J

 

Jaakan

(he shall surround), the same as Jakan, the forefather of Bene-Jaakan. (10:6)

 

 

Jaakobah

(supplanter), one of the princes of the families of Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:36) (B.C. about 710.)

 

 

Jaala

(wild she-goat). Bene-Jaala were among the descendants of "Solomon's slaves" who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:58) (B.C. before 536.) The name also occurs as Ja-alah.

 

 

Jaalah

(wild goat). (Ezra 2:56)

 

 

Jaalam

(whom God hides), a son of Esau, (Genesis 36:5,14,18) comp. 1Chr 1:35 And a head of a tribe of Edom. (B.C. 1790.).

 

 

Jaanai

(whom Jehovah answers), a chief man in the tribe of Gad. (1 Chronicles 5:12)

 

 

Jaareoregim

(forests of the weavers), (2 Samuel 21:19) a Bethlehemite, and the father of Elhanan who slew Goliath. In the parallel passage, (1 Chronicles 20:5) Jair is found instead of Jaare, and Oregim is omitted. (B.C. 1063.)

 

 

Jaasau

(whom Jehovah made), one of the Bene-Bani who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:37) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jaasiel

(whom God comforts), son of the great Abner. (1 Chronicles 27:21) (B.C. 1046-1014.)

 

 

Jaazaniah

(whom Jehovah hears).

• One of the captains of the forces who accompanied Hohanan ben-Kareah to pay his respects to Gedaliah at Mizpah, (2 Kings 25:23) and who appears afterwards to have assisted in recovering Ishmael's prey from his clutches. Comp. (Jeremiah 41:11; 43:4,5) (B.C. 587.)


• Son of Shaphan. (Ezekiel 8:11) It is possible that he is identical with


• Son of Azur; one of the princes of the people against whom Ezekiel was directed to prophesy. (Ezekiel 11:1) (B.C. 593.)


• A Rechabite, son of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 35:3) (B.C. 606.)

 

 

Jaazer, Or Jazer

(Jehovah helps), a town on the east of Jordan, in or near to Gilead. (Numbers 32:1,3; 1 Chronicles 26:31) We first hear of it in possession of the Amorites, and as taken by Israel after Heshbon, and on their way from thence to Bashan. (Numbers 21:32) It seems to have given its name to a district of dependent or "daughter" towns, (Numbers 21:32) Authorized Version "villages," 1 Macc. 5:8, the "land of Jazer." (Numbers 32:1)

 

 

Jaaziah

(whom Jehovah comforts), apparently a third son, or a descendant, or Merari the Levite. (1 Chronicles 24:26,27) (B.C. before 1014).

 

 

Jaaziel

(whom Jehovah comforts), one of the Levites appointed by David to perform the musical service before the ark. (1 Chronicles 15:18) (B.C. 1014).

 

 

Jabal

(stream), the son of Lamech and Adah, (Genesis 4:20) and brother of Jubal. He is described as the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle.

 

 

Jabbok

(emptying), a stream which intersects the mountain range of Gilead, comp. (Joshua 12:2,5) and falls into the Jordan on the east about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. It was anciently the border of the children of Ammon. (Numbers 21:24; 2:37; 3:16) It was on the south bank of the Jabbok that the interview took place between Jacob and Esau, (Genesis 32:22) and this river afterward became, toward its western part, the boundary between the kingdoms of Sihon and Og. (Joshua 12:2,5) Its modern name is Wady Zurka .

 

 

Jabesh

(dry).

• Father of Shallum, the fifteenth king of Israel. (2 Kings 15:10,13,14)


• Jabesh-gilead, or Jabesh in the territory of Gilead. In its widest sense Gilead included the half tribe of Manasseh, (1 Chronicles 27:21) as well as the tribes of Gad and Reuben, (Numbers 32:1-42) east of the Jordan; and of the cities of Gilead, Jabesh was the chief. It is first mentioned in (Judges 21:8-14) Being attacked subsequently by Nahash the Ammonite, it gave Saul an opportunity of displaying his prowess in its defence. (1 Samuel 11:1-15) Eusebius places it beyond the Jordan, six miles from Pella on the mountain road to Gerasa; where its name is probably preserved in the Wady Yabes.

 

 

Jabez

(sorrow).

• Apparently a place at which the families of the scribes resided who belonged to the families of the Kenites. (1 Chronicles 2:55)


• The name occurs again in the genealogies of Judah, (1 Chronicles 4:9,10) in a passage of remarkable detail inserted in a genealogy again connected with Bethlehem. ver. 4.

 

 

Jabin

(whom God observes).

• King of Hazor, who organized a confederacy of the northern princes against the Israelites. (Joshua 11:1-3) Joshua surprised the allied forces by the waters of Merom, ver. 7, and utterly routed them. (B.C. 1448.) During the ensuing wars Joshua again attacked Jabin, and burnt his city. (Joshua 11:1-14)


• A king of Hazor, whose general, Sisera, was defeated by Barak. (Judges 4:2,13) (B.C. 1316.)

 

 

Jabneel

(building of God).

• One of the points on the northern boundary of Judah, not quite at the sea, though near it. (Joshua 15:11) There is no sign, however, of its ever having been occupied by Judah. Josephus attributes it to the Danites. There was a constant struggle going on between that tribe and the Philistines for the possession of all the places in the lowland plains, and it is not surprising that the next time we meet with Jabneel it should be in the hands of the latter. (2 Chronicles 26:6) Uzziah dispossessed them of it and demolished its fortifications. Called also Jabneh. At the time of the fall of Jerusalem, Jabneh was one of the most populous places of Judea. The modern village of Yebna, more accurately Ibna, stands about two miles from the sea, on a slight eminence just south of the Nahr Rubin .


• One of the landmarks on the boundary of Naphtali, (Joshua 19:33) in upper Galilee.

 

 

Jabneh

(building of God), (2 Chronicles 26:6) [Jabneel]

 

 

Jachan

(affliction), one of seven chief men of the tribe of Gad. (1 Chronicles 5:13)

 

 

Jachin

(he shall establish).

• One of the two pillars which were set up "in the porch," (1 Kings 7:21) or before the temple. (2 Chronicles 3:17) of Solomon. [Boaz]


• Fourth son of Simeon, (Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15) founder of the family of the Jachinites. (Numbers 26:12)


• Head of the twenty-first course of priests in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 9:10; 24:17; Nehemiah 11:10)

 

 

Jacinth

a precious stone, forming one of the foundations of the walls of the new Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:20) Called hyacinth in the Revised Version. This is simply a different English rendering of the same Greek original. It is probably identical with the lighure of (Exodus 28:19) The Jacinth or hyacinth is a red variety of zircon, which is found in square prisms of a white, gray, red, reddish-brown, yellow or pale-green color. The expression in (Revelation 9:17) "of jacinth," is descriptive simply of a dark-purple color.

 

 

Jacob

(supplanter), the second son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was born with Esau, probably at the well of Lahai-roi, about B.C. 1837. His history is related in the latter half of the book of Genesis. He bought the birthright from his brother Esau, and afterward acquired the blessing intended for Esau, by practicing a well-known deceit on Isaac. (Jacob did not obtain the blessing because of his deceit, but in spite of it. That which was promised he would have received in some good way; but Jacob and his mother, distrusting God's promise, sought the promised blessing in a wrong way, and received with it trouble and sorrow. - ED.) Jacob, in his 78th year, was sent from the family home to avoid his brother, and to seek a wife among his kindred in Padan-aram. As he passed through Bethel, God appeared to him. After the lapse of twenty-one years he returned from Padan-aram with two wives, two concubines, eleven sons and a daughter, and large property. He escaped from the angry pursuit of Laban, from a meeting with Esau, and from the vengeance of the Canaanites provoked by the murder of Shechem; and in each of these three emergencies he was aided and strengthened by the interposition of God, and in sign of the grace won by a night of wrestling with God his name was changed at Jabbok into Israel. Deborah and Rachel died before he reached Hebron; Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was sold into Egypt eleven years before the death of Isaac; and Jacob had probably exceeded his 130th year when he went tither. He was presented to Pharaoh, and dwelt for seventeen years in Rameses and Goshen, and died in his 147th year. His body was embalmed, carried with great care and pomp into the land of Canaan, and deposited with his fathers, and his wife Leah, in the cave of Machpelah. The example of Jacob is quoted by the first and the last of the minor prophets. Besides the frequent mention of his name in conjunction with the names of the other two patriarchs, there are distinct references to the events in the life of Jacob in four books of the New Testament - (John 1:51; 4:5,12; Acts 7:12,16; Romans 9:11-13; Hebrews 11:21; 12:16)

 

 

Jacobs Well

a deep spring in the vicinity of Shechem (called Sychar in Christ's time and Nablus at the present day). It was probably dug by Jacob whose name it bears. On the curb of the well Jesus sat and discoursed with the Samaritan woman. (John 4:5-26) It is situated about half a mile southeast of Nablus, at the foot of Mount Gerizim. It is about nine feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. At some seasons it is dry; at others it contains a few feet of water.

 

 

Jada

(wise), son of Onam and brother of Shammai, in the genealogy of the sons of Jerahmeel by his wife Atarah. (1 Chronicles 2:28,32) (B.C. after 1445.)

 

 

Jadau

(loving), one of the Bene-Nebo who had taken a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:43) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jaddua

(known).

• Son and successor in the high priesthood of Jonathan or Johanan. He is the last of the high priests mentioned in the Old Testament, and probably altogether the latest name in the canon. (Nehemiah 12:11,22) (B.C. 406-332.)


• One of the chief of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:21) (B.C. 410.)

 

 

Jadon

(judge), the Meronothite, who assisted to repair the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:7) (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Jael

(mountain goat), the wife of Heber the Kenite. (B.C. 1316.) In the headlong rout which followed the defeat of the Canaanites by Barak, at Megiddo on the plain of Esdraelon, Sisera, their general, fled to the tent of the Kenite chieftainess, at Kedesh in Naphtali, four miles northwest of Lake Merom. He accepted Jael's invitation to enter, and she flung a mantle over him as he lay wearily on the floor. When thirst prevented sleep, and he asked for water, she brought him buttermilk in her choicest vessel. At last, with a feeling of perfect security, he feel into a deep sleep. Then it was that Jael took one of the great wooden pins which fastened down the cords of the tent, and with one terrible blow with a mallet dashed it through Sisera's temples deep into the earth. (Judges 5:27) She then waited to meet the pursuing Barak, and led him into her tent that she might in his presence claim the glory of the deed! Many have supposed that by this act she fulfilled the saying of Deborah, (Judges 4:9) and hence they have supposed that Jael was actuated by some divine and hidden influence. But the Bible gives no hint of such an inspiration.

 

 

Jagur

(lodging),a town of Judah, one of those farthest to the south, on the frontier of Edom. (Joshua 15:21)

 

 

Jah

(Jehovah), the abbreviated form of Jehovah, used only in poetry. It occurs frequently in the Hebrew, but with a single exception, (Psalms 68:4) is rendered "Lord" in the Authorized Version. The identity of Jah and Jehovah is strongly marked in two passages of Isaiah - (Isaiah 12:2; 26:4) [Jehovah].

 

 

Jahath

(union).

• Son of Libni, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. (1 Chronicles 6:20) (B.C. after 1706.)


• Head of a later house in the family of Gershom, being the eldest son of Shimei, the son of Laadan. (1 Chronicles 23:10,11)


• A man in the genealogy of Judah, (1 Chronicles 4:2) son of Reaiah ben-Shobal.


• A Levite, son of Shelomoth. (1 Chronicles 24:22)


• A Merarite Levite in the reign of Josiah. (2 Chronicles 34:12) (B.C. 623.)

 

 

Jahaz, Also Jahaza, Jahazah And Juhzah

(trodden down). Under these four forms is given in the Authorized Version the name of a place which in the Hebrew appears as Yahats and Yahtsah . At Jahaz the decisive battle was fought between the children of Israel and Sihon king of the Amorites. (Numbers 21:23; 2:32; Judges 11:20) It was in the allotment of Reuben. (Joshua 13:18) Like many others relating to the places east of the Dead Sea, the question of its site must await further research.

 

 

Jahaza

(trodden down). (Joshua 13:18) [Jahaz, Also Jahaza, Jahazah And Juhzah]

 

 

Jahazah

(trodden down). (Joshua 21:36; Jeremiah 48:21) [Jahaz, Also Jahaza, Jahazah And Juhzah]

 

 

Jahaziel

(whom God watches over)

• One of the heroes of Benjamin who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:4) (B.C. 1055.)


• A priest in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 16:6)


• A Kohathite Levite, third son of Hebron. (1 Chronicles 23:19; 24:23)


• Son of Zechariah, a Levite of the Bene-Asaph in the reign of Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 20:14) (B.C. 896.)


• The "son of Jahaziel" was the chief of the Bene-Shecaniah who returned from Babylon with Ezra. (Ezra 8:5) (B.C. before 459.)

 

 

Jahdai

(whom Jehovah directs), a man who appears to be thrust abruptly into the genealogy of Caleb, as the father of six sons. (1 Chronicles 2:47)

 

 

Jahdiel

(whom Jehovah makes joyful), a chieftain of Manasseh on the east of Jordan. (1 Chronicles 5:24) (B.C. 320.)

 

 

Jahdo

(united), a Gadite, (1 Chronicles 5:14) son of Buz and father of Jeshishai.

 

 

Jahleel

(hoping in Jehovah), the third of the three sons of Zebulun, (Genesis 46:14; Numbers 26:26) founder of the family of Jahleelites. (B.C. 1706.)

 

 

Jahmai

(whom Jehovah guards), a man of Issachar, one of the heads of the house of Tolah. (1 Chronicles 7:2) (B.C. 1491)

 

 

Jahnziah

(whom Jehovah watches over), son of Tikvah, apparently a priest. (Ezra 10:15)

 

 

Jahzah

(trodden down). (1 Chronicles 6:78) [Jahaz, Also Jahaza, Jahazah And Juhzah]

 

 

Jahzeel

(whom God allots), the first of the four sons of Naphtali, (Genesis 46:24) founder of the family of the Jahzeelites. (Numbers 26:48) (B.C. 1306.)

 

 

Jahzerah

(whom God leads back), a priest of the house of Immer. (1 Chronicles 9:12)

 

 

Jahziel

(whom God allots), the same as Jahzeel. (1 Chronicles 7:13)

 

 

Jair

(enlightener).

• A man who on his father's side was descended from Judah, and on his mother's from Manasseh. (B.C. 1451.) During, the conquest he took the whole of the tract of Argob (3:14) and in addition possessed himself of some nomad villages in Gilead, which he called after his own name Havoth-Jair. (Numbers 32:41; 1 Chronicles 2:23)


• JAIR THE GILEADITE, who judged Israel for two-and-twenty years. (Judges 10:3-5) (B.C. 1160.) He had thirty sons, and possessed thirty cities in the land of Gilead, which like those of their namesakes were called Havoth-jair.


• A Benjamite, son of Kish and father of Mordecai. (Esther 2:5) (B.C. before 598.)


• The father of Elhanan, one of the heroes of David's army. (1 Chronicles 20:6)

 

 

Jairite

(descendant of Jair). The Ira THE JAIRITE was a priest (Authorized Version "chief ruler") to David (2 Samuel 20:26)

 

 

Jairus

(whom God enlightens).

• A ruler of a synagogue, probably in some town near the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Matthew 9:18; Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41) (A.D. 28.)


• (Esther 11:2) [Jair, 3]

 

 

Jakamean

(who gathers the people together), a Levite in the time of King David; fourth of the sons of Hebron, the son of Kohath. (1 Chronicles 23:19; 24:23) (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Jakan

(sagacious), son of Ezer the Horite. (1 Chronicles 1:42) The same as JaakanJAAkan. [And see Akan]

 

 

Jakeh

(pious). [Proverbs, Book Of, Book OF]

 

 

Jakim

(whom God sets up).

• Head of the twelfth course of priests in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 24:12) (B.C. 1014.)


• A Benjamite, one of the Bene-Shimhi. (1 Chronicles 8:19) (B.C. 588.)

 

 

Jalon

(abiding), one of the sons of Ezra. (1 Chronicles 4:17)

 

 

Jambres

[Jannes AND JAMBRES]

 

 

James

(the Greek form of Jacob, supplanter).

• James the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles. He was elder brother of the evangelist John. His mother's name was Salome. We first hear of him in A.D. 27, (Mark 1:20) when at the call of the Master he left all, and became, one and forever, his disciple, in the spring of 28. (Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13; Acts 1:13) It would seem to have been at the time of the appointment of the twelve apostles that the name of Boanerges was given to the sons of Zebedee. The "sons of thunder" had a burning and impetuous spirit, which twice exhibits itself. (Mark 10:37; Luke 9:54) On the night before the crucifixion James was present at the agony in the garden. On the day of the ascension he is mentioned as persevering with the rest of the apostles and disciples, in prayer. (Acts 1:13) Shortly before the day of the Passover, in the year 44, he was put to death by Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1,2)


• James the son of Alpheus, one of the twelve apostles. (Matthew 10:3) Whether or not this James is to be identified with James the Less, the son of Alphaeus, the brother of our Lord, is one of the most difficult questions in the gospel history. By comparing (Matthew 27:56) and Mark 15:40 with John 19:25 We find that the Virgin Mary had a sister named, like herself, Mary, who was the wife of Clopas or Alpheus (varieties of the same name), and who had two sons, James the Less and Joses. By referring to (Matthew 13:55) and Mark 6:3 We find that a James the Less and Joses, with two other brethren called Jude and Simon, and at least three sisters, were sisters with the Virgin Mary at Nazareth by referring to (Luke 6:16) and Acts 1:13 We find that there were two brethren named James and Jude among the apostles. It would certainly be natural to think that we had here but one family of four brothers and three or more sisters, the children of Clopas and Mary, nephews and nieces of the Virgin Mary. There are difficulties however, in the way of this conclusion into which we cannot here enter; but in reply to the objection that the four brethren in (Matthew 13:55) are described as the brothers of Jesus, not as his cousins, it must be recollected that adelphoi, which is here translated "brethren," may also signify cousins.

 

 

James The Less

called the Less because younger or smaller in stature than James the son of Zebedee. He was the son of Alpheus or Clopas and brother of our Lord (see above); was called to the apostolate, together with his younger brother Jude, in the spring of the year 28. At some time in the forty days that intervened between the resurrection and the ascension the Lord appeared to him. (1 Corinthians 15:7) Ten years after we find James on a level with Peter, and with him deciding on the admission of St. Paul into fellowship with the Church at Jerusalem; and from henceforth we always find him equal, or in his own department superior, to the very chiefest apostles, Peter, John and Paul. (Acts 9:27; Galatians 1:18,19) This pre-eminence is evident throughout the after history of the apostles, whether we read it in the Acts, in the epistles or in ecclesiastical writers. (Acts 12:17; 15:13,19; 21:18; Galatians 2:9) According to tradition, James was thrown down from the temple by the scribes and Pharisees; he was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.

 

 

James, The General Epistle Of

The author of this epistle was in all probability James the son of Alphaeus, and our Lord's brother It was written from Jerusalem, which St. James does not seem to have ever left. It was probably written about A.D. 62, during the interval between Paul's two imprisonments. Its main object is not to teach doctrine, but to improve morality. St. James is the moral teacher of the New Testament. He wrote for the Jewish Christians, whether in Jerusalem or abroad, to warn them against the sins to which as Jews they were most liable, and to console and exhort them under the sufferings to which as Christians they were most exposed.

 

 

Jamin

(right hand).

• Second son of Simeon, (Genesis46:10; Exod 6:15; 1Chr 4:24 Founder of the family of the Jaminites. (Numbers 26:12) (B.C. 1706.)


• A man of Judah, second son of Ram the Jerahmeelite. (1 Chronicles 2:27)


• One of the Levites who expounded the law to the people. (Nehemiah 8:7) (B.C. 410.)

 

 

Jamlech

(whom God makes king), one of the chief men of the tribe of Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:34)

 

 

Jamnin

[Jabneel]

 

 

Janna

(flourishing), son of Joseph, and father of Melchi, in the genealogy of Christ. (Luke 3:24) In the Revised Version written JANNAI.

 

 

Jannes

and Jam'bres, the names of two Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses. Exod 7:9-13; 2Tim 3:8,9. (B.C. 1492.)

 

 

Janoah

(rest), a place apparently in the north of Galilee, or the "land of Naphtali," - one of those taken by Tiglath-pileser in his first incursion into Palestine. (2 Kings 15:29) No trace of it appears elsewhere.

 

 

Janohah

(rest), a place on the boundary of Ephraim (Joshua 16:6,7) east of Neapolis. A little less than twelve miles from Nablus and about southeast in direction, two miles from Akrabeh is the village of Yanun, doubtless identical with the ancient Janohah.

 

 

Janum

(slumber), a town of Judah in the mountain district, apparently not far from Hebron. (Joshua 15:53)

 

 

Japheth

(enlargement), one of the three sons of Noah. The descendants of Japheth occupied the "isles of the Gentiles," (Genesis 10:5) - i.e. the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and Asia Minor - whence they spread northward over the whole continent of Europe and a considerable portion of Asia.

 

 

Japhia

(splendid).

• King of Lachish at the time of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. (Joshua 10:3) (B.C. 1450.)


• One of the sons of David born to him in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:15; 1 Chronicles 3:7; 14:6) (B.C. 1046.)

(splended) The boundary of Zebulun ascended from Daberath to Japhia, and thence passed to Gath-hepher. (Joshua 19:12) Yafa, two miles south of Nazareth.,is not unlikely to be identical with Japhin.

 

 

Japhleli

(the Japhletite). The boundary of the "Japhletite" is one of the landmarks on the south boundary line of Ephraim. (Joshua 16:3)

 

 

Japhlet

(whom God delivers) a descendant of Asher through Beriah. (1 Chronicles 7:32,33)

 

 

Japho

(beauty). (John 19:46) The Hebrew form for the better-known Joppa, Or Japho. (2 Chronicles 2:16; Ezra 3:7; Jonah 1:3) In its modern garb it is Yafa .

 

 

Jarah

(honey), a descendant of Saul; son of Micah and great-grandson of Mephibosheth. (1 Chronicles 9:42) comp. 1Chr 9:40

 

 

Jareb

(adversary) is to be explained either as the proper name of a country or person, as a noun in apposition, or as a verb from a root, rub, "to contend plead." All these senses are represented in the Authorized Version and the marginal readings, (Hosea 5:13; 10:6) and the east preferable has been inserted in the text. Jareb is most probably the name of some city of Assyria or another name of the country itself.

 

 

Jared

(descent), one of the antediluvian patriarchs, and further of Enoch (Genesis 5:15,16,18-20; Luke 3:37) In the lists of Chronicles the name is given in the Authorized Version Jered.

 

 

Jaresiah

(whom Jehovah nourishes),a Benjamite, one of the Bene-Jehoram. (1 Chronicles 8:17)

 

 

Jarha

the Egyptian servant of Sheshan, about the time of Eli, to whom his master gave his daughter and heir in marriage; (1 Chronicles 2:34,35) (B.C. before 1491.)

 

 

Jarib

(adversary).

• Named in the list of (1 Chronicles 4:24) only, as a son of Simeon. Perhaps the same as Jachin. Genesis46; Exod 6; Numb 26.


• One of the "chief men" who accompanied Ezra on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. (Ezra 8:16) (B.C. 469.)


• A priest of the house of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, who had married a foreign wife, and was compelled by Ezra to put her away. (Ezra 10:18) (B.C. 459.)


• 1 Macc. 14:29. A contraction or corruption of the name JOARIB. ch. 2:1.

 

 

Jarimoth

(heights). 1 Esd. 9:28. [Jeremoth]

 

 

Jarmuth

(high).

• A town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 16:35) Its king, Piram, was one of the five who conspired. to punish Gibeon for having made alliance with Israel, (Joshua 10:3,5) and who were routed at Beth-horon and put to death by Joshua at Makkedah. ver. 33. Its site is probably the modern Yarmuk .


• A city of Issachar allotted with its suburbs to the Gershonite Levites. (Joshua 21:29)

 

 

Jaroah

(moon), a chief man of the tribe of Gad (1 Chronicles 5:14)

 

 

Jashen

(sleeping). Bene-Jashen - "sons of Jashen" - are named in the catalogue of the heroes of David's guard in (2 Samuel 23:32) (B.C. 1046.)

 

 

Jasher

(upright),Book of ("the book of the upright"), alluded to in two passages only of the Old Testament. (Joshua 10:13) and 2Sam 1:18 It was probably written in verse; and it has been conjectured that it was a collection of ancient records of honored men or noble deeds. It is wholly lost.

 

 

Jashobeam

(to whom the people turn), named first among the chief of the mighty men of David. (1 Chronicles 11:11) (B.C. 1046.) He came to David at Ziklag. His distinguishing exploit was that he slew 300 (or 800,) (2 Samuel 23:8) men at one time.

 

 

Jashub

(he turns).

• The third son of Issachar, and founder of the family of the Jashubites. (Numbers 26:24; 1 Chronicles 7:1) (B.C. 1706.)


• One of the sons of Bani, who had to put away his foreign wife. (Ezra 10:29) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jashubilehem

(turner back for food), a person or a place named among the descendants of Shelah, the son of Judah by Bath-shua the Canaanitess. (1 Chronicles 4:22)

 

 

Jasiel

(whom God made), the last named on the list of David's heroes in (1 Chronicles 11:47)

 

 

Jason

(one who will heal), called the Thessalonian, entertained Paul and Silas, and was in consequence attacked by the Jewish mob. (Acts 17:5,6,7,9) (A.D. 48.) He is probably the same as the Jason mentioned in (Romans 16:21) It is conjectured that Jason and Secundus, (Acts 20:4) were the same.

 

 

Jasper

a precious stone frequently noticed in Scripture. It was the last of the twelve inserted in the high priest's breastplate, (Exodus 28:20; 39:13) and the first of the twelve used in the foundations of the new Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:19) The characteristics of the stone as far as they are specified in Scripture, (Revelation 21:11) are that it "was most precious," and "like crystal;" we may also infer from (Revelation 4:3) that it was a stone of brilliant and transparent light. The stone which we name "jasper" does not accord with this description. There can be no doubt that the diamond would more adequately answer to the description in the book of Revelation.

 

 

Jathniel

(whom God gives), a Korhite Levite, the fourth of the family of Meshelemiah. (1 Chronicles 26:2) (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Jattir

(pre-eminent), a town of Judah in the mountain districts, (Joshua 15:48) one of the group containing Socho, Eshtemoa, etc. See also (Joshua 21:14; 1 Samuel 30:27; 1 Chronicles 6:57) By Robinson it is identified with 'Attir, six miles north of Molada and ten miles south of Hebron.

 

 

Javan

(clay).

• A son of Japheth. (Genesis 10:2,4) Javan was regarded as the representative of the Greek race. The name was probably introduced into Asia by the Phoenicians, to whom the Ionians were naturally better known than any other of the Hellenic races, on account of their commercial activity and the high prosperity of their towns on the western coast of Asia Minor.


• A town in the souther part of Arabia (Yemen), whither the Phoenicians traded. (Ezekiel 27:19)

 

 

Javelin

[Arms, Armor]

 

 

Jazer

(Jehovah helps). [Jaazer, Or Jazer]

 

 

Jaziz

(whom God moves), a Hagarite who had charge of the flocks of King David. (1 Chronicles 27:31) (B.C. 1046.)

 

 

Jearim

(forests), Mount, a place named in specifying the northern boundary of Judah. (Joshua 15:10) The boundary ran from Mount Seir to "the shoulder of Mount Jearim, which is Cesalon" - that is, Cesalon was the landmark on the mountain. Kesla, seven miles due west of Jerusalem, stands on a high point on the north slope of a lofty ridge, which is probably Mount Jearim.

 

 

Jeaterai

(whom Jehovah leads), a Gershonite Levite, son of Zerah. (1 Chronicles 6:21)

 

 

Jeberechiah

(whom Jehovah blesses), father of a certain Zechariah, in the reign of Ahaz, mentioned (Isaiah 8:2) (B.C. about 739.)

 

 

Jebus

(threshing-floor), one of the names of Jerusalem, the city of the Jebusites, are called Jebusi. (Joshua 15:8; 18:16,28; Judges 19:10,11; 1 Chronicles 11:4,5) [Jerusalem]

 

 

Jebusi

(from Jebus), the name employed for the city of Jebus. (Joshua 15:8; 18:16,28)

 

 

Jebusites

(descendants of Jebus), The, were descended from the third son of Canaan. (Genesis 10:16; 1 Chronicles 1:14) The actual people first appear in the invaluable report of the spies. (Numbers 13:29) When Jabin organized his rising against Joshua, the Jebusites joined him. (Joshua 11:3) "Jebus, which is Jerusalem," lost its king in the slaughter of Beth-horon, (Joshua 10:1,5,26) comp. Josh 12:10 Was sacked and burned by the men of Judah, (Judges 1:21) and its citadel finally scaled and occupied by David. (2 Samuel 5:6) After this they emerge from the darkness but once, in the person of Araunah the Jebusite, "Araunah the king," who appears before us in true kingly dignity in his well-known transaction with David. (2 Samuel 24:23; 1 Chronicles 21:24,25)

 

 

Jecamiah

(whom Jehovah gathers), one of seven who were introduced into the royal line, on the failure of it in the person of Jehoiachin. (1 Chronicles 3:18)

 

 

Jecholiah

(strong through Jehovah) wife of Amaziah king of Judah, and mother of Azariah or Uzziah his successor. (2 Kings 15:2) (B.C. 824-807.)

 

 

Jecoliah

The same as Jecholiah. (2 Chronicles 26:3)

 

 

Jeconiah

(whom Jehovah establishes). [See Jehoiachin]

 

 

Jeconias

the Greek form of Jeconiah, an altered form of Jehoiachin. [Jehoiachin]

 

 

Jedaiah

• A Simeonite, forefather of Ziza. (1 Chronicles 4:37)


• Son of Harumaph; a man who did his part in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:10) (B.C. 446.)

(praise Jehovah).

• Head of the second course of priests, as they were divided in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 24:7) (B.C. 1014.) some of them survived to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonish captivity, as appears from (Ezra 2:36; Nehemiah 7:39)


• A priest in the time of Jeshua the high priest. (Zechariah 6:10,14) (B.C. 536.)

 

 

Jediael

(known of God).

• A chief patriarch of the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 7:6,11) It is usually assumed that Jediael is the same as Ashbel, (Genesis 46:21; Numbers 26:38; 1 Chronicles 8:1) but this is not certain.


• Second son of Meshelemiah, a Levite. (1 Chronicles 26:1,2)


• Son of Shimri; one of the heroes of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:45) (B.C. 1046.)


• One of the chiefs of the thousands of Manasseh who joined David on his march to Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:20) comp. 1Sam 30:9,10 (B.C. 1053.)

 

 

Jedidah

(one beloved), queen of Amon and mother of the good king Josiah. (2 Kings 22:1) (B.C. 648.)

 

 

Jedidiah

(beloved of Jehovah), Jedid-jah (darling of Jehovah), the name bestowed, through Nathan the prophet, on David's son Solomon. (2 Samuel 12:25)

 

 

Jeduthun

(praising), a Levite of the family of Merari, is probably the same as Ethan. Comp. (1 Chronicles 15:17,19) with 1Chr 16:41,42; 25:1,3,6; 2Chr 35:15 His office was generally to preside over the music of the temple service, Jeduthun's name stands at the head of the 39th, 62d and 77th Psalms, indicating probably that they were to be sung by his choir. (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Jeezer

(father of help), (Numbers 26:30) the name of a descendant of Manasseh and founder of the family of the Jeezerites. In parallel lists the name is given as ABI-EZER.

 

 

Jegarsahadutha

(heap of testimony), the Aramaean name given by Laban the Syrian to the heap of stones which he erected as a memorial of the compact between Jacob and himself. (Genesis 31:47) Galeed, a "witness heap," which is given as the Hebrew equivalent, does not exactly represent Jegar-sahadutha.

 

 

Jehaleleel

(who praises God). Four men of the Bene-Jehaleleel are introduced abruptly into the genealogies of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:16)

 

 

Jehalelel

(who praises God), a Merarite Levite, father of Azariah. (2 Chronicles 29:12)

 

 

Jehdeiah

(whom Jehovah makes glad).

• The representative of the Bene-Shubael, in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 24:20)


• A Meronothite who had charge of the she-asses of David. (1 Chronicles 27:30) (B.C. 1046.)

 

 

Jehezekel

(whom God makes strong), a priest to whom was given by David the charge of the twentieth of the twenty-four courses in the service of the house of Jehovah. (1 Chronicles 24:16) (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Jehiah

(Jehovah lives), "doorkeeper for the ark" at the time of its establishment in Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 15:24) (B.C. 1043.)

 

 

Jehiel

(treasured of God), a perfectly distinct name from the last.

• A man described as father of Gibeon; a fore-father of King Saul. (1 Chronicles 9:35)


• One of the sons of Hotham the Aroerite; a member of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:44) (B.C. 1046.)

(God lives).

• One of the Levites appointed by David to assist in the service of the house of God. (1 Chronicles 15:18,20; 16:5)


• One of the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, put to death by his brother Jehoram. (2 Chronicles 21:2,4) (B.C. 887.)


• One of the rulers of the house of God at the time of the reforms of Josiah. (2 Chronicles 35:8) (B.C. 623.)


• A Gershonite Levite, (1 Chronicles 23:8) who had charge of the treasures. ch. (1 Chronicles 28:8)


• A son of Hachmoni named in the list of David's officers, (1 Chronicles 27:32) as "with the king's sons," whatever that may mean.


• A Levite who took part in the restorations of King Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:14) (B.C. 726.)


• Another Levite at the same period. (2 Chronicles 31:13)


• Father of Obadiah, of the Bene-Joab. (Ezra 8:9) (B.C. before 459.)


• One of the Bene-Elam, father of Shechaniah. (Ezra 10:2)


• A member of the same family, who himself had to part with his wife. (Ezra 10:26)


• A priest, one of the Bene-Harim, who also had to put away his foreign wife. (Ezra 10:21) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jehieli

(a Jehielite), according to the Authorized Version a Gershonite Levite of the family of Laadan. (1 Chronicles 26:21,22)

 

 

Jehizkiah

(Jehovah strengthens), son of Shallum, one of the heads of the tribe of Ephraim in the time of Ahaz. (2 Chronicles 28:12) comp. 2Chr 28:8,13,15 (B.C. 738.)

 

 

Jehoadah

(whom Jehovah adorns), one of the descendants of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:36)

 

 

Jehoaddan

(Whom Jehovah adorns), queen to King Josiah, and mother of Amaziah of Judah. (2 Kings 14:2; 2 Chronicles 25:1) (B.C. 862-837.)

 

 

Jehoahaz

(whom the Lord sustains).

• The son and successor of jehu, reigned 17 years, B.C. 856-840, over Israel in Samaria. His inglorious history is given in (2 Kings 13:1-9) Throughout his reign, ver. (2 Kings 13:22) he was kept in subjection by Hazael king of Damascus. Jehoahaz maintained the idolatry of Jeroboam; but in the extremity of his humiliation he besought Jehovah, and Jehovah gave Israel a deliverer - probably either Jehoash, vs. (2 Kings 13:23) and 2Kin 13:25 Or Jeroboam II., (2 Kings 14:24,25)


• Jehoahaz, otherwise called Shallum, son of Josiah, whom he succeeded as king of Judah. He was chosen by the people in preference to his elder (comp. (2 Kings 23:31) and 2Kin 23:36) brother, B.C. 610, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Pharaoh-necho sent to Jerusalem to depose him and to fetch him to Riblah. There he was cast into chains, and from thence he was taken into Egypt, where he died.


• The name given, (2 Chronicles 21:17) to Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram king of Judah.

 

 

Jehoash

(given by the Lord), the uncontracted form of Joash.

• The eighth king of Judah; son of Ahaziah. (2 Kings 11:21; 12:1,2,4,6,7,18; 14:13) [Joash, 1]


• The twelfth king of Israel; son of Jehoahaz. (2 Kings 13:10,25; 14:8,9,11,13,15,16,17) [Joash, 2]

 

 

Jehohanan

(whom Jehovah gave), a name of which John is the contraction.

• A Korhite Levite, one of the doorkeepers to the tabernacle. (1 Chronicles 26:3) comp. 1Chr 25:1 (B.C. 1014.)


• One of the principal men of Judah under King Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:15) comp. 2Chr 17:13 and 2Chr 17:19 (B.C. 910.)


• Father of Ishmael, one of the "captains of hundreds" whom Jehoiada the priest took into his confidence about the restoration of the line of Judah. (2 Chronicles 23:1) (B.C. 910.)


• One of the Bene-Bebai who was forced to put away his foreign wife. (Ezra 10:28) (B.C. 459.)


• A priest, (Nehemiah 12:13) during the high priesthood of Joiakim. ver. (Nehemiah 12:12) (B.C. 406.)


• A priest who took part in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 12:42) (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Jehoiachin

(whom Jehovah has appointed), son of Jehoiakim, and for three months and ten days king of Judah. (B.C. 597.) At his accession Jerusalem was quite defenseless, and unable to offer any resistance to the army which Nebuchadnezzar sent to besiege it. (2 Kings 24:10,11) In a very short time Jehoiachin surrendered at discretion; and he, and the queen-mother, and all his servants, captains and officers, came out and gave themselves up to Nebuchadnezzar, who carried them, with the harem and the eunuchs, to Babylon. (Jeremiah 29:2; Ezekiel 17:12; 19:9) There he remained a prisoner, actually in prison and wearing prison garments, for thirty-six years, viz., till the death of Nebuchadnezzar, when Evilmerodach, succeeding to the throne of Babylon, brought him out of prison, and made him sit at this own table. The time of his death is uncertain.

 

 

Jehoiada

(Jehovah knows).

• Father of Benaiah, David's well-known warrior. (2 Samuel 8:18) 1Kin 1 and 2 passim ; (1 Chronicles 18:17) etc. (B.C. before 1046.)


• Leader of the Aaronites, i.e. the priests; who joined David at Hebron. (1 Chronicles 12:27) (B.C. 1053-46.)


• According to (1 Chronicles 27:34) son of Benaiah; but in all probability Benaiah the sons of Jehoiada is meant. Probably an error in copying. (1 Chronicles 18:17; 2 Samuel 8:18)


• High priest at the time of Athaliah's usurpation of the throne of Judah, B.C. 884-878, and during the greater portion of the forty-years reign of Joash. He married Jehosheba; and when Athaliah slew all the seed royal to Judah after Ahaziah had been put to death by Jehu, he and his wife stole Joash from among the king's sons and hid him for six years in the temple, and eventually replaced him on the throne of his ancestors. [Athaliah] The destruction of Baal-worship and the restoration of the temple were among the great works effected by Jehoiada. He died B.C. 834.


• Second priest, or sagan, to Seraiah the high priest. (Jeremiah 29:25-29; 2 Kings 25:18)


• Son of Paseach, who assisted to repair the old gate of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:6)

 

 

Jehoiakim

(whom Jehovah sets up), called Eliakim, son of Josiah and king of Judah. After deposing Jehoahaz, Pharaoh-necho set Eliakim, his elder brother, upon the throne, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, B.C. 608-597. For four years Jehoiakim was subject toi Egypt, when Nebuchadnezzar, after a short siege, entered Jerusalem, took the king prisoner, bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon, and took also some of the precious vessels of the temple and carried them to the land of Shinar. Jehoiakim became tributary to Nebuchadnezzar after his invasion of Judah, and continued so for three years, but at the end of that time broke his oath of allegiance and rebelled against him. (2 Kings 24:1) Nebuchadnezzar sent against him numerous bands of Chaldeans, with Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites, (2 Kings 24:7) and who cruelly harassed the whole country. Either in an engagement with some of these forces or else by the hand of his own oppressed subjects Jehoiakim came to a violent end in the eleventh year of his reign. His body was cast out ignominiously on the ground, and then was dragged away and buried "with the burial of an ass," without pomp or lamentation, "beyond the gates of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 22:18,19; 36:30) All the accounts we have of Jehoiakim concur in ascribing to him a vicious and irreligious character. (2 Kings 23:37; 24:9; 2 Chronicles 36:5) The reign of Jehoiakim extends from B.C. 609 to B.C. 598, or, as some reckon, 599.

 

 

Jehoiarib

(whom Jehovah defends), head of the first of the twenty-four courses of priests. (1 Chronicles 24:7)

 

 

Jehonadab

(whom Jehovah impels) and Jon'adab, the son of Rechab, founder of the Rechabites, an Arab chief. When Jehu was advancing, after the slaughter of Betheked, on the city of Samaria, he was suddenly met by Jehonadab, who joined with him in "slaying all that remained unto Ahab." (2 Kings 10:15-17)

 

 

Jehonathan

(whom Jehovah gave).

• Son of Uzziah; superintendent of certain of King David's storehouses. (1 Chronicles 27:25) (B.C. 1014).


• One of the Levites who were sent by Jehoshaphat through the cities of Judah, with a book of the law, to teach the people. (2 Chronicles 17:8) (B.C. 910.)


• A priest, (Nehemiah 12:18) the representative of the family of Shemaiah, ver. 6, when Joiakim was high priest. (B.C. after 536.)

 

 

Jehoram

(whom Jehovah has exalted).

• Son of Ahab king of Israel, who succeeded his brother Ahaziah B.C. 896, and died B.C. 884. The alliance between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, commenced by his father and Jehoshaphat, was very close throughout his reign. We first find him associated with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom in a war against the Moabites. The three armies were in the utmost danger of perishing for want of water. The piety of Jehoshaphat suggested an inquiry of Jehovah, thorough Elisha. After reproving Jehoram, Elisha, for Jehoshaphat's sake, inquired of Jehovah, and received the promise of an abundant supply of water, and of a great victory over the Moabites; a promise which was immediately fulfilled. The allies pursued them with great slaughter into their own land, which they utterly ravaged and destroyed most of its cities. Kirharaseth alone remained, the there the king of Moab made his last stand. An attempt to break through the besieging army having failed, he resorted to the desperate expedient of offering up his eldest son, as a burnt offering, upon the wall of the city, in the sight of the enemy. Upon this the Israelites retired and returned to their own land. (2 Kings 3:1) ... A little later, when war broke out between Syria and Israel, we find Elisha befriending Jehoram; but when the terrible famine in Samaria arose, the king immediately attributed the evil to Elisha, and determined to take away his life. The providential interposition by which both Elisha's life was saved the city delivered is narrated (2 Kings 7:1) ... and Jehoram appears to have returned to friendly feeling toward Elisha. (2 Kings 8:4) It was soon after these vents that the revolution in Syria predicted by Elisha took place, giving Jehoram a good opportunity of recovering Ramoth-gilead from the Syrians. he accordingly made an alliance with his nephew Ahaziah, who had just succeeded Joram on the throne of Judah, and the two kings proceeded to occupy Ramoth-gilead by force. The expedition was an unfortunate one. Jehoram was wounded in battle, and obliged to return to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds. (2 Kings 8:29; 9:14,15) jehu and the army under his command revolted from their allegiance to Jehoram, (2 Kings 9:1) ... and hastily marching to Jezreel, surprised Jehoram, wounded and defenseless as he was. Jehoram, going out to meet him, fell pierced by an arrow from Jehu's bow on the very plot of ground which Ahab had wrested from Naboth the Jezreelite; thus fulfilling to the letter the prophecy of Elijah. (1 Kings 21:29) With the life of Jehoram ended the dynasty of Omri.


• Eldest son of Jehoshaphat, succeeded his father on the throne of Judah at the age of 32, and reigned eight years, from B.C. 893-2 to 885-4. As soon as he was fixed on the throne, he put his six brothers to death, with many of the chief nobles of the land. He then, probably at the instance of his wife Athaliah the daughter of Ahab, proceeded to establish the worship of Baal. A prophetic writing from the aged prophet Elijah, (2 Chronicles 21:12) failed to produce any good effect upon him. The remainder of his reign was a series of calamities. First the Edomites, who had been tributary to Jehoshaphat, revolted from his dominion and established their permanent independence. Next Libnah, (2 Kings 19:8) rebelled against him. Then followed invasion by armed bands of Philistines and of Arabians, who stormed the king's palace, put his wives and all his children, except his youngest son Ahaziah, to death, (2 Chronicles 22:1) or carried them into captivity, and plundered all his treasures. he died of a terrible disease. (2 Chronicles 21:19,20)

 

 

Jehoshabeath

(whose oath is Jehovah). (2 Chronicles 22:11) [See Jehosheba]

 

 

Jehoshaphat

(whom Jehovah judges.)

• King of Judah, son of Asa, succeeded to the throne B.C. 914, when he was 35 years old, and reigned 25 years. His history is to be found among the events recorded in (1 Kings 15:24; 2 Kings 8:16) or in a continuous narrative in (2 Chronicles 17:1; 2 Chronicles 21:3) He was contemporary with Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram. He was one of the best, most pious and prosperous kings of Judah, the greatest since Solomon. At first he strengthened himself against Israel; but soon afterward the two Hebrew kings formed an alliance. In his own kingdom Jehoshaphat ever showed himself a zealous follower of the commandments of God: he tried to put down the high places and groves in which the people of Judah burnt incense, and sent the wisest Levites through the cities and towns to instruct the people in true morality and religion. Riches and honors increased around him. He received tribute from the Philistines and Arabians, and kept up a large standing army in Jerusalem. It was probably about the 16th year of his reign, B.C. 898, when he became Ahab's ally in the great battle of Ramoth-gilead, for which he was severely reproved by Jehu. (2 Chronicles 19:2) He built at Ezion-geber, with the help of Ahaziah, a navy designed to go to Tarshish; but it was wrecked at Ezion-geber. Before the close of his reign he was engaged in two additional wars. He was miraculously delivered from a threatened attack of the people of Ammon, Moab and Seir. After this, perhaps, must be dated the war which Jehoshaphat, in conjunction with Jehoram king of Israel and the king of Edom, carried on against the rebellious king of Moab. (2 Kings 3:1) ... In his declining years the administration of affairs was placed, probably B.C. 891, in the hands of his son Jehoram.


• Son of Ahilud, who filled the office of recorder of annalist in the courts of David, (2 Samuel 8:16) etc., and Solomon. (1 Kings 4:3)


• One of the priests in David's time. (1 Chronicles 15:24)


• Son of Paruah; one of the twelve purveyors of King Solomon. (1 Kings 4:17)


• Son of Nimshi and father of King Jehu. (2 Kings 9:2,14)

 

 

Jehoshaphat, Valley Of

(valley of the judgment of Jehovah), a valley mentioned by Joel only, as the spot in which, after the return of Judah and Jerusalem from captivity, Jehovah would gather all the heathen, (Joel 3:2) and would there sit to judge them for their misdeeds to Israel. ch. (Joel 3:12) The scene of "Jehovah's judgment" as been localized, and the name has come down to us attached to that deep ravine which separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, through which at one time the Kedron forced its stream. At what period the name "valley of Jehoshaphat" was first applied to this spot is unknown. It is not mentioned in the Bible or Josephus, but is first encountered in the middle of the fourth century. Both Moslems and Jews believe that the last judgment is to take place there. The steep sides of the ravine, wherever a level strip affords the opportunity, are crowded - in places almost paved - by the sepulchres of the Moslems, or the simpler slabs of the Jewish tombs, alike awaiting the assembly of the last judgment. The name is generally confined by travellers to the upper part of the glen. (Others suppose that the name is only an imaginary one, "the valley of the judgment of Jehovah" referring to some great victories of God's people in which judgment was executed upon the heathen; or perhaps, as Keil, etc., to the end of the world. - ED.)

 

 

Jehosheba

(Jehovah's oath), daughter of Joram king of Israel, and wife of jehoiada the high priest. (2 Kings 11:2) Her name in the Chronicles is given Jehoshabeath. (B.C. 882.) As she is called, (2 Kings 11:2) "the daughter of Joram, sister of Ahaziah," it has been conjectured that she was the daughter, not of Athaliah, but of Joram by another wife. She is the only recorded instance of the marriage of a princess of the royal house with a high priest.

 

 

Jehoshua

(whose help is Jehovah; Help of Jehovah or savoiur). In this form is given the name of Joshua in (Numbers 13:16) Once more only the name appears, - as Jehosh'uah.

 

 

Jehoshuah

in the genealogy of Ephraim. (1 Chronicles 7:27)

 

 

Jehovah

(I am; the eternal living one). The Scripture appellation of the supreme Being, usually interpreted as signifying self-derived and permanent existence. The Jews scrupulously avoided every mention of this name of God, substituting in its stead one or other of the words with whose proper vowel-points it may happen to be written. This custom, which had its origin in reverence, was founded upon an erroneous rendering of (Leviticus 24:16) from which it was inferred that the mere utterance of the name constituted a capital offence. According to Jewish tradition, it was pronounced but once a year, by the high priest on the day of atonement when he entered the holy of holies; but on this point there is some doubt. When Moses received his commission to be the deliverer of Israel, the Almighty, who appeared in the burning bush, communicated to him the name which he should give as the credentials of his mission: "And God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM (ehyea asher ehyeh); and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." That this passage is intended to indicate the etymology of Jehovah, as understood by the Hebrews, no one has ventured to doubt. While Elohim exhibits God displayed in his power as the creator and governor of the physical universe, the name Jehovah designates his nature as he stands in relation to man, as the only almighty, true, personal, holy Being, a spirit and "the father of spirits," (Numbers 16:22) comp. John 4:24 Who revealed himself to his people, made a covenant with them, and became their lawgiver, and to whom all honor and worship are due.

 

 

Jehovahjireh

(Jehovah will see or provide), the name given by Abraham to the place on which he had been commanded to offer Isaac, to commemorate the interposition of the angel of Jehovah, who appeared to prevent the sacrifice, (Genesis 22:14) and provided another victim.

 

 

Jehovahnissi

(Jehovah my banner), the name given by Moses to the altar which he built in commemoration of the discomfiture of the Amalekites. (Exodus 17:15)

 

 

Jehovahshalom

(Jehovah (is) peace), or, with an ellipsis, "Jehovah the God of peace." The altar erected by Gideon in Orphrah was so called in memory of the salutation addressed to him by the angel of Jehovah, "Peace be unto thee." (Judges 6:24)

 

 

Jehozabad

(whom Jehovah gave).

• A Korhite Levite, second son of Obed-edom, and one of the porters of the south gate of the temple and of the storehouse there in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 26:4,15) compared with Nehe 12:25 (B.C. 1014.)


• A Benjamite, captain of 180,000 armed men, in the days of King Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:18) (B.C. 910.)


• Son of Shomer or Shimrith, a Moabitish woman, who with another conspired against King Joash and slew him in his bed. (2 Kings 2:21; 2 Chronicles 24:26) (B.C. 837.)

 

 

Jehozadak

(Jehovah justifies), usually called Jozadak or Josedech. He was the son of the high priest Seraiah. (1 Chronicles 6:14,15) When his father was slain at Riblah by order of Nebuchadnezzar, (2 Kings 25:18,21) Jehozadak was led away captive to Babylon. (1 Chronicles 6:15) (B.C. 588.) He himself never attained the high priesthood, but he was the father of Jeshua the high priest, and of all his successors till the pontificate of Alcimus. (Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 12:26), etc.

 

 

Jehu

(the living).

• The founder of the fifth dynasty of the kingdom of Israel, son of Jehoshaphat. (2 Kings 9:2) He reigned over Israel 28 years, B.C. 884-856. His first appearance in history is when he heard the warning of Elijah against the murderer of Naboth. (2 Kings 9:25) In the reigns of Ahaziah and Jehoram, Jehu rose to importance. He was, under the last-named king, captain of the host in the siege of Ramoth-gilead. During this siege he was anointed by Elisha's servant, and told that he was appointed to be king of Israel and destroyer of the house of Ahab. (2 Kings 9:12) The army at once ordained him king, and he set off full speed for Jezreel. Jehoram, who was lying ill in Jezreel, came out to meet him, as it happened on the fatal field of Naboth. (2 Kings 9:21-24) Jehu seized his opportunity, and shot him through the heart. (2 Kings 9:24) Jehu himself advanced to the gates of Jezreel and fulfilled the divine warning on Jezebel as already on Jehoram. He then entered on a work of extermination hitherto unparalleled in the history of the Jewish monarchy. All the descendants of Ahab that remained in Jezreel, together with the officers of the court and the hierarchy of Eastward, were swept away. His next step was to secure Samaria. For the pretended purpose of inaugurating anew the worship of Baal, he called all the Bailouts together at Samaria. The vast temple raised by Ahab, (1 Kings 16:32) was crowded from end to end. The chief sacrifice was offered, as if in the excess of his zeal, by Jehu himself. As soon as it was ascertained that all, and none but, the idolaters were there, the signal was given to eighty trusted guards, and sweeping massacre removed at one blow the whole heathen population of the kingdom of Israel. This is the last public act recorded of Jehu. The remaining twenty-seven years of his long reign are passed over in a few words, in which two points only are material: - He did not destroy the calf-worship of Jeroboam: - The transjordanic tribes suffered much from the ravages of Hazael. (2 Kings 10:29-33) He was buried in state in Samaria, and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. (2 Kings 10:35) His name is the first of the Israelite kings which appears in the Assyrian monuments.


• Jehu son of Hanani; a prophet of Judah, but whose ministrations were chiefly directed to Israel. His father was probably the seer who attacked Asa. (2 Chronicles 16:7) He must have begun his career as a prophet when very young. He first denounced Baasha, (1 Kings 16:1,7) and then, after an interval of thirty years, reappeared to denounce Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab. (2 Chronicles 19:2,3) He survived Jehoshaphat and wrote his life. ch. (2 Chronicles 20:34)


• A man of Judah of the house of Hezron. (1 Chronicles 2:38)


• A Simeonite, son of Josibiah. (1 Chronicles 4:35)


• Jehu the Antothite was one of the chief of the heroes of Benjamin who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:3)

 

 

Jehubbah

(protected), a man of Asher, son of Shamer or Shomer, of the house of Beriah. (1 Chronicles 7:34) (B.C. perhaps about 1450.)

 

 

Jehucal

(able), son of Shelemiah; one of two persons sent by King Zedekiah to Jeremiah to entreat his prayers and advice. (Jeremiah 37:3) (B.C. 589.)

 

 

Jehud

(praised), one of the towns of the tribe of Dan, (Joshua 19:45) named between Baalath and Bene-berak.

 

 

Jehudi

(a Jew), son of Nethaniah, a man employed by the princes of Jehoiakim's court to fetch Baruch to read Jeremiah's denunciation, (Jeremiah 36:14) and then by the king to fetch the volume itself and read it to him. vs. (Jeremiah 36:21,23) (B.C. 605.)

 

 

Jehudijah

(the Jewess). There is really no such name in the Hebrew Bible as that which our Authorized Version exhibits at (1 Chronicles 4:18) If it is a proper name at all, it is Ha-jehudijah, like Hammelech, Hak-koz, etc.; and it seems to be rather an appellative, "the Jewess."

 

 

Jehush

(to whom God hastens), son of eshek, a remote descendant of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:39)

 

 

Jeiel

(treasured of God).

• A Reubenite of the house of Joel. (1 Chronicles 5:7)


• A Merarite Levite, one of the gate-keepers to the sacred tent. (1 Chronicles 15:18) His duty was also to play the harp, ver. (1 Chronicles 15:21) or the psaltery and harp, (1 Chronicles 16:5) in the service before the ark. (B.C. 1043.)


• A Gershonite Levite, one of the Bene-Asaph, forefather of Jahaziel in the time of King Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 20:14) (B.C. 910.)


• The scribe who kept the account of the numbers of King Uzziah's irregular predatory warriors. (2 Chronicles 26:11) (B.C. 803.)


• A Gershonite Levite, one of the Bene-Elizaphan. (2 Chronicles 29:13)


• One of the chiefs of the Levites in the time of Josiah. (2 Chronicles 35:9) (B.C. 623.)


• One of the Bene-Adonikam who formed part of the caravan of Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem. (Ezra 8:13) (B.C. 459.)


• A layman of the Bene-Nebo, who had taken a foreign wife and had to relinquish her. (Ezra 10:43) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jekabzeel

(what God gathers), a fuller form of the name of Kabzeel, the most remote city of Judah on the southern frontier. (Nehemiah 11:25)

 

 

Jekamiah

(whom Jehovah gathers), son of Shallum, in the line of Ahlai. (1 Chronicles 2:41) (B.C. about 588.)

 

 

Jekuthiel

a man recorded in the genealogies of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:18)

 

 

Jemima

(dove), the eldest of the three daughters born to Job after the restoration of his prosperity. (Job 42:14)

 

 

Jemuel

(day of God), the eldest son of Simeon. (Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15) (B.C. 1706.)

 

 

Jephthae

(whom God sets free), (Hebrews 11:32) the Greek form of the name Jephthah.

 

 

Jephthah

(whom God sets free), A judge about B.C. 1143-1137. His history is contained in (Judges 11:1; Judges 12:8) He was a Gileadite, the son of Gilead and a concubine. Driven by the legitimate sons from his father's inheritance, he went to Tob and became the head of a company of freebooters in a debatable land probably belonging to Ammon. (2 Samuel 10:6) (This land was east of Jordan and southeast of Gilead, and bordered on the desert of Arabia. - ED.) His fame as a bold and successful captain was carried back to his native Gilead; and when the time was ripe for throwing off the yoke of Ammon, Jephthah consented to become the captain of the Gileadite bands, on the condition, solemnly ratified before the Lord in Mizpeh, that int he event of his success against Ammon he should still remain as their acknowledged head. Vowing his vow unto God, (Judges 11:31) that he would offer up as a burn offering whatsoever should come out to meet him if successful, he went forth to battle. The Ammonites were routed with great slaughter; but as the conqueror returned to Mizpeh there came out to meet him his daughter, his only child, with timbrels and dancing. The father is heart-stricken; but the maiden asks only for a respite of two months in which to prepare for death. When that time was ended she returned to her father, who "did with her according to his vow." The tribe of Ephraim challenged Jephthah's right to go to war as he had done, without their concurrence, against Ammon. He first defeated them, then intercepted the fugitives at the fords of Jordan, and there put forty-two thousand men to the sword. He judged Israel six years, and died. It is generally conjectured that his jurisdiction was limited to the transjordanic region. That the daughter of Jephthah was really offered up to God in sacrifice is a conclusion which it seems impossible to avoid. (But there is no word of approval, as if such a sacrifice was acceptable to God. Josephus well says that "the sacrifice was neither sanctioned by the Mosaic ritual nor acceptable to God." The vow and the fulfillment were the mistaken conceptions of a rude chieftain, not acts pleasing to God. - ED.)

 

 

Jephunneh

(for whom a way is prepared).

• Father of Caleb the spy, appears to have belonged to an Edomitish tribe called Kenezites, from Kenaz their founder. See (Numbers 13:6) etc.; Numb 32:12 etc.; Josh 14:14 etc.; 1Chr 4:15 (B.C. 1530.)


• A descendant of Asher, eldest of the three sons of Jether. (1 Chronicles 7:38) (B.C. 1017.)

 

 

Jerah

(the moon), the fourth in order of the sons of Joktan, (Genesis 10:26; 1 Chronicles 1:20) and the progenitor of a tribe of southern Arabia.

 

 

Jerahmeel

(mercy of God).

• First-born son of hezron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah, (1 Chronicles 2:9,25-27,33,42) and founder of the family of Jerahmeelites. (1 Samuel 27:10) (B.C. before 1491.)


• A Merarite Levite, the representative of the family of Kish, the son of Mahli. (1 Chronicles 24:29) comp. 1Chr 23:21 (B.C. 1014.)


• Son of Hammelech, who was employed by Jehoiakim to make Jeremiah and baruch prisoners, after the had burnt the roll of Jeremiah's prophecy. (Jeremiah 36:26) (B.C. 505.)

 

 

Jerahmeelites

(descendants of Jerahmeel), The, the tribe descended from the first of the foregoing persons. (1 Samuel 27:10) They dwelt in the south of Judah.

 

 

Jered

(descent).

• Son of Mahalaleel and father of Enoch. (1 Chronicles 1:2)


• One of the descendants of Judah signalized as the "father" - i.e. the founder - "of Gedor." (1 Chronicles 4:18)

 

 

Jeremai

(dwelling in heights), a layman, one of the Bene-Hashum, who was compelled by Ezra to put away his foreign wife. (Ezra 10:33) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jeremiah

Seven other persons bearing the same name as the prophet are mentioned in the Old Testament: -

• Jeremiah of Libnah, father of Hamutal wife of Josiah. (2 Kings 23:31) (B.C. before 632.) 2,3,4. Three warriors - two of the tribe of Gad - in David's army. (1 Chronicles 12:4,10,13) (B.C. 1061-53.)


• One of the "mighty men of valor" of the transjordanic half-tribe of Manasseh. (1 Chronicles 5:24) (B.C. 782.)


• A priest of high rank, head of the second or third of the twenty-one courses which are apparently enumerated in (Nehemiah 10:2-8; 12:1,12) (B.C. 446-410).


• The father of Jazaniah the Rechabite. (Jeremiah 35:3) (B.C. before 606.)

(whom Jehovah has appointed) was "the son of Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth." (Jeremiah 1:1)

• History. - He was called very young (B.C. 626) to the prophetic office, and prophesied forty-two years; but we have hardly any mention of him during the eighteen years between his call and Josiah's death, or during the short reign of Jehoahaz. During the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, B.C. 607-598, he opposed the Egyptian party, then dominant in Jerusalem, and maintained that they only way of safety lay in accepting the supremacy of the Chaldeans. He was accordingly accused of treachery, and men claiming to be prophets had the "word of Jehovah" to set against his. (Jeremiah 14:13; 23:7) As the danger from the Chaldeans became more threatening, the persecution against Jeremiah grew hotter. ch. 18. The people sought his life; then follows the scene in (Jeremiah 19:10-13) he was set, however, "as a fenced brazen wall," ch. (Jeremiah 15:20) and went on with his work, reproving king and nobles and people. The danger which Jeremiah had so long foretold at last came near. First Jehoiakim, and afterwards his successor Jehoiachin, were carried into exile, 2Kin 24; but Zedekiah, B.C. 597-586, who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, was more friendly to the prophet, though powerless to help him. The approach of an Egyptian army, and the consequent departure of the Chaldeans, made the position of Jeremiah full of danger, and he sought to effect his escape from the city; but he was seized and finally thrown into a prison-pit to die, but was rescued. On the return of the Chaldean army he showed his faith in God's promises, and sought to encourage the people by purchasing the field at Anathoth which his kinsman Hanameel wished to get rid of. (Jeremiah 32:6-9) At last the blow came. The city was taken, the temple burnt. The king and his princes shared the fate of Jehoiachin. The prophet gave utterance to his sorrow in the Lamentations. After the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 586, by the Chaldeans, we find Jeremiah receiving better treatment; but after the death of Gedaliah, the people, disregarding his warnings, took refuge in Egypt, carrying the prophet with them. In captivity his words were sharper and stronger than ever. He did not shrink, even there, from speaking of the Chaldean king once more as "the servant of Jehovah." (Jeremiah 43:10) After this all is uncertain, but he probably died in Egypt.


• Character. - Canon Cook says of Jeremiah, "His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty...Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution; as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth 'a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.' ch. (Jeremiah 1:18) he was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature." (It is not strange that he was desponding when we consider his circumstances. He saw the nation going straight to irremediable ruin, and turning a deaf ear to all warnings. "A reign of terror had commenced (in the preceding reign), during which not only the prophets but all who were distinguished for religion and virtue were cruelly murdered." "The nation tried to extirpate the religion of Jehovah;" "Idolatry was openly established," "and such was the universal dishonesty that no man trusted another, and society was utterly disorganized." How could one who saw the nation about to reap the awful harvest they had been sowing, and yet had a vision of what they might have been and might yet be, help indulging in "Lamentations"? - ED.)

 

 

Jeremiah, Book Of

"There can be little doubt that the book of Jeremiah grew out of the roll which Baruch wrote down at the prophet's mouth in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. ch. (Jeremiah 36:2) Apparently the prophets kept written records of their predictions, and collected into larger volumes such of them as were intended for permanent use." - Canon Cook. In the present order we have two great divisions: - I. Chs. 1-45. Prophecies delivered at various times, directed mainly to Judah, or connected with Jeremiah's personal history. II. Chs. 46-51. Prophecies connected with other nations. Looking more closely into each of these divisions, we have the following sections:

• Chs. 1-21, including prophecies from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fourth of Jehoiakim; ch. 21; belongs to the later period.


• Chs. 22-25. Shorter prophecies, delivered at different times, against the kings of Judah and the false prophets. Ch. (Jeremiah 25:13,14) evidently marks the conclusion of a series of prophecies; and that which follows, ch. (Jeremiah 25:15-38) the germ of the fuller predictions in chs. 46-49, has been placed here as a kind of completion to the prophecy of the seventy years and the subsequent fall of Babylon.


• Chs. 26-28. The two great prophecies of the fall of Jerusalem, and the history connected with them.


• Chs. 29-31. The message of comfort for the exiles in Babylon.


• Chs. 32-44. The history of the last two years before the capture of Jerusalem, and of Jeremiah's work int hem and in the period that followed.


• Chs. 46-51. The prophecies against foreign nations, ending with the great prediction against Babylon.


• The supplementary narrative of ch. 52.

 

 

Jeremias

the Greek form of the name of Jeremiah the prophet. (Matthew 16:14)

 

 

Jeremoth

(heights).

• A Benjamite chief, a son of the house of Beriah of Elpaal. (1 Chronicles 8:14) comp. 1Chr 8:12-18 (B.C. about 588.)


• A merarite levite, son of Mushi. (1 Chronicles 23:23)


• Son of Heman; head of the thirteenth course of musicians in the divine service. (1 Chronicles 25:22) (B.C. 1014.)


• One of the sons of Elam, and,


• One of the sons of Zattu, who had taken strange wives. (Ezra 10:26,27) (B.C. 459.)


• The name which appears in the same list as "and RAMOTH," ver. 29.

 

 

Jeremy

the prophet Jeremiah. (Matthew 2:17; 27:9)

 

 

Jeriah

a Kohathite Levite, chief of the great house of Hebron when David organized the service. (1 Chronicles 23:19; 24:23) B.C. 1014. The same man is mentioned again as Jerijah. (1 Chronicles 26:31)

 

 

Jeribai

(whom Jehovah defends), one of the Bene-Elnaan, named among the heroes of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:46)

 

 

Jericho

(place of fragrance), a city of high antiquity, situated in a plain traversed by the Jordan, and exactly over against where that river was crossed by the Israelites under Joshua. (Joshua 3:16) It was five miles west of the Jordan and seven miles northwest of the Dead Sea. It had a king. Its walls were so considerable that houses were built upon them. ch. (Joshua 2:15) The spoil that was found in it betokened its affluence. Jericho is first mentioned as the city to which the two spies were sent by Joshua from Shittim. (Joshua 2:1-21) It was bestowed by him upon the tribe of Benjamin, ch. (Joshua 18:21) and from this time a long interval elapses before Jericho appears again upon the scene. Its second foundation under Hiel the Bethelite is recorded in (1 Kings 16:34) Once rebuilt, Jericho rose again slowly into consequence. In its immediate vicinity the sons of the prophets sought retirement from the world; Elisha "healed the spring of the waters;" and over against it, beyond Jordan, Elijah "went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:1-22) In its plains Zedekiah fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. (2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 39:5) In the return under Zerubbabel the "children of Jericho," 345 in number, are comprised. (Ezra 2:34; Nehemiah 7:36) Under Herod the Great it again became an important place. He fortified it and built a number of new palaces, which he named after his friends. If he did not make Jericho his habitual residence, he at last retired thither to die, and it was in the amphitheater of Jericho that the news of his death was announced to the assembled soldiers and people by Salome. Soon afterward the palace was burnt and the town plundered by one Simon, slave to Herod; but Archelaus rebuilt the former sumptuously, and founded a new town on the plain, that bore his own name; and, most important of all, diverted water from a village called Neaera to irrigate the plain which he had planted with palms. Thus Jericho was once more "a city of palms" when our Lord visited it. Here he restored sight to the blind. (Matthew 20:30; Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35) Here the descendant of Rahab did not disdain the hospitality of Zaccaeus the publican. Finally, between Jerusalem and Jericho was laid the scene of his story of the good Samaritan. The city was destroyed by Vespasian. The site of ancient (the first) Jericho is placed by Dr. Robinson in the immediate neighborhood of the fountain of Elisha; and that of the second (the city of the New Testament and of Josephus) at the opening of the Wady Kelt (Cherith), half an hour from the fountain. (The village identified with jericho lies a mile and a half from the ancient site, and is called Riha . It contains probably 200 inhabitants, indolent and licentious and about 40 houses. Dr. Olin says it is the "meanest and foulest village of Palestine;" yet the soil of the plain is of unsurpassed fertility. - ED.)

 

 

Jeriel

(people of God), a man of Issachar, one of the six heads of the house of Tola. (1 Chronicles 7:2)

 

 

Jerijah

(people of Jehovah). [See Jeriah]

 

 

Jerimoth

(heights).

• Son or descendant of Bela. (1 Chronicles 7:7) He is perhaps the same as


• who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:5) (B.C. 1055.)


• A son of Beecher, (1 Chronicles 7:8) and head of a Benjamite house.


• Son of Mushi, the son of Merari. (1 Chronicles 24:30)


• Son of Heman, head of fifteenth ward of musicians. (1 Chronicles 25:4,22) (B.C. 1014.)


• Son of Zariel, ruler of the tribe of Naphtali in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:19)


• Son of King David, whose daughter Mahalath was one of the wives of Rehoboam, her cousin Abihail being the other. (2 Chronicles 11:18) (B.C. before 1014.)


• A Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:13) (B.C. 726.)

 

 

Jerioth

(curtains), one of the elder Caleb's wives. (1 Chronicles 2:18)

 

 

Jeroboam

(whose people are many).

• The first king of the divided kingdom of Israel, B.C. 975-954, was the son of an Ephraimite of the name of Nebat. He was raised by Solomon to the rank of superintendent over the taxes and labors exacted from the tribe of Ephraim. (1 Kings 11:28) he made the most of his position, and at last was perceived by Solomon to be aiming at the monarchy. He was leaving Jerusalem, when he was met by Ahijah the prophet, who gave him the assurance that, on condition of obedience to his laws, God would establish for him a kingdom and dynasty equal to that of David. (1 Kings 11:29-40) The attempts of Solomon to cut short Jeroboam's designs occasioned his flight into Egypt. There he remained until Solomon's death. After a year's longer stay in Egypt, during which Jeroboam married Ano, the elder sister of the Egyptian queen Tahpenes, he returned to Shechem, where took place the conference with Rehoboam [Rehoboam], and the final revolt which ended in the elevation of Jeroboam to the throne of the northern kingdom. Now occurred the fatal error of his policy. Fearing that the yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem would undo all the work which he effected, he took the bold step of rending the religious unity of the nation, which was as yet unimpaired, asunder. He caused two golden figures of Mnevis, the sacred calf, to be made and set up at the two extremities of his kingdom, one at Dan and the other at Bethel. It was while dedicating the altar at Bethel that a prophet from Judah suddenly appeared, who denounced the altar, and foretold its desecration by Josiah, and violent overthrow. The king, stretching out his hand to arrest the prophet, felt it withered and paralyzed, and only at the prophet's prayer saw it restored, and acknowledged his divine mission. Jeroboam was at constant war with the house of Judah, but the only act distinctly recorded is a battle with Abijah, son of Rehoboam, in which he was defeated. The calamity was severely felt; he never recovered the blow, and soon after died, in the 22d year of his reign, (2 Chronicles 13:20) and was buried in his ancestral sepulchre. (1 Kings 14:20)


• Jeroboam II., the son of Joash, the fourth of the dynasty of Jehu. (B.C. 825-784.) The most prosperous of the kings of Israel. He repelled the Syrian invaders, took their capital city Damascus, (2 Kings 14:28) and recovered the whole of the ancient dominion from Hamah to the Dead Sea. ch (2 Kings 14:25) Ammon and Moab were reconquered, and the transjordanic tribes were restored to their territory, (2 Kings 13:5; 1 Chronicles 5:17-22) but it was merely an outward restoration.

 

 

Jeroham

(cherished).

• Father of Elkanah, the father of Samuel, of the house of Kohath. (1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 6:27,34) (B.C. before 1142.)


• A Benjamite, the founder of a family of Bene-Jeroham. (1 Chronicles 8:27) Probably the same as


• Father (or progenitor) of Ibneiah. (1 Chronicles 9:8) comp. 1Chr 9:3 and 1Chr 9:9. (B.C. before 588.)


• A descendant of Aaron, of the house of Immer, the leader of the sixteenth course of priests; son of Pashur, and father of Adaiah. (1 Chronicles 9:12) He appears to be mentioned again in (Nehemiah 11:12) (B.C. before 586.)


• Jeroham of Gedor, some of whose sons joined David at Ziglag. (1 Chronicles 12:7) (B.C. before 1055.)


• A Danite, whose son or descendant Azareel was head of his tribe in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 27:22)


• Father of Azariah, one of the "captains of hundreds" in the time of Athaliah. (2 Chronicles 23:1) (B.C. before 876.)

 

 

Jerubbaal, Or Jerubbaal

(contender with Baal), the surname of Gideon, which he acquired in consequence of destroying the altar of Baal, when his father defended him from the vengeance of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:32)

 

 

Jerubbesheth

(contender with the shame), a name of Gideon. (2 Samuel 11:21)

 

 

Jeruel

(founded by God), The wilderness of, the place in which Jehoshaphat was informed by Jahaziel the Levite that he should encounter the hordes of Ammon, Moab and the Mehunims. (2 Chronicles 20:16) The name has not been met with.

 

 

Jerusalem

(the habitation of peace), Jerusalem stands in latitude 31 degrees 46' 35" north and longitude 35 degrees 18' 30" east of Greenwich. It is 32 miles distant from the sea and 18 from the Jordan, 20 from Hebron and 36 from Samaria. "In several respects," says Dean Stanley, "its situation is singular among the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table-lands of the country. Hebron indeed is higher still by some hundred feet, and from the south, accordingly (even from Bethlehem), the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from any other side the ascent is perpetual; and to the traveller approaching the city from the east or west it must always have presented the appearance beyond any other capital of the then known world - we may say beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth - of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness." - S. & P. 170,

• Jerusalem, if not actually in the centre of Palestine, was yet virtually so. "It was on the ridge, the broadest and most strongly-marked ridge of the backbone of the complicated hills which extend through the whole country from the plain of Esdraelon to the desert." Roads. - There appear to have been but two main approaches to the city: -


• From the Jordan valley by Jericho and the Mount of Olives. This was the route commonly taken from the north and east of the country.


• From the great maritime plain of Philistia and Sharon. This road led by the two Beth-horons up to the high ground at Gibeon, whence it turned south, and came to Jerusalem by Ramah and Gibeah, and over the ridge north of the city. Topography. - To convey an idea of the position of Jerusalem, we may say, roughly, that the city occupies the southern termination of the table-land which is cut off from the country round it on its west, south and east sides by ravines more than usually deep and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the one on the west and the other on the northeast of the city, and fall rapidly until they form a junction below its southeast corner. The eastern one - the valley of the Kedron, commonly called the valley of Jehoshaphat - runs nearly straight from north by south. But the western one - the valley of Hinnom - runs south for a time, and then takes a sudden bend to the east until it meets the valley of Jehoshaphat, after which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their descent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point of junction -about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of each - is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which they began their descent. So steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their character, and so close do they keep to the promontory at whose feet they run, as to leave on the beholder almost the impression of the ditch at the foot of a fortress rather than of valleys formed by nature. The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal ravine running up it from south to north, called the valley of the Tyropoeon, rising gradually from the south, like the external ones, till at last it arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west is the higher and more massive, on which the city of Jerusalem now stands, and in fact always stood. The hill on the east is considerably lower and smaller, so that to a spectator from the south the city appears to slope sharply toward the east. Here was the temple, and here stands now the great Mohammedan sanctuary with its mosques and domes. The name of Mount, Mount, Mountain Zion has been applied to the western hill from the time of Constantine to the present day. The eastern hill, called Mount, Mount, Mountain Moriah in (2 Chronicles 3:1) was as already remarked, the site of the temple. It was situated in the southwest angle of the area, now known as the Haram area, and was, as we learn from Josephus, an exact square of a stadium, or 600 Greek feet, on each side. (Conder ("Bible Handbook," 1879) states that by the latest surveys the Haram area is a quadrangle with unequal sides. The west wall measures 1601 feet, the south 922, the east 1530, the north 1042. It is thus nearly a mile in circumference, and contains 35 acres. - ED.) Attached to the northwest angle of the temple was the Antonia, a tower or fortress. North of the side of the temple is the building now known to Christians as the Mosque of Omar, but by Moslems called the Dome of the Rock. The southern continuation of the eastern hill was named Ophel, which gradually came to a point at the junction of the valleys Tyropoeon and Jehoshaphat; and the norther BEZETHA, "the new city," first noticed by Josephus, which was separated from Moriah by an artificial ditch, and overlooked the valley of Kedron on the east; this hill was enclosed within the walls of Herod Agrippa. Lastly, ACRA lay westward of Moriah and northward of Zion, and formed the "lower city" in the time of Josephus. Walls. - These are described by Josephus. The first or old wall was built by David and Solomon, and enclosed Zion and part of Mount Moriah. (The second wall enclosed a portion of the city called Acra or Millo, on the north of the city, from the tower of Mariamne to the tower of Antonia. It was built as the city enlarged in size; begun by Uzziah 140 years after the first wall was finished, continued by Jotham 50 years later, and by Manasseh 100 years later still. It was restored by Nehemiah. Even the latest explorations have failed to decide exactly what was its course. (See Conder's Handbook of the Bible, art. Jerusalem.) The third wall was built by King Herod Agrippa, and was intended to enclose the suburbs which had grown out on the northern sides of the city, which before this had been left exposed. After describing these walls, Josephus adds that the whole circumference of the city was 33 stadia, or nearly four English miles, which is as near as may be the extent indicated by the localities. He then adds that the number of towers in the old wall was 60, the middle wall 40, and the new wall 99. Water Supply - (Jerusalem had no natural water supply, unless we so consider the "Fountain of the Virgin," which wells up with an intermittent action from under Ophel. The private citizens had cisterns, which were supplied by the rain from the roofs; and the city had a water supply "perhaps the most complete and extensive ever undertaken by a city," and which would enable it to endure a long siege. There were three aqueducts, a number of pools and fountains, and the temple area was honeycombed with great reservoirs, whose total capacity is estimated at 10,000,000 gallons. Thirty of these reservoirs are described, varying from 25 to 50 feet in depth; and one, call the great Sea, would hold 2,000,000 gallons. These reservoirs and the pools were supplied with water by the rainfall and by the aqueducts. One of these, constructed by Pilate, has been traced for 40 miles, though in a straight line the distance is but 13 miles. It brought water from the spring Elam, on the south, beyond Bethlehem, into the reservoirs under the temple enclosure. - ED.) Pools and fountains. - A part of the system of water supply. Outside the walls on the west side were the Upper and Lower Pools of Gihon, the latter close under Zion, the former more to the northwest on the Jaffa road. At the junction of the valleys of Hinnom and Jehoshaphat was Enrogel, the "Well of Job," in the midst of the king's gardens. Within the walls, immediately north of Zion, was the "Pool of Hezekiah." A large pool existing beneath the temple (referred to in Ecclus. 1:3) was probably supplied by some subterranean aqueduct. The "King's Pool" was probably identical with the "Fountain of the Virgin," at the southern angle of Moriah. It possesses the peculiarity that it rises and falls at irregular periods; it is supposed to be fed form the cistern below the temple. From this a subterranean channel cut through solid rock leads the water to the pool of Siloah, The Pool Of or Siloam, which has also acquired the character of being an intermittent fountain. The pool of which tradition has assigned the name of Bethesda is situated on the north side of Moriah; it is now named Birket Israil . Burial-grounds. - The main cemetery of the city seems from an early date to have been where it is still - on the steep slopes of the valley of the Kedron. The tombs of the kings were in the city of David, that is, Mount Zion. The royal sepulchres were probably chambers containing separate recesses for the successive kings. Gardens. - The king's gardens of David and Solomon seem to have been in the bottom formed by the confluence of the Kedron and Himmon. (Nehemiah 3:15) The Mount of Olives, as its name, and the names of various places upon it seem to imply, was a fruitful spot. At its foot was situated the garden of Gethsemane. At the time of the final siege the space north of the wall of Agrippa was covered with gardens, groves and plantations of fruit trees, enclosed by hedges and walls; and to level these was one of Titus' first operations. We know that the Gennath (i.e. "of gardens") opened on this side of the city. Gates. - The following is a complete list of the gates named in the Bible and by Josephus, with the reference to their occurrence: -


• Gate of Ephraim. (2 Chronicles 25:23; Nehemiah 8:16; 12:39) This is probably the same as the -


• Gate of Benjamin. (Jeremiah 20:2; 37:13; Zechariah 14:10) If so, it was 400 cubits distant from the -


• Corner gate. (2 Chronicles 25:23; 26:9; Jeremiah 31:38; Zechariah 14:10)


• Gate of Joshua, governor of the city. (2 Kings 23:8)


• Gate between the two walls. (2 Kings 25:4; Jeremiah 39:4)


• Horse gate. (Nehemiah 3:28; 2 Chronicles 23:15; Jeremiah 31:40)


• Ravine gate (i.e. opening on ravine of Hinnom). (2 Chronicles 26:9; Nehemiah 2:13,15; 3:13)


• Fish gate. (2 Chronicles 33:14; Nehemiah 3:13; Zephaniah 1:10)


• Dung gate. (Nehemiah 2:13; 3:13)


• Sheep gate. (Nehemiah 3:1,32; 12:39)


• East gate. (Nehemiah 3:29)


• Miphkad. (Nehemiah 3:31)


• Fountain gate (Siloam?). (Nehemiah 12:37)


• Water gate. (Nehemiah 12:37)


• Old Gate. (Nehemiah 12:39)


• Prison gate. (Nehemiah 12:39)


• Gate Harsith (perhaps the Sun; Authorized Version East gate). (Jeremiah 19:2)


• First gate. (Zechariah 14:10)


• Gate Gennath (gardens). Jos B.J. v. 4, - 4.


• Essenes' gate. Jos. B.J. 4, - 2. To these should be added the following gates to the temple: - Gate Sur, (2 Kings 11:6) called also gate of foundation. (2 Chronicles 23:5) Gate of the guard, or behind the guard, (2 Kings 11:6,19); called the high gate. (2 Kings 15:35; 2 Chronicles 23:20; 27:3) Gate Shallecheth. (1 Chronicles 26:16) At present the chief gates are -


• The Zion's gate and the dung gate, in the south wall;


• St. Stephen's gate and the golden gate (now walled up), in the east wall;


• The Damascus gate and


• Herod's gate, in the north wall; and


• The Jaffa gate, in the west wall. Population. - Taking the area of the city enclosed by the two old walls at 750,000 yards, and that enclosed by the wall of Agrippa at 1,500,000 yards, we have 2,250,000 yards for the whole. Taking the population of the old city at the probable number of the one person to 50 yards, we have 15,000 and at the extreme limit of 30 yards we should have 25,000 inhabitants for the old city, and at 100 yards to each individual in the new city about 15,000 more; so that the population of Jerusalem, in its days of greatest prosperity, may have amounted to from 30,000 to 45,000 souls, but could hardly ever have reached 50,000; and assuming that in times of festival one-half was added to this amount, which is an extreme estimate, there may have been 60,000 or 70,000 in the city when Titus came up against it. (Josephus says that at the siege of Jerusalem the population was 3,000,000; but Tacitus' statement that it was 600,000 is nearer the truth. This last is certainly within the limits of possibility. Streets, houses, etc. - Of the nature of these in the ancient city we have only the most scattered notices. The "east street," (2 Chronicles 29:4) the "street of the city," i.e. the city of David, (2 Chronicles 32:6) the "street facing the water gate," (Nehemiah 8:1,3) or, according to the parallel account in 1 Esdr. 9:38, the "broad place of the temple towards the east;" the "street of the house of God," (Ezra 10:9) the "street of the gate of Ephraim," (Nehemiah 8:16) and the "open place of the first gate toward the east," must have been not "streets," in our sense of the word, so much as the open spaces found in easter towns round the inside of the gates. Streets, properly so called, there were, (Jeremiah 5:1; 11:13) etc.; but the name of only one, "the bakers' street," (Jeremiah 37:21) is preserved to us. The Via Dolorosa, or street of sorrows, is a part of the street thorough which Christ is supposed to have been led on his way to his crucifixion. To the houses we have even less clue; but there is no reason to suppose that in either houses or streets the ancient Jerusalem differed very materially from the modern. No doubt the ancient city did not exhibit that air of mouldering dilapidation which is now so prominent there. The whole of the slopes south of the Haram area (the ancient Ophel), and the modern Zion, and the west side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, presents the appearance of gigantic mounds of rubbish. In this point at least the ancient city stood in favorable contrast with the modern, but in many others the resemblance must have been strong. Annals of the city. - If, as is possible, Salem is the same with Jerusalem, the first mention of Jerusalem is in (Genesis 14:18) about B.C. 2080. It is next mentioned in (Joshua 10:1) B.C. 1451. The first siege appears to have taken place almost immediately after the death of Joshua - cir. 1400 B.C. Judah and Simeon "fought against it and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire." (Judges 1:8) In the fifteen centuries which elapsed between this siege and the siege and destruction of the city by Titus, A.D. 70, the city was besieged no fewer than seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground, on two other occasions its walls were levelled. In this respect it stands without a parallel in any city, ancient or modern. David captured the city B.C. 1046, and made it his capital, fortified and enlarged it. Solomon adorned the city with beautiful buildings, including the temple, but made no additions to its walls. The city was taken by the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Jehoram, B.C. 886, and by the Israelites in the reign of Amaziah, B.C. 826. It was thrice taken by Nebuchadnezzar, in the years B.C. 607, 597 and 586, in the last of which it was utterly destroyed. Its restoration commenced under Cyrus, B.C. 538, and was completed under Artaxerxes I., who issued commissions for this purpose to Ezra, B.C. 457, and Nehemiah, B.C. 445. In B.C. 332 it was captured by Alexander the Great. Under the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae the town was prosperous, until Antiochus Epiphanes sacked it, B.C. 170. In consequence of his tyranny, the Jews rose under the Maccabees, and Jerusalem became again independent, and retained its position until its capture by the Romans under Pompey, B.C. 63. The temple was subsequently plundered by Crassus, B.C. 545, and the city by the Parthians, B.C. 40. Herod took up his residence there as soon as he was appointed sovereign, and restored the temple with great magnificence. On the death of Herod it became the residence of the Roman procurators, who occupied the fortress of Antonia. The greatest siege that it sustained, however, was at the hands of the Romans under Titus, when it held out nearly five months, and when the town was completely destroyed, A.D. 70. Hadrian restored it as a Roman colony, A.D. 135, and among other buildings erected a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the temple. He gave to it the name of AElia Capitolina, thus combining his own family name with that of the Capitoline Jupiter. The emperor Constantine established the Christian character by the erection of a church on the supposed site of the holy sepulchre, A.D. 336. Justinian added several churches and hospitals about A.D. 532. It was taken by the Persians under Chosroes II in A.D. 614. The dominion of the Christians in the holy city was now rapidly drawing to a close. In A.D. 637 the patriarch Sophronius surrendered to the khalif Omar in person. With the fall of the Abassides the holy city passed into the hands of the Fatimite dynasty, under whom the sufferings of the Christians in Jerusalem reached their height. About the year 1084 it was bestowed upon Ortok, chief of a Turkman horde. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1099, and for eighty-eight years Jerusalem remained in the hand of the Christians. in 1187 it was retaken by Saladin after a siege of several weeks. In 1277 Jerusalem was nominally annexed to the kingdom of Sicily. In 1517 it passed under the sway of the Ottoman sultan Selim I., whose successor Suliman built the present walls of the city in 1542. Mohammed Aly, the pasha of Egypt, took possession of it in 1832; and in 1840, after the bombardment of Acre, it was again restored to the sultan. (Modern Jerusalem, called by the Arabs el-Khuds, is built upon the ruins of ancient Jerusalem. The accumulated rubbish of centuries is very great, being 100 feet deep on the hill of Zion. The modern wall, built in 1542, forms an irregular quadrangle about 2 1/2 miles in circuit, with seven gates and 34 towers. It varies in height from 20 to 60 feet. The streets within are narrow, ungraded, crooked, and often filthy. The houses are of hewn stone, with flat roofs and frequent domes. There are few windows toward the street. The most beautiful part of modern Jerusalem is the former temple area (Mount Moriah), "with its lawns and cypress tress, and its noble dome rising high above the wall." This enclosure, now called Haram esh-Sherif, is 35 acres in extent, and is nearly a mile in circuit. On the site of the ancient temple stands the Mosque of Omar, "perhaps the very noblest specimen of building-art in Asia." "It is the most prominent as well as the most beautiful building in the whole city." The mosque is an octagonal building, each side measuring 66 feet. It is surmounted by a dome, whose top is 170 feet from the ground. The church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is claimed, but without sufficient reason, to be upon the site of Calvary, is "a collection of chapels and altars of different ages and a unique museum of religious curiosities from Adam to Christ." The present number of inhabitants in Jerusalem is variously estimated. Probably Pierotti's estimate is very near the truth, - 20,330; of whom 5068 are Christians, 7556 Mohammedans (Arabs and Turks), and 7706 Jews. - ED.)

 

 

Jerusha

(possessed), daughter of Zadok and queen of Uzziah. (2 Kings 15:33) (B.C. 806.)

 

 

Jerushah

(possessed). (2 Chronicles 27:1) The same as the preceding.

 

 

Jesaiah

(salvation of Jehovah).

• Son of Hananiah, brother of Pelatiah and grandson of Zerubbabel. (1 Chronicles 3:21) (B.C. after 536.)

 

 

Jeshaiah

(salvation of Jehovah).

• One of the six sons of Jeduthun. (1 Chronicles 25:3,15) (B.C. 1014.)


• A Levite in the reign of David, eldest son of Rehabiah, a descendant of Amram through Moses. (1 Chronicles 26:25) [ISSHIAH] (B.C. before 1014.)


• The son of Athaliah, and chief of the house of Bene-Elam who returned with Ezra. (Ezra 8:7) [Josias] (B.C. 459.)


• A Merarite who returned with Ezra. (Ezra 8:19)

 

 

Jeshanah

(old), a town which, with its dependent villages, was one of the three taken from Jeroboam by Abijah. (2 Chronicles 13:19)

 

 

Jesharelah

(right before God), son of Asaph, and head of the seventh of the twenty-four wards into which the musicians of the Levites were divided. (1 Chronicles 25:14) [Asarelah] (B.C. 1014).

 

 

Jeshebeab

(father's seat), head of the fourteenth course of priests. (1 Chronicles 24:13) [Jehoiarib]

 

 

Jesher

(uprightness), one of the sons of Caleb the son of Hezron by his wife Azubah. (1 Chronicles 2:18) (B.C. before 1491).

 

 

Jeshimon

(a wilderness), a name which occurs in (Numbers 21:20) and Numb 23:28 In designating the position of Pisgah and Peor; both described as "facing the Jeshimon." Perhaps the dreary, barren waste of hills lying immediately on the west of the Dead Sea.

 

 

Jeshishai

(descended from an old man), one of the ancestors of the Gadites who dwelt in Gilead. (1 Chronicles 5:14)

 

 

Jeshohaiah

(whom Jehovah casts down), a chief of the Simeonites, descended from Shimei. (1 Chronicles 4:36) (B.C. about 711.)

 

 

Jeshua

(whom Jehovah helps), one of the towns reinhabited by the people of Judah after the return from captivity. (Nehemiah 11:26) It is not mentioned elsewhere.

(a saviour), another form of the name of Joshua of Jesus.

• Joshua the son of Nun. (Nehemiah 8:17) [Joshua]


• A priest in the reign of David, to whom the nine course fell by David, to whom the ninth course fell by lot. (1 Chronicles 24:11) (B.C. 1014.)


• One of the Levites in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:15) (B.C. 726.)


• Son of Jehozadak, first high priest after the Babylonish captivity, B.C. 536. Jeshua was probably born in Babylon, whither his father Jehozadak had been taken captive while young. (1 Chronicles 6:15) Authorized Version. He came up from Babylon in the first year of Cyrus, with Zerubbabel, and took a leading part with him in the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of the Jewish commonwealth. The two prophecies concerning him in (Zechariah 3:1) ... and Zech 6:9-15 Point him out as an eminent type of Christ.


• Head of a Levitical house, one of those which returned from the Babylonish captivity. (Ezra 2:40; 3:9; Nehemiah 3:19; 8:7; 9:4,5; 12:8) etc.


• A branch of the family of Pahath-moab, one of the chief families, probably, of the tribe of Judah. (Nehemiah 10:14; 7:11) etc.; Ezra 10:30

 

 

Jeshuah

a priest in the reign of David, (1 Chronicles 24:11) the same as Jeshua, No. 2. (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Jeshurun

(supremely happy), and once by mistake in Authorized Version Jesurun, (Isaiah 44:2) a symbolical name for Israel in (32:15; 33:5,26; Isaiah 44:2) It is most probably derived from a root signifying "to be blessed." With the intensive termination Jeshurun would then denote Israel as supremely happy or prosperous, and to this signification the context in (32:15) points.

 

 

Jesiah

(whom Jehovah lends).

• A Korhite, one of the mighty men who joined David's standard at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:6) (B.C. 1055.)


• The second son of Uzziel, the son of Kohath. (1 Chronicles 23:20)

 

 

Jesimiel

(whom God makes), a Simeonite chief of the family of Shimei. (1 Chronicles 4:36) (B.C. about 711.)

 

 

Jesse

(wealthy), the father of David, was the son of Obed, who again was the fruit of the union of Boaz and the Moabitess Ruth. His great-grandmother was Rahab the Canaanite, of Jericho. (Matthew 1:5) Jesse's genealogy is twice given in full in the Old Testament, viz., (Ruth 4:18-22) and 1Chr 2:5-12 He is commonly designated as "Jesse the Bethlehemite," (1 Samuel 16:1,18; 17:58) but his full title is "the Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah." ch. (1 Samuel 17:12) He is an "old man" when we first meet with him, (1 Samuel 17:12) with eight sons, ch. (1 Samuel 16:10; 17:12) residing at Bethlehem. ch (1 Samuel 16:4,5) Jesse's wealth seems to have consisted of a flock of sheep and goats, which were under the care of David. ch. (1 Samuel 16:11; 17:34,35) After David's rupture with Saul he took his father and his mother into the country of Moab and deposited them with the king, and there they disappear from our view in the records of Scripture. (B.C. 1068-61.) Who the wife of Jesse was we are not told.

 

 

Jesui

(even, level), the son of Asher, whose descendants the Jesuites were numbered in the plains of Moab at the Jordan of Jericho. (Numbers 26:44) (B.C. 1451.) He is elsewhere called Isui, (Genesis 46:17) and Ishuai. (1 Chronicles 7:30)

 

 

Jesuites

(the posterity of Jesui), The, a family of the tribe of Asher. (Numbers 26:44)

 

 

Jesurun

[Jeshurun]

 

 

Jesus

called Jestus, a Christian who was with St. Paul at Rome. (Colossians 4:11) (A.D. 57.)

(saviour).

• The Greek form of the name Joshua or Jeshua, a contraction of Jehoshua, that is, "help of Jehovah" or "saviour." (Numbers 13:16)


• Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 27:18; Hebrews 4:8) [Jehoshua]

 

 

Jesus Christ

"The life and character of Jesus Christ," says Dr. Schaff, "is the holy of holies in the history of the world."

• NAME. - The name Jesus signifies saviour . It is the Greek form of Jehoshua (Joshua). The name Christ signifies anointed. Jesus was both priest and king. Among the Jews priests were anointed, as their inauguration to their office. (1 Chronicles 16:22) In the New Testament the name Christ is used as equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah (anointed), (John 1:41) the name given to the long-promised Prophet and King whom the Jews had been taught by their prophets to expect. (Matthew 11:3; Acts 19:4) The use of this name, as applied to the Lord, has always a reference to the promises of the prophets. The name of Jesus is the proper name of our Lord, and that of Christ is added to identify him with the promised Messiah. Other names are sometimes added to the names Jesus Christ, thus, "Lord," "a king," "King of Israel," "Emmanuel," "Son of David," "chosen of God." II. BIRTH. - Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, God being his father, at Bethlehem of Judea, six miles south of Jerusalem. The date of his birth was most probably in December, B.C. 5, four years before the era from which we count our years. That era was not used till several hundred years after Christ. The calculations were made by a learned monk, Dionysius Exiguus, in the sixth century, who made an error of four years; so that to get the exact date from the birth of Christ we must add four years to our usual dates; i.e. A.D. 1882 is really 1886 years since the birth of Christ. It is also more than likely that our usual date for Christmas, December 25, is not far from the real date of Christ's birth. Since the 25th of December comes when the longest night gives way to the returning sun on his triumphant march, it makes an appropriate anniversary to make the birth of him who appeared in the darkest night of error and sin as the true Light of the world. At the time of Christ's birth Augustus Caesar was emperor of Rome, and Herod the Great king of Judea, but subject of Rome. God's providence had prepared the world for the coming of Christ, and this was the fittest time in all its history.


• All the world was subject to one government, so that the apostles could travel everywhere: the door of every land was open for the gospel.


• The world was at peace, so that the gospel could have free course.


• The Greek language was spoken everywhere with their other languages.


• The Jews were scattered everywhere with synagogues and Bibles. III. EARLY LIFE. - Jesus, having a manger at Bethlehem for his cradle, received a visit of adoration from the three wise men of the East. At forty days old he was taken to the temple at Jerusalem; and returning to Bethlehem, was soon taken to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of the infants there. After a few months stay there, Herod having died in April, B.C. 4, the family returned to their Nazareth home, where Jesus lived till he was about thirty years old, subject to his parent, and increasing "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." The only incident recorded of his early life is his going up to Jerusalem to attend the passover when he was twelve years old, and his conversation with the learned men in the temple. But we can understand the childhood and youth of Jesus better when we remember the surrounding influences amid which he grew.


• The natural scenery was rugged and mountainous, but full of beauty. He breathed the pure air. He lived in a village, not in a city.


• The Roman dominion was irksome and galling. The people of God were subject to a foreign yoke. The taxes were heavy. Roman soldiers, laws, money, every reminded them of their subjection, when they ought to be free and themselves the rulers of the world. When Jesus was ten years old, there was a great insurrection, (Acts 5:37) in Galilee. He who was to be King of the Jews heard and felt all this.


• The Jewish hopes of a Redeemer, of throwing off their bondage, of becoming the glorious nation promised in the prophet, were in the very air he breathed. The conversation at home and in the streets was full of them.


• Within his view, and his boyish excursions, were many remarkable historic places, - rivers, hills, cities, plains, - that would keep in mind the history of his people and God's dealings with them.


• His school training. Mr. Deutsch, in the Quarterly Review, says, "Eighty years before Christ, schools flourished throughout the length and the breadth of the land: education had been made compulsory. While there is not a single term for 'school' to be found before the captivity, there were by that time about a dozen in common usage. Here are a few of the innumerable popular sayings of the period: 'Jerusalem was destroyed because the instruction of the young was neglected.' 'The world is only saved by the breath of the school-children.' 'Even for the rebuilding of the temple the schools must not be interrupted.'"


• His home training. According to Ellicott, the stages of Jewish childhood were marked as follows: "At three the boy was weaned, and word for the first time the fringed or tasselled garment prescribed by (Numbers 15:38-41) and Deuteronomy 22:12 His education began at first under the mother's care. At five he was to learn the law, at first by extracts written on scrolls of the more important passages, the Shema or creed of (2:4) the Hallel or festival psalms, Psal 114, 118, 136, and by catechetical teaching in school. At twelve he became more directly responsible for his obedience of the law; and on the day when he attained the age of thirteen, put on for the first time the phylacteries which were worn at the recital of his daily prayer." In addition to this, Jesus no doubt learned the carpenter's trade of his reputed father Joseph, and, as Joseph probably died before Jesus began his public ministry, he may have contributed to the support of his mother. (IV. PUBLIC MINISTRY. - All the leading events recorded of Jesus' life are given at the end of this volume in the Chronological Chart and in the Chronological Table of the life of Christ; so that here will be given only a general survey. Jesus began to enter upon his ministry when he was "about thirty years old;" that is, he was not very far from thirty, older or younger. He is regarded as nearly thirty-one by Andrews (in the tables of chronology referred to above) and by most others. Having been baptized by John early in the winter of 26-27, he spent the larger portion of his year in Judea and about the lower Jordan, till in December he went northward to Galilee through Samaria. The next year and a half, from December, A.D. 27, to October or November, A.D. 29, was spent in Galilee and norther Palestine, chiefly in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee. In November, 29, Jesus made his final departure from Galilee, and the rest of his ministry was in Judea and Perea, beyond Jordan, till his crucifixion, April 7, A.D. 30. After three days he proved his divinity by rising from the dead; and after appearing on eleven different occasions to his disciples during forty days, he finally ascended to heaven, where he is the living, ever present, all-powerful Saviour of his people. Jesus Christ, being both human and divine, is fitted to be the true Saviour of men. In this, as in every action and character, he is shown to be "the wisdom and power of God unto salvation." As human, he reaches down to our natures, sympathizes with us, shows us that God knows all our feelings and weaknesses and sorrows and sins, brings God near to us, who otherwise could not realize the Infinite and Eternal as a father and friend. He is divine, in order that he may be an all-powerful, all-loving Saviour, able and willing to defend us from every enemy, to subdue all temptations, to deliver from all sin, and to bring each of his people, and the whole Church, into complete and final victory. Jesus Christ is the centre of the world's history, as he is the centre of the Bible. - ED.)

 

 

Jesus The Son Of Sirach

[Ecclesiasticus]

 

 

Jether

(his excellence).

• Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. (Exodus 4:18) (B.C. 1530.)


• The first-born of Gideon's seventy sons. (Judges 8:20) (B.C. 1256.)


• The father of Amasa, captain-general of Absalom's army. (B.C. 1023.) Jether is another form of Ithra. (2 Samuel 17:25) He is described in (1 Chronicles 2:17) as an Ishmaelite, which again is more likely to be correct than the "Israelite" of the Hebrew in (2 Samuel 17:1) ...


• The son of Jada, a descendant of Hezron, of the tribe of Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:32)


• The son of Ezra. (1 Chronicles 2:32)


• The chief of a family of warriors of the line of Asher, and father of Jephunneh. (1 Chronicles 7:38) He is probably the same as Ithran in the preceding verse.

 

 

Jetheth

(a nail), one of the "dukes" who came of Esau. (Genesis 36:40; 1 Chronicles 1:51)

 

 

Jethlah

(height), one of the cities of the tribe of Dan. (Joshua 19:42)

 

 

Jethro

(his excellence) was priest or prince of Midian. Moses married his daughter Zipporah. (B.C. 1530.) On account if his local knowledge he was entreated to remain with the Israelites throughout their journey to Canaan. (Numbers 10:31,33) (He is called Raguel, Or Reuel, Reuel in (Exodus 2:18) And Raguel, Or Reuel in (Numbers 10:29), The same word int he original for both). Reuel is probably his proper name, and Jethro his official title. - ED.)

 

 

Jetur

(an enclosure). (Genesis 25:15; 1 Chronicles 1:31; 5:19) [Ituraea]

 

 

Jeuel

a chief man of Judah, one of the Bene-Zerah. (1 Chronicles 9:6) comp. 1Chr 9:2 [Jeiel]

 

 

Jeush

(assembler).

• Son of Esau by Aholiabamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Zebeon the Hivite. (Genesis 36:6,14,18; 1 Chronicles 1:35) (B.C. after 1797.)


• A Benjamite, son of Bilhah. (1 Chronicles 7:10,11)


• A Gershonite Levite, of the house of Shimei. (1 Chronicles 23:10,11) (B.C. 1014.)


• Son of Rehoboam king of Judah. (2 Chronicles 11:18,19) (B.C. after 97.)

 

 

Jeuz

(counsellor), head of a Benjamite house. (1 Chronicles 8:10)

 

 

Jew

(a man of Judea). This name was properly applied to a member of the kingdom of Judah after the separation of the ten tribes. The term first makes its appearance just before the captivity of the ten tribes. The term first makes it appearance just before the captivity of the ten tribes. (2 Kings 16:6) After the return the word received a larger application. Partly from the predominance of the members of the old kingdom of Judah among those who returned to Palestine, partly from the identification of Judah with the religious ideas and hopes of the people, all the members of the new state were called Jews (Judeans) and the name was extended to the remnants of the race scattered throughout the nations. Under the name of "Judeans" the people of Israel were known to classical writers. (Tac. H. v.2, etc.) The force of the title "Jew" is seen particularly in the Gospel of St. John, who very rarely uses any other term to describe the opponents of our Lord. At an earlier stage of the progress of the faith it was contrasted with Greek as implying an outward covenant with God, (Romans 1:16; 2:9,10; Colossians 3:11) etc., which was the correlative of Hellenist [Hellenist], and marked a division of language subsisting within the entire body, and at the same time less expressive than Israelite, which brought out with especial clearness the privileges and hopes of the children of Jacob. (2 Corinthians 11:22; John 1:47)

 

 

Jewel

[Stones, Precious, PRECIOUS]

 

 

Jewess

a woman of Hebrew birth, without distinction of tribe. (Acts 16:1; 24:24)

 

 

Jewish

of or belonging to Jews; an epithet applied to their rabbinical legends. (Titus 1:14)

 

 

Jewry

(the country of Judea), the same word elsewhere rendered Judah and Judea. It occurs several times in the Apocalypse and the New Testament, but once only in the Old Testament - (Daniel 5:13) Jewry comes to us through the Norman-French, and is of frequent occurrence in Old English.

 

 

Jezaniah

(whom Jehovah hears), the son of Hoshaiah the Maachathite, and one of the captains of the forces who had escaped from Jerusalem during the final attack of the beleaguering army of the Chaldeans. (B.C. 588.) When the Babylonians had departed, Jezaniah, with the men under his command, was one of the first who returned to Gedaliah at Mizpah. In the events which followed the assassination of that officer Jezaniah took a prominent part. (2 Kings 25:23; Jeremiah 40:8; 42:1; 43:2)

 

 

Jezebel

(chaste), wife of Ahab king of Israel. (B.C. 883.) She was a Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians. In her hands her husband became a mere puppet. (1 Kings 21:25) The first effect of her influence was the immediate establishment of the Phoenician worship on a grand scale in the court of Ahab. At her table were supported no less than 450 prophets of Baal and 400 of Eastward. (1 Kings 16:31,21; 18:19) The prophets of Jehovah were attacked by her orders and put to the sword. (1 Kings 18:13; 2 Kings 9:7) At last the people, at the instigation of Elijah, rose against her ministers and slaughtered them at the foot of Carmel. When she found her husband east down by his disappointment at being thwarted by Naboth, (1 Kings 21:7) she wrote a warrant in Ahab's name, and sealed it with his seal. To her, and not to Ahab, was sent the announcement that the royal wishes were accomplished, (1 Kings 21:14) and on her accordingly fell the prophet's curse, as well as on her husband, (1 Kings 21:23) a curse fulfilled so literally by Jehu, whose chariot-horses trampled out her life. The body was left in that open space called in modern eastern language "the mounds," where offal is thrown from the city walls. (2 Kings 9:30-37)

 

 

Jezer

(power), the third son of Naphtali, (Genesis 46:24; Numbers 26:49; 1 Chronicles 7:13) and father of the family of Jezerites.

 

 

Jeziah

(whom Jehovah expiates), a descendant of Parosh, who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:25)

 

 

Jeziel

(the assembly of God), a Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:3) (B.C. 1055.)

 

 

Jezliah

(whom God will preserve), a Benjamite of the sons of Elpaal. (1 Chronicles 8:18) (B.C. 588.)

 

 

Jezoar

(whiteness), the son of Helah, one of the wives of Asher. (1 Chronicles 4:7)

 

 

Jezrahiah

(produced by Jehovah), a Levite, the leader of the choristers at the solemn dedication of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 12:42) (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Jezreel

• A city situated in the plain of the same name between Gilboa and Little Hermon, now generally called Esdraelon. [Esdraelon] It appears in (Joshua 19:18) but its historical importance dates from the reign of Ahab, B.C. 918-897, who chose it for his chief residence. The situation of the modern village of Zerin still remains to show the fitness of his choice. Int he neighborhood, or within the town probably, were a temple and grove of Eastward, with an establishment of 400 priests supported by Jezebel. (1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 10:11) The palace of Ahab, (1 Kings 21:1; 18:46) probably containing his "ivory house," (1 Kings 22:39) was on the eastern side of the city, forming part of the city wall. Comp. (1 Kings 21:1; 2 Kings 9:25,30,33) Whether the vineyard of Naboth was here or at Samaria is a doubtful question. Still in the same eastern direction are two springs, one 12 minutes from the town, the other 20 minutes. The latter, probably from both its size and its situation, was known as "the spring of Jezreel." With the fall of the house of Ahab the glory of Jezreel departed.


• A town in Judah, in the neighborhood of the southern Carmel. (Joshua 15:56) Here David in his wanderings took Ahinoam the Israelites for his first wife. (1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5)


• The eldest son of the prophet Hosea. (Hosea 1:4)

(seed of God), a descendant of the father or founder of Etam, of the line of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:3) (B.C. about 1445).

 

 

Jezreelitess

a woman of Jezreel. (1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 3:2; 1 Chronicles 3:1)

 

 

Jibsam

(pleasant), one of the sons of Tola, the son of Issachar. (1 Chronicles 7:2) (B.C. 1017.)

 

 

Jidlaph

(weeping), a son of Nahor. (Genesis 22:22)

 

 

Jimna

(prosperity), the first-born of Asher. (Numbers 26:44) He is elsewhere called in the Authorized Version Jimnah, (Genesis 46:17) and Imnah. (1 Chronicles 7:30)

 

 

Jimnah

= Jimna = Imnah. (Genesis 46:17)

 

 

Jimnites, The

descendants of the preceding. (Numbers 26:44)

 

 

Jinah

(lamentation), a city of Judah, on the extreme south boundary of the tribe, next to Edom. (Joshua 15:22)

 

 

Jiphtah

(whom God sets free), one of the cities of Judah in the maritime lowland, or Shefelah. (Joshua 15:43) It has not yet been met with.

 

 

Jiphthahel

(which God opens), The valley of, a valley which served as one of the landmarks for the boundary of both Zebulun, (Joshua 19:14) and Asher. (Joshua 19:27) Dr. Robinson suggests that Jiphthah-el was identical with Jotapata, and that they survive in the modern Jefat, a village in the mountains of Galilee, halfway between the Bay of Accre and the Lake of Gennesareth.

 

 

Jirjathaim

(the two cities).

• On the east of the Jordan, one of the places which were taken possession of and rebuilt by the Reubenites, and had fresh names conferred on them, (Numbers 32:37) and see (Numbers 32:38) the first and last of which are known with some tolerable degree of certainty. (Joshua 12:19) It existed in the time of Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 48:1,23) and Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 25:9) In the three passages named the Authorized Version gives the name Kiriathaim. By Eusebius it appears to have been well known. He describes it as a village entirely of Christians, ten miles west of Medeba, "close to the Baris."


• A town in Naphtali not mentioned in the original list of the possession allotted to the tribe, see (Joshua 19:32-39) but inserted in the list of cities given to the Gershonite Levites in (1 Chronicles 6:76) in place of Kartan in the parallel catalogue, Kartan being probably only a contraction thereof.

 

 

Joaada

(whom Jehovah favors), high priest after his father Eliashib. (Nehemiah 13:28) (B.C. after 446.)

 

 

Joab

(whose father is Jehovah), the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David's sister. (B.C. 1053-1012.) Joab first appears after David's accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle Asahel, the youngest brother of Joab; and when David afterward received Abner into favor, Joab treacherously murdered him. [Abner] There was now no rival left in the way of Joab's advancement, and at the siege of Jebus he was appointed for his prowess commander-in-chief - "captain of the host." In the wide range of wars which David undertook, Joab was the acting general. He was called by the almost regal title of "lord," (2 Samuel 11:11) "the prince of the king's army." (1 Chronicles 27:34) In the entangled relations which grew up in David's domestic life he bore an important part, successfully reinstating Absalom in David's favor after the murder of Amnon. (2 Samuel 14:1-20) When the relations between father and son were reversed by the revolt of Absalom, Joab remained true to the king, taking the rebel prince's dangerous life in spite of David's injunction to spare him, and when no one else had courage to act so decisive a part. (2 Samuel 18:2,11-15) (B.C. 1023). The king transferred the command to Amasa, which so enraged Joab that he adroitly assassinated Amasa when pretending to welcome him as a friend. (2 Samuel 20:10) Friendly relations between himself and David seem to have existed afterward, (2 Samuel 24:2) but at the close of his long life, his loyalty, so long unshaken, at last wavered. "Though he had not turned after Absalom, he turned after Adonijah." (1 Kings 2:28) This probably filled up the measure of the king's long-cherished resentment. The revival of the pretensions of Adonijah after David's death was sufficient to awaken the suspicions of Solomon. Joab fled to the shelter of the altar at Gibeon, and was here slain by Benaiah. (B.C. about 1012.)

• One of Kenaz's descendants. (1 Chronicles 4:14)


• (Ezra 2:6; 8:9; Nehemiah 7:11)

 

 

Joah

(whose brother (i.e. helper) is Jehovah).

• The son of Asaph,a nd chronicler or keeper of the records to Hezekiah. (Isaiah 36:3,11,22) (B.C. 776.)


• The son or grandson of Zimmah, a Gershonite. (1 Chronicles 6:21)


• The third son of Obed-edom, (1 Chronicles 26:4) a Korhite, and one of the doorkeepers appointed by David. (B.C. 1014.)


• A Gershonite, the son of Zeimmah and father of Eden. (2 Chronicles 29:12)


• The son of Joahaz, and annalist or keeper of the records to Josiah. (2 Chronicles 34:8) (B.C. 623.)

 

 

Joahaz

(whom Jehovah holds), the father of Joah, the chronicler or keeper of the records to King Josiah. (2 Chronicles 34:8) (B.C. before 623.)

 

 

Joanan

In Revised Version for Joanna, 1. (Luke 3:27)

 

 

Joanna

(grace or gift of God) (in Revised Version spelled Joanan).

• Son of Rhesa, according to the text of (Luke 3:27) and one of the ancestors of Christ; but according to the view explained in a previous article, son of Zerubbabel, and the same as Hananiah in (1 Chronicles 3:19)


• The name of a woman, occurring twice in (Luke 8:3; 24:10) but evidently denoting the same person, (A.D. 28-30.) In the first passage she is expressly stated to have been "wife of Chuza, steward of Herod," that is, Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.

 

 

Joash

(to whom Jehovah hastens, i.e. to help), contracted from Jehoash.

• Son of Ahaziah king of Judah (B.C. 884), and the only one of his children who escaped the murderous hand of Athaliah. After his father's sister Jehoshabeath, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, had stolen him from among the king's sons, he was hidden for six years in the chambers of the temple. In the seventh year of his age and of his concealment, a successful revolution, conducted by Jehoiada, placed him on the throne of his ancestors, and freed the country from the tyranny and idolatries of Athaliah. For at least twenty-three years, while Jehoiada lived, his reign was very prosperous; but after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell into the hands of bad advisers, at whose suggestion he revived the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth. When he was rebuked for this by Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, Joash caused him to be stoned to death in the very court of the Lord's house. (Matthew 23:35) That very year Hazael king of Syria came up against Jerusalem, and carried off a vast booty as the price of his departure. Joash had scarcely escaped this danger when he fell into another and fatal one. Two of his servants conspired against him and slew him in his bed and in the fortress of Millo. Joash's reign lasted forty years, from 878 to 838 B.C.


• Son and successor of Jehoahaz on the throne of Israel from B.C. 840 to 825, and for two full years a contemporary sovereign with the preceding. (2 Kings 14:1) comp. with 2Kin 12:1; 13:10 When he succeeded to the crown the kingdom was in a deplorable state from the devastations of Hazael and Ben-hadad, kings of Syria. On occasion of a friendly visit paid by Joash to Elisha on his death-bed, the prophet promised him deliverance from the Syrian yoke in Aphek, (1 Kings 20:26-30) He then bade him smite upon the ground, and the king smote thrice and then stayed. The prophet rebuked him for staying, and limited to three his victories over Syria. Accordingly Joash did defeat Ben-hadad three times on the field of battle, and recovered from him the cities which Hazael had taken from Jehoahaz. The other great military event of Joash's reign was the successful war with Amaziah king of Judah. He died in the fifteenth year of Amaziah king of Judah.


• The father of Gideon, and a wealthy man among the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:11) (B.C. before 1256.)


• Apparently a younger son of Ahab, who held a subordinate jurisdiction in the lifetime of his father. (1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 18:25) (B.C. 896.)


• A descendant of Shelah the son of Judah, but whether his son or the son of Jokim is not clear. (1 Chronicles 4:22)


• A Benjamite, son of Shemaah of Gibeah, (1 Chronicles 12:3) who resorted to David at Ziklag.


• One of the officers of David's household. (1 Chronicles 27:28)


• Son of Becher and head of a Benjamite house. (1 Chronicles 7:8)

 

 

Joatham

= Jotham the son of Uzziah. (Matthew 1:9)

 

 

Job

the patriarch, from whom one of the books of the Old Testament is named. His residence in the land of Uz marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopatamia (Probably to the south or southeast of Palestine, in Idumean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabeans and Chaldeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal religion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essentially to the early patriarchal type; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. What we know of his history is given in the book that bears his name.

(persecuted), the third son of Issachar, (Genesis 46:13) called in another genealogy Jashub. (1 Chronicles 7:1)

 

 

Job, Book Of

This book has given rise to much discussion and criticism, some believing the book to be strictly historical; others a religious fiction; others a composition based upon facts. By some the authorship of the work was attributed to Moses, but it is very uncertain. Luther first suggested the theory which, in some form or other, is now most generally received. He says, "I look upon the book of Job as a true history, yet I do not believe that all took place just as it is written, but that an ingenious, pious and learned man brought it into its present form." The date of the book is doubtful, and there have been many theories upon the subject. It may be regarded as a settled point that the book was written long before the exile, probably between the birth of Abraham and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt - B.C. 2000-1800. If by Moses, it was probably written during his sojourn in Midian. "The book of Job is not only one of the most remarkable in the Bible, but in literature. As was said of Goliath's sword, 'There is none like it;' none in ancient or in modern literature." - Kitto. "A book which will one day, perhaps, be seen towering up alone far above all the poetry of the world." - J.A. Froude. "The book of Job is a drama, and yet subjectively true. The two ideas are perfectly consistent. It may have the dramatic form, the dramatic interest, the dramatic emotion, and yet be substantially a truthful narrative. The author may have received it in one of three ways: the writer may have been an eyewitness; or have received it from near contemporary testimony; or it may have reached him through a tradition of whose substantial truthfulness he has no doubt. There is abundant internal evidence that the scenes and events recorded were real scenes and real events to the writer. He gives the discussions either as he had heard them or as they had been repeated over and over in many an ancient consensus . The very modes of transmission show the deep impression it had made in all the East, as a veritable as well as marvellous event." - Tayler Lewis. the design of the book. - Stanley says that "The whole book is a discussion of that great problem of human life: what is the intention of Divine Providence in allowing the good to suffer?" "The direct object is to show that, although goodness has a natural tendency to secure a full measure of temporal happiness, yet that in its essence it is independent of such a result. Selfishness in some form is declared to be the basis on which all apparent goodness rests. That question is tried in the case of Job." - Cook. Structure of the book .-The book consists of five parts: - I. Chs. 1-3. The historical facts. II. Chs. 4-31. The discussions between Job and his three friends. III. Chs. 32-37. Job's discussion with Elihu. IV. Chs. 38-41. The theophany - God speaking out of the storm. V. Ch. 42. The successful termination of the trial. It is all in poetry except the introduction and the close. The argument . -

• One question could be raised by envy: may not the goodness which secures such direct and tangible rewards be a refined form of selfishness? Satan, the accusing angel, suggests the doubt, "Doth Job fear God for nought ?" and asserts boldly that if those external blessings were withdrawn, Job would cast off his allegiance" he will curse thee to thy face." The problem is thus distinctly propounded which this book is intended to discuss and solve: can goodness exist irrespective of reward ? The accuser receives permission to make the trial. He destroys Job's property, then his children; and afterward, to leave no possible opening for a cavil, is allowed to inflict upon him the most terrible disease known in the East. Job's wife breaks down entirely under the trial. Job remains steadfast. The question raised by Satan is answered.


• Then follows a discussion which arises in the most natural manner from a visit of condolence on the part of three men who represent the wisdom and experience of the age. Job's friends hold the theory that there is an exact and invariable correlation between sin and suffering. The fact of suffering proves the commission of some special sin. They apply this to Job, but he disavows all special guilt. He denies that punishment in this life inevitably follows upon guilt, or proves its commission. He appeals to facts. Bad men do sometimes prosper. Here, at ch. 14, there is a pause. In the second colloquy the three friends take more advanced ground. They assume that Job has been actually guilty of sins, and that the sufferings and losses of Job are but an inadequate retribution for former sins. This series of accusations brings out the in most thoughts of Job. He recognizes God's hand in his afflictions, but denies they are brought on by wrong-doing; and becomes still clearer in the view that only the future life can vindicate God's justice. In his last two discourses, chs. 26-31, he states with incomparable force and eloquence his opinion of the chief point of the controversy: man cannot comprehend God's ways; destruction sooner or later awaits the wicked; wisdom consists wholly in the fear of the Lord and departing from evil." - Cook.


• Elihu sums up the argument "The leading principle of Elihu's statement is that calamity, in the shape of triad, is inflicted on comparatively the best of men; but that God allows a favorable turn to take place as soon as its object has been realized." The last words are evidently spoken while a violent storm is coming on.


• It is obvious that many weighty truths have been developed in the course of the discussion: nearly every theory of the objects and uses of suffering has been reviewed, while a great advance has been made toward the apprehension of doctrines hereafter to be revealed, such as were known only to God. But the mystery is not us yet really cleared up; hence the necessity for the theophany. ch. (Job 38:41) From the midst of the storm Jehovah speaks. In language of incomparable grandeur he reproves and silences the murmurs of Job. God does not condescend, strictly speaking to argue with his creatures. The speculative questions discussed in the colloquy are unnoticed, but the declaration of God's absolute power is illustrated by a marvellously beautiful and comprehensive survey of the glory of creation and his all-embracing providence. A second address completes the work. It proves that a charge of injustice against God involves the consequence that the accuser is more competent that he to rule the universe.

 

 

Jobab

(a desert).

• The last in order of the sons of Joktan. (Genesis 10:29; 1 Chronicles 1:23)


• One of the "kings" of Edom. (Genesis 3:34; 1 Chronicles 1:44; 45)


• King of Madon; one of the northern chieftains who attempted to oppose Joshua's conquest and were routed by him at Meron. (Joshua 11:1) only.


• Head of a Benjamite house. (1 Chronicles 8:9)

 

 

Jochebed

(whose glory is Jehovah), the wife and at the same time the aunt of Amram and the mother of Moses and Aaron. (Exodus 2:1; 6:20; Numbers 26:59)

 

 

Joda

in Revised Version for Juda. (Luke 3:26)

 

 

Joed

(for whom Jehovah is witness), a Benjamite, the son of Pedaiah. (Nehemiah 11:7)

 

 

Joel

(to whom Jehovah is God).

• Eldest son of Samuel the prophet, (1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 6:33; 15:17) and father of Heman the singer. (B.C. 1094.)


• In (1 Chronicles 6:36) Authorized Version, Joel seems to be merely a corruption of Shaul in ver. 24.


• A Simeonite chief. (1 Chronicles 4:35)


• A descendant of Reuben. Junius and Tremellius make him the son of Hanoeh, while others trace his descent through Carmi. (1 Chronicles 5:4) (B.C. before 1092.)


• Chief of the Gadites, who dwelt in the land of Bashan. (1 Chronicles 5:12) (B.C. 782.)


• The son of Izrahiah, of the tribe of Issachar. (1 Chronicles 7:3)


• The brother of Nathan of Zobah, (1 Chronicles 11:38) and one of David's guard.


• The chief of the Gershomites in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 15:7,11)


• A Gershonite Levite in the reign of David, son of Jehiel, a descendant of Laadan, and probably the same as the preceding. (1 Chronicles 23:8; 26:22) (B.C. 1014.)


• The son of Pedaiah, and a chief of the half-tribe of Manasseh west of Jordan, in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:20) (B.C. 1014.)


• A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 29:12) (B.C. 726.)


• One of the sons of Nebo, who returned with Ezra, and had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:43) (B.C. 459.)


• The son of Zichri, a Benjamite. (Nehemiah 11:9)


• The second of the twelve minor prophets, the son of Pethuel, probably prophesied in Judah in the reign of Uzziah, about B.C. 800. The book of Joel contains a grand outline of the whole terrible scene, which was to be depicted more and more in detail by subsequent prophets. The proximate event to which the prophecy related was a public calamity, then impending on Judah, of a two-plague of locusts - and continuing for several years. The prophet exhorts the people to turn to God with penitence, fasting and prayer; and then, he says, the plague shall cease, and the rain descendent in its season, and the land yield her accustomed fruit. Nay, the time will be a most joyful one; for God, by the outpouring of his Spirit, will extend the blessings of true religion to heathen lands. The prophecy is referred to in Acts 2.

 

 

Joelah

(Jehovah helps), son of Jerohoam of Gedor. (1 Chronicles 12:7)

 

 

Joezer

(whose help is Jehovah), a Korhite, one of David's captains. (1 Chronicles 12:6) (B.C. 1155.)

 

 

Jogbehah

(lofty), one of the cities on the east of Jordan which were built and fortified by the tribe of Gad when they took possession of their territory. (Numbers 32:35)

 

 

Jogli

(led into exile), the father of Bukki, a Danite chief. (Numbers 34:22)

 

 

Joha

(Jehovah gives life).

• One of the sons of Beriah the Benjamite. (1 Chronicles 8:16) (B.C. 588 or 536.)


• The Tizite, one of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:45) (B.C. 1046.)

 

 

Johanan

(gift or grace of God).

• Son of Azariah and grandson of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, and father of Azariah, 3. (1 Chronicles 6:9,10) Authorized Version.


• Son of Elioenai, the son of Neariah, the son of Shemaiah, in the line of Zerubbabel's heirs. (1 Chronicles 3:24) (B.C. after 406.)


• The son of Kaereah, and one of the captains of the scattered remnants of the army of Judah, who escaped in the final attack upon Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. (B.C. 588.) After the murder of Gedaliah, Johanan was one of the foremost in the pursuit of his assassin, and rescued the captives he had carried off from Mizpah. (Jeremiah 41:11-16) Fearing the vengeance of the Chaldeans, the captains, with Johanan at their head, notwithstanding the warnings of Jeremiah, retired into Egypt.


• The first-born son of Josiah king of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:15) (B.C. 638-610.)


• A valiant Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:4) (B.C. 1055.)


• A Gadite warrior who followed David. (1 Chronicles 12:12)


• The father of Azariah, an Ephraimite in the time of Ahaz. (2 Chronicles 28:12)


• The son of Hakkatan, and chief of the Bene-Azgad who returned with Ezra. (Ezra 8:12)


• The son of Eliashib, one of the chief Levites. (Ezra 10:6; Nehemiah 12:23)


• The son of Tobiah the Ammonite. (Nehemiah 6:18)

 

 

John

the same name as Johanan, a contraction of Jehoanan, Jehovah's gift .

• One of the high priest's family, who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment upon the apostles Peter and John. (Acts 6:6)


• The Hebrew name of the evangelist Mark. (Acts 12:12,25; 13:5,13; 15:37)

 

 

John The Apostle

was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee, and of Salome, and brother of James, also an apostle. Peter and James and John come within the innermost circle of their Lord's friends; but to John belongs the distinction of being the disciple whom Jesus loved. He hardly sustains the popular notion, fostered by the received types of Christian art, of a nature gentle, yielding, feminine. The name Boanerges, (Mark 3:17) implies a vehemence, zeal, intensity, which gave to those who had it the might of sons of thunder. [James] The three are with our Lord when none else are, in the chamber of death, (Mark 5:37) in the glory of the transfiguration, (Matthew 17:1) when he forewarns them of the destruction of the holy city, (Mark 13:3) in the agony of Gethsemane. When the betrayal is accomplished, Peter and John follow afar off. (John 18:15) The personal acquaintance which exited between John and Caiaphas enables him to gain access to the council chamber, praetorium of the Roman procurator. (John 18:16,19,28) Thence he follows to the place of crucifixion, and the Teacher leaves to him the duty of becoming a son to the mother who is left desolate. (John 19:26,27) It is to Peter and John that Mary Magdalene first runs with the tidings of the emptied sepulchre, (John 20:2) they are the first to go together to see what the strange words meant, John running on most eagerly to the rock-tomb; Peter, the least restrained by awe, the first to enter in and look. (John 20:4-6) For at least eight days they continue in Jerusalem. (John 20:26) Later, on the Sea of Galilee, John is the first to recognize in the dim form seen in the morning twilight the presence of his risen Lord; Peter the first to plunge into the water and swim toward the shore where he stood calling to them. (John 21:7) The last words of John's Gospel reveal to us the deep affection which united the two friends. The history of the Acts shows the same union. They are together at the ascension on the day of Pentecost. Together they enter the temple as worshippers, (Acts 3:1) and protest against the threats of the Sanhedrin. ch (Acts 4:13) The persecution which was pushed on by Saul of Tarsus did not drive John from his post. ch. (Acts 8:1) Fifteen years after St. Paul's first visit he was still at Jerusalem, and helped to take part in the settlement of the great controversy between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians. (Acts 15:6) His subsequent history we know only by tradition. There can be no doubt that he removed from jerusalem and settled at Ephesus, though at what time is uncertain. Tradition goes on to relate that in the persecution under Domitian he is taken to Rome, and there, by his boldness, though not by death, gains the crown of martyrdom. The boiling oil into which he is thrown has no power to hurt him. He is then sent to labor in the mines, and Patmost is the place of his exile. The accession of Nerva frees him from danger, and he returns to Ephesus. Heresies continue to show themselves, but he meets them with the strongest possible protest. The very time of his death lies within the region of conjecture rather than of history, and the dates that have been assigned for it range from A.D. 89 to A.D. 120.

 

 

John The Baptist

was of the priestly race by both parents, for his father, Zacharias, was himself a priest of the course of Abia or Abijah, (1 Chronicles 24:10) and Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. (Luke 1:5) His birth was foretold by an angel sent from God, and is related at length in Luke 1. The birth of John preceded by six months that of our Lord. John was ordained to be a Nazarite from his birth. (Luke 1:15) Dwelling by himself in the wild and thinly-peopled region westward of the Dead Sea, he prepared himself for the wonderful office to which he had been divinely called. His dress was that of the old prophets - a garment woven of camel's hair, (2 Kings 1:8) attached to the body by a leathern girdle. His food was such as the desert afforded - locusts, (Leviticus 11:22) and wild honey. (Psalms 81:16) And now the long-secluded hermit came forth to the discharge of his office. His supernatural birth, his life, and the general expectation that some great one was about to appear, were sufficient to attract to him a great multitude from "every quarter." (Matthew 3:5) Many of every class pressed forward to confess their sins and to be baptized. Jesus himself came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John. [Jesus Christ] From incidental notices we learn that John and his disciples continued to baptize some time after our Lord entered upon his ministry. See (John 3:23; 4:1; Acts 19:3) We gather also that John instructed his disciples in certain moral and religious duties, as fasting, (Matthew 9:14; Luke 5:33) and prayer. (Luke 11:1) But shortly after he had given his testimony to the Messiah, John's public ministry was brought to a close. In daring disregard of the divine laws, Herod Antipas had taken to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; and when John reproved him for this, as well as for other sins, (Luke 3:19) Herod cast him into prison. (March, A.D. 28.) The place of his confinement was the castle of Machaerus, a fortress on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. It was here that reports reached him of the miracles which our Lord was working in Judea. Nothing but the death of the Baptist would satisfy the resentment of Herodias. A court festival was kept at Machaerus in honor of the king's birthday. After supper the daughter of Herodias came in and danced the king by her grace that he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she should ask. Salome, prompted by her abandoned mother, demanded the head of John the Baptist. Herod gave instructions to an officer of his guard, who went and executed John in the prison, and his head was brought to feast the eyes of the adulteress whose sins he had denounced. His death is supposed to have occurred just before the third passover, in the course of the Lord's ministry. (March, A.D. 29.)

 

 

John, Gospel Of

This Gospel was probably written at Ephesus about A.D. 78. (Canon Cook places it toward the close of John's life, A.D. 90-100. - ED.) The Gospel was obviously addressed primarily to Christians, not to heathen. There can be little doubt that the main object of St. John, who wrote after the other evangelists, is to supplement their narratives, which were almost confined to our Lord's life in Galilee. (It was the Gospel for the Church, to cultivate and cherish the spiritual life of Christians, and bring them into the closest relations to the divine Saviour. It gives the inner life and teachings of Christ as revealed to his disciples. Nearly two-thirds of the whole book belong to the last six months of our Lord's life, and one-third is the record of the last week. - ED.) The following is an abridgment of its contents: A. The Prologue. ch. (John 1:1-18) B. The History, ch. (John 1:19; John 20:29) (a) Various events relating to our Lord's ministry, narrated in connection with seven journeys, ch. (John 1:19; John 12:50)

• First journey, into Judea, and beginning of his ministry, ch. (John 1:19; John 2:12)


• Second journey, at the passover in the first year of his ministry, ch. (John 2:13; John 4:1)


• Third journey, in the second year of his ministry, about the passover, ch. (5:1).


• Fourth journey, about the passover, in the third year of his ministry, beyond Jordan, ch. (John 6:1)


• Fifth journey, six months before his death, begun at the feast of tabernacles, chs. (John 7:1; John 10:21)


• Sixth journey, about the feast of dedication, ch. (John 10:22-42)


• Seventh journey, in Judea towards Bethany, ch. (John 11:1-54)


• Eighth journey, before his last passover, chs. (John 11:55; John 12:1) (b) History of the death of Christ, chs. (John 12:1; John 20:29)


• Preparation for his passion, chs. John 13:1 ... John 17:1


• The circumstances of his passion and death, chs. (John 18:1; 19:1)


• His resurrection, and the proofs of it, ch. (John 20:1-29) C. The Conclusion, ch. (John 20:30; John 21:1)


• Scope of the foregoing history, ch. (John 20:30,31)


• Confirmation of the authority of the evangelist by additional historical facts, and by the testimony of the elders of the Church, ch. (John 21:1-24)


• Reason of the termination of the history, ch. (John 21:25)

 

 

John, The First Epistle General Of

There can be no doubt that the apostle John was the author of this epistle. It was probably written from Ephesus, and most likely at the close of the first century. In the introduction, ch. (1 John 1:1-4) the apostle states the purpose of his epistle: it is to declare the word of life to those whom he is addressing, in order that he and they might be united in true communion with each other, and with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. His lesson throughout is that the means of union with God are, on the part of Christ, his atoning blood, ch. (1 John 1:7; 2:2; 3:5; 4:10,14; 5:6) and advocacy, ch. (1 John 2:1) on the part of man, holiness, ch. (1 John 1:6), obedience, ch. (1 John 2:3) purity, ch. (1 John 3:3) faith, ch. (1 John 3:23; 4:3; 5:5) and above all love. ch. (1 John 2:7; 3:14; 4:7; 5:1)

 

 

John, The Second And Third Epistles Of

The second epistle is addressed to an individual woman. One who had children, and a sister and nieces, is clearly indicated. According to one interpretation she is "the Lady Electa," to another, "the elect Kyria," to a third, "the elect Lady." The third epistle is addressed to Caius or Gaius. He was probably a convert of St. John, Epist. (3 John 1:4) and a layman of wealth and distinction, Epits. (3 John 1:5) in some city near Ephesus. The object of St. John in writing the second epistle was to warn the lady to whom he wrote against abetting the teaching known as that of Basilides and his followers, by perhaps an undue kindness displayed by her toward the preachers of the false doctrine. The third epistle was written for the purpose of commending to the kindness and hospitality of Caius some Christians who were strangers in the place where he lived. It is probably that these Christians carried this letter with them to Caius as their introduction.

 

 

Joiakim

(whom Jehovah sets up), a high priest, son of the renowned Jeshua. (Nehemiah 12:10) (B.C. before 446.)

 

 

Joiarib

(whom Jehovah defends.)

• A layman who returned form Babylon with Ezra. (Ezra 8:16) (B.C. 459.)


• The founder of one of the courses of priests, elsewhere called in full Jehoiarib. (Nehemiah 12:6,19)


• A Shilonite - i.e. probably a descendant of Shelah the son of Judah. (Nehemiah 11:5) (B.C. before 536.)

 

 

Jokdean

(possessed by the people), a city of Judah, in the mountains, (Joshua 15:56) apparently south of Hebron.

 

 

Jokim

(whom Jehovah has set up), one of the sons of Shelah the son of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:22)

 

 

Jokmeam

(gathered by the people), a city of Ephraim, given with its suburbs to a Kohathite Levites. (1 Chronicles 6:68) The situation of Jokmeam (in Authorized Version Jokneam) is to a certain extent indicated in (1 Kings 4:12) where it is named with places which we know to have been in the Jordan valley at the extreme east boundary of the tribe.

 

 

Jokneam

(possessed by the people), a city of the tribe of Zebulun, allotted with its suburbs to the Merarite Levites. (Joshua 21:34) Its modern site is Tell Kaimon, an eminence which stands just below the eastern termination of Carmel.

 

 

Jokshan

(fowler), a son of Abraham and Keturah, (Genesis 25:2,3; 1 Chronicles 1:32) whose sons were Sheba and Dedan.

 

 

Joktan

(small), son of Eber, (Genesis 10:25; 1 Chronicles 1:19) and the father of the Joktanite Arabs. (Genesis 10:30) (B.C. about 2200.)

 

 

Joktheel

(subdued by God).

• A city in the low country of Judah, (Joshua 15:38) named next to Lachish.


• "God-subdued," the title given by Amaziah to the cliff (Authorized Version Selah) - the stronghold of the Edomites - after he had captured it from them. (2 Kings 14:7) The parallel narrative of (2 Chronicles 25:11-13) supplies fuller details.

 

 

Jona

(a dove) (Greek form of Jonah), the father of the apostle Peter, (John 1:42) who is hence addressed as Simon Barjona (i.e. son of Jona) in (Matthew 16:17)

 

 

Jonadab

(whom Jehovah impels).

• Son of Shimeah and nephew of David. (B.C. 1033.) He is described as "very subtle." (2 Samuel 13:3) His age naturally made him the friend of his cousin Amnon, heir to the throne. (2 Samuel 13:3) He gave him the fatal advice for ensnaring his sister Tamar. ch (2 Samuel 13:5,6) Again, when, in a later stage of the same tragedy, Amnon was murdered by Absalom, and the exaggerated report reached David that all the princes were slaughtered, Jonadab was already aware of the real state of the case. (2 Samuel 13:32,33)


• (Jeremiah 35:6,8,10,14,16,18,19) [Jehonadab]

 

 

Jonah

(dove), the fifth of the minor prophets, was the son of Amittai, and a native of Gath-hepher. (2 Kings 14:25) He flourished in or before the reign of Jeroboam II., about B.C. 820. Having already, as it seems, prophesied to Israel, he was sent to Nineveh. The time was one of political revival in Israel; but ere long the Assyrians were to be employed by God as a scourge upon them. The prophet shrank from a commission which he felt sure would result, (Jonah 4:2) in the sparing of a hostile city. He attempted therefore to escape to Tarshish. The providence of God, however, watched over him, first in a storm, and then in his being swallowed by a large fish (a sea monster, probably the white shark) for the space of three days and three nights. [On this subject see article Whale] After his deliverance, Jonah executed his commission; and the king, "believing him to be a minister form the supreme deity of the nation," and having heard of his miraculous deliverance, ordered a general fast, and averted the threatened judgment. But the prophet, not from personal but national feelings, grudged the mercy shown to a heathen nation. He was therefore taught by the significant lesson of the "gourd," whose growth and decay brought the truth at once home to him, that he was sent to testify by deed, as other prophets would afterward testify by word, the capacity of Gentiles for salvation, and the design of God to make them partakers of it. This was "the sign of the prophet Jonas." (Luke 11:29,30) But the resurrection of Christ itself was also shadowed forth in the history of the prophet. (Matthew 12:39,41; 16:4) The mission of Jonah was highly symbolical. The facts contained a concealed prophecy. The old tradition made the burial-place of Jonah to be Gath-hepher; the modern tradition places it at Nebi-Yunus, opposite Mosul.

 

 

Jonam

(gift or grace of God), the form given to Jonan in the Revised Version of (Luke 3:30)

 

 

Jonan

(perhaps a contraction of Johnana, gift or grace of God), son of Eliakim, in the genealogy of Christ. (Luke 3:30) (B.C. before 876.)

 

 

Jonas

(a dove).

• The prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39,40,41; 16:4)


• Father of Peter. (John 21:15-17) [Jona]

 

 

Jonathan

that is, "the gift of Jehovah, " the eldest son of King Saul. (B.C. about 1095-1056.) He was a man of great strength and activity. (2 Samuel 1:23) He was also famous as a warrior, (1 Chronicles 12:2) as is shown by the courage he showing in attacking the garrison of the Philistines, in company with is armor-bearer only, slaying twenty men and putting an army to flight. (1 Samuel 14:6-16) During the pursuit, Jonathan, who had not heard of the rash curse, ch. (1 Samuel 14:24) which Saul invoked on any one who ate before the evening, tasted the honey which lay on the ground. Saul would have sacrificed him; but the people interposed in behalf of the hero of that great day, and Jonathan was saved. ch. (1 Samuel 14:24-45) The chief interest of Jonathan's career is derived from the friendship with David, which began on the day of David's return from the victory over the champion of Gath, and continued till his death. Their last meeting was in and forest of Ziph, during Saul's pursuit of David. (1 Samuel 23:16-18) From this time forth we hear no more till the battle of Gilboa. In that battle he fell. (1 Samuel 31:2,8) (B.C. 1056.) his ashes were buried first at Jabesh-gilead, ch. (1 Samuel 31:13) but were afterward removed with those of his father to Zelah in Benjamin. (2 Samuel 21:12) The news of his death occasioned the celebrated elegy of David. He left a son, Mephibosheth. [Mephibosheth]

• A nephew of David. (2 Samuel 21:21; 1 Chronicles 20:7) He engaged in single combat with and slew a gigantic Philistine of Gath. (2 Samuel 21:21) (B.C. 1018.)


• The son of Abiathar, the high priest, is the last descendant of Eli of whom we hear anything. (2 Samuel 15:36; 17:15-21; 1 Kings 1:42,43) (B.C. 1023.)


• One of David's heroes. (2 Samuel 23:32; 1 Chronicles 11:34)


• The son or descendant of Gershom the son of Moses. (Judges 18:30) [Micah] (B.C. about 1425.)


• One of the Bene-Adin. (Ezra 8:6)


• A priest, the son of Asahel, in the time of Ezra. (Ezra 10:15) (B.C. 459.)


• A priest of the family of Melieu. (Nehemiah 12:14)


• One of the sons of Kareah, and brother of Johanan. (Jeremiah 40:8) (B.C. 587.)


• Son of Joiada, and his successor in the high priesthood. (Nehemiah 12:11,22,23) (B.C. before 332.)


• Father of Zechariah, a priest who blew the trumpet at the dedication of the wall. (Nehemiah 12:35)


• 1 Esdr. 8:32. [See No. 6] (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Jonathelemrechokim

(a dumb love of (in) distant places), a phrase found once only in the Bible, as a heading to the 56th psalm. Aben Ezra, who regards Jonath-elem-rechokim as merely indicating the modulation or the rhythm of the psalm, appears to come the nearest to the meaning of the passage.

 

 

Joppa, Or Japho

(beauty), now Jaffa, a town on the southwest coast of Palestine, in the portion of Dan. (Joshua 19:46) Having a harbor attached to it - though always, as still, a dangerous one - it became the port of Jerusalem in the days of Solomon, and has been ever since. Here Jonah "took ship to flee from the presence of his Maker." Here, on the house-top of Simon the tanner, "by the seaside," St. Peter had his vision of tolerance. (Acts 11:5) The existing town contains about 4000 inhabitants.

 

 

Jorah

(the early rain), the ancestor of a family of 112 who returned from Babylon with Ezra. (Ezra 2:18) In (Nehemiah 7:24) he appears under the name Hariph, or more correctly the same family are represented as the Bene-Hariph.

 

 

Jorai

(whom Jehovah teaches), one of the Gadites dwelling at Gilead in Bashan, in the reign of Jothan king of Judah. (1 Chronicles 5:13)

 

 

Joram

(whom Jehovah has exalted).

• Son of Ahab king of Israel. (2 Kings 8:16,25,28,29; 9:14,17,21-23,29) [Jehoram, 1]


• Son of Jehosphaphat; king of Judah. (2 Kings 8:21,23,24; 1 Chronicles 3:11; 2 Chronicles 22:5,7; Matthew 1:8) [Jehoram, 2]


• A priest in the reign of Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:8)


• A Levite, ancestor of Shelomith, in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 26:25)


• Son of Toi king of Hamath. (2 Samuel 8:10) [Hadoram]


• 1 Esd. 1:9. [Josabad, 3]

 

 

Jordan

(the descender), the one river of Palestine, has a course of little more than 200 miles, from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea. (136 miles in a straight line. - Schaff.) It is the river of the "great plain" of Palestine - the "descender," if not "the river of God" in the book of Psalms, at least that of his chosen people throughout their history. There were fords over against Jericho, to which point the men of Jericho pursued the spies. (Joshua 2:7) comp. Judg 3:28 Higher up where the fords or passages of Bethbarah, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites, (Judges 7:24) and where the men of Gilead slew the Ephraimites. ch. (Judges 12:6) These fords undoubtedly witnessed the first recorded passage of the Jordan in the Old Testament. (Genesis 32:10) Jordan was next crossed, over against Jericho, by Joshua. (Joshua 4:12,13) From their vicinity to Jerusalem the lower fords were much used. David, it is probable, passed over them in one instance to fight the Syrians. (2 Samuel 10:17; 17:22) Thus there were two customary places at which the Jordan was fordable; and it must have been at one of these, if not at both, that baptism was afterward administered by St. John and by the disciples of our Lord. Where our Lord was baptized is not stated expressly, but it was probably at the upper ford. These fords were rendered so much more precious in those days from two circumstances. First, it does not appear that there were then any bridges thrown over or boats regularly established on the Jordan; and secondly, because "Jordan overflowed all his banks all the time of harvest." (Joshua 3:15) The channel or bed of the river became brimful, so that the level of the water and of the banks was then the same. (Dr. Selah Merrill, in his book "Galilee in the Time of Christ" (1881), says, "Near Tarichaea, just below the point where the Jordan leaves the lake (of Galilee), there was (in Christ's time) a splendid bridge across the river, supported by ten piers." - ED.) The last feature which remains to be noticed in the scriptural account of the Jordan is its frequent mention as a boundary: "over Jordan," "this" and "the other side," or "beyond Jordan," were expressions as familiar to the Israelites as "across the water," "this" and "the other side of the Channel" are to English ears. In one sense indeed, that is, in so far as it was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, it was the eastern boundary of the promised land. (Numbers 34:12) The Jordan rises from several sources near Panium (Banias), and passes through the lakes of Merom (Huleh) and Gennesaret. The two principal features in its course are its descent and its windings. From its fountain heads to the Dead Sea it rushes down one continuous inclined plane, only broken by a series of rapids or precipitous falls. Between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Dead Sea there are 27 rapids. The depression of the Lake of Gennesaret below the level of the Mediterranean is 653 feet, and that of the Dead Sea 1316 feet. (The whole descent from its source to the Dead Sea is 3000 feet. Its width varies form 45 to 180 feet, and it is from 3 to 12 feet deep. -Schaff.) Its sinuosity is not so remarkable in the upper part of its course. The only tributaries to the Jordan below Gennesaret are the Yarmuk (Hieromax) and the Zerka (Jabbok). Not a single city ever crowned the banks of the Jordan. Still Bethshan and Jericho to the west, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara to the east of it were important cities, and caused a good deal of traffic between the two opposite banks. The physical features of the Ghor, through which the Jordan flows, are treated of under Palestina And Palestine.

 

 

Jorim

(whom Jehovah has exalted), son of Matthat, in the genealogy of Christ. (Luke 3:29)

 

 

Jorkoam

(paleness of the people), either a descendant of Caleb the son of Hezron, or the name of a place in the tribe of Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:44)

 

 

Josabad

(whom Jehovah bestows), properly Jozabad the Gederathite, one of the warriors of Benjamin who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:4) (B.C. 1055.)

 

 

Josaphat

= Jehoshaphat king of Judah. (Matthew 1:8)

 

 

Jose

(another form of Joses), son of Eliezer, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. (Luke 3:29)

 

 

Josech

the form of name given in the Revised Version for Joseph, in (Luke 3:26) It is not found in the Old Testament.

 

 

Josedech = Jehozadak

(whom Jehovah makes just), the son of Seraiah. (Haggai 1:1,12,14; 2:2,4; Zechariah 6:11)

 

 

Joseph

(increase).

• The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel. He was born in Padan-aram (Mesopotamia), probably about B.C. 1746. He is first mentioned when a youth, seventeen years old. Joseph brought the evil report of his brethren to his father, and they hated him because his father loved him more than he did them, and had shown his preference by making a dress which appears to have been a long tunic with sleeves, worn by youths and maidens of the richer class. (Genesis 37:2) He dreamed a dream foreshadowing his future power, which increased the hatred of his brethren. (Genesis 37:5-7) He was sent by his father to visit his brothers, who were tending flocks in the fields of Dothan. They resolved to kill him, but he was saved by Reuben, who persuaded the brothers to cast Joseph into a dry pit, to the intent that he might restore him to Jacob. The appearance of the Ishmaelites suggested his sale for "twenty pieces (shekels) of silver." ver. 28. Sold into Egypt to Potiphar, Joseph prospered and was soon set over Potiphar's house, and "all he had he gave into his hand;" but incurring the anger of Potiphar's wife ch. (Genesis 39:7-13) he was falsely accused and thrown into prison, where he remained at least two years, interpreting during this time the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker. Finally Pharaoh himself dreamed two prophetic dreams. Joseph, being sent for, interpreted them in the name of God, foretelling the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. Pharaoh at once appointed Joseph not merely governor of Egypt, but second only to the sovereign, and also gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah priest of On (Hieropolis), and gave him a name or title, Zaphnath-paaneah (preserver of life). Joseph's first act was to go throughout all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years there was a very abundant produce, and he gathered the fifth part and laid it up. When the seven good years had passed, the famine began. (Genesis 41:54-57) [Famine] After the famine had lasted for a time, apparently two years, Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they brought, and brought it into Pharaoh's house, (Genesis 47:13,14) and when the money was exhausted, all the cattle, and finally all the land except that of the priests, and apparently, as a consequence, the Egyptians themselves. He demanded, however, only a fifth part of the produce as Pharaoh's right. Now Jacob, who had suffered also from the effects of the famine, sent Joseph's brother to Egypt for corn. The whole story of Joseph's treatment of his brethren is so graphically told in Genesis42-45 and is so familiar, that it is unnecessary here to repeat it. On the death of Jacob in Egypt Joseph carried him to Canaan, and laid him in the cave of Machpelah, the burying-place of his fathers. Joseph lived "a hundred and ten years," having been more than ninety in Egypt. Dying, he took an oath of his brethren that they should carry up his bones to the land of promise: thus showing in his latest action the faith, (Hebrews 11:22) which had guided his whole life. Like his father he was embalmed, "and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." (Genesis 50:26) His trust Moses kept, and laid the bones of Joseph in his inheritance in Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim his offspring. His tomb is, according to tradition, about a stone's throw from Jacob's well.


• Father of Igal, who represented the tribe of Issachar among the spies. (Numbers 13:7)


• A lay Israelite who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:42) (B.C. 459.)


• A representative of the priestly family of Shebaniah. (Nehemiah 12:14) (B.C. after 536.)


• One of the ancestors of Christ, (Luke 3:30) So of Jonan.


• Another ancestor of Christ, son of Judah. (Luke 3:26) (B.C. between 536-410.)


• Another, son of Mattathias. (Luke 3:24) (B.C. after 400.)


• Son of Heli, and reputed father of Jesus Christ. All that is told us of Joseph in the New Testament may be summed up in a few words. He was a just man, and of the house and lineage of David. He lived at Nazareth in Galilee. He espoused Mary, the daughter and heir of his uncle Jacob,a nd before he took her home as his wife received the angelic communication recorded in (Matthew 1:20) When Jesus was twelve years old Joseph and Mary took him with them to keep the passover at Jerusalem, and when they returned to Nazareth he continued to acct as a father to the child Jesus, and was reputed to be so indeed. But here our knowledge of Joseph ends. That he died before our Lord's crucifixion is indeed tolerably certain, by what is related (John 19:27) and perhaps (Mark 6:3) may imply that he was then dead. But where, when or how he died we know not.


• Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich and pious Israelite, probably a member of the Great Council or Sanhedrin. He is further characterized as "a good man and a just." (Luke 23:50) We are expressly told that he did not "consent to the counsel and deed" of his colleagues in conspiring to bring about the death of Jesus; but he seems to have lacked the courage to protest against their judgment. On the very evening of the crucifixion, when the triumph of the chief priests and rulers seemed complete, Joseph "went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus." Pilate consented. Joseph and Nicodemus then, having enfolded the sacred body in the linen shroud which Joseph had bought, consigned it to a tomb hewn in a rock, in a garden belonging to Joseph, and close to the place of crucifixion. There is a tradition that he was one of the seventy disciples.


• Joseph, called Barsabas, and surnamed Justus; one of the two person chosen by the assembled church, (Acts 1:23) as worthy to fill the place in the apostolic company from which Judas had fallen.

 

 

Joses

(exalted).

• Son of Eliezer, in the genealogy of Christ. (Luke 3:29)


• One of the Lord's brethren. (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3)


• Joses Barnabas. (Acts 4:36) [Barnabas]

 

 

Joshah

(whom Jehovah lets dwell), a prince of the house of Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:34,38-41)

 

 

Joshaphat

(whom Jehovah judges), the Mithnite, one of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:43)

 

 

Joshaviah

(whom Jehovah makes dwell), the son of Elnaam, and one of David's guard. (1 Chronicles 11:46) (B.C. 1046.)

 

 

Joshbekashah

(a seat in a hard place), son of Heman, head of the seventeenth course of musicians. (1 Chronicles 25:4,25) (B.C. 1014.)

 

 

Joshua

(saviour, or whose help is Jehovah). His name appears in the various forms of HosheaHOshea, Oshea, Jehoshua, Jeshua and Jesus.

• The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim. (1 Chronicles 7:27) (B.C. 1530-1420.) He was nearly forty years old when he shared in the hurried triumph of the exodus. He is mentioned first in connection with the fight against Amalek at Rephidim, when he was chosen by Moses to lead the Israelites. (Exodus 17:9) Soon afterward he was one of the twelve chiefs who were sent, (Numbers 13:17) to explore the land of Canaan, and one of the two, ch. (Numbers 14:6) who gave an encouraging report of their journey. Moses, shortly before his death, was directed, (Numbers 27:18) to invest Joshua with authority over the people. God himself gave Joshua a charge by the mouth of the dying lawgiver. (31:14,23) Under the direction of God again renewed, (Joshua 1:1) Joshua assumed the command of the people at Shittim, sent spies into Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circumcised the people, kept the passover, and was visited by the Captain of the Lord's host. A miracle made the fall of Jericho more terrible to the Canaanites. In the great battle of Beth-horon the Amorites were signally routed, and the south country was open to the Israelites. Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal, master of half of Palestine. He defeated the Canaanites under Jabin king of Hazor. In six years, six tribes, with thirty-one petty chiefs, were conquered. Joshua, now stricken in years, proceeded to make the division of the conquered land. Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim was assigned as Joshua's peculiar inheritance. After an interval of rest, Joshua convoked an assembly from all Israel. He delivered two solemn addresses, recorded in (Joshua 23:24) He died at the age of 110 years, and was buried in his own city, Timnath-serah.


• An inhabitant of Beth-shemesh, in whose land was the stone at which the milch-kine stopped when they drew the ark of God with the offerings of the Philistines from Ekron to Beth-shemesh. (1 Samuel 6:14,18) (B.C. 1124.)


• A governor of the city who gave his name to a gate of Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:8) (In the reign of Josiah, B.C. 628.)


• Jeshua the son of Jozadak. (Haggai 1:14; 2:12; Zechariah 3:1) etc.

 

 

Joshua, Book Of

Named from Joshua the son of Nun, who is the principal character in it. The book may be regarded as consisting of three parts:

• The conquest of Canaan; chs. 1-12.


• The partition of Canaan; chs. 13-22.


• Joshua's farewell; chs. 23,24. Nothing is really known as to the authorship of the book. Joshua himself is generally named as the author by the Jewish writers and the Christian fathers; but no contemporary assertion or sufficient historical proof of the fact exists, and it cannot be maintained without qualification. The last verses, ch. (Joshua 24:29-33) were obviously added at a later time. Some events, such as the capture of Hebron, of Debir, (Joshua 15:13-19) and Judg 1:10-15 Of Leshem, (Joshua 19:47) and Judg 18:7 And the joint occupation of Jerusalem, (Joshua 15:63) and Judg 1:21 Probably did not occur till after Joshua's death. (It was written probably during Joshua's life, or soon after his death (B.C. 1420), and includes his own records, with revision by some other person not long afterward.)

 

 

Josiah

(whom Jehovah heals).

• The son of Amon and Jedidah, succeeded his father B.C. 641, in the eighty years of his age, and reigned 31 years. His history is contained in (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Kings 24:30; 2 Chronicles 34:1; 2 Chronicles 35:1) ... and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much light upon the general character of the Jews in his day. He began in the eighth year of his reign to seek the Lord; and in his twelfth year, and for six years afterward, in a personal progress throughout all the land of Judah and Israel, he destroyed everywhere high places, groves, images and all outward signs and relics of idolatry. The temple was restored under a special commission; and in the course of the repairs Hilkiah the priest found that book of the law of the Lord which quickened so remarkably the ardent zeal of the king. He was aided by Jeremiah the prophet in spreading through his kingdom the knowledge and worship of Jehovah. The great day of Josiah's life was the day of the passover in the eighteenth year of his reign. After this his endeavors to abolish every trace of idolatry and superstition were still carried on; but the time drew near which had been indicated by Huldah. (2 Kings 22:20) When Pharaoh-necho went from Egypt to Carchemish to carry on his war along the seacoast. Necho reluctantly paused and gave him battle in the valley of Esdraelon. Josiah was mortally wounded, and died before he could reach Jerusalem. He was buried with extraordinary honors.


• The son of Zephaniah, at whose house took place the solemn and symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest. (Zechariah 6:10) (B.C. about 1520.)

 

 

Josias

Josiah, king of Judah. (Matthew 1:10,11)

 

 

Josibiah

(to whom God gives a dwelling), the father of Jehu, a Simeonite. (1 Chronicles 4:35)

 

 

Josiphiah

(whom Jehovah will increase), the father or ancestor of Shelomith, who returned with Ezra. (Ezra 8:10) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jot

the English form of the Greek iota, i.e., the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. The Hebrew is yod, or y formed like a comma ('). It is used metaphorically to express the minutest thing.

 

 

Jotbah

(goodness), the native place of Meshullemeth, the queen of Manasseh. (2 Kings 21:19)

 

 

Jotbath, Or Jotbathah

(goodness), (10:7; Numbers 33:33) a desert station of the Israelites.

 

 

Jotham

(Jehovah is upright).

• The youngest son of Gideon, (Judges 9:5) who escaped from the massacre of his brethren. (B.C. after 1256.) His parable of the reign of the bramble is the earliest example of the kind.


• The son of King Uzziah or Azariah and Jerushah. After administering the kingdom for some years during his father's leprosy, he succeeded to the throne B.C. 758, when he was 25 years old, and reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He was contemporary with Pekah and with the prophet Isaiah. His history is contained in (2 Kings 15:1) ... and 2Chr 27:1 ...


• A descendant of Judah, son of Jahdai. (1 Chronicles 2:47)

 

 

Jozabad

(Jehovah justifies).

• A captain of the thousands of Manasseh, who deserted to David before the battle of Gilboa. (1 Chronicles 12:20) (B.C. 1053.)


• A hero of Manasseh, like the preceding. (1 Chronicles 12:20)


• A Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:13) (B.C. 726.)


• A chief Levite in the reign of Josiah. (2 Chronicles 35:9)


• A Levite, son of Jeshua, in the days of Ezra. (Ezra 8:33) (B.C. 459.) Probably identical with No. 7.


• A priest of the sons of Pashur, who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:22)


• A Levite among those who returned with Ezra and had married foreign wives. He is probably identical with Jozabad the Levite, (Nehemiah 8:7) and with Jozabad who presided over the outer work of the temple. (Nehemiah 11:16) (B.C. 459.)

 

 

Jozachar

(whom Jehovah has remembered), one of the murderers of Joash king of Judah. (2 Kings 12:21) The writer of the Chronicles, (2 Chronicles 24:26) calls him Zabad. (B.C. 837.)

 

 

Jozadak

(whom Jehovah has made just). (Ezra 3:2,8; 5:2; 10:18; Nehemiah 12:26) The contracted form of Jehozadak.

 

 

Jubal

(music), a son of Lamech by Adah, and the inventor of the "harp and organ." (Genesis 4:21)

 

 

Jubilee, The Year Of

• the name. - The name jubilee is derived from the Hebrew jobel, the joyful shout or clangor of trumpets, by which the year of jubilee was announced.


• The time of its celebration. - It was celebrated every fiftieth year, marking the half century; so that it followed the seventh sabbatic year, and for two years in succession the land lay fallow. It was announced by the blowing of trumpets on the day of atonement (about the 1st of October), the tenth day of the first month of the Israelites' civil year (the seventh of their ecclesiastical year).


• The laws connected with the jubilee. - These embrace three points: (1) Rest for the soil. (Leviticus 25:11,12) The land was to lie fallow, and there was to be no tillage as on the ordinary sabbatic year. The land was not to be sown, nor the vineyards and oliveyards dressed; and neither the spontaneous fruits of the soil nor the produce of the vine and olive was to be gathered, but all was to be left for the poor, the slave, the stranger and the cattle. (Exodus 23:10,11) The law was accompanied by a promise of treble fertility int he sixth year, the fruit of which was to be eaten till the harvest sown in the eighth year was reaped in the ninth. (Leviticus 25:20-22) But the people were not debarred from other sources of subsistence, nor was the year to be spent in idleness. They could fish and hunt, take care of their bees and flocks, repair their buildings and furniture, and manufacture their clothing. (2) Reversion of landed property. "The Israelites had a portion of land divided to each family by lot. This portion of the promised land they held of God, and were not to dispose of it as their property in fee-simple. Hence no Israelite could part with his landed estate but for a term of years only. When the jubilee arrived, it again reverted to the original owners." - Bush. This applied to fields and houses in the country and to houses of the Levites in walled cities; but other houses in such cities, if not redeemed within a year from their sale, remained the perpetual property of the buyer. (3) The manumission of those Israelites who had become slaves. "Apparently this periodic emancipation applied to every class of Hebrew servants - to him who had sold himself because he had become too poor to provide for his family, to him who had been taken and sold for debt, and to him who had been sold into servitude for crime. Noticeably, this law provides for the family rights of the servant." - Cowles' Hebrew History


• The reasons for the institution of the jubilee. - It was to be a remedy for those evils which accompany human society and human government; and had these laws been observed, they would have made the Jewish nation the most prosperous and perfect that ever existed. (1) The jubilee tended to abolish poverty. It prevented large and permanent accumulations of wealth. It gave unfortunate families an opportunity to begin over again with a fair start in life. It particularly favored the poor, without injustice to the rich. (2) It tended to abolish slavery, and in fact did abolish it; and it greatly mitigated it while it existed. "The effect of this law was at once to lift from the heart the terrible incubus of a life-long bondage - that sense of a hopeless doom which knows no relief till death." - Cowles. (3) "As an agricultural people, they would have much leisure; they would observe the sabbatic spirit of the year by using its leisure for the instruction of their families in the law, and for acts of devotion; and in accordance with this there was a solemn reading of the law to the people assembled at the feast of tabernacles." - Smith's larger Dictionary. (4) "This law of entail, by which the right heir could never be excluded, was a provision of great wisdom for preserving families and tribes perfectly distinct, and their genealogies faithfully recorded, in order that all might have evidence to establish their right to the ancestral property. Hence the tribe and family of Christ were readily discovered at his birth."


• Mode of celebration. - "The Bible says nothing of the mode of celebration, except that it was to be proclaimed by trumpets, and that it was to be a sabbatic year. Tradition tells us that every Israelite blew nine blasts, so as to make the trumpet literally 'sound throughout the land,' and that from the feast of trumpets or new year till the day of atonement (ten days after), the slaves were neither manumitted to return to their homes, nor made use of by their master, but ate, drank and rejoiced; and when the day of atonement came, the judges blew the trumpets, the slaves were manumitted to go to their homes, and the fields were set free." - McClintock and Strong.


• How long observed. - Though very little is said about its observance in the Bible history of the Jews, yet it is referred to, and was no doubt observed with more or less faithfulness, till the Babylonish captivity. - ED.)

 

 

Jucal

(powerful), son of Shelemiah. (Jeremiah 38:1)

 

 

Juda

(praised).

• Son of Joseph, in the genealogy of Christ. (Luke 3:30)


• Son of Joanna, or Hananiah. [Hananiah, 8] (Luke 3:26) He seems to be certainly the same person as Abiud in (Matthew 1:13)


• One of the Lord's brethren, enumerated in (Mark 6:3)


• The patriarch Judah. Sus. 56; (Luke 3:33; Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5; 7:5)

 

 

Judaea, Or Judea

(from Judah), a territorial division which succeeded to the overthrow of the ancient landmarks of the tribes of Israel and Judah in their respective captivities. The word first occurs (Daniel 5:13) Authorized Version "Jewry," and the first mention of the "province of Judea" is in the book of Ezra, (Ezra 5:8) It is alluded to in (Nehemiah 11:3) (Authorized Version "Judah"). In the apocryphal books the word "province" is dropped, and throughout them and the New Testament the expressions are "the land of Judea," "Judea." In a wide and more improper sense, the term Judea was sometimes extended to the whole country of the Canaanites, its ancient inhabitants; and even in the Gospels we read of the coasts of Judea "beyond Jordan." (Matthew 19:1; Mark 10:1) Judea was, in strict language, the name of the third district, west of the Jordan and south of Samaria. It was made a portion of the Roman province of Syria upon the deposition of Archelaus, the ethnarch of Judea, in A.D. 6, and was governed by a procurator, who was subject to the governor of Syria.

 

 

Judah

(praised, celebrated), the fourth son of Jacob and the fourth of Leah. (B.C. after 1753.) Of Judah's personal character more traits are preserved than of any other of the patriarchs, with the exception of Joseph, whose life he in conjunction with Reuben saved. (Genesis 37:26-28) During the second visit to Egypt for corn it was Judah who understood to be responsible for the safety of Benjamin, ch. (Genesis 43:3-10) and when, through Joseph's artifice, the brothers were brought back to the palace, he is again the leader and spokesman of the band. So too it is Judah who is sent before Jacob to smooth the way for him in the land of Goshen. ch. (Genesis 46:28) This ascendancy over his brethren is reflected in the last words addressed to him by his father. The families of Judah occupy a position among the tribes similar to that which their progenitor had taken among the patriarchs. The numbers of the tribe at the census at Sinai were 74,600. (Numbers 1:26,27) On the borders of the promised land they were 76,500. (Genesis 26:22) The boundaries and contents of the territory allotted to Judah are narrated at great length, and with greater minuteness than the others, in (Joshua 15:20-63) The north boundary, for the most part coincident with the south boundary of Benjamin, began at the embouchure of the Jordan and ended on the west at Jabneel on the coast of the Mediterranean, four miles south of Joppa. On the east the Dead Sea, and on the west the Mediterranean, formed the boundaries. The southern line is hard to determine, since it is denoted by places many of which have not been identified. It left the Dead Sea at its extreme south end, and joined the Mediterranean at the Wady el-Arish. This territory is in average length about 45 miles, and in average breadth about 50.

 

 

Judah, Kingdom Of

Extent. - When the disruption of Solomon's kingdom took place at Shechem, B.C. 975, only the tribe of Judah followed David, but almost immediately afterward the larger part of Benjamin joined Judah. A part, if no all, of the territory of Simeon, (1 Samuel 27:6; 1 Kings 19:3) comp. Josh 19:1 And of Dan, (2 Chronicles 11:10) comp. Josh 19:41,42 Was recognized as belonging to Judah; and in the reigns of Abijah and Asa the southern kingdom was enlarged by some additions taken out of the territory of Ephraim. (2 Chronicles 13:19; 15:8; 17:2) It is estimated that the territory of Judah contained about 3450 square miles. Advantages. - The kingdom of Judah possessed many advantages which secured for it a longer continuance than that of Israel. A frontier less exposed to powerful enemies, a soil less fertile, a population hardier and more united, a fixed and venerated centre of administration and religion, a hereditary aristocracy in the sacerdotal caste, an army always subordinate, a succession of kings which no revolution interrupted; so that Judah survived her more populous and more powerful sister kingdom by 135 years, and lasted from B.C. 975 to B.C. 536. History - The first three kings of Judah seem to have cherished the hope of re-establishing their authority over the ten tribes; for sixty years there was war between them and the kings of Israel. The victory achieved by the daring Abijah brought to Judah a temporary accession of territory. Asa appears to have enlarged it still further. Hanani's remonstrance, (2 Chronicles 16:7) prepares us for the reversal by Jehoshaphat of the policy which Asa pursued toward Israel and Damascus. A close alliance sprang up with strange rapidity between Judah and Israel. Jehoshaphat, active and prosperous, commanded the respect of his neighbors; but under Amaziah Jerusalem was entered and plundered by the Israelites. Under Uzziah and Jotham, Judah long enjoyed prosperity, till Ahaz became the tributary and vassal of Tiglath-pileser. Already in the fatal grasp of Assyria, Judah was yet spared for a checkered existence of almost another century and a half after the termination of the kingdom of Israel. The consummation of the ruin came upon its people in the destruction of the temple by the hand of Nebuzaradan, B.C. 536. There were 19 kings, all from the family of David. (Population. - We have a gage as to the number of the people at different periods in the number of soldiers. If we estimate the population at four times the fighting men, we will have the following table: King...Date ... Soldiers ... Population David...B.C. 1056-1015 ... 500,000 ... 2,000,000 Rehoboam...975-957 ... 180,000 ... 720,000 Abijah...957-955 ... 400,000 ... 1,600,000 Asa...955-914 ... 500,000 ... 2,000,000 Jehoshaphat...914-889 ... 1,160,000 ... 4,640,000 Amaziah...839-810 ... 300,000 ... 1,200,000 -ED.)

 

 

Judas

surnamed Barsabas, a leading member of the apostolic church at Jerusalem, (Acts 15:22) endued with the gift of prophesy, ver. (Acts 15:32) chosen with Silas to accompany Paul and Barnabas as delegates to the church at Antioch. (A.D. 47.) Later, Judas went back to Jerusalem.

the Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah, occurring in the LXX, and the New Testament.

• The patriarch Judah. (Matthew 1:2,3)


• A man residing at Damascus, in "the street which is called Straight," in whose house Saul of Tarsus lodged after his miraculous conversion. (Acts 9:11)

 

 

Judas Iscariot

(Judas of Kerioth). He is sometimes called "the son of Simon," (John 6:71; 13:2,26) but more commonly ISCARIOTES. (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:19; Luke 6:16) etc. The name Iscariot has received many interpretations more of less conjectural. The most probable is from Ish Kerioth, i.e. "man of Kerioth," a town in the tribe of Judah. (Joshua 15:25) Of the life of Judas before the appearance of his name in the lists of the apostles we know absolutely nothing. What that appearance implies, however, is that he had previously declared himself a disciple. He was drawn, as the others were, by the preaching of the Baptist, or his own Messianic hopes, or the "gracious words" of the new Teacher, to leave his former life, and to obey the call of the Prophet of Nazareth. The choice was not made, we must remember, without a provision of its issue. (John 6:64) The germs of the evil, in all likelihood, unfolded themselves gradually. The rules to which the twelve were subject in their first journey, (Matthew 10:9,10) sheltered him from the temptation that would have been most dangerous to him. The new form of life, of which we find the first traces in (Luke 8:3) brought that temptation with it. As soon as the twelve were recognized as a body, travelling hither and thither with their Master, receiving money and other offerings, and redistributing what they received to the poor, it became necessary that some one should act as the steward and almoner of the small society, and this fell to Judas. (John 12:6; 13:29) The Galilean or Judean peasant found himself entrusted with larger sums of money than before, and with this there came covetousness, unfaithfulness, embezzlement. Several times he showed his tendency to avarice and selfishness. This, even under the best of influences, grew worse and worse, till he betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver. (Why was such a man chosen to be one of the twelve? - (1) There was needed among the disciples, as in the Church now, a man of just such talents as Judas possessed, - the talent for managing business affairs. (2) Though he probably followed Christ at first from mixed motives, as did the other disciples, he had the opportunity of becoming a good and useful man. (3) It doubtless was included in God's plans that there should be thus a standing argument for the truth and honesty of the gospel; for if any wrong or trickery had been concealed, it would have been revealed by the traitor in self-defence. (4) Perhaps to teach the Church that God can bless and the gospel can succeed even though some bad men may creep into the fold. What was Judas' motive in betraying Christ? - (1) Anger at the public rebuke given him by Christ at the supper in the house of Simon the leper. (Matthew 26:6-14) (2) Avarice, covetousness, the thirty pieces of silver. (John 12:6) (3) The reaction of feeling in a bad soul against the Holy One whose words and character were a continual rebuke, and who knew the traitors heart. (4) A much larger covetousness, - an ambition to be the treasurer, not merely of a few poor disciples, but of a great and splendid temporal kingdom of the Messiah. He would hasten on the coming kingdom by compelling Jesus to defend himself. (5) Perhaps disappointment because Christ insisted on foretelling his death instead of receiving his kingdom. He began to fear that there was to be no kingdom, after all. (6) Perhaps, also, Judas "abandoned what seemed to him a failing cause, and hoped by his treachery to gain a position of honor and influence in the Pharisaic party." The end of Judas. - (1) Judas, when he saw the results of his betrayal, "repented himself." (Matthew 27:3-10) He saw his sin in a new light, and "his conscience bounded into fury." (2) He made ineffectual struggles to escape, by attempting to return the reward to the Pharisees, and when they would not receive it, he cast it down at their feet and left it. (Matthew 27:5) But, (a) restitution of the silver did not undo the wrong; (b) it was restored in a wrong spirit, - a desire for relief rather than hatred of sin; (c) he confessed to the wrong party, or rather to those who should have been secondary, and who could not grand forgiveness; (d) "compunction is not conversion." (3) The money was used to buy a burial-field for poor strangers. (Matthew 27:6-10) (4) Judas himself, in his despair, went out and hanged himself, (Matthew 27:5) at Aceldama, on the southern slope of the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, and in the act he fell down a precipice and was dashed into pieces. (Acts 1:18) "And he went to his own place." (Acts 1:25) "A guilty conscience must find neither hell or pardon." (5) Judas' repentance may be compared to that of Esau. (Genesis 27:32-38; Hebrews 12:16,17) It is contrasted with that of Peter. Judas proved his repentance to be false by immediately committing another sin, suicide. Peter proved his to be true by serving the Lord faithfully ever after. - ED.)

 

 

Judas Maccabaeus

[Maccabees]

 

 

Judas Of Galilee

the leader of a popular revolt "in the days of the taxing" (i.e. the census, under the prefecture of P. Sulp. Quirinus, A.D. 6, A.U.C. 759), referred to by Gamaliel in his speech before the Sanhedrin. (Acts 5:37) According to Josephus, Judas was a Gaulonite of the city of Gamala, probably taking his name of Galilean from his insurrection having had its rise in Galilee. The Gaulonites, as his followers were called, may be regarded as the doctrinal ancestors of the Zealots and Sicarii of later days.

 

 

Judas, The Lords Brother

Among the brethren of our Lord mentioned by the people of Nazareth. (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3) Whether this and the Jude above are the same is still a disputed point.

 

 

Jude, Epistle Of

Its author was probably Jude, one of the brethren of Jesus, the subject of the preceding article. There are no data from which to determine its date or place of writing, but it is placed about A.D. 65. The object of the epistle is plainly enough announced ver. 3; the reason for this exhortation is given ver.

• The remainder of the epistle is almost entirely occupied by a minute depiction of the adversaries of the faith. The epistle closes by briefly reminding the readers of the oft-repeated prediction of the apostles - among whom the writer seems not to rank himself - that the faith would be assailed by such enemies as he has depicted, vs. (Jude 1:17-19) exhorting them to maintain their own steadfastness in the faith, vs. (Jude 1:20,21) while they earnestly sought to rescue others from the corrupt example of those licentious livers, vs. (Jude 1:22,23) and commending them to the power of God in language which forcibly recalls the closing benediction of the epistle to the Romans. vs. (Jude 1:24,25) cf. Roma 16:25-27 This epistle presents one peculiarity, which, as we learn from St. Jerome, caused its authority to be impugned in very early times - the supposed citation of apocryphal writings. vs. (Jude 1:9,14,15) The larger portion of this epistle, vs. (Jude 1:3-16) is almost identical in language and subject with a part of the Second Epistle of Peter. (2 Peter 2:1-19)

 

 

Jude, Or Judas

called also LEBBEUS and Thaddeus, Authorized Version "Judas the brother of James," one of the twelve apostles. The name of Jude occurs only once in the Gospel narrative. (John 14:22; Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:16; John 14:22; Acts 1:13) Nothing is certainly known of the later history of the apostle. Tradition connects him with the foundation of the church at Edessa.

 

 

Judges

The judges were temporary and special deliverers, sent by God to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors; not supreme magistrates, succeeding to the authority of Moses and Joshua. Their power only extended over portions of the country, and some of them were contemporaneous. Their first work was that of deliverers and leaders in war; they then administered justice to the people, and their authority supplied the want of a regular government. Even while the administration of Samuel gave something like a settled government to the south, there was scope for the irregular exploits of Samson on the borders of the Philistines; and Samuel at last established his authority as judge and prophet, but still as the servant of Jehovah, only to see it so abused by his sons as to exhaust the patience of the people, who at length demanded a king, after the pattern of the surrounding nations. The following is a list of judges, whose history is given under their respective names: - First servitude, to Mesopotamia - 8 years. First judge: Othniel. 40 years. Second servitude, to Moab - 18 years. Second judge: Ehud; 80 years. Third judge: Shamgar. - - Third servitude, to Jabin and Sisera - 20 years. Fourth judge: Deborah and Barak. 40 years. Fourth servitude, to Midian - 7 years. Fifth judge: Gideon; 40 years. Sixth judge: Abimelech; 3 years. Seventh judge: Tola; 23 years. Eighth judge: Jair. 22 years. Fifth servitude, to Ammon - 18 years. Ninth judge: Jephthah; 6 years. Tenth judge: Ibzan; 7 years. Eleventh judge: Elon; 10 years. Twelfth judge: Abdon. 8 years. Sixth servitude, to the Philistines - 40 years. Thirteenth judge: Samson 20 years. Fourteenth judge: Eli; 40 years. Fifteenth judge: Samuel. More than likely some of these ruled simultaneously. On the chronology of the judges, see the following article.

 

 

Judges, Book Of

of which the book or Ruth formed originally a part, contains a history from Joshua to Samson. The book may be divided into two parts: -

• Chs. 1-16. We may observe in general on this portion of the book that it is almost entirely a history of the wars of deliverance.


• Chs. 17-21. This part has no formal connection with the preceding, and is often called an appendix. The period to which the narrative relates is simply marked by the expression, "when there was no king in Israel." ch. (Judges 19:1; 18:1) It records - (a) The conquest of Laish by a portion of the tribe of Dan, and the establishment there of the idolatrous worship of Jehovah already instituted by Micah in Mount Ephraim. (b) The almost total extinction of the tribe of Benjamin. Chs. 17-21 are inserted both as an illustration of the sin of Israel during the time of the judges and as presenting a contrast with the better order prevailing in the time of the kings. The time commonly assigned to the period contained in this book is 299 years. The dates given in the last article amount to 410 years, without the 40 years of Eli; but in (1 Kings 6:1) the whole period from the exodus to the building of the temple is stated as 480 years. But probably some of the judges were contemporary, so that their total period is 299 years instead of 410. Mr. Smith in his Old Testament history gives the following approximate dates: Periods...Years - Ending about B.C.:


• From the exodus to the passage of Jordan...40 - 1451.


• To the death of Joshua and the surviving elders...[40] - 1411.


• Judgeship of Othniel...40 - 1371. 4,5. Judgeship of Ehud (Shamgar included)...80 - 1291.


• Judgeship of Deborah and Barak...40 - 1251.


• Judgeship of Gideon...40 - 1211. 8,9. Abimelech to Abdon, total...[80] - 1131.


• Oppression of the Philistines, contemporary with the judgeships of Eli, Samson (and Samuel?)...40 - 1091.


• Reign of Saul (including perhaps Samuel)...40 - 1051.


• Reign of David...40 - 1011. Total...480. On the whole, it seems safer to give up the attempt to ascertain the chronology exactly.

 

 

Judgment Hall

The word praetorium is so translated five times in the Authorized Version of the New Testament, and in those five passages it denotes two different places.

• In (John 18:28,33; 19:9) it is the residence which Pilate occupied when he visited Jerusalem. The site of Pilate's praetorium in Jerusalem has given rise to much dispute, some supposing it to be the palace of King Herod, others the tower of Antonia; but it was probably the latter, which was then and long afterward the citadel of Jerusalem.


• In (Acts 23:35) Herod's judgment hall or praetorium in Caesarea was doubtless a part of that magnificent range of buildings the erection of which by King Herod is described in Josephus. The word "palace," or "Caesar's court." in the Authorized Version of (Philemon 1:13) is a translation of the same word praetorium. It may here have denoted the quarter of that detachment of the praetorian guards which was in immediate attendance upon the emperor, and had barracks in Mount Palatine at Rome.

 

 

Judith

(Jewess, or praised).

• The daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and wife of Esau. (Genesis 26:34) (B.C. 1797.)


• The heroine of the apocryphal book which bears her name, who appears as an ideal type of piety, Judith 8:6, beauty, ch. 11:21, courage and chastity. ch. 16:22 ff.

 

 

Judith, The Book Of

one of the books of the Apocrypha, belongs to the earliest specimens of historical fiction. As to its authorship it belongs to the Maccabean period, B.C. 175-135, which it reflects not only in its general spirit, but even in its smaller traits.

 

 

Julia

(feminine of Julius), a Christian woman at Rome, probably the wife of Philologus, in connection with whom she is saluted by St. Paul. (Romans 16:15) (A.D. 55.)

 

 

Julius

(soft-haired), the centurion of "Augustus' band," to whose charge St. Paul was delivered when he was sent prisoner from Caesarea to Rome. (Acts 27:1,3) (A.D. 60.)

 

 

Junia

(belonging to Juno), a Christian at Rome, mentioned by St. Paul as one of his kinsfolk and fellow prisoners, of note among the apostles, and in Christ before St. Paul. (Romans 16:7) (A.D. 55).

 

 

Junias

Revised Version for Junia above. It is the more literal form.

 

 

Juniper

(1 Kings 19:4,5; Job 30:4; Psalms 120:4) a sort of broom, Genista monosperma, G. raetam of Forskal, answering to the Arabic rethem . It is very abundant in the desert of Sinai, and affords shade and protection, in both heat and storm, to travellers. The rethem is a leguminous plant, and bears a white flower. It is found also in Spain. It is an erect shrub, with no main trunk, but many wand-like, slender branches, and is sometimes twelve feet high. Its use is very great in stopping the sand. - ED.)

 

 

Jupiter

(a father that helps), the Greek Zeus. The Olympian Zeus was the national god of the Hellenic race, as well as the supreme ruler of the heathen world, and as such formed the true opposite to Jehovah. Jupiter or Zeus is mentioned in two passages of the New Testament, on the occasion of St. Paul's visit to Lystra, (Acts 14:12,13) where the expression "Jupiter, which was before their city," means that his temple was outside the city. Also in (Acts 19:35)

 

 

Jushabhesed

(whose love is returned), son of Zerubbabel. (1 Chronicles 3:20)

 

 

Justus

(just).

• A surname of Joseph, called Barsabas. (Acts 1:23) (A.D. 30.)


• A Christian at Corinth, with whom St. Paul lodged. (Acts 18:7) (A.D. 49.) (Given in the Revised Version as Titus Justus JUSTUS; and it is possible that he may be the same person as Titus the companion of Paul.)


• A surname of Jesus, a friend of St. Paul. (Colossians 4:11) (A.D. 57.)

 

 

Juttah

(stretched out), a city in the mountain region of Judah, in the neighborhood of Maon and Carmel. (Joshua 15:55) The place is now known as Yutta .