International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
O
Oabdius — Onions
Oabdius
Oabdius - o-ab'-di-us (Codex Alexandrinus Oabdios; Codex Vaticanus eios, Fritzsche, Ioabdios, omitted in the King James Version): One of the sons of Ela who put away their "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:27) = "Abdi" of Ezra 10:26.
Oak
Oak - ok: Several Hebrew words are so translated, but there has always been great doubt as to which words should be translated "oak" and which "terebinth." This uncertainty appears in the Septuagint and all through English Versions of the Bible; in recent revisions "terebinth" has been increasingly added in the margin. All the Hebrew words are closely allied and may originally have had simply the meaning of "tree" but it is clear that, when the Old Testament was written, they indicated some special kind of tree.
1. Hebrew Words and References: The words and references are as follows:
(1) 'elah (in the Septuagint usually terebinthos. in Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) terebinthus, or, more commonly, quercus) (Genesis 35:4; Judges 6:11, 19; 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14; 1 Kings 13:14; 1 Chronicles 10:12; Isaiah 1:30; Ezekiel 6:13--in all these margin "terebinth "). In Isaiah 6:13 (the King James Version "teil tree") and Hosea 4:13 (the King James Version "elms") the translation is "terebinths" because of the juxtaposition of 'allon, translated "oaks." "Vale of Elah" (margin "the Terebinth") is found in 1 Samuel 17:2, 19; 21:9. The expression in Isaiah 1:30, "whose leaf fadeth," is more appropriate to the terebinth than the oak (see below).
(2) 'allah (terebinthos, quercus (Vulgate)), apparently a slight variant for 'elah; only in Joshua 24:26; Genesis 35:4 ('elah) and in Judges 9:6 ('elon).
(3) 'elim or 'eylim, perhaps plural of 'elah occurs in Isaiah 1:29 (margin "terebinths"); Isaiah 57:5, margin "with idols," the King James Version "idols," margin "oaks"; Isaiah 61:3, "trees"; Ezekiel 31:14 (text very doubtful), "height," the King James Version margin "upon themselves"; 'el, in El-paran Septuagint terebinthos) (Genesis 14:6), probably means the "tree" or "terebinth" of Paran. Celsius (Hierob. 1,34 ff) argues at length that the above words apply well to the TEREBINTH (which see) in all the passages in which they occur.
(4) 'elon (usually drus, "oak"), in Genesis 12:6; 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; Deuteronomy 11:30; Joshua 19:33; Judges 4:11; 6, 37; 1 Samuel 10:3 (the King James Version "plain"); in all these references the margin has "terebinth" or "terebinths." In Genesis 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30 we have "oak" or "oaks" "of the teacher" (Moreh); "oak in Zaanannim" in Judges 4:11; Joshua 19:33; the "oak of Meonenim," margin "the augurs' oak (or, terebinth)" in Judges 9:37.
(5) 'allon (commonly drus, or balanos), in Genesis 35:8 (compare Genesis 35:4); Hosea 4:13; Isaiah 6:13, is contrasted with 'elah, showing that 'allon and 'elah cannot be identical, so no marginal references occur; also in Isaiah 44:14; Amos 2:9, but in all other passages, the margin "terebinth" or "terebinths" occurs. "Oaks of Bashan" occurs in Isaiah 2:13; Ezekiel 27:6; Zechariah 11:2.
If (1) (2) (3) refer especially to the terebinth, then (4) and (5) are probably correctly translated "oak." If we may judge at all by present conditions, "oaks" of Bashan is far more correct than "terebinths" of Bashan.
2. Varieties of Oak: There are, according to Post (Flora of Palestine, 737-41), no less than 9 species of oak (Natural Order Cupuliferae) in Syria, and he adds to these 12 sub-varieties. Many of these have no interest except to the botanist. The following species are widespread and distinctive: (1) The "Turkey oak," Quercus cerris, known in Arabic as Ballut, as its name implies, abounds all over European Turkey and Greece and is common in Palestine. Under favorable conditions it attains to great size, reaching as much as 60 ft. in height. It is distinguished by its large sessile acorns with hemispherical cups covered with long, narrow, almost bristly, scales, giving them a mossy aspect. The wood is hard and of fine grain. Galls are common upon its branches.
(2) Quercus lusitanica (or Ballota), also known in Arabic as Ballut, like the last is frequently found dwarfed to a bush, but, when protected, attains a height of 30 ft. or more. The leaves are denate or crenate and last late into the winter, but are shed before the new twigs are developed. The acorns are solitary or few in cluster, and the cupules are more or less smooth. Galls are common, and a variety of this species is often known as Q. infectoria, on account of its liability to infection with galls.
(3) The Valonica oak (Q. aceglops), known in Arabic as Mellut, has large oblong or ovate deciduous leaves, with deep serrations terminating in a bristle-like point, and very large acorns, globular, thick cupules covered with long reflexed scales. The cupules, known commercially as valonica, furnish one of the richest of tanning materials.
(4) The Evergreen oak is often classed under the general name "Ilex oak" or Holm (i.e. holly-like) oak. Several varieties are described as occurring in Palestine. Q. ilex usually has rather a shrublike growth, with abundant glossy, dark-green leaves, oval in shape and more or less prickly at the margins, though sometimes entire. The cupules of the acorns are woolly. It shows a marked predilection for the neighborhood of the sea. The Q. coccifera (with var. Q. pseudococcifera) is known in Arabic as Sindian. The leaves, like the last, usually are prickly. The acorns are solitary or twin, and the hemispherical cupules are more or less velvety. On the Q. coccifera are found the insects which make the well-known Kermes dye. These evergreen oaks are the common trees at sacred tombs, and the once magnificent, but now dying, "Abraham's oak" at Hebron is one of this species.
3. Oaks in Modern Palestine: Oaks occur in all parts of Palestine, in spite of the steady ruthless destruction which has been going on for centuries. All over Carmel, Tabor, around Banias and in the hills to the West of Nazareth, to mention well-known localities, there are forests of oak; great tracts of country, especially in Galilee and East of the Jordan, are covered by a stunted brushwood which, were it not for the wood-cutter, would grow into noble trees. Solitary oaks of magnificent proportions occur in many parts of the land, especially upon hilltops; such trees are saved from destruction because of their "sacred" character. To bury beneath such a tree has ever been a favorite custom (compare Genesis 35:8; 1 Chronicles 10:12). Large trees like these, seen often from great distances, are frequently landmarks (Joshua 19:33) or places of meeting (compare "Oak of Tabor," 1 Samuel 10:3). The custom of heathen worship beneath oaks or terebinths (Hosea 4:13; Ezekiel 6:13, etc.) finds its modern counterpart in the cult of the Wely in Palestine. The oak is sometimes connected with some historical event, as e.g. Abraham's oak of Mamre now shown at Hebron, and "the oak of weeping," Allon bacuth, of Genesis 35:8.
E. W. G. Masterman
Oak of Tabor
Oak of Tabor - ('elon tabhor): Thus the Revised Version (British and American) in 1 Samuel 10:3 for the King James Version "plain of Tabor" (the Revised Version margin "terebinth"). Tabor was famous for its groves of oak, but what "oak" is meant here is not known. Ewald thinks that "Tabor" is a different pronunciation for "Deborah," and connects with Genesis 35:8; but this is not likely.
See OAK, 3.
Oar
Oar - or.
See SHIPS AND BOATS,II , 2, (3).
Oath
Oath - oth (shebhu`ah, probably from shebha`, "seven," the sacred number, which occurs frequently in the ritual of an oath; horkos; and the stronger word 'alah, by which a curse is actually invoked upon the oath-breaker Septuagint ara)): In Matthew 26:70-74 Peter first denies his Lord simply, then with an oath (shebhu`ah), then invokes a curse ('alah), thus passing through every stage of asseveration.
1. Law Regarding Oaths: The oath is the invoking of a curse upon one's self if one has not spoken the truth (Matthew 26:74), or if one fails to keep a promise (1 Samuel 19:6; 20:17; 2 Samuel 15:21; 19:23). It played a very important part, not only in lawsuits (Exodus 22:11; Leviticus 6:3, 5) and state affairs (Ant., XV, x, 4), but also in the dealings of everyday life (Genesis 24:37; 50:5; Judges 21:5; 1 Kings 18:10; Ezra 10:5). The Mosaic laws concerning oaths were not meant to limit the widespread custom of making oaths, so much as to impress upon the people the sacredness of an oath, forbidding on the one hand swearing falsely (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Zechariah 8:17, etc.), and on the other swearing by false gods, which latter was considered to be a very dark sin (Jeremiah 12:16; Amos 8:14). In the Law only two kinds of false swearing are mentioned: false swearing of a witness, and false asseveration upon oath regarding a thing found or received (Leviticus 5:1; 6:2 ff; compare Proverbs 29:24). Both required a sin offering (Leviticus 5:1 ff). The Talmud gives additional rules, and lays down certain punishments for false swearing; in the case of a thing found it states what the false swearer must pay (Makkoth 2 3; Shebhu`oth 8 3). The Jewish interpretation of the 3rd commandment is that it is not concerned with oaths, but rather forbids the use of the name of Yahweh in ordinary cases (so Dalman).
2. Forms of Swearing: Swearing in the name of the Lord (Genesis 14:22; Deuteronomy 6:13; Judges 21:7; Ruth 1:17, etc.) was a sign of loyalty to Him (Deuteronomy 10:20; Isaiah 48:11; Jeremiah 12:16). We know from Scripture (see above) that swearing by false gods was frequent, and we learn also from the newly discovered Elephantine papyrus that the people not only swore by Jahu (= Yahweh) or by the Lord of Heaven, but also among a certain class of other gods, e.g. by Herem-Bethel, and by Isum. In ordinary intercourse it was customary to swear by the life of the person addressed (1 Samuel 1:26; 20:3; 2 Kings 2:2); by the life of the king (1 Samuel 17:55; 25:26; 2 Samuel 11:11); by one's own head (Matthew 5:36); by the earth (Matthew 5:35); by the heaven (Matthew 5:34; 23:22); by the angels (BJ, II, xvi, 4); by the temple (Matthew 23:16), and by different parts of it (Matthew 23:16); by Jerusalem (Matthew 5:35; compare Kethubhoth 2:9). The oath "by heaven" (Matthew 5:34; 23:22) is counted by Jesus as the oath in which God's name is invoked. Jesus does not mean that God and heaven are identical, but He desires to rebuke those who paltered with an oath by avoiding a direct mention of a name of God. He teaches that such an oath is a real oath and must be considered as sacredly binding.
3. The Formula: Not much is told us as to the ceremonies observed in taking an oath. In patriarchal times he who took the oath put his hand under the thigh of him to whom the oath was taken (Genesis 24:2; 47:29). The most usual form was to hold up the hand to heaven (Genesis 14:22; Exodus 6:8; Deuteronomy 32:40; Ezekiel 20:5). The wife suspected of unfaithfulness, when brought before the priest, had to answer "Amen, Amen" to his adjuration, and this was considered to be an oath on her part (Numbers 5:22). The usual formula of an oath was either: "God is witness betwixt me and thee" (Genesis 31:50), or more commonly: "As Yahweh (or God) liveth" (Judges 8:19; Ruth 3:13; 2 Samuel 2:27; Jeremiah 38:16); or "Yahweh be a true and faithful witness amongst us" (Jeremiah 42:5). Usually the penalty invoked by the oath was only suggested: "Yahweh (or God) do so to me" (Ruth 1:17; 2 Samuel 3:9, 35; 1 Kings 2:23; 2 Kings 6:31); in some cases the punishment was expressly mentioned (Jeremiah 29:22). Nowack suggests that in general the punishment was not expressly mentioned because of a superstitious fear that the person swearing, although speaking the truth, might draw upon himself some of the punishment by merely mentioning it.
Philo expresses the desire (ii.194) that the practice of swearing should be discontinued, and the Essenes used no oaths (BJ, II, viii, 6; Ant., XV, x, 4).
4. Oaths Permissible: That oaths are permissible to Christians is shown by the example of our Lord (Matthew 26:63 f), and of Paul (2 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 1:20) and even of God Himself (Hebrews 6:13-18). Consequently when Christ said, "Swear not at all" (Matthew 5:34), He was laying down the principle that the Christian must not have two standards of truth, but that his ordinary speech must be as sacredly true as his oath. In the kingdom of God, where that principle holds sway, oaths become unnecessary.
Paul Levertoff
Obadiah
Obadiah - o-ba-di'-a (`obhadhyah, more fully `obhadhyahu, "servant of Yahweh"):
(1) The steward or prime minister of Ahab, who did his best to protect the prophets of Yahweh against Jezebel's persecution. He met Elijah on his return from Zarephath, and bore to Ahab the news of Elijah's reappearance (1 Kings 18:3-16).
(2) The prophet (Obadiah 1:1).
(3) A descendant of David (1 Chronicles 3:21).
(4) A chief of the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 7:3).
(5) A descendant of Saul (1 Chronicles 8:38; 9:44).
(6) A Levite descended from Jeduthun (1 Chronicles 9:16), identical with Abda (Nehemiah 11:17).
(7) A chief of the Gadites (1 Chronicles 12:9).
(8) A Zebulunite, father of the chief Ishmaiah (1 Chronicles 27:19).
(9) One of the princes sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law in Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7).
(10) A Merarite employed by Josiah to oversee the workmen in repairing the temple (2 Chronicles 34:12).
(11) The head of a family who went up with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 8:9).
(12) One of the men who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:5).
(13) A gate-keeper in the days of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 12:25).
The name "Obadiah" was common in Israel from the days of David to the close of the Old Testament. An ancient Hebrew seal bears the inscription "Obadiah the servant of the King."
John Richard Sampey
Obadiah, Book of
Obadiah, Book of - Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. The theme of the book is the destruction of Edom. Consequent upon the overthrow of Edom is the enlargement of the borders of Judah and the establishment of the kingship of Yahweh. Thus far all scholars are agreed; but on questions of authorship and date there is wide divergence of opinion.
1. Contents of the Book: (1) Yahweh summons the nations to the overthrow of proud Edom. The men of Esau will be brought down from their lofty strongholds; their hidden treasures will be rifled; their confederates will turn against them; nor will the wise and the mighty men in Edom be able to avert the crushing calamity (Obadiah 1:1-9). (2) The overthrow of Edom is due to the violence and cruelty shown toward his brother Jacob. The prophet describes the cruelty and shameless gloating over a brother's calamity, in the form of earnest appeals to Edom not to do the selfish and heartless deeds of which he had been guilty when Jerusalem was sacked by foreign foes (Obadiah 1:10-14). (3) The day of the display of Yahweh's retributive righteousness upon the nations is near. Edom shall be completely destroyed by the people whom he has tried to uproot, while Israel's captives shall return to take possession of their own land and also to seize and rule the mount of Esau. Thus the kingship of Yahweh shall be established (Obadiah 1:15-21).
2. Unity of the Book: The unity of Obadiah was first challenged by Eichhorn in 1824, 1:17-21 being regarded by him as an appendix attached to the original exilic prophecy in the time of Alexander Janneus (104-78 BC). Ewald thought that an exilic prophet, to whom he ascribed 1:11-14 and 19-21, had made use of an older prophecy by Obadiah in 1:1-10, and in 1:15-18 of material from another older prophet who was contemporary, like Obadiah, with Isaiah. As the years went on, the material assigned to the older oracle was limited by some to 1:1-9 and by others to 1:1-6. Wellhausen assigned to Obadiah 1:1-5, 7, 10-11, 13-144,15b, while all else was regarded as a later appendix. Barton's theory of the composition of Obadiah is thus summed up by Bewer: "Obadiah 1:1-6 are a pre-exilic oracle of Obadiah, which was quoted by Jeremiah, and readapted with additions (Obadiah 1:7-15) by another Obadiah in the early post-exilic days; Obadiah 1:16-21 form an appendix, probably from Maccabean times" (ICC, 5). Bewer's own view is closely akin to Barton's. He thinks that Obadiah, writing in the 5th century BC, "quoted 1:1-4 almost, though not quite, literally; that he commented on the older oracle in 1:5-7, partly in the words of the older prophet, partly in his own words, in order to show that it had been fulfilled in his own day; and that in 1:8,9 he quoted once more from the older oracle without any show of literalness." He ascribes to Obadiah 1:10-14 and 15b. The appendix consists of two sections, Obadiah 11:15a,16-18 and Obadiah 1:19-21, possibly by different authors, Obadiah 1:18 being a quotation from some older prophecy. To the average Bible student all this minute analysis of a brief prophecy must seem hypercritical. He will prefer to read the book as a unity; and in doing so will get the essence of the message it has for the present day.
3. Date of the Book: Certain preliminary problems require solution before the question of date can be settled.
(1) Relation of Obadiah and Jeremiah 49. (a) Did Obadiah quote from Jeremiah? Pusey thus sets forth the impossibility of such a solution: "Out of 16 verses of which the prophecy of Jeremiah against Edom consists, four are identical with those of Obadiah; a fifth embodies a verse of Obadiah's; of the eleven which remain, ten have some turns of expression or idioms, more or fewer, which recur in Jer, either in these prophecies against foreign nations, or in his prophecies generally. Now it would be wholly improbable that a prophet, selecting verses out of the prophecy of Jeremiah, should have selected precisely those which contain none of Jeremiah's characteristic expressions; whereas it perfectly fits in with the supposition that Jeremiah interwove verses of Obadiah with his own prophecy, that in verses so interwoven there is not one expression which occurs elsewhere in Jer" (Minor Prophets, I, 347). (b) Did Jeremiah quote from Obadiah? It is almost incredible that the vigorous and well-articulated prophecy in Obadiah could have been made by piecing together detached quotations from Jer; but Jeremiah may well have taken from Obadiah many expressions that fell in with his general purpose. There are difficulties in applying this view to one or two verses, but it has not been disproved by the arguments from meter advanced by Bewer and others. (c) Did both Obadiah and Jeremiah quote from an older oracle? This is the favorite solution among recent scholars, most of whom think that Obadiah preserves the vigor of the original, while Jeremiah quotes with more freedom; but Bewer in ICC, after a detailed comparison, thus sums up: "Our conclusion is that Obadiah quoted in Obadiah 1:1-9 an older oracle, the original of which is better preserved in Jeremiah 49:1-39." The student will do well to get his own first-hand impression from a careful comparison of the two passages. With Obadiah 1:1-4 compare Jeremiah 49:14-16; with Obadiah 1:5-6 compare Jeremiah 49:99,10a; with Obadiah 1:8 compare Jeremiah 49:7; with Obadiah 1:1-211:9a compare Jeremiah 499:2Jer 2:1-37b. On the whole, the view that Jeremiah, who often quotes from earlier prophets, draws directly from Obadiah, with free working over of the older prophets, seems still tenable.
(2) Relation of Obadiah and Joel. There seems to be in Joel 2:32 (Hebrews 3:5) a direct allusion to Obadiah 1:17. If Joel prophesied during the minority of the boy king Joash (circa 830 BC), Obadiah would be, on this hypothesis, the earliest of the writing prophets.
(3) What Capture of Jerusalem Is Described in Obadiah 1:10-14?
The disaster seems to have been great enough to be called "destruction" (Obadiah 1:12). Hence, most scholars identify the calamity described by Obadiah with the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans in 587 BC. But it is remarkable, on this hypothesis, that no allusion is made either in Obadiah or Jeremiah 49:7-22 to the Chaldeans or to the destruction of the temple or to the wholesale transportation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylonia. We know, however, from Ezekiel 35:1-15 and Psalms 137:7 that Edom rejoiced over the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans in 587 BC, and that they encouraged the destroyers to blot out the holy city. Certain it is that the events of 587 accord remarkably with the language of Obadiah 1:10-14. Pusey indeed argues from the use of the form of the direct prohibition in Obadiah 1:12-14 that Edom had not yet committed the sins against which the prophet warns him, and so Jerusalem was not yet destroyed, when Obadiah wrote. But almost all modern scholars interpret the language of Obadiah 1:12-14 as referring to what was already past; the prophet "speaks of what the Edomites had actually done as of what they ought not to do." The scholars who regard Obadiah as the first of the writing prophets locate his ministry in Judah during the reign of Jehoram (circa 845 BC). Both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles tell of the war of rebellion in the days of Jehoram when Edom, after a fierce struggle, threw off the yoke of Judah (2 Kings 8:20-22; 2 Chronicles 21:8-10). Shortly after the revolt of Edom, according to 2 Chronicles 21:16 f, the Philistines and Arabians broke into Judah, "and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons." Evidently the capital city fell into the hands of the invaders. It was a calamity of no mean proportions.
The advocates of a late date call attention to three points that weaken the case for an early date for Obadiah: (a) The silence of 2 Kings as to the invasion of the Philistines and Arabians. But what motive could the author of Chronicles have had for inventing the story? (b) The absence of any mention of the destruction of the city by the Philistines and Arabians. It must be acknowledged that the events of 587 BC accord more fully with the description in Obadiah 1:10-14, though the disaster in the days of Jehoram must have been terrible. (c) The silence as to Edom in 2 Chronicles 21:16 f. But so also are the historic books silent as to the part that Edom took in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587. It is true that exilic and post-exilic prophets and psalmists speak in bitter denunciation of the unbrotherly conduct of Edom (Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Ezekiel 35:1-15; Psalms 137:7; Malachi 1:1-5; compare also Isaiah 34:1-17 and Isaiah 63:1-6); but it is also true that the earliest Hebrew literature bears witness to the keen rivalry between Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:22 f; Genesis 27:41; Numbers 20:14-21), and one of the earliest of the writing prophets denounces Edom for unnatural cruelty toward his brother (Amos 1:11 f; compare Joel 3:19 (Hebrews 4:16)).
(4) The Style of Obadiah. Most early critics praise the style. Some of the more recent critics argue for different authors on the basis of a marked difference in style within the compass of the twenty-one verses in the little roll. Thus Selbie writes in HDB: "There is a difference in style between the two halves of the book, the first being terse, animated, and full of striking figures, while the second is diffuse and marked by poverty of ideas and trite figures." The criticism of the latter part of the book is somewhat exaggerated, though it may be freely granted that the first half is more original and vigorous. The Hebrew of the book is classic, with scarcely any admixture of Aramaic words or constructions. The author may well have lived in the golden age of the Hebrew language and literature.
(5) Geographical and Historical Allusions. The references to the different sections and cities in the land of Israel and in the land of Edom are quite intelligible. As to Sepharad (Obadiah 1:20) there is considerable difference of opinion. Schrader and some others identify it with a Shaparda in Media, mentioned in the annals of Sargon (722-705 BC). Many think of Asia Minor, or a region in Asia Minor mentioned in Persian inscriptions, perhaps Bithynia or Galatia (Sayce). Some think that the mention of "the captives of this host of the children of Israel" and "the captives of Jerusalem" (Obadiah 1:20) proves that both the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian exile were already past. This argument has considerable force; but it is well to remember that Amos, in the first half of the 8th century, describes wholesale deportations from the land of Israel by men engaged in the slave trade (Amos 1:6-10). The problem of the date of Obadiah has not been solved to the satisfaction of Biblical students. Our choice must be between a very early date (circa 845) and a date shortly after 587, with the scales almost evenly balanced.
4. Interpretation of the Book: Obadiah is to be interpreted as prediction rather than history. In 1:11-14 there are elements of historic description, but 1:1-10 and 15-21 are predictive.
LITERATURE.
Comms.: Caspari, Der Prophet Obadjah ausgelegt, 1842; Pusey, The Minor Prophets, 1860; Ewald, Commentary on the Prophets of the Old Testament (English translation), II, 277 ff, 1875; Keil (ET), 1880; T.T. Perowne (in Cambridge Bible), 1889; von Orelli (English translation), The Minor Prophets, 1893; Wellhausen, Die kleinen Propheten, 1898; G.A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, II, 163 ff, 1898; Nowack, Die kleinen Propheten, 1903; Marti, Dodekapropheton, 1903; Eiselen, The Minor Prophets, 1907; Bewer, ICC, 1911. Miscellaneous: Kirkpatrick, Doctrine of the Prophets, 33 ff; Intros of Driver, Wildeboer, etc.; Selbie in HDB, III, 577-80; Barton in JE, IX, 369-70; Cheyne in EB, III, 3455-62; Peckham, An Introduction to the Study of Obadiah, 1910; Kent, Students' Old Testament, III, 1910.
John Richard Sampey
Obal
Obal - o'-bal.
See EBAL, 1.
Obdia
Obdia - ob-di'-a (Codex Alexandrinus Obdia; Codex Vaticanus Hobbeia): One of the families of usurping priests (1 Esdras 5:38) = "Habaiah" of Ezra 2:61; "Hobaiah" of Nehemiah 7:63.
Obed
Obed - o'-bed (`obhedh, "worshipper"; in the New Testament Iobed):
(1) Son of Boaz and Ruth and grandfather of David (Ruth 4:17, 21-22; 1 Chronicles 2:12; Matthew 1:5; Luke 3:32).
(2) Son of Ephlal and descendant of Sheshan, the Jerahmeelite, through his daughter who was married to Jarha, an Egyptian servant of her father's (1 Chronicles 2:37-38).
(3) One of David's mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:47).
(4) A Korahite doorkeeper, son of Shemaiah, and grandson of Obed-edom (1 Chronicles 26:7).
(5) Father of Azariah, one of the centurions who took part with Jehoiada in deposing Queen Athaliah and crowning Joash (2 Chronicles 23:1; compare 2 Kings 11:1-16).
David Francis Roberts
Obed-edom
Obed-edom - o'-bed-e'-dom (`obhedh 'edhowm (2 Chronicles 25:24), `obhedd 'edhom (2 Samuel 6:10; 1 Chronicles 13:13-14; 15:25), but elsewhere without hyphen, "servant of (god) Edom"; so W. R. Smith, Religion of Semites (2), 42, and H. P. Smith, Samuel, 294 f, though others explain it as = "servant of man"): In 2 Samuel 6:10, 11, 12; 1 Chronicles 13:13-14 a Philistine of Gath and servant of David, who received the Ark of Yahweh into his house when David brought it into Jerusalem from Kiriath-jearim. Because of the sudden death of Uzzah, David was unwilling to proceed with the Ark to his citadel, and it remained three months in the house of Obed-edom, "and Yahweh blessed Obed-edom, and all his house" (2 Samuel 6:11). According to 1 Chronicles 13:14 the Ark had a special "house" of its own while there. He is probably the same as the Levite of 1 Chronicles 15:25. In 1 Chronicles 15:16-21 Obed-edom is a "singer," and in 1 Chronicles 15:24 a "doorkeeper," while according to 1 Chronicles 26:4-8, 15 he is a Korahite doorkeeper, to whose house fell the overseership of the storehouse (1 Chronicles 26:15), while 1 Chronicles 16:5, 38 names him as a "minister before the ark," a member of the house or perhaps guild of Jeduthun (see 2 Chronicles 25:24).
Obed-edom is an illustration of the service rendered to Hebrew religion by foreigners, reminding one of the Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross of Jesus (Matthew 27:32, etc.). The Chronicler naturally desired to think that only Levites could discharge such duties as Obed-edom performed, and hence, the references to him as a Levite.
David Francis Roberts.
Obedience of Christ
Obedience of Christ - The "obedience" (hupakoe) of Christ is directly mentioned but 3 times in the New Testament, although many other passages describe or allude to it: "Through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19); "He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8); "Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the phrase signifies an attitude toward Christ: "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
1. As an Element of Conduct and Character: His subjection to His parents (Luke 2:51) was a necessary manifestation of His loving and sinless character, and of His disposition and power to do the right in any situation. His obedience to the moral law in every particular is asserted by the New Testament writers: "without sin" (Hebrews 4:15); "who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26), etc.; and is affirmed by Himself: "Which of you convicteth me of sin?" (John 8:46); and implicitly conceded by His enemies, since no shadow of accusation against His character appears. Of His ready, loving, joyful, exact and eager obedience to the Father, mention will be made later, but it was His central and most outstanding characteristic, the filial at its highest reach, limitless, "unto death." His usually submissive and law-abiding attitude toward the authorities and the great movements and religious requirements of His day was a part of His loyalty to God, and of the strategy of His campaign, the action of the one who would set an example and wield an influence, as at His baptism: "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15); the synagogue worship (Luke 4:16, "as his custom was"); the incident of the tribute money: "Therefore the sons are free. But, lest we cause them to stumble," etc. (Matthew 17:24-27). Early, however, the necessities of His mission as Son of God and institutor of the new dispensation obliged Him frequently to display a judicial antagonism to current prescription and an authoritative superiority to the rulers; and even to important details of the Law, that would in most eyes mark Him as insurgent, and did culminate in the cross, but was the sublimest obedience to the Father, whose authority alone He, as full-grown man, and Son of man, could recognize.
2. Its Christological Bearing: Two Scriptural statements raise an important question as to the inner experience of Jesus. Hebrews 5:8 states that "though he was a Son, yet learned (he) obedience by the things which he suffered" (emathen aph' hon epathen ten hupakoen); Philippians 2:6, 8: Existing in the form of God .... he humbled himself, becoming obedient, even unto death." As Son of God, His will was never out of accord with the Father's will. How then was it necessary to, or could He, learn obedience, or become obedient? The same question in another form arises from another part of the passage in Hebrews 5:9: "And having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author (cause) of eternal salvation"; also Hebrews 2:10: "It became him (God) .... to make the author (captain) of their salvation perfect through sufferings." How and why should the perfect be made perfect? Gethsemane, with which, indeed, Hebrews 5:8 is directly related, presents the same problem. It finds its solution in the conditions of the Redeemer's work and life on earth in the light of His true humanity. Both in His eternal essence and in His human existence, obedience to His Father was His dominant principle, so declared through the prophet-psalmist before His birth: Hebrews 10:7 (Psalms 40:7), "Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God." It was His law of life: "I do always the things that are pleasing to him. I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things" (John 8:29, 28); "I can of myself do nothing. .... I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 5:30). It was the indispensable process of His activity as the "image of the invisible God," the expression of the Deity in terms of the phenomenal and the human. He could be a perfect revelation only by the perfect correspondence in every detail, of will, word and work with the Father's will (John 5:19). Obedience was also His life nourishment and satisfaction (John 4:34). It was the guiding principle which directed the details of His work: "I have power to lay it (life) down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father" (John 10:18); "The Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49; compare John 14:31, etc.). But in the Incarnation this essential and filial obedience must find expression in human forms according to human demands and processes of development. As true man, obedient disposition on His part must meet the test of voluntary choice under all representative conditions, culminating in that which was supremely hard, and at the limit which should reveal its perfection of extent and strength. It must become hardened, as it were, and confirmed, through a definite obedient act, into obedient human character. The patriot must become the veteran. The Son, obedient on the throne, must exercise the practical virtue of obedience on earth. Gethsemane was the culmination of this process, when in full view of the awful, shameful, horrifying meaning of Calvary, the obedient disposition was crowned, and the obedient Divine-human life reached its highest manifestation, in the great ratification: "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." But just as Jesus' growth in knowledge was not from error to truth, but from partial knowledge to completer, so His "learning obedience" led Him not from disobedience or debate to submission, but from obedience at the present stage to an obedience at ever deeper and deeper cost. The process was necessary for His complete humanity, in which sense He was "made perfect," complete, by suffering. It was also necessary for His perfection as example and sympathetic High Priest. He must fight the human battles under the human conditions. Having translated obedient aspiration and disposition into obedient action in the face of, and in suffering unto, death, even the death of the cross, He is able to lead the procession of obedient sons of God through every possible trial and surrender. Without this testing of His obedience He could have had the sympathy of clear and accurate knowledge, for He "knew what was in man," but He would have lacked the sympathy of a kindred experience. Lacking this, He would have been for us, and perhaps also in Himself, but an imperfect "captain of our salvation," certainly no "file leader" going before us in the very paths we have to tread, and tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. It may be worth noting that He "learned obedience" and was "made perfect" by suffering, not the results of His own sins, as we do largely, but altogether the results of the sins of others.
3. In Its Soteriological Bearings: In Romans 5:19, in the series of contrasts between sin and salvation ("Not as the trespass, so also is the free gift"), we are told: "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous." Interpreters and theologians, especially the latter, differ as to whether "obedience" here refers to the specific and supreme act of obedience on the cross, or to the sum total of Christ's incarnate obedience through His whole life; and they have made the distinction between His "passive obedience," yielded on the cross, and His "active obedience" in carrying out without a flaw the Father's will at all times. This distinction is hardly tenable, as the whole Scriptural representation, especially His own, is that He was never more intensely active than in His death: "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished" (Luke 12:50); "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17-18). "Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God" (Hebrews 9:14), indicates the active obedience of one who was both priest and sacrifice. As to the question whether it was the total obedience of Christ, or His death on the cross, that constituted the atonement, and
the kindred question whether it was not the spirit of obedience in the act of death, rather than the act itself, that furnished the value of His redemptive work, it might conceivably, though improbably, be said that "the one act of righteousness" through which "the free gift came" was His whole life considered as one act. But these ideas are out of line with the unmistakable trend of Scripture, which everywhere lays principal stress on the death of Christ itself; it is the center and soul of the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper; it holds first place in the Gospels, not as obedience, but as redemptive suffering and death; it is unmistakably put forth in this light by Christ Himself in His few references to His death: "ransom," "my blood," etc. Paul's teaching everywhere emphasizes the death, and in but two places the obedience; Peter indeed speaks of Christ as an ensample, but leaves as his characteristic thought that Christ "suffered for sins once .... put to death in the flesh" (1 Peter 3:18). In Hebrews the center and significance of Christ's whole work is that He "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself"; while John in many places emphasizes the death as atonement: "Unto him that .... loosed us from our sins by his blood" (Revelation 1:5), and elsewhere. The Scripture teaching is that "God set (him) forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood" (Romans 3:25). His lifelong obedience enters in chiefly as making and marking Him the "Lamb without blemish and without spot," who alone could be the atoning sacrifice. If it enters further, it is as the preparation and anticipation of that death, His life so dominated and suffused with the consciousness of the coming sacrifice that it becomes really a part of the death. His obedience at the time of His death could not have been atonement, for it had always existed and had not atoned; but it was the obedience that turned the possibility of atonement into the fact of atonement. He obediently offered up, not His obedience, but Himself. He is set forth as propitiation, not in His obedience, but in His blood, His death, borne as the penalty of sin, in His own body on the tree. The distinction is not one of mere academic theological interest. It involves the whole question of the substitutionary and propitiatory in Christ's redemptive work, which is central, vital and formative, shaping the entire conception of Christianity. The blessed and helpful part which our Lord's complete and loving obedience plays in the working out of Christian character, by His example and inspiration, must not be underestimated, nor its meaning as indicating the quality of the life which is imparted to the soul which accepts for itself His mediatorial death. These bring the consummation and crown of salvation; they are not its channel, or instrument, or price.
See also ATONEMENT.
LITERATURE.
DCG, article "Obedience of Christ"; Denney, Death of Christ, especially pp. 231-33; Champion, Living Atonement; Forsythe, Cruciality of the Cross, etc.; works on the Atonement; Commentaries, in the place cited.
Philip Wendell Crannell
Obedience; Obey
Obedience; Obey - o-be'-di-ens, o-ba (shama`; hupakoe):
1. Meaning of Terms: In its simpler Old Testament meaning the word signifies "to hear," "to listen." It carries with it, however, the ethical significance of hearing with reverence and obedient assent. In the New Testament a different origin is suggestive of "hearing under" or of subordinating one's self to the person or thing heard, hence, "to obey." There is another New Testament usage, however, indicating persuasion from, peithomai.
The relation expressed is twofold: first, human, as between master and servant, and particularly between parents and children. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that, will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place" (Deuteronomy 21:18-19; compare Proverbs 15:20); or between sovereign and subjects, "The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me" (2 Samuel 22:45; 1 Chronicles 29:23).
2. The Old Testament Conception: The highest significance of its usage, however, is that of the relation of man to God. Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God and reverence for Him. The Old Testament conception of obedience was vital. It was the one important relationship which must not be broken. While sometimes this relation may have been formal and cold, it nevertheless was the one strong tie which held the people close to God. The significant spiritual relation is expressed by Samuel when he asks the question, "Hath Yahweh as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). It was the condition without which no right relation might be sustained to Yahweh. This is most clearly stated in the relation between Abraham and Yahweh when he is assured "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:18).
In prophetic utterances, future blessing and prosperity were conditioned upon obedience: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19). After surveying the glories of the Messianic kingdom, the prophet assures the people that "this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your God" (Zechariah 6:15). On the other hand misfortune, calamity, distress and famine are due to their disobedience and distrust of Yahweh.
See DISOBEDIENCE.
This obedience or disobedience was usually related to the specific commands of Yahweh as contained in the law, yet they conceived of God as giving commands by other means. Note especially the rebuke of Samuel to Saul: "Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Yahweh, .... therefore hath Yahweh done this thing unto thee this day" (1 Samuel 28:18).
3. The New Testament Conception: In the New Testament a higher spiritual and moral relation is sustained than in the Old Testament. The importance of obedience is just as greatly emphasized. Christ Himself is its one great illustration of obedience. He "humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). By obedience to Him we are through Him made partakers of His salvation (Hebrews 5:9). This act is a supreme test of faith in Christ. Indeed, it is so vitally related that they are in some cases almost synonymous. "Obedience of faith" is a combination used by Paul to express this idea (Romans 1:5). Peter designates believers in Christ as "children of obedience" (1 Peter 1:14). Thus it is seen that the test of fellowship with Yahweh in the Old Testament is obedience. The bond of union with Christ in the New Testament is obedience through faith, by which they become identified and the believer becomes a disciple.
Walter G. Clippinger
Obeisance
Obeisance - o-ba'-sans: It is used 9 times in the King James Version in the phrase "made (or did) obeisance" as a rendering of the reflexive form of (shachah), and denotes the bow or curtsey indicative of deference and respect. The same form of the verb is sometimes translated "to bow one's self" when it expresses the deferential attitude of one person to another (Genesis 33:6-7, etc.). Occasionally the vow of homage or fealty to a king on the part of a subject is suggested. In Joseph's dream his brother's sheaves made obeisance to his sheaf (Genesis 43:28; compare also 2 Samuel 15:5; 2 Chronicles 24:17). But in a large number of instances the verb denotes the prostrate posture of the worshipper in the presence of Deity, and is generally rendered, "to worship" in the King James Version. In all probability this was the original significance of the word (Genesis 24:26, etc.). Obeisance (= obedience) originally signified the vow of obedience made by a vassal to his lord or a slave to his master, but in time denoted the act of bowing as a token of respect.
T. Lewis
Obelisk
Obelisk - ob'-e-lisk, ob'-el-isk: A sacred stone or matstsebhah. For matstsebhah the Revised Version (British and American) has used "pillar" in the text, with "obelisk" in the margin in many instances (Exodus 23:24; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 12:3; 1 Kings 14:23; Hosea 3:4; Hosea 10:1-2, etc.), but not consistently (e.g. Genesis 28:18).
See PILLAR.
Obeth
Obeth - o'-beth (Obeth; Codex Vaticanus Ouben): One of those who went up with Ezra (1 Esdras 8:32) = "Ebed" of Ezra 8:6.
Obil
Obil - o'-bil ('obhil, "camel driver"): An Ishmaelite who was "over the camels" in David's palace (1 Chronicles 27:30).
Object
Object - ob-jekt': Now used only in the sense "to make opposition," but formerly in a variety of meanings derived from the literal sense "to throw against." So with the meaning "to charge with" in Wisdom of Solomon 2:12, the King James Version "He objecteth to our infamy the transgressing of our education" (the Revised Version (British and American) "layeth to our charge sins against our discipline"), or "to make charges against" in Acts 24:19, the King James Version "who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me" (the Revised Version (British and American) "and to make accusation").
Oblation
Oblation - ob-la'-shun: In Leviticus and Numbers, the King James Version occasionally uses "oblation," but generally "offering," as a rendering of qorban--a general term for all kinds of offering, but used only in Ezekiel, Leviticus and Numbers. the Revised Version (British and American) renders consistently "oblation." In Ezekiel (also Isaiah 40:20), "oblation" renders terumah, generally translated "heave offering." In some cases (e.g. Isaiah 1:13; Daniel 9:21) "oblation" in the King James Version corresponds to minchah, the ordinary word for "gift," in the Priestly Code (P) "grain offering."
See SACRIFICE.
Oboth
Oboth - o'-both, o'-both ('obhoth, "waterbags"): A desert camp of the Israelites, the 3rd after leaving Mt. Hor and close to the borders of Moab (Numbers 21:10-11; 43, 14).
See WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL.
Obscurity
Obscurity - ob-sku'-ri-ti: In modern English generally denotes a state of very faint but still perceptible illumination, and only when preceded by some such adjective as "total" does it imply the absence of all light. In Biblical English, however, only the latter meaning is found. So in Isaiah 29:18 ('ophel, "darkness"); Isaiah 58:10; 59:9 (choshekh, "darkness"); Additions to Esther 11:8 (gnophos, "darkness"). Compare Proverbs 20:20, the King James Version "in obscure darkness," the English Revised Version "in the blackest darkness," the American Standard Revised Version "in blackness of darkness."
Observe
Observe - ob-zurv' (representing various words, but chiefly shamar, "to keep," "to watch" etc.): Properly means "to take heed to," as in Isaiah 42:20, "Thou seest many things, but thou observest not" and from this sense all the usages of the word in English Versions of the Bible can be understood. Most of them, indeed are quite good modern usage (as "observe a feast," Exodus 12:17, etc.; "observe a law" Leviticus 19:37, etc.), but a few are archaic. So Genesis 37:11, the King James Version "His father observed the saying" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept the saying in mind"); Hosea 13:7, "As a leopard .... will I observe them" (the Revised Version (British and American) "watch"); Jonah 2:8, "observe lying vanities" (the Revised Version (British and American) "regard," but "give heed to" would be clearer; compare Psalms 107:43). Still farther from modern usage is Hosea 14:8, "I have heard him, and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "will regard"; the meaning is "care for"); and Mark 6:20, "For Herod feared John .... and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept him safe"). In the last case, the King James Version editors seem to have used "to observe" as meaning "to give reverence to."
Observation is found in Luke 17:20, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (meta paratereseos). The meaning of the English is, "so that it can be observed," but the exact force of the underlying Greek ("visibly"? "so that it can be computed in advance"?) is a matter of extraordinary dispute at the present time.
See KINGDOM OF GOD.
Burton Scott Easton
Observer of Times
Observer of Times - ob-zur'-ver.
See DIVINATION.
Obstinacy
Obstinacy - ob'-sti-na-si.
See HARDEN.
Occasion
Occasion - o-ka'-zhun: The uses in English Versions of the Bible are all modern, but in Jeremiah 2:24 "occasion" is employed (both in Hebrew and English) as a euphemism for "time of conception of offspring."
Occupy
Occupy - ok'-u-pi: Is in the King James Version the translation of 7 different words: (1) nathan; (2) cachar; (3) `arabh; (4) `asah, either with or without the added word, mela'khah; (5) anapleroun; (6) peripatein; (7) pragmateuein. In almost every case the meanings of "to occupy" as used in the King James Version in harmony with the common usage of the time have become obsolete. (1) In Ezekiel 27:16, 19, 22, nathan meant "to trade," and the Revised Version (British and American) reads "traded." (2) From cachar, "to go about," was derived a designation of "merchants" (Revised Version) (Ezekiel 27:21). (3) `Arabh (Ezekiel 27:9) signifies "to exchange" (the English Revised Version and the American Revised Version margin, but the American Standard Revised Version "deal in"). (4) `asah (Exodus 38:24) means simply "to use" (Revised Version), and the same word in Judges 16:11, with mela'khah ("work") added, signifies that work had been done (Revised Version). (5) In 1 Corinthians 14:16, "occupy," the King James Version rendering of anapleroun, would still be as intelligible to most as the Revised Version (British and American) "fill." (6) "Occupy" in Hebrews 13:9, in the sense of "being taken up with a thing," is the translation (both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) of peripatein, literally, "to walk." Finally (7) pragmateuein (Luke 19:13) is rendered in the King James Version "occupy" in its obsolete sense of "trade" (Revised Version).
David Foster Estes
Occurrent
Occurrent - o-kur'-ent (King James Versions, the English Revised Version, 1 Kings 5:4): An obsolete form of "occurrence" (so the American Standard Revised Version).
Ochielus
Ochielus - o-ki-e'-lus (Ochielos; Codex Vaticanus Ozielos; the King James Version Ochiel): One of the "captains over thousands" who furnished the Levites with much cattle for Josiah's Passover (1 Esdras 1:9) = "Jeiel" of 2 Chronicles 35:9.
Ochran
Ochran - ok'-ran (`okhran, from `akhar, "trouble"; the King James Version Ocran): The father of Pagiel, the prince of the tribe of Asher (Numbers 1:13; 2:27; 72, 77; 10:26).
Ochre, Red
Ochre, Red - o'-ker, (Isaiah 44:13, "He marketh it out with a pencil," margin "red ochre," the King James Version "line"; seredh, a word found only here, and of unknown etymology): Designates the implement used by the carpenter to mark the wood after measuring and before cutting. "Red ochre" supposes this to have been a crayon (as does "pencil"), but a scratch-awl is quite as likely. Ochre is clay colored by an iron compound.
Ocidelus
Ocidelus - os-i-de'-lus, ok-i-de'-lus (Codex Alexandrinus Okeidelos; Codex Vaticanus and Swete, Okailedos, Fritzsche, Okodelos; the King James Version and Fritzsehe Ocodelus): One of the priests who had married a "strange wife" (1 Esdras 9:22); it stands in the place of "Jozabad" in Ezra 10:22 of which it is probably a corruption.
Ocina
Ocina - o-si'-na, os'-i-na, ok'-i-na (Okeina): A town on the Phoenician coast South of Tyre, mentioned only in Judith 2:28, in the account of the campaign of Holofernes in Syria. The site is unknown, but from the mention of Sidon and Tyre immediately preceding and Jemnaan, Azotus and Ascalon following, it must have been South of Tyre. One might conjecture that it was Sandalium (Iskanderuna) or Umm ul-'Awamid, but there is nothing in the name to suggest such an identification.
Ocran
Ocran - ok'-ran.
See OCHRAN.
Oded
Oded - o'-ded (`owdhedh (2 Chronicles 15:1-19), `odhedh (elsewhere), `odhedh, "restorer"):
(1) According to 2 Chronicles 15:1, he was the father of Azariah who prophesied in the reign of Asa of Judah (c 918-877), but 15:8 makes Oded himself the prophet. The two verses should agree, so we should probably read in 15:8, "the prophecy of Azariah, the son of Oded, the prophet," or else "the prophecy of Azariah the prophet."
See AZARIAH.
(2) A prophet of Samaria (2 Chronicles 28:9) who lived in the reigns of Pekah, king of the Northern Kingdom, and Ahaz, king of Judah. According to 2 Chronicles 28:1-27, Oded protested against the enslavement of the captives which Pekah had brought from Judah and Jerusalem on his return from the Syro-Ephraimitic attack on the Southern Kingdom (735 BC). In this protest he was joined by some of the chiefs of Ephraim, and the captives were well treated. After those who were naked (i.e. those who had scanty clothing; compare the meaning of the word "naked" in Mark 14:51) had been supplied with clothing from the spoil, and the bruised anointed with oil, the prisoners were escorted to Jericho.
The narrative of 2 Chronicles 28:1-27 as a whole does not agree with that of 2 Kings 15:37; 16:5 f, where the allied armies of Rezin of Damascus and Pekah besieged Jerusalem, but failed to capture it (compare Isaiah 7:1-17; 8:55-8a). As Curtis points out (Chronicles, 459, where he compares Exodus 21:2 ff; Leviticus 25:29-43; Deuteronomy 15:12-18), wholesale enslavement of their fellow-countrymen was not allowed to the Hebrews, and this fact the passage illustrates. It seems to be a fulfillment in spirit of Isaiah 61:1-2, a portion which our Lord read in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-20).
David Francis Roberts
Odes of Solomon
Odes of Solomon - odz.
Odollam
Odollam - o-dol'-am (Odollam): The Greek form of ADULLAM (which see), found only in 2 Maccabees 12:38.
Odomera
Odomera - od-o-me'-ra (Odomera; Codex Vaticanus Odoaarres, Itala Odaren; the King James Version Odonarkes, margin Odomarra): It is not certain whether Odomera was an independent Bedouin chief, perhaps an ally of the Syrians, or an officer of Bacchides. He was defeated by Jonathan in his campaign against Bacchides (1 Maccabees 9:66) in 156 BC.
Odor
Odor - o'-der: In the Old Testament the rendering of besem, "fragrance" (2 Chronicles 16:14; Esther 2:12; in Jeremiah 34:5, the Revised Version (British and American) "burnings"), and of one or two other words; in the New Testament of osme (John 12:3; Philippians 4:18; Ephesians 5:2 the Revised Version (British and American)); in Revelation 5:8; 18:13, of thumiama, where the Revised Version (British and American) (with the King James Version margin in former passage) has "incense."
See also SAVOR.
Of
Of - ov: (1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities. (2) Of the uses where "of" signifies "from," the most common obscure passages are those where "of" follows a verb of hearing. In modern English "hear of" signifies "to gain information about," as it does frequently in the King James Version (Mark 7:25; Romans 10:14, etc.). But more commonly this use of "of" in the King James Version denotes the source from which the information is derived. So John 15:15, "all things that I have heard of my Father"; Acts 10:22, "to hear words of thee"; Acts 28:22, "We desire to hear of thee"; compare 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2:2, etc. (similarly Matthew 11:29, "and learn of me"; compare John 6:45). All of these are ambiguous and in modern English give a wrong meaning, so that in most cases (but not Matthew 11:29 or Acts 28:22) the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "from." A different example of the same use of "of" is 2 Corinthians 5:1, "a building of God" (the Revised Version (British and American) "from"). So Mark 9:21, "of a child," means "from childhood" ("from a child," the Revised Version (British and American), is dubious English). A still more obscure passage is Matthew 23:25, "full of extortion and excess." "Full of" elsewhere in the King James Version (and even in the immediate context, Matthew 23:27-28) refers to the contents, but here the "of" represents the Greek ek, "out of," and denotes the source--"The contents of your cup and platter have been purchased from the gains of extortion and excess." the Revised Version (British and American) again substitutes "from," with rather awkward results, but the Greek itself is unduly compressed. In Mark 11:8, one of the changes made after the King James Version was printed has relieved an obscurity, for where the edition of 1611 read "cut down branches of the trees," the modern editions have "off" (the Revised Version (British and American) "from"). For clear examples of this use of "of," without the obscurities, compare Judith 2:21, "they went forth of Nineveh"; 2 Maccabees 4:34, "forth of the sanctuary"; and, especially, Matthew 21:25, "The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?" Here "from" and "of" represent exactly the same Greek preposition, and the change in English is arbitrary (the Revised Version (British and American) writes "from" in both cases). (3) In a weakened sense this use of "of" as "from" was employed rather loosely to connect an act with its source or motive. Such uses are generally clear enough, but the English today seems sometimes rather curious: Matthew 18:13, "rejoiceth more of that sheep" (the Revised Version (British and American) "over"); Psalms 99:8, "vengeance of their inventions" (so the King James Version); 1 Corinthians 7:4, "hath not power of her own body" (the Revised Version (British and American) "over"), etc. (4) A very common use of "of" in the King James Version is to designate the agent--a use complicated by the fact that "by" is also employed for the same purpose and the two interchanged freely. So in Luke 9:7, "all that was done by him .... it was said of some ....," the two words are used side by side for the same Greek preposition (the Revised Version (British and American) replaces "of" by "by," but follows a different text in the first part of the verse). Again, most of the examples are clear enough, but there are some obscurities. So in Matthew 19:12, "which were made eunuchs of men," the "of men" is at first sight possessive (the Revised Version (British and American) "by men"). Similarly, 2 Esdras 16:30, "There are left some clusters of them that diligently seek through the vineyard" (the Revised Version (British and American) "by them"). Song of Solomon 1 Cor 14:24, "He is convinced of all he is judged of all," is quite misleading (the Revised Version (British and American) "by all" in both cases). Philippians 3:12, the King James Version "I am apprehended of Christ Jesus," seems almost meaningless (the Revised Version (British and American) "by"). (5) In some cases the usage of the older English is not sufficient to explain "of" in the King James Version. So Matthew 18:23, "take account of his servants," is a very poor rendition of "make a reckoning with his servants" (so the Revised Version (British and American)). In Acts 27:5, the "sea of Cilicia" may have been felt to be the "sea which is off Cilicia" (compare the Revised Version (British and American)), but there are no other instances of this use. In 2 Corinthians 2:12, "A door was opened unto me of the Lord" should be "in the Lord" (so the Revised Version (British and American)). 2 Samuel 21:4, "We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house," is very loose, and the Revised Version (British and American) rewrites the verse entirely. In all these cases, the King James Version seems to have looked solely for smooth English, without caring much for exactness. In 1 Peter 1:11, however, "sufferings of Christ" probably yields a correct sense for a difficult phrase in the Greek (so the Revised Version (British and American), with "unto" in the margin), but a paraphrase is needed to give the precise meaning. And, finally, in Hebrews 11:18, the Greek itself is ambiguous and there is no way of deciding whether the preposition employed (pros) means "to" (so the Revised Version (British and American)) or "of" (so the King James Version, the Revised Version margin; compare Hebrews 1:7, where "of" is necessary).
Burton Scott Easton
Offence; Offend
Offence; Offend - o-fens', o-fend' (mikhshol, 'asham, chaTa'; skandalon, skandalizo): "Offend" is either transitive or intransitive As transitive it is primarily "to strike against," hence, "to displease" "to make angry," "to do harm to," "to affront," in Scripture, "to cause to sin"; intransitive it is "to sin," "to cause anger," in Scripture, "to be caused to sin." "Offence" is either the cause of anger, displeasure, etc., or a sin. In Scripture we have the special significance of a stumbling-block, or cause of falling, sin, etc.
1. Old Testament Usage: In the Old Testament it is frequently the translation of 'asham, "to be guilty," "to transgress": Jeremiah 2:3, the Revised Version (British and American) "shall be held guilty"; Jeremiah 50:7, the Revised Version (British and American) "not guilty"; Ezekiel 25:12, "hath greatly offended"; Hosea 4:15, the Revised Version margin "become guilty"; Hosea 5:15, "till they acknowledge their offense," the Revised Version margin "have borne their guilt"; Hosea 13:1, "He offended in Baal," the Revised Version margin "became guilty"; Habakkuk 1:11, "He shall pass over, and offend, (imputing) this his power unto his god," the Revised Version (British and American) "Then shall he sweep by (as) a wind, and shall pass over (margin "transgress"), and be guilty, (even) he whose might is his god."
In 2 Chronicles 28:13, we have 'ashmath `al, literally, "the offense against," the Revised Version (British and American) "a trespass (margin "or guilt") against Yahweh"; we have also chaTa', "to miss the mark," "to sin," "to err" (Genesis 20:9, the Revised Version (British and American) "sinned against thee"; Genesis 40:1, "offended their lord"; 2 Kings 18:14; Jeremiah 37:18, the Revised Version (British and American) "sinned against thee"); baghadh, "to deal treacherously" (Psalms 73:15, "offend against the generation of thy children," the Revised Version (British and American) "dealt treacherously with"); chabhal, "to act wickedly" (Job 34:31); mikhshol, "a stumbling block" (Leviticus 19:14; translated in Isaiah 8:14, "a rock of offense"; compare Ezekiel 14:3; 1 Samuel 25:31; Psalms 119:165, "nothing shall offend," the Revised Version (British and American) "no occasion of stumbling"; compare Isaiah 57:14; Jeremiah 6:21, etc.); pasha`, "to be fractious," "to transgress" (Proverbs 18:19, "a brother offended," the Revised Version margin "injured"). "Offence" is mikhshol (see above, 1 Samuel 25:31; Isaiah 8:14); cheT', "sin," etc. (Ecclesiastes 10:4, "Yielding pacifleth great offenses," the American Standard Revised Version "Gentleness (the English Revised Version "yielding") allayeth," the American Revised Version margin "Calmness (the English Revised Version "gentleness") leaveth great sins undone"). "Offender" is chaTTa' (1 Kings 1:21, margin "Hebrew: sinners"; Isaiah 29:21, "that make a man an offender for a word," the American Standard Revised Version "that make a man an offender in his cause," margin "make men to offend by (their) words," or, "for a word," the English Revised Version "in a cause," margin "make men to offend by (their) words").
2. New Testament Usage: The New Testament usage of these words deserves special attention. The word most frequently translated "offend" in the King James Version is skandalizo (skandalon, "offence"), very frequent in the Gospels (Matthew 5:29, "if thy right eye offend thee"; Matthew 5:30; 11:6; 18:6, "whoso shall offend one of these little ones"; Matthew 13:41, "all things that offend"; Luke 17:1, "It is impossible but that offenses will come," etc.; Romans 14:21; 16:17, "Mark them which cause .... offenses"; 1 Corinthians 8:13 twice, "if meat make my brother to offend," etc.). Skandalon is primarily "a trap-stick," "a bentstick on which the bait is fastened which the animal strikes against and so springs the trap," hence, it came to denote a "snare," or anything which one strikes against injuriously (it is Septuagint's word for moqesh, a "noose" or "snare," Joshua 23:13; 1 Samuel 18:21); "a stumbling-block" Septuagint for mikhshol (see above), Leviticus 19:14). For skandalizo, skandalon, translated in the King James Version, "offend," "offence," the Revised Version (British and American) gives "cause to stumble," "stumbling-block," etc.; thus, Matthew 5:29, "if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble," i.e. "is an occasion for thy falling into sin"; Matthew 16:23, "Thou art a stumbling-block unto me," an occasion of turning aside from the right path; in Matthew 26:31, 33 twice, "offended" is retained, margin, Matthew 26:33 twice, "Greek: caused to stumble" (same word in Matthew 26:31); Mark 9:42, "whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble," to fall away from the faith, or fall into sin; Luke 17:1, "It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him, through whom they come"; in Romans 14:21; 16:17; in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Paul's language has the same meaning, and we see how truly he had laid to heart the Saviour's earnest admonitions--"weak brethren" with him answering to the master's "little ones who believe"; Romans 14:21, "It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything whereby thy brother stumbleth," i.e. "is led by your example to do that which he cannot do with a good conscience"; Romans 14:20, "It is evil for that man who eateth with offense (dia proskommatos)," so as to place a stumbling-block before his brother, or, rather, `without the confidence that he is doing right'; compare Romans 14:23, "He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin"; so 1 Corinthians 8:13; Romans 16:17, "Mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine, (margin "teaching") which ye learned" (Is not the "teaching" of Christ Himself implied here?). Everything that would embolden another to do that which would be wrong for him, or that would turn anyone away from the faith, must be carefully avoided, seeking to please, not ourselves, but to care for our brother, "for whom Christ died," "giving no occasion of stumbling (proskope) in anything" (2 Corinthians 6:3).
Aproskopos, "not causing to stumble," is translated "void of offense" (Acts 24:16, "a conscience void of offense"; 1 Corinthians 10:32, the Revised Version (British and American) "occasion of stumbling"; Philippians 1:10, "void of offense"); hamartano, "to miss the mark," "to sin," "to err," is translated "offended" (Acts 25:8, the Revised Version (British and American) "sinned"); hamartia, "sin," "error" (2 Corinthians 11:7, the Revised Version (British and American) "Did I commit a sin?"); ptaio, "to stumble," "fall" (James 2:10; 3:2 twice, "offend," the Revised Version (British and American) "stumble," "stumbleth"); paraptoma, "a falling aside or away," is translated "offence" (Romans 4:25; 5:15 twice,Romans 16:1-27, 17, 18, 20, in each case the Revised Version (British and American) "trespass"); adikeo, "to be unrighteous" (Acts 25:11, the Revised Version (British and American) "wrongdoer," the King James Version "offender").
In the Apocrypha we have "offence" (skandalon, Judith 12:2), the Revised Version (British and American) "I will not eat thereof, lest there be an occasion of stumbling"; "offend" (hamartano, Ecclesiastes 7:7), the Revised Version (British and American) "sin"; "greatly offended" (prosochthizo, Ecclesiasticus 25:2); "offended" (skandalizo, Ecclesiasticus 32:15), the Revised Version (British and American) "stumble."
W. L Walker
Offer; Offering
Offer; Offering - of'-er, of'-er-ing.
See SACRIFICE.
Office
Office - of'-is: In the Old Testament the word is often used in periphrastic renderings, e.g. "minister .... in the priest's office," literally, act as priest (Exodus 28:1, etc.); "do the office of a midwife," literally, cause or help to give birth (Exodus 1:16). But the word is also used as a rendering of different Hebrew words, e.g. ken, "pedestal," "place" (Genesis 40:13, the King James Version "place"; Genesis 41:13); `abhodhah, "labor," "work" (1 Chronicles 6:32); pequddah, "oversight," "charge" (Psalms 109:8); ma`amadh, literally, "standing," e.g. waiting at table (1 Chronicles 23:28); mishmar, "charge," observance or service of the temple (Nehemiah 13:14 the King James Version).
Similarly in the New Testament the word is used in periphrastic renderings, e.g. priest's office (Luke 1:8-9); office of a deacon (diakonia, 1 Timothy 3:10); office of a bishop (episkope, 1 Timothy 3:1). the Revised Version (British and American) uses other renderings, e.g. "ministry" (Romans 11:13); "serve as deacons" (1 Timothy 3:10). In Acts 1:20, the Revised Version (British and American) has "office" (margin "overseership") for the King James Version "bishoprick."
T. Lewis
Officer
Officer - of'-i-ser: In the King James Version the term is employed to render different words denoting various officials, domestic, civil and military, such as caric, "eunuch," "minister of state" (Genesis 37:36); paqidh, "person in charge," "overseer" (Genesis 41:34); necibh, "stationed," "garrison," "prefect" (1 Kings 4:19); shoTer, "scribe" or "secretary" (perhaps arranger or organizer), then any official or overseer. In Esther 9:3 for the King James Version "officers of the king" the Revised Version (British and American) has (more literal) "they that did the king's business."
In the New Testament, "officer" generally corresponds to the Greek word huperetes, "servant," or any person in the employ of another. In Matthew 5:25 the term evidently means "bailiff" or exactor of the fine imposed by the magistrate, and corresponds to praktor, used in Luke 12:58.
T. Lewis
Offices of Christ
Offices of Christ - See CHRIST, OFFICES OF.
Offscouring
Offscouring - of'-skour-ing: This strong and expressive word occurs only once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. The weeping prophet uses it as he looks upon his erstwhile fair and holy city, despoiled, defiled, derided by the profane, the enemies of God and of His people (Lamentations 3:45, cechi). The favored people, whose city lies in heaps and is patrolled by the heathen, are hailed and held up as the scrapings, the offscouring, the offal of the earth. They are humbled to earth, crushed into the dust, carried away to be the slaves of licentious idolaters. The haughty, cruel, cutting boastfulness of the victors covered Israel with contumely.
In 1 Corinthians 4:13 the greatest of the apostles reminds the prosperous and self-satisfied Corinthinns that they, the apostles, were "made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things." In such contempt were they held by the unbelieving world and by false apostles. The strange, strong word (peripsema) should remind us what it cost in former times to be a true servant of Christ.
G.H. Gerberding
Offspring
Offspring - of'-spring.
See CHILDREN.
Often
Often - of'-n (puknos, "thick," "close"): An archaic usage for "frequent": "Thine often infirmities" (1 Timothy 5:23); compare "by often rumination" (Shakespeare, As You Like It,IV , i, 18); "The often round" (Ben Jonson, The Forest,III ); "Of wrench'd or broken limb--an often chance" (Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette).
Og
Og - (`ogh; Og): King of Bashan, whose territory, embracing 60 cities, was conquered by Moses and the Israelites immediately after the conquest of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Numbers 21:33-35; Deuteronomy 3:1-12). The defeat took place at Edrei, one of the chief of these cities (Numbers 21:33; Joshua 12:4), and Og and his people were "utterly destroyed" (Deuteronomy 3:6). Og is described as the last of the REPHAIM (which see), or giant-race of that district, and his giant stature is borne out by what is told in Deuteronomy 3:11 of the dimensions of his "bedstead of iron" (`eres barzel), 9 cubits long and 4 broad (13 1/2 ft. by 6 ft.), said to be still preserved at Rabbath of Ammon when the verse describing it was written. It is not, of course, necessary to conclude that Og's own height, though immense, was as great as this. Some, however, prefer to suppose that what is intended is "a sarcophagus of black basalt," which iron-like substance abounds in the Hauran. The conquered territory was subsequently bestowed on the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 32:33; Deuteronomy 3:12-13). Other references to Og are Deuteronomy 1:4; 4:47; 31:4; Joshua 2:10; 9:10; 12, 30). The memory of this great conquest lingered all through the national history (Psalms 135:11; 136:20). On the conquest, compare Stanley, Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church, I, 185-87.
James Orr
Ohad
Ohad - o'-had ('ohadh, meaning unknown): A son of Simeon, mentioned as third in order (Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15). The name is not found in the list of Numbers 26:12-14.
Ohel
Ohel - o'-hel ('ohel, "tent"): A son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:20).
Oholah
Oholah - o-ho'-la ('oholah; the King James Version Aholah): The exact meaning is a matter of dispute. As written, it seems to mean a tent-woman, or the woman living in a tent. With a mappik in the last consonant it could mean "her tent." The term is used symbolically by Ezekiel to designate Samaria or the kingdom of Israel (Ezekiel 23:4-5, 36, 44).
See OHOLIBAH.
Oholiab
Oholiab - o-ho'-li-ab ('oholi'abh, "father's tent"; the King James Version Aholiab): A Danite artificer, who assisted Bezalel in the construction of the tabernacle and its furniture (Exodus 31:6; 35:34; 36:1 f; Exodus 38:23).
Oholibah
Oholibah - o-hol'-i-ba, o-ho'-li-ba ('oholibhah, "tent in her," or "my tent is in her"): An opprobrious and symbolical name given by Ezekiel to Jerusalem, representing the kingdom of Judah, because of her intrigues and base alliances with Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia, just as the name OHOLAH (which see) was given to Samaria or the Northern Kingdom, because of her alliances with Egypt and Assyria. There is a play upon the words in the Hebrew which cannot be reproduced in English Both Oholah and Oholibah, or Samaria and Jerusalem, are the daughters of one mother, and wives of Yahweh, and both are guilty of religious and political alliance with heathen nations. Idolatry is constantly compared by the Hebrew prophets to marital unfaithfulness or adultery.
W. W. Davies
Oholibamah
Oholibamah - o-hol-i-ba'-ma, o-hol-i-ba'-ma ('oholibhamah, "tent of the high place"):
(1) One of Esau's wives, and a daughter of Anah the Hivite (Genesis 36:2, 5). It is strange that she is not named along with Esau's other wives in either Genesis 28:9 or Genesis 26:30. Various explanations have been given, but none of them is satisfactory. There is probably some error in the text.
(2) An Edomite chief (Genesis 36:41; 1 Chronicles 1:52).
Oil
Oil - oil (shemen; elaion):
1. Terms
2. Production and Storage
3. Uses
(1) As a Commodity of Exchange
(2) As a Cosmetic
(3) As a Medicine
(4) As a Food
(5) As an Illuminant
(6) In Religious Rites
(a) Consecration
(b) Offerings
(c) Burials
4. Figurative Uses
Shemen, literally, "fat," corresponds to the common Arabic senin of similar meaning, although now applied to boiled butter fat.
1. Terms: Another Hebrew word, zayith (zeth), "olive," occurs with shemen in several passages (Exodus 27:20; 30:24; Leviticus 24:2). The corresponding Arabic zeit, a contraction of zeitun, which is the name for the olive tree as well as the fruit, is now applied to oils in general, to distinguish them from solid fats. Zeit usually means olive oil, unless some qualifying name indicates another oil. A corresponding use was made of shemen, and the oil referred to so many times in the Bible was olive oil (except Esther 2:12). Compare this with the Greek elaion, "oil," a neuter noun from elaia, "olive," the origin of the English word "oil." yitshar, literally, "glistening," which occurs less frequently, is used possibly because of the light-giving quality of olive oil, or it may have been used to indicate fresh oil, as the clean, newly pressed oil is bright. meshach, a Chaldaic word, occurs twice: Ezra 6:9; 7:22. elaion, is the New Testament term.
2. Production and Storage: Olive oil has been obtained, from the earliest times, by pressing the fruit in such a way as to filter out the oil and other liquids from the residue. The Scriptural references correspond so nearly to the methods practiced in Syria up to the present time, and the presses uncovered by excavators at such sites as Gezer substantiate so well the similarity of these methods, that a description of the oil presses and modes of expression still being employed in Syria will be equally true of those in use in early Israelite times.
The olives to yield the greatest amount of oil are allowed to ripen, although some oil is expressed from the green fruit. As the olive ripens it turns black. The fruit begins to fall from the trees in September, but the main crop is gathered after the first rains in November. The olives which have not fallen naturally or have not been blown off by the storms are beaten from the trees with long poles (compare Deuteronomy 24:20). The fruit is gathered from the ground into baskets and carried on the heads of the women, or on donkeys to the houses or oil presses. Those carried to the houses are preserved for eating. Those carried to the presses are piled in heaps until fermentation begins. This breaks down the oil cells and causes a more abundant flow of oil. The fruit thus softened may be trod out with the feet (Micah 6:15)--which is now seldom practiced--or crushed in a handmill. Such a mill was uncovered at Gezer beside an oil press. Stone mortars with wooden pestles are also used. Any of these methods crushes the fruit, leaving only the stone unbroken, and yields a purer oil (Exodus 27:20). The method now generally practiced of crushing the fruit and kernels with an edgerunner mill probably dates from Roman times. These mills are of crude construction. The stones are cut from native limestone and are turned by horses or mules. Remains of huge stones of this type are found near the old Roman presses in Mt. Lebanon and other districts.
The second step in the preparation of the oil is the expression. In districts where the olives are plentiful and there is no commercial demand for the oil, the householders crush the fruit in a mortar, mix the crushed mass with water, and after the solid portions have had time to settle, the pure sweet oil is skimmed from the surface of the water. This method gives a delicious oil, but is wasteful. This is no doubt the beaten oil referred to in connection with religious ceremonials (Exodus 27:20). Usually the crushed fruit is spread in portions on mats of reeds or goats' hair, the corners of which are folded over the mass, and the packets thus formed are piled one upon another between upright supports. These supports were formerly two stone columns or the two sections of a split stone cylinder hollowed out within to receive the mats. Large hollow tree trunks are still similarly used in Syria. A flat stone is next placed on top, and then a heavy log is placed on the pile in such a manner that one end can be fitted into a socket made in a wall or rock in close proximity to the pile. This socket becomes the fulcrum of a large lever of the second class. The lever is worked in the same manner as that used in the wine presses (see WINE PRESS ). These presses are now being almost wholly superseded by hydraulic presses. The juice which runs from the press, consisting of oil, extractive matter and water, is conducted to vats or run into jars and allowed to stand until the oil separates. The oil is then drawn off from the surface, or the watery fluid and sediment is drawn away through a hole near the bottom of the jar, leaving the oil in the container. (For the construction of the ancient oil presses, see The Excavations of Gezer, by Macalister.) The oil, after standing for some time to allow further sediment to settle, is stored either in huge earthenware jars holding 100 to 200 gallons, or in underground cisterns (compare 1 Chronicles 27:28) holding a much larger quantity. Some of these cisterns in Beirut hold several tons of oil each (2 Chronicles 11:11; 32:28; Nehemiah 13:5, 12; Proverbs 21:20). In the homes the oil is kept in small earthen jars of various shapes, usually having spouts by which the oil can be easily poured (1 Kings 17:12; 2 Kings 4:2). In 1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Kings 1:39, horns of oil are mentioned.
3. Uses: (1) As a Commodity of Exchange. Olive oil when properly made and stored will keep sweet for years, hence, was a good form of merchandise to hold. Oil is still sometimes given in payment (1 Kings 5:11; Ezekiel 27:17; Hosea 12:1; Luke 16:6; Revelation 18:13).
(2) As a Cosmetic. From earliest times oil was used as a cosmetic, especially for oiling the limbs and head. Oil used in this way was usually scented (see OINTMENT). Oil is still used in this manner by the Arabs, principally to keep the skin and scalp soft when traveling in dry desert regions where there is no opportunity to bathe. Sesame oil has replaced olive oil to some extent for this purpose. Homer, Pliny and other early writers mention its use for external application. Pliny claimed it was used to protect the body against the cold. Many Biblical references indicate the use of oil as a cosmetic (Exodus 25:6; Deuteronomy 28:40; Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; 14:2; Esther 2:12; Psalms 23:5; 92:10; 104:15; 141:5; Ezekiel 16:9; Micah 6:15; Luke 7:46).
(3) As a Medicine. From early Egyptian literature down to late Arabic medical works, oil is mentioned as a valuable remedy. Many queer prescriptions contain olive oil as one of their ingredients. The good Samaritan used oil mingled with wine to dress the wounds of the man who fell among robbers (Mark 6:13; Luke 10:34.)
(4) As a Food. Olive oil replaces butter to a large extent in the diet of the people of the Mediterranean countries. In Bible lands food is fried in it, it is added to stews, and is poured over boiled vegetables, such as beans, peas and lentils, and over salads, sour milk, cheese and other foods as a dressing. A cake is prepared from ordinary bread dough which is smeared with oil and sprinkled with herbs before baking (Leviticus 2:4). At times of fasting oriental Christians use only vegetable oils, usually olive oil, for cooking. For Biblical references to the use of oil as food see Numbers 11:8; Deuteronomy 7:13; 14:23; 32:13; 1 Kings 17:12, 14, 16; 2 Kings 4:2, 6-7; 1 Chronicles 12:40; 2 Chronicles 2:10, 15; Ezra 3:7; Proverbs 21:17; Ezekiel 16:13, 18; Hosea 2:5, 8, 22; Haggai 2:12; Revelation 6:6.
(5) As an Illuminant. Olive oil until recent years was universally used for lighting purposes (see LAMP). In Palestine are many homes where a most primitive form of lamp similar to those employed by the Israelites is still in use. The prejudice in favor of the exclusive use of olive oil for lighting holy places is disappearing. Formerly any other illuminant was forbidden (compare Exodus 25:6; 27:20; 8, 14, 28; 39:37; Matthew 25:3-4, 8).
(6) In Religious Rites. (a) Consecration: Consecration of officials or sacred things (Genesis 28:18; 35:14; Exodus 29:7, 21 ff; Leviticus 2:1 ff; Numbers 4:9 ff; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1, 13; 2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 1:39; 2 Kings 9:1, 3, 1; Psalms 89:20): This was adopted by the early Christians in their ceremonies (James 5:14), and is still used in the consecration of crowned rulers and church dignitaries.
(b) Offerings: Offerings, votive and otherwise: The custom of making offerings of oil to holy places still survives in oriental religions. One may see burning before the shrines along a Syrian roadside or in the churches, small lamps whose supply of oil is kept renewed by pious adherents. In Israelite times oil was used in the meal offering, in the consecration offerings, offerings of purification from leprosy, etc. (Exodus 29:2; 40:9 ff; Leviticus 2:2 ff; Numbers 4:9 ff; Deuteronomy 18:4; 1 Chronicles 9:29; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 10:37, 39; 5, 12; Ezekiel 16:18-19; Ezekiel 45:1-25; Ezekiel 46:1-24; Micah 6:7).
(c) Burials: In connection with the burial of the dead: Egyptian papyri mention this use. In the Old Testament no direct mention is made of the custom. Jesus referred to it in connection with His own burial (Matthew 26:12; Mark 14:3-8; Luke 23:56; John 12:3-8; 19:40).
4. Figurative Uses: Abundant oil was a figure of general prosperity (Deuteronomy 32:13; 33:24; 2 Kings 18:32; Job 29:6; Joel 2:19, 24). Languishing of the oil indicated general famine (Joel 1:10; Haggai 1:11). Joy is described as the oil of joy (Isaiah 61:3), or the oil of gladness (Psalms 45:7; Hebrews 1:9). Ezekiel prophesies that the rivers shall run like oil, i.e. become viscous (Ezekiel 32:14). Words of deceit are softer than oil (Psalms 55:21; Proverbs 5:3). Cursing becomes a habit with the wicked as readily as oil soaks into bones (Psalms 109:18). Excessive use of oil indicates wastefulness (Proverbs 21:17), while the saving of it is a characteristic of the wise (Proverbs 21:20). Oil was carried into Egypt, i.e. a treaty was made with that country (Hosea 12:1).
James A. Patch
Oil Press
Oil Press - See OIL;WINE PRESS .
Oil Tree
Oil Tree - oil tre ('ets shemen (Isaiah 41:19), margin "oleaster," in Nehemiah 8:15, translated "wild olive," the King James Version "pine"; 'atse shemen, in 1 Kings 6:23, 31-32, translated "olive wood"): The name "oleaster" used to be applied to the wild olive, but now belongs to quite another plant, the silver-berry, Eleagnus hortensis (Natural Order Elaeagnaceae), known in Arabic as Zeizafan. It is a pretty shrub with sweet-smelling white flowers and silver-grey-green leaves. It is difficult to see how all the three references can apply to this tree; it will suit the first two, but this small shrub would never supply wood for carpentry work such as that mentioned in 1 Kings, hence, the translation "olive wood." On the other hand, in the reference in Nehemiah 8:15, olive branches are mentioned just before, so the translation "wild olive" (the difference being too slight) is improbable. Post suggests the translation of 'ets shemen by PINE (which see), which if accepted would suit all the requirements.
E. W. G. Masterman
Oil, Anointing
Oil, Anointing - (shemen hamishchah): This holy oil, the composition of which is described in Exodus 30:22-33, was designed for use in the anointing of the tabernacle, its furniture and vessels, the altar and laver, and the priest, that being thus consecrated, they might be "most holy." It was to be "a holy anointing oil" unto Yahweh throughout all generations (Exodus 30:31). On its uses, compare Exodus 37:29; Leviticus 8:12; 10:7; 21:10. The care of this holy oil was subsequently entrusted to Eleazar (Numbers 4:16); in later times it seems to have been prepared by the sons of the priests (1 Chronicles 9:30). There is a figurative allusion to the oil on Aaron's head in Psalms 133:2.
James Orr
Oil, Beaten
Oil, Beaten - (Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 28:5).
See OIL; CANDLESTICK,THE GOLDEN .
Oil, Holy
Oil, Holy - See OIL; ANOINTING.
Oil, Olive
Oil, Olive - See OIL; OLIVE TREE.
Oil-making
Oil-making - See CRAFTS,II , 11.
Ointment
Ointment - oint'-ment: The present use of the word "ointment" is to designate a thick unguent of buttery or tallow-like consistency. the King James Version in frequent instances translates shemen or meshach (see Exodus 30:25) "ointment" where a perfumed oil seemed to be indicated. the American Standard Revised Version has consequently substituted the word "oil" in most of the passages. Merqachah is rendered "ointment" once in the Old Testament (Job 41:31 (Hebrews 41:23)). The well-known power of oils and fats to absorb odors was made use of by the ancient perfumers. The composition of the holy anointing oil used in the tabernacle worship is mentioned in Exodus 30:23-25. Olive oil formed the base. This was scented with "flowing myrrh .... sweet cinnamon .... sweet calamus .... and .... cassia." The oil was probably mixed with the above ingredients added in a powdered form and heated until the oil had absorbed their odors and then allowed to stand until the insoluble matter settled, when the oil could be decanted. Olive oil, being a non-drying oil which does not thicken readily, yielded an ointment of oily consistency. This is indicated by Psalms 133:2, where it says that the precious oil ran down on Aaron's beard and on the collar of his outer garment. Anyone attempting to make the holy anointing oil would be cut off from his people (Exodus 30:33). The scented oils or ointments were kept in jars or vials (not boxes) made of alabaster. These jars are frequently found as part of the equipment of ancient tombs.
The word translated "ointment" in the New Testament is muron, "myrrh." This would indicate that myrrh, an aromatic gum resin, was the substance commonly added to the oil to give it odor. In Luke 7:46 both kinds of oil are mentioned, and the verse might be paraphrased thus: My head with common oil thou didst not anoint; but she hath anointed my feet with costly scented oil.
For the uses of scented oils or ointments see ANOINTING; OIL.
James A. Patch
Olamus
Olamus - ol'-a-mus (Olamos): One of the Israelites who had taken a "strange wife" (1 Esdras 9:30) = "Meshullam" of Ezra 10:29.
Old
Old - old.
Old Gate
Old Gate - See JERUSALEM.
Old Man
Old Man - (palaios, "old," "ancient"): A term thrice used by Paul (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9) to signify the unrenewed man, the natural man in the corruption of sin, i.e. sinful human nature before conversion and regeneration. It is theologically synonymous with "flesh" (Romans 8:3-9), which stands, not for bodily organism, but, for the whole nature of man (body and soul) turned away from God and devoted to self and earthly things.
The old man is "in the flesh"; the new man "in the Spirit." In the former "the works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21) are manifest; in the latter "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23). One is "corrupt according to the deceitful lusts"; the other "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24 the King James Version).
Dwight M. Pratt
Old Prophet, The
Old Prophet, The - (nabhi' 'echadh zaqen, "an old prophet" (1 Kings 13:11), ha-nabhi' ha-zaqen, "the old prophet" (1 Kings 13:29)):
1. The Narrative: The narrative of 1 Kings 13:11-32, in which the old prophet is mentioned, is part of a larger account telling of a visit paid to Bethel by "a man of God" from Judah. The Judean prophet uttered a curse upon the altar erected there by Jeroboam I. When the king attempted to use force against him, the prophet was saved by divine intervention; the king then invited him to receive royal hospitality, but he refused because of a command of God to him not to eat or drink there. The Judean then departed (1 Kings 13:1-10). An old prophet who lived in Bethel heard of the stranger's words, and went after him and offered him hospitality. This offer too was refused. But when the old prophet resorted to falsehood and pleaded a divine command on the subject, the Judean returned with him. While at table the old prophet is given a message to declare that death will follow the southerner's disobedience to the first command. A lion kills him on his way home. The old prophet hears of the death and explains it as due to disobedience to God; he then buries the dead body in his own grave and expresses a wish that he also at death should be buried in the same sepulcher.
2. Critical: There are several difficulties in the text. In 1 Kings 13:11, the King James Version reads "his sons came" instead of "one of his sons came," and translation 1 Kings 133:11Ki 2:1-46b: "And his sons shewed the way the man of God went." There is a gap in the Massoretic Text after the word "table" in 1 Kings 13:20; and 1 Kings 13:23 should be translated, "And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled for himself the ass, and departed again" (following Septuagint, B with W. B. Stevenson, HDB, III, 594a, note).
Benzinger ("Die Bucher der Konige," Kurz. Hand-Komm. zum Altes Testament, 91) holds that we have here an example of a midrash, i.e. according to LOT, 529, "an imaginative development of a thought or theme suggested by Scripture, especially a didactic or homiletic exposition or an edifying religious story." 2 Chronicles 24:27 refers to a "midhrash of the book of the kings," and 2 Chronicles 13:22 to a "midrash of the prophet Iddo." In 2 Chronicles 9:29 we have a reference to "the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Josephus names the Judean prophet Jadon (Ant., VIII, viii, 5), and so some would trace this narrative to the midrash of Iddo, which would be a late Jewish work. There is a trace of late Hebrew in 1 Kings 13:3, and evidence in several places of a later editing of the original narrative. Kittel and Benzinger think it possible that the section may be based on a historical incident. If the narrative is historical in the main, the mention of Josiah by name in 1 Kings 13:2 may be a later insertion; if not historical, the prophecy there is ex eventu, and the whole section a midrash on 2 Kings 23:15-20.
3. Central Truths: (1) Several questions are suggested by the narrative, but in putting as well as in answering these questions, it must be remembered that the old prophet himself, as has been pointed out, is not the chief character of the piece. Hence, it is a little pointless to ask what became of the old prophet, or whether he was not punished for his falsehood. The passage should be studied, like the parables of Jesus, with an eye on the great central truth, which is, here, that God punishes disobedience even in "a man of God." It is not inconsistent with this to regard the old prophet as an example of "Satan fashioning himself into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14), or of the beast which "had two horns like unto a lamb" (Revelation 13:11).
(2) It must also be remembered that the false prophets of the Old Testament are called prophets in spite of their false prophecies. So here the old prophet in spite of his former lie is given a divine message to declare that death will follow the other's disobedience.
(3) One other question suggests itself, and demands an answer. Why did the old prophet make the request that at death he should be buried in the same grave as the Judean (1 Kings 13:31)? The answer is implied in 1 Kings 13:32, and is more fully given in 2 Kings 23:15-20, where King Josiah defiles the graves of the prophets at Bethel. On seeing a "monument" or grave-stone by one of the graves, he inquires what it is, and is told that it marks the grave of the prophet from Judah. Thereupon he orders that his bones be not disturbed. With these the bones of the old prophet escape. Perhaps no clearer instance of a certain kind of meanness exists in the Old Testament. The very man who has been the cause of another's downfall and ruin is base enough to plan his own escape under cover of the virtues of his victim. And the parallels in modern life are many.
David Francis Roberts
Old Testament
Old Testament - See TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Old Testament Canon
Old Testament Canon - See CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Old Testament Languages
Old Testament Languages - See LANGUAGES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Oleaster
Oleaster - o-le-as'-ter (Isaiah 41:19 the Revised Version margin).
See OIL TREE.
Olive
Olive - See OLIVE TREE.
Olive Berries
Olive Berries - ber'-iz.
See OLIVE TREE.
Olive Tree
Olive Tree - ol'-iv tre (zayith, a word occurring also in Aramaic, Ethiopic and Arabic; in the last it means "olive oil," and zaitun, "the olive tree"; elaia):
1. The Olive Tree: The olive tree has all through history been one of the most characteristic, most valued and most useful of trees in Palestine. It is only right that it is the first named "king" of the trees (Judges 9:8-9). When the children of Israel came to the land they acquired olive trees which they planted not (Deuteronomy 6:11; compare Joshua 24:13). The cultivation of the olive goes back to the earliest times in Canaan. The frequent references in the Bible, the evidences (see 4 below) from archaeology and the important place the product of this tree has held in the economy of the inhabitants of Syria make it highly probable that this land is the actual home of the cultivated olive. The wild olive is indigenous there. The most fruitful trees are the product of bare and rocky ground (compare Deuteronomy 32:13) situated preferably at no great distance from the sea. The terraced hills of Palestine, where the earth lies never many inches above the limestone rocks, the long rainless summer of unbroken sunshine, and the heavy "clews" of the autumn afford conditions which are extraordinarily favorable to at least the indigenous olive.
The olive, Olea Europaea (Natural Order Oleaceae), is a slow-growing tree, requiring years of patient labor before reaching full fruitfulness. Its growth implies a certain degree of settlement and peace, for a hostile army can in a few days destroy the patient work of two generations. Possibly this may have something to do with its being the emblem of peace. Enemies of a village or of an individual often today carry out revenge by cutting away a ring of bark from the trunks of the olives, thus killing the trees in a few months. The beauty of this tree is referred to in Jeremiah 11:16; Hosea 14:6, and its fruitfulness in Psalms 128:3. The characteristic olive-green of its foliage, frosted silver below and the twisted and gnarled trunks--often hollow in the center--are some of the most picturesque and constant signs of settled habitations. In some parts of the land large plantations occur: the famous olive grove near Beirut is 5 miles square; there are also fine, ancient trees in great numbers near Bethlehem.
In starting an oliveyard the fellah not infrequently plants young wild olive trees which grow plentifully over many parts of the land, or he may grow from cuttings. When the young trees are 3 years old they are grafted from a choice stock and after another three or four years they may commence to bear fruit, but they take quite a decade more before reaching full fruition. Much attention is, however, required. The soil around the trees must be frequently plowed and broken up; water must be conducted to the roots from the earliest rain, and the soil must be freely enriched with a kind of marl known in Arabic as chuwwarah. If neglected, the older trees soon send up a great many shoots from the roots all around the parent stem (perhaps the idea in Psalms 128:3); these must be pruned away, although, should the parent stem decay, some of these may be capable of taking its place. Being, however, from the root, below the original point of grafting, they are of the wild olive type--with smaller, stiffer leaves and prickly stem--and need grafting before they are of use. The olive tree furnishes a wood valuable for many forms of carpentry, and in modern Palestine is extensively burnt as fuel.
2. The Fruit: The olive is in flower about May; it produces clusters of small white flowers, springing from the axils of the leaves, which fall as showers to the ground (Job 15:33). The first olives mature as early as September in some places, but, in the mountain districts, the olive harvest is not till November or even December. Much of the earliest fruit falls to the ground and is left by the owner ungathered until the harvest. The trees are beaten with long sticks (Deuteronomy 24:20), the young folks often climbing into the branches to reach the highest fruit, while the women and older girls gather up the fruit from the ground. The immature fruit left after such an ingathering is described graphically in Isaiah 17:6: "There shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking (margin "beating") of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree." Such gleanings belonged to the poor (Deuteronomy 24:20), as is the case today. Modern villages in Palestine allow the poor of even neighboring villages to glean the olives. The yield of an olive tree is very uncertain; a year of great fruitfulness may be followed by a very scanty crop or by a succession of such.
The olive is an important article of diet in Palestine. Some are gathered green and pickled in brine, after slight bruising, and others, the "black" olives, are gathered quite ripe and are either packed in salt or in brine. In both cases the salt modifies the bitter taste. They are eaten with bread.
More important commercially is the oil. This is sometimes extracted in a primitive way by crushing a few berries by hand in the hollow of a stone (compare Exodus 27:20), from which a shallow channel runs for the oil. It is an old custom to tread them by foot (Micah 6:15).
3. Olive Oil: Oil is obtained on a larger scale in one of the many varieties of oil mills. The berries are carried in baskets, by donkeys, to the mill, and they are crushed by heavy weights. A better class of oil can be obtained by collecting the first oil to come off separately, but not much attention is given to this in Palestine, and usually the berries are crushed, stones and all, by a circular millstone revolving upright round a central pivot. A plenteous harvest of oil was looked upon as one of God's blessings (Joel 2:24; 3:13). That the "labor of the olive" should fail was one of the trials to faith in Yahweh (Habakkuk 3:17). Olive oil is extensively used as food, morsels of bread being dipped into it in eating; also medicinally (Luke 10:34; James 5:14). In ancient times it was greatly used for anointing the person (Psalms 23:5; Matthew 6:17). In Rome's days of luxury it was a common maxim that a long and pleasant life depended upon two fiuids--"wine within and oil without." In modern times this use of oil for the person is replaced by the employment of soap, which in Palestine is made from olive oil. In all ages this oil has been used for illumination (Matthew 25:3).
4. Greater Plenty of Olive Trees in Ancient Times:
Comparatively plentiful as olive trees are today in Palestine, there is abundant evidence that the cultivation was once much more extensive. "The countless rock-cut oil-presses and wine-presses, both within and without the walls of the city (of Gezer), show that the cultivation of the olive and vine was of much greater importance than it is anywhere in Palestine today. .... Excessive taxation has made olive culture unprofitable" ("Gezer Mem," PEF, II, 23). A further evidence of this is seen today in many now deserted sites which are covered with wild olive trees, descendants of large plantations of the cultivated tree which have quite disappeared.
5. Wild Olives: Many of these spring from the old roots; others are from the fallen drupes. Isolated trees scattered over many parts of the land, especially in Galilee, are sown by the birds. As a rule the wild olive is but a shrub, with small leaves, a stem more or less prickly, and a small, hard drupe with but little or no oil. That a wild olive branch should be grafted into a fruitful tree would be a proceeding useless and contrary to Nature (Romans 11:17, 24). On the mention of "branches of wild olive" in Nehemiah 8:15, see OIL TREE.
E. W. G. Masterman
Olive Yard
Olive Yard - ol'-iv yard.
See OLIVE TREE.
Olive, Grafted
Olive, Grafted - See OLIVE TREE.
Olive, Wild
Olive, Wild - Figuratively used in Romans 11:17, 24 for the Gentiles, grafted into "the good olive tree" of Israel.
See OLIVE TREE.
Olives, Mount of
Olives, Mount of - ol'-ivz, (har ha-zethim (Zechariah 14:4), ma`aleh ha-zethim, "the ascent of the mount of Olives" (2 Samuel 15:30, the King James Version "the ascent of (mount) Olivet"); to oros ton elaion, "the Mount of Olives" (Matthew 21:1; 24:3; 26:30; Mark 11:1; 13:3; 14:26; Luke 19:37; 22:39; John 8:1), to oros to kaloumenon elaion, "the mount that is called Olivet" (Luke 19:29; 21:37; in both references in the King James Version "the mount called (the mount) of Olives"), tou elaionos (Acts 1:12, English Versions of the Bible "Olivet" literally, "olive garden")):
1. Names
2. Situation and Extent
3. Old Testament Associations
(1) David's Escape from Absalom
(2) The Vision of Ezekiel
(3) The Vision of Zechariah
4. High Places
5. Olivet and Jesus
6. View of the City from Olivet
7. Churches and Ecclesiastical Traditions
LITERATURE
Olivet comes to us through the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Oliverum, "an oliveyard."
1. Names: Josephus frequently uses the expression "Mount of Olives" (e.g. Ant, VII, ix, 2; XX, viii, 6; BJ, V, ii, 3; xii, 2), but later Jewish writings give the name har ha-mishchah, "Mount of Oil"; this occurs in some manuscripts in 2 Kings 23:13, and the common reading har ha-mashchith, "Mount of Corruption," margin "destruction," may possibly be a deliberate alteration (see below). In later ages the Mount was termed "the mountain of lights," because here there used to be kindled at one time the first beacon light to announce throughout Jewry the appearance of the new moon.
To the natives of Palestine today it is usually known as Jebel et Tar ("mountain of the elevation," or "tower"), or, less commonly, as Jebel Tur ez zait ("mountain of the elevation of oil"). The name Jebel ez-zaitun ("Mount of Olives") is also well known. Early Arabic writers use the term Tur Zait, "Mount of Oil."
2. Situation and Extent: The mountain ridge which lies East of Jerusalem leaves the central range near the valley of Sha`phat and runs for about 2 miles due South. After culminating in the mountain mass on which lies the "Church of the Ascension," it may be considered as giving off two branches: one lower one, which runs South-Southwest, forming the southern side of the Kidron valley, terminating at the Wady en Nar, and another, higher one, which slopes eastward and terminates a little beyond el-`Azareyeh (modern Bethany). The main ridge is considerably higher than the site of ancient Jerusalem, and still retains a thick cap of the soft chalky limestone, mixed with flint, known variously as Nari and Ka`kuli, which has been entirely denuded over the Jerusalem site (see JERUSALEM,II , 1). The flints were the cause of a large settlement of paleolithic man which occurred in prehistoric times on the northern end of the ridge, while the soft chalky stone breaks down to form a soil valuable for the cultivation of olives and other trees and shrubs. The one drawback to arboriculture upon this ridge is the strong northwest wind which permanently bends most trees toward the Southeast, but affects the sturdy, slow-growing olive less than the quicker-growing pine. The eastern slopes are more sheltered. In respect of wind the Mount of Olives is far more exposed than the site of old Jerusalem.
The lofty ridge of Olivet is visible from far, a fact now emphasized by the high Russian tower which can be seen for many scores of miles on the East of the Jordan. The range presents, from such a point of view particularly, a succession of summits. Taking as the northern limit the dip which is crossed by the ancient Anathoth (`anata) road, the most northerly summit is that now crowned by the house and garden of Sir John Gray Hill, 2,690 ft. above sea-level. This is sometimes incorrectly pointed out as Scopus, which lay farther to the Northwest. A second sharp dip in the ridge separates this northern summit from the next, a broad plateau now occupied by the great Kaiserin Augusta Victoria Stiftung and grounds. The road makes a sharp descent into a valley which is traversed from West to East by an important and ancient road from Jerusalem, which runs eastward along the Wady er Rawabeh. South of this dip lies the main mass of the mountain, that known characteristically as the Olivet of ecclesiastical tradition. This mass consists of two principal summits and two subsidiary spurs. The northern of the two main summits is that known as Karem es Sayyad, "the vineyard of the hunter," and also as "Galilee," or, more correctly, as Viri Galilaei (see below, 7). It reaches a height of 2,723 ft. above the Mediterranean and is separated from the southern summit by a narrow neck traversed today by the carriage road. The southern summit, of practically the same elevation, is the traditional "Mount of the Ascension," and for several years has been distinguished by a lofty, though somewhat inartistic, tower erected by the Russians. The two subsidiary spurs referred to above are: (1) a somewhat isolated ridge running Southeast, upon which lies the squalid village of el `Azareyeh--Bethany; (2) a small spur running South, covered with grass, which is known as "the Prophets," on account of a remarkable 4th-century Christian tomb found there, which is known as "the tomb of the Prophets"--a spot much venerated by modern Jews.
A further extension of the ridge as Batn el Hawa, "the belly of the wind," or traditionally as "the Mount of Offence" (compare 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13), is usually included in the Mount of Olives, but its lower altitude--it is on a level with the temple-platform--and its position South of the city mark it off as practically a distinct hill. Upon its lower slopes are clustered the houses of Silwan (Siloam).
The notices of the Mount of Olives in the Old Testament are, considering its nearness to Jerusalem, remarkably scanty.
3. Old Testament Associations: (1) David's Escape from Absalom: David fleeing before his rebellious son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:16) crossed the Kidron and "went up by the ascent of the mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went (2 Samuel 15:30). .... And it came to pass, that, when David was come to the top of the ascent where he was wont to worship God, (m), behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head (2 Samuel 15:32). And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine" (2 Samuel 16:1).
It is highly probable that David's route to the wilderness was neither by the much-trodden Anathoth road nor over the summit of the mountain, but by the path running Northeast from the city, which runs between the Viri Galilaei hill and that supporting the German Sanatorium and descends into the wilderness by Wady er Rawabi.
See BAHURIM.
(2) The Vision of Ezekiel: Ezekiel in a vision (11:23) saw the glory of Yahweh go up from the midst of the city and stand "upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (compare 43:2). In connection with this the Rabbi Janna records the tradition that the shekhinah stood 3 1/2 years upon Olivet, and preached, saying, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near"--a strange story to come from a Jewish source, suggesting some overt reference to Christ.
(3) The Vision of Zechariah: In Zechariah 14:4 the prophet sees Yahweh in that day stand upon the Mount of Olives, "and the Mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
In addition to these direct references, Jewish tradition associates with this mount--this "mount of Corruption"--the rite of the red heifer (Numbers 19:1-22); and many authorities consider that this is also the mount referred to in Nehemiah 8:15, whence the people are directed to fetch olive branches, branches of wild olive, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of thick trees to make their booths.
4. High Places: It is hardly possible that a spot with such a wide outlook--especially the marvelous view over the Jordan valley and Dead Sea to the lands of Ammon and Moab--should have been neglected in the days when Semitic religion crowned such spots with their sanctuaries. There is Old Testament evidence that there was a "high place" here. In the account of David's flight mention is made of the spot on the summit "where he was wont to worship God" (2 Samuel 15:32 margin). This is certainly a reference to a sanctuary, and there are strong reasons for believing that this place may have been NOB (which see) (see 1 Samuel 21:1; 9, 11, 19; Nehemiah 11:32; but especially Isaiah 10:32). This last reference seems to imply a site more commanding in its outlook over the ancient city than Ras el Musharif proposed by Driver, one at least as far South as the Anathoth road, or even that from Wady er Rawabi. But besides this we have the definite statement (1 Kings 11:7): "Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before (i.e. East of) Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon," and the further account that the "high places that were before (East of) Jerusalem, which were on the right hand (South) of the mount of corruption (margin "destruction") which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king (Josiah) defile" (2 Kings 23:13). That these high places were somewhere upon what is generally recognized as the Mount of Olives, seems clear, and the most probable site is the main mass where are today the Christian sanctuaries, though Graetz and Dean Stanley favor the summit known as Viri Galilaei. It is the recognition of this which has kept alive the Jewish name "Mount of Corruption" for this mount to this day. The term Mons offensionis, given to the southeastern extension, South of the city, is merely an ecclesiastical tradidition going back to Quaresmius in the 17th century, which is repeated by Burckhardt (1823 AD).
5. Olivet and Jesus: More important to us are the New Testament associations of this sacred spot. In those days the mountain must have been far different from its condition today. Titus in his siege of Jerusalem destroyed all the timber here as elsewhere in the environs, but before this the hillsides must have been clothed with verdure--oliveyards, fig orchards and palm groves, with myrtle and other shrubs. Here in the fresh breezes and among the thick foliage, Jesus, the country-bred Galilean, must gladly have taken Himself from the noise and closeness of the over-crowded city. It is to the Passion Week, with the exception of John 8:1, that all the incidents belong which are expressly mentioned as occurring on the Mount of Olives; while there would be a special reason at this time in the densely packed city, it is probable that on other occasions also our Lord preferred to stay outside the walls. Bethany would indeed appear to have been His home in Judea, as Capernaum was in Galilee. Here we read of Him as staying with Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42); again He comes to Bethany from the wilderness road from Jericho for the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-57), and later He is at a feast, six days before the Passover (John 12:1), at the house of Simon (Matthew 26:6-12; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-9). The Mount of Olives is expressly mentioned in many of the events of the Passion Week. He approached Jerusalem, "unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives" (Mark 11:1; Matthew 21:1; Luke 19:29); over a shoulder of this mount--very probably by the route of the present Jericho carriage road--He made His triumphal entry to the city (Matthew 21:1-46; Mark 11:1-33; Luke 19:1-48), and on this road, when probably the full sight of the city first burst into view, He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). During all that week "every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet" (Luke 21:37)--the special part of the mount being Bethany (Matthew 21:17; Mark 11:11). It was on the road from Bethany that He gave the sign of the withering of the fruitless fig tree (Matthew 21:17-19; Mark 11:12-14, 20-24), and "as he sat on the mount of Olives" (Matthew 24:3 f; Mark 13:3 f) Jesus gave His memorable sermon with the doomed city lying below Him.
On the lower slopes of Olivet, in the Garden of Gethsemane (see GETHSEMANE), Jesus endured His agony, the betrayal and arrest, while upon one of its higher points--not, as tradition has it, on the inhabited highest summit, but on the secluded eastern slopes "over against Bethany" (Luke 24:50-52)--He took leave of His disciples (compare Acts 1:12).
6. View of the City from Olivet: The view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives must ever be one of the most striking impressions which any visitor to Jerusalem carries away with him. It has been described countless times. It is today a view but of ruin and departed glory compared with that over which Jesus wept. A modern writer with historic imagination has thus graphically sketched the salient features of that sight:
"We are standing on the road from Bethany as it breaks round the Mount of Olives and on looking northwest this is what we see. .... There spreads a vast stone stage, almost rectangular, some 400 yards. North and South by 300 East and West, held up above Ophel and the Kidron valley by a high and massive wall, from 50 to 150 ft. and more in height, according to the levels of the rock from which it rises. Deep cloisters surround this platform on the inside of the walls. .... Every gate has its watch and other guards patrol the courts. The crowds, which pour through the south gates upon the platform for the most part keep to the right; the exceptions, turning westward, are excommunicated or in mourning. But the crowd are not all Israelites. Numbers of Gentiles mingle with them; there are costumes and colors from all lands. In the cloisters sit teachers with groups of disciples about them. On the open pavement stand the booths of hucksters and money-changers; and from the North sheep and bullocks are being driven toward the Inner Sanctuary. This lies not in the center of the great platform, but in the northwest corner. It is a separately fortified, oblong enclosure; its high walls with their 9 gates rising from a narrow terrace at a slight elevation above the platform and the terrace encompassed by a fence within which none but Israelites may pass. .... Upon its higher western end rises a house `like a lion broad in front and narrow behind.' .... From the open porch of this house stone steps descend to a great block of an altar perpetually smoking with sacrifices. .... Off the Northwest of the Outer Sanctuary a castle (the Antonia) dominates the whole with its 4 lofty towers. Beyond .... the Upper City rises in curved tiers like a theater, while all the lower slopes to the South are a crowded mass of houses, girded by the eastern wall of the city. Against that crowded background the sanctuary with its high house gleams white and fresh. But the front of the house, glittering with gold plates, is obscured by a column of smoke rising from the altar; and the Priests' Court about the latter is colored by the slaughterers and sacrifices--a splash of red, as our imagination takes it, in the center of the prevailing white. At intervals there are bursts of music; the singing of psalms, the clash of cymbals and a great blare of trumpets, at which the people in their court in the Inner Sanctuary fall down and worship" (extracts from G.A. Smith's Jerusalem, II, 518-20).
7. Churches and Ecclesiastical Traditions: To the Bible student the New Testament is the best guide to Olivet; tradition and "sites" only bewilder him. Once the main hilltop was a mass of churches. There was the "Church of the Ascension" to mark the spot whereby tradition (contrary to the direct statement of Luke) states that the Ascension occurred; now the site is marked by a small octagonal chapel, built in 1834, which is in the hands of the Moslems. There a "footprint of Christ" is shown in the rock. A large basilica of Helena was built over the place where it was said that Christ taught His disciples. In 1869 the Princess de Latour d'Auvergne, learning that there was a Moslem tradition that this site was at a spot called el Battaniyeh south of the summit, here erected a beautiful church known as the Church of the Pater Noster and around the courtyard she had the Lord's Prayer inscribed in 32 languages. When the church was in course of erection certain fragments of old walls and mosaics were found, but, in 1911, as a result of a careful excavation of the site, the foundations of a more extensive mass of old buildings, with some beautiful mosaic in the baptistry, were revealed in the neighborhood; there is little doubt but that these foundations belonged to the actual Basilica of Helena. It is proposed to rebuild the church.
Mention has been made of the name Viri Galilaei or Galilee as given to the northern summit of the main mass of Olivet. The name "Mount Galilee" appears to have been first given to this hill early in the 4th century and in 1573 AD Rawolf explains the name by the statement that here was in ancient times a khan where the Galileans lodged who came up to Jerusalem. In 1620 Quaresmius applies the names "Galilee" and Viri Galilaei to this site and thinks the latter name may be due to its having been the spot where the two angels appeared and addressed the disciples as "Ye men of Galilee" (Acts 1:11). Attempts have been made, without much success, to maintain that this "Galilee" was the spot which our Lord intended (Matthew 28:10, 16) to indicate to His disciples as the place of meeting.
The Russian enclosure includes a chapel, a lofty tower--from which a magnificent view is obtainable--a hospice and a pleasant pine grove. Between the Russian buildings to the North and the Church of the Ascension lies the squalid village of et tur, inhabited by a peculiarly turbulent and rapacious crowd of Moslems, who prey upon the passing pilgrims and do much to spoil the sentiment of a visit to this sacred spot. It is possible it may be the original site of BETHPHAGE (which see).
LITERATURE.
PEF, Memoirs, "Jerusalem" volume; G. A. Smith, Jerusalem; Robinson, BRP, I, 1838; Stanley, Sinai and Palestine; Baedeker's Palestine and Syria (by Socin and Bensinger); Tobler, Die Siloahquelle und der Oelberg, 1852; Porter, Murray's Palestine and Syria; R. Hofmann, Galilaea auf dem Oelberg, Leipzig, 1896; Schick, "The Mount of Olives," PEFS, 1889, 174-84; Warren, article "Mount of Olives," in HDB; Gauthier, in EB, under the word; Vincent (Pere), "The Tombs of the Prophets," Revue Biblique, 1901.
E. W. G. Masterman
Olivet
Olivet - ol'-i-vet.
See OLIVES, MOUNT OF.
Olympas
Olympas - o-lim'-pas (Olumpas): The name of a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent greetings (Romans 16:15). Olympas is an abbreviated form of Olympiadorus. The joining in one salutation of the Christians mentioned in Romans 16:15 suggests that they formed by themselves a small community in the earliest Roman church.
Olympius
Olympius - o-lim'-pi-us (Olumpios): An epithet of JUPITER or ZEUS (which see) from Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, where the gods held court presided over by Zeus. Antiochus Epiphanes, "who on God's altars dansed," insulted the Jewish religion by dedicating the temple of Jerusalem to Jupiter Olympius, 168 BC (2 Maccabees 6:2; 1 Maccabees 1:54 ff).
Omaerus
Omaerus - om-a-e'-rus: the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) "Ismaerus" (1 Esdras 9:34).
Omar
Omar - o'-mar (omar, connected perhaps with 'amar, "speak"; Septuagint Oman or Omar): Grandson of Esau and son of Eliphaz in Genesis 36:11; 1 Chronicles 1:36; given the title "duke" or "chief" in Genesis 36:15.
Omega
Omega - o'-me-ga o-me'-ga o-meg'-a.
See ALPHA AND OMEGA.
Omens
Omens - o'-menz.
See AUGURY; DIVINATION.
Omer
Omer - o'-mer (`omer): A dry measure, the tenth of an ephah, equal to about 7 1/2 pints.
See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Omnipotence
Omnipotence - om-nip'-o-tens:
1. Terms and Usage: The noun "omnipotence" is not found in the English Bible, nor any noun exactly corresponding to it in the original Hebrew or Greek
The adjective "omnipotent" occurs in Revelation 19:6 the King James Version; the Greek for this, pantokrator, occurs also in 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 7, 14; 19:15; 21:22 (in all of which the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) render "almighty"). It is also found frequently in the Septuagint, especially in the rendering of the divine names Yahweh tsebha'oth and 'El Shadday. In pantokrator, the element of "authority," "sovereignty," side by side with that of "power," makes itself more distinctly felt than it does to the modern ear in "omnipotent," although it is meant to be included in the latter also. Compare further ho dunatos, in Luke 1:49.
2. Inherent in Old Testament Names of God: The formal conception of omnipotence as worked out in theology does not occur in the Old Testament. The substance of the idea is conveyed in various indirect ways. The notion of "strength" is inherent in the Old Testament conception of God from the beginning, being already represented in one of the two divine names inherited by Israel from ancient Semitic religion, the name 'El. According to one etymology it is also inherent in the other, the name 'Elohim, and in this case the plural form, by bringing out the fullness of power in God, would mark an approach to the idea of omnipotence.
In the patriarchal religion the conception of "might" occupies a prominent place, as is indicated by the name characteristic of this period, 'El Shadday; compare Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; Genesis 49:24-25; Exodus 6:3. This name, however, designates the divine power as standing in the service of His covenant-relation to the patriarchs, as transcending Nature and overpowering it in the interests of redemption.
Another divine name which signalizes this attribute is Yahweh tsebha'oth, Yahweh of Hosts. This name, characteristic of the prophetic period, describes God as the King surrounded and followed by the angelic hosts, and since the might of an oriental king is measured by the splendor of his retinue, as of great, incomparable power, the King Omnipotent (Psalms 24:10; Isaiah 2:12; 3, 5; 8:13; Jeremiah 46:18; Malachi 1:14).
Still another name expressive of the same idea is 'Abhir, "Strong One," compounded with Jacob or Israel (Genesis 49:24; Psalms 132:2, 5; Isaiah 1:24; 49:26; 60:16). Further, 'El Gibbor, "God-Hero" (Isaiah 9:6 (of the Messiah); compare for the adjective gibbor, Jeremiah 20:11); and the figurative designation of God as Tsur, "Rock," occurring especially in the address to God in the Psalter (Isaiah 30:29, the King James Version "Mighty One"). The specific energy with which the divine nature operates finds expression also in the name 'El Chay, "Living God," which God bears over against the impotent idols (1 Samuel 17:26, 36; 2 Kings 19:4, 16; Psalms 18:46; Jeremiah 23:36; Daniel 6:20, 26 f). An anthropomorphic description of the power of God is in the figures of "hand," His "arm," His "finger."
See GOD.
3. Other Modes of Expression: Some of the attributes of Yahweh have an intimate connection with His omnipotence. Under this head especially God's nature as Spirit and His holiness come under consideration. The representation of God as Spirit in the Old Testament does not primarily refer to the incorporealness of the divine nature, but to its inherent energy. The physical element underlying the conception of Spirit is that of air in motion, and in this at first not the invisibility but the force forms the point of comparison. The opposite of "Spirit" in this sense is "flesh," which expresses the weakness and impotence of the creature over against God (Isaiah 2:22; 31:3).
The holiness of God in its earliest and widest sense (not restricted to the ethical sphere) describes the majestic, specifically divine character of His being, that which evokes in man religious awe. It is not a single attribute coordinated with others, but a peculiar aspect under which all the attributes can be viewed, that which renders them distinct from anything analogous in the creature (1 Samuel 2:2; Hosea 11:9). In this way holiness becomes closely associated with the power of God, indeed sometimes becomes synonymous with divine power = omnipotence (Exodus 15:11; Numbers 20:12), and especially in Ezk, where God's "holy name" is often equivalent to His renown for power, hence, interchangeable with His "great name" (Ezekiel 36:20-24). The objective Spirit as a distinct hypostasis and the executive of the Godhead on its one side also represents the divine power (Isaiah 32:15; Matthew 12:28; Luke 1:35; 4:14; Acts 10:38; Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4).
4. Unlimited Extent of the Divine Power: In all these forms of expression a great and specifically divine power is predicated of God. Statements in which the absolutely unlimited extent of this power is explicitly affirmed are rare. The reason, however, lies not in any actual restriction placed on this power, but in the concrete practical form of religious thinking which prevents abstract formulation of the principle. The point to be noticed is that no statement is anywhere made exempting aught from the reach of divine power. Nearest to a general formula come such statements as nothing is "too hard for Yahweh" (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17); or "I know that thou canst do everything?" or "God .... hath done whatever he pleased" (Psalms 115:3; 135:6), or, negatively, no one "can hinder" God, in carrying out His purpose (Isaiah 43:13), or God's hand is not "waxed short" (Numbers 11:23); in the New Testament: "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27); "Nothing is impossible with God" (the Revised Version (British and American) "No word from God shall be void of power," Luke 1:37). Indirectly the omnipotence of God is implied in the effect ascribed to faith (Matthew 17:20: "Nothing shall be impossible unto you"; Mark 9:23: "All things are possible to him that believeth"), because faith puts the divine power at the disposal of the believer. On its subjective side the principle of inexhaustible power finds expression in Isaiah 40:28: God is not subject to weariness. Because God is conscious of the unlimited extent of His resources nothing is marvelous in His eyes (Zechariah 8:6).
5. Forms of Manifestation: It is chiefly through its forms of manifestation that the distinctive quality of the divine power which renders it omnipotent becomes apparent. The divine power operates not merely in single concrete acts, but is comprehensively related to the world as such. Both in Nature and history, in creation and in redemption, it produces and controls and directs everything that comes to pass. Nothing in the realm of actual or conceivable things is withdrawn from it (Amos 9:2-3; Daniel 4:35); even to the minutest and most recondite sequences of cause and effect it extends and masters all details of reality (Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7). There is no accident (1 Samuel 6:9; compare with 1 Samuel 6:12; Proverbs 16:33). It need not operate through second causes; it itself underlies all second causes and makes them what they are.
It is creative power producing its effect through a mere word (Genesis 1:3 ff; Deuteronomy 8:3; Psalms 33:9; Romans 4:17; Hebrews 1:3; 11:30). Among the prophets, especially Isaiah emphasizes this manner of the working of the divine power in its immediateness and suddenness (Isaiah 9:8; 17:13; Isaiah 18:4-6; 29:5). All the processes of nature are ascribed to the causation of Yahweh (Job 5:9 ff; Job 9:5 ff; chapters Job 38:1-41 and Job 39:1-30; Isaiah 40:12 ff; Amos 4:13; Amos 5:8-9; Amos 9:5-6); especially God's control of the sea is named as illustrative of this (Psalms 65:7; 104:9; Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 5:22; 31:35). The Old Testament seldom says "it rains" (Amos 4:7), but usually God causes it to rain (Leviticus 26:4; Deuteronomy 11:17; 1 Samuel 12:17; Job 36:27; Psalms 29:1-11 and Psalms 65:1-13; Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17).
The same is true of the processes of history. God sovereignly disposes, not merely of Israel, but of all other nations, even of the most powerful, e.g. the Assyrians, as His instruments for the accomplishment of His purpose (Amos 1:1-15 through Amos 2:3; 9:7; Isaiah 10:5, 15; 28:2; 45:1; Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). The prophets ascribe to Yahweh not merely relatively greater power than to the gods of the nations, but His power extends into the sphere of the nations, and the heathen gods are ignored in the estimate put upon His might (Isaiah 31:3).
Even more than the sphere of Nature and history, that of redemption reveals the divine omnipotence, from the point of view of the supernatural and miraculous. Thus Exodus 15:1-27 celebrates the power of Yahweh in the wonders of the exodus. It is God's exclusive prerogative to do wonders (Job 5:9; 9:10; Psalms 72:18); He alone can make "a new thing" (Numbers 16:30; Isaiah 43:19; Jeremiah 31:22). In the New Testament the great embodiment of this redemptive omnipotence is the resurrection of believers (Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24) and specifically the resurrection of Christ (Romans 4:17, 21, 24; Ephesians 1:19 ff); but it is evidenced in the whole process of redemption (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Romans 8:31; Ephesians 3:7, 20; 1 Peter 1:5; Revelation 11:17).
6. Significance for Biblical Religion: The significance of the idea may be traced along two distinct lines. On the one hand the divine omnipotence appears as a support of faith. On the other hand it is productlye of that specifically religious state of consciousness which Scripture calls "the fear of Yahweh." Omnipotence in God is that to which human faith addresses itself. In it lies the ground for assurance that He is able to save, as in His love that He is willing to save (Psalms 65:5-6; 72:18; Psalms 118:14-16; Ephesians 3:20).
As to the other aspect of its significance, the divine omnipotence in itself, and not merely for soteriological reasons, evokes a specific religious response. This is true, not only of the Old Testament, where the element of the fear of God stands comparatively in the foreground, but remains true also of the New Testament. Even in our Lord's teaching the prominence given to the fatherhood and love of God does not preclude that the transcendent majesty of the divine nature, including omnipotence, is kept in full view and made a potent factor in the cultivation of the religious mind (Matthew 6:9). The beauty of Jesus' teaching on the nature of God consists in this, that He keeps the exaltation of God above every creature and His loving condescension toward the creature in perfect equilibrium and makes them mutually fructified by each other. Religion is more than the inclusion of God in the general altruistic movement of the human mind; it is a devotion at every point colored by the consciousness of that divine uniqueness in which God's omnipotence occupies a foremost place.
LITERATURE.
Oehler, Theologie des A T (3), 131, 139 ff; Riehm, Alttestamentliche Theologie, 250 ff; Dillmann, Handbuch der alttestamentlichen Theologie, 244; Davidson, Old Testament Theology, 163 ff; Konig, Geschichte der alttestamentlichen Religion, 127, 135 ff, 391, 475.
Geerhardus Vos
Omnipresence
Omnipresence - om-ni-prez'-ens:
1. Non-Occurrence of the Term in Scripture: Neither the noun "omnipresence" nor adjective "omnipresent" occurs in Scripture, but the idea that God is everywhere present is throughout presupposed and sometimes explicitly formulated. God's omnipresence is closely related to His omnipotence and omniscience: that He is everywhere enables Him to act everywhere and to know all things, and, conversely, through omnipotent action and omniscient knowledge He has access to all places and all secrets (compare Psalms 139:1-24). Thus conceived, the attribute is but the correlate of the monotheistic conception of God as the Infinite Creator, Preserver and Governor of the universe, immanent in His works as well as transcendent above them.
2. Philosophical and Popular Ideas of Omnipresence:
The philosophical idea of omnipresence is that of exemption from the limitations of space, subjectively as well as objectively; subjectively, in so far as space, which is a necessary form of all created consciousness in the sphere of sense-perception, is not thus constitutionally inherent in the mind of God; objectively, in so far as the actuality of space-relations in the created world imposes no limit upon the presence and operation of God. This metaphysical conception of transcendence above all space is, of course, foreign to the Bible, which in regard to this, as in regard to the other transcendent attributes, clothes the truth of revelation in popular language, and speaks of exemption from the limitations of space in terms and figures derived from space itself. Thus, the very term "omnipresence" in its two component parts "everywhere" and "present" contains a double inadequacy of expression, both the notion of "everywhere" and that of "presence" being spacial concepts. Another point, in regard to which the popular nature of the Scriptural teaching on this subject must be kept in mind, concerns the mode of the divine omnipresence. In treating the concept philosophically, it is of importance to distinguish between its application to the essence, to the activity, and to the knowledge of God. The Bible does not draw these distinctions in the abstract. Although sometimes it speaks of God's omnipresence with reference to the pervasive immanence of His being, it frequently contents itself with affirming the universal extent of God's power and knowledge (Deuteronomy 4:39; 10:14; Psalms 139:6-16; Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Amos 9:2).
3. Theories Denying Omnipresence of Being: This observation has given rise to theories of a mere omnipresence of power or omnipresence by an act of will, as distinct from an omnipresence of being. But it is plain that in this antithetical form such a distinction is foreign to the intent of the Biblical statements in question. The writers in these passages content themselves with describing the practical effects of the attribute without reflecting upon the difference between this and its ontological aspect; the latter is neither affirmed nor denied. That no denial of the omnipresence of being is intended may be seen from Jeremiah 23:24, where in the former half of the verse the omnipresence of Jeremiah 23:23 is expressed in terms of omniscience, while in the latter half the idea finds ontological expression. Similarly, in Psalms 139:1-24, compare verse 2 with verses 7 ff, and verses Psalms 13:1-6 ff. As here, so in other passages the presence of God with His being in all space is explicitly affirmed (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 2:6; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 17:28).
4. Denial of the Presence of the Idea in the Earlier Parts of the Old Testament:
Omnipresence being the correlate of monotheism, the presence of the idea in the earlier parts of the Old Testament is denied by all those who assign the development of monotheism in the Old Testament religion to the prophetic period from the 8th century onward. It is undoubtedly true that the earliest narratives speak very anthropomorphically of God's relation to space; they describe Him as coming and going in language such as might be used of a human person. But it does not follow from this that the writers who do so conceive of God's being as circumscribed by space. Where such forms of statement occur, not the presence of God in general, but His visible presence in theophany is referred to. If from the local element entering into the description God's subjection to the limitations of space were inferred, then one might with equal warrant, on the basis of the physical, sensual elements entering into the representation, impute to the writers the view that the divine nature is corporeal.
5. The Special Redemptive and Revelatory Presence of God:
The theophanic form of appearance does not disclose what God is ontologically in Himself, but merely how He condescends to appear and work for the redemption of His people. It establishes a redemptive and revelatory presence in definite localities, which does not, in the mind of the writer, detract from the divine omnipresence. Hence, it is not confined to one place; the altars built in recognition of it are in patriarchal history erected in several places and coexist as each and all offering access to the special divine presence. It is significant that already during the patriarchal period these theophanies and the altars connected with them are confined to the Holy Land. This shows that the idea embodied in them has nothing to do with a crude conception of the Deity as locally circumscribed, but marks the beginning of that gradual restoration of the gracious presence of God to fallen humanity, the completion of which forms the goal of redemption. Thus, God is said to dwell in the ark, in the tabernacle, on Mt. Zion (Numbers 10:35; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 3:4; 99:1); in the temple (1 Kings 8:1-66; Psalms 20:2; 26:8; 46:5; 48:2; Isaiah 8:18; Joel 3:16, 21; Amos 1:2); in the Holy Land (1 Samuel 26:19; Hosea 9:3); in Christ (John 1:14; 2:19; Colossians 2:9); in the church (John 14:23; Romans 8:9, 11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Ephesians 2:21-22; 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:21; 1 Peter 2:5); in the eschatological assembly of His people (Revelation 21:3). In the light of the same principle must be interpreted the presence of God in heaven. This also is not to be understood as an ontological presence, but as a presence of specific theocratic manifestation (1 Kings 8:27; Psalms 2:4; 11:4; 33:13 ff; Psalms 104:3; Isaiah 6:1 ff; Isaiah 63:15; 66:1; Habakkuk 2:20; Matthew 5:34; 6:9; Acts 7:48; 17:28; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3). How little this is meant to exclude the presence of God elsewhere may be seen from the fact that the two representations, that of God's self-manifestation in heaven and in the earthly sanctuary, occur side by side (1 Kings 8:26-53; Psalms 20:2-6; Amos 9:6). It has been alleged that the idea of God's dwelling in heaven marks a comparatively late attainment in the religion of Israel, of which in the pre-prophetic period no trace can as yet be discovered (so Stade, Bibl. Theol. des Altes Testament, I, 103, 104). There are, however, a number of passages in the Pentateuch bearing witness to the early existence of this belief (Genesis 11:1-9; 19:24; 21:17; 22:11; 28:12). Yahweh comes, according to the belief of the earliest period, with the clouds (Exodus 14:19-20; 9, 18; 24:15; Numbers 11:25; 12:5). That even in the opinion of the people Yahweh's local presence in an earthly sanctuary need not have excluded Him from heaven follows also from the unhesitating belief in His simultaneous presence in a plurality of sanctuaries. If it was not a question of locally circumscribed presence as between sanctuary and sanctuary, it need not have been as between earth and heaven (compare Gunkel, Gen, 157).
6. Religious Significance: Both from a generally religious and from a specifically soteriological point of view the omnipresence of God is of great practical importance for the religious life. In the former respect it contains the guaranty that the actual nearness of God and a real communion with Him may be enjoyed everywhere, even apart from the places hallowed for such purpose by a specific gracious self-manifestation (Psalms 139:5-10). In the other respect the divine omnipresence assures the believer that God is at hand to save in every place where from any danger or foe His people need salvation (Isaiah 43:2).
LITERATURE.
Oehler, Theologie des A T (3), 174 ff; Riehm, Alttestamentliche Theologie, 262 ff; Dillmann, Handbuch der alttestamentlichen Theologie, 246 ff; Davidson, Old Testament Theology, 180 ff; Konig, Geschichte der alttestamentlichen Religion, 197 ff.
Geerhardus Vos
Omniscience
Omniscience - om-nish'-ens: The term does not occur in Scripture, either in its nominal or in its adjectival form.
1. Words and Usage: In the Old Testament it is expressed in connection with such words as da'ath, binah, tebhunah, chokhmah; also "seeing" and "hearing," "the eye" and "the ear" occur as figures for the knowledge of God, as "arm," "hand," "finger" serve to express His power. In the New Testament are found ginoskein, gnosis, eidenai, sophia, in the same connections.
2. Tacit Assumption and Explicit Affirmation: Scripture everywhere teaches the absolute universality of the divine knowledge. In the historical books, although there is no abstract formula, and occasional anthropomorphic references to God'staking knowledge of things occur (Genesis 11:5; 18:21; Deuteronomy 8:3), none the less the principle is everywhere presupposed in what is related about God's cognizance of the doings of man, about the hearing of prayer, the disclosing of the future (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Samuel 23:9-12; 1 Kings 8:39; 2 Chronicles 16:9). Explicit affirmation of the principle is made in the Psalter, the Prophets, the chokhmah literature and in the New Testament. This is due to the increased internalizing of religion, by which its hidden side, to which the divine omniscience corresponds, receives greater emphasis (Job 26:6; 28:24; 34:22; Psalms 139:12; 147:4; Proverbs 15:3, 11; Isaiah 40:26; Acts 1:24; Hebrews 4:13; Revelation 2:23).
3. Extends to All Spheres: This absolute universality is affirmed with reference to the various categories that comprise within themselves all that is possible or actual. It extends to God's own being, as well as to what exists outside of Him in the created world. God has perfect possession in consciousness of His own being. The unconscious finds no place in Him (Acts 15:18; 1 John 1:5). Next to Himself God knows the world in its totality. This knowledge extends to small as well as to great affairs (Matthew 6:8, 32; 10:30); to the hidden heart and mind of man as well as to that which is open and manifest (Job 11:11; 21, 23; Psalms 14:2; 17:2 ff; Psalms 33:13-18; 102:19 f; Psalms 139:1-4; Proverbs 5:21; 15:3; Isaiah 29:15; Jeremiah 17:10; Amos 4:13; Luke 16:15; Acts 1:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Hebrews 4:13; Revelation 2:23). It extends to all the divisions of time, the past, present and future alike (Job 14:17; Psalms 56:8; Isaiah 41:22-24; Isaiah 44:6-8; Jeremiah 1:5; Hosea 13:12; Malachi 3:16). It embraces that which is contingent from the human viewpoint as well as that which is certain (1 Samuel 23:9-12; Matthew 11:22-23).
4. Mode of the Divine Knowledge: Scripture brings God's knowledge into connection with His omnipresence. Psalms 139:1-24 is the clearest expression of this. Omniscience is the omnipresence of cognition (Jeremiah 23:23 ff). It is also closely related to God's eternity, for the latter makes Him in His knowledge independent of the limitations of time (Isaiah 43:8-12). God's creative relation to all that exists is represented as underlying His omniscience (Psalms 33:15; 97:9; 139:13; Isaiah 29:15). His all-comprehensive purpose forms the basis of His knowledge of all events and developments (Isaiah 41:22-27; Amos 3:7).
This, however, does not mean that God's knowledge of things is identical with His creation of them, as has been suggested by Augustine and others. The act of creation, while necessarily connected with the knowledge of that which is to be actual, is not identical with such knowledge or with the purpose on which such knowledge rests, for in God, as well as in man, the intellect and the will are distinct faculties. In the last analysis, God's knowledge of the world has its source in His self-knowledge. The world is a revelation of God. All that is actual or possible in it therefore is a reflection in created form of what exists uncreated in God, and thus the knowledge of the one becomes a reproduction of the knowledge of the other (Acts 17:27; Romans 1:20). The divine knowledge of the world also partakes of the quality of the divine self-knowledge in this respect, that it is never dormant. God does not depend for embracing the multitude and complexity of the existing world on such mental processes as abstraction and generalization.
The Bible nowhere represents Him as attaining to knowledge by reasoning, but everywhere as simply knowing. From what has been said about the immanent sources of the divine knowledge, it follows that the latter is not a posteriori derived from its objects, as all human knowledge based on experience is, but is exercised without receptivity or dependence. In knowing, as well as in all other activities of His nature, God is sovereign and self-sufficient. In cognizing the reality of all things He needs not wait upon the things, but draws His knowledge directly from the basis of reality as it lies in Himself. While the two are thus closely connected it is nevertheless of importance to distinguish between God's knowledge of Himself and God's knowledge of the world, and also between His knowledge of the actual and His knowledge of the possible. These distinctions mark off theistic conception of omniscience from the pantheistic idea regarding it. God is not bound up in His life with the world in such a sense as to have no scope of activity beyond it.
5. God's Omniscience and Human Freewill: Since Scripture includes in the objects of the divine knowledge also the issue of the exercise of freewill on the part of man, the problem arises, how the contingent character of such decisions and the certainty of the divine knowledge can coexist. It is true that the knowledge of God and the purposing will of God are distinct, and that not the former but the latter determines the certainty of the outcome. Consequently the divine omniscience in such cases adds or detracts nothing in regard to the certainty of the event. God's omniscience does not produce but presupposes the certainty by which the problem is raised. At the same time, precisely because omniscience presupposes certainty, it appears to exclude every conception of contingency in the free acts of man, such as would render the latter in their very essence undetermined. The knowledge of the issue must have a fixed point of certainty to terminate upon, if it is to be knowledge at all. Those who make the essence of freedom absolute indeterminateness must, therefore, exempt this class of events from the scope of the divine omniscience. But this is contrary to all the testimony of Scripture, which distinctly makes God's absolute knowledge extend to such acts (Acts 2:23). It has been attempted to construe a peculiar form of the divine knowledge, which would relate to this class of acts specifically, the so-called scientia media, to be distinguished from the scientia necessaria, which has for its object God Himself, and the scientia libera which terminates upon the certainties of the world outside of God, as determined by His freewill. This scientia media would then be based on God's foresight of the outcome of the free choice of man. It would involve a knowledge of receptivity, a contribution to the sum total of what God knows derived from observation on His part of the world-process. That is to say, it would be knowledge a posteriori in essence, although not in point of time. It is, however, difficult to see how such a knowledge can be possible in God, when the outcome is psychologically undetermined and undeterminable. The knowledge could originate no sooner than the determination originates through the free decision of man. It would, therefore, necessarily become an a posteriori knowledge in time as well as in essence. The appeal to God's eternity as bringing Him equally near to the future as to the present and enabling Him to see the future decisions of man's free will as though they were present cannot remove this difficulty, for when once the observation and knowledge of God are made dependent on any temporal issue, the divine eternity itself is thereby virtually denied. Nothing remains but to recognize that God's eternal knowledge of the outcome of the freewill choices of man implies that there enters into these choices, notwithstanding their free character, an element of predetermination, to which the knowledge of God can attach itself.
6. Religious Importance: The divine omniscience is most important for the religious life. The very essence of religion as communion with God depends on His all-comprehensive cognizance of the life of man at every moment. Hence, it is characteristic of the irreligious to deny the omniscience of God (Psalms 10:11-12; Psalms 94:7-9; Isaiah 29:15; Jeremiah 23:23; Ezekiel 8:12; 9:9). Especially along three lines this fundamental religious importance reveals itself: (a) it lends support and comfort when the pious suffer from the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of men; (b) it acts as a deterrent to those tempted by sin, especially secret sin, and becomes a judging principle to all hypocrisy and false security; (c) it furnishes the source from which man's desire for self-knowledge can obtain satisfaction (Psalms 19:12; 51:6; Psalms 139:23-24).
LITERATURE.
Oehler, Theologie des A T (3), 876; Riehm, Alttestamentliche Theologie, 263; Dillmann, Handbuch der alttestamentlichen Theologie, 249; Davidson, Old Testament Theology, 180 if.
Geerhardus Vos
Omri
Omri - om'-ri (`omri; Septuagint Ambri; Assyrian "Chumri" and "Chumria"):
(1) The 6th king of Northern Israel, and founder of the IIIrd Dynasty which reigned for nearly 50 years. Omri reigned 12 years, circa 887-876 BC. The historical sources of his reign are contained in 1 Kings 16:15-28; 20:34, the Moabite Stone, Assyrian inscriptions, and in the published accounts of recent excavations in Samaria. In spite of the brief passage given to Omri in the Old Testament, he was one of the most important of the military kings of Northern Israel.
1. His Accession: Omri is first mentioned as an officer in the army of Elah, which was engaged in the siege of the Philistine town of Gibbethon. While Omri was thus engaged, Zimri, another officer of Elah's army, conspired against the king, whom he assassinated in a drunken debauch, exterminating at the same time the remnant of the house of Baasha. The conspiracy evidently lacked the support of the people, for the report that Zimri had usurped the throne no sooner reached the army at Gibbethon, than the people proclaimed Omri, the more powerful military leader, king over Israel. Omri lost not a moment, but leaving Gibbethon in the hands of the Philistines, he marched to Tirzah, which he besieged and captured, while Zimri perished in the flames of the palace to which he had set fire with his own hands (1 Kings 16:18). Omri, however, had still another opponent in Tibni the son of Ginath, who laid claim to the throne and who was supported in his claims by his brother Joram (1 Kings 16:22 Septuagint) and by a large number of the people. Civil war-followed this rivalry for the throne, which seems to have lasted for a period of four years (compare 1 Kings 16:15, with 1 Kings 16:23 and 29) before Omri gained full control.
Omri's military ability is seen from his choice of Samaria as the royal residence and capital of the Northern Kingdom. This step may have been suggested to Omri by his own easy conquest of Tirzah, the former capital. Accordingly, he purchased the hill Shomeron of Shemer for two talents of silver, about $4,352.00 in American money. The conical hill, which rose from the surrounding plain to the height of 400 ft., and on the top of which there was room for a large city, was capable of easy defense.
2. The Founding of Samaria: The superior strategic importance of Samaria is evidenced by the sieges it endured repeatedly by the Syrians and Assyrians. It was finally taken by Sargon in 722, after the siege had lasted for 3 years. That the Northern Kingdom endured as long as it did was due largely to the strength of its capital. With the fall of Samaria, the nation fell.
Recent excavations in Samaria under the direction of Harvard University throw new light upon the ancient capital of Israel. The first results were the uncovering of massive foundation walls of a large building, including a stairway 80 ft. wide. This building, which is Roman in architecture, is supposed to have been a temple, the work of Herod. Under this Roman building was recovered a part of a massive Hebrew structure, believed to be the palace of Omri and Ahab. During the year 1910 the explorations revealed a building covering 1 1/2 acres of ground. Four periods of construction were recognized, which, on archaeological grounds, were tentatively assigned to the reigns of Omri, Ahab, Jehu, and Jeroboam II. See SAMAIAS and articles by David G. Lyon in Harvard Theological Review, IV, 1911; JBL, V, xxx, Part I, 1911; PEFS, 1911, 79-83.
3. His Foreign Policy: Concerning Omri's foreign policy the Old Testament is silent beyond a single hint contained in 1 Kings 20:34. Here we learn that he had to bow before the stronger power of Syria. It is probable that Ben-hadad I besieged Samaria shortly after it was built, for he forced Omri to make "streets" in the city for the Syrians. It is probable, too, that at this time Ramoth-gilead was lost to the Syrians. Evidently Omri, was weakened in his foreign policy at the beginning of his reign by the civil conflict engendered by his accession. However, he showed strength of character in his dealings with foreign powers. At least he regained control over the northern part of Moab, as we learn from the Moabite Stone. Lines 4-8 tell us that "Omri was king of Israel and afflicted Moab many days because Chemosh was angry with his land. .... Omri obtained possession of the land of Medeba and dwelt therein during his days and half the days of his son, forty years. "
Omri was the first king of Israel to pay tribute to the Assyrians under their king Asurnacirpal III, in 876 BC. From the days of Shalmaneser II (860 BC) down to the time of Sargon (722 BC), Northern Israel was known to the Assyrians as "the land of the house of Omri." On Shalmaneser's black obelisk, Jehu, who overthrew the dynasty of Omri, is called Ja'uaabal Chumri, "Jehu son of Omri."
Omri entered into an alliance with the Phoenicians by the marriage of his son Ahab to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. This may have been done as protection against the powers from the East, and as such would have seemed to be a wise political move, but it was one fraught with evil for Israel.
4. His Religious Influence and Death: Although Omri laid the foundation of a strong kingdom, he failed to impart to it the vitalizing and rejuvenating force of a healthy spiritual religion. The testimony of 1 Kings 16:25-26, that he "dealt wickedly above all that were before him," coupled with the reference to "the statutes of Omri" in Micah 6:16, indicates that he may have had a share in substituting foreign religions for the worship of Yahweh, and therefore the unfavorable light in which he is regarded is justified. Upon his death, Omri was succeeded upon the throne by his son Ahab, to whom was left the task of shaking off the Syrian yoke, and who went beyond his father in making the Phoenician influence along with Baalism of prime importance in Israel, thus leading the nation into the paths that hastened its downfall.
(2) A Benjamite, son of Becher (1 Chronicles 7:8). (3) A Judahite, descendant of Perez, who lived at Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:4).
(4) A prince of Issachar in the time of David (1 Chronicles 27:18).
S. K. Mosiman
On (1)
On (1) - on ('on; Egyptian An, Ant, Annu, probably pronounced An only, as this is often all that is written, a "stone" or "stone pillars"): Later called Hellopolis. The name On occurs only in Genesis 41:45, 50; 46:20. It occurs in one other place in the Septuagint (Exodus 1:11), where On is mentioned with Pithom and Raamses as strong cities which the Israelites built. Hebrew slaves may have worked upon fortifications here, but certainly did not build the city. On is possibly referred to as `ir ha-herec, in Isaiah 19:18 (see IR-HA-HERES). On may also be mentioned by Jeremiah (Isaiah 43:13) under the name Beth-shemesh. Ezekiel speaks of an Aven ('awen) (Ezekiel 30:17), where it is mentioned with Pibeseth (Bubastis). Aven in this passage is almost certainly the same as On in Genesis 41:45; 46:20, as the letters of both words are the same in the Hebrew. Only the placing of the vowel-points makes any difference. If there is a mistake, it is a mistake of the Massoretes, not of the Hebrew writer.
1. Location and Description: There were two Ons in Egypt: one in Upper Egypt, An-res (Hermonthis); the other in Lower Egypt, An-Meheet (Brugsch, Geogr. Inschr., 254, 255, numbers 1217, a, b, 1218, 8708, 1225). The latter is the On referred to in the Bible. It lay about 20 miles North of the site of old Memphis, about 10 miles Northeast of the location of modern Cairo. It has left until this time about 4 square miles of ruins within the old walls. Little or nothing remains outside the walls.
On was built at the edge of the desert, which has now retreated some 3 or 4 miles eastward, the result of the rising of the bed of the Nile by sediment from the inundation, and the broadening of the area of infiltration which now carries the water of the Nile that much to the East. The land around On has risen about 10 ft., and the waters of infiltration at the time of lowest Nile are now about 1 1/2 ft. above the floor-level of the temple.
2. History: The history of On is very obscure, yet its very great importance is in no doubt. No clear description of the ancient city or sanctuary has come down to us, but there are so many incidental references, and so much is implied in ancient records, that it stands out as of the very first importance, both as capital and sanctuary. The city comes from the Ist Dynasty, when it was the seat of government, and indeed must have been founded by the Ist Dynasty or have come down to it from pre-historic time. From the IIIrd to the VIth Dynasty the seat of government was shifted from On to Memphis, and in the XIIth Dynasty to Diospolis. Throughout these changes On retained its religious importance. It had been the great sanctuary in the time of the Pyramid Texts, the oldest religious texts of Egypt, and judging from the evident great development of the temple of On at the time of the writing of the texts, the city must have antedated them by considerable time (Budge, History of Egypt, II, 83, 84, 108; Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Egypt, chapters i, ii). The myth of Osiris makes even the charge against Set for the murder of Osiris to have been preferred at Heliopolis (Breasted, op. cit., 34). This certainly implies a very great age for the sanctuary at On. It contained a temple of the sun under the name Ra, the sun, and also Atum, the setting sun, or the sun of the Underworld. There was also a Phoenix Hall and asacred object called a ben, probably a stone, and the origin of the name An, a "stone" or "pillar" (compare Breasted, op. cit., 76, 11, and 71). Though the XIIth Dynasty removed the capital to Diospolis, Usertsen I (Senwesret) of that Dynasty erected a great obelisk at On in front of the entrance to the temple. The situation of this obelisk in the templearea indicates that the great temple was already more than a half-mile in length as early as the XIIth Dynasty. The mate of this obelisk on the opposite side of the entrance seems not to have been erected until the XVIIIth Dynasty. Its foundations were discovered in 1912 by Petrie. Some scraps of the granite of the obelisk bear inscriptions of Thothmes III. A great Hyksos wall, also discovered by Petrie in 1912, exactly similar to that of the fortified camp at Tel el Yehudiyeh, 4 miles North, makes it quite certain that these usurpers between the Old Empire and the New fortified On as the capital once more. The manifest subserviency of the priests of On in the story of Joseph makes it most probable that the old capital at On had already been subjugated in Joseph's time, and that within this old fortification still existing Joseph ruled as prime minister of Egypt. Merenptah in his 5th year began to fortify On. Sheshonk III called himself "divine prince of Annu," and seems to have made On one of the greatest sanctuaries of his long reign. On still figured in Egyptian history in the rebellion against Ashurbanipal. The city has been deserted since the Persian invasion of 525 BC. Tradition makes the dwelling-place of Joseph and Mary with the child Jesus, while in Egypt, to have been near Heliopolis.
The exploration of On was attempted by Schiaparelli, but was not carried out, and his work has not been published. In 1912 Petrie began a systematic work of excavation which, it is expected, will continue until the whole city has been examined. The only great discovery of the first season was the Hyksos wall of fortification. Its full import can only be determined by the continuance of the exploration.
M. G. Kyle
On (2)
On (2) - ('on; Aun): A Reubenite, son of Peleth, who took part with Dathan and Abiram in their revolt against Moses (Numbers 16:1).
Onam
Onam - o'-na ('onam, "vigorous"; compare ONAN):
(1) "Son" of Shobal "son" of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:23; 1 Chronicles 1:40).
(2) "Son" of Jerahmeel by Atarah; perhaps the name is connected with Onan son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:26, 28).
Onan
Onan - o'-nan ('onan, "vigorous"; compare ONAM, a "son" of Judah (Genesis 38:4, 8-10; 46:12; Numbers 26:19; 1 Chronicles 2:3); "The story of the untimely death of Er and Onan implies that two of the ancient clans of Judah early disappeared" (Curtis, Chron, 84). See Skinner, Gen, 452, where it is pointed out that in Genesis 38:11 Judah plainly attributes the death of his sons in some way to Tamar herself. The name is allied to Onam.
One
One - wun.
See NUMBER.
Onesimus
Onesimus - o-nes'-i-mus (Onesimos, literally, "profitable," "helpful" (Colossians 4:9; Philemon 1:10)):
1. With Paul in Rome: Onesimus was a slave (Philemon 1:16) belonging to Philemon who was a wealthy citizen of Colosse, and a prominent member of the church there. Onesimus was still a heathen when he defrauded his master and ran off from Colosse. He found his way to Rome, where evil men tended to flock as to a common center, as Tacitus tells us they did at that period. In Rome he came into contact with Paul, who was then in his own hired house, in military custody.
What brought him into contact with Paul we do not know. It may have been hunger; it may have been the pangs of conscience. He could not forget that his master's house in Colosse was the place where the Christians met in their weekly assemblies for the worship of Christ. Neither could he forget how Philemon had many a time spoken of Paul, to whom he owed his conversion. Now that Onesimus was in Rome--what a strange coincidence--Paul also was in Rome.
The result of their meeting was that Onesimus was converted to Christ, through the instrumentality of the apostle ("my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds," Philemon 1:10). His services had been very acceptable to Paul, who would gladly have kept Onesimus with him; but as he could not do this without the knowledge and consent of Philemon, he sent Onesimus back to Colosse, to his master there.
2. Paul's Epistles to Colosse and to Philemon: At the same time Paul wrote to the church in Colosse on other matters, and he entrusted the Epistle to the Colossians to the joint care of Tychicus and Onesimus. The apostle recommends Onesimus to the brethren in Colosse, as a "faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you," and he goes on to say that Tychicus and Onesimus will make known to them all things that have happened to Paul in Rome. Such a commendation would greatly facilitate' Onesimus's return to Colosse.
But Paul does more. He furnishes Onesimus with a letter written by himself to Philemon. Returning to a city where it was well known that he had been neither a Christian nor even an honest man, he needed someone to vouch for the reality of the change which had taken place in his life. And Paul does this for him both in the Epistle to the Colossians and in that to Philemon.
With what exquisite delicacy is Onesimus introduced! `Receive him,' says the apostle, `for he is my own very heart' (Philemon 1:12). "The man whom the Colossians had only known hitherto, if they knew him all, as a worthless runaway slave, is thus commended to them, as no more a slave but a brother, no more dishonest and faithless but trustworthy; no more an object of contempt but of love" (Lightfoot's Commentary on Col, 235).
(1) Onesimus Profitable. The apostle accordingly begs Philemon to give Onesimus the same reception as he would rejoice to give to himself. The past history of Onesimus had been such as to belie the meaning of his name. He had not been "profitable"--far from it. But already his consistent conduct in Rome and his willing service to Paul there have changed all that; he has been profitable to Paul, and he will be profitable to Philemon too.
(2) Paul Guarantees. Onesimus had evidently stolen his master's goods before leaving Colosse, but in regard to that the apostle writes that if he has defrauded Philemon in anything, he becomes his surety. Philemon can regard Paul's handwriting as a bond guaranteeing payment: "Put that to mine account," are his words, "I will repay it." Had Philemon not been a Christian, and had Paul not written this most beautiful letter, Onesimus might well have been afraid to return. In the Roman empire slaves were constantly crucified for smaller offenses than those of which he had been guilty. A thief and a runaway had nothing but torture or death to expect.
(3) The Change Which Christ Makes. But now under the sway of Christ all is changed. The master who has been defrauded now owns allegiance to Jesus. The letter, which is delivered to him by his slave, is written by a bound "prisoner of Jesus Christ." The slave too is now a brother in Christ, beloved by Paul: surely he will be beloved by Philemon also. Then Paul intimates that he hopes soon to be set free, and then he will come and visit them in Colosse. Will Philemon receive him into his house as his guest?
(4) The Result. It cannot be imagined that this appeal in behalf of Onesimus was in vain. Philemon would do more than Paul asked; and on the apostle's visit to Colosse he would find the warmest welcome, both from Philemon and from Onesimus.
John Rutherfurd
Onesiphorus
Onesiphorus - o-ne-sif'-o-rus (Onesiphoros, literally, "profit bringer" (2 Timothy 1:16; 4:19)):
1. The Friend of Paul: Onesiphorus was a friend of the apostle Paul, who mentions him twice when writing to Timothy. In the former of the two passages where his name occurs, his conduct is contrasted with that of Phygellus and Hermogenes and others--all of whom, like Onesiphorus himself, were of the province of Asia--from whom Paul might well have expected to receive sympathy and help. These persons had "turned away" from him. Onesiphorus acted in a different way, for "he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me."
Onesiphorus was one of the Christians of the church in Ephesus; and the second passage, where his name is found, merely sends a message of greeting from Paul, which Timothy in Ephesus is requested to deliver to "the household of Onesiphorus." (the King James Version).
2. Visits Paul in Rome: Onesiphorus then had come from Ephesus to Rome. It was to Paul that the church at Ephesus owed its origin, and it was to him therefore that Onesiphorus and the Christians there were indebted for all that they knew of Christ. Onesiphorus gratefully remembered these facts, and having arrived in Rome, and learned that Paul was in prison, he "very diligently" sought for the apostle. But to do this, though it was only his duty, involved much personal danger at that particular time. For the persecution, inaugurated by Nero against the Christians, had raged bitterly; its fury was not yet abated, and this made the profession of the Christian name a matter which involved very great risk of persecution and of death.
Paul was not the man to think lightly of what his Ephesian friend had done. He remembered too, "in how many things he ministered at Ephesus." And, writing to Timothy, he reminded him that Onesiphorus's kindly ministrations at Ephesus were already well known to him, from his residence in Ephesus, and from his position, as minister of the church there.
It should be observed that the ministration of Onesiphorus at Ephesus was not, as the King James Version gives it, "to me," that is, to Paul himself. "To me" is omitted in the Revised Version (British and American). What Onesiphorus had done there was a wide Christian ministry of kindly action; it embraced "many things," which were too well known--for such is the force of the word--to Timothy to require repetition.
The visits which Onesiphorus paid to Paul in his Roman prison were intensely "refreshing." And it was not once or twice that he thus visited the chained prisoner, but he did so ofttimes.
3. His Household: Though Onesiphorus had come to Rome, his household had remained in Ephesus; and a last salutation is sent to them by Paul. He could not write again, as he was now ready to be offered, and his execution could not long be delayed. But as he writes, he entertains the kindest feelings toward Onesiphorus and his household, and he prays that the Lord will give mercy to the household of Onesiphorus.
He also uses these words in regard to Onesiphorus himself: "The Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord in that day." It is not clear whether Onesiphorus was living, or whether he had died, before Paul wrote this epistle. Different opinions have been held on the subject.
The way in which Paul refers twice to "the household (the Revised Version (British and American) "house") of Onesiphorus," makes it possible that Onesiphorus himself had died. If this is so--but certainty is impossible--the apostle's words in regard to him would be a pious wish, which has nothing in common with the abuses which have gathered round the subject of prayers for the dead, a practice which has no foundation in Scripture.
John Rutherfurd
Oniares
Oniares - o-ni'-a-rez, o-ni-a'-rez: 1 Maccabees 12:19 the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) ARIUS (which see).
Onias
Onias - o-ni'-as (Onias): There were 3 high priests of the name of Onias, and a 4th Onias who did not become a high priest but was known as the builder of the temple of Leontopolis (Josephus, Ant, XIII, iii, 1-3). Only two persons of the name are mentioned in the Apocrypha--Onias I and Onias III.
(1) Onias I, according to Josephus (Ant., XI, viii, 7), the son of Jaddua and father of Simon the Just (ibid., XII, ii, 5; Sirach 50), and, according to 1 Maccabees 12:7, 20, a contemporary of Areus (Arius), king of Sparta, who reigned 309-265 BC (Diod. xx.29). This Onias was the recipient of a friendly letter from Areus of Sparta (1 Maccabees 12:7; see manuscripts readings here, and 12:20). Josephus (Ant., XII, iv, 10) represents this letter as written to Onias III, which is an error, for only two Areuses are known, and Areus II reigned about 255 BC and died a child of 8 years (Paus. iii.6,6). The letter--if genuine--exists in two copies (Josephus, Ant, XII, iv, 10, and 1 Maccabees 12:20 ff) (see Schurer, History of the Jewish People, 4th edition, I, 182 and 237).
(2) Onias III, son of Simon II (Josephus, Ant, XII, iv, 10), whom he succeeded, and a contemporary of Seleucus IV and Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Maccabees 3:1; 4:7) and father of Onias IV. He was known for his godliness and zeal for the law, yet was on such friendly terms with the Seleucids that Seleucus IV Philopator defrayed the cost of the "services of the sacrifices." He quarreled with Simon the Benjamite, guardian of the temple, about the market buildings (Greek aedileship). Being unable to get the better of Onias and thirsting for revenge, Simon went to Apollonius, governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, and informed him of the "untold sums of money," lodged in the treasury of the temple. The governor told the king, and Seleucus dispatched his chancellor, Heliodorus, to remove the money. Onias remonstrated in vain, pleading for the "deposits of widows and orphans." Heliodorus persisted in the object of his mission. The high priest and the people were in the greatest distress. But when Heliodorus had already entered the temple, "the Sovereign of spirits, and of all authority caused a great apparition," a horse with a terrible rider accompanied by two strong and beautiful young men who scourged and wounded Heliodorus. At the intercession of Onias, his life was spared. Heliodorus advised the king to send on the same errand any enemy or conspirator whom he wished punished. Simon then slandered Onias, and the jealousy having caused bloodshed between their followers, Onias decided to repair in person to the king to intercede for his country. Apparently before a decision was given, Seleucus was assassinated and Epiphanes succeeded (175 BC). Jason, the brother of Onias, having offered the new king larger revenue, secured the priesthood, which he held until he himself was similarly supplanted by Menelaus, Simon's brother (2 Maccabees 4:23; Josephus, Ant, XII, v, 1, says Jason's brother). Menelaus, having stolen golden vessels belonging to the temple to meet his promises made to the king, was sharply reproved by Onias. Menelaus took revenge by persuading Andronicus, the king's deputy, to entice Onias by false promises of friendship from his sanctuary at Daphne and treacherously slay him--an act which caused indignation among both the Jews and the Greeks (2 Maccabees 4:34 ff). Josephus (Ant., XII, v, 1) says that "on the death of Onias the high priest, Antiochus gave the high-priesthood to his brother Jesus (Jason)," but the account of 2macc given above is the more probable. Some see in Daniel 9:26; 11:22 reference to Onias III (Schurer, 4th edition, I, 194 ff; III, 144).
S. Angus
Onions
Onions - un'-yunz (betsalim; krommuon): One of the delicacies of Egypt for which the children of Israel pined in the wilderness (Numbers 11:5). The onion, alllium cepa (Natural Order Liliaceae), is known in Arabic as bucal and is cultivated all over Syria and Egypt; it appears to be as much a favorite in the Orient today as ever.