International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Pilha — Potentate
Pilha
Pilha - pil'-ha (pilcha', "ploughman" (plowman); the King James Version Pileha): One of those who signed Nehemiah's covenant (Nehemiah 10:24).
Pill
Pill - See PEEL.
Pillar
Pillar - pil'-ar (matstsebhah, `ammudh; stulos): In a good many cases the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "pillars" for the King James Version "images" (matstsebhoth, Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 1 Kings 14:23, etc.). In Genesis 19:26, where "pillar of salt" is given, the word is netsibh; in 1 Samuel 2:8 it is matsuq; while in most other single uses the Revised Version margin gives variant renderings, as in Judges 9:6 (mutstsabh), the Revised Version margin "garrison"; in 1 Kings 10:12 (mic`adh), the Revised Version margin "`a railing,' Hebrew `a prop'"; in 2 Kings 18:16 ('omenoth), the Revised Version margin "doorposts." The matstsebhoth were (1) memorial pillars, as in the "pillars" of Jacob at Bethel (Genesis 28:18, 22; compare Genesis 31:13; 35:14), in covenant with Laban (Genesis 31:45 ff), at Rachel's grave (Genesis 35:20); Absalom's pillar (2 Samuel 18:18). Such pillars were legitimate (theory of a fetishistic character is not grounded); it is predicted in Isaiah 19:19 that such a pillar would be set up to Yahweh at the border of Egypt. (2) Idolatrous pillars, in Canaanitish and other heathen worships. These were to be ruthlessly broken down (the King James Version "images," see above; Exodus 23:24; 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5, etc.; compare Leviticus 26:1). See IMAGES. The other word, `ammudh, is used of the pillar of cloud and fire (see below); of the pillars of the tabernacle and temple (see under the word); of the two pillarsJACHIN AND BOAZ (which see); poetically of the "pillars" of heaven, of earth (Job 9:6; 26:11; Psalms 75:3; 99:7), etc. In the few instances of the word in the New Testament, the use is figurative. James, Cephas and John were reputed to be pillars" of the church at Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9); the church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15); he that overcomes is made "a pillar" in the temple of God (Revelation 3:12); a strong angel had feet "as pillars of fire" (Revelation 10:1).
Pillar of Cloud and Fire:
The visible manifestation of the divine presence in the journeyings of Israel at the time of the Exodus. Yahweh, it is narrated, went before the people "by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light ..... The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people" (Exodus 13:21-22; compare Exodus 14:19, 24; Numbers 14:14). When the congregation was at rest, the cloud abode over the tabernacle (Exodus 40:36; Numbers 9:17; 14:14). When Yahweh wished to communicate His will to Moses, the pillar descended to the door of the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:9-11; Numbers 12:5; Deuteronomy 31:15). These descriptions are not to be rationalistically explained; what is depicted is a true theophany. Criticism has sought to establish discrepancies between the allusions to the cloud in the JE and the P parts of the narrative, but these are not made out without straining; e.g. it is not the case that JE alone represents Yahweh as speaking with Moses in the cloud at the door of the tabernacle. The same representation is found in Exodus 29:42-43, ascribed to Pillar. An acute discussion of the alleged discrepancies may be seen in H.M. Wiener, Essays in Pentateuchal Criticism, 82 ff.
James Orr
Pillar of Salt
Pillar of Salt - See SLIME; LOT.
Pillar, Plain of The
Pillar, Plain of The - See PLAIN OF THE PILLAR.
Pillars of the Earth
Pillars of the Earth - See ASTRONOMY, sec. III, 2.
Pillow
Pillow - pil'-o.
Pilot
Pilot - pi'-lot.
See SHIPS AND BOATS.
Piltai
Piltai - pil'-ti, pil-ta'-i (pilTay, probably "Yahweh delivers"): One of the priests, described as "the chiefs of the fathers," in the days of Joiakim (Nehemiah 12:17).
Pin
Pin - (yathedh, from yathadh, "to drive in a peg"(?)): A cylindrical piece of wood or metal (e.g. brass, Exodus 27:19) such as that used by weavers in beating up the woof in the loom (Judges 16:14, where Delilah fastened Samson's hair with the "pin"); or as a peg for hanging (Ezekiel 15:3; compare Isaiah 22:23 f; Ezra 9:8); or as a tent-pin, such as those used in the tabernacle (Exodus 27:19; 35:18; 20, 31; 39:40; Numbers 3:37; 4:32; Judges 4:21, where the King James Version translates "nail," the Revised Version (British and American) "tent-pin"; compare Judges 5:26, where Hebrew has the same word, English Versions of the Bible "nail"). The tent-pin, like that of today, was probably sharpened at one end (Judges 4:21) and so shaped at the other as to permit the attaching of the cords so frequently mentioned in the same connection (Exodus 35:18; 39:40; Numbers 3:37; 4:32; compare Isaiah 33:20). From the acts of driving in the tent-pin (Taqa`) and pulling it out (nasa') are derived the technical Hebrew terms for pitching a tent and for breaking camp.
See also CRISPING PINS (Isaiah 3:22, the Revised Version (British and American) "satchels"); STAKE.
Nathan Isaacs
Pine
Pine - pin.
See PINING SICKNESS.
Pine Tree
Pine Tree - pin tre: (1) `ets shemen, translated the Revised Version (British and American) "wild olive," the King James Version "pine" (Nehemiah 8:15); the Revised Version (British and American) "oil-tree," m "oleaster" (Isaiah 41:19); "olive-wood" (1 Kings 6:23, 31-33). See OIL TREE. (2) tidhhar (Isaiah 41:19, margin "plane"; Isaiah 60:13); peuke, "fir." Lagarde, from similarity of tidhhar to the Syriac deddar, usually the "elm," considers this the best translation. Symmachus also translated tidhhar (Isaiah 41:19) by ptelea, the "elm." The elm, Ulmus campestris, is rare in Palestine and the Lebanon, though it is found today N. of Aleppo. Post (HDB, III, 592-93) considers that (1) should be translated as "pine," which he describes as a "fat wood tree"; it is perhaps as probably a correct translation for (2), but great uncertainty remains. Two species of pine are plentiful in the Lebanon and flourish in most parts of Palestine when given a chance. These are the stone pine, Pinus pinea, and the Aleppo pine, P. halepensis; all the highlands looking toward the sea are suited to their growth.
E. W. G. Masterman
Pining Sickness
Pining Sickness - pin'-ing, sik'-nes: In the account of the epileptic boy in Mark 9:18 it is said that "he pineth away." The verb used here (xeraino) means "to dry up," and is the same which is used of the withering of plants, but seldom used in this metaphorical sense. The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon pinjan and is often found in the Elizabethan literature, occurring 13 times in Shakespeare. In the Old Testament it is found in Leviticus 26:39 (bis) and in Ezekiel 24:23 and Ezekiel 33:10. In the Revised Version (British and American) it replaces "consume" in Ezekiel 4:17. In all these passages it is the rendering of the Hebrew maqaq, and means expressly being wasted on account of sin. In Leviticus 26:16 "pine away" is used in the Revised Version (British and American) to replace "cause sorrow of heart," and is the translation of the Hebrew dubh; and in Deuteronomy 28:65 "sorrow of mind" is also replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "pining of soul," the word so rendered being de'abhon, which in these two passages is expressive of homesickness. In Isaiah 24:16 the reduplicated exclamation, "my leanness," of the King James Version is changed into "I pine away," the word being razi. The starving people in Lamentations 4:9 are said to pine away, the word so translated being zubh. All these Hebrew words have a general meaning of to dry or to waste or wear away, or to be exhausted by morbid discharges.
Pining sickness in Isaiah 38:12 the King James Version is a mistranslation, the word so rendered, dallah, meaning here the thrum by which the web is tied to the loom. The figure in the verse is that Hezekiah's life is being removed from the earth by his sickness as the web is removed from the loom by having the thrums cut, and being then rolled up. Both the King James Version margin and the Revised Version margin have the correct reading, "from the thrum." Septuagint has erithou eggizouses ektemein, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) dum adhuc ordirer, succidit me. The other reading is due to another interpretation of the word which in a few passages, as Jeremiah 52:15, like its root dal, means something small, poor, and decaying or weak, such as the lean kine of Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41:19).
Alexander Macalister
Pinion
Pinion - pin'-yun ('ebher, 'ebhrah): the Revised Version (British and American) has translated these Hebrew words uniformly by "pinion," where the King James Version uses either "wing" or "feathers," with which words they stand in parallelism in all passages. The shorter Hebrew word is found only once, in Yahweh's parable to Ezekiel: "A great eagle with great wings and long pinions (the King James Version "longwinged"), full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar" (Ezekiel 17:3). The feminine form ('ebhrah) is used of the wings of the dove (Psalms 68:13), of the ostrich (Job 39:13) and of the eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11). Once (Psalms 91:4) it stands in a figurative expression for the protective care of Yahweh, which is bestowed on those that trust in Him.
H. L. E. Luering
Pinnacle
Pinnacle - pin'-a-k'-l (pterugion (Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9, the Revised Version margin "wing")): "The pinnacle of the temple" is named as the place to which the devil took Jesus, and there tempted Him to cast Himself down. It is not known what precise elevated spot is meant, whether a part of the roof of the temple itself, or some high point in the adjacent buildings overlooking the deep ravine. It was more probably the latter.
Pinon
Pinon - pi'-non (pinon, "darkness"): One of the "chiefs of Edom" (Genesis 36:41; 1 Chronicles 1:52).
Pipe
Pipe - pip.
See CANDLESTICK; LAMP; MUSIC.
Pira
Pira - pi'-ra (hoi ek Peirds (1 Esdras 5:19)): Thought to be a repetition of CAPHIRA (which see) earlier in the verse.
Piram
Piram - pi'-ram (pir'am, "indomitable"): King of Jarmuth, one of the five Amorite kings who leagued themselves against Joshua's invasion (Joshua 10:3 ff).
Pirathon; Pirathonite
Pirathon; Pirathonite - pir'-a-thon, pir'-a-thon-it (pir`athon, pir`athoni; Codex Vaticanus Pharathom; Codex Alexandrinus Phraathom, Pharathuneites): The home of Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite (Judges 12:13 ff the King James Version), where also he was buried, "in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekites." The latter name may have clung to a district which at some former time had been held by the Amalekites. From this town also came Benaiah, one of David's chief captains (2 Samuel 23:30; 1 Chronicles 11:31; 27:14). It is probably to be identified with Fer`ata, about 6 miles Southwest of Nablus. A possible rival is Fir`on, 15 miles West of Nablus. G.A. Smith suggests a position at the head of Wady Far`ah (HGHL, 355). Moore thinks it may have been in Benjamin, Abdon being a Benjamite family (1 Chronicles 8:23, 30; 9:36). It is just possible that the place may be identical with Pharathon, one of the towns fortified by Bacchides (1 Maccabees 9:50).
W. Ewing
Pisgah
Pisgah - piz'-ga (ha-picgah; Phasga, to lelaxeumenon, he laxeute): This name, which has always the definite article, appears only in combination either with ro'sh, "head," "top," or 'ashdoth, not translated in the King James Version save in Deuteronomy 4:49, where it is rendered "springs" the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly "slopes," the Revised Version margin "springs."
Pisgah is identified with Nebo in Deuteronomy 34:1; compare Deuteronomy 3:27. "The top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert" marks a stage in the march of the host of Israel (Numbers 21:20). Hither Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim (Numbers 23:14). Here Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land, and died. See NEBO. Many scholars (e.g. Buhl, GAP, 122; Gray, "Numbers," ICC, 291) take Pisgah as the name applying to the mountain range in which the Moab plateau terminates to the West, the "top" or "head" of Pisgah being the point in which the ridge running out westward from the main mass culminates. The summit commands a wide view, and looks down upon the desert. The identification is made surer by the name Tal'at es-Sufa found here, which seems to correspond with the field of Zophim.
'Ashdoth is the construct plural of 'ashedhah (singular form not found), from 'eshedh, "foundation," "bottom," "lower part" (slope); compare Assyrian ishdu, "foundation." Some would, derive it from Aramaic 'ashadh, "to pour," whence "fall" or "slope" (OHL, under the word). Ashdoth-pisgah overlooked the Dead Sea from the East (Deuteronomy 3:17; 4:49; Joshua 12:3; 13:20). There can be no reasonable doubt that Ashdoth-pisgah signifies the steep slopes of the mountain descending into the contiguous valleys.
It is worthy of note that Septuagint does not uniformly render Pisgah by a proper name, but sometimes by a derivative of laxeuo, "to hew" or "to dress stone" (Numbers 21:20; 23:14; Deuteronomy 3:27; 4:49). Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word Asedoth) gives abscisum as the Latin equivalent of Fasga. He derives Pisgah from pacagh, which, in new Hebrew, means "to split," "to cut off." This suggests a mountain the steep sides of which give it the appearance of having been "cut out." This description applies perfectly to Jebel Neba as viewed from the Dead Sea.
W. Ewing
Pishon; Pison
Pishon; Pison - pi'-shon pi'-son (pishon; the King James Version): A river of EDEN (which see), said to compass the whole land of Havilah where there is gold, bdellium and onyx stone (Genesis 2:11), most probably identified with the Karun River which comes down from the mountains of Media and formerly emptied into the Persian Gulf.
Pisidia
Pisidia - pi-sid'-i-a (ten Pisidian (Acts 14:24); in Acts 13:14, Codices Sinaitica, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi give Antiocheian ten Pisidian, "the Pisidian Antioch," the other manuscripts, Antiocheian tes Pisidias, "Antioch of Pisidia." The former, but not the latter, reading correctly describes the condition of affairs at the time when Paul traveled in the country; see below):
1. Situation and History: Pisidia, as a strict geographical term, was the name given to the huge block of mountain country stretching northward from the Taurus range where the latter overlooked the Pamphylian coast land, to the valleys which connected Apamea with Antioch, and Antioch with Iconium. It was bounded by Lycia on the West, by the Phrygian country on the North, and by Isauria on the East; but there is no natural boundary between Pisidia and Isauria, and the frontier was never strictly drawn. The name is used in its geographical sense in the Anabasis of Xenophon, who informs us that the Pisidians were independent of the king of Persia at the end of the 5th century BC. Alexander the Great had difficulty in reducing the Pisidian cities, and throughout ancient history we find the Pisidian mountains described as the home of a turbulent and warlike people, given to robbery and pillage. The task of subjugating them was entrusted by the Romans to the Galatian king Amyntas, and, at his death in 25 BC, Pisidia passed with the rest of his possessions into the Roman province Galatia. Augustus now took seriously in hand the pacification of Pisidia and the Isaurian mountains on the East Five military colonies were founded in Pisidia and the eastern mountains--Cremna, Comama, Olbasa, Parlais and Lystra--and all were connected by military roads with the main garrison city Antioch, which lay in Galatian Phrygia, near the northern border of Pisidia. An inscription discovered in 1912 shows that Quirinius, who is mentioned in Luke 2:2 as governor of Syria in the year of Christ's birth, was an honorary magistrate of the colony of Antioch; his connection with Antioch dates from his campaign against the Homonades--who had resisted and killed Amyntas--about 8 BC (see Ramsay in The Expositor, November, 1912, 385 ff, 406). The military system set up in Pisidia was based on that of Antioch, and from this fact, and from its proximity to Pisidia, Antioch derived its title "the Pisidian," which served to distinguish it from the other cities called Antioch. It is by a mistake arising from confusion with a later political arrangement that Antioch is designated "of Pisidia" in the majority of the manuscripts.
Pisidia remained part of the province Galatia till 74 AD, when the greater (southern) part of it was assigned to the new double province Lycia-Pamphylia, and the cities in this portion of Pisidia now ranked as Pamphylian. The northern part of Pisidia continued to belong to Galatia, until, in the time of Diocletian, the southern part of the province Galatia (including the cities of Antioch and Iconium), with parts of Lycaonia and Asia, were formed Into a province called Pisidia, with Antioch as capital. Antioch was now for the first time correctly described as a city "of Pisidia," although there is reason to believe that the term "Pisidia" had already been extended northward in popular usage to include part at least of the Phrygian region of Galatia. This perhaps explains the reading "Antioch of Pisidia" in the Codex Bezae, whose readings usually reflect the conditions of the 2nd century of our era in Asia Minor. This use of the term was of course political and administrative; Antioch continued to be a city of Phrygia in the ethnical sense and a recently discovered inscription proves that the Phrygian language was spoken in the neighborhood of Antioch as late as the 3rd century of our era (see also Calder in Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 84).
2. Paul in Pisidia: Paul crossed Pisidia on the journey from Perga to Antioch referred to in Acts 13:14, and again on the return journey, Acts 14:24. Of those journeys no details are recorded in Acts, but it has been suggested by Conybeare and Howson that the "perils of rivers" and "perils of robbers" mentioned by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:26 refer to his journeys across Pisidia, and Ramsay has pointed out in confirmation of this view that a considerable number of Pisidian inscriptions refer to the armed policemen and soldiers who kept the peace in this region, while others refer to a conflict with robbers, or to an escape from drowning in a river (The Church in the Roman Empire, 23 f; compare Journal of Roman Studies, 1912, 82 f). Adada, a city off Paul's route from Perga to Antioch, is called by the Turks Kara Baulo; "Baulo" is the Turkish pronunciation of "Paulos," and the name is doubtless reminiscent of an early tradition connecting the city with Paul. Pisidia had remained unaffected by Hellenic civilization, and the Roman occupation at the time of Paul was purely military. It is therefore unlikely that Paul preached in Pisidia. Except on the extreme Northwest, none of the Christian inscriptions of Pisidia--in glaring contrast with those of Phrygia--date before the legal recognition of Christianity under Constantine.
LITERATURE.
Murray, Handbook of Asia Minor, 150 ff; Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, 18 ff; Lanckoronski, Stadte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens; Sterrett, Epigraphical Journey and Wolfe Expedition. A few inscriptions containing Pisidian names with native inflections have been published by Ramsay in Revue des universites du midi, 1895, 353 ff.
W. M. Calder
Pison
Pison - pi'-son.
See PISHON.
Pispa
Pispa - pis'-pa (picpa', "dipersion," the King James Version Pispah): A son of Jether, an Asherite (1 Chronicles 7:38).
Pit
Pit - The word translates different Hebrew words of which the most important are: (1) bor, "pit" or "cistern," made by digging, (Genesis 37:20); hence, "dungeon" (Jeremiah 38:6, margin "pit"); (2) be'er, "pit" or "well" made by digging (Genesis 21:25); (3) she'ol, generally rendered "hell" in the King James Version (see HELL); (4) shachath, a pit in the ground to catch wild animals. (1), (2) and (4) above are used metaphorically of the pit of the "grave" or of "sheol" (Psalms 28:1; 30:3; Job 33:24). the King James Version sometimes incorrectly renders (4) by "corruption." (5) pachath, "pit," literally (2 Samuel 17:9), and figuratively (Jeremiah 48:43). In the New Testament "pit" renders bothunos (Matthew 15:14), which means any kind of hole in the ground. In the corresponding passage Lk (Matthew 14:5 the King James Version) has phrear, "well," the same as (2) above. For "bottomless pit" (Revelation 9:1, the King James Version, etc.).
See ABYSS.
T. Lewis
Pitch
Pitch - pich: The translation of the noun kopher, and the verb kaphar, in Genesis 6:14 and of the noun zepheth, in Exodus 2:3; Isaiah 34:9. In Genesis 6:14 the words are the ordinary forms for "covering," "cover," so that the translation "pitch" is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads asphaltos, "bitumen," here, and by the fact that pitch is a usual "covering" for vessels. The meaning of zepheth, however, is fixed by the obvious Dead Sea imagery of Isaiah 34:9-15--the streams and land of Edom are to become burning bitumen, like the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Exodus 2:3 zepheth is combined with chemar, which also means bitumen (Genesis 14:10; see SLIME), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.
Burton Scott Easton
Pitcher
Pitcher - pich'-er (kadh; keramion): The word is found chiefly in the Old Testament in the story of Rebekah in Genesis 24:13 ff; but Gideon's men also had their lamps in pitchers (Judges 7:16, 19). Ecclesiastes speaks of the pitcher broken at the fountain (Judges 12:6). The single use in the New Testament is in Mark 14:13 parallel Luke 22:10. The pitcher was an earthenware vessel (compare Lamentations 4:2, nebhel), with one or two handles, used for carrying water, and commonly borne upon the head or shoulder (compare Genesis 24:1-67).
Pithom
Pithom - pi'-thom (pithom; Peitho (Exodus 1:11)):
1. Meaning of Name: Champollion (Gesenius, Lexicon, under the word) considered this name to mean "a narrow place" in Coptic, but it is generally explained to be the Egyptian Pa-tum, or "city of the setting sun." It was one of the cities built by the Hebrews (see RAAMSES), and according to Wessel was the Thoum of the Antonine Itinerary.
Brugsch (History of Egypt, 1879, II, 343) says that it was identical with "Heracleopolis Parva, the capital of the Sethroitic nome in the age of the Greeks and Romans .... half-way on the great road from Pelusium to Tanis (Zoan), and this indication given on the authority of the itineraries furnishes the sole means of fixing its position." This is, however, disputed. Tum was worshipped at Thebes, at Zoan, and probably at Bubastis, while Heliopolis (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 254) was also called Pa-tum.
There were apparently several places of the name; and Herodotus (ii.158) says that the Canal of Darius began a little above Bubastis, "near the Arabian city Patournos," and reached the Red Sea.
2. Situation: (1) Dr. Naville's Theory. In 1885 Dr. E. Naville discovered a Roman milestone of Maximian and Severus, proving that the site of Heroopolis was at Tell el MachuTah ("the walled mound") in Wady Tumeilat. The modern name he gives as Tell el Maskhutah, which was not that heard by the present writer in 1882. This identification had long been supposed probable. Excavations at the site laid bare strong walls and texts showing the worship of Tum. None was found to be older than the time of Rameses II--who, however, is well known to have defaced older inscriptions, and to have substituted his own name for that of earlier builders. A statue of later date, bearing the title "Recorder of Pithom," was also found at this same site. Dr. Naville concluded that this city must be the Old Testament Pithom, and the region round it Succoth--the Egyptian T-k-u (but see SUCCOTH). Brugsch, on the other hand, says that the old name of Heropolis was Qes (see GOSHEN), which recalls the identification of the Septuagint (Genesis 46:28); and elsewhere (following Lepsius) he regards the same site as being "the Pa-Khetam of Rameses II" (see ETHAM), which Lepsius believed to be the Old Testament Rameses (see RAAMSES) mentioned with Pithom (Brugsch, Geogr., I, 302, 262). Silvia in 385 AD was shown the site of Pithom near Heroopolis, but farther East, and she distinguishes the two; but in her time, though Heroopolis was a village, the site of Pithom was probably conjectural. In the time of Minepthah, son of Rameses II (Brugsch, History, II, 128), we have a report that certain nomads from Aduma (or Edom) passed through "the Khetam (or fort) of Minepthah-Hotephima, which is situated in T-k-u, to the lakes (or canals) of the city Pi-tum of Minepthah-Hotephima, which are situated in the land of T-k-u, in order to feed themselves and to feed their herds."
(2) Patoumos of Herodotus. These places seem to have been on the eastern border of Egypt, but may have been close to the Bitter Lakes or farther North (see SUCCOTH), whereas Tell el MachuTah is about 12 miles West of Ism'ailieh, and of Lake Timsah. The definition of the Pithom thus noticed as being that of Minepthah suggests that there was more than one place so called, and the Patoumos of Herodotus seems to have been about 30 miles farther West (near Zagazig and Bubastis) than the site of Heropolis, which the Septuagint indentifies with Goshen and not with Pithom. The latter is not noticed as on the route of the Exodus, and is not identified in the Old Testament with Succoth. In the present state of our knowledge of Egyptian topography, the popular impression that the Exodus must have happened in the time of Minepthah, because Pithom was at Heropolis and was not built till the time of Rameses II, must be regarded as very hazardous. See EXODUS. The Patoumos of Herodotus may well have been the site, and may still be discovered near the head of Wady Tumeildt or near Bubastis.
C. R. Conder
Pithon
Pithon - pi'-thon (pithon): A grandson of Meribbaal, or Mephibosheth (1 Chronicles 8:35; 9:41).
Pitiful
Pitiful - pit'-i-fool: As found in Scripture, means "full of pity"; it is expressed by rachamani, from rachamim (plural of racham), "bowels," "compassion" (Lamentations 4:10 the King James Version, its only occurrence in the Old Testament), "The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children." In James 5:11, we have the beautiful saying, The Lord is very pitiful (the Revised Version (British and American) "full of pity") and of tender mercy," where "very pitiful" is the translation of polusplagchnos, literally, "of many bowels," a word which does not occur elsewhere; it might be translated "large-hearted" or "tender-hearted." In Ecclesiastes 2:11, we have "The Lord, is .... very, pitiful" (oiktirmon); eusplagchnos, well-hearted," "compassionate," "full of pity," occurs in 1 Peter 3:8, "Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous," the Revised Version (British and American) "loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humble-minded." The word is found in The Prayer of Manasseh 7; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Zeb 8 2.
W. L. Walker
Pity
Pity - pit'-i (chamal, chuc; eleeo): "Pity," probably contracted from "piety," is tender feeling for others in misery or distress. It is allied to compassion (which see), but differs in respect of the object that causes the distress (or feeling). The feeling of pity is excited chiefly by the weakness, miserable or degraded condition of the object; compassion by his uncontrollable and inevitable misfortunes: "We pity a man of weak understanding who exposes his weakness; we compassionate the man who is reduced to a state of beggary and want" (Crabb, English Synonyms). Pity often becomes allied to contempt; "a pity" is something to be regretted. See PITIFUL. In the Old Testament "pity" is closely akin to "mercy." It is most frequently the translation of chamal, "to pity," "to spare," e.g. in Nathan's parable of the poor man's one lamb, it is said that the rich man was worthy to die because he had "no pity" (2 Samuel 12:6).
In Jeremiah 13:14 we have, "I will not pity nor spare, nor have mercy," the Revised Version (British and American) "compassion"; compare Jeremiah 21:7; Lamentations 2:2; Ezekiel 5:11; 7:4, in all of which passages "pity" stands in a negative connection; we have it positively attributed to God in Ezekiel 36:21, "I had pity for mine holy name," the Revised Version (British and American) "regard"; Joel 2:18; chuc, probably meaning, primarily, "to cover," "protect," hence, to pity, to spare, is translated "pity" (Deuteronomy 7:16; 13:8; Ezekiel 16:5, etc., all negative; Jonah 4:10, positive: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd (the Revised Version (British and American) "regard for") and should not I spare (the Revised Version (British and American) "have regard for," chuc) Nineveh," etc.); chanan, "to incline, toward," "be gracious," "pity," is thrice rendered "pity" (Job 19:21, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me"; Proverbs 19:17; 28:8, "he that hath pity upon the poor"); racham, "to feel warm," "to love," twice (Psalms 103:13, "like as a father pitieth his children"; Isaiah 13:18, "no pity"); once in plural rachamim (Amos 1:11); other words once so translated are chemlah, "pity" (Isaiah 63:9); checedh, "loving-kindness" (Job 6:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "kindness"); machmal, "object of pity" (Ezekiel 24:21); nudh," to move," "bemoan" (Psalms 69:20). In the New Testament "pity" occurs once only as the translation of eleeo, "to be kind," "tender" (Matthew 18:33, the Revised Version (British and American) "mercy"). In 2 Maccabees 3:21 we have (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) "pitied" in the obsolete sense of exciting pity, "Then it would have pitied (eleein) a man to see the multitude," etc.
The Revised Version (British and American) has "pity" for "mercy" (Proverbs 14:21); "have pity on" for "spare" (Psalms 72:13); for "favour" (Psalms 109:12; Psalms 102:13-14), "Have pity upon her dust."
See MERCY; COMPASSION.
W. L. Walker
Place
Place - plas: Normally for maqom, Old Testament, and topos, New Testament, but in the King James Version "place" represents a great number of Hebrew and Greek words, often used with no difference in force (e.g. 2 Chronicles 35:10, 15). the Revised Version (British and American) has made few changes, but occasionally has attempted to specialize the meaning (Genesis 40:13; Job 37:8; Acts 8:32; James 3:11, etc.).
Place, Broad; High
Place, Broad; High - See CITY,II , 3, 2; HIGH PLACE; OPEN PLACE.
Plague
Plague - plag (negha`, makkah, maggephah; mastix, plege): This word which occurs more than 120 times is applied, like pestilence, to such sudden outbursts of disease as are regarded in the light of divine visitations. It is used in the description of leprosy about 60 times in Leviticus 13:1-59 and Leviticus 14:1-57, as well as in Deuteronomy 24:8. In the poetical, prophetic and eschatological books it occurs about 20 times in the general sense of a punitive disaster. The Gospel references (Mark 3:10; 29, 34; Luke 7:21) use the word as a synonym for disease.
The specific disease now named "plague" has been from the earliest historic times a frequent visitant to Palestine and Egypt. Indeed in the Southeast between Gaza and Bubastis it has occurred so frequently that it may almost be regarded as endemic. The suddenness of its attack, the shortness of its incubation period and the rapidity of its course give it the characters which of old have been associated with manifestations of divine anger. In the early days of an epidemic it is no infrequent occurrence that 60 per cent of those attacked die within three days. I have seen a case in which death took place ten hours after the first symptoms. In the filthy and insanitary houses of eastern towns, the disease spreads rapidly. In a recent epidemic in one village of 534 inhabitants 311 died within 21 days, and I once crossed the track of a party of pilgrims to Mecca of whom two-thirds died of plague on the road. Even with modern sanitary activity, it is very difficult to root it out, as our recent experiences in Hong Kong and India have shown.
Of the Biblical outbreaks that were not improbably bubonic plague, the first recorded is the slaughter of the firstborn in Egypt--the 10th plague. We have too little information to identify it (Exodus 11:1). The Philistines, however, used the same name, negha`, for the Egyptian plagues (1 Samuel 4:8) as is used in Ex. The next outbreak was at Kibroth-hataavah (Numbers 11:33). This was synchronous with the phenomenal flight of quails, and if these were, as is probable, driven by the wind from the plague-stricken Serbonian region, they were equally probably the carriers of the infection. Experience in both India and China has shown that animals of very diverse kinds can carry germs of the disease. A third visitation fell on the spies who brought back an evil report (Numbers 14:37). A fourth destroyed those who murmured at the destruction of Korah and his fellow-rebels (Numbers 16:47). These may have been recrudescences of the infection brought by the quails. The fifth outbreak was that which followed the gross religious and moral defection at, Baal-peor (Numbers 25:8, 9, 18; 26:1; 31:16; Joshua 22:17; Psalms 106:29-30). Here the disease was probably conveyed by the Moabites.
A later epidemic, which was probably of bubonic plague, was that which avenged the capture of the ark (1 Samuel 5:6). We read of the tumors which were probably the glandular enlargements characteristic of this disease; also that at the time there was a plague of rats (1 Samuel 6:5)--"mice," in our version, but the word is also used as the name of the rat. The cattle seem to have carried the plague to Beth-shemesh, as has been observed in more than one place in China (1 Samuel 6:19). Concerning the three days' pestilence that followed David's census (2 Samuel 24:15; 1 Chronicles 21:12), see Josephus, Ant,VII , xiii, 3. The destruction of the army of Sennacherib may have been a sudden outbreak of plague (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36). It is perhaps worthy of note that in Herodotus' account of the destruction of this army (ii.141) he refers to the incursion of swarms of mice.
One of the latest prophetic mentions of plague is Hosea 13:14, where the plague (debher, Septuagint dike) of death and the destruction (qaTabh, Septuagint kentron) of the grave are mentioned. From this passage Paul quotes his apostrophe at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:55, but the apostle correlates the sting (kentron) with death, and changes the dike into nikos.
Alexander Macalister
Plagues of Egypt
Plagues of Egypt - plagz (niphle'oth, "wonders "from pala', "to be separate," i.e. in a class by themselves; also called negheph, "plague," from naghaph, "to smite" (Exodus 9:14), and negha`, "a stroke," from nagha`, "to touch" (Exodus 11:1; compare Joshua 24:10)):
INTRODUCTION
I. NATURAL PHENOMENA
1. Water Turned to Blood
2. The Plague of Frogs
3. The Plague of Lice
4. The Plague of Flies
5. The Plague of Murrain
6. The Plague of Boils
7. The Plague of Hail
8. The Plague of Locusts
9. The Plague of Darkness
10. Death of the Firstborn
II. MIRACULOUS USE OF THE PHENOMENA
1. Intensification
2. Prediction
3. Discrimination
4. Orderliness and Increasing Severity
5. Arrangement to Accomplish Divine Moral Purpose
III. DIVINE MORAL PURPOSE
1. Discrediting of the gods of Egypt
2. Pharaoh Made to Know that Yahweh Is Lord
3. Revelation of God as Saviour
4. Exhibition of the Divine Use of Evil
LITERATURE
Introduction:
The Hebrew words are so used as to give the name "plagues" to all the "wonders" God did against Pharaoh. Thus, it appears that the language in the account in Exodus puts forward the wondrous character of these dealings of Yahweh with Pharaoh. The account of the plagues is found in Exodus 7:8 through Exodus 12:31; Psalms 78:42-51; Psalms 105:27-36. These poetical accounts of the plagues have a devotional purpose and do not give a full historical narrative. Psalms 78:1-72 omits plagues Psalms 4:1-8, Psalms 6:1-10, Psalms 9:1-20; Psalms 105:1-45 omits plagues 5 and Psalms 6:1-10. Both psalms change the order of the plagues. Account of the preparation which led up to the plagues is found in the narrative of the burning bush (see BUSH,BURNING ), the meeting of Aaron with Moses, the gathering together of the elders of Israel for instruction and the preliminary wonders before Pharaoh (Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 4:1-31). This preparation contemplated two things important to be kept in view in considering the plague, namely, that the consummation of plagues was contemplated from the beginning (Exodus 4:22-23), and that the skepticism of Israel concerning Moses authority and power was likewise anticipated (Exodus 4:1). It was thus manifestly not an age of miracles when the Israelites were expecting such "wonders" and ready to receive anything marvelous as a divine interposition. This skepticism of Israel is a valuable asset for the credibility of the account of the "wonders." The immediate occasion of the plagues was the refusal of Pharaoh to let the people have liberty for sacrifice, together with the consequent hardening of Pharaoh's heart. No indication of any localizing of the plagues is given except in Psalms 78:12, 43, where the "field of Zoan" is mentioned as the scene of the contest between Yahweh and the Egyptians. But this is poetry, and the "field of Zoan" means simply the territory of the great capital Zoan. This expression might be localized in the Delta or it might extend to the whole of Egypt. Discussion of the plagues has brought out various classifications of them, some of which are philosophical, as that of Philo, others fanciful, as that of Origen. Arrangements of the order of the plagues for the purpose of moralizing are entirely useless for historical consideration of the plagues. The only order of any real value is the order of Nature, i.e. the order in which the plagues occurred, which will be found to be the order of the natural phenomena which were the embodiment of the plagues.
Much elaborate effort has been made to derive from the description of the plagues evidence for different documents in the narrative. It is pointed out that Moses (E) declared to Pharaoh that he would smite the waters (Exodus 7:17), and then the account, as it proceeds, tells us that Aaron smote the waters (Exodus 7:19-20). But this is quite in accord with the preceding statement (Exodus 4:16) that Aaron was to be the spokesman. Moses was to deal with God, Aaron with Pharaoh. Again it is noticed that some of the plagues are ascribed to the immediate agency of Yahweh, some are represented as coming through the mediation of Moses, and still others through the mediation of Moses and Aaron. Certainly this may be an exact statement of facts, and, if the facts were just so, the record of the facts affords no evidence of different documents.
An examination of the account of the plagues as it stands will bring them before us in a most graphic and connected story.
I. The Natural Phenomena. All the "wonders" represented anywhere in Scripture as done by the power of God are intimately associated with natural phenomena, and necessarily so. Human beings have no other way of perceiving external events than through those senses which only deal with natural phenomena. Accordingly, all theophanies and miraculous doings are embodied in natural events.
The presence of Yahweh with the sacrifice by Abraham was manifested by the passing of a "smoking furnace and a burning lamp" between the pieces of the offerings (Genesis 15:17 the King James Version). The majesty and power of God at Sinai were manifested in the "cloud" and the "brightness," the "voice" and the "sound of a trumpet" (Hebrews 12:19). The Holy Spirit descended "as a dove" (Matthew 3:16). The Deity of Jesus was attested on the mountain by a "voice" (Matthew 17:5). Jesus Himself was "God .... manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16 the King James Version). He was "found in fashion as a man' (Philippians 2:8). And all the miracles of Jesus were coupled with sensible phenomena: He spoke to the sea and it was calm; He touched the leper and he was clean; He called to Lazarus and he came forth.
Yet in all these natural events, the miraculous working of God was as clearly seen as the natural phenomena. It is thus to be expected that the "wonders" of God in the land of Pharaoh should also be associated with natural events as well as manifest miraculous elements. The "blood" in the river, the "frogs" hopping about on the land, the "lice," the "flies," the "murrain," the "boils," the "hail," the "locusts," the "darkness," and the "pestilence" are all named as natural phenomena. Long familiarity with the land of Egypt has made it perfectly plain to many intelligent people, also, that nearly, if not quite, all the plagues of Egypt are still in that land as natural phenomena, and occur, when they do occur, very exactly in the order in which we find them recorded in the narrative in Exodus. But natural events in the plagues as in other "wonders" of God embodied miraculous doings.
1. Water Turned to Blood: The first of the plagues (dam, from 'adham, "to be red" (Exodus 7:19-25)) was brought about by the smiting of the water with the rod in the hand of Aaron, and it consisted in the defilement of the water so that it became as "blood." The waters were polluted and the fish died. Even the water in vessels which had been taken from the river became corrupt. The people were forced to get water only from wells in which the river water was filtered through the sand. There are two Egyptian seasons when, at times, the water resembles blood. At the full Nile the water is sometimes of a reddish color, but at that season the water is quite potable and the fish do not die. But a similar phenomenon is witnessed sometimes at the time of the lowest Nile just before the rise begins. Then also the water sometimes becomes defiled and very red, so polluted that the fish die (Bib. Sacra, 1905, 409). This latter time is evidently the time of the first plague. It would be some time in the month of May. The dreadful severity of the plague constituted the "wonder" in this first plague. The startling character of the plague is apparent when it is remembered that Egypt is the product of the Nile, the very soil being all brought down by it, and its irrigation being constantly dependent upon it. Because of this it became one of the earliest and greatest of the gods (Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Egypt, 3-47; "Hymn to the Nile," Records of the Past, New Series, III, 46-54). The magicians imitated this plague with their enchantments. Their success may have been by means of sleight of hand or other devices of magic, as may be seen in the East today, with claim of supernatural aid, and as used in western lands for entertainment, as mere cleverness. Or it may be, as has been suggested, that they counted upon the continuance of the plague for at least a time, and so took advantage of the materials the "wonder" had provided.
2. The Plague of Frogs: Frogs (tsphardeim, probably "marsh-leapers" (Exodus 8:1-15)) are very abundant just after the high Nile when the waters begin to recede. Spawn in the mud is hatched by the sun, and the marshes are filled with myriads of these creatures. The frog was the hieroglyph for myriads. The frogs usually remain in the marshes, but in this case they came forth to the horror and disgust of the people. "Frogs in the houses, frogs in the beds, frogs baked with the food in the ovens, frogs in the kneading troughs worked up with the flour; frogs with their monotonous croak, frogs with their cold slimy skins, everywhere--from morning to night, from night to morning--frogs." The frog was also associated with Divinity, was the symbol of Heqt, a form of Hathor, and seems also at times to have been worshipped as divinity. This plague created such horror that thus early Pharaoh came to an agreement (Exodus 8:8-10). A time was set for the disappearance of the frogs that he might know that "there is none like unto Yahweh our God," but when the frogs were dead, Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15). In this plague "the magicians did in like manner with their enchantments" (Exodus 8:7). Frogs were plentiful, and it would not seem to be difficult to claim to have produced some of them.
3. The Plague of Lice: It is impossible to determine what particular troublesome insect pest of Egypt is meant by the 3rd plague, whether body-lice or mosquitoes or sandflies or ticks or fleas (kinnim, "gnats" (Exodus 8:16)). Those who have experience of these pests in Egypt are quite ready to accept any of them as adequate for the plague. Lice seem rather to be ruled out, unless different kinds of lice were sent, as there is no one kind that torments both man and beast. All the other insect pests appear in incredible numbers out of the "dust" when the pools have dried up after the receding of the waters. The assertion that the account of this plague is not complete, because it is not recorded that Pharaoh asked its removal or that Moses secured it, is amazing. Perhaps Pharaoh did not, in fact, ask its removal. There seems also at this time some difficulty in Moses having access to Pharaoh after this plague (Exodus 8:20). Perhaps the plague was not removed at all. The Egyptians are disposed to think it was not! Certainly that season of the year spent in Egypt, not in a dahabiyeh on the Nile, but in a native village, will furnish very satisfying evidence that stinging and biting insects are a very real plague in Egypt yet. The magicians failed with their enchantments and acknowledged that divine power was at work, and seem to have acknowledged that Yahweh was supreme (Exodus 8:19), but Pharaoh would not heed them.
4. The Plague of Flies: As the seasons pass on, after the recession of the waters, the flies (`arobh, "swarms," probably of flies (Exodus 8:20-32)) become more and more numerous until they are almost a plague every year. The increased severity of this plague, and the providential interference to separate between Israel and the Egyptians, drove Pharaoh and his people to such desperation that Pharaoh gave a half-promise of liberty for Israel to sacrifice "in the land." This called out the statement that they would sacrifice the "abomination of the Egyptians." This may have referred to the sacrifice of sheep, which were always held in more or less detestation by Egyptians, or it may have had reference to the sacrifice of heifers, the cow being the animal sacred to the goddess Hathor. The new element of separation between the Israelites and the Egyptians introduced into this plague was another step toward establishing the claims of Yahweh to be the God of all the earth and to have taken Israel under His especial care.
5. The Plague of Murrain: In addition to the separation established between Israel and the Egyptians, a definite time is now set for the coming of the 5th plague. It is to be noticed also that diseases of cattle (debher, "destruction" (Exodus 9:1-7)) and of men follow quickly after the plague of insects. This is in exact accord with the order of Nature as now thoroughly understood through the discovered relation of mosquitoes and flies to the spread of diseases. Rinderpest is still prevalent at times in Egypt, so that beef becomes very scarce in market and is sometimes almost impossible to obtain. It is a fact, also, that the prevalence eft cattle plague, the presence of boils among men (see 6, below) and the appearance of bubonic plague are found to be closely associated together and in this order. The mention of camels as affected by this plague is interesting. It is doubtful if any clear indication of the presence of the camel in Egypt so early as this has yet been found among the monuments of Egypt. There is in the Louvre museum one small antiquity which seems to me to be intended for the camel. But Professor Maspero does not agree that it is so. It would seem likely that the Hyksos, who were Bedouin princes, princes of the desert, would have introduced the beasts of the desert into Egypt. If they did so, that may have been sufficient reason that the Egyptians would not picture it, as the Hyksos and all that was theirs were hated in Egypt.
6. The Plague of Boils: In the plague of boils (shechin, and 'abha`bu`oth, "boils" (Exodus 9:8-17)) ashes were used, probably in the same way and to the same end as the clay was used in opening the eyes of the blind man (John 9:6), i.e. to attract attention and to fasten the mind of the observer upon what the Lord was doing. This plague in the order of its coming, immediately after the murrain, and in the description given of it and in the significant warning of the "pestilence" yet to come (Exodus 9:15), appears most likely to have been pestis minor, the milder form of bubonic plague. Virulent rinder-pest among cattle in the East is regarded as the precursor of plague among men and is believed to be of the same nature. It may well be, as has been thought by some, that the great aversion of the ancient Egyptians to the contamination of the soil by decaying animals was from the danger thereby of starting an epidemic of plague among men (Dr. Merrins, Biblical Sacra, 1908, 422-23).
7. The Plague of Hail: Hail (baradh, "hail" (Exodus 9:18-35)) is rare in Egypt, but is not unknown. The writer has himself seen a very little, and has known of one instance when a considerable quantity of hail as large as small marbles fell. Lightning, also, is not as frequent in Egypt as in many semi-tropical countries, yet great electric storms sometimes occur. This plague is quite accurately dated in the seasons of the year (Exodus 9:31-32). As the first plague was just before the rising of the Nile, so this one is evidently about 9 months later, when the new crops after the inundation were beginning to mature, January-February. This plague also marks another great step forward in the revelation of Yahweh to Israel and to the Egyptians. First only His power was shown, then His wisdom in the timing of the plagues, and now His mercy appears in the warning to all godly-disposed Egyptians to save themselves, their herds and their servants by keeping all indoors (Exodus 9:19-21). Pharaoh also now distinctly acknowledged Yahweh (Exodus 9:27).
The plague of locusts ('arbeh, "locust" (Exodus 10:1-20)) was threatened, and so frightened were the servants of Pharaoh that they persuaded him to try to make some agreement with Moses, but the attempt of Pharaoh still to limit in some way the going of Israel thwarted the plan (Exodus 10:7-10).
8. The Plague of Locusts: Then devouring swarms of locusts came up over the land from the eastern desert between the Nile and the Red Sea. They devoured every green thing left by the hail. The desperate situation created by the locusts soon brought Pharaoh again to acknowledgment of Yahweh (Exodus 10:16). This was the greatest profession of repentance yet manifested by Pharaoh, but he soon showed that it was deceitful, and again he would not let the people go. When the wind had swept the locusts away, he hardened his heart once more.
9. The Plague of Darkness: The progress of the seasons has been quite marked from the first plague, just before the rising of the waters, on through the year until now the khamsin period (choshekh, "darkness" from any cause (Exodus 10:21-29)) has come. When this dreadful scourge comes with its hot sand-laden breath, more impenetrable than a London fog, it is in very truth a "darkness which may be felt." The dreadful horror of this monster from the desert can hardly be exaggerated. Once again Pharaoh said "Go," but this time he wished to retain the flocks and herds, a hostage for the return of the people (Exodus 10:24). Upon Moses' refusal to accept this condition, he threatened his life. Why had he not done so ere this? Why, indeed, did he let this man Moses come and go with such freedom, defying him and his people in the very palace? Probably Moses' former career in Egypt explains this. If, as is most probable, he had grown up at court with this Merenptah, and had been known as "the son of Pharaoh's daughter," heir to the throne and successor to Rameses II, instead of Merenptah, then this refugee had undoubtedly many friends still in Egypt who would make his death a danger to the reigning Pharaoh.
10. Death of the Firstborn: No intimation is given of the exact character of the death inflicted on the firstborn (bekhor, "firstborn," "chief" or "best"; compare Job 18:13; Isaiah 14:30 (Exodus 11:1-10 through Exodus 12:36)) by the angel of the Lord, or its appearance. But it is already foretold as the "pestilence" (Exodus 9:15). The pestis major or virulent bubonic plague corresponds most nearly in its natural phenomena to this plague. It culminates in a sudden and overwhelming virulence, takes the strongest and best, and then subsides with startling suddenness.
Thus, it appears that probably all the plagues were based upon natural phenomena which still exist in Egypt in the same order, and, when they do occur, find place somewhere during the course of one year.
II. Miraculous Use of the Phenomena. The miraculous elements in the plagues are no less distinctly manifest than the natural phenomena themselves.
1. Intensification: There was an intensification of the effect of the various plagues so much beyond all precedent as to impress everyone as being a special divine manifestation, and it was so. There was national horror of the blood-like water, disgust at the frogs, intolerable torture by the stinging insects and flies, utter ruin of the farmers in the loss of the cattle, the beating down of the crops by the hail, and the devouring of every green thing by the locusts, the sufferings and dread of the inhabitants by reason of the boils, the frightful electric storm, the suffocating darkness and, finally, the crushing disaster of the death of the firstborn. All these calamities may be found in Egypt to the present day, but never any of them, not to say all of them, in such overwhelming severity. That all of them should come in one year and all with such devastation was plainly a divine arrangement. Merely natural events do not arrange themselves so systematically. In this systematic severity were seen miracles of power.
2. Prediction: The prediction of the plagues and the fulfillment of the prediction at the exact time to a day, sometimes to an hour (as the cessation of the thunder and lightning): There was first a general prediction (Exodus 3:19-20; 7:3; Exodus 9:14-15) and an indication as the plagues went on that the climax would be pestilence (Exodus 9:15). Then several of the plagues were specifically announced and a time was set for them; e.g. the flies (Exodus 8:23), the murrain (Exodus 9:5), the hail (Exodus 9:18), the locusts (Exodus 10:4), the death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:4). In some cases a time for the removal of the plague was also specified: e.g. the frogs (Exodus 8:10), the thunder and lightning (Exodus 9:29). In every instance these predictions were exactly fulfilled. In some instances careful foresight might seem to supply in part this ability to predict. Perhaps it was by means of such foresight that the magicians "did so with their enchantments" for the first two plagues. The plague being in existence, foresight might safely predict that it would continue for a little time at least, so that, if the magicians sought for bloody water or called for frogs, they would seem to be successful. But the evidence which Yahweh produced went beyond them, and, at the third plague, they were unable to do anything. These things postulate, on the part of Moses and Aaron, knowledge far beyond human ken. Not only magicians could not do so with their enchantments, but modern science and discoveries are no more able so to predict events. Even meteorological phenomena are only predicted within the limits of reasonable foresight. Such wonders as the plagues of Egypt can in no wise be explained as merely natural. The prediction was a miracle of knowledge.
3. Discrimination: The discrimination shown in the visitation by the plagues presents another miraculous element more significant and important than either the miracles of power or the miracles of knowledge. God put a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, beginning with the plague of flies and continuing, apparently, without exception, until the end. Such miracles of moral purpose admit of no possible explanation but the exercise of a holy will. Merely natural events make no such regular, systematic discriminations.
4. Orderliness and Increasing Severity: The orderliness and gradually increasing severity of the plagues with such arrangement as brought "judgment upon the gods of Egypt," vindicating Yahweh as Ruler over all, and educating the people to know Yahweh as Lord of all the earth, present an aspect of events distinctly non-natural. Such method reveals also a divine mind at work.
5. Arrangement to Accomplish Divine Moral Purpose:
Last of all and most important of all, the plagues were so arranged as to accomplish in particular a great divine moral purpose in the revelation of God to the Israelites, to the Egyptians and to all the world. This is the distinctive mark of every real miracle. And this leads us directly to the consideration of the most important aspect of the plagues.
III. Divine Moral Purpose. 1. Discrediting of the gods of Egypt: This discrediting of the gods of Egypt is marked at every step of the progress of the plagues, and the accumulated effect of the repeated discrediting of the gods must have had, and, indeed, had, a great influence upon the Egyptians. The plagues did `execute judgment against the gods of Egypt' (Exodus 12:12), and the people and princes brought great pressure to bear upon Pharaoh to let the people go (Exodus 10:7). The magicians who claimed to represent the gods of Egypt were defeated, Pharaoh himself, who was accounted divine, was humbled, the great god, the Nile, was polluted, frogs defiled the temples and, at last, the sun, the greatest god of Egypt, was blotted out in darkness.
2. Pharaoh Made to Know that Yahweh Is Lord: Pharaoh was made to know that Yahweh is Lord, and acknowledged it (Exodus 9:27; 10:16). To this end the issue was clearly drawn. Pharaoh challenged the right of Yahweh to command him (Exodus 5:2), and God required him then to "stand" to the trial until the evidence could be fully presented, in accordance with the fundamental principle that he who makes a charge is bound to stand to it until either he acknowledges its utter falsity or affords opportunity for full presentation of evidence. So we see God made Pharaoh to "stand" (Exodus 9:16) (while the Bible, which speaks in the concrete language of life, calls it the hardening of Pharaoh's heart) until the case was tried out (compare Lamb, Miracle of Science, 126-49).
3. Revelation of God as Saviour: A more blessed and gracious moral purpose of the plagues was the revelation of God as the Saviour of the world. This began in the revelation at the burning bush, where God, in fire, appeared in the bush, yet the bush was not consumed, but saved. This revelation, thus given to the people, was further evidenced by the separation between Israel and the Egyptians; was made known even to the Egyptians by the warning before the plague of hail, that those Egyptians who had been impressed with the power of God might also learn that He is a God that will save those who give heed unto Him; and, at last, reached its startling climax when the angel of the Lord passed over the blood-marked door the night of the death of the firstborn and the institution of the Passover.
4. Exhibition of the Divine Use of Evil: Last of all, the plagues had a great moral purpose in that they embodied the divine use of evil in the experience of men in this world. As the experience of Job illustrates the use of evil in the life of the righteous, so the plagues of Egypt illustrate the same great problem of evil in the lot of the wicked. In the one case, as in the other, the wonders of God are so arranged as "to justify the ways of God to men."
The minutely accurate knowledge of life in Egypt displayed by this narrative in the Book of Exodus is inconceivable in an age of so little and difficult intercommunication between nations, except by actual residence of the author in Egypt. This has an important bearing upon the time of the composition of this narrative, and so upon the question of its author.
LITERATURE.
The literature of this subject is almost endless. It will suffice to refer the reader to all the general comms., and the special commentaries on Ex, for discussion of doctrinal and critical questions. Two admirable recent discussions of the plagues, in English, are Lamb, Miracle of Science, and Merrins, "The Plagues of Egypt," in Bibliotheca Sacra, 1908, July and October.
M. G. Kyle
Plain
Plain - plan ((1) kikkar, "circle" "talent," or "round loaf"; (2) mishor, from yashar, "to be level"; compare Arabic maisur, "that which is easy"; (3) biqah; compare Arabic baq`at, "a plot of ground" or "a wet meadow"; (4) `arabhah; (5) shephelah; (6) topos pedinos (Luke 6:17); (7) 'elon; compare elah, and 'allon "oak" (Genesis 35:4, 8, etc.); also 'elah, "Elah" (1 Samuel 17:2); (8) 'abhel):
See NATURAL FEATURES.
(1) Kikkar, when meaning "plain" usually refers to the alluvial plain about Jericho near the north end of the Dead Sea: "Plain (the Revised Version margin "circle") of the Jordan" (Genesis 13:10-11; 1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chronicles 4:17); "Plain of the valley of Jericho" (Deuteronomy 34:3); "cities of the Plain" (Genesis 13:12; 19:29); "all the Plain" (Genesis 19:17, 25); "by the way of the Plain" (2 Samuel 18:23); but "the plain round about Jerusalem" (Nehemiah 12:28).
(2) Mishor, English Versions of the Bible "plain," the Revised Version margin usually "table-land," clearly refers in most places to the highlands of Gilead and Moab, East of the Jordan and the Dead Sea; e.g. Joshua 13:9, "the plain (the Revised Version margin "table-land") of Medeba."
(3) Biq`ah is more often translated "valley" (which see).
(4) `Arabhah is in the Revised Version (British and American) often translated "the Arabah," denoting the whole Jordan-Dead-Sea-Arabah depression = Arabic Ghaur (Ghor). In Deuteronomy 11:30, the King James Version has "champaign" (which see). The "plains of Moab" (Numbers 22:1; 3, 13; 31:12; Numbers 33:48-49, 50; 35:1; 36:13; Deuteronomy 34:1, 8; Joshua 13:32) and "plains of Jericho" (Joshua 4:13; 5:10; 2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 39:5; 52:8) are the low plain or ghaur North of the Dead Sea. `Arabhah is here equivalent to kikkar (see above). Note the distinction between mishor used of the highlands, and kikkar and `arabhah used of the ghaur.
See ARABAH.
(5) Shephelah is by the Revised Version (British and American) throughout translated "lowland" (which see), and includes the western slopes of the Judean hills and the maritime plain.
(6) Topos pedinos occurs only in Luke 6:17.
(7) `Elon is translated "plain" in the King James Version: "plain of Moreh" (Genesis 12:6; Deuteronomy 11:30); "plain (or plains) of Mamre" (Genesis 13:18; 14:13; 18:1); "plain of Zaanaim" (Judges 4:11); "plain of the pillar" (Judges 9:6); "plain of Meonenim" (Judges 9:37); "plain of Tabor" (1 Samuel 10:3). the Revised Version (British and American) has throughout "oak," the Revised Version margin "terebinth"; compare "oak" (Genesis 35:4, 8, etc.) and "vale of Elah" (1 Samuel 17:2, 19; 21:9).
(8) ['Abhel keramim] (Judges 11:33) is in the King James Version "the plain of the vineyards," the Revised Version (British and American) "Abel-cheramim," the Revised Version margin "the meadow of vineyards." Elsewhere in English Versions of the Bible 'abhel is "Abel" or "Abel."
See ABEL-CHERAMIM; MEADOW.
Alfred Ely Day
Plain of Moab
Plain of Moab - In Deuteronomy 1:1; 2:8, "plain" is translated in the Revised Version (British and American) "Arabah," and explained, "the deep valley running North and South of the Dead Sea." It was here that Moses delivered his last addresses. Ususally the word is plural (`arebhoth), the "plains" or steppes of Moab (Numbers 22:1, etc.; Deuteronomy 34:1, 8). An interesting description is given in an article on "The Steppes of Moab" by Professor G. B. Gray in The Expositor, January, 1905.
See MOAB.
Plain of the Pillar
Plain of the Pillar - ('elon mutstsbh; Codex Vaticanus reads pros te balano te heurete tes staseos tes en Sikimois; Codex Alexandrinus omits te heurete, and the second tes): With the Revised Version margin we must read "terebinth of the pillar," the place where the men of Shechem and Beth-millo made Abimelech king (Judges 9:6). This was one of the sacred trees of which there seem to have been several near Shechem. See MEONENIM, OAK OF. "The pillar" may possibly have been the great stone which Joshua set up "under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh" (Joshua 24:26).
W. Ewing
Plain of the Vineyards
Plain of the Vineyards - See ABEL-CHERAMIM.
Plain, Cities of The
Plain, Cities of The - See CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
Plain; Plainly
Plain; Plainly - plan, plan'-li: In Genesis 25:27, the King James Version "plain" represents tam. If a contrast between the vocations of Jacob and Esau is meant, the Revised Version (British and American) ("quiet," margin "harmless") may be right. But elsewhere (Job 1:1; Psalms 37:37, etc.) the word means "perfect," and so probably here; the failings of the great patriarch did not detract from the general estimate of him (Matthew 8:11). In Ezra 4:18 "translated" (Revised Version margin) is better than "plainly read."
Plaister
Plaister - plas'-ter.
See PLASTER.
Plaiting
Plaiting - plat'-ing, plat'-ing (from the Old French, pleit, which is from the Latin plicatum, "fold"): An interweaving, a braiding, a knot; an elaborate gathering of the hair into knots; emploke, "outward adorning of plaiting the hair" (1 Peter 3:3). Compare "platted" (crown of thorns) (Matthew 27:29 parallel Mark 15:17; John 19:2).
See BRAIDED,BRAIDING .
Plane
Plane - plan (Isaiah 44:13).
See TOOLS.
Plane Tree
Plane Tree - plan'-tre ('armon; platanos (Genesis 30:37), elate ("pine" or "fir") (Ezekiel 31:8); the King James Version chestnut): `Armon is supposed to be derived from the root aram, meaning "to be bare" or "naked"; this is considered a suitable term for the plane, which sheds its bark annually. The chestnut of the King James Version is not an indigenous tree, but the plane (Planus orientalis) is one of the finest trees in Palestine, flourishing especially by water courses (compare Ecclesiasticus 24:14).
Planets
Planets - plan'-ets (mazzaloth).
See ASTROLOGY, sec. II, 3.
Plank
Plank - plank: Thick beams or pieces of wood, for which several Hebrew words are used. The Revised Version (British and American) changes "planks" (of fir) into "boards" in 1 Kings 6:15, and in a few instances substitutes "planks" where the King James Version has "boards" (Exodus 27:8; 38:7, the altar; Ezekiel 27:5). So in the New Testament in Acts 27:44, for sanis.
See SHIPS AND BOATS,II , 2, (3).
Plant, Plants
Plant, Plants - See BOTANY.
Plaster (1)
Plaster (1) - plas'-ter (sidh): In Egypt, now as in ancient times, the buildings are plastered inside and out. The poor quality of the stone commonly used makes this necessary if a smooth attractive surface is desired. Among the poorer classes, clay mixed with straw is used. In Palestine and Syria, where there is a rainy season, the coating on the outside walls, if made of clay, must be frequently renewed. In Egypt burnt gypsum, and in Palestine and Syria burnt limestone (lime) are the commonest materials for making mortar. For the first coat of plastering the lime is mixed with "fat" red sand or with the ash from the bathhouse fires, and the finishing coat is composed of white sand and slaked lime with or without chopped flax straw. The plaster on some of the ancient Egyptian ruins seems to indicate that milk or some similar substance was added to the mortar to give a better surface.
The ancients preferred plastered surfaces for decorating, and even the finest granite was covered with stucco on which to paint or carve the decorations (Deuteronomy 27:2; Daniel 5:5). Columns were often first stuccoed and then painted.
The Arabic word for mortar is Tin, which really means "clay." The Hebrew sidh, literally, "to boil up," refers to the boiling of the water with which the lime is slaked, because of the heat generated during the slaking process. In Daniel 5:5 occurs gir, i.e. "burned in a kiln," which might mean either lime or gypsum. In Leviticus 14:42 occurs Tuach, "to smear."
James A. Patch
Plaster (2)
Plaster (2) - plas'-ter (marach): Only used in Isaiah 38:21 of the application of the cake of figs to the boil from which Hezekiah suffered. In Papyrus Ebers, figs are used as the ingredient in a plaster (xxxv, lxxix, lxxxiii). Dioscorides also recommends figs with other substances as a poultice in some skin diseases.
Plastering
Plastering - plas'-ter-ing.
See CRAFTS,II , 15.
Plate
Plate - plat: A term seemingly not used in the Bible for a dish as it is so commonly used at present, but always for a tablet or sheet of metal. (1) tsits (Exodus 28:36; 39:30; Leviticus 8:9), a plate of gold on the front of the mitre of the high priest. The name seems to have been given because of the radiance of the object. (2) pach (Exodus 39:3; Numbers 16:38), of plates or sheets of metal produced by hammering. (3) luach, used for tablets or tables of stone (Exodus 24:12, etc.), but in 1 Kings 7:36 for the metal plates on the bases of the lavers in the temple. The word ceren, is rendered "plate" in 1 Kings 7:30 the King James Version, manifestly incorrectly, the Revised Version (British and American) "axle."
Walter R. Betteridge
Platter
Platter - plat'-er: (1) qe`arah, "a deep dish" (Numbers 7:13 f,84,85). In the King James Version and the English Revised Version "charger," the American Standard Revised Version "platter" (compare Exodus 25:29; 37:16); the Septuagint trublion, and in the New Testament rendered "dish" (Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20). In Ezra 1:9, the American Standard Revised Version agharTal, rendered "platter," the King James Version and the English Revised Version "chargers"; probably a deep dish or basin used in sacrificial slaughter. (2) paropsis, originally a side dish, for relishes, entrees, but of dishes for food, in general, especially meats, fish, etc., used with poterion, "cup" or "drinking vessel" (Matthew 23:25 f); also pinax, originally a large wooden dish or plate (Luke 11:39); rendered "charger" in Matthew 14:8, 11 the King James Version, and Mark 6:25, 28 the King James Version and the English Revised Version.
Edward Bagby Pollard
Play
Play - pla.
See GAMES.
Plead
Plead - pled: In modern non-legal English is a synonym of "pray" or "beseech," but in legal phraseology "plea," "plead," and "pleading" have a great variety of technical meanings, with "present a case before the court" as the idea common to all. All the uses of "plead" in English Versions of the Bible are connected with this legal sense, so that outside of the set phrase "plead a cause" (1 Samuel 24:15, etc.) there is hardly a use of the word in the King James Version, the English Revised Version, or the American Standard Revised Version that is clear modern English The most obscure instances are due to The King James Version's employment of "plead" to translate the niphal of shaphaT. ShaphaT means "judge," so its niphal means "bring oneself into a case to be judged," "enter into controversy with," and so "plead" in the legal sense. Hence, "None pleadeth in truth" (Isaiah 59:4) means "none of their lawsuits are honest." Accordingly, when God is said to "plead with" man (Isaiah 66:16 the King James Version, the English Revised Version, etc.), the meaning is that God states His side of the case and not at all that He supplicates man to repent. And this statement by God is a judicial act that of course admits of no reply. Hence, the Revised Version (British and American) has changed "plead with" into "enter into judgment with" in Jeremiah 2:35, and the American Standard Revised Version has carried this change into all the other passages (Jeremiah 25:31; Ezekiel 17:20; Ezekiel 20:35-36; 38:22), with "execute judgment" in Isaiah 66:16; Joel 3:2. The same verb form occurs also in Isaiah 43:26: "Let us plead together," where "Let us present our arguments on both sides" would be a fair paraphrase. Otherwise "plead" usually represents ribh, for which the Revised Version (British and American) gives "strive" in place of "plead" in Psalms 35:1, and "contend" in Job 13:19; 23:6 (the American Standard Revised Version also in Judges 6:31-32; Isaiah 3:13; Jeremiah 2:9; 12:1; Hosea 2:2, retaining "plead" only in Isaiah 1:17 and in the phrase "plead a cause"). yakhach, is rendered "plead" in Job 19:5 ("plead against me my reproach," where the meaning is "convict me of"), in Micah 6:2 the King James Version and the English Revised Version (the American Standard Revised Version "contend"), and Job 16:21 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "maintain the right"). "Plead" is used also for din, in Jeremiah 30:13 and Proverbs 31:9 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "minister justice to"), and Jeremiah 5:28 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "judge"; compare Jeremiah 22:16, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "judge"). the Revised Version (British and American) would have done vastly better if the use of "plead" had been avoided altogether.
Pleadings (i.e. "arguments") occurs in Job 13:6 (for ribh), and "plea" (din, in a specific legal sense) in Deuteronomy 17:8. the King James Version uses "implead" in Acts 19:38 for egkaleo, the Revised Version (British and American) "accuse," literally, "call into court"; compare also "pleaded the cause" in 2 Maccabees 4:44 (literally, "argued the case") and 4:47, the Revised Version (British and American) "pleaded" (literally, "spoken," the King James Version "told their cause").
Burton Scott Easton
Pleasure
Pleasure - plezh'-ur (chephets, ratson; eudokia, hedone: "Pleasure" is the translation of various Hebrew words, chiefly of chephets, "inclination," hence, "pleasure," "delight" (Job 21:21, "What pleasure hath he in his house?" the American Standard Revised Version "what careth he for"; Job 22:3, "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty?"; Psalms 111:2; Ecclesiastes 5:4; 12:1; in Isaiah 44:28; 46:10; 48:14; 53:10, it has the sense of will or purpose, "He shall perform all my pleasure," etc.); of ratson, "delight," "acceptance," "good will" (Ezra 10:11; Nehemiah 9:37; Esther 1:8; Psalms 51:18; 103:21, etc.); nephesh, "soul," "desire" is translated "pleasure" (Deuteronomy 23:24; Psalms 105:22; Jeremiah 34:16).
In the New Testament "pleasure" is the translation of eudokia, "good thought or will," "good pleasure" (Luke 2:14 the Revised Version margin; Ephesians 1:5, 9; Philippians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 the Revised Version (British and American) "every desire of goodness," margin "Greek: `good pleasure of goodness.' Compare Romans 10:1").
"To take pleasure or to have pleasure" is eudokeo (2 Corinthians 12:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 10:6, 8, 38); eudokeo is once translated "good pleasure" (Luke 12:32, "It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom"); the neuter participle of dokeo, "to think," etc.--meaning "it seems good to me"--to dokoun, is translated "pleasure" (Hebrews 12:10, "after their pleasure," the Revised Version (British and American) "as seemed good to them"); hedone, "sweetness," "pleasure," occurs in Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:13 (referring to the lower pleasures of life); thelema, "wish," "will" (Revelation 4:11, the Revised Version (British and American) "because of thy will"); charis, "favor" (Acts 24:27; 25:9, the Revised Version (British and American) "favor"); spatalao "to live voluptuously" (1 Timothy 5:6, the Revised Version (British and American) "she that giveth herself to pleasure"); suneudokeo, "to think well with," "to take pleasure with others" (Romans 1:32, the Revised Version (British and American) "consent with"); truphao, "to live luxuriously" (James 5:5, the Revised Version (British and American) "lived delicately").
The verb "to pleasure" occurs in 2 Maccabees 2:27 as the translation of eucharistia, the Revised Version (British and American) "gratitude"; 12:11, ophelesein, the Revised Version (British and American) "to help."
W. L. Walker
Pledge
Pledge - plej (verbs chabhal (10 times), `arabh (2 Kings 18:23 = Isaiah 36:8); nouns chahal (Ezekiel 18:12, 16; 33:15), chabcholah (Ezekiel 18:7), `arubbah), (1 Samuel 17:18), erabhon (Genesis 38:17-18, 20); also abhoT (Deuteronomy 24:10-13) and (the Revised Version (British and American) only) abhTiT (Habakkuk 2:6)): All these words have about the same meaning. (1) The "pledge" is, as in modern English, security given for future payment (Genesis 38:17-24) or conduct (Habakkuk 2:6, where the conquered nations have given guaranties of their subserviency to the Chaldeans; the King James Version's "thick clay" here rests on a misreading of the Hebrew). In 2 Kings 18:23 (= Isaiah 36:8) the "pledge" is a wager (so the Revised Version margin). Rabshakeh mockingly dares Hezekiah to stake a "pledge" that he can produce 2,000 men for the defense of Jerusalem, although the mighty Assyrian host has that number of horses alone. The general point of the obscure passage Proverbs 20:16 (= Proverbs 27:13) is that he who guarantees strangers needs a guaranty himself. 1 Samuel 17:18 is uncertain and the text may be corrupt. If not, the "pledge" is some (prearranged?) token of the welfare of David's brethren. (2) Most of the occurrences of "pledge," however, deal with the debts of the very poor, who had no property that they could spare even temporarily. Consequently, the exaction of a pledge from such persons worked genuine hardship, and to take a pledge at all was a cruel act (Job 24:3), although of course the dishonesty of withholding a pledge (Ezekiel 18:7; 33:15) was worse. Lowest in the scale was the creditor who took the garment the borrower was wearing (Amos 2:8; Job 22:6; 24:9 margin), and special legislation controlled this practice. A garment (the outer "cloak" (see DRESS) not worn while doing manual labor) so taken must be restored at night (Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:12-13), for it was the usual covering of the sleeper. (Apparently, though, the creditor regained custody of it in the daytime until the debt was paid.) A widow's clothing, however, was entirely exempt (Deuteronomy 24:17), as was the handmill used for bread-making (Deuteronomy 24:6). The lender had no right of entry into the borrower's house to obtain the pledge (Deuteronomy 24:10-11), but it is not said that he could not dictate what he would accept; indeed, the contrary is inconceivable. (3) the American Standard Revised Version gives "pledge" for the King James Version and the English Revised Version "faith" in 1 Timothy 5:12.
See also EARNEST.
Burton Scott Easton
Pleiades
Pleiades - pli'-a-dez, ple'-ya-dez, ple'-a-dez.
See ASTROLOGY, 10; ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 10.
Pleroma
Pleroma - ple-ro'-ma.
See FULLNESS.
Plow
Plow - plou (charash; arotrioo): No implement of the Bible is more frequently illustrated today than the plow. This is partly because there is every reason to believe that the plows still used throughout Egypt, Palestine, and Syria are counterparts of the ancient ones. The first plows were probably an adaptation of the ancient Egyptian hoe, where the handle was lengthened in order that animals might be hitched to it. To make it easier to break up the ground, it was pointed, and handles were added by which it could be guided. The ancient plow probably varied in type in different sections of the country, as it does today. In one form a young tree Of oak or other strong wood of a diameter of 3 or 4 inches is cut off just below a good-sized branch and again 15 or 20 inches above. The upper end of the severed trunk is pointed and forms the share. Between this and the side branch is fitted a brace. The branch is cut off 10 or 12 ft. from the trunk and forms the pole. A lighter stick, about 3 ft. long, projects upward from the share and forms the handle. The plow used in Syria is of slightly different construction. The handle and share are one continuous piece, so cut that there is a slight bend at the middle. The share is pointed and is used bare in the plains, or in more stony regions is shod with iron. The pole is of 2 pieces joined end to end. The thicker end of the pole is notched, so that it may be attached firmly to the share. The whole plow is so light that it can be easily carried on a man's shoulder. These plows literally scratch the soil, as the Hebrew word implies. They do not turn over the ground as the modern implement does. The plowman guides the plow with one hand, and with the other sometimes goads the oxen, and at other times with the chisel end of his goad breaks away the lumps of earth or other material which impedes the progress of his plow.
See YOKE.
In addition to the words which are found above, the following terms occur: `abhadh (literally, "to serve"), "worked" or "plowed" (Deuteronomy 21:4); palach (literally, "to break open," Psalms 141:7).
One special law is mentioned in connection with plowing, namely that an ox and an ass should not be yoked together (Deuteronomy 22:10), a prohibition which is utterly disregarded today. Oxen were principally used for plowing (Job 1:14). Often several yokes of oxen followed each other plowing parallel furrows across the field, a sight still common on the plains of Syria (1 Kings 19:19). Plowing was done by bond servants (Luke 17:7; compare `abhadh, Deuteronomy 21:4). Plowing cannot be done before the rains (Jeremiah 14:4); on the other hand the soil is too sticky to plow in the winter time (Proverbs 20:4). The law requiring one day of rest in every seven days included plowing time (Exodus 34:21).
Figurative: "The plowers plowed upon my back" typified deep affliction (Psalms 129:3; compare Psalms 141:7). "Plow iniquity" is urged in the sense of "plant iniquity." Doing evil was sure to bring evil consequences (Job 4:8; compare Micah 3:12). As surely as planting comes after plowing, so surely will Yahweh carry out His decree of destruction (Isaiah 28:23-25). "Judah shall plow," i.e. become enslaved (Hosea 10:11); compare "Foreigners shall be your plowmen" (Isaiah 61:5). "Will one plow there with oxen?" (Amos 6:12), "neither plowing nor harvest" (Genesis 45:6) are figures of desolation. Zion plowed as a field, i.e. utterly destroyed (Jeremiah 26:18). The plowman shall overtake the reaper, i.e. the soil shall be so fertile as to require no rest--typical of great abundance (Amos 9:13). No opportunity to plow because of lack of rain is a desolate picture of drought (Jeremiah 14:4). As the plowman expects to share in the fruits of the harvest, so might an apostle expect his temporal needs to be provided for (1 Corinthians 9:10). "If ye had not plowed with my heifer," i.e. used my wife, was Samson's reply to those who had secured the answer to his riddle from her (Judges 14:18). "Beat their swords into plowshares" (or hoes) (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3) typified peace; "beat your plowshares into swords"--war (Joel 3:10). "Having put his hand to the plow, and looking back," i.e. longing for evil things when one has set his face toward doing what is right, unfits a man for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62; compare Genesis 19:26; Philippians 3:13).
James A. Patch
Plucking Off the Hair
Plucking Off the Hair - pluk'-ing.
See HAIR, 7; PUNISHMENTS.
Plumb-line; Plummet
Plumb-line; Plummet - plum'-lin, plum'-et, plum'-it.
See TOOLS.
Pochereth-hazzebaim
Pochereth-hazzebaim - pok'-e-reth, po'-ke-reth, po-ke'-reth, -ha-ze-ba'-im (pokhereth hatstsebhayim (Ezra 2:57), or pokhereth ha-tsebhayim (Nehemiah 7:59), "binder (feminine) of the gazelles"): Name of the head of a post-exilic family. The first word is a feminine Kal participle; compare qoheleth ("preacher"), the Hebrew title of the Book of Eccl. BDB suggests that the feminine is that of office. King James Version has "Pochereth of Zebaim" in Ezr, but Ryle (Cambridge Bible, 235) notes that "of" is not in the 1611 edition
Poet
Poet - po'-et (poietes, "a maker"): Occurs in this sense only in Acts 17:28, where Paul quotes from the general expression of Greek mythology. The quotation if intended to be exact is probably from Aratus, as the words of Paul in his speech at Athens precisely agree with the opening words of the Phaenomena by Aratus. A similar but not identical expression is found in the Hymn to Zeus by Cleanthes. Aratus in his poem endeavors to posit Jupiter as the father and controller of all things, and worthy to be worshipped. In both his poem and that of Cleanthes, but especially in the latter, there is a true and lofty note of spiritual devotion. Paul takes this praise and devotion offered by the Greek poets to their unknown or fictitious gods and bestows it upon the one true God whom he declared unto the people of Athens.
C. E. Schenk
Poetry, Hebrew
Poetry, Hebrew - po'-et-ri:
I. IS THERE POETRY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?
Poetry Defined:
1. In Matter, Concrete and Imaginative
2. In Form, Emotional and Rhythmical
II. NEGLECT OF HEBREW POETRY: CAUSES
III. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL
1. External or Formal Characteristics
(1) Vocabulary
(2) Grammar
(3) Rhythm
(4) Parallelism
(5) Other Literary Devices
(6) Units of Hebrew Poetry
(7) Classification of Stichs or Verses
2. Internal or Material Characteristics
(1) Themes of Hebrew Poetry
(2) Species of Hebrew Poetry
IV. POETICAL WRITINGS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. The Poetical Books in the Narrow Sense
2. Customary Division of the Poetical Books
3. Poetry in Non-poetical Books
LITERATURE
By Hebrew poetry in the present article is meant that of the Old Testament. There is practically no poetry in the New Testament, but, in the Old Testament Apocrypha, Sirach is largely poetical and Wisdom only less so. Post-Biblical Hebrew poetry could not be discussed here.
I. Is There Poetry in the Old Testament?
Poetry Defined:
It is impossible to answer this question without first of all stating what poetry really is. The present writer submits the following as a correct definition: "Poetry is verbal composition, imaginative and concrete in matter, and emotional and rhythmic in form." This definition recognizes two aspects of poetry, the formal and the material.
1. In Matter Concrete and Imaginative
The substance of poetry must be concrete--it is philosophy that deals with the abstract; and it has to be the product more or less of the creative imagination.
2. In Form Emotional and Rhythmical
It is of the essence of poetry that, like music, it should be expressed in rhythmical but not necessarily in metrical form. Moreover, the language has to be such as will stir up the aesthetic emotions. Adopting this account of poetry as criticism, it may unhesitatingly be affirmed that the Hebrew Scriptures contain a goodly amount of genuine poetry; compare the Psalms, Job, Canticles, etc. It is strange but true that poetical is older than prose written composition. An examination of the literature of the ancient Indians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Greeks and Arabs makes this quite certain.
II. Neglect of Hebrew Poetry: Causes. Notwithstanding the undoubted fact that poetry is largely represented in the Bible, it is noteworthy that this species of Bible literature was almost wholly ignored until the 18th century. We may perhaps ascribe this fact mainly to two causes: (1) Since the Bible was regarded as preeminently, if not exclusively, a revelation of the divine mind, attention was fixed upon what it contained, to the neglect of the literary form in which it was expressed. Indeed it was regarded as inconsistent with its lofty, divine function to look upon it as literature at all, since in this last the appeal is made, at least to a large extent, to the aesthetic and therefore carnal man. The aim contemplated by Bible writers was practical--the communication of religious knowledge--not literary, and still less artistic. It was therefore regarded as inconsistent with such a high purpose that these writers should trouble themselves about literary embellishment or beautiful language, so long as the sense was clear and unambiguous. It was in this spirit and animated by this conception that toward the middle of the 19th century. Isaac Taylor of Ongar (The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 1861, 56 ff) and Keil of Dorpat (Introduction to the Old Testament, 1881, I, 437) denied on a priori grounds the presence of epic and dramatic poetry in the Bible. How, they exclaimed, could God countenance the writing of fiction which is untruth--and the epic and the drama have both? Matthew Arnold rendered invaluable service to the cause of Bible science when he fulminated against theologians, Jewish and Christian, for making the Bible a mere collection of proof texts, an arsenal whence religious warriors might get weapons with which to belabor their opponents. "The language of the Bible is fluid .... and literary, not rigid, fixed, scientific" (Preface to the first edition of Literature and Dogma). The Bible contains literature, poetical and prose, equal as literature to the best, as Matthew Arnold, Carlyle, and Froude (on Job) held. The neglect of this aspect of the Scriptures made theologians blind to the presence and therefore ignorant of the character of Bible poetry. (2) Another factor which led to the neglect of the poetical element in the Old Testament is the undoubted fact that Biblical Hebrew poets were less conscious as poets than western poets, and thought much less of the external form in which they expressed themselves. Bible poetry lacks therefore such close adherence to formal rules as that which characterizes Greek, Arabic or English poetry. The authors wrote as they felt and because they felt, and their strong emotions dictated the forms their words took, and not any objective standards set up by the schools. Hebrew poetry is destitute of meter in the strict sense, and also of rhyme, though this last occurs in some isolated cases (see below,III , 1, (4), c and e) . No wonder then that western scholars, missing these marks of the poetry which they knew best, failed for so long to note the poetry which the Old Testament contains.
III. Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry: External and Internal.
The definition of poetry accepted in I, above, implies that there are marks by which poetry can be distinguished from prose. This is equally true of Hebrew poetry, though this last lacks some of the features of the poetry of western nations.
1. External or Formal Characteristics: (1) Vocabulary. There are several Hebrew words which occur most frequently and in some cases exclusively in poetry. In the following list the corresponding prose word is put in parenthesis: millah, "word" (= dabhar); enosh, "man" (= 'ish); orach, "way" (= derekh); chazah, "to see" (= ra'ah); the prepositions ele, "to," adhe, "unto," ale, "upon," and minni, "from," instead of the shorter forms el, adh, al, and min. The pronoun zu, rare in prose, has in poetry the double function of a demonstrative and a relative pronoun in both genders. The negative bal, is used for lo'. For the inseparable prepositions "b", "k", "l" ("in," "as," "to") the separate forms bemo, kemo and lemo are employed.
(2) Grammar. (a) Accidence: The pronominal suffixes have peculiar forms in poetry. For -m, -am, -em ("their," "them") we find the longer forms -mo, -amo, -emo. For the plural ending of nouns -n (-in) takes the place of -m (-im), as in Aramaic (compare Job 4:2; 12:11), and frequently obsolete case endings are preserved, but their functions are wholly lost. Thus, we have the old nominative ending -o in Psalms 50:10, etc.; the old genitive ending -i in Isaiah 1:21, and the accusative -ah in Psalms 3:3.
(b) Syntax: The article, relative pronoun, accusative singular 'eth and also the "waw-consecutive" are frequently omitted for the sake of the rhythm. There are several examples of the last in Psalms 112:10 ff. The construct state which by rule immediately precedes nouns has often a preposition after it. The jussive sometimes takes the place of the indicative, and the plural of nouns occurs for the singular.
(3) Rhythm. Rhythm (from rhuthmos) in literary composition denotes that recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables in a regular order which we have in poetry and rhetorical prose. Man is a rhythmic animal; he breathes rhythmically, and his blood circulates--outward and inward--rhythmically. It may be due to these reflex rhythms that the more men are swayed by feeling and the less by reflection and reasoning, the greater is the tendency to do things rhythmically. Man walks and dances and sings and poetizes by the repetition of what corresponds to metrical feet: action is followed by reaction. We meet with a kind of rhythm in elevated and passionate prose, like that of John Ruskin and other writers. Preachers when mastered by their theme unconsciously express themselves in what may be called rhythmic sentences. Though, however, rhythm may be present in prose, it is only in poetry as in music that it recurs at intervals more or less the same. In iambic poetry we get a repetition of a short and long syllable, as in the following lines:
"With ravished ears
The monarch hears,
Assumes the gods,
Affects the nods."
--Dryden.
(4) Parallelism. What is so called is a case of logical rhythm as distinguished from rhythm that is merely verbal. But as this forms so important a feature of Bible poetry, it must be somewhat fully discussed. What since Bishop Lowth's day has been called parallelism may be described as the recurring of symetrically constructed sentences, the several members of which usually correspond to one another. Lowth (died 1787), in his epochmaking work on Hebrew poetry (De Sacra poesi Hebraeorum prelectiones, English translation by G. Gregory), deals with what he (following Jebb) calls Parallelismus membrorum (chapter X). And this was the first serious attempt to expound the subject, though Rabbi Asariah (Middle Ages), Ibn Ezra (died 1167 AD), D. Kimchi (died 1232) and A. de Rossi (1514-1578) called attention to it. Christian Schoettgen (died 1751) (see Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae) anticipated much of what Lowth has written as to the nature, function and value of parallelism. The first to use the word itself in the technical sense was Jebb (Sacred Lit., 1820). For the same thing Ewald used the expression Sinnrhythmus, i.e. sense rhythm, a not unsuitable designation.
(a) Kinds of Parallelism: Lowth distinguished three principal species of parallelism, which he called synonymous, antithetic and synthetic.
(i) The Synonymous: In this the same thing is repeated in different words, e.g. Psalms 36:5:
`Yahweh, (i.) Thy lovingkindness (reaches) to the heavens,
(ii.) Thy faithfulness (reaches) to the clouds.'
Omitting "Yahweh," which belongs alike to both members, it will be seen that the rest of the two half-lines corresponds word for word: "thy lovingkindness" corresponding to "thy faithfulness," and "to the heavens" answering to "to the clouds" (compare Psalms 15:1; Psalms 24:1-3; 25:5; 1 Samuel 18:7; Isaiah 6:4; 13:7).
(ii) Antithetic Parallelism:
In which the second member of a line (or verse) gives the obverse side of the same thought, e.g. Proverbs 10:1:
`A wise son gladdens his father,
But a foolish son grieves his mother'
(See Proverbs 11:3; Psalms 37:9; compare Proverbs 10:1 ff; Psalms 20:8; 30:6; Isaiah 54:7 ff). Sometimes there are more than two corresponding elements in the two members of the verse, as in Proverbs 29:27; compare Proverbs 10:5; 16:9; 27:2.
(iii) Synthetic Parallelism:
Called also constructive and epithetic. In this the second member adds something fresh to the first, or else explains it, e.g. Psalms 19:8 f:
`The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandments of Yahweh are pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever:
The judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb'
(See Proverbs 1:7; compare Proverbs 3:5, 7; Psalms 1:3; 15:4). In addition to the three principal species of parallelism noticed above, other forms have been traced and described.
(iv) Introverted Parallelism:
(Jebb, Sacred Lit., 53): in which the hemistichs of the parallel members are chiastically arranged, as in the scheme ab ba. Thus, Proverbs 23:15 f:
(a) `My son, if thy heart be wise
(b) My heart shall be glad, even mine: (b) Yea, my reins shall rejoice
(a) When thy lips speak right things'
(Compare Proverbs 10:4, 12; 13:24; 21:17; Psalms 51:3).
(v) Palilogical Parallelism: In which one or more words of the first member are repeated as an echo, or as the canon in music, in the second. Thus, Nahum 1:2:
`Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges:
Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath;
Yahweh takes vengeance upon His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for his enemies'
(Compare Judges 5:3, 6 f,Judges 11:1-40 f,Judges 15:1-20 f,23,Judges 17:1-13; Psalms 72:2, 12, 17; Psalms 121:1-8; Psalms 124:1-8; Psalms 126:1-6; Isaiah 2:7; 24:5; Hosea 6:4).
(vi) Climactic or Comprehensive Parallelism:
In this the second line completes the first. Thus, Psalms 29:1:
"Give unto Yahweh, O ye mighty ones,
Give unto Yahweh glory and strength"
(see Exodus 15:6; Psalms 29:8).
(vii) Rhythmical Parallelism:
(De Wette, Franz Delitzsch): thus, Psalms 138:4:
"All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks ....
For they have heard the words of thy mouth."
See Proverbs 15:3; compare Proverbs 16:7, 10; 13, 15; 19:20; 23, 25.
Perfect parallelism is that in which the number of words in each line is equal. When unequal, the parallelism is called imperfect. Ewald (see Die poetischen Bucher des alten Bundes, I, 57-92; Die Dichter des alten Bundes, I, 91 ff, 2d edition of the former) aimed at giving a complete list of the relations which can be expressed by parallelism, and he thought he had succeeded. But in fact every kind of relation which can be indicated in words may be expressed in two or more lines more or less parallel. On the alleged parallelism of strophes see below.
(b) Parallelism as an Aid to Exegesis and Textual Criticism:
If in Lowth's words parallelism implies that "in two lines or members of the same period things for the most part shall answer to things, and words to words," we should expect obscure or unknown words to derive some light from words corresponding to them in parallel members or clauses. In not a few cases we are enabled by comparison of words to restore with considerable confidence an original reading now lost. The formula is in a general way as follows: ab: cx. We know what a, b and c mean, but are wholly in the dark as to the sense of x. The problem is to find out what x means. We have an illustration in Judges 5:28, which may be thus literally translated:
"Through the window she looked,
And Sisera's mother x through the x."
Here we have two unknown, each, however, corresponding to known terms. The Hebrew verb accompanying "Sisera's mother" is watteyabbebh, English Versions of the Bible "and .... cried." But no such verb (yabhabh) is known, for the Talmud, as usually, follows the traditional interpretation. We want a verb with a meaning similar to "looked." If we read wattabbeT, we have a form which could easily be corrupted into the word in the Massoretic Text, which gives a suitable sense and moreover has the support of the Targums of Onqelos and Jonathan, and even of the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus and Lucian). What about the other Hebrew word untranslated above ('eshnabh)? This occurs in but one other passage (Proverbs 7:6), where it stands as in the present passage in parallelism with challon, "window" (probably Proverbs 7:6 is dependent). We get no help from etymology or in this case from the VSS, but parallelism had suggested to our translators the meaning "lattice," a kind of Eastern window, and something of the kind must be meant. The verb shanabh, "to be cool," may possibly suggest the rendering "window," i.e. a hole in the wall to secure coolness in the house. Glass windows did not exist in Palestine, and are rare even now. There are innumerable other examples in the Old Testament of the use of parallelism in elucidating words which occur but once, or which are otherwise difficult to understand, and frequently a textual emendation is suggested which is otherwise supported.
(c) Prevalence and Value of Parallelism: Two statements anent parallelism in the Old Testament may be safely made: (i) That it is not a characteristic of all Old Testament poetry. Lowth who had so much to do with its discovery gave it naturally an exaggerated place in his scheme of Hebrew poetry, but it is lacking in the largest part of the poetry of the Old Testament, and it is frequently met with in elevated and rhetorical prose. (ii) That it pervades other poetry than that of the Old Testament. It occurs in Assyria (see A. Jeremias, Die bab-assyr. Vorstellung vom Leben nach dem Tode), in Egypt (Georg Ebers, Nord u. Sud, I), in Finnish, German and English Indeed, A. Wuttke (Der deutsche Volks-Aberglaube der Gegenwart, 1869, 157) and Eduard Norden (Die antike Kunstprosa, 1898, II, 813) maintain that parallelism is the most primitive form of the poetry of all nations. It must nevertheless be admitted that in the Old Testament parallelism has in proportion a larger place than in any other literature and that the correspondence of the parts of the stichs or verses is closer.
(5) Other Literary Devices. Old Testament poetry has additional features which it shares with other oriental and with western poetry. Owing to a lack of space these can be hardly more than enumerated.
(a) Alliteration: E.g. "Round and round the rugged rocks." We have good examples in the Hebrew of Psalms 6:8 and Psalms 27:14.
(b) Assonance: E.g. "dreamy seamy" (see for Bible examples the Hebrew of Genesis 49:17; Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 3:2).
(c) Rhyme: There are so few examples of this in the Hebrew Scriptures that no one can regard it as a feature in Hebrew poetry, though in Arabic and even in post-Biblical Hebrew poetry it plays a great part. We have Biblical instances in the Hebrew text of Genesis 4:23; Job 10:8-11; 16:12.
(d) Acrostics: In some poems of the Old Testament half-verses, verses, or groups of verses begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We have such alphabetical acrostics in Psalms 9:1-20 f; Psalms 34:1-22; Psalms 37:1-40; Proverbs 31:10 ff; Lamentations 1:1-22 through Lamentations 4:1-22; compare Lamentations 5:1-22, where the number of verses agrees with that of the Hebrew alphabet, though the letters of that alphabet do not introduce the verses.
(e) Meter: The view of the present writer may be stated as follows: That the poetry of the Hebrew is not in the strict sense metrical, though the writers under the influence of strong emotion express themselves rhythmically, producing often the phenomena which came later to be codified under metrical rules. Thinking and reasoning and speaking preceded psychology, logic, and grammar, and similarly poetry preceded prosody. In the Old Testament we are in the region of the fact, not of the law. Poets wrote under strong impulse, usually religious, and without recognizing any objective standard, though all the time they were supplying data for the rules of prosody. Those who think that Old Testament poets had in their minds objective rules of meter have to make innumerable changes in the text. Instead of basing their theory on the original material, they bring their a priori theory and alter the text to suit it. It can be fearlessly said that there is not a single poem in the Old Testament with the same number of syllables, or feet, or accents in the several stichs or hemistichs, unless we introduce violent changes into the Massoretic Text, such as would be resented in classical and other ancient literature. It is important, before coming to any definite conclusion, to take into consideration the fact that the poetry of the Old Testament belongs to periods separated by many centuries, from the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:1-31), the earliest Hebrew poem, down to the last hymns in the Psalter. In the oldest specimens of Hebrew poetry there is a naive simplicity which excludes the idea of conscious article In the latest the poet is much more conscious, and his poetry more artistic. It would be manifestly unfair to propound a theory of poetry based on the poetry of Keats and Tennyson and to apply it to the productions of Anglo-Saxon and Old English poetry. Bound up in the one volume called the Bible there is a literature differing widely in age, aim and authorship, and it needs care in educing a conception of Heb poetry that will apply to all the examples in the Old Testament. The later psalm-acrostic, etc., many of them made up of bits of other psalms, seem to have sprung from a more conscious effort at imitation. If, however, there were among the ancient Hebrews, as there was among the ancient Greeks, a code of prosody, it is strange that the Mishna and Gemara' should be wholly silent about it. And if some one system underlies our Hebrew Bible, it is strange that so many systems have been proposed. It should be remembered too that the oldest poetry of every people is nonmetrical.
The following is a brief statement of the views advocated:
(i) Philo and Josephus, under the influence of Greek models and desiring to show that Hebrew was not inferior to pagan literature, taught that Hebrew poetry had meter, but they make no attempt to show what kind of meter this poetry possesses.
(ii) Calmet, Lowth, and Carpzov held that though in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible as originally written and read there must have been metrical rules which the authors were conscious of following, yet, through the corruption of the text and our ignorance of the sounds and accentuation of primitive Hebrew, it is now impossible to ascertain what these metrical rules were.
(iii) In their scheme of Hebrew meter Bickell and Merx reckon syllables as is done in classical poetry, and they adopt the Syriac law of accentuation, placing the tone on the penultimate. These writers make drastic changes in the text in order to bolster up their theories.
(iv) The dominant and by far the least objectionable theory is that advocated by Ley, Briggs, Duhm, Buhl, Grimme, Sievers, Rothstein and most modern scholars, that in Hebrew prosody the accented syllables were alone counted. If this principle is applied to Job, it will be found that most of the Biblical verses are distichs having two stichs, each with three main accents. See, for an illustration, Job 12:16: (immo `oz wethushiyah: lo shoghegh umashgeh': `Strength and effectual working belong to (literally, "are with") him, he that errs and he that causes to err'). Man's rhythmical instincts are quite sufficient to account for this phenomenon without assuming that the poet had in mind an objective standard. Those who adopt this last view and apply it rigidly make numerous textual changes. For an examination of the metrical systems of Hubert Grimme, who takes account of quantity as well as accent, and of Eduard Sievers who, though no Hebrew scholar, came to the conclusion after examining small parts of the Hebrew Bible that Hebrew poetry is normally anapaestic, see W.H. Cobb, Criticism of Systems of Hebrew Metre, 152 ff, 169 ff. Herder, De Wette, Hupfeld, Keil, Nowack, Budde, Doller, and Toy reject all the systems of Hebrew meter hitherto proposed, though Budde has a leaning toward Ley's system.
(f) Budde's Qinah Measure: Though Budde takes up in general a negative position in regard to Hebrew meter, he pleads strenuously for the existence of one specific meter with which his name is associated. This is what he calls the qinah measure (from qinah, "a lamentation"). In this each stich is said to consist of one hemistich with three beats or stress syllables and another having two such syllables, this being held to be the specific meter of the dirge (see Lamentations 1:1, etc.). Ley and Briggs call it "pentameter" because it is made up of five (3 plus 2) feet (a foot in Hebrew prosody being equal to an accented syllable and the unaccented syllables combined with it). See Budde's full treatment of the subject inZATW , 60, 152, "Das heb. Klagelied." It must, however, be borne in mind that even Herder (died 1803) describes the use in elegies of what he calls, anticipating Ley and Briggs, the "pentameter" (see Geist der ebraischen Poesie, 1782, I, 32 f, English translation. The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, 1833, I, 40). But the present writer submits the following criticisms: (i) Budde is inconsistent in rejecting all existing theories of meter and yet in retaining one of his own, which is really but part of the system advocated by Bellermann, Ley and Briggs. (ii) He says, following Herder, that it is the measure adopted by mourning women (Jeremiah 9:16), but we have extremely few examples of the latter, and his statement lacks proof. (iii) There are dirges in the Old Testament not expressed in the qinah measure. David's lament over Saul and Jonathan is more hexametric and tetrametric than pentametric, unless we proceed to make a new text (2 Samuel 1:19 ff). (iv) The qinah measure is employed by Hebrew poets where theme is joyous or indifferent; see Psalms 119:1-176, which is a didactic poem.
(6) Units of Hebrew Poetry. In western poetry the ultimate unit is usually the syllable, the foot (consisting of at least two syllables) coming next. Then we have the verse-line crowned by the stanza, and finally the poem.
According to theory of Hebrew poetry adopted by the present writer, the following are the units, beginning with the simplest:
(a) The Meter: This embraces the accented (tone) syllable together with the unaccented syllable preceding or succeeding it. This may be called a "rhythmic foot."
(b) The Stich or Verse: In Job and less regularly in Psalms and Canticles and in other parts of the Old Testament (Numbers 23:19-24) the stich or verse consists commonly of three toned syllables and therefore three meters (see above for sense of "meter"). It is important' to distinguish between this poetical sense of "verse" and the ordinary meaning--the subdivision of a Bible chapter. The stich in this sense appears in a separate line in some old manuscripts.
(c) Combinations of Stichs (Verses): In Hebrew poetry a stich hardly ever stands alone. We have practically always a distich (couplet, Job 18:5), a tristich (triplet, Numbers 6:24-26), a tetrastich (Genesis 24:23), or the pentastich.
(d) Strophe: Kosters (Stud. Krit., 1831, 40-114, "Die Strophen," etc.) maintained that all poems in the Hebrew Scriptures are naturally divisible into strophes (stanzas) of similar, if not equal, length. Thus Psalms 119:1-176 is arranged in strophes named after the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each one containing eight Scripture verses, or sixteen metrical verses or stichs, most of the stichs having three meters or rhythmical feet. But though several Biblical poems are composed in strophes, many are not.
(e) Song: This (shirah) is made up of a series of verses and in some cases of strophes.
(f) Poem: We have examples of this (shir) in the books of Job and Canticles which consist of a combination of the song.
(7) Classification of Stichs or Verses. Stichs may be arranged as follows, according to the number of meters (or feet) which they contain: (a) the trimeter or tripod with three meters or feet; Bickell holds that in Job this measure is alone used; (b) the tetrameter or tetrapod, a stich with four meters or feet; (c) the pentameter or pentapod, which has five meters or feet: this is Budde's qinah measure (see III , 1, (4)); (d) the hexameter or hexapod: this consists of six meters or feet, and is often hard to distinguish from two separate trimeters (or tripods).
2. Internal or Material Characteristics: Our first and most original authority on the internal characteristics of Hebrew poetry is that great German theologian and man of letters, J.G. Herder, the pastor and friend of Goethe and Schiller at Weimar. In his Vom Geist der ebraischen Poesie, 1782 (The Spirit of Poetry, translated by James Marsh, U.S.A., 1833), he discusses at length and with great freshness those internal aspects of the poetry of the Old Testament (love of Nature, folklore, etc.) which impressed him as a literary man. Reference may be made also to George Gilfillian's Bards of the Bible, 1851 (popular), and Isaac Taylor's Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. It is a strange but striking and significant coincidence that not one of these writers professed much if any knowledge of the Hebrew language. They studied the poetry of the Old Testament mainly at least in translations, and were not therefore diverted from the literary and logical aspects of what is written by the minutiae of Hebrew grammar and textual criticism, though only a Hebrew scholar is able to enter into full possession of the rich treasures of Hebrew poetry.
(1) Themes of Hebrew Poetry. It is commonly said that the poetry of the ancient Hebrews is wholly religious. But this statement is not strictly correct. (a) The Old Testament does not contain all the poetry composed or even written by the Hebrews in Bible times, but only such as the priests at the various sanctuaries preserved. We do not know of a literary caste among the Hebrews who concerned themselves with the preservation of the literature as such. (b) Within the Bible Canon itself there are numerous poems or snatches of poems reflecting the everyday life of the people. We have love songs (Canticles), a wedding song (Psalms 45:1-17), a harvest song (Psalms 65:1-13), parts of ditties sung upon discovering a new well (Numbers 21:17 f), upon drinking wine, and there are references to war songs (Numbers 21:14; Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18).
(2) Species of Hebrew Poetry. Biblical poetry may be subsumed under the following heads: (a) folklore, (b) prophetical, (c) speculative, (d) lyrical.
(a) Folklore: "Poetry," said J. G. Hamann (died 1788), "is the mother tongue of the human race." In both folk-music and folk-poetry, each the oldest of its class, the inspiration is immediate and spontaneous. We have examples of folk-songs in Genesis 11:1-9; 19:24 f.
(b) Prophetic Poetry: This poetry is the expression of the inspiration under which the seer wrote. One may compare the oracular utterances of diviners which are invariably poetical in form as well as in matter. But one has to bear in mind that the heathen diviner claimed to have his messages from jinns or other spirits, and the means he employed were as a rule omens of various kinds. The Old Testament prophet professed to speak as he was immediately inspired by God (see DIVINATION,VIII ). Duhm thinks that the genuine prophecies of Jeremiah are wholly poetical, the prose parts being interpolations. But the prophet is not merely or primarily a poet, though it cannot be doubted that a very large proportion of the prophecies of the Old Testament are poetical in form and substance.
(c) Philosophical Poetry: This expression is intended to include such poetry as is found in the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha (see WISDOM LITERATURE). The so-called didactic poetry, that of the proverbs or parables (mashal), also comes in here.
(d) Lyrical Poetry: This includes the hymns of the Psalter, the love songs of Canticles and the many other lyrics found in the historical and prophetical writings. In these lyrics all the emotions of the human soul are expressed.
Does the Old Testament contain specimens of epic and dramatic poetry? The answer must depend on which definition of both is adopted.
(a) Epic Poetry: The present writer would define an epic poem as a novel with its plot and development charged, however, with the passion and set out in the rhythmic form of poetry. There is no part of the Old Testament which meets the requirements of this definition, certainly not the Creation, Fall and Deluge stories, which De Wette (Beitrage, 228 ff, Einleitung, 147) and R.G. Moulton (Literary Study of the Bible, chapter ix) point to as true epics, and which Ewald (Dichter des alten Bundes, I, 87 ff) held rightly to have in them the stuff of epics, though not the form.
(b) Dramatic Poetry: Defining dramatic poetry as that which can be acted on a stage, one may with confidence say that there is no example of this in the Old Testament. Even the literary drama must have the general characteristics of that which is actable. Franz Delitzsch and other writers have pointed to Job and Canticles as dramatic poems, but the definition adopted above excludes both.
IV. Poetical Writings of the Old Testament. 1. The Poetical Books in the Narrow Sense: According to the Massoretes or editors of our present Hebrew Bible, there are but three poetical books in the Old Testament, Job, Proverbs, and Psalms, known in Jewish circles by the mnemonic abbreviation 'emeth, the three consonants forming the initial letters of the Hebrew names of the above books. These three books have been supplied by the Massoretes with a special system of accents known as the poetical accents, and involving a method of intoning in the synagogue different from that followed when the prose books are read. But these accentual marks cannot be traced farther back than the 7th or 8th century of our era.
2. Customary Division of the Poetical Books: It is customary to divide the poetical books of the Old Testament into two classes, each containing three books: (1) those containing lyrical poetry (shir , or shirah), i.e. Psalms, Canticles, Lamentations; (2) those containing for the most part didactic poetry (mashal), i.e. Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.
3. Poetry in Non-poetical Books: There is a large amount of poetry in the Old Testament outside the books usually classed as poetical: (a) poetry in the prophetical books (see above,III , 2); (b) poetry in the historical books including the Pentateuch (see Michael Heilprin, The Historical Poetry of the Hebrews, 2 volumes, 1879-80). We have examples in Genesis 4:23 f; Genesis 49:1-33; Exodus 15:1-27; Numbers 21:14 f,Numbers 27:1-23-Numbers 30:1-16 (JE); Numbers 23:1-30 f (Balaam's songs); Deuteronomy 32:1-52 f (song and blessing of Moses); Joshua 10:12-14 (JE); Judges 5:1-31 (Deborah's Song); Judges 9:8-15; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; 2 Samuel 1:1-27; 3:33 f; 2 Samuel 23:1-39 (= Psalms 18:1-50), etc.
LITERATURE.
The most important books and articles on the subject have been mentioned during the course of the foregoing article. There is a full list of works dealing with Hebrew meter in W.H. Cobb, Criticism o.f Systems of Hebrew Metre, 19 ff. The first edition of Ewald's still valuable "Essay on Hebrew Poetry" prefixed to his commentary on the Psalms was published in English in the Journal of Sacred Literature (1848), 74 ff, 295 ff. In 1909 J.W. Rothstein issued a suggestive treatise on Hebrew rhythm (Grundzuge des heb. Rhythmus .... nebst lyrischen Texten mit kritischem Kommentar, 8vo plus vi plus 398), reviewed by the present writer in Review of Theology and Philosophy (Edinburgh), October, 1911. Early Religious Poetry of the Hebrews by E.G. King (Cambridge University Press) contains a good, brief, popular statement of the subject, though it makes no pretense to originality. In The Poets of the Old Testament, 1912, Professor A.R. Gordon gives an excellent popular account of the poetry and poetical literature of the Old Testament.
T. Witton Davies
Poetry, New Testament
Poetry, New Testament - No one questions the presence of poetry of a high order in the Old Testament. The Study of the Old Testament as the literature of the ancient Hebrews has been critically made, and the attention of even the ordinary reader of the Scriptures called to the beauty and wealth of its poetic passages. The message of the New Testament is so vitally spiritual and concerned with religion that but little attention has been paid to it as literature. Naturally it would be strange if the poetic inspiration which runs like a tide through the prophetic and post-exilic periods of the Old Testament should altogether cease under the clearer spiritual dispensation of the New Testament. The fact is that it does not cease, but that under every fundamental rule for poetic utterance, save that of rhyme, the New Testament is seen to be rich in imaginative vision, in religion touched by emotion, and in poetic expression. The Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, and the Epistle of James, all afford examples of lofty poetic utterance, while the message of Jesus is saturated with words which readily lend themselves to song. In fact it is thought by some that Jesus was no less careful of the form than of the content of His message, and that all the finer types of Hebrew poetry found in the Old Testament can be matched from His sayings, even when tested by the same rules.
In the Gospels that of Luke gives us our best examples of poetry. "No sooner have we passed through the vestibule of his Gospel than we find ourselves within a circle of harmonies" (Burton, in the Expositor's Bible). From the poetic utterances of Mary, Elisabeth, Zacharias, Simeon, and the Angels, the church gains her Magnificat, Beatitude, Benedictus, Nunc Dimittis and Glorias.
The utterances of John the Baptist are filled with a rugged desert vision and an expression which reveals a form of poesy in no wise to be mistaken for prose.
Paul presents many of his ideas in harmonious and beautiful forms. He knew the secular poets of his day, and has immortalized Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus (Acts 17:28). He also quotes from Epimenides and the Athenian dramatist Menander (1 Corinthians 15:33). Paul knew the poetry of the Hebrews, and enriches his own message with many quotations from it. He was acquainted with the Christian hymnology of his own times, as is seen in Ephesians 5:14 and 1 Timothy 3:16. He offers also original flashes of poetic inspiration and utterance, a good example of which is found in Romans 8:31-37.
Who could doubt the poetic imagery of James? He might almost be called the poet of social justice and of patient waiting under affliction for the will of God to come to men.
When one comes to the words of Jesus he discovers that in a very true sense His speech answers to the requirements for Hebrew poetry. Examples of synonymous, antithetic, synthetic and causal parallelism are the rule rather than the exception in the utterances of Jesus. For the synonymous form see Matthew 10:24; for the antithetic see Luke 6:41; for the synthetic and causal forms see Luke 9:23 and Matthew 6:7. Not alone are these forms of Hebrew poetry found in the words of Jesus, but also the more involved and sustained poetic utterances (Luke 7:31-32).
No one can question the deep emotional quality, the vivid imagination and spiritual idealism of Jesus. That the form of His speech is adequately set to poetic inspiration and conforms to the laws for Hebrew poetry has not been so freely acknowledged. Independently of theory advanced in Did Jesus Write His Own Gospel? (William Pitt MacVey), every student of the literature of the New Testament must be grateful for the chapter on "The Poems of Jesus."
Spirituality and poetry have a kinship, and the interpretation of any message is aided by the adequate knowledge of its form. When the New Testament has thus been carefully studied as literature, it will be seen, not only that Jesus was a poet, but that the entire New Testament, if not as rich as the Old Testament in poetic passages, is sufficiently poetic to receive treatment as such in religious encyclopedias.
See also FAITHFUL SAYINGS; POETRY, HEBREW.
C. E. Schenk
Points
Points - points: The word occurs in Ecclesiastes 5:16, "In all points (`ummah) as he came, so shall he go"--a man leaves the world in all regards as helpless as he entered it, no matter what he may have gained or accomplished during his life.
Also in Hebrews 4:15, "In all points (kata panta, "in all things," as in His human nature (Hebrews 2:14), so in His human experience (compare Hebrews 2:17-18)) tempted like as we are, yet without sin." He successfully resisted temptation at all points of His nature, in body, soul, and spirit. See TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Westcott (in loc.) thinks that the reference is not so much to Christ issuing out of all His trials without the least stain of sin, as to "a limitation of His temptation. Man's temptations come in many cases from previous sin. Such temptations had necessarily no place in Christ. He was tempted as we are, sharing our nature, yet with this exception, that there was no sin in Him to become the spring of trial." Whichever interpretation is adopted there is profound insight into the things of the soul in joining sinlessness with fullness of experience of temptation.
M. O. Evans
Poison
Poison - poi'-z'-n (chemah, ro'-sh; thumos, ios): Residents in Palestine must, from the first, have been acquainted with venomous serpents. Six species of these are widely diffused in the land, and at least three of them are fairly common in places. Besides, there are scorpions, centipedes and the large spider, which are as much dreaded by the fellahin as are the serpents, not to speak of the minor but very serious discomforts of mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks, some of which were credited with lethal powers. In Wisdom of Solomon 16:9 the Revised Version (British and American) we read that "the bites of locusts and flies did slay, and there was not found a healing for their life." There are also many poisonous plants, such as belladonna, henbane, thorn apple, and the opium poppy. None of these is mentioned in the Bible; the only names found there are the hemlock (Conium maculatum) of Hosea 10:4, the poisonous gourd (Citrullus colocynthis) of 2 Kings 4:39, and the grapes of gall, probably the fruit of Calotropis procera, the apples of Sodom of Josephus (BJ, IV, viii, 4). Some, however, believe that these are poppyheads. Poisonous waters are referred to at Marah (Exodus 15:23) and Jericho (2 Kings 2:19). There are no direct records of any person dying of poison except in 2 Maccabees 10:13, where the suicide of Ptolemy Macron is related. our Lord's promise in the appendix to Mark 16:18 shows, however, that poisons were known and might be administered by way of ordeal, as was the unknown "water of jealousy" (Numbers 5:17). In this connection the story in Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 39) is interesting, that "Justus surnamed Barsabbas, though he drank a deadly poison, suffered no injury, through the grace of the Lord." The passages in which poisonous serpents are mentioned are Deuteronomy 32:24, where serpents (the Revised Version (British and American) "crawling things") of the dust, probably Cerastes hasselquistii, the little horned vipers, are mentioned, and in Deuteronomy 32:33: "poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps." The asp may be the cobra Naia haje, not uncommon on the borders of the wilderness to the South. Psalms 58:4 mentions the poison of serpents. Psalms 140:3, "They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips," indicates, what is still a common belief, that the forked tongue of the snake is the poison-bearer. This is referred to in James 3:8. That it was the fang and not the tongue which carried the poison was known to Pliny (xi.62). This verse of Psalms 140:1-13 is given in Paul's composite quotation in Romans 3:13. There may be a reference to the giving of an intoxicant poison in Habakkuk 2:15, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads "that addest thy venom." The prophets speak in several places of God's wrath as a cup of trembling (the Revised Version (British and American) "staggering"), e.g. Isaiah 51:17, 22, probably suggested by the fact that chemah primarily means "fury" and is used in that sense in more than a hundred passages. In Zechariah 12:2 Jerusalem is to be such a "cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about."
The semamith, "lizard" (the King James Version "spider"), mentioned in Proverbs 30:28 Septuagint kalabotes) was formerly regarded as poisonous and it is still much disliked by the fellahin, as they believe that it makes mocking gestures mimicking them at their prayers. They are really not poisonous. It is doubtful whether the lizard mentioned by Agur is really this stellion; the description better fits the gecko.
Alexander Macalister
Pole
Pole - pol: Numbers 21:8-9 the King James Version for nes, Revised Version "standard."
Policy
Policy - pol'-i-si: Literally "method of government," and so "ability to manage affairs." In a bad sense, "cunning," "craft," in Daniel 8:25 (sekhel, "understanding"); in a good sense in 1 Maccabees 8:4 (boule, "counsel"); also in the King James Version 2 Maccabees 13:18; 29, 31 (methodos, strategema, strategeo), where the Revised Version has "stratagem." Policies occurs in Judith 11:8 the King James Version for panourgema, lit. "readiness for anything," here in a good sense; Revised Version "subtil devices."
Polished
Polished - pol'-isht.
See CORNER-STONE, (2).
Poll
Poll - pol: The word (on the derivation of which see Skeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 360) has been eliminated as a verb in the American Standard Revised Version. In the King James Version and English Revised Version it represents the Hebrew verbs kacam, literally "to shear" (Ezekiel 44:20), gazaz, literally, "to pull out," "to uproot," thence "to shear the sheep," figuratively, "to destroy an enemy" (Micah 1:16), galach, in Piel, literally, "to make bald or roundheaded" (2 Samuel 14:26) and qatsats, "to cut off" (Jeremiah 9:26; 25:23; 49:32). The Hebrew noun is gulgoleth. As will be seen from the above enumeration, the Hebrew verb differ considerably in etymology, while Revised Version has not tried to distinguish. In Micah 1:16 we have a reference to the oriental custom of cutting or tearing one's hair as a sign of mourning for one's relatives. "Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair (King James Version and English Revised Version "poll thee," Hebrew gazaz) for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle (margin "vulture"); for they are gone into captivity from thee." The priests, the sons of Zadok, are instructed to abstain from outward resemblance to heathen patterns of priesthood: "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair (the King James Version and the English Revised Version, "poll," Hebrew kacam) of their heads" (Ezekiel 44:20). The Piel form of galach is employed in the description of the annual hair-cutting of Absalom (2 Samuel 14:26). Thrice we find the verb "to poll" as the translation of Hebrew qatsats, where the American Standard Revised Version materially improves the translation by adopting the marginal version of the King James Version (Jeremiah 9:26; 25:23; 49:32).
See HAIR.
The noun (gulgoleth, lit. "head") is translated "poll" in the phrase "by the poll," "by their polls" (Numbers 1:2, 18, 20, 22; 3:47; 1 Chronicles 23:3, 14). The expression has its origin in the numbering of persons by their heads, in the same way in which we speak of head-tax, etc.
H. L. E. Luering
Pollution
Pollution - po-lu'-shun (ga'al, "to pollute"; alisgema, "contamination"): In Malachi 1:7, "Ye offer polluted bread," i.e. not actually unclean, but worthless, common (compare Ezra 2:62), bread here being used metonymically for sacrificial offerings generally (compare Leviticus 21:6; Matthew 6:11). The phrase in Acts 15:20, "the pollutions of idols," is explained in Acts 15:29 by "things sacrificed (the King James Version "meats offered") to idols."
Pollux
Pollux - pol'-uks.
See CASTOR AND POLLUX.
Polygamy
Polygamy - po-lig'-a-mi:
1. Meaning of the Term
2. Origin of Polygamy
3. The Old Testament and Polygamy
4. Polygamy Unnatural
The Eunuch
5. Weakness of Polygamy
1. Meaning of the Term: Polygamy has been and is the open blazon by the human race of sex vice. The very term is a misnomer. Since man became moralized he has apprehended that the proper marriage relation between the sexes is monogamy. Whatever may have been the practice, since man could ask himself, What is right? he has known that ap' arches ("from the beginning," Matthew 19:4), au fond, at bottom, marriage is the choice of one man and one woman of each other for a life family relation. La Rochefoucauld said: "Hypocrisy is a sort of homage which vice pays to virtue." There is hypocrisy beneath the word polygamy. It is an attempt to cover up by the term "plural marriage" what is not marriage and cannot be marriage. There is no particular need of defining what the condition is, so long as we can look upon it as a violation and negation of the marriage relation. The very use of the term from any language covering a like condition is attempt--
"To steal the livery of the court of heaven
To serve the Devil in."
Polygamy is a general term and might mean a multiplicity of partners in the family relation by one of either sex. But it does not. Polygamy practically means exactly "polygyny" (gune), i.e. it describes a many-wived man. The correlative term "polyandry" describes the condition of a woman who has many men in family relation with herself. They are all husbands to her, as in polygamy all the women are wives to one man. But polyandry in historic times has had so little illustration that it may be dismissed as so exceptional as to be worthy of no further notice here.
Why polygamy has captured the whole position philologically covered by polygyny is readily apparent. The might of the physically strongest has dictated the situation. Man has on the average one-fourth more muscular force than woman. When it comes to wrong in sex relation, man has that advantage, and it has given him the field covered by the word "polygamy." There he is master and woman is the victim.
2. Origin of Polygamy: It is plainly evident that polygamy is primarily largely the outcome of tribal wars. When men had separated into clans and had taken up different places of abode, collisions would soon occur between them. What would happen in such cases would be what we know did happen in North America soon after its first settlement by Europeans, to wit, the destruction of the Hurons by the Iroquois. The great majority of the men were massacred; the women and children, driven to the abode of the conquerors, disappearing there mainly in concubinage and slavery. What shall be done with this surplus of women? Here again the might of the strongest comes to the front. The chief or the most heroic fighter would assert his right to choice of captives, and thus concubinage or what is the same thing--polygamy--would be set up. Successes in further wars come and add other women to be distributed. Of course to the sheik or king there soon comes the seraglio and the harem. Polygamous practices will come in in other ways. The prisoner of war becomes property and passes from hand to hand by gift or sale. So woman--the weaker party--endures what comes to her as slave, concubine. We have now no longer the "helpmeet" originally destined for man--"bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh"--for whom he would "leave his father and his mother" and to whose single self he would "cleave" for life (Genesis 2:18, 24; Matthew 19:5-6). Monogamy, with its unity in labor, thought and feeling, with its immeasurable modifying influences of moral, ideal and spiritual cast, is gone. Woman is reduced to the position of ministrant to man's unmodified sensuality.
3. The Old Testament and Polygamy: The complications introduced into morals by polygamy are not often considered. But the Bible sets them forth in plainness. The marriage of Abraham and Sarah seems to have been an original love match, and even to have preserved something of that character through life. Still we find Sarah under the influence of polygamous ideas, presenting Abraham with a concubine. Yet afterward, when she herself had a son, she induced Abraham to drive out into the wilderness this concubine and her son. Now Abraham was humane and kind, and it is said "The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight" (Genesis 21:11). But he was in the toils of polygamy, and it brought him pain and retribution. A Divine direction may be hard to bear.
The conditions of Jacob's marriages were such that it is hard to say whether any of his children were of any other than of polygamous origin (Genesis 35:22-26). Where the family idea and affection went, in such mixed condition, is evidenced by the unblushing sale, for slavery in Egypt, of one of the brothers by the others (Genesis 37:28).
David was a singer of sweet and noble songs and wanted to be a righteous man with his whole heart. Yet, probably in common with all the military leaders and kings of the earth of his day, he had a polygamous career. His retributions ran along an extended line. There was a case of incest and murder among his children (2 Samuel 13:1-39). The son in whom he had most hope and pride organized treason against his throne, and lost his life in the attempt. David left his kingdom to Solomon, of whom much might be said, but of whom this can be said--evidently originally a man bright, keen-witted, wise, yet in his old age he went to pieces by the wiles of the women with whom he had loaded his harem. Partly by his extravagance in his polygamous life, and partly in attempt to build temples in distant places for the religions represented by the inmates of his harem, he bankrupted his nation. As a consequence his kingdom was divided at his death, and there was never again a united Israel (1 Kings 11:12). Polygamy may be justly charged with these untoward results.
4. Polygamy Unnatural: It can be demonstrated scientifically, even mathematically, that polygamy is a moral wrong. Statistics show that births are substantially equally divided between the sexes. Excess seems slightly on the side of males. When this fact is considered and also the fact of the wide prevalence of polygamy, it would seem that polygamy (polygyny) is a greater crime against Nature than polyandry. To put out of view for a moment the wrong to woman in denying to her the rights and privileges of monogamous marriage, the interference with the rights of man to such marriage looms up in vast proportion. Every harem is the denial to men of the right to seek among its inmates wives according to the dictates of their own hearts.
The Eunuch.
But we are not done with the crime against man. Given a harem, and he who set it up has made, or there brought, the eunuch. The lord of the harem must be served by emasculated men. A search in history will reveal an amount of this wickedness that is past belief. The eunuch has been everywhere among all nations and peoples and tongues. They have not only been servitors to women in harems, but they have acquired such influence with their masters that they have sometimes even dictated the policy of government. They have been the secret cabinet that has had the last word in public affairs. They have sometimes held public positions and shown therein astonishing ability. Witness Narses, the brilliant general of the emperor Justinian.
See EUNUCH.
5. Weakness of Polygamy: Gibbon noticed the fact that nations began to decline in power when their policies were dictated and managed by eunuchs. But that is taking a symptom for the disease. There are weaknesses behind that weakness. We have found woman in muscular strength equal to three-fourths of a man. If we claim nothing more for woman than that ratio through the whole scale of her potencies, what would be thought of a nation that should try to reduce that three-fourths of potency as nearly to zero as it could? This is what polygamy has done--reduced woman as nearly to a cipher as it could in all the departments of her being. She has been held to the lowest and most primitive industrial pursuits. She has been deprived of intellectual development. She has been debarred from society, permitted to look at it only through a home lattice, or, if abroad, through a swathod face. The harem of sheik or sultan has fixed the condition of woman in province or nation--set the bounds to her life. The highest office assigned her has been breeder of children, and for one-half of them--the daughters--she could have no possible hope or ambition.
See WOMAN.
Where in such degradation is the "helpmeet" for man in all his problems? This condition is reflected back over man. What possible appeal can there be to him for thought and energy except to repeat the same dull round exhibited in his daily life? Polygamous nations have never been industrial inventors, have contributed little to science. They have usually ruined the fertility of the lands they have occupied. They have been heavily weighted with the lethargy of a system that appeals to nothing but the most primitive instincts and vices of man.
The monogamous have been the forceful nations. Rome conquered the world while she was monogamous, and lost control of it when she dropped to the moral level of the sex corruption of the peoples that she had conquered. The Teuton trundled into and over Europe in ox-carts mounted on solid wood trucks. But his cart carried one wife, and now all polygamy is held under the trained guns of the Tenton.
There may seem to be two exceptions--the establishment of the Mogul empire in India and the subjugation of Western Asia and Eastern Europe by the Turk. That in both cases there was great success in war is granted. They were authorized by their religion to exhibit the frenzy of bloodshed and indulge in lust. Indeed, enjoyment of the latter was a bright hope for the life to come. But when they had possession of a country, and massacres and ravishing were over, what then? For what is mankind indebted to them?
A Lyric.
A lyric has been put in the hand of the present writer by a friend who wrote it at the last date of the title. It is one of the lyrics of the centuries in its synthesis of history and in its insight into the forces physical, moral and immoral at work in the Mogul empire of India. Notice the dates. The text will show what took place between.
THE MOGUL 1525-1857
A war steed coursed out the wind-swept north,
Jarring the crags with hoofs of fire,
Snuffing far battle with nostril wide,
Neighing the joy of fierce desire.
The crisping herbage of arid plains
Had toughened his sinews like bands of steel;
The snow-fed waters of Zarafshan
Had nerved the might of a northern will.
The war steed grazed in the fertile meads,
Drinking the waters of indolent streams:
He rested at eve on bloom-dight beds,
Toyed with by maidens in the goldening gleams.
They charmed his ear with dalliant song:
They closed his eyes in witchery's glee:
They fed him the vineyards' wildering draught--
He slept in the breath of the lotus tree.
White bones lie strewn on the flowering mead,
In flesh-rank grass grown high and dark.
The carrion bird hath flown--hath died--
Riseth the war-horse? Neigheth? Hark!
--JOSIAH TORREY READE, Amherst, 1856.
The above lyric may be taken as the epitaph of any polygamous nation. The last words are significant--"Neigheth? Hark!" Would the old war steed arise? "Hark!" The Sepoy rebellion was on! We "hearkened," but the rebellion went to pieces and an end was put to the Mogul empire. We have listened for half a century and heard no sound. We hear mutterings now, but the end will be as before--even if the "war-horse" riseth and is victorious. He will then again lie down in "flesh-rank grass grown high and dark," and the "carrion bird" will fly from his "white bones." Streams cannot rise higher than their fountains. The causes remaining, the same effects will follow.
See DIVORCE; FAMILY; MARRIAGE.
C. Caverno
Pomegranate
Pomegranate - pom'-gran-at, pom-gran'-at, pum'-gran-at (rimmon (tree and fruit); the Hebrew name is similar to the Arabic, Aramaic and Ethiopic; rhoa):
1. A Tree Characteristic of Palestine: One of the most attractive and most characteristic of the fruit trees of Syria, probably indigenous to Persia, Afghanistan and the neighborhood of the Caucasus, but introduced to Palestine in very ancient times. The spies brought specimens of figs and pomegranates, along with grapes, from the Vale of Eshcol (Numbers 13:23). Vines, figs and pomegranates are mentioned (Numbers 20:5) as fruits the Israelites missed in the wilderness; the promised land was to be one "of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates" (Deuteronomy 8:8), a promise renewed in Haggai 2:19. In the lamentation in Joel 1:11-12 we have the pomegranate, the palm tree and the apple tree represented as withered, "for joy is withered away from the sons of men."
2. The Fruit: The pomegranate tree, Punica granatum (Natural Order, Granateae) occurs usually as a shrub or small tree 10-15 ft. high, and is distinguished by its fresh green, oval leaves, which fall in winter, and its brilliant scarlet blossoms (compare Song of Solomon 7:12). The beauty of an orchard of pomegranates is referred to in Song of Solomon 4:13. The fruit which is ripe about September is apple-shaped, yellow-brown with a blush of red, and is surmounted by a crown-like hard calyx; on breaking the hard rind, the white or pinkish, translucent fruits are seen tightly packed together inside. The juicy seeds are sometimes sweet and sometimes somewhat acid, and need sugar for eating. The juice expressed from the seeds is made into a kind of syrup for flavoring drinks, and in ancient days was made into wine: "I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice (margin "sweet wine") of my pomegranate" (Song of Solomon 8:2). The beauty of a cut section of pomegranate--or one burst open naturally, when fully ripe--may have given rise to the comparison in Song of Solomon 4:3; 6:7: "Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate." The rind of the pomegranate contains a very high percentage of tannic acid, and is employed both as a medicine and for tanning, particularly in making genuine morocco leather.
Whether the pomegranate tree in Migron under which Saul is said (1 Samuel 14:2) to have abode with his 600 men was really a tree or a place, Rimmon, is doubtful.
See RIMMON.
3. The Pomegranate in Art: A large number of references to the pomegranate are to the use of the form of the fruit in ornamentation, in which respect it appears among the Hebrews to have something of the position of the lotus bud as a decorative motive in Egypt. It was embroidered in many colors on the skirts of Aaron's garments, together with golden bells (Exodus 28:33 f; Exodus 39:24-26; compare Ecclesiasticus 45:9). Hiram of Tyre introduced the pomegranate into his brass work ornamentation in the temple: "So he made the pillars; and there were two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the capitals that were upon the top of the pillars" (margin "So the Syriac The Hebrew has `pomegranates'") (1 Kings 7:18). "And the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about upon the other capital" (1 Kings 7:20; compare also 1 Kings 7:42; 2 Kings 25:17; 2 Chronicles 3:16; 4:13).
E. W. G. Masterman
Pommel
Pommel - pum'-el (2 Chronicles 4:12-13): the Revised Version (British and American) reads "bowl" (which see).
Pond
Pond - See CISTERN; POOL.
Ponder
Ponder - pon'-der: Occurs in the King James Version 5 times in the Book of Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. In each case it means "to consider carefully," "to weigh mentally." In Proverbs 4:26 and Proverbs 5:21, the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "make level." In Proverbs 5:6, it drops out entirely in the Revised Version (British and American). In Proverbs 21:2 and Proverbs 24:12, "weigh" is substituted for "ponder." The one New Testament passage is Luke 2:19; here the Revised Version (British and American) has "pondering" where the King James Version has "and pondered."
Pontius
Pontius - pon'-shi-us, pon'-ti-us.
See PILATE.
Pontus
Pontus - pon'-tus (Pontos): Was an important province in the northeastern part of Asia Minor, lying along the south shore of the Black Sea. The name was geographical, not ethnical, in origin, and was first used to designate that part of Cappadocia which bordered on the "Pontus," as the Euxine was often termed. Pontus proper extended from the Halys River on the West to the borders of Colchis on the East, its interior boundaries meeting those of Galatia, Cappadocia and Armenia. The chief rivers besides the Halys were the Iris, Lycus and Thermodon. The configuration of the country included a beautiful but narrow, riparian margin, backed by a noble range of mountains parallel to the coast, while these in turn were broken by the streams that forced their way from the interior plains down to the sea; the valleys, narrower or wider, were fertile and productive, as were the wide plains of the interior such as the Chiliokomon and Phanaroea. The mountain slopes were originally clothed with heavy forests of beech, pine and oak of different species, and when the country was well afforested, the rainfall must have been better adequate than now to the needs of a luxuriant vegetation.
The first points in the earliest history of Pontus emerge from obscurity, much as the mountain peaks of its own noble ranges lift their heads above a fog bank. Thus, we catch glimpses of Assyrian culture at Sinope and Amisus, probably as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. The period of Hittite domination in Asia Minor followed hard after, and there is increasing reason to suppose that the Hittites occupied certain leading city sites in Pontus, constructed the artificial mounds or tumuli that frequently meet the eyes of modern travelers, hewed out the rock tombs, and stamped their character upon the early conditions. The home of the Amazons, those warrior priestesses of the Hittites, was located on the banks of the Thermodon, and the mountains rising behind Terme are still called the "Amazon Range"; and the old legends live still in stories about the superior prowess of the modern women living there.
See ASIA MINOR, ARCHAEOLOGY OF.
As the Hittite power shrunk in extent and force, by the year 1000 BC bands of hardy Greek adventurers appeared from the West sailing along the Euxine main in quest of lands to exploit and conquer and colonize. Cape Jason, which divides the modern mission fields of Trebizond and Marsovan, preserves the memory of the Argonants and the Golden Fleece. Miletus, "greatest of the Ionic towns," sent out its colonists, swarm after swarm, up through the Bosphorus, and along the southern shore of the Black Sea. They occupied Sinope, the northern-most point of the peninsula with the best harbor and the most commanding situation. Sinope was in Paphlagonia, but politically as well as commercially enjoyed intimate relations with the Pontic cities. Settlers from Sinope, reinforced by others from Athens direct, pressed on and founded Amisus, the modern Samsoun, always an important commercial city. Another colony from Sinope founded Trebizond, near which Xenophon and the Ten Thousand reached the sea again after they had sounded the power of Persia and found it hollow at Cunaxa. Among the cities of the interior, picturesque Amasia in the gorge of the Iris River witnessed the birth of Strabo in the 1st century BC, and to the geographer Strabo, more than to any other man, is due our knowledge of Pontus in its early days. Zille, "built upon the mound of Semiramis," contained the sanctuary of Anaitis, where sacrifices were performed with more pomp than in any other place. Comana, near the modern Tokat, was a city famous for the worship of the great god Ma. Greek culture by degrees took root along the coast; it mixed with, and in turn was modified by, the character of the older native inhabitants.
When the Persians established their supremacy in Asia Minor with the overthrow of Lydia, 546 BC, Pontus was loosely joined to the great empire and was ruled by Persian satraps. Ariobarzanes, Mithradates and Pharnaces are the recurring names in this dynasty of satraps which acquired independence about 363 and maintained it during the Macedonian period. The man that first made Pontus famous in history was Mithradates VI, surnamed Eupator. Mithradates was a typical oriental despot, gifted, unscrupulous, commanding. Born at Sinope 136 BC and king at Amasia at the age of twelve, Mithradates was regarded by the Romans as "the most formidable enemy the Republic ever had to contend with." By conquest or alliance he widely extended his power, his chief ally being his son-in-law Dikran, or Tigranes, of Armenia, and then prepared for the impending struggle with Rome. The republic had acquired Pergamus in 133 BC and assumed control of Western Asia Minor. There were three Roman armies in different parts of the peninsula when war broke out, 88 BC. Mithradates attacked them separately and over-threw them all. He then planned and executed a general massacre of all the Romans in Asia Minor, and 80,000 persons were cut down. Sulla by patient effort restored the fortunes of Rome, and the first war ended in a drawn game; each party had taken the measure of its antagonist, but neither had been able to oust the other. The second war began in the year 74, with Lucullus as the Roman general. Lucullus took Amisus by siege, chased Mithradates to Cabira, modern Niksar, scattered his army and drove the oriental sultan out of his country. Subsequently on his return to Rome, Lucullus carried from Kerasoun the first cherries known to the western world. In the third war the hero on the Roman side was the masterful Pompey, appointed in 66 BC. As a result of this war, Mithradates was completely vanquished. His dominions were finally and permanently incorporated in the territories of the Roman republic. The aged king, breathing out wrath and forming impossible plans against his lifelong enemies, died in exile in the Crimea from poison administered by his own hand.
Most of Pontus was for administrative purposes united by the Romans with the province of Bithynia, though the eastern part subsisted as a separate kingdom under Polemon and his house, 36 BC to 63 AD, and the southwestern portion was incorporated with the province of Galatia.
It was during the Roman period that Christianity entered this province. There were Jews dwelling in Pontus, devout representatives of whom were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Paul's associates, Aquila and Priscilla, were originally from here (Acts 18:2). The sojourners of the Dispersion are included in the address of the first Epistle of Peter together with the people of four other provinces in Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). Local traditions connect the apostles Andrew and Thaddeus with evangelistic labors in this region. They are said to have followed the great artery of travel leading from Caesarea Mazaca to Sinope. Pliny, governor of Bithynia and Pontus 111-113 AD, found Christians under his authority in great numbers (see BITHYNIA), and Professor Ramsay argues that Pliny's famous letters, Numbers 96 and 97, written to the emperor Traian on the subject of the treatment of Christians under his government (see PERSECUTION), were composed in view of conditions in Amisus (Church in Roman Empire, 224, 225).
The Roman empire in the East was gradually merged into the Byzantine, which is still known to the local inhabitants as the empire of "Roum," i.e. Rome. Pontus shared the vicissitudes of this rather unfortunate government until, in 1204, a branch of the Byzantine imperial family established in Pontus a separate small state with its capital at Trebizond. Here the house of the Grand Comneni, sheltered between the sea and the mountain ranges, maintained its tinsel sovereignty to and beyond the fall of Constantinople. In 1461 Trebizond was taken by Mohammed the Conqueror, since which date Pontus, with its conglomerate population of Turks, Armenians, Greeks and fragments of other races, has been a part of the Ottoman empire.
G. E. White
Pool; Pond; Reservoir
Pool; Pond; Reservoir - pool, pond, rez'-er-vwar, rez'-er-vwar ((1) berekhah, "pool"; compare Arabic birkat, "pool"; compare berakhah, "blessing," and Arabic barakat, "blessing"; (2) agham, "pool," "marsh," "reeds"; compare Arabic 'ajam, "thicket," "jungle"; (3) miqwah, "reservoir," the King James Version "ditch" (Isaiah 22:11); (4) miqweh, "pond," the King James Version "pool" (Exodus 7:19); miqweh ha-mayim, English Versions of the Bible "gathering together of the waters" (Genesis 1:10); miqweh-mayim, "a gathering of water," the King James Version "plenty of water" (Leviticus 11:36); (5) kolumbethra, "pool," literally, "a place of diving," from kolumbao, "to dive"): Lakes (see LAKE) are very rare in Syria and Palestine, but the dry climate, which is one reason for the fewness of lakes, impels the inhabitants to make artificial pools or reservoirs to collect the water of the rain or of springs for irrigation and also for drinking. The largest of these are made by damming water courses, in which water flows during the winter or at least after showers of rain. These may be enlarged or deepened by excavation. Good examples of this are found at Diban and Madeba in Moab. Smaller pools of rectangular shape and usually much wider than deep, having no connection with water courses, are built in towns to receive rain from the roofs or from the surface of the ground. These may be for common use like several large ones in Jerusalem, or may belong to particular houses. These are commonly excavated to some depth in the soil or rock, though the walls are likely to rise above the surface. Between these and cylindrical pits or cisterns no sharp line can be drawn.
The water of springs may be collected in large or small pools of masonry, as the pool of Siloam (John 9:7). This is commonly done for irrigation when the spring is so small that the water would be lost by absorption or evaporation if it were attempted to convey it continuously to the fields. The pool (Arabic, birkat) receives the trickle of water until it is full. The water is then let out in a large stream and conducted where it is needed. (In this way by patient labor a small trickling spring may support much vegetation.)
'Agham does not seem to be used of artificial pools, but rather of natural or accidental depressions containing water, as pools by the Nile (Exodus 7:19; 8:5), or in the wilderness (Psalms 107:35; 114:8; Isaiah 14:23; 35:7; 41:18; 42:15). In Isaiah 19:10 the rendering of the King James Version, "all that make sluices and ponds for fish," would be an exception to this statement, but the Revised Version (British and American) has "all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul." Miqweh occurs with 'agham in Exodus 7:19 of the ponds and pools by the Nile. Berekhah is used of "the pool of Gibeon" (2 Samuel 2:13), "the pool in Hebron" (2 Samuel 4:12), "the pool of Samaria" (1 Kings 22:38), "the pools in Heshbon" (Song of Solomon 7:4), "the pool of Shelah," the King James Version "Shiloah" (Nehemiah 3:15); compare "the waters of Shiloah" (Isaiah 8:6). We read in Ecclesiastes 2:6, "I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared." There is mention of "the upper pool" (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3; 36:2), "the lower pool" (Isaiah 22:9), "the king's pool" (Nehemiah 2:14). Isaiah 22:11 has, "Ye made also a reservoir (miqwah) between the two walls for the water of the old pool (berekhah)." Kolumbethra is used of the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2, 4, 7) and of the pool of Siloam (John 9:7, 11).
See also CISTERN; NATURAL FEATURES;BJ , V, iv, 2.
Alfred Ely Day
Pools of Solomon
Pools of Solomon - poolz.
See CISTERN; POOL.
Poor
Poor - poor ('ebhyon, dal, `ani, rush; ptochos):
I. In the Old Testament. The poor have great prominence in the Bible; it is said, indeed, that there should be no poor among the Hebrews because Yahweh should so greatly bless them (Deuteronomy 15:4 the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version margin); but this was only to be realized on certain conditions of obedience (Deuteronomy 15:5), and in Deuteronomy 15:11 it is said,"The poor will never cease out of the land"; but they were to see to it that none was left in destitution. The very foundation of the Hebrew religion was God's pity on a poor and oppressed people.
1. The Terms Employed: The words for "poor" are chiefly 'ebhyon, "desirous," "needy," "poor" (Exodus 23:6, etc.); dal, "moving," "swaying," hence, weak, poor, lowly (Exodus 23:3, etc.); dallah, "poverty," "weakness" (2 Kings 25:12, etc.); rush, perhaps "to shake," "tremble," "to be poor," "impoverished" (1 Samuel 18:23, etc.); `ani, also `anaw, "poor," "oppressed," from `anah, "to bend" or "bow down (Exodus 22:25, etc.); `aneh, Aramaic (Daniel 4:27), chelekhah, "wretchedness" (Psalms 10:8, 14 the King James Version); yarash, "to make poor" (1 Samuel 2:7); machsor, "want" (Proverbs 21:17); micken, "a needy one" (Ecclesiastes 4:13; 9:15 bis,16).
2. Representations: (1) Generally.--God (Yahweh and 'Elohim) is represented as having a special care for "the poor," which was illustrated in the deliverance of the nation from Egyptian poverty and bondage and was never to be forgotten by them (Deuteronomy 24:22); as punishing the oppressors of the poor and rewarding those who were kind to them; God Himself was the Protector and Saviour of the poor (Exodus 22:23): "If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot," etc. (Deuteronomy 15:9; 24:15; 1 Samuel 2:8; Job 31:16; Psalms 9:18; 12:5; Proverbs 19:17; Isaiah 25:4; Ecclesiastes 5:8, "one higher than the high regardeth," etc.).
(2) Liberality to the poor is specially enjoined (Deuteronomy 15:7 f), and they were to beware of self-deception and grudging in this (Deuteronomy 15:9-10).
(3) Special provisions were made on behalf of the poor: (a) Every third year a tithe was to be given "unto the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless and to the widow" that Yahweh might bless them (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 26:12 f); (b) the poor were to have the free use of all that grew spontaneously in field or vineyard during the Sabbatic year (Exodus 23:10 f; Leviticus 25:5-6); (c) each year the gleanings of the fields and vineyards should belong to the poor, the corners of fields were to be left for them, and if a sheaf was forgotten it should remain (Leviticus 19:9-10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19); (d) fruit and ripe grain in a field might be eaten by any hungry person, but none should be carried away (Deuteronomy 23:24-25); (e) in the Feast of Weeks the poor were to participate (Deuteronomy 16:9-12); (f) every seventh year there should be a "release" of debts (Deuteronomy 15:1 f) ; in the seventh year of servitude the Hebrew bond-servant should go free (Exodus 21:2), or in the Jubilee, if that came first, on which occasion--the fiftieth year--property that had been sold returned to its owner or his family (Leviticus 25:8-17); (g) they were to lend readily to the poor, and no interest or increase was to be taken from their brethren (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy 15:7 f); in Leviticus 25:39, no poor Hebrew was to be made a bond-servant, and, if a hired servant, he was not to be ruled with rigor (Leviticus 25:43); his hire was to be given him daily (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15); no widow's raiment was to be taken in pledge (Deuteronomy 24:17), nor the handmill, nor the upper millstone so essential for daily life (Deuteronomy 24:6), a man's garment should be returned to him before sundown, and no house should be entered to seize or fetch any pledge (Deuteronomy 24:10-13); breach of these laws should be sin and their observance righteousness (Deuteronomy 24:13, 15, etc.; see ALMS,ALMSGIVING ); (h) justice was to be done to the poor (Exodus 23:6; Deuteronomy 27:19, "Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow"); (i) offerings were graduated according to means (Leviticus 5:7; 12:8).
(4) Definite penalties were not always attached to those laws, and the prophets and psalmists have many complaints of the unjust treatment and oppression of the poor, contrary to the will of God, and frequent exhortations to justice and a due regard for them (Psalms 10:2, 9; 12:5; 14:6, etc.; Isaiah 3:14-15; Jeremiah 2:34; Ezekiel 16:49, "the iniquity of .... Sodom"; Ezekiel 18:12, 17; 22:29; Amos 2:7; 4:1; Habakkuk 3:14; compare Job 20:19; 9, 14, etc.; Proverbs 14:31).
(5) The duty of caring for the poor is frequently and strongly set forth and divine promises attached to its fulfillment (Psalms 41:1; 72:12 ff; Proverbs 17:5; 22:9; 3, 17; Isaiah 58:7; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 18:17; Daniel 4:27; Zechariah 7:10, etc.; compare Job 29:12, 16; 30:25; 31:19; Psalms 112:9).
(6) The day of the divine manifestation, the times of the Messiah, should bring deliverance and rejoicing to the poor (Psalms 72:12-15; Isaiah 11:4, "With righteousness shall he judge the poor," etc.; Isaiah 14:30; 29:19; 61:1 the Revised Version margin).
(7) The equality of rich and poor before God and the superiority of the righteous poor to the ungodly rich, etc., are maintained (Proverbs 19:1, 22; Proverbs 22:1-2; Ecclesiastes 4:13).
(8) Ways in which men can willfully make themselves poor are mentioned (Proverbs 6:11; 10:4; 12:24; 4, 18; 14:23; 20:13; 5, 17; 23:21; 28:19).
3. The Godly Poor: The chief words given above all mean poor, literally, but `ani (rendered also "afflicted") may also denote Israel as a nation in its afflictions and low estate, e.g. Psalms 68:10; Isaiah 41:17; 49:13; 51:21; 54:11; in Zephaniah 3:12, it is "the ideal Israel of the future." Dr. Driver remarks (art. "Poor," HDB) that such passages show that `ani (as also its frequent parallel 'ebhyon, and, though somewhat less distinctly, dal) came gradually "to denote the godly poor, the suffering righteous, the persons who, whether `bowed down' or `needy' or `reduced,' were the godly servants of Yahweh." The humble poor became in fact distinguished as the line in which faithfulness to Yahweh was maintained and spiritual
religion developed. The less frequent word `anaw, often translated "meek," "humble," is regarded (see Driver in the place cited.) as having from the first a moral and religious significance. It is used of Moses (Numbers 12:3) and occurs in Psalms 10:12, 17; 22:26; 25:9, etc.; Proverbs 3:34; 16:19; Isaiah 29:19; 32:7; 61:1; Amos 2:7; Zephaniah 2:3.
II. In the New Testament. In the New Testament ptochos, "trembling," "poor," "beggar," is almost exclusively the word translated "poor." It does not occur very frequently, but we see the same regard for the poor maintained as we have in the Old Testament; besides, the new principle of love and the example of Him who "though he was rich, yet for your sakes .... became poor" (ptocheuo, 2 Corinthians 8:9) necessarily carry in them this regard even more fully than in the Old Testament. Jesus announced His mission (Luke 4:18) by quoting Isaiah 61:1, "to preach good tidings (the King James Version "the gospel") to the poor" (or meek or humble); He gave as a proof of His Messiahship the fact that "the poor have the gospel (or good news of the Kingdom) preached to them" (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22); according to Luke 6:20, He pronounced a beatitude on the pious "poor" because the kingdom of God was theirs; in Matthew 5:3 it is "the poor in spirit" (the humble); we have the injunction to "give to the poor" (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22) who are "always with you" (Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8), which does not mean that there must always be "the poor," but that, in contrast with Himself who was soon to leave them, the poor should remain and kindness could be shown to them at any time, which was His own practice (John 13:29); we are enjoined to call not the rich or well-to-do to our entertainments, but the poor (Luke 14:13; compare Luke 14:21); Zaccheus cited in his favor the fact that he gave `half of his goods to the poor' (Luke 19:8); special notice was taken by Jesus of the poor widow's contribution (Luke 21:3). The first church showed its regard for the poor in the distribution of goods "according as any man had need" (Acts 2:45; 4:32; 6:1); when the council at Jerusalem freed the Gentiles from the yoke of Judaism, they made it a condition, Paul says, "that we should remember the poor; which very thing I was also zealous to do" (Galatians 2:10); contributions were accordingly made "for the poor among the saints that are at Jerus" (Romans 15:26), and it was in conveying such contributions that Paul got into the circumstances that led to his arrest. God's ability and will to provide for those who give to the poor is quoted from Psalms 112:9 (2 Corinthians 9:9); James specially rebukes certain Christians of his day for their partiality for the rich and their dishonor of the poor (James 2:5-9), and John asks how, in the man who "hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him," the love of God can dwell (1 John 3:17-18).
Ptochos is translated "beggar" (Luke 16:20, 22) and "beggarly" (Galatians 4:9); penes, "one who works for his daily bread," "a poor man," is the word in 2 Corinthians 9:9; the poor widow of Mark 12:42 is described in Luke 21:2 as penichros, "very poor."
III. In the Apocrypha. In the Apocrypha the poor are often mentioned; God's regard for them (Ecclesiasticus 21:5 (ptochos); 35:12,13); their oppression and wrongs (Wisdom of Solomon 2:10 (penes); Ecclesiasticus 13:3, 19, 23 (ptochos); Baruch 6:28); the duty of care for and of giving to the poor (Tobit 4:7 (ptochos); Ecclesiasticus 29:8 (tapeinos); 29:9 (penes); 34:20-22); of justice and kindness to such (Ecclesiastes 4:1, 5, 8; 7:32; 10:23 (ptochos)); "poor" in the sense of pitiable occurs in 2 Maccabees 4:47 (talaiporos), the Revised Version (British and American) "hapless."
IV. The Revised Version (British and American) Changes.
For "the poor of this world" (James 2:5) the Revised Version (British and American) has "them that are poor as to the world"; for "The poor .... shall trust in it" (Isaiah 14:32), "In her shall the afflicted .... take refuge"; instead of "Whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor" (Ecclesiastes 4:14), "Yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor"; "poor" for "humble" (Psalms 9:12; 10:12, margin "meek"), for "lowly" (Proverbs 16:19, margin "meek").
W. L. Walker
Poplar
Poplar - pop'-lar (libhneh, "whiteness"; sturakinos, "storax" (Genesis 30:37), leuke, "poplar" (Hosea 4:13) (libhneh is so similar to the Arabic libna, the storax, that the latter certainly has the first claim to be the true translation)): "Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar," margin "storax tree" (Genesis 30:37). "They .... burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good" (Hosea 4:13). In the latter reference the conjunction of the shrub, storax, with two great trees like the oak and terebinth--even though they all grow in the mountains--is strange. The storax cannot give a shade comparable with these trees. Had we other evidence of the storax being a sacred tree among the Hebrews, it might explain the difficulty.
The storax, Styrax officinalis (Natural Order Styraceae), is a very common shrub in Palestine which occasionally attains the height of 20 feet. The under surfaces of its oval leaves are covered with whitish hairs, and it has many beautiful pure-white flowers like orange blossoms--hence, its name "whiteness."
The poplar, the traditional translation in Hosea 4:13, flourishes in many parts of Palestine. The white poplar, Populus alba, Arabic Haur, is common everywhere; Euphratica occurs especially in the Jordan valley; the black poplar, P. nigra, and the Lombardy poplar, P. pyramidalis--probably an importation--are both plentiful in the plain of Coele-Syria, around Damascus and along the river banks of Syria.
E. W. G. Masterman
Poratha
Poratha - po-ra'-tha, por'-a-tha (pora-tha'): One of the sons of Haman (Esther 9:8). The etymology is uncertain; perhaps from the Persian purdata, "given by fate."
Porch
Porch - porch: Chiefly in the Old Testament 'alam, used of the temples of Solomon and Ezekiel (see TEMPLE); once micderon, a "vestibule," in Judges 3:23. In the New Testament, the word occurs in connection with the high priest's palace (Matthew 26:71, pulon; Mark 14:68, proaulion), and as the rendering of stoa, a "portico," in John 5:2 (pool of Bethesda); and John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12.
See PORCH,PORTICO , SOLOMON'S.
Porch, Portico, Solomon's
Porch, Portico, Solomon's - por'-ti-ko, (he stoa he kaloumene Solomontos): This important element of Herod's temple, preserving in its name a traditional connection with Solomon, is thrice referred to in the New Testament, namely, in John 10:23; Acts 3:11, "the porch that is called Solomon's"; and Acts 5:12. In these passages the Greek word stoa is translated "porch" but in the Revised Version margin of Acts 3:11 more correctly "portico". In architecture a "porch" is strictly an exterior structure forming a covered approach to the entrance of a building; a "portico" is an ambulatory, consisting of a roof supported by columns placed at regular intervals--a roofed colonnade. The portico bearing Solomon's name was that running along the eastern wall in the Court of the Gentiles of Herod's temple. It had double columns, while that on the South known as the Royal Portico had four rows (compare Josephus, Ant,XV , xi, 3;BJ , V, v, and see TEMPLE,HEROD'S ). The portico was the scene of Christ's teaching at the Feast of the Dedication (John 10:23), and was flocked to by the multitude after the healing of the lame man (Acts 3:11). There the apostles preached and wrought other miracles (Acts 5:12).
W. Shaw Caldecott
Porcius Festus
Porcius Festus - por'-shus.
See FESTUS.
Porcupine
Porcupine - por'-ku-pin (qippodh (Isaiah 14:23; 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14) the King James Version "bittern," the Revised Version (British and American) "porcupine"; Septuagint echinos "hedgehog"; qippoz (Isaiah 34:15), the King James Version "great owl," the English Revised Version "arrow-snake," the American Standard Revised Version "dart-snake"; Septuagint echinos; compare Arabic qunfud, or qunfudh, "hedgehog" or "porcupine." qippodh, is referred to the root qaphadh, "to draw one's self together" or "to roll oneself up," while qipoz is referred to the root qaphaz, and the root qaphats, "to draw together in order to spring." The resemblance between all these words, including the Arabic is obvious, and it is to be noted that the Septuagint has echinos in all the places cited):
The Greek echinos is the hedgehog. The Arabic kunfudh is used in some localities for the hedgehog and in others for the porcupine, which is also called nis. The hedgehog is also called kibbabat-ush-shauk, or "ball of spines." These two animals are both found in Syria and Palestine, and, while both have spines, they are very different animals, though often confounded. The hedgehog, Erinaceus europeus, is one of the Insectivora. It eats not only insects but also snakes and other small animals, as well as fruits and roots. It is about 10 inches long, covered with short spines, and rolls itself into a ball when attacked. It inhabits the countries bordering the Mediterranean. The porcupine, Hystrix cristata, is a rodent, about 26 inches long, having long spines. It is herbivorous. It backs rapidly at its foes, thrusting its sharp spines into their flesh, not shooting its spines, as is often stated. It inhabits most of Europe and Asia. It is very different from the Canadian porcupine, Erethizon dorsatus, as well as from the tree porcupines of Mexico and Central and South America.
As to the rendering "bittern" for qippodh (Isaiah 14:23; 34:15; Zephaniah 2:14), while the etymology favors "hedgehog," the context favors a bird, especially in Isaiah 34:11, though it cannot be said that in any of the passages the context makes "hedgehog" an impossible rendering.
In Isaiah 34:15, for qippoz, most modern authorities (compare the Revised Version (British and American)) have some sort of serpent, referring to the Arabic root qafaz, "to spring." (See notes above on qaphaz and qaphats.) In this passage also the context is not unfavorable to a bird (compare the King James Version "great owl").
Alfred Ely Day
Porphyry
Porphyry - por'-fi-ri (in Esther 1:6, the Revised Version margin has "porphyry" (the King James Version margin "porphyre") for bahaT, English Versions of the Bible "red (marble)"; the Septuagint has smaragdtes, which was a green stone): Porphyry is an igneous rock containing distinct crystals of feldspar in a feldspathic matrix. It may be purple or of other colors, as green. "Porphyry" is from porphureos, "purple."
Porpoise
Porpoise - por'-pus (the Revised Version margin has "porpoise-skin" for `or tachash, the Revised Version (British and American) "sealskin," the King James Version "badgers' skins" (Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 7, 23; 36:19; 39:34; Numbers 4:6, 8, 10-11, 12, 14, 25; Ezekiel 16:10)): The word denotes leather used in the furnishings of the tabernacle (for shoes in Ezekiel 16:10), and was probably the skin of the dugong, Halichore dugong, Arabic tukhas, which is found in the Red Sea.
See BADGER.
Port; Porter
Port; Porter - port, por'-ter: "Port" in the sense of "gate" (of a city or building) is obsolete in modern English, and even in the King James Version is found only in Nehemiah 2:13. "Porter," as "gate-keeper," however, is still in some use, but "porter" now (but never in the English Versions of the Bible) generally means a burden-carrier. In the Old Testament, except in 2 Samuel 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10-11, the porter (sho`er) is a sacred officer of the temple or tabernacle, belonging to a particular family of the Levites, with a share in the sacred dues (Nehemiah 13:5; 12:47). The "porters" are mentioned only in Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, and Chronicles has a special interest in them, relating that their duties were settled as far back as the time of David (1 Chronicles 26:1-19), and that the office extended further to the first settlement of Palestine and even to Moses' day (1 Chronicles 9:17-26). The office was evidently one of some dignity, and the "chief-porters" (1 Chronicles 9:26) were important persons. For some inscrutable reason the Revised Version (British and American) renders sho`er by "doorkeeper" in 1 Chronicles 15:1-29 through 1 Chronicles 26:1-32, but not elsewhere.
See DOORKEEPER.
Burton Scott Easton
Portion; Part
Portion; Part - por'-shun: As far as a distinction between these words is possible in English, it lies in the fact that a "portion" is a "part" about whose destiny something is implied (Psalms 142:5, etc.). The Hebrew has no two synonyms similarly related, and in consequence the use of the words in English Versions of the Bible is settled either by rather arbitrary considerations (menah, is always "portion" in the Revised Version (British and American), but is "part" in the King James Version, Exodus 29:26; Leviticus 7:33; 8:29) or by the context, irrespective of the Hebrew word used. So "part" and "portion" both represent dabhar, 1 Kings 6:38; Nehemiah 12:47; peh, Zechariah 13:8; Deuteronomy 21:17; chebhel, Joshua 17:5 (Revised Version); Ezekiel 47:13; meros, Luke 11:36; 12:46. And in the vast majority of cases in the Old Testament both words represent simply some derivative of chalaq, normally the noun cheleq.
Burton Scott Easton
Posidonius
Posidonius - pos-i-do'-ni-us (Posidonios, al. Posidonios and Poseidon): One of the three envoys sent by the Syrian general Nicanor to treat with the Jews under Judas during his invasion of Judea, 161 BC (2 Maccabees 14:19). In 1 Maccabees 7:27 ff, proposals are sent by Nicanor to Judas, but no envoys are named, and it is there asserted in contradiction to 2 Maccabees that Judas broke off the negotiation because of the treacherous designs of Nicanor.
Possess; Possession
Possess; Possession - po-zes', po-zesh'-un: "Possess" in modern English means normally only "keep in one's possession." But in Elizabethan English it means also "take into possession," and, in fact, the word in the Old Testament always represents Hebrew verbs with the latter as their primary meaning (yarash, in nearly all cases, otherwise nachal, qanah, 'achaz; Aramaic chacan). Consequently, in almost every case "take possession of" could be substituted advantageously for "possess," but the Revised Version (British and American) has not thought the change worth carrying through. In the Apocrypha and New Testament, however, the distinction has been made, the King James Version's "possess" being retained for katecho, in 1 Corinthians 7:30; 2 Corinthians 6:10, but the same translation for ktaomai, is changed into "take us for a possession (Judith 8:22), "get" (Luke 18:12), "win" (Luke 21:19), and "possess himself of" (1 Thessalonians 4:4, a very obscure passage). In the noun possession, on the other hand, no such ambiguity exists, and attention need be called only to the following passages. In Deuteronomy 11:6, the King James Version has, "all the substance that was in their possession," Hebrew "all that subsisted at their feet," the Revised Version (British and American) "every living thing that followed them." the King James Version uses "possession" loosely in Acts 28:7 for chorion, the Revised Version (British and American) "lands." peripoiesis, from peripoieo, "cause to remain over," "gain," rendered "God's own possession" in Ephesians 1:14 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "possession") and 1 Peter 2:9 (the King James Version "peculiar," the King James Version margin "purchased"). "God's own" is a gloss but is implied in the context.
Burton Scott Easton
Possession, Demoniacal
Possession, Demoniacal - de-mo-ni'-a-kal (Matthew 4:24; 8:16, etc.).
See DEMON,DEMONIAC ,DEMONOLOGY .
Post
Post - post (ruts, "to run," ratsim, "runners"): The "runners" formed the royal guard (1 Samuel 22:17; 1 Kings 14:27; 2 Kings 11:4, 13; see GUARD). From them were chosen the couriers who carried royal letters and dispatches throughout the kingdom (2 Chronicles 30:6, 10; Esther 3:13, 15; Jeremiah 51:31). In the Persian service they were mounted on the swiftest horses (Esther 8:10, 14; compare Xenophon, Cyrop. viii.6,17; Herodotus viii.98). They had the right to command the service of either men or animals in order to expedite their progress (compare Matthew 5:41; Mark 15:21, "compel," "impress").
Used in Job 9:25 and the King James Version Wisdom of Solomon 5:9 (aggelia, the Revised Version (British and American) "message") of the swift passage of time.
See also HOUSE,II , 1, (4), (7).
M. O. Evans
Pot
Pot - pot: A term used as the translation of a number of Hebrew and Greek words whose fundamental meaning seems to describe them as intended for the most part to hold liquid or semi-liquid substances, but the pots of Exodus 27:3 are intended to hold ashes. (1) cir, the most common word for "pot." It designates most frequently some household utensil, probably a pot or kettle for boiling. Song of Solomon 2 Ki 4:38 ff; Exodus 16:3; Jeremiah 1:13 the King James Version; Ezekiel 11:3, 7, 11, "caldron"; Ezekiel 24:3, 6 the King James Version; Micah 3:3; Zechariah 14:21, etc. It is also used as the name of some vessel of the sanctuary. So Exodus 27:3, where the context shows it was intended to hold ashes; 1 Kings 7:45; 2 Chronicles 4:16; 2 Kings 25:14. In Psalms 60:8; 108:9, it is a pot for washing. (2) parur (Numbers 11:8; 1 Samuel 2:14), a vessel for boiling; in Judges 6:19, a vessel for holding broth. (3) dudh, rendered "pot" in Psalms 81:6 in the King James Version, "basket" in the Revised Version (British and American); "pot" both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) in Job 41:20. (4) tsintseneth (Exodus 16:33), the jar in which the manna was placed. This jar or pot is mentioned in Hebrews 9:4 under the name stamnos. (5) 'acon (2 Kings 4:2), some kind of jar for holding oil. (6) xestes (Mark 7:4), some kind of household utensil. Mention may also be made of the word rendered "pot" in Leviticus 6:28 the King James Version, where the Revised Version (British and American) renders more correctly by the general term "vessel"; for the King James Version "pots" (Psalms 68:13) the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "sheepfolds." The root is uncertain. Those who render "sheepfolds" connect with the related root in Genesis 49:14; Judges 5:16. Others render "fireplaces" or "ash heaps." See also "range for pots," in Leviticus 11:35; "pots," Jeremiah 35:5 the King James Version, correctly "bowls" the Revised Version (British and American); "refining pots" in Proverbs 17:3; 27:21.
See also FOOD.
Walter R. Betteridge
Potentate
Potentate - po'-ten-tat (dunastes, "mighty one," from dunamai, "to be able"): A person who possesses great power and authority. Only in 1 Timothy 6:15, "the blessed and only Potentate" (= God). The same Greek word is used of Zeus in Sophocles (Ant. 608), and of God in Apocrypha (e.g. Sirach 46:5; 2 Maccabees 15:3, 13). It is used of men in Luke 1:52 (the King James Version "the mighty," the Revised Version (British and American) "princes") and Acts 8:27 ("of great authority").