-12). As to whom the prophet refers in his splendid delineation of this mysterious being, scholars are hopelessly divided. The personification theory--that the Servant represents the ideal Israel, Israel as God meant it to be, as fulfilling its true vocation in the salvation of the world--is held by those who plead for a consistent use of the phrase throughout the prophecy. They regard it as inconceivable that the same title should be applied by the same prophet to two distinct subjects. Others admit that the chief difficulty in the way of this theory is to conceive it, but they maintain that it best explains the use of the title in the chief passages where it occurs. The other theory is that there is an expansion and contraction of the idea in the mind of the prophet. In some passages the title is used to denote the whole nation; in others it is limited to the pious kernel; and at last the conception culminates in an individual, the ideal yet real Israelite of the future, who shall fulfill the mission in which the nation failed.

What really divides expositors is the interpretation of Isaiah 52:13--Isaiah 53:1-12. The question is not whether this passage was fulfilled in Jesus Christ--on this all Christian expositors are agreed--but whether the "Servant" is in the mind of the prophet merely the personification of the godly portion of the nation, or a person yet to come.

May not the unity argument be pressed too hard? If the Messiah came to be conceived of as a specific king while the original promise spoke of a dynasty, is it so inconceivable that the title "Servant of Yahweh" should be used in an individual as well as in a collective sense? It is worthy of note, too, that not only in some parts of this prophecy, but all through it, the individuality of the sufferer is made prominent; the collective idea entirely disappears. The contrast is not between a faithful portion and the general body of the people, but between the "Servant" and every single member of the nation. Moreover, whatever objections may be urged against the individual interpretation, this view best explains the doctrine of substitution that runs through the whole passage. Israel was Yahweh's elect people, His messenger of salvation to the Gentiles, and its faithful remnant suffered for the sins of the mass; even "Immanuel" shared in the sorrows of His people. But here the "Servant" makes atonement for the sins of individual Israelites; by his death they are justified and by his stripes they are healed. To this great spiritual conception only the prophet of the exile attains.

It may be added that in the Suffering Servant, who offers the sacrifice of himself as an expiation for the sins of the people, prophetic activity and kingly honor are associated with the priestly function. After he has been raised from the dead he becomes the great spiritual teacher of the world--by his knowledge of God and salvation which he communicates to others he makes many righteous (Isaiah 53:11; compare Isaiah 42:1 ff; Isaiah 49:2; 50:4); and as a reward for his sufferings he attains to a position of the highest royal splendor (Isaiah 522:1Isa 5:1-30b; Isaiah 533:12a; compare Isaiah 49:7).

See SERVANT OF JEHOVAH.

4. Transformation of the Prophetic Hope into the Apocalyptic:

In the Book of Daniel, written to encourage the Jewish people to steadfastness during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Messianic hope of the prophets assumes a new form. Here the apocalyptic idea of the Messiah appears for the first time in Jewish literature. The coming ruler is represented, not as a descendant of the house of David, but as a person in human form and of super-human character, through whom God is to establish His sovereignty upon the earth. In the prophet's vision (Daniel 7:13 f) one "like unto a son of man," kebhar 'enash (not, as in the King James Version, "like the son of man"), comes with the clouds of heaven, and is brought before the ancient of days, and receives an imperishable kingdom, that all peoples should serve him.

Scholars are by no means agreed in their interpretation of the prophecy. In support of the view that the "one like unto a son of man" is a symbol for the ideal Israel, appeal is made to the interpretation given of the vision in Daniel 7:18, 22, 27, according to which dominion is given to "the saints of the Most High." Further, as the four heathen kingdoms are represented by the brute creation, it would be natural for the higher power, which is to take their place, to be symbolized by the human form.

But strong reasons may be urged, on the other hand, for the personal Messianic interpretation of the passage. A distinction seems to be made between "one like unto a son of man" and the saints of the Most High in Daniel 7:21, the saints being there represented as the object of persecution from the little horn. The scene of the judgment is earth, where the saints already are, and to which the ancient of days and the "one like unto a son of man" descend (Daniel 7:22, 13). And it is in accordance with the interpretation given of the vision in Daniel 7:17, where reference is made to the four kings of the bestial kingdoms, that the kingdom of the saints, which is to be established in their place, should also be represented by a royal head.

It may be noted that a new idea is suggested by this passage, the pre-existence of the Messiah before His manifestation.

II. The Messiah in the Pre-Christian Age. 1. Post-prophetic Age: After prophetic inspiration ceased, there was little in the teaching of the scribes, or in the reconstitution of the kingdom under the rule of the high priests, to quicken the ancient hope of the nation. It would appear from the Apocrypha that while the elements of the general expectation were still cherished, the specific hope of a preeminent king of David's line had grown very dim in the consciousness of the people. In Ecclesiasticus (47:11) mention is made of a "covenant of kings and a throne of glory in Israel which the Lord gave unto David"; yet even this allusion to the everlasting duration of the Davidic dynasty is more of the nature of a historical statement than the expression of a confident hope.

2. Maccabean Times: In the earlier stages of the Maccabean uprising, when the struggle was for religious freedom, the people looked for help to God alone, and would probably have been content to acknowledge the political supremacy of Syria after liberty had been granted them in 162 BC to worship God according to their own law and ceremonial. But the successful effort of the Maccabean leaders in achieving political independence, while it satisfied the aspirations of the people generally "until there should arise a faithful prophet" (1 Maccabees 14:41; compare 2:57), brought religious and national ideals into conflict. The "Pious" (chacidhim), under the new name of Pharisees, now became more than ever devoted to the Law, and repudiated the claim of a Maccabean to be high priest and his subsequent assumption of the royal title, while the Maccabees with their political ambitions took the side of the aristocracy and alienated the people. The national spirit, however, had been stirred into fresh life. Nor did the hope thus quickened lose any of its vitality when, amid the strife of factions and the quarrels of the ruling family, Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC. The fall of the Hasmonean house, even more than its ascendancy, led the nation to set its hope more firmly on God and to look for a deliverer from the house of David.

3. Apocalyptic Literature: The national sentiment evoked by the Maccabees finds expression in the Apocalyptic literature of the century and a half before Christ.

In the oldest parts of the Sibylline Oracles (3:652-56) there occurs a brief prediction of a king whom God shall send from the sun, who shall "cause the whole earth to cease from wicked war, killing some and exacting faithful oaths from others. And this he will do, not according to his own counsel, but in obedience to the beneficent decrees of God." And in a later part of the same book (3:49) there is an allusion to "a pure king who will wield the scepter over the whole earth forever." It may be the Messiah also who is represented in the earlier part of the Book of Enoch (90:37 f) as a glorified man under the symbol of a white bull with great horns, which is feared and worshipped by all the other animals (the rest of the religious community) and into whose likeness they are transformed.

But it is in the Psalms of Solomon, which were composed in the Pompeian period and reveal their Pharisaic origin by representing the Hasmoneans as a race of usurpers, that we have depicted in clear outline and glowing colors the portrait of the Davidic king (Ps Song of Solomon 17:18). The author looks for a personal Messiah who, as son of David and king of Israel, will purge Jerusalem of sinners, and gather together a holy people who will all be the "sons of their God." He shall not conquer with earthly weapons, for the Lord Himself is his King; he shall smite the earth with the breath of his mouth; and the heathen of their own accord shall come to see his glory, bringing the wearied children of Israel as gifts. His throne shall be established in wisdom and justice, while he himself shall be pure from sin and made strong in the Holy Spirit.

It is evident that in these descriptions of the coming one we have something more than a mere revival of the ancient hope of a preeminent king of David's house. The repeated disasters that overtook the Jews led to the transference of the national hope to a future world, and consequently to the transformation of the Messiah from a mere earthly king into a being with supernatural attributes. That this supernatural apocalyptic hope, which was at least coming to be cherished, exercised an influence on the national hope is seen in the Psalter of Solomon, where emphasis is laid on the striking individuality of this Davidic king, the moral grandeur of his person, and the Divine character of his rule.

We meet with the apocalyptic conception of the Messiah in the Similitudes of Enoch (chapters 37--71) and the later apocalypses. Reference may be made at this point to the Similitudes on account of their unique expression of Messianic doctrine, although their pre-Christian date, which Charles puts not later than 64 BC, is much disputed. The Messiah who is called "the Anointed," "the Elect one" "the Righteous one" is represented, though in some sense man, as belonging to the heavenly world. His pre-existence is affirmed. He is the supernatural Son of Man, who will come forth from His concealment to sit as Judge of all on the throne of His glory, and dwell on a transformed earth with the righteous forever.

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE(JEWISH ); ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

III. The Messiah in the New Testament. To the prevalence of the Messianic hope among the Jews in the time of Christ the Gospel records bear ample testimony. We see from the question of the Baptist that "the coming one" was expected (Matthew 11:3 and parallel), while the people wondered whether John himself were the Christ (Luke 3:15).

1. The Jewish Conception: (1) The Messiah as King. In the popular conception the Messiah was chiefly the royal son of David who would bring victory and prosperity to the Jewish nation and set up His throne in Jerusalem. In this capacity the multitude hailed Jesus on His entry into the capital (Matthew 21:9 and parallel); to the Pharisees also the Messiah was the son of David (Matthew 22:42). It would seem that apocalyptic elements mingled with the national expectation, for it was supposed that the Messiah would come forth suddenly from concealment and attest Himself by miracles (John 7:27, 31).

But there were spiritual minds who interpreted the nation's hope, not in any conventional sense, but according to their own devout aspirations. Looking for "the consolation of Israel," "the redemption of Jerusalem," they seized upon the spiritual features of the Messianic king and recognized in Jesus the promised Saviour who would deliver the nation from its sin (Luke 2:25, 30, 38; compare Luke 1:68-79).

(2) His Prophetic Character. From the statements in the Gospels regarding the expectation of a prophet it is difficult to determine whether the prophetic function was regarded as belonging to the Messiah. We learn not only that one of the old prophets was expected to reappear (Matthew 14:2; 16:14 and parallel), but also that a preeminent prophet was looked for, distinct from the Messiah (John 1:21, 25; 7:40 f). But the two conceptions of prophet and king seem to be identified in John 6:14 f, where we are told that the multitude, after recognizing in Jesus the expected prophet, wished to take Him by force and make Him a king. It would appear that while the masses were looking forward to a temporal king, the expectations of some were molded by the image and promise of Moses. And to the woman of Samaria, as to her people, the Messiah was simply a prophet, who would bring the full light of Divine knowledge into the world (John 4:25). On the other hand, from Philip's description of Jesus we would naturally infer that he saw in Him whom he had found the union of a prophet like unto Moses and the Messianic king of the prophetical books (John 1:45).

(3) The Title "Son of God."

It cannot be doubted that the "Son of God" was used as a Messianic title by the Jews in the time of our Lord. The high priest in presence of the Sanhedrin recognized it as such (Matthew 26:63). It was applied also in its official sense to Jesus by His disciples: John the Baptist (John 1:34), Nathaniel (John 1:49), Mary (John 11:27), Peter (Matthew 16:16, though not in parallel). This Messianic use was based on Psalms 2:7; compare 2 Samuel 7:14. The title as given to Jesus by Peter in his confession, "the Son of the living God," is suggestive of something higher than a mere official dignity, although its full significance in the unique sense in which Jesus claimed it could scarcely have been apprehended by the disciples till after His resurrection.

2. Attitude of Jesus to the Messiahship: (1) His Claim. The claim of Jesus to be the Messiah is written on the face of the evangelic history. But while He accepted the title, He stripped it of its political and national significance and filled it with an ethical and universal content. The Jewish expectation of a great king who would restore the throne of David and free the nation from a foreign yoke was interpreted by Jesus as of one who would deliver God's people from spiritual foes and found a universal kingdom of love and peace.

(2) His Delay in Making It. To prepare the Jewish mind for His transformation of the national hope Jesus delayed putting forth His claim before the multitude till His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which, be it noted, He made in such a way as to justify His interpretation of the Messiah of the prophets, while He delayed emphasizing it to His disciples till the memorable scene at Caesarea Philippi when He drew forth Peter's confession.

(3) "The Son of Man."

But he sought chiefly to secure the acceptance of Himself in all His lowliness as the true Messianic king by His later use of His self-designation as the "Son of Man." While "Son of Man" in Aramaic, bar nasha', may mean simply "man," an examination of the chief passages in which the title occurs shows that Jesus applied it to Himself in a unique sense. That He had the passage in Daniel in His mind is evident from the phrases He employs in describing His future coming (Mark 8:38; 13:26 and parallel; Mark 14:62 and parallel). By this apocalyptic use of the title He put forward much more clearly His claim to be the Messiah of national expectation who would come in heavenly glory. But He used the title also to announce the tragic destiny that awaited Him (Mark 8:31). This He could do without any contradiction, as He regarded His death as the beginning of His Messianic reign. And those passages in which He refers to the Son of Man giving His life a ransom "for many" (Matthew 20:28 and parallel) and going "as it is written of him" (Matthew 26:24 and parallel), as well as Luke 22:37, indicate that He interpreted Isaiah 53:1-12 of Himself in His Messianic character. By His death He would complete His Messianic work and inaugurate the kingdom of God. Thus, by the help of the title "Son of Man" Jesus sought, toward the close of His ministry, to explain the seeming contradiction between His earthly life and the glory of His Messianic kingship.

It may be added that our Lord's use of the phrase implies what the Gospels suggest (John 12:34), that the "Son of Man," notwithstanding the references in Daniel and the Similitudes of Enoch (if the pre-Christian date be accepted), was not regarded by the Jews generally as a Messianic title. For He could not then have applied it, as He does, to Himself before Peter's confession, while maintaining His reserve in regard to His claims to be the Messiah. Many scholars, however, hold that the "Son of Man" was already a Messianic title before our Lord employed it in His conversation with the disciples at Caesarea Philippi, and regard the earlier passages in which it occurs as inserted out of chronological order, or the presence of the title in them either as a late insertion, or as due to the ambiguity of the Aramaic.

See SON OF MAN.

3. The Christian Transformation: The thought of a suffering Messiah who would atone for sin was alien to the Jewish mind. This is evident from the conduct, not only of the opponents, but of the followers of Jesus (Matthew 16:22; 17:23). While His disciples believed Him to be the Messiah, they could not understand His allusions to His sufferings, and regarded His death as the extinction of all their hopes (Luke 18:34; 24:21). But after His resurrection and ascension they were led, by the impression His personality and teaching had made upon them, to see how entirely they had misconceived His Messiahship and the nature and extent of His Messianic kingdom (Luke 24:31; Acts 2:36, 38 f). They were confirmed, too, in their spiritual conceptions when they searched into the ancient prophecies in the light of the cross. In the mysterious form of the Suffering Servant they beheld the Messianic king on His way to His heavenly throne, conquering by the power of His atoning sacrifice and bestowing all spiritual blessings (Acts 3:13, 18-21, 26; 27, 30; 8:35; Acts 10:36-43).

4. New Elements Added: (1) Future manifestation. New features were now added to the Messiah in accordance with Jesus' own teaching. He had ascended to His Father and become the heavenly king. But all things were not yet put under Him. It was therefore seen that the full manifestation of His Messiahship was reserved for the future, that He would return in glory to fulfill His Messianic office and complete His Messianic reign.

(2) Divine Personality. Higher views of His personality were now entertained. He is declared to be the Son of God, not in any official, but in a unique sense, as coequal with the Father (John 1:1; Romans 1:4, 7; 1 Corinthians 1:3, etc.). His pre-existence is affirmed (John 1:1; 2 Corinthians 8:9); and when He comes again in his Messianic glory, He will exercise the Divine function of Universal Judge (Acts 10:42; 17:30 f, etc.).

(3) Heavenly Priesthood. The Christian conception of the Messianic king who had entered into His glory through suffering and death carried with it the doctrine of the Messianic priesthood. But it took some time for early Christian thought to advance from the new discovery of the combination of humiliation and glory in the Messiah to concentrate upon His heavenly life. While the preaching of the first Christians was directed to show from the Scriptures that "Jesus is the Christ" and necessarily involved the ascription to Him of many functions characteristic of the true priest, it was reserved for the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to set forth this aspect of His work with separate distinctness and to apply to Him the title of our "great high priest" (Hebrews 4:14). As the high priest on the Day of Atonement not only sprinkled the blood upon the altar, but offered the sacrifice, so it was now seen that by passing into the heavens and presenting to God the offering He had made of Himself on earth, Jesus had fulfilled the high-priestly office.

5. Fulfillment in Jesus: Thus the ideal of the Hebrew prophets and poets is amply fulfilled in the person, teaching and work of Jesus of Nazareth. Apologists may often err in supporting the argument from prophecy by an extravagant symbolism and a false exegesis; but they are right in the contention that the essential elements in the Old Testament conception--the Messianic king who stands in a unique relation to Yahweh as His "Son," and who will exercise universal dominion; the supreme prophet who will never be superseded; the priest forever--are gathered up and transformed by Jesus in a way the ancient seers never dreamed of. As the last and greatest prophet, the suffering Son of Man, and the sinless Saviour of the world, He meets humanity's deepest longings for Divine knowledge, human sympathy, and spiritual deliverance; and as the unique Son of God, who came to reveal the Father, He rules over the hearts of men by the might of eternal love. No wonder that the New Testament writers, like Jesus Himself, saw references to the Messiah in Old Testament passages which would not be conceded by a historical interpretation. While recognizing the place of the old covenant in the history of salvation, they sought to discover in the light of the fulfillment in Jesus the meaning of the Old Testament which the Spirit of God intended to convey, the Divine, saving thoughts which constitute its essence. And to us, as to the early Christians, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). To Him, hidden in the bosom of the ages, all the scattered rays of prophecy pointed; and from Him, in His revealed and risen splendor, shine forth upon the world the light and power of God's love and truth. And through the history and experience of His people He is bringing to larger realization the glory and passion of Israel's Messianic hope.

LITERATURE.

Drummond, The Jewish Messiah; Stanton, The Jewish and the Christian Messiah; Riehm, Messianic Prophecy; Delitzsch, Messianic Prophecies; von Orelli, Old Testament Prophecy; A. B. Davidson, Old Testament Prophecy; Schultz, Old Testament Theology; Schurer, HJP, div II, volume II, section 29, "The Messianic Hope"; Westcott, Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, chapter ii, "The Jewish Doctrine of Messiah"; Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, book II, chapter v, "What Messiah Did the Jews Expect?"; E. F. Scott, The Kingdom and the Messiah; Fairweather, The Background of the Gospels; articles in DB, HDB, EB, DCG. For further list see Riehm and Schurer.

Metal

Metal - met'-al (chashmal; elektron; the King James Version amber; Ezekiel 8:2, the Revised Version margin "amber"): The substance here intended is a matter of great uncertainty. In Egypt bronze was, called chesmen, which may be connected with the Hebrew chashmal; the Greek elektron too has generally been accepted as an alloy of gold or silver or other metals, but this is far from certain. Professor Ridgeway (EB, I, cols. 134-36) has conclusively shown, however, that amber was well known in early times and that there is nothing archaeologically improbable in the reading of the King James Version.

Amber is a substance analogous to the vegetable resins, and is in all probability derived from extinct coniferous trees. The best or yellow variety was obtained by the ancients from the coasts of the Baltic where it is still found more plentifully than elsewhere. A red amber has been found in South Europe and in Phoenicia. From earliest times amber has been prized as an ornament; Homer apparently refers to it twice. Amber bracelets and necklaces are highly prized by the Orientals--especially Jewesses --today, and they are credited with medicinal properties.

See ELECTRUM; STONES, PRECIOUS.

E. W. G. Masterman

Metal Working

Metal Working - See CRAFTS, 10;MINING .

Metallurgy

Metallurgy - met'-al-ur-ji: There are numerous Biblical references which describe or allude to the various metallurgical operations. In Job 28:1 occurs zaqaq, translated "refine," literally, "strain." This undoubtedly refers to the process of separating the gold from the earthy material as pictured in the Egyptian sculptures (Thebes and Beni Hassan) and described by Diodorus. The ore was first crushed to the size of lentils and then ground to powder in a handmill made of granite slabs. This powder was spread upon a slightly inclined stone table and water was poured over it to wash away the earthy materials. The comparatively heavy gold particles were then gathered from the table, dried, and melted in a closed crucible with lead, salt and bran, and kept in a molten condition for 5 days, at the end of which time the gold came out pure.

The alloying of gold and silver with copper, lead or tin, and then removing the base metals by cupellation is used figuratively in Ezekiel 22:18, 22 to denote the coming judgment of Yahweh. Again in Isaiah 1:25 it indicates chastening. The fact that the prophets used this figure shows that the people were familiar with the common metallurgical operations.

See REFINER.

James A. Patch

Metals

Metals - met'-alz (Latin metallum, "metal," "mine"; Greek metallon, "mine"): The metals known by the ancients were copper, gold, iron, lead, silver and tin. Of these copper, gold and silver were probably first used, because, occurring in a metallic state, they could be separated easily from earthy materials by mechanical processes. Evidence is abundant of the use of these three metals by the people of remotest antiquity. Lead and tin were later separated from their ores. Tin was probably used in making bronze before it was known as a separate metal, because the native oxide, cassiterite, was smelted together with the copper ore to get bronze. Because of the difficulties in getting it separated from its compounds, iron was the last in the list to be employed. In regard to the sources of these metals in Bible times we have few Biblical references to guide us. Some writers point to Deuteronomy 8:9, "a land whose stones are iron," etc., as referring to Palestine. Palestine can be disregarded, however, as a sourc e of metals, for it possesses no mineral deposits of any importance. If it was expected that Israel would possess Lebanon also, then the description would be more true. There is some iron ore which was in ancient times worked, although present-day engineers have declared it not to be extensive enough to pay for working. There is a little copper ore (chalcopyrite, malachite, azurite). In the Anti-Lebanon and Northern Syria, especially in the country East of Aleppo now opened up by the Bagdad Railroad and its branches, there are abundant deposits of copper. This must have been the land of Nuhasse referred to in the Tell el-Amarna Letters. If Zechariah 6:1 is really a reference to copper, which is doubtful, then the last-mentioned source was probably the one referred to. No doubt Cyprus (Alasia in Tell el-Amarna Letters (?)) furnished the ancients with much copper, as did also the Sinaitic peninsula.

Tarshish is mentioned (Ezekiel 27:12) as a source of silver, iron, tin, and lead. This name may belong to Southern Spain. If so it corresponds to the general belief that the Phoenicians brought a considerable proportion of the metals used in Palestine from that country. Havilah (Genesis 2:11), Ophir (1 Kings 10:11), Sheba (Psalms 72:15) are mentioned as sources of gold. These names probably refer to districts of Arabia. Whether Arabia produced all the gold or simply passed it on from more remote sources is a question.

See GOLD.

From the monuments in Egypt we learn that that country was a producer of gold and silver. In fact, the ancient mines and the ruins of the miners' huts are still to be seen in the desert regions of upper Egypt. In the Sinaitic peninsula are deposits of copper, lead, gold, and silver. The most remarkable of the ancient Egyptian mines are situated here (J. Sarabit el Khadim, U. Sidreh, W. Magharah). The early Egyptian kings (Sneferu, Amenemhat II, and others) not only mined the metals, but cut on the walls of the mines inscriptions describing their methods of mining. Here, as in upper Egypt, are remains of the buildings where miners lived or carried out their metallurgical operations. It is hardly to be conceived that the large deposits of lead (galena) in Asia Minor were unworked by the ancients. No nearer deports of tin than those in Southeastern Europe have yet been found. (For further information on metals see separate articles.)

James A. Patch

Mete

Mete - met (madhadh): "To measure," either with a utensil of dry measure, as in Exodus 16:18, or to measure with a line or measure of length, as in Psalms 60:6; 108:7; Isaiah 40:12. In Isaiah 18:2, 7 it is the rendering of qaw qaw, literally, "line-line" i.e. measuring line, referring to the Ethiopians as a nation that measured off other peoples for destruction and trod them down, as in the Revised Version (British and American). It is regarded by some as signifying strength, being cognate with the Arabic kawi, "strong." For mete of Matthew 7:2 and parallel passages in Mark 4:24; Luke 6:38, see MEASURE.

H. Porter

Meterus

Meterus - me-te'-rus.

See BAITERUS.

Meteyard

Meteyard - met'-yard (middah, "a measure," Leviticus 19:35): Has this meaning in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American), but in the American Standard Revised Version, "measures of length."

Metheg-ammah

Metheg-ammah - me-theg-am'-a, meth-eg-am'-a (mathegh ha-'ammah, "bridle of the metropolis"; Septuagint ten aphorismenen): It is probable that the place-name Metheg-Ammah in 2 Samuel 8:1 the King James Version should be rendered as in the Revised Version (British and American), "the bridle of the mother city," i.e. Gath, since we find in the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 18:1 gath ubhenotheha, "Gath and her daughters," i.e. daughter towns. The Septuagint has an entirely different reading: "and David took the tribute out of the hand of the Philistines," showing that they had a different text from what we now have in the Hebrew. The text is evidently corrupt. If a place is intended its site is unknown, but it must have been in the Philistine plain and in the vicinity of Gath.

H. Porter

Methusael

Methusael - me-thu'-sa-el.

See METHUSHAEL.

Methuselah

Methuselah - me-thu'-se-la, me-thu'-se-la (methushelach, "man of the javelin"): A descendant of Seth, the son of Enoch, and father of Lamech (Genesis 5:21 ff; 1 Chronicles 1:3; Luke 3:37). Methuselah is said to have lived 969 years; he is therefore the oldest of the patriarchs and the oldest man. It is doubtful whether these long years do not include the duration of a family or clan.

Methushael

Methushael - me-thu'-sha-el (methusha'el): A descendant of Cain, and father of Lamech in the Cainite genealogy (Genesis 4:18). The meaning of the name is doubtful. Dillmann suggested "suppliant or man of God."

Meunim

Meunim - me-u'-nim (the King James Version Mehunim).

See MAON.

Meuzal

Meuzal - me-u'-zal (me'uzal, or me'uzal): A word which occurs only in the King James Version margin of Ezekiel 27:19. The rendering in the King James Version text is "going to and fro," in the Revised Version (British and American) text "with yarn," but in Revised Version, margin, in agreement with BDB and most modern authorities, Meuzal is regarded as a proper noun with a prefixed preposition, and is rendered "from Uzal."

See UZAL.

Me-zahab

Me-zahab - mez'-a-hab, me-za'-hab (me zahabh, "waters of gold"; Codex Vaticanus Maizoob, Codex Alexandrinus, Mezoob): Grandfather of Mehetabel, the wife of Hadar, the last-mentioned "duke" of Edom descended from Esau (Genesis 36:39). The Jewish commentators made much play with this name. Abarbanel, e.g., says he was "rich and great, so that on this account he was called Mezahab, for the gold was in his house as water." The name, however, may denote a place, in which case it may be identical with Dizahab.

Mezarim

Mezarim - mez'-a-rim (NORTH).

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 13, (1).

Mezobaite

Mezobaite - me-zo'-ba-it (ha-metsbhayah): The designation of Jaasiel, one of David's heroes (1 Chronicles 11:47).

Miamin

Miamin - mi'-a-min.

See MIJAMIN; MINIAMIN.

Mibhar

Mibhar - mib'-har (mibhchar, "choice"(?)): According to 1 Chronicles 11:38, the name of one of David's heroes. No such name, however, occurs in the parallel passage (2 Samuel 23:36). A comparison of the two records makes it probable that mibhchar is a corruption of mitstsbhah = "from Zobah," which completes the designation of the former name, Nathan of Zobah. The concluding words of the verse, Ben-Hagri = "the son of Hagri," will then appear as a misreading of Bani ha-gadhi = "Bani, the Gadite," thus bringing the two records into accord.

Mibsam

Mibsam - mib'-sam (mibhsam, "perfume"(?)):

(1) A son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13; 1 Chronicles 1:29).

(2) A Simeonite (1 Chronicles 4:25).

Mibzar

Mibzar - mib'-zar (mibhtsar, "a fortress"): An Edomite chief, the King James Version "duke" (Genesis 36:42; 1 Chronicles 1:53). According to Eusebius, Mibzar is connected with Mibsara, a considerable village subject to Petra and still existing in his time. Compare Holzinger and Skinner in respective commentaries on Genesis.

Mica

Mica - mi'-ka (mikha'): A variant of the name Micah, and probably like it a contracted form of MICAIAH (which see). In the King James Version it is sometimes spelled "Micha."

(1) A son of Merib-baal or Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:12, the King James Version "Micha"). In 1 Chronicles 8:34, he is called "Micah."

(2) The son of Zichri (1 Chronicles 9:15). In Nehemiah 11:17 (the King James Version "Micha"), he is designated "the son of Zabdi," and in Nehemiah 12:35, his name appears as "Micaiah (the King James Version "Michaiah"), the son of Zaccur."

(3) One of the signatories of the Covenant (Nehemiah 10:11, the King James Version "Micha").

John A. Less

Micah (1)

Micah (1) - mi'-ka (mikhah, contracted from mikhayahu, "who is like Yah?"; Codex Vaticanus, Meichaias; Codex Alexandrinus, Micha; sometimes in the King James Version spelled Michah):

(1) The chief character of an episode given as an appendix to the Book of Judges (Judges 17:1-13; Judges 18:1-31). Micah, a dweller in Mt. Ephraim, was the founder and owner of a small private sanctuary with accessories for worship (Judges 17:1-5), for which he hired as priest a Judean Levite (Judges 17:7-13). Five men sent in quest of new territory by the Danites, who had failed to secure a settlement upon their own tribal allotment, visited Micah's shrine, and obtained from his priest an oracle favoring their quest (Judges 18:1-6). They then went on until they reached the town of Laish in the extreme North, and deeming it suitable for the purpose, they returned to report to their fellow-tribesmen. These at once dispatched thither 600 armed men, accompanied by their families (Judges 18:7-12). Passing Micah's abode, they appropriated his idols and his priest, and when their owner pursued, he was insulted and threatened (Judges 18:13-26). They took Laish, destroyed it with its inhabitants and rebuilt it under the name of Dan. There they established the stolen images, and appointed Micah's Levite, Jonathan, a grandson of Moses (the King James Version "Manasseh"), priest of the new sanctuary, which was long famous in Israel (Judges 18:27-31).

The purpose of the narrative is evidently to set forth the origin of the Danite shrine and priesthood. A few peculiarities in the story have led some critics--e.g., Moore, "Judges," in ICC and "Judges" in SBOT; Budde, Richter--to regard it as composite. Wellhausen, however, considers that the peculiarities are editorial and have been introduced for the purpose of smoothing or explaining the ancient record. Most authorities are agreed that the story is nearly contemporary with the events which it narrates, and that it is of the highest value for the study of the history of Israelite worship.

Micah (2)

Micah (2) - (mikhah; Meichaias; an abbreviation for Micaiah (Jeremiah 26:18), and this again of the longer form of the word in 2 Chronicles 17:7; compare 1 Kings 22:8):

1. Name and Person: The name signifies "who is like Yah?"; compare Michael, equal to "who is like El?" (i.e. God). As this name occurs not infrequently, he is called the "Morashtite," i.e. born in Moresheth. He calls his native city, in Micah 1:14, Moresheth-gath, because it was situated near the Philistine city of Gath. According to Jerome and Eusebius, this place was situated not far eastward from Eleutheropolis. The prophet is not to be confounded with Micah ben Imla, in 1 Kings 22:8, an older prophet of the Northern Kingdom.

2. Time of Micah: According to Jeremiah 26:18, Micah lived and prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah; according to Micah 1:1, he labored also under Jotham and Ahaz. This superscription has, it must be said, great similarity to Isaiah 1:1 and is probably of a later date. Yet the contents of his first discourse confirm the fact that he prophesied, not only before the destruction of Samaria, but also before the reformation of Hezekiah (compare Micah 1:5). Accordingly, Micah 1:1-16 is probably a discourse spoken already under Ahaz, and Micah 2:1-13 through 5 under Hezekiah. No mention is any longer made of Samaria in chapters 2 to 5. This city has already been destroyed; at any rate, is being besieged. Accordingly, these discourses were pronounced after the year 722 BC, but earlier than 701 BC, as the reformation of Hezekiah had not yet been entirely completed. It is impossible to date exactly these discourses, for this reason, that all the separate sentences and addresses were afterward united into one well-edited collection, probably by Micah himself. The attacks that have been made by different critics on the authenticity of Micah 4:1-13 and 5 have but a poor foundation. It is a more difficult task to explain the dismal picture of the conditions of affairs as described in Micah 6:1-16 and 7 as originating in the reign of Hezekiah. For this reason, scholars have thought of ascribing them to the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz. But better reasons speak for placing them in the degenerate reign of Manasseh. There is no reason for claiming that Micah no longer prophesied in the times of this king. It is true that a number of critics declare that Micah did not write these chapters, especially the so-called psalm in Micah 7:7-20, which, it is claimed, clearly presupposes the destruction of Jerusalem (Micah 7:11)! But it is a fact that Micah did really and distinctly predict this destruction and the exile that followed this event in Micah 3:12; and accordingly he could in this concluding hymn very easily have looked even beyond this period.

Micah is, then, a younger contemporary of Isaiah, and, like the latter, he prophesied in Judah, perhaps also in Jerusalem. To the writings of this great prophet his book bears a close resemblance both in form and in contents, although he did not, as was the case with Isaiah, come into personal contact with the kings and make his influence felt in political affairs.

3. Relation to Isaiah: The statement in Micah 4:1 ff is found almost literally in Isaiah 2:2 ff. Opinions differ as to who is to be credited with the original, Isaiah or Micah. In the latter, the passage seems to suit better into the connection, while in Isaiah 2:1-22 it begins the discourse abruptly, as though the prophet had taken it from some other source. However, Micah 4:4 f is certainly a sentence added by Micah, who, accordingly, was not the first to formulate the prophecy itself. It is possible that both prophets took it from some older prophet. But it is also conceivable that Isaiah is the author. In this case, he placed this sentence at the head of his briefer utterances when he composed his larger group of addresses in Micah 2:1-13--Micah 4:1-13, for the purpose of expressing the high purposes which God has in mind in His judgments.

4. Contents of the Prophecies: Micah combats in his discourses, as does Isaiah, the heathenish abuses which had found their way into the cult, not only in Samaria, but also in Judah and Jerusalem, and which the reformation of Hezekiah could counteract only in part and not at all permanently (compare Micah 1:5-7; Micah 5:11-13; 7, 16). Further, he rebukes them for the social injustice, of which particularly the powerful and the great in the land were guilty (Micah 2:1 ff; Micah 3:2 f.10 f); and the dishonesty and unfaithfulness in business and in conduct in general (compare Micah 6:10 ff; Micah 7:2 ff). At all times Micah, in doing this, was compelled to defend himself against false prophets, who slighted these charges as of little importance, and threatened and antagonized the prophet in his announcements of impending evil (compare Micah 2:5 ff,11 ff). In pronounced opposition to these babblers and their predictions of good things, Micah announces the judgment through the enemies that are approaching, and he even goes beyond Isaiah in the open declaration that Jerusalem and the temple are to be destroyed (Micah 3:12; 4:10; 5:1). The first-mentioned passage is also confirmed by the event reported in Jeremiah 26:17 ff. The passage Micah 4:10, where in a surprising way Babylon is mentioned as the place of the exile, is for this reason regarded as unauthentic by the critics, but not justly. Micah predicts also the deliverance from Babylon and the reestablishment of Israel in Jerusalem, and declares that this is to take place through a King who shall come forth from the deepest humiliation of the house of David and shall be born in Bethlehem, and who, like David, originally a simple shepherd boy, shall later become the shepherd of the people, and shall make his people happy in peace and prosperity. Against this King the last great onslaught of the Gentiles will avail nothing (Micah 4:11-13; 5:4 ff). As a matter of course, he will purify the country of all heathen abuses (Micah 5:9 ff). In the description of this ruler, Micah again agrees with Isaiah, but without taking the details from that prophet.

5. Form of the Prophecies: The form of the prophecies of Micah, notwithstanding their close connection with those of his great contemporary, has nevertheless its unique features. There is a pronounced formal similarity between Micah 1:10 ff and Isaiah 10:28 ff. Still more than is the case in Isaiah, Micah makes use of the names of certain places. Witty references, which we can understand only in part, are not lacking in this connection; e.g. Lachish, the "city of horses," is made the object of a play on words. (Recently in the ruins of this city a large wall has been unearthed.) The style of Micah is vigorous and vivid. He loved antitheses. It is a peculiarity of his style that he indulges in dramatic interruptions and answers; e.g. Isaiah 2:5, 12; 3:1; Isaiah 6:6-8; 7:14 f. He also loves historical references; as e.g. Isaiah 1:13, 15; 5:5; 6:4 f,Isaiah 6:1-13, 13; 7:20. He makes frequent use of the image of the shepherd, Isaiah 2:12; 3:2 f; Isaiah 4:6; 5:3 ff; Isaiah 7:14. The fact that these peculiarities appear in all parts of his little book is an argument in favor of its being from one author. He is superior to Isaiah in his tendency to idyllic details, and especially in a deeper personal sympathy, which generally finds expression in an elegiac strain. His lyrical style readily takes the form of a prayer or of a psalm (compare Micah 7:1-20).

LITERATURE.

C. P. Caspari; Ueber Micha den Morasthiten, 1851; T.K. Cheyne, Micah with Notes and Introduction, 1882; V. Ryssel, Untersuchungen uber Textoeatalt und Echtheit des Buches Micha, 1887. See the commentaries on the 12 minor prophets by Hitzig, Ewald, C. F. Keil, P. Kleinert, W. Nowack, C. v. Orelli, K. Marti; Paul Haupt, The Book of Micah, 1910; Pusey, The Minor Prophets, 1860.

C. von Orelli

Micaiah

Micaiah - mi-ka'-ya, mi-ki'-a (mikhayahu, "who is like Yah?"; Meichaias): A frequently occurring Old Testament name occasionally contracted to MICA or MICAH (which see). In the King James Version it is usually spelled "Michaiah."

(1) The mother of Abijah (2 Chronicles 13:2, the King James Version "Michaiah"). The parallel passage (1 Kings 15:2; compare 2 Chronicles 11:20) indicates that Michaiah here is a corruption of MAACAH (which see) (so the Septuagint).

(2) The father of Achbor (2 Kings 22:12, the King James Version "Michaiah").

See MICAH, (5).

(3) A prince of Judah sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7, the King James Version "Michaiah").

(4) The son of Zaccur, a priestly processionist at the derivation of the wall (Nehemiah 12:35, the King James Version, "Michaiah").

(5) A priestly processionist at the dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12:41; wanting in the Septuagint (Septuagint)).

(6) The canonical prophet.

See MICAH, (7), and special article.

(7) The son of Imlah, the chief character of an important episode near the end of the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 22:4-28 parallel 2 Chronicles 18:3-27). In the Hebrew, his name appears once in the contracted form "Micah" (2 Chronicles 18:14). Ahab had suggested to his victor, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, that they should undertake a joint campaign against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat politely acquiesced, but asked that the mind of Yahweh should first be ascertained. Ahab forthwith summoned the official prophets to the number of 400, into the royal presence. Obsequious to their master, they, both by oracular utterance and by the symbolic action of their leader, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, gave the king a favorable answer. Their ready chorus of assent seems to have made Jehoshaphat suspicious, for he pleaded that further guidance be sought. Micaiah, for whom Ahab, then, with evident reluctance, sent, at first simply repeated the favorable response of the 400; but adjured by the king to speak the whole truth, he dropped his ironical tone, and in sad earnest described a vision of disaster. Ahab endeavored to lessen the effect of this oracle by pettishly complaining that Micaiah was always to him a prophet of evil. The latter thereupon related an impressive vision of the heavenly court, whence he had seen a lying spirit dispatched by Yahweh to the prophets in order to bring about Ahab's delusion and downfall. In answer to a rude challenge from Zedekiah, who acted as spokesman for the 400, Micaiah confidently appealed to the issue for proof of the truth of his prediction, and was promptly commuted to prison by the king.

The narrative is exceedingly vivid and of the utmost interest to students of Issraelite prophecy. Several of its details have given rise to discussion, and the questions: How far were the prophet's visions objective? How far did he admit the inspiration of his opponents? Is the Divine action described consistent with the holy character of Yahweh? have occasioned difficulty to many. But their difficulty arises largely either because of their Christian viewpoint, or because of their hard and mechanical theory of prophetic inspiration. Micaiah's position was a delicate one. Foreboding or foreseeing disaster, he did his best to avert it. This he could do only by weaning the king from the influence of the 400 time-serving prophets. He sought to gain his end; first, by an ironical acquiescence in their favorable answer; then, by a short oracle forecasting disaster especially to Ahab; and, these means having failed, by discrediting in the most solemn manner the courtly prophets opposed to him. Thus regarded, his vision contains no admission of their equal inspiration; rather is it an emphatic declaration that these men were uttering falsehood in Yahweh's name, thereby endangering their country's safety and their king's life. Their obsequious time-service made them fit forerunners of the false prophets denounced by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:9-40) and by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 13:1-15). The frank anthropomorphism of the vision need be no stumbling-block if allowed to drop into its proper place as the literary device of a prophet intensely conscious of his own inspiration and as whole-heartedly patriotic as those opposed to him.

The record ends very abruptly, giving no account of Micaiah's vindication when at length the course of events brought about the fulfillment of his prediction. The closing words, "Hear, ye peoples, all of you" (1 Kings 22:28 parallel 2 Chronicles 18:27), a quotation of Micah 1:2, are an evident interpolation by some late scribe who confused the son of Imlah with the contemporary of Isaiah.

For fuller treatment see EB ,HDB , and commentaries on Kings and Chronicles.

John A. Lees

Mice

Mice - mis.

See MOUSE.

Micha; Michah

Micha; Michah - mi'-ka, mi'-ka.

See MICA; MICAH.

Michael

Michael - mi'-ka-el, mi'-kel (mikha'el, "who is like God?" Michael):

(1) The father of Sethur the Asherite spy (Numbers 13:13).

(2) (3) Two Gadites (1 Chronicles 5:13-14).

(4) A name in the genealogy of Asaph (1 Chronicles 6:40 (Hebrews 25)).

(5) A son of Izrahiah of Issachar (1 Chronicles 7:3).

(6) A Benjamite (1 Chronicles 8:16).

(7) A Manassite who ceded to David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:20).

(8) The father of Omri of Issachar (1 Chronicles 27:18).

(9) A son of King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 21:2).

(10) The father of Zebediah, an exile who returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:8 parallel 1 Esdras 8:34).

(11) "The archangel" (Jude 1:9). Probably also the unnamed archangel of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is Michael. In the Old Testament he is mentioned by name only in Daniel. He is "one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13), the "prince" of Israel (Daniel 10:21), "the great prince" (Daniel 12:1); perhaps also "the prince of the host" (Daniel 8:11). In all these passages Michael appears as the heavenly patron and champion of Israel; as the watchful guardian of the people of God against all foes earthly or devilish. In the uncanonical apocalyptic writings, however, Jewish angelology is further developed. In them Michael frequently appears and excretes functions similar to those which are ascribed to him in Daniel. He is the first of the "four presences that stand before God"--Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel or Phanuel (En 9:1; 40:9). In other apocryphal books and even elsewhere in En, the number of archangels is given as 7 (En 20:1-7; Tobit 12:15; compare also Revelation 8:2). Among the many characterizations of Michael the following may be noted: He is "the merciful and long-suffering" (En 40:9; 68:2,3), "the mediator and intercessor" (Ascension of Isaiah, Latin version 9:23; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Leviticus 5:1-19; Daniel 6:1-28). It is he who opposed the Devil in a dispute concerning Moses' body (Jude 1:9). This passage, according to most modern authorities, is derived from the apocryphal Assumption of Moses (see Charles' edition, 105-10). It is Michael also who leads the angelic armies in the war in heaven against "the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan" (Revelation 12:7 ff). According to Charles, the supplanting of the "child" by the archangel is an indication of the Jewish origin of this part of the book.

The earlier Protestant scholars usually identified Michael with the preincarnate Christ, finding support for their view, not only in the juxtaposition of the "child" and the archangel in Revelation 12:1-17, but also in the attributes ascribed to him in Daniel (for a full discussion see Hengstenberg, Offenbarung, I, 611-22, and an interesting survey in English by Dr. Douglas in Fairbairn's BD).

John A. Lees

Michah

Michah - mi'-ka.

See MICAH.

Michaiah

Michaiah - mi-ka'-ya, mi-ki'-a.

See MICAIAH.

Michal

Michal - mi'-kal (mikhal, contracted from mikha'el, "Michael" (which see); Melchol): Saul's younger daughter (1 Samuel 14:49), who, falling in love with David after his victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 18:20), was at last, on the payment of double the dowry asked, married to him (1 Samuel 18:27). Her love was soon put to the test. When Saul in his jealousy sent for David, she was quick to discern her husband's danger, connived at his escape, and not only outwitted and delayed the messengers, but afterward also soothed her father's jealous wrath (1 Samuel 19:11-17). When David was outlawed and exiled, she was married to Palti or Paltiel, the son of Laish of Gallim (1 Samuel 25:44), but was, despite Palti's sorrowful protest, forcibly restored to David on his return as king (2 Samuel 3:14-16). The next scene in which she figures indicates that her love had cooled and had even turned to disdain, for after David's enthusiastic joy and ecstatic dancing before the newly restored Ark of the Covenant, she received him with bitter and scornful mockery (2 Samuel 6:20), and the record closes with the fact that she remained all her life childless (2 Samuel 6:23; compare 2 Samuel 21:8 where Michal is an obvious mistake for Merab). Michal was evidently a woman of unusual strength of mind and decision of character. She manifested her love in an age when it was almost an unheard-of thing for a woman to take the initiative in such a matter. For the sake of the man whom she loved too she braved her father's wrath and risked her own life. Even her later mockery of David affords proof of her courage, and almost suggests the inference that she had resented being treated as a chattel and thrown from one husband to another. The modern reader can scarce withhold from her, if not admiration, at least a slight tribute of sympathy.

John A. Lees

Micheas; Michaeas

Micheas; Michaeas - mi-ke'-as: In 2 Esdras 1:39 = the prophet Micah.

Michmas

Michmas - mik'-mas (mikhmac; Codex Vaticanus Machmas; Codex Alexandrinus Chammas): The form of the name "Michmash" found in Ezra 2:27; Nehemiah 7:31. In 1 Esdras 5:21 it appears as MACALON (which see).

Michmash

Michmash - mik'-mash (mikhmash; Machmas): A town in the territory of Benjamin, apparently not of sufficient importance to secure mention in the list of cities given in Joshua 18:21 ff. It first appears as occupied by Saul with 2,000 men, when Jonathan, advancing from Gibeah, smote the Philistine garrison in Geba (1 Samuel 13:2). To avenge this injury, the Philistines came up in force and pitched in Michmash (1 Samuel 13:5). Saul and Jonathan with 600 men held Geba, which had been taken from the Philistine garrison (1 Samuel 13:16). It will assist in making clear the narrative if, at this point, the natural features of the place are described.

Michmash is represented by the modern Mukhmas, about 7 miles North of Jerusalem. From the main road which runs close to the watershed, a valley sloping eastward sinks swiftly into the great gorge of Wady es-Suweinit. The village of Mukhmas stands to the North of the gorge, about 4 miles East of the carriage road. The ancient path from Ai southward passes to the West of the village, goes down into the valley by a steep and difficult track, and crosses the gorge by the pass, a narrow defile, with lofty, precipitous crags on either side--the only place where a crossing is practicable. To the South of the gorge is Geba, which had been occupied by the Philistines, doubtless to command the pass. Their camp was probably pitched in a position East of Mukhmas, where the ground slopes gradually northward from the edge of the gorge. The place is described by Josephus as "upon a precipice with three peaks, ending in a small, but sharp and long extremity, while there was a rock that surrounded them like bulwarks to prevent the attack of the enemy" (Ant., VI, vi, 2). Conder confirms this description, speaking of it as "a high hill bounded by the precipices of Wady es-Suweinit on the South, rising in three flat but narrow mounds, and communicating with the hill of Mukhmas, which is much lower, by a long and narrow ridge." The Philistines purposed to guard the pass against approach from the South. On the other hand they were not eager to risk an encounter with the badly armed Israelites in a position where superior numbers would be of little advantage. It was while the armies lay thus facing each other across the gorge that Jonathan and his armor-bearer performed their intrepid feat (1 Samuel 14:1 ff).

See BOZEZ; SENEH.

It will be noted that the Philistines brought their chariots to Michmash (1 Samuel 13:5). In his ideal picture of the Assyrian advance on Jerusalem, Isaiah makes the invader lay up his baggage at Michmash so that he might go lightly through the pass (1 Samuel 10:27). A company of the men of Michmash (see MICHMAS) returned with Zerubbabel from exile (Ezra 2:27; Nehemiah 7:31). Michmash produced excellent barley. According to the Mishna, "to bring barley to Michmash" was equivalent to our English "to carry coal to Newcastle." Michmash was the seat of government under Jonathan Maccabeus (1 Maccabees 9:73).

The modern village is stone-built. There are rock-cut tombs to the North. Cisterns supply the water. There are foundations of old buildings, large stones, and a vaulted cistern.

W. Ewing

Michmethah

Michmethah - mik'-me-tha (ha-mikhmethah; Codex Vaticanus Hikasmon; Codex Alexandrinus Machthoth): A place named in defining the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 16:6; 17:7). It is said to lie "before," i.e. to the East of Shechem. In the name itself, the meaning of which is obscure, there is nothing to guide us. The presence of the article, however ("the Michmethah"), suggests that it may not be a proper name, but an appellative, applying to some feature of the landscape. Condor suggests the plain of Makhneh, which lies to the East of Nablus (Shechem), in which there may possibly be an echo of the ancient name.

Michri

Michri - mik'-ri (mikhri): A Benjamite dweller in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:8).

Michtam

Michtam - mik'-tam.

See PSALMS.

Micron

Micron - mig'-ron (mighron; Magon):

(1) A place in the uttermost part of Geba--which read here instead of Gibeah--marked by a pomegranate tree, where Saul and his 600 men encamped over against the Philistines, who were in Michmash (1 Samuel 14:2). Josephus describes the distress of Saul and his company as they sat on a high hill (bounos hupselos) viewing the widespread desolation wrought by the enemy. There is, however, nothing to guide us as to the exact spot. Many suppose that the text is corrupt; but no emendation suggested yields any satisfactory result. The place was certainly South of Michmash.

(2) (Codex Vaticanus Magedo; Codex Alexandrinus Mageddo): The Migron of Isaiah 10:28 is mentioned between Aiath (Ai) and Michmash. If the places are there named in consecutive order, this Migron must be sought to the North of Michmash. It may with some confidence be located at Makrun, a ruined site to the North of the road leading from Michmash to Ai.

There is nothing extraordinary in two places having the same name pretty close to each other. The two Beth-horons, although distinguished as upper and lower, are a case in point. So also are the two Bethsaidas. There is therefore no need to try to identify the two with one another, as some (e.g. Robertson Smith in Journal of Philology, XIII, 62 ff) have attempted to do with no success.

W. Ewing

Midday

Midday - mid'-da (machatsith ha-yom, tsohorayim; hemera mese): The Hebrew machatsith ha-yom (Nehemiah 8:3) and the Greek hemeras meses (Acts 26:13) are strictly the middle of the day, but the Hebrew tshorayim is a dual form from tsohar, meaning "light," hence, light or brightness, i.e. the brightest part of the day (1 Kings 18:29).

See NOON.

Middin

Middin - mid'-in (middin; in GB, Ainon, "springs"): One of the six cities in the wilderness of Judah (Joshua 15:61). There are not many possible sites. The Hebrew name may possibly survive in Khirbet Mird, a very conspicuous site with many ancient cisterns overlooking the plateau el Bukea`, above which it towers to a height of 1,000 ft.; it is the Mons Mardes of early Christian pilgrims; the existing remains are Byzantine. It is a site of great natural strength and was clearly once a place of some importance. The Greek reading Ainon, "place of springs," suggests the neighborhood of the extensive oasis of `Ain Feshkhah at the northwest corner of the Dead Sea where there are at Kh. Kumram remains of buildings and a rock-cut aqueduct. See PEF ,III , 210, 212, ShXVIII .

E. W. G. Masterman

Middle Wall

Middle Wall - See PARTITION.