P

 

Paarai

In the list of (2 Samuel 23:35) "Paarai the Arbite" is one of David's men. In (1 Chronicles 11:37) he is Naarai the son of Ezbai." (B.C. 1015.)

 

 

Padan

(field). Padan-aram. (Genesis 48:7)

 

 

Padanaram

By this name, which signifies the table-land of Aram, i.e. Syriac, the Hebrews designated the tract of country which they otherwise called the Aram-naharaim, "Aram of the two of rivers," the Greek Mesopotamia, (Genesis 24:10) and "the field (Authorized Version,'country') of Syria." (Hosea 12:13) The term was perhaps more especially applied to that portion which bordered on the Euphrates, to distinguish if from the mountainous districts in the north and northeast of Mesopotamia. It is elsewhere called Padan simply. (Genesis 48:7) Abraham obtained a wife for Isaac from Padan-aram. (Genesis 25:20) Jacob's wives were also from Padan-aram, (Genesis 28:2,5,6,7; 31:1-8; 33:18)

 

 

Padon

(deliverance) the ancestor of a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:41; Nehemiah 7:47) (B.C. before 529.)

 

 

Pagiel

(God allots) the son of Ocran and chief of the tribe of Asher at the time of the exodus. (Numbers 1:13; 2:27; 7:72,77; 10:26) (B.C. 1491.)

 

 

Pahathmoab

(governor of Moab), head of one of the chief houses of the tribe of Judah. Of the individual or the occasion of his receiving so singular a name nothing is known certainty but as we read in (1 Chronicles 4:22) of a family of Shilonites, of the tribe of Judah, who in very early times "had dominion in Moab," it may be conjectured that this was the origin of the name.

 

 

Pai

(blessing). [Pau]

 

 

Paial

(judge), the son of Uzai who assisted in restoring the walls of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah, (Nehemiah 3:25) (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Paint

(as a cosmetic). The use of cosmetic dyes has prevailed in all ages in eastern countries. We have abundant evidence of the practice of painting the eyes both in ancient Egypt and in Assyria; and in modern times no usage is more general. It does not appear, however, to have been by any means universal among the Hebrews. The notices of it are few; and in each instance it seems to have been used as a meretricious art, unworthy of a woman of high character. The Bible gives no indication of the substance out of which the dye was formed. The old versions agree in pronouncing the dye to have been produced from antimony. Antimony is still used for the purpose in Arabia and in Persia, but in Egypt the kohl is a root produced by burning either a kind of frankincense or the shells of almonds. The dye-stuff was moistened with oil and kept in a small jar. Whether the custom of staining the hands and feet, particularly the nails, now so prevalent in the past, was known to the Hebrews is doubtful. Painting as an art was not cultivated by the Hebrews, but they decorated their buildings with paint.

 

 

Palace

Palace in the Bible, in the singular and plural, is the rendering of several words of diverse meaning. (1 Chronicles 29:1; Ezra 4:14; Amos 4:3) etc. It often designates the royal residence, and usually suggests a fortress or battlemented house. The word occasionally included the whole city as in (Esther 9:12) and again, as in (1 Kings 16:18) it is restricted to a part of the royal apartments. It is applied, as in (1 Chronicles 29:1) to the temple in Jerusalem. The site of the palace of Solomon was almost certainly in the city itself on the brow opposite to the temple, and overlooking it and the whole city of David. It is impossible, of course, to be at all certain what was either the form or the exact disposition of such a palace; but, as we have the dimensions of the three principal buildings given in the book of Kings and confirmed by Josephus, we may, by taking these as a scale, ascertain pretty nearly that the building covered somewhere about 150,000 or 160,000 square feet. Whether it was a square of 400 feet each way, or an oblong of about 550 feet by 300, must always be more or less a matter of conjecture. The principal building situated within the palace was, as in all eastern palaces, the great hall of state and audience, called "the house of the forest of Lebanon," apparently from the four rows of cedar pillars by which it was supported. It was 100 cubits (175 feet) long, 50 (88 feet) wide, and 30 (52 feet) high. Next in importance was the hall or "porch of judgment," a quadrangular building supported by columns, as we learn front Josephus, which apparently stood on the other side of the great court, opposite the house of the forest of Lebanon. The third edifice is merely called a "porch of pillars." Its dimensions were 50 by 30 cubits. Its use cannot be considered as doubtful, as it was an indispensable adjunct to an eastern palace. It was the ordinary place of business of the palace, and the reception-room when the king received ordinary visitors, and sat, except on great state occasions, to transact the business of the kingdom. Behind this, we are told, was the inner court, adorned with gardens and fountains, and surrounded by cloisters for shade; and there were other courts for the residence of the attendants and guards, and for the women of the harem. Apart from this palace, but attached, as Josephus tells us, to the hall of judgment, was the palace of Pharaoh's daughter-too proud and important a personage to be grouped with the ladies of the harem, and requiring a residence of her own. The recent discoveries at Nineveh have enabled us to understand many of the architectural details of this palace, which before they were made were nearly wholly inexplicable. Solomon constructed an ascent from his own house to the temple, "the house of Jehovah," (1 Kings 10:5) which was a subterranean passage 250 feet long by 42 feet wide, of which the remains may still be traced.

 

 

Palestina And Palestine

(land of strangers). These two forms occur in the Authorized Version but four times in all, always in poetical passages; the first in (Exodus 15:14) and Isai 14:29 The second (Joel 3:4) In each case the Hebrew is Pelesheth, a word found, besides the above, only in (Psalms 60:8; 83:7; 87:4) and Psal 108:9 In all which our translators have rendered it by "Philistia" or "Philistines." Palestine in the Authorized Version really means nothing but Philistia. The original Hebrew word Pelesheth to the Hebrews signified merely the long and broad strip of maritime plain inhabited by their encroaching neighbors; nor does it appear that at first it signified more to the Greeks. As lying next the sea, and as being also the high road from Egypt to Phoenicia and the richer regions no of it, the Philistine plain became sooner known to the western world than the country farther inland, and was called by them Syria Palestina-Philistine Syria. From thence it was gradually extended to the country farther inland, till in the Roman and later Greek authors, both heathen sad Christian, it became the usual appellation for the whole country of the Jews, both west and east of Jordan. The word is now so commonly employed in our more familiar language to destinate the whole country of Israel that although biblically a misnomer, it has been chosen here as the most convenient heading under which to give a general description of THE HOLY LAND, embracing those points which have not been treated under the separate headings of cities or tribes. This description will most conveniently divide itself Into three sections: - I. The Names applied to the country of Israel in the Bible and elsewhere. II. The Land; its situation, aspect, climb, physical characteristics in connection with its history, its structure, botany and natural history. III. The History of the country is so fully given under its various headings throughout the work that it is unnecessary to recapitulate it here. I. [THE Names]. - Palestine, then, is designated in the Bible by more than one name.

• During the patriarchal period, the conquest and the age of the Judges and also where those early periods are referred to in the later literature (as) (Psalms 105:11) it is spoken of as "Canaan," or more frequently "the land of Canaan," meaning thereby the country west of the Jordan, as opposed to "the land of Gilead." on the east.


• During the monarchy the name usually, though not frequently, employed is "land of Israel." (1 Samuel 13:19)


• Between the captivity and the time of our Lord the name "Judea" had extended itself from the southern portion to the whole of the country, and even that beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 19:1; Mark 10:1)


• The Roman division of the country hardly coincided with the biblical one, and it does not appear that the Romans had any distinct name for that which we understand by Palestine.


• Soon after the Christian era we find the name Palestina in possession of the country.


• The name most frequently used throughout the middle ages, and down to our own time, is Terra Sancta - the Holy Land. II. THE LAND.-The holy land is not in size or physical characteristics proportioned to its moral and historical position as the theatre of the most momentous events in the world's history. It is but a strip of country about the size of Wales, less than 140 miles in length and barely 40 in average breadth, on the very frontier of the East, hemmed in between the Mediterranean Sea on the one hand and the enormous trench of the Jordan valley on the other, by which it is effectually cut off from the mainland of Asia behind it. On the north it is shut in by the high ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and by the chasm of the Litany. On the south it is no less enclosed by the arid and inhospitable deserts of the upper pert of the peninsula of Sinai.


• Its position. - Its position on the map of the world - as the world was when the holy land first made its appearance in history - is a remarkable one. (a) It was on the very outpost - an the extremist western edge of the East. On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if it had advanced as far as possible toward the west, separated therefrom by that which, when the time arrived proved to be no barrier, but the readiest medium of communication-the wide waters of the "great sea." Thus it was open to all the gradual influences of the rising communities of the West, while it was saved from the retrogression and decrepitude which have ultimately been the doom of all purely eastern states whose connections were limited to the East only. (b) There was, however, one channel, and but one, by which it could reach and be reached by the great Oriental empires. The rivals road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could approach one another - by which alone Egypt could get to Assyria and Assyria to lay along the broad hat strip of coast which formed the maritime portion of the holy land, and thence by the plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates. (c) After this the holy land became (like the Netherlands in Europe) the convenient arena on which in successive ages the hostile powers who contended for the empire of the East fought their battles.


• Physical features. - Palestine is essentially a mountainous country. Not that if contains independent mountain chains, as in Greece for example but that every part of the highland is in greater or less undulation. But it is not only a mountainous country. The mass of hills which occupies the centre of the country is bordered or framed on both sides, east and west, by a broad belt of lowland, sunk deep below its own level. The slopes or cliffs which form, as if it were, the retaining walls of this depression are furrowed and cleft by the torrent beds which discharge the waters of the hills and form the means of communication between the upper and lower level. On the west this lowland interposes between the mountains and the sea, and is the plain of Philistia and of Sharon. On the east it is the broad bottom of the Jordan valley, deep down in which rushed the one river of Palestine to its grave in, the Dead Sea. Such is the first general impression of the physiognomy of the land. It is a physiognomy compounded of the three main features already named - the plains the highland hills, and the torrent beds features which are marked in the words of its earliest describers, (Numbers 13:29; Joshua 11:16; 12:8) and which must be comprehended by every one who wishes to understand the country and the intimate connection existing between its structure and its history. About halfway up the coast the maritime plain is suddenly interrupted by a long ridge thrown out from the central mass, rising considerably shove the general level and terminating in a bold promontory on the very edge of the Mediterranean. This ridge is Mount Carmel. On its upper side the plain, as if to compensate for its temporary displacement, invades the centre of the country, and forms an undulating hollow right across it from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley. This central lowland, which divides with its broad depression the mountains of Ephraim from the mountains of Galilee is the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel the great battle-field of Palestine. North of Carmel the lowland resumes its position by the seaside till it is again interrupted and finally put an end to by the northern mountains, which push their way out of the sea, ending in the white promontory of the Ras Nakhura . Above this is the ancient Phoenicia. The country thus roughly portrayed is to all intents and purposes the whole land of israel. The northern portion is Galilee; the centre, Samaria; the south, Judea. This is the land of Canaan which was bestowed on Abraham, - the covenanted home of his descendants. The highland district, surrounded and intersected by its broad lowland plains, preserves from north to south a remarkably even and horizontal profile. Its average height may betaken as 1600 to 1800 feet above the Mediterranean. It can hardly be denominated a plateau; yet so evenly is the general level preserved and so thickly do the hills stand behind and between one another, that, when seen from the coast or the western part of the maritime plain, it has quite the appearance of a wall. This general monotony of profile is however, relieved at intervals by certain centers of elevation. Between these elevated points runs the watershed of the country, sending off on either hand - to the Jordan valley on the east and the Mediterranean on the west - the long, tortuous arms of ifs many torrent beds. The valleys on the two sides of the watershed differ considerably in character. Those on the east are extremely steep and rugged the western valleys are more gradual in their slope.


• Fertility . - When the highlands of the country are more closely examined, a considerable difference will be found to exist in the natural condition and appearance of their different portions. The south, as being nearer the arid desert and farther removed from the drainage of the mountains, is drier and less productive than the north. The tract below Hebron, which forms the link between the hills of Judah and the desert, was known to the ancient Hebrews by a term originally derived from its dryness - Negeb . This was the south country. As the traveller advances north of this tract there is an improvement; but perhaps no country equally cultivated is more monotonous, bare or uninviting in its aspect than a great part of the highlands of Judah and Benjamin during the larger portion of the year. The spring covers even those bald gray rocks with verdure and color, and fills the ravines with torrents of rushing water; but in summer and autumn the look of the country from Hebron up to Bethel is very dreary and desolate. At Jerusalem this reaches its climax. To the west and northwest of the highlands, where the sea-breezes are felt, there is considerably more vegetation, Hitherto we have spoken of the central and northern portions of Judea. Its eastern portion - a tract some nine or ten miles in width by about thirty-five in length, which intervenes between the centre and the abrupt descent to the Dead Sea - is far more wild and desolate, and that not for a portion of the year only, but throughout it. This must have been always what it is now - an uninhabited desert, because uninhabitable. No descriptive sketch of this part of the country can be complete which does not allude to the caverns, characteristic of all limestone districts, but here existing in astonishing numbers. Every hill and ravine is pierced with them, some very large and of curious formation - perhaps partly natural, partly artificial - others mere grottos. Many of them are connected with most important and interesting events of the ancient history of the country. Especially is this true of the district now under consideration. Machpelah, Makkedah, Adullam En-gedi, names inseparably connected with the lives, adventures and deaths of Abraham, Joshua, David and other Old-Testament worthies, are all within the small circle of the territory of Judea. The bareness and dryness which prevail more or less in Judea are owing partly to the absence of wood, partly to its proximity to the desert, sad partly to a scarcity of water arising from its distance from the Lebanon. But to this discouraging aspect there are some important exceptions. The valley of Urtas, south of Bethlehem contains springs which in abundance and excellence rival even those of Nablus the huge "Pools of Solomon" are enough to supply a district for many miles round them; and the cultivation now going on in that Neighborhood shows whet might be done with a soil which required only irrigation and a moderate amount of labor to evoke a boundless produce. It is obvious that in the ancient days of the nation, when Judah and Benjamin possessed the teeming population indicated in the Bible, the condition and aspect of the country must have been very different. Of this there are not wanting sure evidences. There is no country in which the ruined towns bear so large a proportion to those still existing. Hardly a hill-top of the many within sight that is not covered with vestiges of some fortress or city. But, besides this, forests appear to have stood in many parts of Judea until the repeated invasions and sieges caused their fall; and all this vegetation must have reacted on the moisture of the climate, and, by preserving the water in many a ravine and natural reservoir where now it is rapidly dried by the fierce sun of the early summer, must have influenced materially the look and the resources of the country. Advancing northward from Judea, the country (Samaria) becomes gradually more open and pleasant. Plains of good soil occur between the hills, at first small but afterward comparatively large. The hills assume here a more varied aspect than in the southern districts, springs are more abundant and more permanent until at last, when the district of Jebel Nablus is reached - the ancient Mount Ephraim-the traveller encounters an atmosphere and an amount of vegetation and water which are greatly superior to anything he has met with in Judea and even sufficient to recall much of the scenery of the West. Perhaps the springs are the only objects which In themselves, and apart from their associations, really strike an English traveller with astonishment and admiration. Such glorious fountains as those of Ain-jalud or the Ras el-Mukatta - where a great body of the dearest water wells silently but swiftly out from deep blue recesses worn in the foot of a low cliff of limestone rock and at once forms a considerable stream - are rarely to be met with out of irregular, rocky, mountainous countries, and being such unusual sights can hardly be looked on by the traveler without surprise and emotion. The valleys which lead down from the upper level in this district to the valley of the Jordan are less precipitous than in Judea. The eastern district of the Jebel Nablus contains some of the most fertile end valuable spots in the holy land. Hardly less rich is the extensive region which lies northwest of the city of Shechem (Nablus), between it and Carmel, in which the mountains gradually break down into the plain of Sharon. Put with all its richness and all its advance on the southern part of the country there is a strange dearth of natural wood about this central district. It is this which makes the wooded sides of Carmel and the park-like scenery of the adjacent slopes and plains so remarkable. No sooner however, is the plain of Eadraelon passed than a considerable improvement Is perceptible. The low hills which spread down from the mountains of Galilee, and form the barrier between the plains of Akka and Esdraelon, are covered with timber, of moderate size it is true, but of thick, vigorous growth, and pleasant to the eye. Eastward of these hills rises the round mass of Tabor dark with its copses of oak, and set on by contrast with the bare slopes of Jebel ed-Duhy (the so called "Little Hermon") and the white hills of Nazareth. A few words must be said in general description of the maritime lowland, which intervenes between the sea and the highlands. This region, only slightly elevated above the level of the Mediterranean, extends without interruption from el-Arish, south of Gaza, to Mount Carmel. It naturally divides itself into two portions each of about half its length; the lower one the wider the upper one the narrower. The lower half is the plain of the Philistines-Philistia, or, as the Hebrews called it, the Shefelah or Lowland. The upper half is the Sharon or Saron of the Old and New Testaments. The Philistine plain is on an average 15 or 16 miles in width from the coast to the beginning of the belt of hills which forms the gradual approach to the high land of the mountains of Judah. The larger towns, as Gaza and Ashdod, which stand near the shore, are surrounded with huge groves of olive, sycamore and, as in the days King David. (1 Chronicles 27:28) The whole plain appears to consist of brown loamy soil, light but rich and almost without a stone. It is now, as it was when the Philistines possessed it, one enormous cornfield; an ocean of wheat covers the wide expense between the hills and the sand dunes of the seashore, without interruption of any kind - no break or hedge, hardly even a single olive tree. Its fertility is marvellous; for the prodigious crops which if raises are produced, and probably have been produced almost year by year for the last forty centuries, without any of the appliances which we find necessary for success. The plain of Sharon is much narrower then Philistia. It is about 10 miles wide from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which are here of a more abrupt character than those of Philistia, and without the intermediate hilly region there occurring. The one ancient port of the Jews, the "beautiful", city of Joppa, occupied a position central between the Shefelah and Sharon. Roads led from these various cities to each other to Jerusalem, Neapolis and Sebaste in the interior, and to Ptolemais and Gaza on the north and south. The commerce of Damascus, and beyond Damascus, of Persia and India, passed this way to Egypt, Rome and the infant colonies of the West; and that traffic and the constant movement of troops backward and forward must have made this plain, at the time of Christ, one of the busiest and most populous regions of Syria.


• The Jordan valley . - The chacteristics already described are hardly peculiar to Palestine, but there is one feature, as yet only alluded to, in which she stands alone. This feature is the Jordan - the one river of the country. The river is elsewhere described; [Jordan] but it and the valley through which it rushes down its extraordinary descent must be here briefly characterized. This valley begins with the river at its remotest springs of Hasbeiya, on the northwest side of Hermon, and accompanies it to the lower end of the Dead Sea, a length of about 1,50 miles. During the whole of this distance its course is straight and its direction nearly due north and south. The springs of Hasbeiya are 1700 feet above the level of the Mediterranean and the northern end of the Dead Sea is 1317 feet below it, so that between these two points the valley falls with more or less regularity through a height of more than 3000 feet. But though the river disappears at this point, the valley still continues its descent below the waters of the Dead Sea till it reaches a further depth of 1308 feet. So that the bottom of this extraordinary crevasse is actually more than 2600 feet below the surface of the ocean. In width the valley varies. In its upper and shallower portion, as between Banias and the lake of Merom (Huleh), it is about five miles across. Between the lake of Merom and the Sea or Galilee it contracts, and becomes more of an ordinary ravine or glen. It is in its third and lower portion that the valley assumes its more definite and regular character. During the greater part of this portion it is about seven miles wide from the one wall to the other. The eastern mountains preserve their straight line of direction, and their massive horizontal wall-like aspect, during almost the whole distance. The western mountains are more irregular in height, their slopes less vertical. North of Jericho they recede in a kind of wide amphitheatre, and the valley becomes twelve miles broad - a breadth which it thenceforward retains to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Buried as it is between such lofty ranges, and shielded from every breeze, the climate of the Jordan valley is extremely hot and relaxing. Its enervating influence is shown by the inhabitants of Jericho. All the irrigation necessary for the cultivation which formerly existed is obtained front the torrents of the western mountains. For all purposes to which a river ordinarily applied the Jordan is useless. The Dead Sea, which is the final receptacle of the Jordan, is described elsewhere. [Sea, The Salt, THE SALT.)


• Climate . - "Probably there is no country in the world of the same extent which has a greater variety of climate than Palestine. On Mount Hermon, at its northern border there is perpetual snow. From this we descend successively by the peaks of Bashan and upper Galilee, where the oak and pine flourish, to the hills of Judah and Samaria, where the vine and fig tree are at home, to the plains of the seaboard where the palm and banana produce their fruit down to the sultry shores of the Sea, on which we find tropical heat and tropical vegetation." McClintock and Strong . As in the time of our Saviour (Luke 12:64) the rains come chiefly from the south or southwest. They commence at the end of October or beginning of November and continue with greater or less constancy till the end of February or March. It is not a heavy, continuous rain so much as a succession of severe showers or storms, with intervening periods of fine, bright weather. Between April and November there is, with the rarest exceptions, an uninterrupted succession of fine weather and skies without a cloud. Thus the year divides itself into two and only two seasons - as indeed we see it constantly divided in the Bible-" winter and summer" "cold and heat," "seed-time and harvest."


• Botany . - The botany of Syria and Palestine differs but little from that of Asia Minor, which is one of the most rich and varied on the globe. Among trees the oak is by far the most prevalent. The trees of the genus Pistacia rank next to the oak in abundance, and of these there are three species in Syria. There is also the carob or locust tree (Ceratonia siliqua), the pine, sycamore, poplar and walnut. Of planted trees large shrubs the first in importance is the vine, which is most abundantly cultivated all over the country, and produces, as in the time of the Canaanites, enormous bunches of grapes. This is especially the case in the southern districts, those of Eshcol being still particularly famous. Next to the vine, or even in some respects its superior in importance, ranks the olive, which nowhere grows in greater luxuriance and abundance than in Palestine, where the olive orchards form a prominent feature throughout the landscape, and have done so from time immemorial. The fig forms another most important crop in Syria and Palestine. (Besides these are the almond, pomegranate, orange, pear, banana, quince and mulberry among fruit trees. Of vegetables there are many varieties, as the egg plant, pumpkin, asparagus, lettuce, melon and cucumber. Palestine is especially distinguished for its wild flowers, of which there are more than five hundred varieties. The geranium, pink, poppy, narcissus, honeysuckle, oleander, jessamine, tulip and iris are abundant. The various grains are also very largely cultivated. - ED.)


• Zoology. - It will be sufficient in this article to give a general survey of the fauna of Palestine, as the reader will find more particular information in the several articles which treat of the various animals under their respective names. Jackals and foxes are common; the hyena and wolf are also occasionally observed; the lion is no longer a resident in Palestine or Syria. A species of squirrel the which the term orkidaun "the leaper," has been noticed on the lower and middle parts of Lebanon. Two kinds of hare, rats and mice, which are said to abound, the jerboa, the porcupine, the short-tailed field-mouse, may be considered as the representatives of the Rodentia . Of the Pachydermata the wild boar, which is frequently met with on Taber and Little Hermon, appears to be the only living wild example. There does not appear to be at present any wild ox in Palestine. Of domestic animals we need only mention the Arabian or one-humped camel, the ass, the mule and the horse, all of which are in general use. The buffalo (Bubalus buffalo) is common. The ox of the country is small and unsightly in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, but in the richer pastures the cattle, though small, are not unsightly The common sheep of Palestine is the broadtail, with its varieties. Goats are extremely common everywhere. Palestine abounds in numerous kinds of birds. Vultures, eagles, falcons, kites, owls of different kinds represent the Raptorial order. In the south of Palestine especially, reptiles of various kinds abound. It has been remarked that in its physical character Palestine presents on a small scale an epitome of the natural features of all regions, mountainous and desert, northern and tropical, maritime and inland, pastoral, arable and volcanic.


• Antiquities . - In the preceding description allusion has been made to many of the characteristic features of the holy land; but it is impossible to close this account without mentioning a defect which is even more characteristic - its luck of monuments and personal relies of the nation which possessed it for so many centuries and gave it its claim to our veneration and affection. When compared with other nations of equal antiquity - Egypt, Greece Assyria - the contrast is truly remarkable. In Egypt and Greece, and also in Assyria, as far as our knowledge at present extends, we find a series of buildings reaching down from the most remote and mysterious antiquity, a chain of which hardly a link is wanting, and which records the progress of the people in civilization art and religion as certainly as the buildings of the medieval architects do that of the various nations of modern Europe. But in Palestine it is not too much to say that there does not exist a single edifice or part of an edifice of which we call be sure that it is of a date anterior to the Christian era. And as with the buildings, so with other memorials, With one exception, the museums of Europe do not possess a single piece of pottery or metal work, a single weapon or household utensil, an ornament or a piece of armor of Israelite make, which can give us the least conception of the manners or outward appliances of the nation before the date of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. The coins form the single exception. M. Renan has named two circumstances which must have had a great effect in suppressing art or architecture amongst the ancient Israelites, while their very existence proves that the people had no genius in that direction. These are (1) the prohibition of sculptured representations of living creatures, and (2) the command not to build a temple anywhere but at Jerusalem.

 

 

Pallu

(distinguished), the second son of Reuben, father of Eliab, (Isaiah 6:14; Numbers 26:5,8; 1 Chronicles 5:3) and founder of the family of Palluites.

 

 

Palluites

(descendants of Pullu), The. (Numbers 26:5)

 

 

Palm Tree

(Heb. tamar). Under this generic term many species are botanically included; but we have here only to do with the date palm, the Phoenix dactylifera of Linnaeus. While this tree was abundant generally in the Levant, it was regarded by the ancients as peculiarly characteristic of Palestine and the neighboring regions, though now it is rare. ("The palm tree frequently attains a height of eighty feet, but more commonly forty to fifty. It begins to bear fruit after it has been planted six or eight years, and continues to be productive for a century. Its trunk is straight, tall and unbroken, terminating in a crown of emerald-green plumes, like a diadem of gigantic ostrich-feathers; these leaves are frequently twenty feet in length, droop slightly at the ends, and whisper musically in the breeze. The palm is, in truth, a beautiful and most useful tree. Its fruit is the daily food of millions; its sap furnishes an agreeable wine; the fibres of the base of its leaves are woven into ropes and rigging; its tall stem supplies a valuable timber; its leaves are manufactured into brushes, mats, bags, couches and baskets. This one tree supplies almost all the wants of the Arab or Egyptian." - Bible Plants.) Many places are mentioned in the Bible as having connection with palm trees; Elim, where grew three score and ten palm trees, (Exodus 15:27) and Elath. (2:8) Jericho was the city of "palm trees." (31:3) Hazezon-tamar, "the felling of the palm tree," is clear in its derivation. There is also Tamar, "the palm." (Ezekiel 47:19) Bethany means the "house of dates." The word Phoenicia, which occurs twice in the New Testament - (Acts 11:19; 15:3) - is in all probability derived from the Greek word for a palm. The, striking appearance of the tree, its uprightness and beauty, would naturally suggest the giving of Its name occasionally to women. (Genesis 38:6; 2 Samuel 13:1; 14:27) There is in the Psalms, (Psalms 92:12) the familiar comparison, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." which suggests a world of illustration whether respect be had to the orderly and regular aspect of the tree, its fruitfulness, the perpetual greenness of its foliage, or the height at which the foliage grows, as far as possible from earth and as near as possible to heaven. Perhaps no point is more worthy of mention, we wish to pursue the comparison, than the elasticity of the fibre of the palm and its determined growth upward even when loaded with weights. The passage in (Revelation 7:9) where the glorified of all nations are described as "clothed with white robes and palms in their hands," might seem to us a purely classical image; but palm branches were used by the Jews in token of victory and peace. (To these points of comparison may be added, its principle of growth: it is an endogen, and grows from within; its usefulness; the Syrians enumerating 360 different uses to which it may be put; and the statement that it bears its best fruit in old age. - ED.) It is curious that this tree, once so abundant in Judea, is now comparatively rare, except in the Philistine plain and in the old Phoenicia about Beyrout .

 

 

Palmerworm

(Heb. gazam) occurs (Joel 1:4; 2:25; Amos 4:9) It is maintained by many that gazam denotes some species of locust. but it is more probably a caterpillar.

 

 

Palsy

(contracted from paralysis). The loss of sensation or the power of motion, or both, in any part of the body. The infirmities included under this name in the New Testament were various: -

• The paralytic shock affecting the whole body, or apoplexy.


• That affecting only one side.


• Affecting the whole system below the neck.


• Catalepsy, caused by the contraction of the muscles in the whole or a part of the body. This was very dangerous and often fatal. The part affected remains immovable and diminishes in size and dries up. A hand thus affected was called "a withered hand." (Matthew 12:10-13)


• Cramp. This was a most dreadful disease caused by the chills of the nights. The limbs remain immovably fixed in the same position as when seized as it, and the person seems like one suffering torture. It is frequently followed in a few days by death. Several paralytics were cured by Jesus. (Matthew 4:24; 8:13) etc.

 

 

Palti

(whom Jehovah delivers), the Benjamite spy, son of Raphu. (Numbers 13:9) (B.C.1490.)

 

 

Paltiel

(whom God delivers), the son of Azzan and prince of the tribe of Issachar. (Numbers 34:26) He was one of the twelve appointed to divide the land of Canaan among the tribes west of Jordan. (B.C. 1450.)

 

 

Pamphylia

(of every tribe), one of the coast-regions in the south of Asia Minor, having Cilicia on the east and Lycia on the west. In St. Paul's time it was not only a regular province, but the emperor Claudius had united Lycia with it, and probably also a good part of Pisidia. It was in Pamphylia that St. Paul first entered Asia Minor, after preaching the gospel in Cyprus. He and Barnabas sailed up the river Cestrus to Perga. (Acts 13:13) The two missionaries finally left Pamphylia by its chief seaport Attalia. Many years afterward St. Paul sailed near the coast. (Acts 27:5)

 

 

Pan

Of the six words so rendered in the Authorized Version, two seem to imply a shallow pan or plate, such as is used by the Bedouine and Syrians for baking or dressing rapidly their cakes of meal, such as were used in legal oblations; the others, a deeper vessel or caldron for boiling meat, placed during the process on three stones.

 

 

Pannag

(sweet), an article of commerce exported from Palestine to Tyre, (Ezekiel 27:17) the nature of which is a pure matter of conjecture, as the term occurs nowhere else. A comparison of the passage in Ezekiel with (Genesis 43:11) leads to the supposition that pannag represents some of the spices grown in Palestine.

 

 

Paper

[Writing]

 

 

Paphos

(boiling, or hot), a town at the west end of Cyprus, connected by a react with Salamis at the east end. It was founded B.C. 1184 (during the period of the judges in Israel). Paul and Barnabas travelled, on their first missionary expedition, "through the isle" from the latter place to the former, (Acts 13:6) The great characteristic of Paphos was the worship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was fabled to have here risen from the sea. Her temple, however, was at "Old Paphos" now called Kuklia . The harbor and the chief town were at "New Paphos," ten miles to the northwest. The place is still called Baffa .

 

 

Parable

(The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another. - McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expanded into a narrative. (Ezekiel 12:22) In the New Testament itself the word is used with a like latitude in (Matthew 24:32; Luke 4:23; Hebrews 9:9) It was often used in a more restricted sense to denote a short narrative under which some important truth is veiled. Of this sort were the parables of Christ. The parable differs from the fable (1) in excluding brute and inanimate creatures passing out of the laws of their nature and speaking or acting like men; (2) in its higher ethical significance. It differs from the allegory in that the latter, with its direct personification of ideas or attributes, and the names which designate them, involves really no comparison. The virtues and vices of mankind appear as in a drama, in their own character and costume. The allegory is self-interpreting; the parable demands attention, insight, sometimes an actual explanation. It differs from a proverb in that it must include a similitude of some kind, while the proverb may assert, without a similitude, some wide generalization of experience. - ED.) For some months Jesus taught in the synagogues and on the seashore of Galilee as he had before taught in Jerusalem, and as yet without a parable. But then there came a change. The direct teaching was met with scorn unbelief hardness, and he seemed for a time to abandon it for that which took the form of parables. The worth of parables as instruments of teaching lies in their being at once a test of character and in their presenting each form of character with that which, as a penalty or blessing, is adapted to it. They withdraw the light from those who love darkness. They protect the truth which they enshrine from the mockery of the scoffer. They leave something even with the careless which may be interpreted and understood afterward. They reveal on the other hand, the seekers after truth. These ask the meaning of the parable, and will not rest until the teacher has explained it. In this way the parable did work, found out the fit hearers and led them on. In most of the parables it is possible to trace something like an order.

• There is a group which have for their subject the laws of the divine kingdom. Under this head we have the sower, (Matthew 13:1; Mark 4:1; Luke 8:1)... the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:1) ... etc.


• When the next parables meet us they are of a different type and occupy a different position. They are drawn from the life of men rather than from the world of nature. They are such as these - the two debtors, (Luke 7:1) ... the merciless servant, (Matthew 18:1) ... the good Samaritan, (Luke 10:1) ... etc.


• Toward the close of our Lord's ministry the parables are again theocratic but the phase of the divine kingdom on which they chiefly dwell is that of its final consummation. In interpreting parables note - (1) The analogies must be real, not arbitrary; (2) The parables are to be considered as parts of a whole, and the interpretation of one is not to override or encroach upon the lessons taught by others; (3) The direct teaching of Christ presents the standard to which all our interpretations are to be referred, and by which they are to be measured.

 

 

Paradise

This is a word of Persian origin, and is used in the Septuagint as the translation of Eden. It means "an orchard of pleasure and fruits," a "garden" or "pleasure ground," something like an English park. It is applied figuratively to the celestial dwelling of the righteous, in allusion to the garden of Eden. (2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7) It has thus come into familiar use to denote both that garden and the heaven of the just.

 

 

Parah

(heifer-town) one of the cities in the territory allotted to Benjamin, named only in the lists of the conquest. (Joshua 18:23)

 

 

Paran, Elparan

(peace of caverns), a desert or wilderness, bounded on the north by Palestine, on the east by the valley of Arabah, on the south by the desert of Sinai, and on the west by the wilderness of Etham, which separated it from the Gulf of Suez and Egypt. The first notice of Paran is in connection with the invasion of the confederate kings. (Genesis 14:6) The detailed itinerary of the children of Israel in (Numbers 33:1) ... does not mention Paran because it was the name of a wide region; but the many stations in Paran are recorded, chs. 17-36. and probably all the eighteen stations were mentioned between Hazeroth and Kadesh were in Paran. Through this very wide wilderness, from pasture to pasture as do modern Arab tribes, the Israelites wandered in irregular lines of march. This region through which the Israelites journeyed so long is now called by the name it has borne for ages - Bedu et-Tih, "the wilderness of wandering." ("Bible Geography," Whitney.) "Mount" Paran occurs only in two poetic passages, (33:2); Habb 3:3 It probably denotes the northwestern member of the Sinaitic mountain group which lies adjacent to the Wady Teiran . (It is probably the ridge or series of ridges lying on the northeastern part of the desert of Paran, not far from Kadesh. - ED.)

 

 

Parbar

(open apartment), a word occurring in Hebrew and Authorized Version only in (1 Chronicles 26:18) It would seem that Parbar was some place on the west side of the temple enclosure, probably the suburb mentioned by Josephus as lying in the deep valley which separated the west wall of the temple from the city opposite it.

 

 

Parchment

[Writing]

 

 

Parlor

a word in English usage meaning the common room of the family, and hence probably in Authorized Version denoting the king's audience-chamber, so used in reference to Eglon. (Judges 3:20-25)

 

 

Parmashta

(superior), one of the ten sons of Haman slain by the Jews in Shushan. (Esther 9:9) (B.C. 473.)

 

 

Parmenas

(abiding), one of the seven deacons, "men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom." (Acts 8:5) There is a tradition that he suffered martyrdom at Philippi in the reign of Trajan.

 

 

Parnaeh

(delicate), father or ancestor of Elizaphan prince of the tribe of Zebulun. (Numbers 34:25) (B.C. before 1452.)

 

 

Parshandatha

(given by prayer), the eldest of Haman's ten sons who were slain by the Jews in Shushan. (Esther 9:7) (B.C. 473.)

 

 

Parthians

This name occurs only in (Acts 2:9) where it designates Jews settled in Parthia. Parthia proper was the region stretching along the southern flank of the mountains which separate the great Persian desert from the desert of Kharesm. It lay south of Hyrcania, east of Media and north of Sagartia. The ancient Parthians are called a "Scythic" race, and probably belonged to the great Turanian family. After being subject in succession to the Persians and the Seleucidae, they revolted in B.C. 256. and under Arsaces succeeded in establishing their independence. Parthia, in the mind of the writer of the Acts, would designate this empire, which extended from India to the Tigris and from the Chorasmian desert to the shores of the Southern Ocean; hence the prominent position of the name Parthians in the list of those prevent at Pentecost. Parthia was a power almost rivalling Rome - the only existing power which had tried its strength against Rome and not been worsted in the encounter. The Parthian dominion lasted for nearly five centuries, commencing in the third century before and terminating in the third century after our era. The Parthians spoke the Persian language.

 

 

Partridge

(Heb. kore) occurs only (1 Samuel 26:20) and Jere 17:11 The "hunting this bird upon the mountains," (1 Samuel 26:20) entirely agrees with the habits of two well-known species of partridge, viz. Caccabis saxatilis, the Greek partridge (which is the commonest partridge of the holy land), and Ammoperdix heyii . Our common partridge, Perdix cinerea, does not occur in Palestine. (The Greek partridge somewhat resembles our red-legged partridge in plumage, but is much larger. In every part of the hill country it abounds, and its ringing call-note in early morning echoes from cliff to cliff alike amid the barrenness of the hills of Judea and in the glens of the forest of Carmel. Tristram's Nat. Hist. of Bible . The flesh of the partridge and the eggs are highly esteemed as food, and the search for the eggs at the proper time of the year is made a regular business.-ED.)

 

 

Paruah

(flourishing), the father of Jehoshaphat, Solomon's commissariat officer in Issachar. (1 Kings 4:17) (B.C. about 1017.)

 

 

Parvaim

(Oriental regions), the name of an unknown place or country whence the gold was procured for the decoration of Solomon's temple. (2 Chronicles 3:6) We may notice the conjecture that it is derived from the Sanscrit purva, "eastern," and is a general term for the east.

 

 

Pasach

(cut off), son of Japhlet, of the tribe of Asher. (1 Chronicles 7:33)

 

 

Pasdammim

(boundary of blood). [EPHES-DAMMIM]

 

 

Paseah

(lame).

• Son of Eshton, in an obscure fragment of the genealogies of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:12)


• The "sons of Paseah" were among the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:49)

 

 

Pashur

(freedom).

• One of the families of priests of the chief house of Malchijah. (1 Chronicles 9:12; 24:9; Nehemiah 11:12; Jeremiah 21:1; 38:1) In the time of Nehemiah this family appears to have become a chief house, and its head the head of a course. (Ezra 2:38; Nehemiah 7:41; 10:3) The individual from whom the family was named was probably Pushur the son of Malchiah, who in the reign of Zedekiah was one of the chief princes of the court. (Jeremiah 38:1) (B.C. 607.) He was sent, with others, by Zedekiah to Jeremiah at the time when Nebuchudnezzar was preparing his attack upon Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 21:1) ... Again somewhat later Pashur joined with several other chief men in petitioning the king that Jeremiah might be put to death as a traitor. (Jeremiah 38:4)


• Another person of this name, also a priest, and "chief governor of the house of the Lord," is mentioned in (Jeremiah 20:1) He is described as "the son of Immer." (1 Chronicles 24:14) probably the same as Amariah. (Nehemiah 10:3; 12:2) etc. In the reign of Jehoiakim he showed himself as hostile to Jeremiah as his namesake the son of Malchiah did afterward, and put him in the stocks by the gate of Benjamin. For this indignity to God's prophet Pashur was told by Jeremiah that his name was changed to Magor-missabib (terror on every side) and that he and all his house should be carried captives to Babylon and there die. (Jeremiah 20:1-6) (B.C. 589.)

 

 

Passage

Used in the plural, (Jeremiah 22:20) probably to denote the mountain region of Abarim on the east side of Jordan. It also denotes a river ford or mountain gorge or pass.

 

 

Passover

the first of the three great annual festivals of the Israelites celebrated in the month Nisan (March-April, from the 14th to the 21st. (Strictly speaking the Passover only applied to the paschal supper and the feast of unleavened bread followed, which was celebrated to the 21st.) (For the corresponding dates in our month, see Jewish calendar at the end of this volume.) The following are the principal passages in the Pentateuch relating to the Passover: (Exodus 12:1-51; 13:3-10; 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Leviticus 23:4-14; Numbers 9:1-14; 28:16-25; 16:1-6) Why instituted . - This feast was instituted by God to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and the sparing of their firstborn when the destroying angel smote the first-born of the Egyptians. The deliverance from Egypt was regarded as the starting-point of the Hebrew nation. The Israelites were then raised from the condition of bondmen under a foreign tyrant to that of a free people owing allegiance to no one but Jehovah. The prophet in a later age spoke of the event as a creation and a redemption of the nation. God declares himself to be "the Creator of Israel." The Exodus was thus looked upon as the birth of the nation; the Passover was its annual birthday feast. It was the yearly memorial of the dedication of the people to him who had saved their first-born from the destroyer, in order that they might be made holy to himself. First celebration of the Passover . - On the tenth day of the month, the head of each family was to select from the flock either a lamb or a kid, a male of the first year, without blemish. If his family was too small to eat the whole of the lamb, he was permitted to invite his nearest neighbor to join the party. On the fourteenth day of the month he was to kill his lamb, while the sun was setting. He was then to take blood in a basin and with a sprig of hyssop to sprinkle it on the two side-posts and the lintel of the door of the house. The lamb was then thoroughly roasted, whole. It was expressly forbidden that it should be boiled, or that a bone of it should be broken. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs were to be eaten with the flesh. No male who was uncircumcised was to join the company. Each one was to have his loins girt, to hold a staff in his hand, and to have shoes on his feet. He was to eat in haste, and it would seem that he was to stand during the meal. The number of the party was to be calculated as nearly as possible, so that all the flesh of the lamb might be eaten; but if any portion of it happened to remain, it was to be burned in the morning. No morsel of it was to be carried out of the house. The lambs were selected, on the fourteenth they were slain and the blood sprinkled, and in the following evening, after the fifteenth day of the had commenced the first paschal meal was eaten. At midnight the firstborn of the Egyptians were smitten. The king and his people were now urgent that the Israelites should start immediately, and readily bestowed on them supplies for the journey. In such haste did the Israelites depart, on that very day, (Numbers 33:3) that they packed up their kneading troughs containing the dough prepared for the morrow's provisions, which was not yet leavened. Observance of the Passover in later times . - As the original institution of the Passover in Egypt preceded the establishment of the priesthood and the regulation of the service of the tabernacle. It necessarily fell short in several particulars of the observance of the festival according to the fully-developed ceremonial law. The head of the family slew the lamb in his own house, not in the holy place; the blood was sprinkled on the doorway, not on the altar. But when the law was perfected, certain particulars were altered in order to assimilate the Passover to the accustomed order of religious service. In the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of Exodus there are not only distinct references to the observance of the festival in future ages (e.g.) (Exodus 12:2,14,17,24-27,42; 13:2,5,8-10) but there are several injunctions which were evidently not intended for the first Passover, and which indeed could not possibly have been observed. Besides the private family festival, there were public and national sacrifices offered each of the seven days of unleavened bread. (Numbers 28:19) On the second day also the first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered in the temple. (Leviticus 23:10) In the latter notices of the festival in the books of the law there are particulars added which appear as modifications of the original institution. (Leviticus 23:10-14; Numbers 28:16-25; 16:1-6) Hence it is not without reason that the Jewish writers have laid great stress on the distinction between "the Egyptian Passover" and "the perpetual Passover." Mode and order of the paschal meal . - All work except that belonging to a few trades connected with daily life was suspended for some hours before the evening of the 14th Nisan. It was not lawful to eat any ordinary food after midday. No male was admitted to the table unless he was circumcised, even if he were of the seed of Israel. (Exodus 12:48) It was customary for the number of a party to be not less than ten. When the meal was prepared, the family was placed round the table, the paterfamilias taking a place of honor, probably somewhat raised above the rest. When the party was arranged the first cup of wine was filled, and a blessing was asked by the head of the family on the feast, as well as a special, one on the cup. The bitter herbs were then placed on the table, and a portion of them eaten, either with Or without the sauce. The unleavened bread was handed round next and afterward the lamb was placed on the table in front of the head of the family. The paschal lamb could be legally slain and the blood and fat offered only in the national sanctuary. (16:2) Before the lamb was eaten the second cup of wine was filled, and the son, in accordance with (Exodus 12:26) asked his father the meaning of the feast. In reply, an account was given of the sufferings of the Israelites in Egypt and of their deliverance, with a particular explanation of (26:5) and the first part of the Hallel (a contraction from Hallelujah), Psal 113, 114, was sung. This being gone through, the lamb was carved and eaten. The third cup of wine was poured out and drunk, and soon afterward the fourth. The second part of the Hallel, Psal 115 to 118 was then sung. A fifth wine-cup appears to have been occasionally produced, But perhaps only in later times. What was termed the greater Hallel, Psal 120 to 138 was sung on such occasions. The Israelites who lived in the country appear to have been accommodated at the feast by the inhabitants of Jerusalem in their houses, so far its there was room for them. (Matthew 26:18; Luke 22:10-12) Those who could not be received into the city encamped without the walls in tents as the pilgrims now do at Mecca. The Passover as a type . - The Passover was not only commemorative but also typical. "The deliverance which it commemorated was a type of the great salvation it foretold." - No other shadow of things to come contained in the law can vie with the festival of the Passover in expressiveness and completeness. (1) The paschal lamb must of course be regarded as the leading feature in the ceremonial of the festival. The lamb slain typified Christ the "Lamb of God." slain for the sins of the world. Christ "our Passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7) According to the divine purpose, the true Lamb of God was slain at nearly the same time as "the Lord's Passover" at the same season of the year; and at the same time of the day as the daily sacrifice at the temple, the crucifixion beginning at the hour of the morning sacrifice and ending at the hour of the evening sacrifice. That the lamb was to be roasted and not boiled has been supposed to commemorate the haste of the departure of the Israelites. It is not difficult to determine the reason of the command "not a bone of him shall be broken." The lamb was to be a symbol of unity - the unity of the family, the unity of the nation, the unity of God with his people whom he had taken into covenant with himself. (2) The unleavened bread ranks next in importance to the paschal lamb. We are warranted in concluding that unleavened bread had a peculiar sacrificial character, according to the law. It seems more reasonable to accept St, Paul's reference to the subject, (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) as furnishing the true meaning of the symbol. Fermentation is decomposition, a dissolution of unity. The pure dry biscuit would be an apt emblem of unchanged duration, and, in its freedom from foreign mixture, of purity also. (3) The offering of the omer or first sheaf of the harvest, (Leviticus 23:10-14) signified deliverance from winter the bondage of Egypt being well considered as a winter in the history of the nation. (4) The consecration of the first-fruits, the firstborn of the soil, is an easy type of the consecration of the first born of the Israelites, and of our own best selves, to God. Further than this (1) the Passover is a type of deliverance from the slavery of sin. (2) It is the passing over of the doom we deserve for your sins, because the blood of Christ has been applied to us by faith. (3) The sprinkling of the blood upon the door-posts was a symbol of open confession of our allegiance and love. (4) The Passover was useless unless eaten; so we live upon the Lord Jesus Christ. (5) It was eaten with bitter herbs, as we must eat our passover with the bitter herbs of repentance and confession, which yet, like the bitter herbs of the Passover, are a fitting and natural accompaniment. (6) As the Israelites ate the Passover all prepared for the journey, so do we with a readiness and desire to enter the active service of Christ, and to go on the journey toward heaven. - ED.)

 

 

Patara

(city of Patarus), a Lycian city situated on the southwestern shore of Lycia, not far from the left bank of the river Xanthus. The coast here is very mountainous and bold. Immediately opposite is the island of Rhodes. Patara was practically the seaport of the city of Xanthus, which was ten miles distant. These notices of its position and maritime importance introduce us to the single mention of the place in the Bible - (Acts 21:1,2)

 

 

Pathros

(region of the south), a part of Egypt, and a Mizraite tribe whose people were called Pathrusim. In the list of the Mizraites the Pathrusim occur after the Naphtuhim and before the Caluhim; the latter being followed by the notice of the Philistines and by the Caphtorim. (Genesis 10:13,14; 1 Chronicles 1:12) Pathros is mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah, (Isaiah 11:11) Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:1,15) and Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 29:14; 30:13-18) It was probably part or all of upper Egypt, and we may trace its name in the Pathyrite name, in which Thebes was situated.

 

 

Pathrusim

people of Pathros. [Pathros]

 

 

Patmos

(Revelation 1:9) a rugged and bare island in the AEgean Sea, 20 miles south of Samos and 24 west of Asia Minor. It was the scene of the banishment of St. John in the reign of Domitian, A.D. 95. Patmos is divided into two nearly equal parts, a northern and a southern, by a very narrow isthmus where, on the east side are the harbor and the town. On the hill to the south, crowning a commanding height, is the celebrated monastery which bears the name of "John the Divine." Halfway up the descent is the cave or grotto where tradition says that St. John received the Revelation.

 

 

Patriarch

(father of a tribe), the name given to the head of a family or tribe in Old Testament times. In common usage the title of patriarch is assigned especially to those whose lives are recorded in Scripture previous to the time of Moses, as Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ("In the early history of the Hebrews we find the ancestor or father of a family retaining authority over his children and his children's children so long as he lived, whatever new connections they might form when the father died the branch families did not break off and form new communities, but usually united under another common head. The eldest son was generally invested with this dignity. His authority was paternal. He was honored as central point of connection and as the representative of the whole kindred. Thus each great family had its patriarch or head, and each tribe its prince, selected from the several heads of the families which it embraced." - McClintock and Strong.) ("After the destruction of Jerusalem, patriarch was the title of the chief religious rulers of the Jews in Asia and in early Christian times it became the designation of the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem." - American Cyclopedia .)

 

 

Patrobas

(paternal),a Christian at Rome to whom St. Paul sends his salutation. (Romans 16:14) Like many other names mentioned in Roma 16 this was borne by at least one member of the emperor's household. Suet. Galba. 20; Martial, Ep. ii. 32, 3. (A.D. 55.)

 

 

Pau

(bleating) (but in (1 Chronicles 1:50) Pai), the capital of Hadar king of Edom. (Genesis 36:39) Its position is unknown.

 

 

Paul

(small, little). Nearly all the original materials for the life St. Paul are contained in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Pauline epistles. Paul was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. (It is not improbable that he was born between A.D. and A.D. 5.) Up to the time of his going forth as an avowed preacher of Christ to the Gentiles, the apostle was known by the name of Saul. This was the Jewish name which he received from his Jewish parents. But though a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he was born in a Gentile city. Of his parents we know nothing, except that his father was of the tribe of Benjamin, (Philemon 3:5) and a Pharisee, (Acts 23:6) that Paul had acquired by some means the Roman franchise ("I was free born,") (Acts 22:23) and that he was settled in Tarsus. At Tarsus he must have learned to use the Greek language with freedom and mastery in both speaking and writing. At Tarsus also he learned that trade of "tent-maker," (Acts 18:3) at which he afterward occasionally wrought with his own hands. There was a goat's-hair cloth called cilicium manufactured in Cilicia, and largely used for tents, Saul's trade was probably that of making tents of this hair cloth. When St. Paul makes his defence before his countrymen at Jerusalem, (Acts 22:1) ... he tells them that, though born in Tarsus he had been "brought up" in Jerusalem. He must therefore, have been yet a boy when was removed, in all probability for the sake of his education, to the holy city of his fathers. He learned, he says, at the feet of Gamaliel." He who was to resist so stoutly the usurpations of the law had for his teacher one of the most eminent of all the doctors of the law. Saul was yet "a young man," (Acts 7:58) when the Church experienced that sudden expansion which was connected with the ordaining of the seven appointed to serve tables, and with the special power and inspiration of Stephen. Among those who disputed with Stephen were some "of them of Cilicia." We naturally think of Saul as having been one of these, when we find him afterward keeping the clothes of those suborned witnesses who, according to the law, (17:7) were the first to cast stones at Stephen. "Saul," says the sacred writer significantly "was consenting unto his death." Saul's conversion . A.D. 37. - The persecutor was to be converted. Having undertaken to follow up the believers "unto strange cities." Saul naturally turned his thoughts to Damascus. What befell him as he journeyed thither is related in detail three times in the Acts, first by the historian in his own person, then in the two addresses made by St. Paul at Jerusalem and before Agrippa. St. Luke's statement is to be read in (Acts 9:3-19) where, however, the words "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks," included in the English version, ought to be omitted (as is done in the Revised Version). The sudden light from heaven; the voice of Jesus speaking with authority to his persecutor; Saul struck to the ground, blinded, overcome; the three-days suspense; the coming of Ananias as a messenger of the Lord and Saul's baptism, - these were the leading features at the great event, and in these we must look for the chief significance of the conversion. It was in Damascus that he was received into the church by Ananias, and here to the astonishment of all his hearers, he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, declaring him to be the Son of God. The narrative in the Acts tells us simply that he was occupied in this work, with increasing vigor, for "many days," up to the time when imminent danger drove him from Damascus. From the Epistle to the Galatians, (Galatians 1:17,18) we learn that the many days were at least a good part of "three years," A.D. 37-40, and that Saul, not thinking it necessary to procure authority to teach from the apostles that were before him, went after his conversion to Arabia, and returned from thence to us. We know nothing whatever of this visit to Arabia; but upon his departure from Damascus we are again on a historical ground, and have the double evidence of St. Luke in the Acts of the apostle in his Second Epistle the Corinthians. According to the former, the Jews lay in wait for Saul, intending to kill him, and watched the gates of the city that he might not escape from them. Knowing this, the disciples took him by night and let him down in a basket from the wall. Having escaped from Damascus, Saul betook himself to Jerusalem (A.D. 40), and there "assayed to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and believed not he was a disciple." Barnabas' introduction removed the fears of the apostles, and Saul "was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem." But it is not strange that the former persecutor was soon singled out from the other believers as the object of a murderous hostility. He was,therefore, again urged to flee; and by way of Caesarea betook himself to his native city, Tarsus. Barnabas was sent on a special mission to Antioch. As the work grew under his hands, he felt the need of help, went himself to Tarsus to seek Saul, and succeeded in bringing him to Antioch. There they labored together unremittingly for a whole year." All this time Saul was subordinate to Barnabas. Antioch was in constant communication with Cilicia, with Cyprus, with all the neighboring countries. The Church was pregnant with a great movement, and time of her delivery was at hand. Something of direct expectation seems to be implied in what is said of the leaders of the Church at Antioch, that they were "ministering to the Lord and fasting," when the Holy Ghost spoke to them: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Everything was done with orderly gravity in the sending forth of the two missionaries. Their brethren after fasting and prayer, laid their hands on them, and so they departed. The first missionary journey. A.D. 45-49. - As soon as Barnabas and Saul reached Cyprus they began to "announce the word of God," but at first they delivered their message in the synagogues of the Jews only. When they had gone through the island, from Salamis to Paphos, they were called upon to explain their doctrine to an eminent Gentile, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, who was converted. Saul's name was now changed to Paul, and he began to take precedence of Barnabas. From Paphos "Paul and his company" set sail for the mainland, and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. Here the heart of their companion John failed him, and he returned to Jerusalem. From Perga they travelled on to a place obscure in secular history, but most memorable in the history of the Kingdom of Christ - Antioch in Pisidia. Rejected by the Jews, they became bold and outspoken, and turned from them to the Gentiles. At Antioch now, as in every city afterward, the unbelieving Jews used their influence with their own adherents among the Gentiles to persuade the authorities or the populace to persecute the apostles and to drive them from the place. Paul and Barnabas now travelled on to Iconium where the occurrences at Antioch were repeated, and from thence to the Lycaonian country which contained the cities Lystra and Derbe. Here they had to deal with uncivilized heathen. At Lystra the healing of a cripple took place. Thereupon these pagans took the apostles for gods, calling Barnabas, who was of the more imposing presence, Jupiter, and Paul, who was the chief speaker, Mercurius. Although the people of Lystra had been so ready to worship Paul and Barnabas, the repulse of their idolatrous instincts appears to have provoked them, and they allowed themselves to be persuaded into hostility be Jews who came from Antioch and Iconium, so that they attacked Paul with stones, and thought they had killed him. He recovered, however as the disciples were standing around him, and went again into the city. The next day he left it with Barnabas, and went to Derbe, and thence they returned once more to Lystra, and so to Iconium and Antioch. In order to establish the churches after their departure they solemnly appointed "elders" in every city. Then they came down to the coast, and from Attalia, they sailed; home to Antioch in Syria, where they related the successes which had been granted to them, and especially the opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles." And so the first missionary journey ended. The council at Jerusalem. - Upon that missionary journey follows most naturally the next important scene which the historian sets before us - the council held at Jerusalem to determine the relations of Gentile believers to the law of Moses. (Acts 15:1-29; Galatians 2) Second missionary journey . A.D. 50-54. - The most resolute courage, indeed, was required for the work to which St. Paul was now publicly pledged. He would not associate with himself in that work one who had already shown a want of constancy. This was the occasion of what must have been a most painful difference between him and his comrade in the faith and in past perils, Barnabas. (Acts 15:35-40) Silas, or Silvanus, becomes now a chief companion of the apostle. The two went together through Syria and Cilicia, visiting the churches, and so came to Derbe and Lystra. Here they find Timotheus, who had become a disciple on the former visit of the apostle. Him St. Paul took and Circumcised. St. Luke now steps rapidly over a considerable space of the apostle's life and labors. "They went throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia." (Luke 16:6) At this time St. Paul was founding "the churches of Galatia." (Galatians 1:2) He himself gives some hints of the circumstances of his preaching in that region, of the reception he met with, and of the ardent though unstable character of the people. (Galatians 4:13-15) Having gone through Phrygia and Galatia, he intended to visit, the western coast; but "they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the "word" there. Then, being on the borders of Mysia, they thought of going back to the northeast into Bithynia; but again the Spirit of Jesus "suffered them not," so they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas. St. Paul saw in a vision a man,of Macedonia, who besought him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." The vision was at once accepted as a heavenly intimation; the help wanted, by the Macedonians was believed to be the preaching of the gospel. It is at this point that the historian, speaking of St. Paul's company, substitutes "we" for "they." He says nothing of himself we can only infer that St. Luke, to whatever country he belonged, became a companion of St. Paul at Troas. The party thus reinforced, immediately set sail from Troas, touched at Samothrace, then landed on the continent at Neapolis, and thence journeyed to Philippi. The first convert in Macedonia was Lydia, an Asiatic woman, at Philippi. (Acts 18:13,14) At Philippi Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten and put in prison, having cast out the spirit of divination from a female slave who had brought her masters much gain by her power. This cruel wrong was to be the occasion of a signal appearance of the God of righteousness and deliverance. The narrative tells of the earthquake, the jailer's terror, his conversion and baptism. (Acts 16:26-34) In the morning the magistrates sent word to the prison that the men might be let go; but Paul denounced plainly their unlawful acts, informing them moreover that those whom they had beaten and imprisoned without trial; were Roman citizens. The magistrates, in great alarm, saw the necessity of humbling themselves. They came and begged them to leave the city. Paul and Silas consented to do so, and, after paying a visit to "the brethren" in the house of Lydia, they departed. Leaving St. Luke, and perhaps Timothy for a short time at Philippi, Paul and Silas travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and stopped again at Thessalonica. Here again, as in Pisidian Antioch, the envy of the Jews was excited, and the mob assaulted the house of Jason with whom Paul and Silas were staying as guests, and, not finding them, dragged Jason himself and some other brethren before the magistrates. After these signs of danger the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night. They next came to Berea. Here they found the Jews more noble than those at Thessalonica had been. Accordingly they gained many converts, both Jews and Greeks; but the Jews of Thessalonica, hearing of it, sent emissaries to stir up the people, and it was thought best that Paul should himself leave the city whilst Silas and Timothy remained-behind. Some of the brethren went with St. Paul as far as Athens, where they left him carrying back a request to Silas and Timothy that they would speedily join him. Here the apostle delivered that wonderful discourse reported in (Acts 17:22-31) He gained but few converts at Athens, and soon took his departure and went to Corinth. He was testifying with unusual effort and anxiety when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and joined him. Their arrival was the occasion of the writing of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The two epistles to the Thessalonians - and these alone - belong to the present missionary journey. They were written from Corinth A.D. 52, 53. When Silas and Timotheus came to Corinth, St. Paul was testifying to the Jews with great earnestness, but with little success. Corinth was the chief city of the province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. During St. Paul stay the proconsular office was held by Gallio, a brother of the philosopher Seneca. Before him the apostle was summoned by his Jewish enemies, who hoped to bring the Roman authority to bear upon him as an innovator in religion. But Gallio perceived at once, before Paul could "open his mouth" to defend himself, that the movement was due to Jewish prejudice, and refused to go into the question. Then a singular scene occurred. The Corinthian spectators, either favoring Paul or actuated only by anger against the Jews, seized on the principal person of those who had brought the charge, and beat him before the judgment-seat. Gallio left these religious quarrels to settle themselves. The apostle therefore, was not allowed to be "hurt," and remained some time longer at Corinth unmolested. Having been the instrument of accomplishing this work, Paul departed for Jerusalem, wishing to attend a festival there. Before leaving Greece, he cut off his hair at Cenchreae, in fulfillment of a vow. (Acts 18:18) Paul paid a visit to the synagogue at Ephesus, but would not stay. Leaving Ephesus, he sailed to Caesarea, and from thence went up to Jerusalem, spring, A.D. 54, and "saluted the church." It is argued, from considerations founded on the suspension of navigation during the winter months, that the festival was probably the Pentecost. From Jerusalem the apostle went almost immediately down to Antioch, thus returning to the same place from which he had started with Silas. Third missionary journey, including the stay at Ephesus . A.D. 54-58. (Acts 18:23; Acts 21:17) - The great epistles which belong to this period, those to the Galatians, Corinthians and Romans, show how the "Judaizing" question exercised at this time the apostle's mind. St. Paul "spent some time" at Antioch, and during this stay as we are inclined to believe, his collision with St. Peter (Galatians 2:11-14) took place. When he left Antioch, he "went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples," and giving orders concerning the collection for the saints. (1 Corinthians 18:1) It is probable that the Epistle to the Galatians was written soon after this visit - A.D. 56-57. This letter was in all probability sent from Ephesus. This was the goal of the apostle's journeyings through Asia Minor. He came down to Ephesus from the upper districts of Phrygia. Here he entered upon his usual work. He went into the synagogue, and for three months he spoke openly, disputing and persuading concerning "the kingdom of God." At the end of this time the obstinacy and opposition of some of the Jews led him to give up frequenting the synagogue, and he established the believers as a separate society meeting "in the school of Tyrannus." This continued for two years. During this time many things occurred of which the historian of the Acts chooses two examples, the triumph over magical arts and the great disturbance raised by the silversmiths who made shrines Diana - among which we are to note further the writing of the First Epistle to the Corinth A.D. 57. Before leaving Ephesus Paul went into Macedonia, where he met Titus, who brought him news of the state of the Corinthian church. Thereupon he wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, A.D. 57, and sent it by the hands of Titus and two other brethren to Corinth. After writing this epistle, St. Paul travelled throughout Macedonia, perhaps to the borders of Illyricum, (Romans 15:19) and then went to Corinth. The narrative in the Acts tells us that "when he had gone over those parts (Macedonia), and had given them much exhortation he came into Greece, and there abode three months." (Acts 20:2,3) There is only one incident which we can connect with this visit to Greece, but that is a very important one - the writing of his Epistle to the Romans, A.D. 58. That this was written at this time from Corinth appears from passages in the epistle itself and has never been doubted. The letter is a substitute for the personal visit which he had longed "for many years" to pay. Before his departure from Corinth, St. Paul was joined again by St. Luke, as we infer from the change in the narrative from the third to the first person. He was bent on making a journey to Jerusalem, for a special purpose and within a limited time. With this view he was intending to go by sea to Syria. But he was made aware of some plot of the Jews for his destruction, to be carried out through this voyage; and he determined to evade their malice by changing his route. Several brethren were associated with him in this expedition, the bearers no doubt, of the collections made in all the churches for the poor at Jerusalem. These were sent on by sea, and probably the money with them, to Troas, where they were to await Paul. He, accompanied by Luke, went northward through Macedonia. Whilst the vessel which conveyed the rest of the party sailed from Troas to Assos, Paul gained some time by making the journey by land. At Assos he went on board again. Coasting along by Mitylene, Chios, Samos and Trogyllium, they arrived at Miletus. At Miletus, however there was time to send to Ephesus, and the elders of the church were invited to come down to him there. This meeting is made the occasion for recording another characteristic and representative address of St. Paul. (Acts 20:18-35) The course of the voyage from Miletas was by Coos and Rhodes to Patara, and from Patara in another vessel past Cyprus to Tyre. Here Paul and his company spent seven days. From Tyre they sailed to Ptolemais, where they spent one day, and from Ptolemais proceeded, apparently by land, to Caesarea. They now "tarried many days" at Caesarea. During this interval the prophet Agabus, (Acts 11:28) came down from Jerusalem, and crowned the previous intimations of danger with a prediction expressively delivered. At this stage a final effort was made to dissuade Paul from going up to Jerusalem, by the Christians of Caesarea and by his travelling companions. After a while they went up to Jerusalem and were gladly received by the brethren. This is St. Paul's fifth an last visit to Jerusalem. St. Paul's imprisonment: Jerusalem . Spring, A.D. 58. - He who was thus conducted into Jerusalem by a company of anxious friends had become by this time a man of considerable fame among his countrymen. He was widely known as one who had taught with pre-eminent boldness that a way into God's favor was opened to the Gentiles, and that this way did not lie through the door of the Jewish law. He had thus roused against himself the bitter enmity of that unfathomable Jewish pride which was almost us strong in some of those who had professed the faith of Jesus as in their unconverted brethren. He was now approaching a crisis in the long struggle, and the shadow of it has been made to rest upon his mind throughout his journey to Jerusalem. He came "ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus," but he came expressly to prove himself a faithful Jew and this purpose is shown at every point of the history. Certain Jews from "Asia," who had come up for the pentecostal feast, and who had a personal knowledge of Paul, saw him in the temple. They set upon him at once, and stirred up the people against him. There was instantly a great commotion; Paul was dragged out of the temple, the doors of which were immediately shut, and the people having him in their hands, were going to kill him. Paul was rescued from the violence of the multitude by the Roman officer, who made him his own prisoner, causing him to be chained to two soldiers, and then proceeded to inquire who he was and what he had done. The inquiry only elicited confused outcries, and the "chief captain" seems to have imagined that the apostle might perhaps be a certain Egyptian pretender who recently stirred up a considerable rising of the people. The account In the (Acts 21:34-40) tells us with graphic touches how St. Paul obtained leave and opportunity to address the people in a discourse which is related at length. Until the hated word of a mission to the Gentiles had been spoken, the Jews had listened to the speaker. "Away with such a fellow from the earth," the multitude now shouted; "it is not fit that he should live." The Roman commander seeing the tumult that arose might well conclude that St. Paul had committed some heinous offence; and carrying him off, he gave orders that he should be forced by scourging to confess his crime. Again the apostle took advantage of his Roman citizenship to protect himself from such an outrage. The chief captain set him free from bonds, but on the next day called together the chief priests and the Sanhedrin, and brought Paul as a prisoner before them. On the next day a conspiracy was formed which the historian relates with a singular fullness of detail. More than forty of the Jews bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. The plot was discovered, and St. Paul was hurried away from Jerusalem. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias determined to send him to Caesarea to Felix, the governor or procurator of Judea. He therefor put him in charge of a strong guard of soldiers, who took him by night as far as Antipatris. From thence a smaller detachment conveyed him to Caesarea, where they delivered up their prisoner into the hands of the governor. Imprisonment at Caesarea. A.D. 58-60. - St. Paul was henceforth to the end of the period embraced in the Acts, if not to the end of his life, in Roman custody. This custody was in fact a protection to him, without which he would have fallen a victim to the animosity of the Jews. He seems to have been treated throughout with humanity and consideration. The governor before whom he was now to be tried, according to Tacitus and Josephus, was a mean and dissolute tyrant. After hearing St, Paul's accusers and the apostle's defence, Felix made an excuse for putting off the matter, and gave orders that the prisoner should be treated with indulgence and that his friends should be allowed free access to him. After a while he heard him again. St. Paul remained in custody until Felix left the province. The unprincipled governor had good reason to seek to ingratiate himself with the Jews; and to please them, be handed over Paul, as an untried prisoner, to his successor, Festus. Upon his arrival in the province, Festus went up without delay from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and the leading Jews seized the opportunity of asking that Paul might be brought up there for trial intending to assassinate him by the way. But Festus would not comply with their request, He invited them to follow him on his speedy return to Caesarea, and a trial took place there, closely resembling that before Felix. "They had certain questions against him," Festus says to Agrippa, "of their own superstition (or religion), and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And being puzzled for my part as to such inquiries, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem to be tried there." This proposal, not a very likely one to be accepted, was the occasion of St. Paul's appeal to Caesar. The appeal having been allowed, Festus reflected that he must send with the prisoner a report of "the crimes laid against him." He therefore took advantage of an opportunity which offered itself in a few days to seek some help in the matter. The Jewish prince Agrippa arrived with his sister Bernice on a visit to the new governor. To him Festus communicated his perplexity. Agrippa expressed a desire to hear Paul himself. Accordingly Paul conducted his defence before the king; and when it was concluded Festus and Agrippa, and their companions, consulted together, and came to the conclusion that the accused was guilty of nothing that deserved death or imprisonment. "Agrippa"s final answer to the inquiry of Festus was, "This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar." The voyage to Rome and shipwreck. Autumn, A.D. 60. - No formal trial of St. Paul had yet taken place. After a while arrangements were made to carry "Paul and certain other prisoners," in the custody of a centurion named Julius, into Italy; and amongst the company, whether by favor or from any other reason, we find the historian of the Acts, who in chapters 27 and 28 gives a graphic description of the voyage to Rome and the shipwreck on the Island of Melita or Malta. After a three-months stay in Malta the soldiers and their prisoners left in an Alexandria ship for Italy. They touched at Syracuse, where they stayed three days, and at Rhegium, from which place they were carried with a fair wind to Puteoli, where they left their ship and the sea. At Puteoli they found "brethren," for it was an important place and especially a chief port for the traffic between Alexandria and Rome; and by these brethren they were exhorted to stay a while with them. Permission seems to have been granted by the centurion; and whilst they were spending seven days at Puteoli news of the apostle's arrival was sent to Rome. (Spring, A.D. 61.) First imprisonment of St. Paul at Rome . A.D. 61-63. - On their arrival at Rome the centurion delivered up his prisoners into the proper custody that of the praetorian prefect. Paul was at once treated with special consideration and was allowed to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. He was now therefore free "to preach the gospel to them that were at Rome also;" and proceeded without delay to act upon his rule - "to the Jews first," But as of old, the reception of his message by the Jews was not favorable. He turned, therefore, again to the Gentiles, and for two years he dwelt in his own hired house. These are the last words of the Acts. But St. Paul's career is not abruptly closed. Before he himself fades out of our sight in the twilight of ecclesiastical tradition, we have letters written by himself which contribute some particulars to his biography. Period of the later epistles. - To that imprisonment to which St. Luke has introduced us - the imprisonment which lasted for such a tedious time, though tempered by much indulgence - belongs the noble group of letters to Philemon, to the Colossians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians. The three former of these were written at one time, and sent by the same messengers. Whether that to the Philippians was written before or after these we cannot determine; but the tone of it seems to imply that a crisis was approaching, and therefore it is commonly regarded us the latest of the four. In this epistle St. Paul twice expresses a confident hope that before long he may be able to visit the Philippians in person. (Philemon 1:25; 2:24) Whether this hope was fulfilled or not has been the occasion of much controversy. According to the general opinion the apostle was liberated from imprisonment at the end of two years, having been acquitted by Nero A.D. 63, and left Rome soon after writing the letter to the Philippians. He spent some time in visits to Greece, Asia Minor and Spain, and during the latter part of this time wrote the letters (first epistles) to Timothy and Titus from Macedonia, A.D. 65. After these were written he was apprehended again and sent to Rome. Second imprisonment at Rome . A.D. 65-67. - The apostle appears now to have been treated not as an honorable state prisoner but as a felon, (2 Timothy 2:9) but he was allowed to write the second letter to Timothy, A.D. 67. For what remains we have the concurrent testimony of ecclesiastical antiquity that he was beheaded at Rome, by Nero in the great persecutions of the Christians by that emperor, A.D. 67 or 68.

 

 

Pavement

[Gabbatha]

 

 

Pavilion

a temporary movable tent or habitation.

• Soc, properly an enclosed place, also rendered "tabernacle," "covert" and "den;" once only "pavilion." (Psalms 27:5) (Among the Egyptians pavilions were built in a similar style to houses, though on a smaller scale in various parts of the country, and in the foreign districts through which the Egyptian armies passed, for the use of the king - Wilkinson .)


• Succah, Usually "tabernacle" and "booth."


• Shaphrur and shaphrir, a word used once only, in (Jeremiah 49:10) to signify glory or splendor, and hence probably to be understood of the splendid covering of the royal throne.

 

 

Peacocks

(Heb. tuccyyim). Among the natural products which Solomon's fleet brought home to Jerusalem, mention is made of "peacocks," (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21) which is probably the correct translation. The Hebrew word may be traced to the Talmud or Malabaric togei, "peacock."

 

 

Pearl

(Heb. gabish). The Hebrew word in (Job 28:18) probably means "crystal." Pearls, however are frequently mentioned in the New Testament, (Matthew 13:45; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 17:4; 21:21) and were considered by the ancients among the most precious of gems, and were highly esteemed as ornaments. The kingdom of heaven is compared to a "pearl of great price." In (Matthew 7:6) pearls are used metaphorically for anything of value, or perhaps more especially for "wise sayings." (The finest specimens of the pearl are yielded by the pearl oyster (Avicula margaritifera), still found in abundance in the Persian Gulf and near the coasts of Ceylon, Java and Sumatra. The oysters grow in clusters on rocks in deep water, and the pearl is found inside the shell, and is the result of a diseased secretion caused by the introduction of foreign bodies, as sand, etc., between the mantle and the shell. They are obtained by divers trained to the business. March or April is the time for pearl fishing. A single shell sometimes yields eight to twelve pearls. The size of a good Oriental pearl varies from that of a pea to about three times that size. A handsome necklace of pearls the size of peas is worth,000. Pearls have been valued as high as,000 or,000 apiece. - ED.)

 

 

Pedahel

(whom God redeems), the son of Ammihud, and prince of the tribe of Naphtali. (Numbers 34:28)

 

 

Pedaiah

(whom Jehovah redeems).

• The father of Zebudah, mother of King Jehoiakim. (2 Kings 23:38) (B.C. before 648.)


• The brother of Salathiel or Shealtiel and father of Zerubbabel who is usually called the "son of Shealtiel," being, as Lord A. Hervey conjectures, in reality his uncle's successor and heir, in consequence Of the failure of issue in the direct line. (1 Chronicles 3:17-19) (B.C. before 536.)


• Son of Parosh, that is, one of the family or that name, who assisted Nehemiah in repairing the walls of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:25) (B.C. about 446.)


• Apparently a priest; one of those who stood on the left hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people. (Nehemiah 8:4) (B.C. 445.)


• A Benjamite, ancestor of Sallu. (Nehemiah 11:7)


• A Levite in the time of Nehemiah, (Nehemiah 13:13) apparently the same as 4.


• The father of Joel, prince of the half tribe of Manasseh in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 27:20) (B.C. before 1013.)

 

 

Pedarhzur

(whom the rock (i.e. God) redeems), father of Gamaliel, the chief of the tribe of Manasseh at the time of the exodus. (Numbers 1:10; 2:20; 7:54,59; 10:23) (B.C. 1491.)

 

 

Pekah

(open-eyed), son of Remaliah, originally a captain of Pekaiah king of Israel, murdered his master seized the throne, and became the 18th sovereign of the northern kingdom, B.C. 757-740. Under his predecessors Israel had been much weakened through the payment of enormous tribute to the Assyrians (see especially) (2 Kings 15:20) and by internal wars and conspiracies. Pekah seems to have steadily applied himself to the restoration of power. For this purpose he contracted a foreign alliance, and fixed his mind on the plunder of the sister kingdom of Judah. He must have made the treaty by which he proposed to share its spoil with Rezin king of Damascus, when Jotham was still on the throne of Jerusalem (2 Kings 10:37) but its execution was long delayed, probably in consequence of that prince's righteous and vigorous administration. (2 Chronicles 27:1) ... When however his weak son Ahaz succeeded to the crown of David, the allies no longer hesitated, but entered upon the siege of Jerusalem, B.C. 742. The history of the war is found in 2Kin 13 and 2Chr 28. It is famous as the occasion of the great prophecies in Isai 7-9. Its chief result was the Jewish port of Elath on the Red Sea; but the unnatural alliance of Damascus and Samaria was punished through the complete overthrow of the ferocious confederates by Tiglath-pileser. The kingdom of Damascus. was finally suppressed and Rezin put to death while Pekah was deprived of at least half his kingdom, including all the northern portion and the whole district to the east of Jordan. Pekah himself, now fallen into the position of an Assyrian vassal was of course compelled to abstain from further attacks on Judah. Whether his continued tyranny exhausted the patience of his subjects, or whether his weakness emboldened them to attack him, is not known; but, from one or the other cause, Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against him and put him to death.

 

 

Pekahiah

(whose eyes Jehovah opened), son and successor of Menahem was the 17th king of the separate kingdom of Israel, B.C. 759-757. After a brief reign of scarcely two years a conspiracy was organized against him by Pekah, who murdered him and seized the throne.

 

 

Pekod

(visitation), an appellative applied to the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 50:21; Ezekiel 23:23) Authorities are undecided as to the meaning of the term.

 

 

Pelaiah

(distinguished by Jehovah).

• A son of Elioenai, of the royal line of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:24) (B.C. after 400.)


• One of the Levites who assisted Ezra in expounding the law, (Nehemiah 8:7) He afterward sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:10) (B.C.445.)

 

 

Pelaliah

(judged by Jehovah), the son of Amzi and ancestor of Adaiah. (Nehemiah 11:12)

 

 

Pelatiah

(delivered by Jehovah).

• Son of Hananiah the son of Zerubbabel. (1 Chronicles 3:21) (B.C. after 536.)


• One of the captains of the marauding band of Simeonites who in the reign of Hezekiah made an expedition to Mount Seir and smote the Amalekites. (1 Chronicles 4:42) (B.C. about 700.)


• One of the heads of the people, and probably the name of a family who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:22) (B.C. about 440.)


• The son of Benaiah. and one of the princes of the people against whom Ezekiel was directed to utter the words of doom recorded in (Ezekiel 11:5-12) (B.C. about 592.)

 

 

Peleg

(division, part), son of Eber and brother of Joktan. (Genesis 10:25; 11:16) The only incident connected with his history is the statement that "in his days was the earth divided." an event embodied in the meaning of his name - "division." The reference is to a division of the family of Eber himself, the younger branch of which (the Joktanids) migrated into southern Arabia, while the elder remained in Mesopotamia.

 

 

Pelet

(liberation),

• A son of Jahdai in an obscure genealogy. (1 Chronicles 2:47)


• The son of Azmaveth, that is, either a native of the place of that name or the son of one of David's heroes. (1 Chronicles 12:3) (B.C. about 1015.)

 

 

Peleth

(swiftness).

• The father of On the Reubenite who joined Dathan and Abiram in their rebellion. (Numbers 16:1) (B.C. 1490.)


• Son of Jonathan and a descendant of Jerahmeel. (1 Chronicles 2:33)

 

 

Pelethites

(couriers). [Cherethites]

 

 

Pelican

(Heb. kaath, sometimes translated "cormorant," as (Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14) though in the margin correctly rendered "pelican"), a voracious waterbird, found most abundantly in tropical regions. It is equal to the swan in size. (It has a flat bill fifteen inches long, and the female has under the bill a pouch capable of great distension. It is capacious enough to hold fish sufficient for the dinner of half a dozen men. The young are fed from this pouch, which is emptied of the food by pressing the pouch against the breast. The pelican's bill has a crimson tip, and the contrast of this red tip against the white breast probably gave rise to the tradition that the bird tore her own breast to feed her young with her blood. The flesh of the pelican was forbidden to the Jews. (Leviticus 11:18) - ED.) The psalmist in comparing his pitiable condition to the pelican, (Psalms 102:6) probably has reference to its general aspect as it sits in apparent melancholy mood, with its bill resting on its breast.

 

 

Pelonite, The

Two of David's men, Helez and Ahijah, are called Pelonites. (1 Chronicles 11:27,36) (B.C. about 1015.) From (1 Chronicles 27:10) it appears that the former was of the tribe of Ephraim, and "Pelonite" would therefore be an appellation derived from his place of birth or residence. "Ahijah the Pelonite" appears in (2 Samuel 23:34) as "Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite," of which the former is a corruption.

 

 

Pen

[Writing]

 

 

Peniel

(face of God) the name which Jacob gave to the place in which he had wrestled with God: "He called the name of the place 'face of El,' for I have seen Elohim face to face." (Genesis 32:30) In (Genesis 32:31) and the other passages in which the name occurs, its form is changed to Penuel. From the narrative it is evident that Peniel lay somewhere on the north bank of the Jabbok, and between that torrent and the fords of the Jordan at Succoth, a few miles north of the glen where the Jabbok falls into the Jordan.

 

 

Peninnah

(coral or pearl), one of the two wives of Elkanah. (1 Samuel 1:2) (B.C. 1125.)

 

 

Penny, Pennyworth

In the New Testament "penny," either alone or in the compound "pennyworth," occurs as the rendering of the Roman denarius . (Matthew 20:2; 22:10; Mark 6:37; 12:15; Luke 20:24; John 6:7; Revelation 6:6) The denarius was the chief Roman silver coin, and was worth about 15 to 17 cents.

 

 

Pentateuch, The

is the Greek name given to the five books commonly called the "five books of Moses." This title is derived from "pente",five, and "teucos") which, meaning originally "vessel" "instrument," etc., came In Alexandrine Greek to mean "book" hence the fivefold book. In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah it was called "the law of Moses," (Ezra 7:6) or "the book of the law of Moses," (Nehemiah 8:1) or simply "the book of Moses." (2 Chronicles 25:4; 35:12; Ezra 6:13; Nehemiah 13:1) This was beyond all reasonable doubt our existing Pentateuch. The book which was discovered the temple in the reign of Josiah, and which is entitled, (2 Chronicles 34:14) "a book of the law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses," was substantially, it would seem the same volume, though it may afterward have undergone some revision by Ezra. The present Jews usually called the whole by the name of Torah, i.e. "the Law," or Torath Mosheh "the Law of Moses." The division of the whole work into five parts was probably made by the Greek translators; for the titles of the several books are not of Hebrew but of Greek origin. The Hebrew names are merely taken from the first words of each book, and in the first instance only designated particular sections and not whole books. The MSS. of the Pentateuch form a single roll or volume, and are divided not into books but into the larger and smaller sections called Parshiyoth and Sedarim . The five books of the Pentateuch form a consecutive whole. The work, beginning with the record of creation end the history of the primitive world, passes on to deal more especially with the early history of the Jewish family, and finally concludes with Moses' last discourses and his death. Till the middle of the last century it was the general opinion of both Jews and Christians that the whole of the Pentateuch was written by Moses, with the exception of a few manifestly later additions, - such as the, 34th chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives the account of Moses death. The attempt to call in question the popular belief was made by Astruc, doctor and professor of medicine in the Royal College at Paris, and court physician to Louis XIV. He had observed that throughout the book of Genesis, and as far as the 6th chapter of Exodus, traces were to be found of two original documents, each characterized by a distinct use of the names of God; the one by the name Elohim, and the other by the name Jehovah. [God] Besides these two principal documents, he supposed Moses to have made use of ten others in the composition of the earlier part of his work. The path traced by Astruc has been followed by numerous German writers; but the various hypotheses which have been formed upon the subject cannot be presented in this work. It is sufficient here to state that there is evidence satisfactory that the main bulk of the Pentateuch, at any rate, was written by Moses, though the probably availed himself of existing documents in the composition of the earlier part of the work. Some detached portions would appear to be of later origin; and when we remember how entirely, during some periods of Jewish history, the law seems to have been forgotten, and again how necessary it would be after the seventy years of exile to explain some of its archaisms, and to add here and there short notes to make it more intelligible to the people, nothing can be more natural than to suppose that such later additions were made by Ezra and Nehemiah. To briefly sum up the results of our inquiry -

• The book of Genesis rests chiefly on documents much earlier than the time of Moses though it was probably brought to very nearly its, present shape either by Moses himself or by one of the elders who acted under him.


• The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers are to a great extent Mosaic. Besides those portions which are expressly declared to have been written by him other portions, and especially the legal sections, were, if not actually written, in all probability dictated by him.


• Deuteronomy, excepting the concluding part, is entirely the work of Moses as it professes to be.


• It is not probable that this was written before the three preceding books, because the legislation in Exodus and Leviticus, as being the more formal, is manifestly the earlier whilst Deuteronomy is the spiritual interpretation and application of the law. But the letter is always before the spirit; the thing before its interpretation.


• The first composition of the Pentateuch as a whole could not have taken place till after the Israelites entered Cannan. It is probable that Joshua and the elders who were associated with him would provide for its formal arrangement, custody and transmission.


• The whole work did not finally assume its present shape till its revision was undertaken by Ezra after the return from the Babylonish captivity. For an account of the separate books see Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

 

 

Pentecost

that is, the fiftieth day (from a Greek word meaning fiftieth), or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks, may be regarded as a supplement to the Passover. It lasted for but one day. From the sixteenth of Nisan seven weeks were reckoned inclusively, and the next or fiftieth day was the day of Pentecost, which fell on the sixth of Sivan (about the end of May). (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Leviticus 23:15,22; Numbers 28) See Jewish calendar at the end of this volume. The Pentecost was the Jewish harvest-home, and the people were especially exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families their servants, the Levite within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow in the place chosen by God for his name, as they brought a free-will offering of their hand to Jehovah their God. (16:10,11) The great feature of the celebration was the presentation of the two loaves made from the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. With the loaves two lambs were offered as a peace offering and all were waved before Jehovah and given to the priests; the leaves being leavened, could not be offered on the altar. The other sacrifices were, a burnt offering of a young bullock, two, rams and seven lambs with a meat and drink offering, and a kid for a sin offering. (Leviticus 23:18,19) Till the pentecostal leaves were offered, the produce of the harvest might not be eaten, nor could any other firstfruits be offered. The whole ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to God as its giver, and to whom both the land and the people were holy, which was begun by the offering of the wave-sheaf at the Passover. The interval is still regarded as a religious season. The Pentecost is the only one of the three great feasts which is not mentioned as the memorial of events in the history of the Jews; but such a significance has been found in the fact that the law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day after the deliverance from Egypt. Comp. Exod 12 and 19. In the exodus the people were offered to God as living first fruits; at Sinai their consecration to him as a nation was completed. The typical significance of the Pentecost is made clear from the events of the day recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 2. Just as the appearance of God on Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish nation, so was the Pentecost the birthday of the Christian Church.

 

 

Penuel

[Peniel]

 

 

Peor

(cleft), a mountain peak in Moab belonging to the Abarim range, and near Pisgah, to which, after having ascended Pisgah, the prophet Balaam was conducted by Balak that he might look upon the whole host of Israel and curse them. (Numbers 23:14,28) In four passages - (Numbers 25:18) twice; Numb 31:16; Josh 22:17 - Peor occurs as a contraction for Baal-peor. [Baal.)

 

 

Perazim

(a breach), Mount, a name which occurs in (Isaiah 28:21) only - unless the place which it designates is identical with the Baal-perazim mentioned as the scene of one of David's victories over the Philistines, which was in the valley of Rephaim, south of Jerusalem, on the road to Bethlehem.

 

 

Peresh

(dung), the son of Machir by his wife Maachah. (1 Chronicles 7:16)

 

 

Perez

(breach). The "children of Perez," or Pharez, the son of Judah, appear to have been a family of importance for many centuries. (1 Chronicles 27:3; Nehemiah 11:4,6)

 

 

Perezuzza

(breaking of Uzzah), (1 Chronicles 13:11) and PEREZ-UZZAH (2 Samuel 6:8) the title which David conferred on the threshing-floor of Nachon or Cidon, in commemoration of the sudden death of Uzzah. (B.C. 1042.)

 

 

Perfumes

The free use of perfumes was peculiarly grateful to the Orientals, (Proverbs 27:9) whose olfactory nerves are more than usually sensitive to the offensive smells engendered by the heat of their climate. The Hebrews manufactured their perfumes chiefly from spices imported from Arabia though to a certain extent also from aromatic plants growing in their own country. Perfumes entered largely into the temple service, in the two forms of incense and ointment. (Exodus 30:22-38) Nor were they less used in private life; not only were they applied to the person, but to garment, (Psalms 45:8; Song of Solomon 4:11) and to articles of furniture, such as beds. (Proverbs 7:17)

 

 

Perga

(earthy), a city of Pamphylia, (Acts 13:13) situated on the river Cestius, at a distance of 60 stadia (7 1/2 miles) from its mouth, and celebrated in antiquity for the worship of Artemis (Diana).

 

 

Pergamos

(in Revised Version Pergamum) (height, elevation), a city of Mysia, about 3 miles to the north of the river Caicus, and 20 miles from its present mouth. It was the residence of a dynasty of Greek princes founded after the time of Alexander the Great, and usually called the Attalic dynasty, from its founder, Attalus. The sumptuousness of the Attalic princes hall raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city in Asia as regards splendor. The city was noted for its vast, library, containing 200,000 volumes. Here were splendid temples of Zeus or Jupiter, Athene, Apollo and AEsculapius. One of "the seven churches of Asia" was in Pergamos. (Revelation 1:11; 2:12-17) It is called "Satan's seat" by John, which some suppose to refer to the worship of AEsculapius, from the serpent being his characteristic emblem. Others refer it to the persecutions of Christians, which was work of Satan. The modern name of the city is Bergama .

 

 

Pergamum

In the Revised Version for Pergamos. (Revelation 1:11) Pergamum is the form usual in the classic writers.

 

 

Perida

(grain, kernel), The children of Perida returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:57) (B.C. before 536.)

 

 

Perizzite, The

and Per'izzites (belonging to a village), one of the nations inhabiting the land of promise before and at the time of its conquest by Israel. (B.C. 1450.) They are continually mentioned in the formula so frequently occurring to express the promised land. (Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8,17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11) The notice in the book of Judges locates them in the southern part of the holy land. The signification of the name is not by any means clear. It possibly meant rustics, dwellers in open, unwalled villages, which are denoted by a similar word.

 

 

Persepolis

mentioned only in 2 Macc. 9:2, was the capital of Persia proper, and the occasional residence of the Persian court from the time of Darius Hystaspes, who seems to have been its founder, to the invasion of Alexander. Its wanton destruction by that conqueror is well known. Its site is now called the Chehl-Minar, or Forty Pillars. Here, on a platform hewn out of the solid rock the sides of which face the four cardinal points, are the remains of two great palaces, built respectively by Darius Hytaspes and his son Xerxes, besides a number of other edifices, chiefly temples. They are of great extent and magnificence, covering an area of many acres.

 

 

Persia

(pure, splended), Per'sians. Persia proper was a tract of no very large dimensions on the Persian Gulf, which is still known as Fars or Farsistan, a corruption of the ancient appellation. This tract was bounded on the west by Susiana or Elam, on the north by Media on the south by the Persian Gulf and on the east by Carmania. But the name is more commonly applied, both in Scripture and by profane authors to the entire tract which came by degrees to be included within the limits of the Persian empire. This empire extended at one time from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace on the west, and included. besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south. The only passage in Scripture where Persia designates the tract which has been called above "Persia proper" is (Ezekiel 38:5) Elsewhere the empire is intended. The Persians were of the same race as the Medes, both being branches of the great Aryan stock.

• Character of the nation . - The Persians were a people of lively and impressible minds, brave and impetuous in war, witty, passionate, for Orientals truthful, not without some spirit of generosity: and of more intellectual capacity than the generality of Asiatics. In the times anterior to Cyrus they were noted for the simplicity of their habits, which offered a strong contrast to the luxuriousness of the Medes; but from the late of the Median overthrow this simplicity began to decline. Polygamy was commonly practiced among them. They were fond of the pleasures of the table. In war they fought bravely, but without discipline.


• Religion . - The religion which the Persians brought with there into Persia proper seems to have been of a very simple character, differing from natural religion in little except that it was deeply tainted with Dualism. Like the other Aryans, the Persians worshipped one supreme God. They had few temples, and no altars or images.


• Language . - The Persian language was closely akin to the Sanskrit, or ancient language of India. Modern Persian is its degenerate representative, being largely impregnated with Arabic.


• History . - The history of Persia begins with the revolt from the Medes and the accession of Cyrus the Great, B.C. 558. Cyrus defeated Croesus, and added the Lydian empire to his dominions. This conquest was followed closely by the submission of the Greek settlements on the Asiatic coast, and by the reduction of Caria and Lycia The empire was soon afterward extended greatly toward the northeast and east. In B.C. 539 or 538, Babylon was attacked, and after a stout defence fell into the hands of Cyrus. This victory first brought the Persians into contact with the Jews. The conquerors found in Babylon an oppressed race - like themselves, abhorrers of idols, and professors of a religion in which to a great extent they could sympathize. This race Cyrus determined to restore to their own country: which he did by the remarkable edict recorded in the first chapter of Ezra. (Ezra 1:2-4) He was slain in an expedition against the Massagetae or the Derbices, after a reign of twenty-nine years. Under his son and successor, Cambyses, the conquest of Egypt took place, B.C. 525. This prince appears to be the Ahasuerus of (Ezra 4:6) Gomates, Cambyses' successor, reversed the policy of Cyrus with respect to the Jews, and forbade by an edict the further building of the temple. (Ezra 4:17-22) He reigned but seven months, and was succeeded by Darius. Appealed to, in his second year, by the Jews, who wished to resume the construction of their temple, Darius not only granted them this privilege, but assisted the work by grants from his own revenues, whereby the Jews were able to complete the temple as early as his sixth year. (Ezra 6:1-15) Darius was succeeded by Xerxes, probably the Ahasuerus of Esther. Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, reigned for forty years after his death and is beyond doubt the king of that name who stood in such a friendly relation toward Ezra, (Ezra 7:11-28) and Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 2:1-9) etc. He is the last of the Persian kings who had any special connection with the Jews, and the last but one mentioned in Scripture. His successors were Xerxes II., Sogdianus Darius Nothus, Artaxerxes Mnemon, Artaxerxes Ochus, and Darius Codomannus, who is probably the "Darius the Persian" of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 12:22) These monarchs reigned from B.C. 424 to B.C. 330. The collapse of the empire under the attack of Alexander the Great took place B.C. 330.

 

 

Persis

(a Persian woman), a Christian woman at Rome, (Romans 16:12) whom St. Paul salutes. (A.D. 55.)

 

 

Peruda

The same as Perida. (Ezra 2:55)

 

 

Pestilence

[Plague, The, THE]

 

 

Peter

(a rock or stone). The original name of this disciple was Simon, i.e. "hearer." He was the son of a man named Jonas, (Matthew 16:17; John 1:42; 21:16) and was brought up in his father's occupation, that of a fisherman. He and his brother Andrew were partners of John end James, the sons of Zebedee, who had hired servants. Peter did not live, as a mere laboring man, in a hut by the seaside, but first at Bethsaida, and afterward in a house at Capernaum belonging to himself or his mother-in-law, which must have been rather a large one, since he received in it not only our Lord and his fellow disciples, but multitudes who were attracted by the miracles and preaching of Jesus. Peter was probably between thirty and forty pears of age at the date of his call. That call was preceded by a special preparation. Peter and his brother Andrew, together with their partners James and John, the sons,of Zebedee, were disciples of John the Baptist when he was first called by our Lord. The particulars of this are related with graphic minuteness by St. John. It was upon this occasion that Jesus gave Peter the name Cephas, a Syriac word answering to the Greek Peter, and signifying a stone or rock. (John 1:35-42) This first call led to no immediate change in Peter's external position. He and his fellow disciples looked henceforth upon our Lord as their teacher, but were not commanded to follow him as regular disciples. They returned to Capernaum, where they pursued their usual business, waiting for a further intimation of his will. The second call is recorded by the other three evangelists; the narrative of Luke being apparently supplementary to the brief and, so to speak official accounts given by Matthew and Mark. It took place on the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, where the four disciples Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishing. Some time was passed afterward in attendance upon our Lord's public ministrations in Galilee, Decapolis, Peraea and Judea. The special designation of Peter and his eleven fellow disciples took place some time afterward, when they were set apart as our Lord's immediate attendants. See (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-19) (the most detailed account); Luke 6:13 They appear to have then first received formally the name of apostles, and from that time Simon bore publicly, and as it would seem all but exclusively, the name Peter, which had hitherto been used rather as a characteristic appellation than as a proper name. From this time there can be no doubt that Peter held the first place among the apostles, to whatever cause his precedence is to be attributed. He is named first in every list of the apostles; he is generally addressed by our Lord as their representative; and on the most solemn occasions he speaks in their name. The distinction which he received, and it may be his consciousness of ability, energy, zeal and absolute devotion to Christ's person, seem to have developed a natural tendency to rashness and forwardness bordering upon resumption. In his affection and self-confidence Peter ventured to reject as impossible the announcement of the sufferings and humiliation which Jesus predicted, and heard the sharp words, "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God but those that be of men." It is remarkable that on other occasions when St. Peter signalized his faith and devotion, he displayed at the time, or immediately afterward, a more than usual deficiency in spiritual discernment and consistency. Toward the close of our Lord's ministry Peter's characteristics become especially prominent. At the last supper Peter seems to have been particularly earnest in the request that the traitor might be pointed out. After the supper his words drew out the meaning of the significant act of our Lord in washing his disciples' feet. Then too it was that he made those repeated protestations of unalterable fidelity, so soon to be falsified by his miserable fall. On the morning of the resurrection we have proof that Peter, though humbled, was not crushed by his fall. He and John were the first to visit the sepulchre; he was the first who entered it. We are told by Luke and by Paul that Christ appeared to him first among the apostles. It is observable; however, that on that occasion he is called by his original name, Simon not Peter; the higher designation was not restored until he had been publicly reinstituted, so to speak, by his Master. That reinstitution - an event of the very highest import-took place at the Sea of Galilee. John 21. The first part of the Acts of the Apostles is occupied by the record of transactions in nearly all forth as the recognized leader of the apostles. He is the most prominent person in the greatest event after the resurrection, when on the day of Pentecost the Church was first invested with the plenitude of gifts and power. When the gospel was first preached beyond the precincts of Judea, he and John were at once sent by the apostles to confirm the converts at Samaria. Henceforth he remains prominent, but not exclusively prominent, among the propagators of the gospel. We have two accounts of the first meeting of Peter and Paul - (Acts 9:26; Galatians 1:17,18) This interview was followed by another event marking Peter's position - a general apostolical tour of visitation to the churches hitherto established. (Acts 9:32) The most signal transaction after the day of Pentecost was the baptism of Cornelius. That was the crown and consummation of Peter's ministry. The establishment of a church in great part of Gentile origin at Antioch and the mission of Barnabas between whose family and Peter there were the bonds of near intimacy, set the seal upon the work thus inaugurated by Peter. This transaction was soon followed by the imprisonment of our apostle. His miraculous deliverance marks the close of this second great period of his ministry. The special work assigned to him was completed. From that time we have no continuous history of him. Peter was probably employed for the most part in building up and completing the organization of Christian communities in Palestine and the adjoining districts. There is, however strong reason to believe that he visited Corinth at an early period. The name of Peter as founder or joint founder is not associated with any local church save the churches of Corinth, Antioch or Rome, by early ecclesiastical tradition. It may be considered as a settled point that he did not visit Rome before the last year of his life; but there is satisfactory evidence that he and Paul were the founders of the church at Rome, and suffered death in that city. The time and manner of the apostle's martyrdom are less certain. According to the early writers, he suffered at or about the same time with Paul, and in the Neronian persecution, A.D. 67,68. All agree that he was crucified. Origen says that Peter felt himself to be unworthy to be put to death in the same manner as his Master, and was therefore, at his own request, crucified with his head downward. The apostle is said to have employed interpreters. Of far more importance is the statement that Mark wrote his Gospel under the teaching of Peter, or that he embodied in that Gospel the substance of our apostle's oral instructions. [Mark, Gospel Of] The only written documents which Peter has left are the First Epistle - about which no doubt has ever been entertained in the Church - and the Second, which has been a subject of earnest controversy.

 

 

Peter, First Epistle Of

The external evidence of authenticity of this epistle is of the strongest kind and the internal is equally strong. It was addressed to the churches of Asia Minor which had for the most part been founded by Paul and his companions, Supposing it to have been written at Babylon, (1 Peter 5:13) it ia a probable conjecture that Silvanus, By whom it was transmitted to those churches, had joined Peter after a tour of visitation, and that his account of the condition of the Christians in those districts determined the apostle to write the epistle. (On the question of this epistle having been written at Babylon commentators differ. "Some refer it to the famous Babylon in Asia, which after its destruction was still inhabited by a Jewish colony; others refer it to Babylon in Egypt, now called Old Cairo; still others understand it mystically of heathen Rome, in which sense 'Babylon' is certainly used in the Apocalypse of John." - Schaff.) The objects of the epistle were -

• To comfort and strengthen the Christians in a season of severe trial.


• To enforce the practical and spiritual duties involved in their calling


• To warn them against special temptations attached to their position.


• To remove all doubt as to the soundness and completeness of the religious system which they had already received. Such an attestation was especially needed by the Hebrew Christians, who were to appeal from Paul's authority to that of the elder apostles, and above all to that of Peter. The last, which is perhaps the very principal object, is kept in view throughout the epistle, and is distinctly stated (1 Peter 5:12) The harmony of such teaching with that of Paul is sufficiently obvious. Peter belongs to the school, or to speak more correctly, is the leader of the school, which at once vindicates the unity of the law and the gospel, and puts the superiority of the latter on its true basis-that of spiritual development. The date of this epistle is uncertain, but Alford believes it to have been written between A.D. 63 and 67.

 

 

Peter, Second Epistle Of

The following is a brief outline of the contents of this epistle: The customary opening salutation is followed by an enumeration of Christian blessings and exhortation to Christian duties. (2 Peter 1:1-13) Referring then to his approaching death, the apostle assigns as grounds of assurance for believers his own personal testimony as eye-witness of the transfiguration and the sure word of prophecy - that is the testimony of the Holy Ghost. vs. (2 Peter 1:14-21) The danger of being misled by false prophets is dwelt upon with great earnestness throughout the second chapter, which is almost identical in language and subject with the Epistle of Jude. The overthrow of all opponents of Christian truth is predicted in connection with prophecies touching the second advent of Christ, the destruction of the world by fire, and the promise of new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. ch. 3. This epistle of Peter presents questions of difficulty. Doubts as to its genuineness were entertained by the early Church; in the time of Eusebius it was reckoned among the disputed books, and was not formally admitted into the canon until the year 393, at the Council of Hippo. These difficulties, however, are insufficient to justify more than hesitation in admitting its,genuineness. A majority of names may be quoted in support of the genuineness and authenticity of this epistle. (It is very uncertain as to the time when it was written. It was written near the close of Peter's life - perhaps about A.D. 68 - from Rome or somewhere on the journey thither from the East - Alford .)

 

 

Pethahiah

(freed by Jehovah).

• A priest, over the nineteenth course in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 24:16) (B.C. 1020.)


• A Levite in the time of Ezra, who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:23) He is probably the same who is mentioned in (Nehemiah 9:5) (B.C. 458.)


• The son of Meshezabeel, and descendant of Zerah. (Nehemiah 11:24) (B.C. 446.)

 

 

Pethor

(soothsayer), a town of Mesopotamia, where Balaam resided, and situated "upon the river," possibly the Euphrates. (Numbers 22:5; 23:4) Its position is wholly unknown.

 

 

Pethuel

(vision of God), the father of the prophet Joel. (Joel 1:1) (B.C. before 800.)

 

 

Peulthai

(my wages) properly Peullethai, the eighth son of Obed-edom. (1 Chronicles 26:5) (B.C. 1020.)

 

 

Phalec

(division). Peleg the son of Eber. (Luke 3:35)

 

 

Phallu

(distinguished), Pallu the son of Reuben is so called in the Authorized Version of (Genesis 46:9) (B.C. about 1706.)

 

 

Phalti

(my deliverance), the son of Laish of Gallim, to whom Saul gave Michal in marriage after his mad jealousy had driven David forth as an outlaw. (1 Samuel 25:4-1) In (2 Samuel 3:15) he is called Phaltiel. With the exception of this brief mention of his name, and the touching little episode in (2 Samuel 3:16) nothing more is heard of Phalti. (B.C. 1061.)

 

 

Phaltiel

The same as Phalti. (2 Samuel 5:15)

 

 

Phanuel

(face of God), the father of Anna, the prophetess of the tribe of Aser. (Luke 2:36) (B.C. about 80.)

 

 

Pharaoh

the common title of the native kings of Egypt in the Bible, corresponding to P-ra or Ph-ra "the sun," of the hieroglyphics. Brugsch, Ebers and other modern Egyptologists define it to mean 'the great house," which would correspond to our "the Sublime Porte." As several kings are mentioned only by the title "Pharaoh" in the Bible, it is important to endeavor to discriminate them:

• The Pharaoh of Abraham . (Genesis 12:15) - At the time at which the patriarch went into Egypt, it is generally held that the country, or at least lower Egypt, was ruled by the Shepherd kings, of whom the first and moat powerful line was the fifteenth dynasty, the undoubted territories of which would be first entered by one coming from the east. The date at which Abraham visited Egypt was about B.C. 2081, which would accord with the time of Salatis the head of the fifteenth dynasty, according to our reckoning.


• The Pharoah of Joseph . (Genesis 41:1) ... - One of the Shepherd kings perhaps Apophis, who belonged to the fifteenth dynasty. He appears to have reigned from Joseph's appointment (or perhaps somewhat earlier) until Jacob's death, a period of at least twenty-six years, from about B.C. 1876 to 1850 and to have been the fifth or sixth king of the fifteenth dynasty.


• The Pharoah of the oppression . (Exodus 1:8) - The first Persecutor of the Israelites may be distinguished as the Pharaoh of the oppression, from the second, the Pharoah of the exodus especially as he commenced and probably long carried on the persecution. The general view is that he was an Egyptian. One class of Egyptologists think that Amosis (Ahmes), the first sovereign of the eighteenth dynasty, is the Pharaoh of the oppression; but Brugsch and others identify him with Rameses II. (the Sesostris of the Greeks), of the nineteenth dynasty. (B.C. 1340.)


• The Pharoah of the exodus . (Exodus 5:1) - Either Thothmes III., as Wilkinson, or Menephthah son of Rameses II., whom Brugsch thinks was probably the Pharaoh of the exodus, who with his army pursued the Israelites and were overwhelmed in the Red Sea. "The events which form the lamentable close of his rule over Egypt are Passed over by the monuments (very naturally) with perfect silence. The dumb tumults covers the misfortune: which was suffered, for the record of these events was inseparably connected with the humiliating confession of a divine visitation, to which a patriotic writer at the court of Pharaoh would hardly have brought his mind." The table on page 186 gives some of the latest opinions.


• Pharaoh, father-in-law of Mered . - In the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, mention is made of the daughter of a Pharaoh married to an Israelite - " Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh. which Mered took." (1 Chronicles 4:18)


• Pharaoh, brother-in-law of Hadad the Edomite . - This king gave Haadad. as his wife, the sister of his own wife, Tahpenes. (1 Kings 11:18-20)


• Pharaoh, father-in-law of Solomon . - The mention that the queen was brought into the city of David while Solomon's house and the temple and the city wall were building shows that the marriage took place not later than the eleventh year of the king, when the temple was finished, having been commenced in the Pharaoh led an expedition into Palestine. (1 Kings 9:16)


• Pharaoh, the opponent of Sennacherib . - This Pharaoh, (Isaiah 36:6) can only be the Sethos whom Herodotus mentions as the opponent of Sennacherib and who may reasonably be supposed to be the Zet of Manetho.


• Pharoah-necho . - The first mention in the Bible of a proper name with the title Pharaoh is the case of Pharaoh-necho, who is also called Necho simply. This king was of the Saite twenty-sixth dynasty, of which Manetho makes him either the fifth or the sixth ruler. Herodotus calls him Nekos, and assigns to him a reign of sixteen years, which is confirmed by the monuments. He seems to have been an enterprising king, as he is related to have attempted to complete the canal connecting the Red Sea with the Nile, and to have sent an expedition of Phoenicians to circumnavigate Africa, which was successfully accomplished. At the commencement of his reign B.C. 610, he made war against the king of Assyria, and, being encountered on his way by Josiah, defeated and slew the king of Judah at Megiddo. (2 Kings 23:29,30; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24) Necho seems to have soon returned to Egypt. Perhaps he was on his way thither when he deposed Jehoahaz. The army was probably posted at Carchemish, and was there defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Necho, B.C. 607, that king not being, as it seems, then at its head. (Jeremiah 46:1,2,6,10) This battle led to the loss of all the Asiatic dominions of Egypt. (2 Kings 24:7)


• Pharaoh-hophra . - The next king of Egypt mentioned in the Bible is Pharaoh-hophra, the second successor of Necho, from whom he was separated by the six-years reign of Psammetichus II. He came to the throne about B.C. 589, and ruled nineteen years. Herodotus who calls him Apries, makes him son of Psammetichus II., whom he calls Psammis, and great-grandson of Psammetichus I. In the Bible it is related that Zedekiah, the last king of Judah was aided by a Pharaoh against Nebuchadnezzar, in fulfillment of it treaty, and that an army came out of Egypt, so that the Chaldeans were obliged to raise the siege of Jerusalem. The city was first besieged in the ninth year of Zedekiah B.C. 590, and was captured in his eleventh year, B.C. 588. It was evidently continuously invested for a length of time before was taken, so that it is most probable that Pharaoh's expedition took place during 590 or 589. The Egyptian army returned without effecting its purpose. (Jeremiah 27:5-8; Ezekiel 17:11-18) comp. 2Kin 25:1-4 No subsequent Pharaoh is mentioned in Scripture, but there are predictions doubtless referring to the misfortunes of later princes until the second Persian conquest, when the prophecy, "There shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt," (Ezekiel 30:13) was fulfilled. (In the summer of 1881 a large number of the mummies of the Pharaohs were found in a tomb near Thebes - among them Raskenen, of the seventeenth dynasty, Ahmes I., founder of the eighteenth dynasty, Thothmes I,II, and III., and Rameses I. It was first thought that Rameses II, of the nineteenth dynasty, was there, But this was found to be a mistake. A group of coffins belonging to the twenty-first dynasty has been found, and it is probable that we will learn not a little about the early Pharaohs, especially from the inscriptions on their shrouds. - ED.)

 

 

Pharaoh, The Wife Of

The wife of one Pharaoh, the king who received Hadad the Edomite, is mentioned in Scripture. She is called "queen," and her name, Tahpenes, is given. [Tahpenes; Pharaoh, 6]

 

 

Pharaohs Daughter

Three Egyptian princesses, daughters of Pharaohs, are mentioned in the Bible: -

• The preserver of Moses, daughter of the Pharaoh who first oppressed the Israelites. (Exodus 2:6-10) Osborn thinks her name was Thouoris, daughter of Rameses II, others that her name was Merrhis. (B.C. 1531.)


• Bithiah wife of Mered, an Israelite. daughter of a Pharaoh of an uncertain age, probably of about the time of the exodus. (1 Chronicles 4:18) [Pharaoh, No. 5]


• A wife of Solomon. (1 Kings 3:1; 7:8; 8:24) [Pharaoh, 7] (B.C.1000.)

 

 

Phares, Pharez Or Perez

The son of Judah. (Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33)

 

 

Pharez

(Perez, (1 Chronicles 27:3) Phares, (Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33) 1 Esd. 5:6), twin son, with Zarah or Zerah, of Judah and Tamer his daughter-in-law. (B.C. 1730.) The circumstances of his birth are detailed in Gen. 38. Pharez occupied the rank of Judah's second son, and from two of his sons sprang two new chief houses, those of the Hezronites and Hamulites. From Hezron's second son Ram, or Aram, sprang David and the kings of Judah, and eventually Jesus Christ. In the reign of David the house of Pharez seems to have been eminently distinguished.

 

 

Pharisees

a religious party or school among the Jews at the time of Christ, so called from perishin, the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word perushim, "separated." The chief sects among the Jews were the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes, who may be described respectively as the Formalists, the Freethinkers and the Puritans. A knowledge of the opinions and practices of the Pharisees at the time of Christ is of great importance for entering deeply into the genius of the Christian religion. A cursory perusal of the Gospels is sufficient to show that Christ's teaching was in some respects thoroughly antagonistic to theirs. He denounced them in the bitterest language; see (Matthew 15:7,8; 23:5,13,14,15,23; Mark 7:6; Luke 11:42-44) and compare (Mark 7:1-5; 11:29; 12:19,20; Luke 6:28,37-42) To understand the Pharisees is by contrast an aid toward understanding the spirit of uncorrupted Christianity.

• The fundamental principle all of the of the Pharisees, common to them with all orthodox modern Jews, is that by the side of the written law regarded as a summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people there was on oral law to complete and to explain the written law, given to Moses on Mount Sinai and transmitted by him by word of mouth. The first portion of the Talmud, called the Mishna or "second law," contains this oral law. It is a digest of the Jewish traditions and a compendium of the whole ritual law, and it came at length to be esteemed far above the sacred text.


• While it was the aim of Jesus to call men to the law of God itself as the supreme guide of life, the Pharisees, upon the Pretence of maintaining it intact, multiplied minute precepts and distinctions to such an extent that the whole life of the Israelite was hemmed in and burdened on every side by instructions so numerous and trifling that the law was almost if not wholly lost sight of. These "traditions" as they were called, had long been gradually accumulating. Of the trifling character of these regulations innumerable instances are to be found in the Mishna. Such were their washings before they could eat bread, and the special minuteness with which the forms of this washing were prescribed; their bathing when they returned from the market; their washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels, etc.; their fastings twice in the week, (Luke 18:12) were their tithing; (Matthew 23:23) and such, finally, were those minute and vexatious extensions of the law of the Sabbath, which must have converted God's gracious ordinance of the Sabbath's rest into a burden and a pain. (Matthew 12:1-13; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 18:10-17)


• It was a leading aim of the Redeemer to teach men that true piety consisted not in forms, but in substance, not in outward observances, but in an inward spirit. The whole system of Pharisaic piety led to exactly opposite conclusions. The lowliness of piety was, according to the teaching of Jesus, an inseparable concomitant of its reality; but the Pharisees sought mainly to attract the attention and to excite the admiration of men. (Matthew 6:2,6,16; 23:5,6; Luke 14:7) Indeed the whole spirit of their religion was summed up not in confession of sin and in humility, but in a proud self righteousness at variance with any true conception of man's relation to either God or his fellow creatures.


• With all their pretences to piety they were in reality avaricious, sensual and dissolute. (Matthew 23:25; John 13:7) They looked with contempt upon every nation but their own. (Luke 10:29) Finally, instead of endeavoring to fulfill the great end of the dispensation whose truths they professed to teach, and thus bringing men to the Hope of Israel, they devoted their energies to making converts to their own narrow views, who with all the zeal of proselytes were more exclusive and more bitterly opposed to the truth than they were themselves. (Matthew 22:15)


• The Pharisees at an early day secured the popular favor and thereby acquired considerable political influence. This influence was greatly increased by the extension of the Pharisees over the whole land and the majority which they obtained in the Sanhedrin. Their number reached more than six thousand under the Herods. Many of them must have suffered death for political agitation. In the time of Christ they were divided doctrinally into several schools, among which those of Hillel and Shammai were most noted. - McClintock and Strong .


• One of the fundamental doctrines of the Pharisees was a belief in a future state . They appear to have believed in a resurrection of the dead, very much in the same sense: as the early Christians. They also believed in "a divine Providence acting side by side with the free will of man." - Schaff.


• It is proper to add that it would be a great mistake to suppose that the Pharisees were wealthy and luxurious much more that they had degenerated into the vices which were imputed to some of the Roman popes and cardinals during the two hundred years preceding the Reformation. Josephus compared the Pharisees to the sect of the Stoics. He says that they lived frugally, in no respect giving in to luxury. We are not to suppose that there were not many individuals among them who were upright and pure, for there were such men as Nicodemus, Gamaliel, Joseph of Arimathea and Paul.

 

 

Pharosh

(Ezra 8:3) [See PAROSH]

 

 

Pharpar

(swift), the second of the "two rivers of Damascus" - Abana and Pharpar - alluded to by Naaman. (2 Kings 5:18) The two principal streams in the district of Damascus are the Barada and the Awaj, the former being the Abana and the latter the Pharpur. The Awaj rises on the southeast slopes of Hermon, and flows into the most southerly of the three lakes or swamps of Damascus.

 

 

Pharzites. The

the descendants of Parez the son of Judah. (Numbers 26:20)

 

 

Phaseah

(Nehemiah 7:51) [Paseah, 2]

 

 

Phaselis

a town on the coast of Asia Minor, on the confines of Lycia and Pamphylia, and consequently ascribed by the ancient writers sometimes to one and sometimes to the other. 1 Macc. 15:23.

 

 

Phebe

[Phoebe]

 

 

Phenice

(Acts 27:12) (more properly Phoenix, as it is translated in the Revised Version), the name of a haven in Crete on the south coast. The name was no doubt derived from the Greek word for the palm tree, which Theophrastus says was indigenous in the island. It is the modern Lutro . [See Phoenice, Phoenicia; PHOENICIA]

 

 

Phichol

(strong), chief captain of the army of Abimelech, king of the Philistines of Gerar in the days of both Abraham, (Genesis 21:22,32) and Isaac. (Genesis 28:26) (B.C. 1900.)

 

 

Philadelphia

strictly Philadelphi'a (brotherly love), a town on the confines of Lydia and Phrygia Catacecaumene, 25 southeast of Sardis, and built by Attalus II., king of Pergamos, who died B.C. 138. It was situated on the lower slopes of Tmolus, and is still represented by a town called Allah-shehr (city of God). Its elevation is 952 feet above the sea. The original population of Philadelphia. Seems to have been Macedonian; but there was, as appears from (Leviticus 3:9) a synagogue of Hellenizing Jews there, as well as a Christian church. (It was the seat of one of "the seven churches of Asia.") The locality was subject to constant earthquakes, which in the time of Strabo rendered even the town walls of Philadelphia unsafe. The expense of reparation was constant, and hence perhaps the poverty of the members of the church. (Revelation 3:8) (The church was highly commended.) (Revelation 3:7-13) Even Gibbon bears the following well-known testimony to the truth of the prophecy, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee in the hour of temptation": "At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the (Greek) emperor encompassed, all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of ruins." "The modern town (Allah-shehr, city of God), although spacious, containing 3000 houses and 10,000 inhabitants, is badly built; the dwellings are mean and the streets filthy. The inhabitants are mostly Turks. A few ruins are found, including remains of a wall and about twenty-five churches. In one place are four strong marble pillars, which once supported the dome of a church. One of the old mosques is believed by the native Christians to have been the church in which assembled the primitive Christians addressed in the Apocalypse." Whitney's Bible Geography.)

 

 

Philemon

the name of the Christian to whom Paul addressed his epistle in behalf of Onesimus. He was a native probably of Colosse, or at all events lived in that city when the apostle wrote to him: first, because Onesimus was a Colossian, (Colossians 4:9) and secondly because Archippus was a Colossian, (Colossians 4:17) whom Paul associates with Philemon at the beginning of his letter. (Philemon 1:1,2) It is related that Philemon became bishop of Colosse, and died as a martyr under Nero. It is evident from the letter to him that Philemon was a man of property and influence, since he is represented as the head of a numerous household, and as exercising an expensive liberality toward his friends and the poor in general. He was indebted to the apostle Paul as the medium of his personal participation in the gospel. It is not certain under what circumstances they became known to each other. It is evident that on becoming a disciple he gave no common proof of the sincerity and power of his faith. His character as shadowed forth in the epistle to him, is one of the noblest which the sacred record makes known to us.

 

 

Philemon, The Epistle Of Paul To

is one of the letters which the apostle wrote during his first captivity at Rome A.D. 63 or early in A.D. 64. Nothing is wanted to confirm the genuineness of the epistle: the external testimony is unimpeachable; nor does the epistle itself offer anything to conflict with this decision. The occasion of the letter was that Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, had run away from him to Rome, either desiring liberty or, as some suppose, having committed theft. (Philemon 1:18) Here he was converted under the instrumentality of Paul. The latter; intimately connected with the master and the servant, was naturally anxious to effect a reconciliation between them. He used his influence with Onesimus, ver. 12, to induce him to return to Colosse and place himself again at the disposal of his master. On his departure, Paul put into his hand this letter as evidence that Onesirnus was a true and approved disciple of Christ, and entitled as such to received, not as a servant but above a servant, as a brother in the faith. The Epistle to Philemon has one peculiar feature - its aesthetical character it may be termed - which distinguishes it from all the other epistles. The writer had peculiar difticulties to overcame; but Paul, it is confessed, has shown a degree of self-denial and a fact in dealing with them which in being equal to the occasion could hardly be greater.

 

 

Philetus

(beloved) was possibly a disciple of Hymenaeus, with whom he is associated in (2 Timothy 2:17) and who is named without him in an earlier epistle. (1 Timothy 1:20) (A.D. 68-64) Thep appear to have been persons who believed the Scripture of the Old Testament, but misinterpreted them, allegorizing away the doctrine of the resurrection and resolving it all into figure and metaphor. The delivering over unto Satan. seems to have been a form of excommunication declaring the person reduced to the state of a heathen; and in the apostolic age it was accompanied with supernatural or miraculous effects upon the bodies of the persons so delivered.

 

 

Philip

(lover of horses) the apostle was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, (John 1:44) and apparently was among the Galilean peasants of that district who flocked to hear the preaching of the Baptist. The manner in which St. John speaks of him indicates a previous friendship with the sons of Jona and Zebedee, and a consequent participation in their messianic hopes. The close union of the two in John 6 and 12 suggests that he may have owed to Andrew the first tidings that the hope had been fulfilled. The statement that Jesus found him (John 1:43) implies a previous seeking. In the lists of the twelve apostles, in the Synoptic Gospel, his name is as uniformly at the head of the second group of four as the name of Peter is at that of the first, (Matthew 10:3; Mark 5:18; Luke 6:14) and the facts recorded by St. John give the reason of this priority. Philip apparently was among the first company of disciples who were with the Lord at the commencement of his ministry at the marriage at Cana, on his first appearance as a prophet in Jerusalem, John 2. The first three Gospels tell us nothing more of him individually. St.John with his characteristic fullness of personal reminiscences, records a few significant utterances. (John 6:5-9; 12:20-22; 14:8) No other fact connected with the name of Philip is recorded in the Gospels. He is among the company of disciples at Jerusalem after the ascension (Acts 1:13) and on the day of Pentecost. After this all is uncertain and apocryphal, According tradition he preached in Phrygia, and died at Hierapolis.

 

 

Philip The Evangelist

is first mentioned in the account of the dispute between the Hebrew and Hellenistic disciples in Acts 6. He is one of the deacons appointed to superintend the daily distribution of food and alms, and so to remove all suspicion of partiality. The persecution of which Saul was the leader must have stopped the "daily ministrations" of the Church. The teachers who had been most prominent were compelled to take flight, and Philip was among them. It is noticeable that the city of Samaria, is the first scene of his activity. Acts 8. He is the precursor of St. Paul in his work, as Stephen had been in his teaching. The scene which brings Philip and Simon the sorcerer into contact with each other, (Acts 8:9-13) which the magician has to acknowledge a power over nature greater than his own, is interesting. This step is followed by another. On the road from Jerusalem to Gaza he meets the Ethiopian eunuch. (Acts 8:26) ff. The History that follows is interesting as one of the few records in the New Testament of the process of individual conversion. A brief sentence tells us that Philip continued his work as a preacher at Azotus (Ashdod) and among the other cities that had formerly belonged to the Philistines, and, following the coast-line, came to Caesarea. Then for a long period - not less than eighteen or nineteen years - we lose sight of him. The last glimpse of him in the New Testament is in the account of St. Paul's journey to Jerusalem. It is to his house as to one well known to them, that St. Paul and his companions turn for shelter. He has four daughters, who possess the gift of prophetic utterance and who apparently give themselves to the work of teaching instead of entering on the life of home. (Acts 21:8,9) He is visited by the prophets and elders of Jerusalem. One tradition places the scene of his death at Hierapolis in Phrygia. According to another, he died bishop of Tralles. The house in which he and-his daughters had lived was pointed out to travellers in the time of Jerome.

 

 

Philippi

(named from Philip of Macedonia), a city of Macedonia about nine miles from the sea, to the northwest of the island of Thasos which is twelve miles distant from its port Neapolis, the modern Kavalla . It is situated in a plain between the ranges of Pangaeus and Haemus. The Philippi which St. Paul visited was a Roman colony founded by Augustus after the famous battle of Philippi, fought here between Antony and Octavius and Brutus and Cassius, B.C. 42. The remains which strew the ground near the modern Turkish village Bereketli are no doubt derived from that city. The original town, built by Philip of Macedonia, was probably not exactly on the same site. Philip, when he acquired possession of the site, found there a town named Datus or Datum, which was probably in its origin a factory of the Phoenicians, who were the first that worked the gold-mines in the mountains here, as in the neighboring Thasos. The proximity of the goldmines was of course the origin of so large a city as Philippi, but the plain in which it lies is of extraordinary fertility. The position, too, was on the main road from Rome to Asia, the Via Egnatia, which from Thessalonica to Constantinople followed the same course as the existing post-road. On St. Paul's visits to Philippi, see the following article. At Philippi the gospel was first preached in Europe. Lydia was the first convert. Here too Paul and Silas were imprisoned. (Acts 16:23) The Philippians sent contributions to Paul to relieve his temporal wants.

 

 

Philippians, Epistle To The

was St. Paul from Rome in A.D. 62 or 63. St. Paul's connection with Philippi was of a peculiar character, which gave rise to the writing of this epistle. St. Paul entered its walls A.D. 52. (Acts 16:18) There, at a greater distance from Jerusalem than any apostle had yet penetrated, the long-restrained energy of St, Paul was again employed in laying the foundation of a Christian church, Philippi was endeared to St. Paul not only by the hospitality of Lydia, the deep sympathy of the converts, and the remarkable miracle which set a seal on his preaching, but, also by the successful exercise of his missionary activity after a long suspense, and by the happy consequences of his undaunted endurance of ignominies which remained in his memory, (Philemon 1:30) after the long interval of eleven years. Leaving Timothy and Luke to watch over the infant church, Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica, (1 Thessalonians 2:2) whither they were followed by the alms of the Philippians, (Philemon 4:16) and thence southward. After the lapse of five years, spent chiefly at Corinth and Ephesus, St. Paul passed through Macedonia, A.D. 57, on his way to Greece, and probably visited Philippi for the second time, and was there joined by Timothy. He wrote at Philippi his second Epistle to the Corinthians. On returning from Greece, (Acts 20:4) he again found a refuge among his faithful Philippians, where he spent some days at Easter, A.D. 58, with St. Luke, who accompanied him when he sailed from Neapolis. Once more, in his Roman captivity, A.D. 62, their care of him revived-again. They sent Epaphroditus bearing their alms for the apostle's support, and ready also to tender his personal service. (Philemon 2:25) St. Paul's aim in writing is plainly this: while acknowledging the alms of the Philippians and the personal services of their messenger, to give them some information respecting his own condition, and some advice respecting theirs. Strangely full of joy and thanksgiving amidst adversity, like the apostle's midnight hymn from the depth of his Philippian dungeon, this epistle went forth from his prison at Rome. In most other epistles he writes with a sustained effort to instruct, or with sorrow, or with indignation; he is striving to supply imperfect or to correct erroneous teaching, to put down scandalous impurity or to schism in the church which he addresses. But in this epistle, though he knew the Philippians intimately and was not blind to the faults and tendencies to fault of some of them, yet he mentions no evil so characteristic of the whole Church as to call for general censure on his part or amendment on theirs. Of all his epistles to churches, none has so little of an official character as this.

 

 

Philistia

(Heb. Pelesheth) (land of sojourners). The word thus translated (in) (Psalms 60:8; 87:4; 108:9) is in the original identical with that elsewhere rendered Palestine, which always means land of the Philistines. (Philistia was the plain on the southwest coast of Palestine. It was 40 miles long on the coast of the Mediterranean between Gerar and Joppa, and 10 miles wide at the northern end and 20 at the southern. - ED.) This plain has been in all ages remarkable for the extreme richness of its soil. It was also adapted to the growth of military power; for while the itself permitted. the use of war-chariots, which were the chief arm of offence, the occasional elevations which rise out of it offered secure sites for towns and strongholds. It was, moreover, a commercial country: from its position it must have been at all times the great thoroughfare between Phoenicia and Syria in the north and Egypt and Arabia in the south.

 

 

Philistines

(immigrants), The origin of the Philistines is nowhere expressly stated in the Bible; but as the prophets describe them as "the Philistines-from Caphtor," (Amos 9:7) and "the remnant of the maritime district of Caphtor" (Jeremiah 47:4) it is prima facie probable that they were the Caphtorim which came out of Caphtor" who expelled the Avim from their territory and occupied it; in their place, (2:23) and that these again were the Caphtorim mentioned in the Mosaic genealogical table among the descendants of Mizraim. (Genesis 10:14) It has been generally assumed that Caphtor represents Crete, and that the Philistines migrated from that island, either directly or through Egypt, into Palestine. But the name Caphtor is more probably identified with the Egyptian Coptos. [Caphtor, Caphtorim] History. - The Philistines must have settled in the land of Canaan before the time of Abraham; for they are noticed in his day as a pastoral tribe in the neighborhood of Gerur. (Genesis 21:32,34; 26:1,8) Between the times of Abraham and Joshua the Philistines had changed their quarters, and had advanced northward into the plain of Philistia. The Philistines had at an early period attained proficiency in the arts of peace. Their wealth was abundant, (Judges 16:5,19) and they appear in all respects to have been a prosperous people. Possessed of such elements of power, they had attained in the time of the judges an important position among eastern nations. About B.C. 1200 we find them engaged in successful war with the Sidonians. Justin xviii. 3. The territory of the Philistines having been once occupied by the Canaanites, formed a portion of the promised land, and was assigned the tribe of Judah. (Joshua 15:2,12,45-47) No portion of it, however, was conquered in the lifetime of Joshua, (Joshua 13:2) and even after his death no permanent conquest was effected, (Judges 3:3) though we are informed that the three cities of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron were taken. (Judges 1:18) The Philistines soon recovered these, and commenced an aggressive policy against the Israelites, by which they gained a complete ascendancy over them. Individual heroes were raised up from time to time, such as Shamgar the son of Anath, (Judges 3:31) and still more Samson, Judg 13-16, but neither of these men succeeded in permanently throwing off the yoke. The Israelites attributed their past weakness to their want, of unity, and they desired a king, with the special object of leading them against the foe. (1 Samuel 8:20) Saul threw off the yoke; and the Philistines were defeated with great slaughter at Geba. (1 Samuel 13:3) They made no attempt to regain their supremacy for about twenty-five years, and the scene of the next contest shows the altered strength of the two parties. It was no longer in the central country, but in a ravine leading down to the Philistine plain, the valley of Elah, the position of which is about 14 miles southwest of Jerusalem. On this occasion the prowess of young David secured success to Israel, and the foe was pursued to the gates of Gath and Ekron. (1 Samuel 17:1) ... The power of the Philistines was, however, still intact on their own territory. The border warfare was continued. The scene of the next conflict was far to the north, in the valley of Esdraelon. The battle on this occasion proved disastrous to the Israelites; Saul himself perished, and the Philistines penetrated across the Jordan and occupied the, forsaken cities. (1 Samuel 31:1-7) On the appointment of David to be king, he twice attacked them, and on each occasion with signal success, in the first case capturing their images, in the second pursuing them "from Geba until thou come to Gazer." (2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Chronicles 14:8-16) Henceforth the Israelites appear as the aggressors. About seven years after the defeat at Rephaim, David, who had now consolidated his power, attacked them on their own soil end took Gath with its dependencies. The whole of Philistine was included in Solomon's empire. Later when the Philistines, joined by the Syrians and Assyrians, made war on the kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah formed an alliance with the Egyptians, as a counterpoise to the Assyrians, and the possession of Philistia became henceforth the turning-point of the struggle between the two great empires of the East. The Assyrians under Tartan, the general of Sargon, made an expedition against Egypt, and took Ashdod, as the key of that country. (Isaiah 20:1,4,5) Under Senacherib, Philistia was again the scene of important operations. The Assyrian supremacy was restored by Esarhaddon, and it seems probable that the Assyrians retained their hold on Ashdod until its capture, after a long siege, by Psammetichus. It was about this time that Philistia was traversed by vast Scythian horde on their way to Egypt. The Egyptian ascendancy was not as yet re-established, for we find the next king, Necho, compelled to besiege Gaza on his return from the battle of Megiddo. After the death of Necho the contest was renewed between the Egyptians and the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was specially disastrous to the Philistines. The "old hatred" that the Philistines bore to the Jews was exhibited in acts of hostility at the time of the Babylonish captivity, (Ezekiel 25:15-17) but on the return this was somewhat abated, for some of the Jews married Philistine women, to the great scandal of their rulers. (Nehemiah 13:23,24) From this time the history of Philistia is absorbed in the struggles of the neighboring kingdoms. The latest notices of the Philistines as a nation occur in 1 Macc. 3-5. Institutions, religion, etc . - With regard to the institutions of the Philistines our information is very scanty, The five chief cities had, as early as the days of Joshua, constituted themselves into a confederacy, restricted however, in all probability, to matters of offence and defence. Each was under the government of a prince, (Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3) etc.; (1 Samuel 18:30; 29:6) and each possessed its own territory. The Philistines appear to have been deeply imbued with superstition: they carried their idols with them on their campaigns, (2 Samuel 5:21) and proclaimed their victories in their presence. (1 Samuel 31:9) The gods whom they chiefly worshipped were Dagon, (Judges 16:23; 1 Samuel 5:3-5; 1 Chronicles 10:10) 1Macc. 10:83, Ashtaroth, (1 Samuel 31:10) Herod. I. 105, and Baalzebub. (2 Kings 1:2-6)

 

 

Philologus

a Christian at Rome to whom St. Paul sends his salutation. (Romans 18:15)

 

 

Philosophy

It is the object of the following article to give some account (I.) of that development of thought among the Jews which answered to the philosophy of the West; (II.) of the systematic progress of Greek philosophy as forming a complete whole; and (III.) of the contact of Christianity with philosophy. I. THE PHILOSOPHIC DISCIPLINE OF THE JEWS. - Philosophy, if we limit the word strictly to describe the free pursuit of knowledge of which truth is the one complete end is essentially of western growth. In the East the search after wisdom has always been connected with practice. The history of the Jews offers no exception to this remark: there is no Jewish philosophy, properly so called. The method of Greece was to proceed from life to God; the method of Israel (so to speak) was to proceed from God to life. The axioms of one system are the conclusions of the other. The one led to the successive abandonment of the noblest domains of science which man had claimed originally as his own, till it left bare systems of morality; the other, in the fullness of time, prepared many to welcome the Christ - the Truth. The philosophy of the Jews, using the word in a large sense, is to be sought for rather in the progress of the national life than in special books. Step by step the idea of the family was raised into that of the people; and the kingdom furnished the basis of those wider promises which included all nations in one kingdom of heaven. The social, the political, the cosmical relations of man were traced out gradually in relation to God. The philosophy of the Jews is thus essentially a moral philosophy, resting on a definite connection with God. The doctrines of Creation and Providence, of an infinite divine person and of a responsible human will, which elsewhere form the ultimate limits of speculation, are here assumed at the outset. The Psalms, which, among the other infinite lessons which they convey, give a deep insight into the need of a personal apprehension of truth, everywhere declare the absolute sovereignty of God over the material and the moral world. One man among all is distinguished among the Jews as "the wise man". The description which is given of his writings serves as a commentary on the national view of philosophy (1 Kings 4:30-33) The lesson of practical duty, the full utterance of "a large heart," ibid. 29, the careful study of God's creatures, - this is the sum of wisdom. Yet in fact the very practical aim of this philosophy leads to the revelation of the most sublime truth. Wisdom was gradually felt to be a person, throned by God and holding converse with men. (Proverbs 8:1) ... She was seen to stand in open enmity with "the strange woman"), who sought to draw them aside by sensuous attractions; and thus a new step was made toward the central doctrine of Christianity: - the incarnation of the Word. Two books of the Bible, Job and Ecclesiastes, of which the latter at any rate belongs to the period of the close of the kingdom, approach more nearly than any others to the type of philosophical discussions. But in both the problem is moral and not metaphysical. The one deals with the evils which afflict "the perfect and upright;" the other with the vanity of all the pursuits and pleasures of earth. The captivity necessarily exercised a profound influence. The teaching of Persia Jewish thought. The teaching of Persia seems to have been designed to supply important elements in the education of the chosen people. But it did yet more than this. The contact of the Jews with Persia thus gave rise to a traditional mysticism. Their contact with Greece was marked by the rise of distinct sects. In the third century B.C. the great Doctor Antigonus of Socho bears a Greek name, and popular belief pointed to him as the teacher of Sadoc and Boethus the supposed founders of Jewish rationalism. At any rate we may date from this time the twofold division of Jewish speculation, The Sadducees appear as the supporters of human freedom in its widest scope; the Pharisees of a religious Stoicism. At a later time the cycle of doctrine was completed, when by a natural reaction the Essenes established as mystic Asceticism. II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY. - The various attempts which have been made to derive western philosophy from eastern sources have signally failed. It is true that in some degree the character of Greek speculation may have been influenced, at least in its earliest-stages, by religious ideas which were originally introduced from the East; but this indirect influence does hot affect the real originality of the Greek teachers. The very value of Greek teaching lies in the fact that it was, as far as is possible, a result of simple reason, or, if faith asserts ifs prerogative, the distinction is sharply marked. Of the various classifications of the Greek schools which have been proposed, the simplest and truest seems to be that which divides the history of philosophy into three great periods, the first reaching to the era of the Sophists, the next to the death of Aristotle, the third to the Christian era. In the first period the world objectively is the great centre of inquiry; in the second, the "ideas" of things, truth, and being; in the third, the chief interest of philosophy falls back upon the practical conduct of life. After the Christian era philosophy ceased to have any true vitality in Greece, but it made fresh efforts to meet the conditions of life at Alexandria and Rome.

• The pre-Socratic schools . - The first Greek philosophy was little more than an attempt to follow out in thought the mythic cosmogonies of earlier poets. What is the one permanent element which underlies the changing forms of things? - this was the primary inquiry, to which the Ionic school endeavored to find an answer. Thales (cir. B.C. 639-543) pointed to moisture (water) as the one source and supporter of life. Anaximenes (cir. B.C. 520-480) substituted air for wafer. At a much later date (cir. B.C. 460) Diogenes of Apollonia represented this elementary "air" as endowed with intelligence.


• The Socratic schools . - In the second period of Greek philosophy the scene and subject were both changed. A philosophy of ideas, using the term in its widest sense, succeeded a philosophy of nature, in three generations Greek speculation reached its greatest glory in the teaching of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The famous sentence in which Aristotle characterizes the teachings of Socrates (B.C.465-399) places his scientific position in the clearest light. There are two things, he says, which we may rightly attribute to Socrates - inductive reasoning and general definition. By the first he endeavored to discover the permanent element which underlies the changing forms of appearances and the varieties of opinion; by the second he fixed the truth which he had thus gained. But, besides this, Socrates rendered another service to truth. Ethics occupied in his investigations the primary place which had hitherto been held by Physics. The great aim of his induction was to establish the sovereignty of Virtue. He affirmed the existence of a universal law of right and wrong. He connected philosophy with action, both in detail and in general. On the one side he upheld the supremacy of Conscience, on the other the working of Providence.


• The post-Socratic schools . - after Aristotle, philosophy took a new direction. Speculation became mainly personal. Epicurus (B.C. 352-270) defined the object of philosophy to be the attainment of a happy life. The pursuit of truth for its own sake he recognized as superfluous. He rejected dialectics as a useless study, and accepted the senses, in the widest acceptation of the term, as the criterion of truth. But he differed widely from the Cyrenaics in his view of happiness. The happiness at which the wise man aims is to be found, he said, not in momentary gratification, but in life-long pleasure. All things were supposed to come into being by chance, and so pass away. The individual was left master of own life. While Epicurus asserted in this manner the claims of one part of man's nature in the conduct of life, Zeno of Citium (cir. B.C. 280), with equal partiality advocated a purely spiritual (intellectual) morality. Opposition between the two was complete. The infinite, chance-formed worlds of the one stand over against the one harmonious world of the other. On the one aide are gods regardless of material things, on the other a Being permeating and vivifying all creation. This difference necessarily found its chief expression in Ethics. III. CHRISTIANITY IN CONTACT WITH ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY. - The only direct trace of the contact of Christianity with western philosophy in the New Testament is in the account of St. Paul's visit to Athens, (Acts 17:18) and there is nothing in the apostolic writings to show that it exercised any important influence upon the early Church. Comp. (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) But it was otherwise with eastern speculation, which penetrated more deeply through the mass of the people. The "philosophy" against which the Colossians were warned, (Colossians 2:8) seems undoubtedly to have been of eastern origin, containing elements similar to those which were afterward embodied in various shapes of Gnosticism, as a selfish asceticism, and a superstitions reverence for angels, (Colossians 2:16-23) and in the Epistles to Timothy, addressed to Ephesians, in which city St. Paul anticipated the rise of false teaching, (Acts 20:30) two distinct forms of error may be traced in addition to Judaism, due more or less to the same influence. The writings of the sub-apostolic age, with the exception of the famous anecdote of Justin Martyr (Dial. 2 - 1), throw little light upon the relations of Christianity and philosophy. Christian philosophy may be in one sense a contradiction in terms, for Christianity confessedly derives its first principles from revelation, and not from simple reason; but there is no less a true philosophy of Christianity, which aims to show how completely these meet the instincts and aspirations of all ages. The exposition of such a philosophy would be the work of a modern Origen.

 

 

Phinehas

(mouth of brass).

• Son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. (Exodus 6:25) He is memorable for having while quite a youth, by his zeal and energy at the critical moment of the licentious idolatry of Shittim, appeased the divine wrath, and put a stop to the plague which was destroying the nation. (Numbers 25:7) (B.C. 1452.) For this he was rewarded by the special approbation of Jehovah and by a promise that the priesthood should remain in his family forever. (Numbers 25:10-13) He was appointed to accompany as priest the expedition by which the Midianites were destroyed. ch. (Numbers 31:6) Many years later he also headed the party which was despatched from Shiloh to remonstrate against the altar which the transjordanic tribes were reported to have built near Jordan. (Joshua 22:13-32) In the partition of the country he received an allotment of his own - a hill on Mount Ephraim which bore his name. After Eleazar's death he became high priest - the third of the series. In this capacity he is introduced as giving the oracle to the nation during the whole struggle with the Benjamites on the matter of Gibeah. (Judges 20:28) The verse which closes the book of Joshua is ascribed to Phinehas, as the description of the death of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy is to Joshua. The tomb of Phinehas, a place of great resort to both Jews and Samaritans, is shown at Awertah, four miles southeast of Nablus .


• Second son of Eli. (1 Samuel 1:3; 2:34; 4:4,11,17,19; 14:3) Phinehas was killed with his brother by the Philistines when the ark was captured. (B.C. 1125.) [Eli]


• A Levite of Ezra's time, (Ezra 8:33) unless the meaning be that Eleazar was of the family of the great Phinehas.

 

 

Phlegon

(burning), a Christian at Rome whom St. Paul salutes. (Romans 16:14) (A.D.55.) Pseudo-Hippolytus makes him one of the seventy disciples and bishop of Marathon.

 

 

Phoebe

(radiant) the first and one of the most important of the Christian persons the detailed mention of whom nearly all the last chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. (A.D.55.) What is said of her, (Romans 16:1,2) is worthy of special notice because of its bearing on the question of the deaconesses of the apostolic Church.

 

 

Phoenice, Phoenicia

(land of palm trees) a tract of country, of which Tyre and Sidon were the principal cities, to the north of Palestine, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea bounded by that sea on the west, and by the mountain range of Lebanon on the east. The name was not the one by which its native inhabitants called it, but was given to it by the Greeks, from the Greek word for the palm tree. The native name of Phoenicia was Kenaan (Canaan) or Kna, signifying lowland, so named in contrast to the ad joining Aram, i.e. highland, the Hebrew name of Syria. The length of coast to which the name of Phoenicia was applied varied at different times.

• What may be termed Phoenicia proper was a narrow undulating plain, extending from the pass of Ras el-Beyad or Abyad, the Promontorium Album of the ancients, about six miles south of Tyre, to the Nahr el-Auly, the ancient Bostrenus, two miles north of Sidon. The plain is only 28 miles in length. Its average breadth is about a mile; but near Sidon the mountains retreat to a distance of two miles, and near Tyre to a distance of five miles.


• A longer district, which afterward became entitled to the name of Phoenicia, extended up the coast to a point marked by the island of Aradus, and by Antaradus toward the north; the southern boundary remaining the same as in Phoenicia proper. Phoenicia, thus defined is estimated to have been about 120 miles in length; while its breadth, between Lebanon and the sea, never exceeded 20 miles, and was generally much less. The whole of Phoenicia proper is well watered by various streams from the adjoining hills. The havens of Tyre and Sidon afforded water of sufficient depth for all the requirements of ancient navigation, and the neighboring range of the Lebanon, in its extensive forests, furnished what then seemed a nearly inexhaustible supply of timber for ship-building. Language and race . - The Phoenicians spoke a branch of the Semitic language so closely allied to Hebrew that Phoenician and Hebrew, though different dialects, may practically be regarded as the same language. Concerning the original race to which the Phoenicians belonged, nothing can be known with certainty, because they are found already established along the Mediterranean Sea at the earliest dawn of authentic history, and for centuries afterward there is no record of their origin. According to Herodotus, vii. 89, they said of themselves in his time that they came in days of old from the shores of the Red Sea and in this there would be nothing in the slightest degree improbable as they spoke a language cognate to that of the Arabians, who inhabited the east coast of that sea. Still neither the truth nor the falsehood of the tradition can now be proved. But there is one point respecting their race which can be proved to be in the highest degree probable, and which has peculiar interest as bearing on the Jews, viz., that the Phoenicians were of the same race as the Canaanites. Commerce, etc . - In regard to Phoenician trade, connected with the Israelites, it must be recollected that up to the time of David not one of the twelve tribes seems to have possessed a single harbor on the seacoast; it was impossible there fore that they could become a commercial people. But from the time that David had conquered Edom, an opening for trade was afforded to the Israelites. Solomon continued this trade with its king, obtained timber from its territory and employed its sailors and workmen. (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:9,17,18) The religion of the Phoenicians, opposed to Monotheism, was a pantheistical personification of the forces of nature and in its most philosophical shadowing forth of the supreme powers it may be said to have represented the male and female principles of production. In its popular form it was especially a worship of the sun, moon and five planets, or, as it might have been expressed according to ancient notions, of the seven planets - the most beautiful and perhaps the most natural form of idolatry ever presented to the human imagination. Their worship was a constant temptation for the Hebrews to Polytheism and idolatry -


• Because undoubtedly the Phoenicians, as a great commercial people, were more generally intelligent, and as we should now say civilized, than the inland agricultural population of Palestine. When the simple-minded Jews, therefore, came in contact with a people more versatile and apparently more enlightened than themselves, but who nevertheless, either in a philosophical or in a popular form admitted a system of Polytheism an influence would be exerted on Jewish minds tending to make them regard their exclusive devotion to their own one God Jehovah, however transcendent his attributes, as unsocial and morose.


• The Phoenician religion had in other respects an injurious effect on the people of Palestine, being in some points essentially demoralizing, For example, it mentioned the dreadful superstition of burning children as sacrifices to a Phoenician god. Again, parts of the Phoenician religion, especially the worship of Astarte, fended to encourage dissoluteness in the relations of the sexes, and even to sanctify impurities of the most abominable description. The only other fact respecting the Phoenicians that need be mentioned here is that the invention of letters was universally asserted by the Greeks and Romans to have been communicated by the Phoenicians to the Greeks. For further details respecting the Phoenicians see Tyre and Zidon, Or Sidon. Phoenicia is now a land of ruins.

 

 

Phrygia

(dry, barren). Perhaps there is no geographical term in the New Testament which is less capable of an exact definition. In fact there was no Roman province of Phrygia till considerably after the first establishment of Christianity in the peninsula of Asia Minor. The word was rather ethnological than political, and denoted in a vague manner the western part of the central region of that peninsula. Accordingly, in two of the three places where it is used it is mentioned in a manner not intended to he precise. (Acts 16:6; 18:23) By Phrygia we must understand an extensive district in Asia Minor which contributed portions to several Roman provinces, and varying portions at different times. (All over this district the Jews were probably numerous. The Phrygians were a very ancient people, and were supposed to be among the aborigines of Asia Minor. Several bishops from Phrygia were present at the Councils of Nice, A.D. 325, and of Constantinople, A.D. 381, showing the prevalence of Christianity at that time - ED.)

 

 

Phurah

(bough), Gideon's servant, probably his armor-bearer, comp. (1 Samuel 14:1) who accompanied him in his midnight visit to the camp of the Midianites. (Judges 7:10,11)

 

 

Phurim

(Esther 11:1) [Purim]

 

 

Phut, Put

(a bow) the third name in the list of the sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6; 1 Chronicles 1:8) elsewhere applied to an African country or people. The few mentions of Phut in the Bible clearly indicate a country or people of Africa, and, it must be added, probably not far from Egypt. (Isaiah 66:19; Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 27:10; 30:5; 38:5; Nahum 3:9) Some identify it with Libya, in the northern part Africa near the Mediterranean Sea; others, as Mr. Poole, with Nubia, south of Egypt.

 

 

Phuvah

(mouth), one of the sons of Issachar, (Genesis 46:13) and founder of the family of the Punites.

 

 

Phygellus

(fugitive). [Hermogenes]

 

 

Phygelus

Used in the Revised Version in (2 Timothy 1:15) for Phygellus.

 

 

Phylactery

[Frontlets, Or Phylacteries]

 

 

Pibeseth

a town of lower Egypt, mentioned in (Ezekiel 30:17) the same as Bubastis, so named from the goddess Bubastis. It was situated on the west bank of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 40 miles front Memphis. It was probably a city of great importance when Ezekiel foretold its doom.

 

 

Picture

In two of the three passages in which "picture" is used in the Authorized Version it denotes idolatrous representations, either independent images or more usually stones "portrayed," i.e. sculptured in low relief, or engraved and colored. (Ezekiel 23:14) Layard, Nin. and Rob. ii. 306, 308. Moveable pictures, in the modern sense, were doubtless unknown to the Jews. The "pictures of silver" of (Proverbs 25:11) were probably well surfaces or cornices with carvings.

 

 

Piece Of Gold

The rendering "pieces of gold," as in (2 Kings 5:5) is very doubtful; and "shekels of gold") as designating the value of the whole quantity, not individual pieces is preferable. Coined money was unknown in Palestine till the Persian period.

 

 

Piece Of Silver

I. In the Old Testament the word "pieces" is used in the Authorized Version for a word understood in the Hebrew (if we except) (Psalms 68:30) The phrase is always "a thousand," or the like, "of silver." (Genesis 20:16; 37:28; 45:28; Judges 9:4; 16:5; 2 Kings 6:25; Hosea 3:2; Zechariah 11:12,13) In similar passages the word "shekels" occurs in the Hebrew. There are other passages in which the Authorized Version supplies the word "shekels" instead of "pieces," (22:19,29; Judges 17:2,3,4,10; 2 Samuel 18:11,12) and of these the first two require this to be done. The shekel, be it remembered, was the common weight for money, and therefore most likely to be understood in an elliptical phrase. The "piece" or shekel of silver weighed 220 grains, or about half an ounce, and was worth a little more than half a dollar (55 cents). II. In the New Testament two words are rendered by the phrase "piece of silver:"

• Drachma, (Luke 15:8,9) which was a Greek silver coin, equivalent, at the time of St. Luke, to the Roman denarias (15 or 16 cents).


• Silver occurs only in the account of the betrayal of our Lord for "thirty pieces of silver." (Matthew 26:15; 17:3,5,6,9) It is difficult to ascertain what coins are here intended. If the most common silver pieces be meant, they would be denarii. The parallel passage in Zachariah, (Zechariah 11:12,13) must, however, be taken into consideration where shekels (worth about 55 cents) must be understood. It is more probable that the thirty pieces of silver were tetradrachms than that they were denarii (80 cents).

 

 

Piety

This word occurs but once in the Authorized Version: "Let them learn first to show piety at home," better "toward their own household" or family. (1 Timothy 5:4) The choice of this word here instead of the more usual equivalents -of "godliness," "reverence," and the like, was probably determined by the special sense of pietas, as "erga parentes," i.e. toward parents.

 

 

Pigeon

[TURTLE-DOVE]

 

 

Pihahiroth

a place before or at which the Israelites encamped, at the close of the third march from Rameses (the last place before they crossed the Red Sea), when they went out of Egypt. (Exodus 14:2,9; Numbers 35:7,8) It is an Egyptian word, signifying "the place where sedge grows."

 

 

Pilate

(armed with a spear), Pontius. Pontius Pilate was the sixth Roman procurator of Judea, and under him our Lord worked, suffered and died, as we learn not only from Scripture, but from Tacitus (Ann. xv. 44). was appointed A.D. 25-6, in the twelfth year of Tiberius. His arbitrary administration nearly drove the Jews to insurrection on two or three occasions. One of his first acts was to remove the headquarters of the army from Caesarea to Jerusalem. The soldiers of course took with them their standards, bearing the image of the emperor, into the holy city. No previous governor had ventured on such an outrage. The people poured down in crowds to Caesarea, where the procurator was then residing, and besought him to remove the images. After five days of discussion he gave the signal to some concealed soldiers to surround the petitioners and put them to death unless they ceased to trouble him; but this only strengthened their determination, and they declared themselves ready rather to submit to death than forego their resistance to aa idolatrous innovation. Pilate then yielded, and the standards were by his orders brought down to Caesarea. His slaughter of certain Galileans, (Luke 13:1) led to some remarks from our Lord on the connection between sin and calamity. It must have occurred at some feast at Jerusalem, in the outer court of the temple. It was the custom for the procurators to reside at Jerusalem during the great feasts, to preserve order, and accordingly, at the time of our Lord's last Passover, Pilate was occupying his official residence in Herod's palace. The history of his condemnation of our Lord is familiar to all. We learn from Josephus that Pilate's anxiety to avoid giving offence to Caesar did not save him from political disaster. The Samaritans were unquiet and rebellious Pilate led his troops against them, and defeated them enough. The Samaritans complained to Vitellius, then president of Syria, and he sent Pilate to Rome to answer their accusations before the emperor. When he reached it he found Tiberius dead and Caius (Caligula) on the throne A,D, 36. Eusebius adds that soon afterward "wearied with misfortunes," he killed himself. As to the scene of his death there are various traditions. One is that he was banished to Vienna Allobrogum (Vienne on the Rhone), where a singular monument - a pyramid on a quadrangular base, 52 feet high - is called Pontius Pilate"s tomb, An other is that he sought to hide his sorrows on the mountain by the lake of Lucerne, now called Mount Pilatus; and there) after spending years in its recesses, in remorse and despair rather than penitence, plunged into the dismal lake which occupies its summit.

 

 

Pildash

(flame of fire), one of the eight sons of Nahor, Abraham's brother by Iris wife and niece, Milcah. (Genesis 22:22) (B.C. 1900.)

 

 

Pileha

(worship), the name of one of the chief of the people, probably a family, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:24) (B.C. 410.)

 

 

Pillar

The notion of a pillar is of a shaft or isolated pile either supporting or not supporting a roof. But perhaps the earliest application of the pillar was the votive or monumental, This in early times consisted of nothing but a single stone or pile of stones. (Genesis 28:18; 31:40) etc. The stone Ezel, (1 Samuel 20:19) was probably a terminal stone or a way-mark. The "place" set up by Saul (1 Samuel 15:12) is explained by St, Jerome to be a trophy. So also Jacob set up a pillar over Rachel's grave. (Genesis 36:20) The monolithic tombs and obelisks of Petra are instances of similar usage. Lastly, the figurative use of the term "pillar," in reference to the cloud and fire accompanying the Israelites on their march or as in (Song of Solomon 3:6) and Reve 10:1 Is plainly derived from the notion of an isolated column not supporting a roof.

 

 

Pillar, Plain Of The

or rather "oak of the pillar" (that being the real signification of the Hebrew word elon), a tree which stood near Shechem and at which the men of Shechem and the house of Millo assembled to crown Abimelech the son of Gideon. (Judges 9:6)

 

 

Pilled

(Genesis 30:37,38) "peeled," Isai 18:2; Ezek 29:28 The verb "to pill" appears in old English as identical in meaning with "to peel, to strip."

 

 

Piltai, Or Piltai

(my deliverances), the representative of the priestly house of Moadiah or Maadiah, in the time of Joiakim the son of Jeshua. (Nehemiah 12:17) (B.C. 445.)

 

 

Pine Tree

• Heb. tidhar . (Isaiah 41:19; 60:13) What tree is intended is not certain: but the rendering "pine," seems least probable of any.


• Shemen, (Nehemiah 8:16) is probably the wild olive.

 

 

Pinnacle

(of the temple), (Matthew 4:5; Luke 4:9) The Greek word ought to be rendered not a pinnacle, but the pinnacle. The only part of the temple which answered to the modern sense of pinnacle was the golden spikes erected on the roof to prevent birds from settling there. Perhaps the word means the battlement ordered by law to be added to every roof. (According to Alford it was the roof of Herod's royal portico of the temple,"which overhung the ravine of Kedron from a dizzy height" - 600 or 700 feet.-ED.)

 

 

Pinon

(darkness), one of the "dukes" of Edom, - that is, head or founder of a tribe of that nation. (Genesis 38:41; 1 Chronicles 1:52)

 

 

Pipe

(Heb. chalil). The Hebrew word so rendered is derived from a root signifying "to bore, perforate" and is represented with sufficient correctness by the English "pipe" or "flute," as in the margin of (1 Kings 1:40) The pipe was the type of perforated wind instruments, as the harp was of stringed instruments. It was made of reed, bronze or copper. It is one of the simplest, and therefore probably one of the oldest, of musical Instruments. It is associated with the tabret as an instrument of a peaceful and social character. The pipe and tabret were used at the banquets of the Hebrews, (Isaiah 5:12) and accompanied the simpler religious services when the young prophets, returning from the high place, caught their inspiration from the harmony, (1 Samuel 10:5) or the pilgrims, on their way to the great festivals of their ritual, beguiled the weariness of the march with psalms sung to the simple music of the pipe. (Isaiah 30:29) The sound of the pipe was apparently a soft wailing note, which made it appropriate to be used in mourning and at funerals (Matthew 9:23) and in the lament of the prophet over the destruction of Moab. (Jeremiah 48:36) It was even used in the temple choir, as appears from (Psalms 87:7) In later times the funeral and death-bed were never without the professional pipers or flute-players, (Matthew 9:23) a custom which still exists. In the social and festive life of the Egyptians the pipe played as prominent a part as among the Hebrews.

 

 

Piram

(like a wild ass; fleet) the Amorite king of Jarmuth at the time of Joshua's conquest of Canaan. (Joshua 10:3) (B.C. 1450.)

 

 

Pirathon

(princely), "in the land of Ephraim in the mount of the Amalekite," a place in (Judges 12:15) Its site, now called Fer'ata, is about one mile and a half south of the road from Jaffa, by Hableh, to Nablus . Pirathonites are mentioned in (Judges 12:13,15) and 1Chr 27:14

 

 

Pirathonite

a native of or dweller in Pirathon. Two such are named in the Bible: -

• Abdon ben-Hillel. (Judges 12:13,15)


• "Benaiah the Pirathonite of the children of Ephraim," (1 Chronicles 27:14)

 

 

Pisgah

(section, i.e. peak), (Numbers 21:20; 23:14; 3:27; 34:1) a mountain range or district, the same as or a part of, that called the mountains of Abarim. Comp. (32:49) with Deuteronomy 34:1 It lay on the east of Jordan contiguous to the field of Moab, and immediately opposite Jericho. Its highest point or summit - its "head" - was Mount Nebo. [See Nebo]

 

 

Pisidia

(pitchy) was a district in Asia Minor north of Pamphylia, and reached to and was partly included in Phrygia. Thus Antioch in Pisidia was sometimes called a Phrygian town. St. Paul passed through Pisidia twice, with Barnabas, on the first missionary journey, i.e., both in going from Perga to Iconium, (Acts 13:13,14,51) and in returning. (Acts 14:21,24,25) comp. 2Tim 3:11 It is probable also that he traversed the northern part of the district, with Silas and Timotheus, on the second missionary journey, (Acts 18:8) but the word Pisidia does not occur except in reference to the former journey.

 

 

Pison

[Eden]

 

 

Pit

[Hell]

 

 

Pitch

The three Hebrew words so translated all represent the same object, viz., mineral pitch or asphalt in its different aspects. Asphalt is an opaque, inflammable substance which bubbles up from subterranean fountains in a liquid state, and hardens by exposure to the air, but readily melts under the influence of heat. In the latter state it is very tenacious, and was used as a cement in lieu of mortar in Babylonia ((Genesis 11:3) as well as for coating the outside of vessels, (Genesis 6:14) and particularly for making the papyrus boats of the Egyptians water-tight. (Exodus 2:3) The jews and Arabians got their supply in large quantities from the Dead Sea, which hence received its classical name of Lacus Asphaltites .

 

 

Pitcher

This word is used in the Authorized Version to denote the earthen water-jars or pitchers with one or two handles, used chiefly by women for carrying water, as in the story of Rebekah. (Genesis 24:15-20) but see Mark 14:13; Luke 22:10 This mode of carrying has been and still is customary the East and elsewhere. The vessels used for the purpose are generally borne on the head or the shoulder. The Bedouin women commonly use skin bottles. Such was the "bottle" carried by Hagar (Genesis 21:14) The same word is used of the pitchers employed by Gideon's three hundred men. (Judges 7:16)

 

 

Pithom

(the city of justice), one of the store-cites Israelites for the first oppressor, the Pharaoh "which knew not Joseph." (Exodus 1:11) It is probably the Patumus of Herodotus (ii. 1 159), a town on the borders of Egypt, nest which Necho constructed a canal from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf.

 

 

Pithon

(harmless), one of the four sons of Micah, the son of Mephibosheth. (1 Chronicles 8:36; 9:41) (B.C. 1050.)

 

 

Plague, The

The plague is considered to be a severe kind of typhus, accompanied by buboes (tumors). - Like the cholera, it is most violent at the first outbreak, causing almost instant death. Great difference of opinion has obtained as to whether it is contagious or not. It was very prevalent in the East, and still prevails in Egypt. Several Hebrew words are translated "pestilence" or "plague" but not one of these words call be considered as designating by its signification the disease now called the plague. Whether the disease be mentioned must be judged from the sense of passages, not from the sense of words. Those pestilences which were sent as special judgments, and were either supernaturally rapid in their effects or were in addition directed against particular culprits are beyond the reach of human inquiry. But we also read of pestilences which, although sent as judgments, have the characteristics of modern epidemics, not being rapid beyond nature nor directed against individuals. (Leviticus 26:25; 28:21) In neither of these passages does,it seem certain that the plague is specified. The notices in the prophets present the same difficulty. Hezekiah's disease has been thought to have been the plague, and its fatal nature, as well as the mention of a boil, makes this not improbable. On the other hand, there Is no mention of a pestilence among his people at the time.

 

 

Plagues, The Ten

The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.

• The plague of blood.When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, a miracle was required of them. Then Aaron's rod became "a serpent (Authorized Version), or rather "a crocodile." Its being changed into an animal reverenced by all the Egyptians, or by some of them, would have been an especial warning to Pharaoh, The Egyptian magicians called by the king produced what seemed to be the same wonder, yet Aaron's rod swallowed up the others. (Exodus 7:3-12) This passage, taken alone would appear to indicate that the magicians succeeded in working wonders, but, if it is compared with the others which relate their opposition on the occasions of the first three plagues, a contrary inference seems more reasonable for the very first time that Moses wrought his miracle without giving previous notice, the magicians "did so with their enchantments," but failed. A comparison with other passages strengthens us in the inference that the magicians succeeded merely by juggling. After this warning to Pharaoh, Aaron, at the word of Moses, waved his rod over the Nile, and the river was turned into blood, with all its canals and reservoirs, and every vessel of water drawn from them; the fish died, and the river stank. The Egyptians could not drink of it, and digged around it for water. This plague was doubly humiliating to the religion of the country, as the Nile was held sacred, as well as some kinds of its fish, not to speak of the crocodiles, which probably were destroyed. (Exodus 7:16-25) Those who have endeavored to explain this plague by natural causes have referred to the changes of color to which the Nile is subject, the appearance of the Red Sea, and the so called rain and dew of blood of the middle ages; the last two occasioned by small fungi of very rapid growth. But such theories do not explain why the wonder happened at a time of year when the Nile is most clear nor why it killed the fish and made the water unfit to he drunk.


• The plague of frogs . - When seven days had passed after the first plague, the river and all the open waters of Egypt brought forth countless frogs, which not only covered the land but filled the houses, even in their driest parts and vessels, for the ovens and kneading-troughs are specified. This must have been an especially trying judgment to the Egyptians, as frogs were included among the sacred animals. (Exodus 8:1-15)


• The plague of lice . - The dry land was now smitten by the rod, and very dust seemed turned into minute noxious insects, so thickly did they swarm on man and beast, or rather "in" them. The scrupulous cleanliness of the Egyptians would add intolerably to the bodily distress of this plague, by which also they again incurred religious defilement. As to the species of the vermin, there seems no reason to disturb the authorized translation of the word. The magicians, who had imitated by their enchantments the two previous miracles, were now foiled. They struck the ground, as Aaron did, and repeated their own incantations. but it was without effect. (Exodus 8:16-19)


• The plague of flies . - After the river and the land, the air was smitten, being filled with winged insects, which swarmed in the houses and devoured the land, but Goshen was exempted from the plague. The word translated "swarms of flies" most probably denotes the great Egyptian beetle, Scarabaeus sacer, which is constantly represented in their sculptures. Besides the annoying and destructive habits of its tribe, it was an object of worship, and thus the Egyptians were again scourged by their own superstitions. (Exodus 8:20-32)


• The plague of the murrain of beasts . - Still coming closer and closer to the Egyptians, God sent a disease upon the cattle, which were not only their property but their deities. At the precise time of which Moses forewarned Pharaoh, all the cattle of the Egyptians were smitten with a murrain and died, but not one of the cattle of the Israelites suffered. (Exodus 9:1-7)


• The plague of boils - From the cattle the hand of God was extended to the persons of the Egyptians. Moses and Aaron were commanded to take ashes of the furnace, and to "sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh." It was to become "small dust" throughout Egypt, and "be a boil breaking forth [with] blains upon man and upon beast." (Exodus 9:8-12) This accordingly came to pass. The plague seems to have been the leprosy, a fearful kind of elephantiasis which was long remembered as "the botch of Egypt." (28:27,35)


• The plague of hail . - The account of the seventh plague is preceded by a warning which Moses was commanded to deliver to Pharaoh, respecting the terrible nature of the plagues that were to ensue if he remained obstinate. Man and beast were smitten, and the herbs and every tree broken, save in the land of Goshen. The ruin caused by the hail was evidently far greater than that effected by any of the earlier plagues. Hail is now extremely rare, but not unknown, in Egypt, and it is interesting that the narrative seems to imply that if sometimes falls there. (Exodus 9:13-34)


• The plague of locusts . - The severity of this plague can be well understood by those who have been in Egypt in a part of the country where a flight of locusts has alighted. In this case the plague was greater than an ordinary visitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because it was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete destruction than that always caused by a swarm of locusts. (Exodus 10:1-20)


• The plague of darkness . - "There was a darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;" while "all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." It has been illustrated by reference to the samoom and the hot wind of the Khamaseen. The former is a sand-storm which occurs in the desert, seldom lasting more than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, but for the time often causing the darkness of twilight, and affecting man and beast. The hot wind of the Khamaseen usually blows for three days and nights, and carries so much sand with it that it produces the appearance of a yellow fog. It thus resembles the samoom, though far less powerful and less distressing in its effects. It is not known to cause actual darkness. The plague may have been an extremely severe sandstorm, miraculous in its violence and duration, for the length of three days does not make it natural since the severe storms are always very brief. (Exodus 10:21-29)


• The death of the first-born . - Before the tenth plague Moses went to warn Pharaoh: "Thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne even to the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts." (Exodus 11:4,5) The clearly miraculous nature of this plague, its falling upon man and in its beast; and the singling out of the firstborn, puts it wholly beyond comparison with any natural pestilence, even the severest recorded in history, whether of the peculiar Egyptian plague or of other like epidemics. The history of the ten plagues strictly ends with the death of the first-born. The gradual increase in severity of the plagues is perhaps the best key to their meaning. They seem to have been sent as warnings to the oppressor, to afford him a means of seeing God's will and an opportunity of repenting before Egypt was ruined. The lesson that Pharaoh's career teaches us seems to be that there are men whom the meet signal judgments do not affect so as to cause any lasting repentance. The following characteristics of the plagues may be specially noticed: (1) Their relation to natural phenomena. Each of the inflictions has a demonstrable connection with Egyptian customs and phenomena; each is directly aimed at some Egyptian superstition all are marvellous, not for the most part as reversing, but as developing, forces inherent in nature, and directing them to a special end. - Canon Cook . (2) Their order. They are divided first into nine and one the last one standing clearly apart from all the others. The nine are arranged in threes. In the first of each three the warning is given to Pharaoh in the morning. In the first and second of each three the plague is announced beforehand in the third, not. At the third the magicians acknowledge the finger of God; at the sixth they cannot stand before Moses; and at the ninth Pharaoh refuses to see the face of Moses any more. The gradation of the severity of these strokes is no less obvious. In the first three no distinction is made among the inhabitants of the land; in the remaining seven a distinction is made between the Israelites, who are shielded from, and the Egyptians who are exposed to, the stroke. -Kurlz, (3) Their duration. It is probable that the plagues extended through a period of several months. The first plague occurred probably during the annual inundation of the Nile, hence about the middle of June (Edersheim). The second, that of the frogs, in September, the time when Egypt often suffers in this way. The seventh (hail) came when the barley was in ear, and before the wheat was grown, and hence in February; and the tenth came in the following March or April. (4) Their significance. The first plague was directed against the Nile one of the Egyptian deities, adored as a source of life, not only to the produce of the land, but to its inhabitants. The second plague, that of the frogs, struck also at the idolatry of Egypt; for the frog was an object of worship. The third plague turned the land, which was worshipped, into a source of torment the dust produced a curse. The fourth plague consisted in the torment of either flies of a ravenous disposition, or beetles. If the former, then the air, which was worshipped, was turned into a source of exquisite annoyance; if the latter then the beetle, one of the most common of the Egyptian idols, swarmed with voracious appetite, attacking even man, as the Egyptian beetle still does and inflicting painful wounds. The fifth plague, that of murrain, struck at the cattle-worship for which Egypt was celebrated. The sixth plague, produced by the ashes scattered toward heaven in conformity with an ancient Egyptian rite, as if an invocation of the sun-god, continued the warfare of Jehovah upon Egyptian idolatry; the religious ceremony which was employed to invoke blessing brought disease. The seventh plague, beginning a new series, seems to have been aimed like those which followed, to demonstrate the power of Jehovah over all the elements, and even life itself, in contrast with the impotence of the idols. The storm and the hail came at his bidding. The locusts appeared and departed at his word. The sun itself was veiled at his command. Nay, the angel of death was held and loosed by his hand alone. The tenth plague had an immediate relation to idolatry, since it destroyed not only the first-born of man, but the first-born of beast; so that the sacred animals in the temples were touched by a power higher than those they were supposed to represent. The victory was complete; upon all the gods of Egypt, Jehovah had executed judgment. - Rev. Franklin Johnson .

 

 

Plains

This one term does duty in the Authorized Version for no less than seven distinct Hebrew words.

• Abel . This word perhaps answers more nearly to our word "meadow" than any other. It occurs in the names of Abel-maim Abel-meholah, Abel-shittim and is rendered "plain" in (Judges 11:33) - "plain of vineyards."


• Bik'ah . Fortunately we are able to identify the most remarkable of the bik'ahs of the Bible, and thus to ascertain the force of the term. The great plain or valley of Coele-Syria, the "hollow land" of the Greeks, which separates the two ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon is the most remarkable of them all. Out of Palestine we find denoted by the word bik'ah the "plain of the land of Shiner," (Genesis 11:2) the "plain of Mesopotamia," (Ezekiel 3:22,23; 8:4; 37:1,2) and the "plain in the province of Dura." (Daniel 3:1)


• Ha shefelah the invariable designation of the depressed, flat or gently-undulating region which intervened between the highlands of Judah and the Mediterranean, and was commonly in possession of the Philistines.


• Elon . Our translators have uniformly rendered this word "plain;" but this is not the verdict of the majority or the most trustworthy of the ancient versions. They regard the word as meaning an "oak" or "grove of oaks," a rendering supported by nearly all the commentators and lexicographers of the present day, The passages in which the word occurs erroneously translated "plain" are as-follows: Plain of Moreh, (Genesis 12:6; 11:30) plain of Mamre, (Genesis 13:18; 14:13; 18:1) plain of Zaanaim, (Judges 4:11) plain of the pillar, (Judges 9:6) plain of Meonenim, (Judges 9:37) plain of Tabor, (1 Samuel 10:5)

 

 

Pledge

[Loan]

 

 

Pleiades

The Hebrew word (cimah) so rendered occurs in (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 6:8) In the last passage our Authorized Version has "the seven stars," although the Geneva version translates the word "Pleiades" as in the other cases. The Pleiades are a group of stars situated on the shoulder of the constellation Taurus. The rendering "sweet influences" of the Authorized Version, (Job 38:31) is a relic of the lingering belief in the power which the stars exerted over human destiny. But Schaff thinks the phrase arose from the fact that the Pleiades appear about the middle of April, and hence are associated with the return of spring, the season of sweet influences .

 

 

Plough

The ploughs of ancient Egypt consisted of a share-often pointed with iron or bronze - two handles and a pole which was inserted into the base of the two handles. Ploughs in Palestine have usually but one handle with a pole joined to it near the ground and drawn by oxen, cows or camels.

 

 

Pochereth

The children of Pochereth of Zebaim were among the children of Solomon's servants who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:57; Nehemiah 7:59)

 

 

Poetry, Hebrew

• Lyrical poetry . - Of the three kinds of poetry which are illustrated by the Hebrew literature, the lyric occupies the foremost place. That literature abounds with illustrations of all forms of Lyrical poetry, in its most manifold and wide-embracing compass, from such short ejaculations as the songs of the two Lamechs and Psal 15, 117 and others, to the longer chants of victors and thanksgiving, like the songs of Deborah and David. Judg 5; Psal 18. The Shemitic nations have nothing approaching to an epic poem, and in proportion to this defect the lyric element prevailed more greatly, commencing in the pre-Mosaic times, flourishing in rude vigor during the earlier periods of the judges, the heroic age of the Hebrews, growing with the nation's growth and strengthening with its strength, till it reached its highest excellence in David, the warrior poet, and from thenceforth began slowly to decline.


• Gnomic poetry . - The second grand division of Hebrew poetry is occupied by a class of poems which are peculiarly Shemitic, and which represent the nearest approaches made by the people of that race to anything like philosophic thought. Reasoning there is none: we have only results, and those rather the product of observation and reflection than of induction or argumentation. As lyric poetry is the expression of the poet's own feelings and impulses, so gnomic poetry is the form in which the desire of communicating knowledge to others finds vent. Its germs are the floating proverbs which pass current in the mouths of the people, and embody the experiences of many with the wit of one. The utterer of sententious sayings was to the Hebrews the wise man, the philosopher. Of the earlier isolated proverbs but few examples remain.


• Dramatic poetry . - It is impossible to assert that no form of the drama existed among the Hebrew people. It is unquestionably true, as Ewald observes, that the Arab reciters of romances will many times in their own persons act out a complete drama in recitation, changing their voice and gestures with the change of person and subject. Something of this kind may possibly have existed among the Hebrews; still there is no evidence that it did exist, nor any grounds for making even a probable conjecture with regard to it. But the mere fact of the existence of these rude exhibitions' among the Arabs and Egyptians of the present day is of no weight when the question to be decided is whether the Song of Songs was designed to be so represented, as a simple pastoral drama, or whether the book of Job is a dramatic poem or not. Inasmuch as it represents an action and a progress, it is a drama as truly and really as any poem can be which develops the working of passion and the alter-nations of faith, hope, distrust, triumph and confidence and black despair, in the struggle which it depicts the human mind as engaged in while attempting to solve one of the most intricate problems it can be called upon to regard. It is a drama as life is a drama, the most powerful of all tragedies but that it is a dramatic poem, intended to be represented upon a stage, or capable of being so represented, may be confidently denied. One characteristic of Hebrew poetry, not indeed peculiar to it, but shared by it in common with the literature of other nations, is its intensely national and local coloring. The writers were Hebrews of the Hebrews, drawing their inspiration from the mountains and rivers of Palestine, which they have immortalized in their poetic figures, and even while uttering the sublimest and most universal truths never forgetting their own nationality in its narrowest and intensest form. Examples of this remarkable characteristic the Hebrew poets stand thick upon every page of these writings, and in striking contrast with the vague generalizations of the indian philosophic poetry. About one third of the Old Testament is poetry in the Hebrew - a large part of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, besides a great part of the prophets. Fragments of poetry are also found in the historical books. (The form which biblical poetry takes is not of rhyme and metre - the rhythm of quantity in the syllables - as with us, but the rhythm of the thought - there usually being two corresponding members to each distich or verse, which is called a parallelism. To some extent there is verbal rhythm. Sometimes there were alliterations, as in the 119th Psalm, which is divided up into sections, one for each letter of their alphabet, and each of the eight verses in a section begins with the same letter in the Hebrew; and chap. 31, vs. 10-31, of the book of Proverbs is an alphabetical acrostic in praise of "the virtuous woman." The poetry of the Hebrews, in its essential poetic nature, stands in the front rank. It abounds in metaphors and images and in high poetic feeling and fervor. - ED.)

 

 

Pollux

[Castor And Pollux AND POLLUX]

 

 

Polygamy

[Marriage]

 

 

Pomegranate

The pomegranate tree, Punicu granatum, derives its name from the Latin pomum granatum, "grained apple." The Romans gave it the name of Punica, as the tree was introduced from Carthage. It belongs to the natural order Myrtaceae (Myrtle), being, however, rather a tall bush than a tree, The foliage is dark green, the flowers are crimson, the fruit, which is about the size of art orange, is red when which in Palestine is about the middle of October. It contains a quantity of juice. Mention is made in (Song of Solomon 8:2) of spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate. The rind is used in the manufacture of morocco leather, and together with the bark is sometimes used medicinally. Mr. Royle (Kitto's Cyc., art "Rimmon") states that this tree is a native of Asia and is to be traced from Syria through Persia, even to the mountains of northern India. The pomegranate was early cultivated in Egypt; hence the complaint of the Israelites in the wilderness of Zin, (Numbers 20:5) this "is no place of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates." Carved figures of the pomegranate adorned the tops of the pillars in Solomon's temple, (1 Kings 7:18,20) etc.; and worked representations of this fruit, in blue, purple and scarlet, ornamented the hem of the robe of the ephod. (Exodus 28:33,34)

 

 

Pommels

only in (2 Chronicles 4:12,13) In (1 Kings 7:41) "bowls." The word signifies convex projections belonging to the capitals of pillars.

 

 

Pond

The ponds of Egypt, (Exodus 7:19; 13:5) were doubtless water left by the inundation of the Nile. Ponds for fish mentioned in (Isaiah 19:10)

 

 

Pontius Pilate

[Pilate]

 

 

Pontus

a large district in the north of Asia Minor, extending along the coast of the Pontus Euxinus Sea (Pontus), from which circumstance the name was derived. It corresponds nearly to the modern Trebizond. It is three times mentioned in the New Testament - (Acts 2:9; 18:2; 1 Peter 1:1) All these passages agree in showing that there were many Jewish residents in the district. As to the annals of Pontus, the one brilliant passage of its history is the life of the great Mithridates. Under Nero the whole region was made of Roman province, bearing the name of Pontus. It was conquered by the Turks in A.D. 1461, and is still under their dominion.

 

 

Pool

Pools, like the tanks of India, are in many parts of Palestine and Syria the only resource for water during the dry season, and the failure of them involves drought and calamity. (Isaiah 42:15) Of the various pools mentioned in Scripture, perhaps the most celebrated are the pools of Solomon near Bethlehem called by the Arabs el-Burak, from which an aqueduct was carried which still supplies Jerusalem with wafer. (Ecclesiastes 2:6) Ecclus. 24:30, 31.

 

 

Poor

The general kindly spirit of the law toward the poor is sufficiently shown by such passages as (15:7) for the reason that (ver. 11) "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Among the special enactments in their favor the following must be mentioned:

• The right of gleaning. (Leviticus 19:9,10; 24:19,21)


• From the produce of the land in sabbatical years the poor and the stranger were to have their portion. (Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 25:6)


• Re-entry upon land in the jubilee year, with the limitation as to town homes. (Leviticus 25:25-30)


• Prohibition of usury and of retention of pledges. (Exodus 22:25-27; Leviticus 25:3,5,37) etc.


• Permanent bondage forbidden, and manumission of Hebrew bondmen or bondwomen enjoined in the sabbatical and jubilee years. (Leviticus 25:39-42,47-54; 15:12-15)


• Portions from the tithes to be shared by the poor after the Levites. (14:28; 26:12,13)


• The poor to partake in entertainments at the feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles. (16:11,14) see Nehe 8:10


• Daily payment of wages. (Leviticus 19:13) Principles similar to those laid down by Moses are inculcated in the New Testament, as (Luke 3:11; 14:13; Acts 6:1; Galatians 2:10; James 2:15)

 

 

Poplar

This is the rendering of the Hebrew word libneh, which occurs in (Genesis 30:37) and Hose 4:13 Several authorities are in favor of the rendering of the Authorized Version and think that "white poplar" (Populus alba) is the tree denoted: others understand the "storax tree" (Styrax officinale, Linn.). Both poplars and storax or styrax trees are common in Palestine, and either would suit the passages where the Hebrew term occurs. Storax is mentioned in Ecclus. 24:15, together with other aromatic substances. The Styrax officinale is a shrub from nine to twelve feet high, with ovate leaves, which are white underneath; the flowers are in racemes, and are white or cream-colored.

 

 

Poratha

one of the ten sons of Haman slain by the Jews in Shushan the palace. (Esther 9:8)

 

 

Porch

• Ulam, or ulam . (1 Chronicles 28:11)


• Misderon ulam, (Judges 3:23) strictly a vestibule, was probably a sort of veranda chamber in the works of Solomon, open in front and at the sides, but capable of being enclosed with awnings or curtains. The porch, (Matthew 26:71) may have been the passage from the street into the first court of the house, in which, in eastern houses, is the mastabah or stone bench, for the porter or persons waiting, and where also the master of the house often receives visitors and transacts business.

 

 

Porcius Festus

[Festus, Porcius]

 

 

Porter

This word when used in the Authorized Version does not bear its modern signification of a carrier of burdens, but denotes in every case a gate-keeper, from the Latin portarius, the man who attended to the porta or gate.

 

 

Possession

[Demoniacs]

 

 

Post

• Probably, as Gesenius argues, the door-case of a door, including the lintel and side posts. The posts of the doors of the temple were of olive wood. (1 Kings 6:33)


• A courier or carrier of messages, used among other places in (Job 9:25)

 

 

Pot

The term "pot" is applicable to so many sorts of vessels that it can scarcely be restricted to any one in particular.

• Asuc (2 Kings 4:2) the earthen jar, deep and narrow, without handles, probably like the Roman and Egyptian amphora, inserted in a stand of wood or stone.


• Cheres, an earthen vessel for stewing or seething. (Leviticus 6:28; Ezekiel 4:9)


• Dud, a vessel for culinary purposes, perhaps of smaller size. (1 Samuel 2:14) The "pots" set before the Rachabites, (Jeremiah 35:5) were probably bulging jars or bowls. The water-pots of Cana appear to have been large amphorae, such as are in use at the present day in Syria. These were of stone or hard earthenware. The water-pot of the Samaritan woman may have been a leathern bucket, such as Bedouin women use.

 

 

Potiphar

an Egyptian name, also written Potipherah, signifies belonging to the sun . Potiphar. with whom the history of Joseph is connected is described as an officer of Pharaoh chief of the executioners, an Egyptian." (Genesis 39:1) comp. Genesis37:36 (B.C. 1728.) He appears to have been a wealthy man. (Genesis 39:4-6) The view we have of Potiphar's household is exactly in accordance with the representations on the monuments. When Joseph was accused, his master contented himself with casting him into prison. (Genesis 39:19,20) After this we hear no more of Potiphar. [Joseph]

 

 

Potipherah, Or Potipherah

was priest or prince of On, and his daughter Asenath was given Joseph to wife by Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:45,50; 46:20) (B.C. 1715.)

 

 

Potsherd

also in Authorized Version "sherd," a broken piece of earthenware. (Proverbs 26:23)

 

 

Pottage

[Lentils]

 

 

Potters Field, The

a piece of ground which, according to the statement of St. Matthew, (Matthew 27:7) was purchased by the Priests with the thirty pieces of silver rejected by Judas, and converted into a burial-place for Jews not belonging to the city. [Aceldama]

 

 

Pottery

The art of pottery is one of the most common and most ancient of all manufactures. It is abundantly evident, both that the Hebrews used earthenware vessels in the wilderness and that the potter's trade was afterward carried on in Palestine. They had themselves been concerned in the potter's trade in Egypt, (Psalms 81:6) and the wall-paintings minutely illustrate the Egyptian process. The clay, when dug, was trodden by men's feet so as to form a paste, (Isaiah 41:25) Wisd. 15:7; then placed by the potter on the wheel beside which he sat, and shaped by him with his hands. How early the wheel came into use in Palestine is not known, but it seems likely that it was adopted from Egypt. (Isaiah 45:9; Jeremiah 15:3) The vessel was then smoothed and coated with a glaze, and finally burnt in a furnace. There was at Jerusalem a royal establishment of potters, (1 Chronicles 4:23) from whose employment, and from the fragments cast away in the process, the Potter's Field perhaps received its name. (Isaiah 30:11)

 

 

Pound

• A weight. [See Weights And Measures AND Measures]


• A sum of money put in the Old Testament, (1 Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69; Nehemiah 7:71) for the Hebrew maneh, worth in silver about . In the parable of the ten pounds, (Luke 19:12-27) the reference appears to be to a Greek pound, a weight used as a money of account, of which sixty went to the talent. It was worth to .

 

 

Praetorium

(in the Revised Version translated palace,) (Matthew 27:27; John 18:28,33; 19:3) the headquarters of the Roman military governor, wherever he happened to be. In time of peace some one of the best buildings of the city which, was the residence of the proconsul or praetor, was selected for this purpose. Thus at Caesarea that of Herod the Great was occupied by Felix, (Acts 23:35) and at Jerusalem the new palace erected by the same prince was the residence of Pilate. After the Roman power was established in Judea, a Roman guard was always maintained in the Antonia. The praetorian camp at Rome, to which St. Paul refers, (Philemon 1:13) was erected by the emperor Tiberius, acting under the advice of Sejanus. It stood outside the walls, at some distance short of the fourth milestone. St. Paul appears to have been permitted, for the space of two years, to lodge, so to speak, "within the rules" of the praetorium, (Acts 28:30) Although still under the custody of a soldier.

 

 

Praltite, The

Helez "the Paltite" is named in (2 Samuel 23:26) among David's mighty men. (B.C. 1015.)

 

 

Prayer

The object of this article will be to touch briefly on -

• The doctrine of Scripture as to the nature and efficacy of prayer;


• Its directions as to time, place and manner of prayer;


• Its types and examples of prayer.


• Scripture does not give any theoretical explanation of the mystery which attaches to prayer. The difficulty of understanding real efficacy arises chiefly from two sources: from the belief that man lives under general laws, which in all cases must be fulfilled unalterably; and the opposing belief that he is master of his own destiny, and need pray for no external blessing. Now, Scripture, while, by the doctrine of spiritual influence it entirely disposes of the latter difficulty, does not so entirely solve that part of the mystery which depends on the nature of God. It places it clearly before us, and emphasizes most strongly those doctrines on which the difficulty turns. Yet while this is so, on the other hand the instinct of prayer is solemnly sanctioned and enforced on every page. Not only is its subjective effect asserted, but its real objective efficacy, as a means appointed by God for obtaining blessing, is both implied and expressed in the plainest terms. Thus, as usual in the case of such mysteries, the two apparently opposite truths are emphasized, because they are needful: to man's conception of his relation to God; their reconcilement is not, perhaps cannot be, fully revealed. For, in fact, it is involved in that inscrutable mystery which attends on the conception of any free action of man as necessary for the working out of the general laws of God's unchangeable will. At the same time it is clearly implied that such a reconcilement exists, and that all the apparently isolated and independent exertions of man's spirit in prayer are in some way perfectly subordinated to the one supreme will of God, so as to form a part of his scheme of providence. It is also implied that the key to the mystery lies in the fact of man's spiritual unity with God in Christ, and of the consequent gift of the Holy Spirit. So also is it said of the spiritual influence of the Holy Ghost on each individual mind that while "we know not what to pray for, "the indwelling" Spirit makes intercession for the saints, according to the will of God." (Romans 8:26,27) Here, as probably in still other cases, the action of the Holy Spirit on the soul is to free agents what the laws of nature are to things inanimate, and is the power which harmonizes free individual action with the universal will of God.


• There are no directions as to prayer given in the Mosaic law: the duty is rather taken for granted, as an adjunct to sacrifice, than enforced or elaborated. It is hardly conceivable that, even from the beginning public prayer did not follow every public sacrifice. Such a practice is alluded to in (Luke 1:10) as common; and in one instance, at the offering of the first-fruits, it was ordained in a striking form. (26:12-15) In later times it certainly grew into a regular service both in the temple and in the synagogue. But, besides this public prayer, it was the custom of all at Jerusalem to go up to the temple, at regular hours if possible, for private prayer, see (Luke 18:10; Acts 3:1) and those who were absent were wont to "open their windows toward Jerusalem," and pray "toward" the place of God's presence. (1 Kings 8:46-49; Psalms 5:7; 28:2; 138:2; Daniel 6:10) The regular hours of prayer seem to have been three (see) (Psalms 55:17; Daniel 6:10) "the evening," that is the ninth hour (Acts 3:1; 10:3) the hour of the evening sacrifice, (Daniel 9:21) the "morning," that is, the third hour (Acts 2:15) that of the morning sacrifice; and the sixth hour, or "noonday." Grace before meat would seem to have been a common practice. See (Matthew 15:36; Acts 27:35) The posture of prayer among the Jews seems to have been most often standing, (1 Samuel 1:26; Matthew 6:5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11) unless the prayer were offered with especial solemnity and humiliation, which was naturally expressed by kneeling, (1 Kings 8:54) comp. 2Chr 6:13; Ezra 9:5; Psal 95:8; Dani 6:10 Or prostration. (Joshua 7:6; 1 Kings 18:42; Nehemiah 8:6)


• The only form of prayer given for perpetual use in the Old Testament is the one in (26:5-15) connected with the offering of tithes and first-fruits, and containing in simple form the important elements of prayer, acknowledgment of God's mercy, self-dedication and prayer for future blessing. To this may perhaps be added the threefold blessing of (Numbers 6:24-26) couched as it is in a precatory form, and the short prayer of Moses, (Numbers 10:35,36) at the moving and resting of the cloud the former of which was the germ of the 68th Psalm. But of the prayers recorded in the Old Testament the two most remarkable are those of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, (1 Kings 8:23-58) and of Joshua the high priest, and his colleagues, after the captivity. (Nehemiah 9:5-38) It appears from the question of the disciples in (Luke 11:1) and from Jewish tradition, that the chief teachers of the day gave special forms of prayer to their disciples as the badge of their discipleship and the best fruits of their learning. All Christian prayer is, of course, based on the Lord's Prayer; but its spirit is also guided by that of his prayer in Gethsemane and of the prayer recorded by St. John, (John 17:1) ... the beginning of Christ's great work of intercession. The influence of these prayers is more distinctly traced in the prayers contained in the epistles, see (Romans 16:25-27; Ephesians 3:14-21; Philemon 1:3-11; Colossians 1:9-15; Hebrews 13:20,21; 1 Peter 5:10,11) etc., than in those recorded in the Acts. The public prayer probably in the first instance took much of its form and style from the prayers of the synagogues. In the record on prayer accepted and granted by God, we observe, as always, a special adaptation to the period of his dispensation to which they belong. In the patriarchal period, they have the simple and childlike tone of domestic application for the ordinary and apparently trivial incidents of domestic life. In the Mosaic period they assume a more solemn tone and a national bearing, chiefly that of direct intercession for the chosen people. More rarely are they for individuals. A special class are those which precede and refer to the exercise of miraculous power. In the New Testament they have a more directly spiritual hearing. It would seem the intention of Holy Scripture to encourage all prayer more especially intercession, in all relations and for all righteous objects.

 

 

Presents

[Gift]

 

 

President

(sarac or sareca, only used (Daniel 6:1) ... the Chaldee equivalent for Hebrew shter, probably from sara, Zend. a "head"), a high officer in the Persian court, a chief, a president, used of the three highest ministers.

 

 

Priest

The English word is derived from the Greek presbyter, signifying an "elder" (Heb. cohen). Origin. - The idea of a priesthood connects itself in all its forms, pure or corrupted, with the consciousness, more or less distinct of sin. Men feel that they have broken a law. The power above them is holier than they are, and they dare not approach it. They crave for the intervention of some one of whom they can think as likely to be more acceptable than themselves. He must offer up their prayers, thanksgivings, sacrifices. He becomes their representative in "things pertaining unto God." He may become also (though this does not always follow) the representative of God to man. The functions of the priest and prophet may exist in the same person. No trace of a hereditary or caste priesthood meets us in the worship of the patriarchal age. Once and once only does the word cohen meet us as belonging to a ritual earlier than the time of Abraham. Melchizedek is "the priest of the most high God." (Genesis 14:18) In the worship of the patriarchs themselves, the chief of the family, as such, acted as the priest. The office descended with the birthright, and might apparently he transferred with it. When established. - The priesthood was first established in the family of Aaron, and all the sons of Aaron were priests. They stood between the high priest on the one hand and the Levites on the other. [HIGH PRIEST; LEVITES] The ceremony of their consecration is described in HIGH PRIEST - 1986 (Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 8:1) ... Dress. - The dress which the priests wore during their ministrations consisted of linen drawers, with a close-fitting cassock, also of linen, white, but with a diamond or chess-board pattern on it. This came nearly to the feet, and was to be worn in its garment shape. Comp. (John 19:23) The white cassock was gathered round the body with a girdle of needle work, in which, as in the more gorgeous belt of the high priest, blue, purple and scarlet were intermingled with white, and worked in the form of flowers. (Exodus 28:39,40; 39:2; Ezekiel 44:17-19) Upon their heads the were to wear caps or bonnets in the form of a cup-shaped flower, also of fine linen. In all their acts of ministration they were to be bare footed. Duties . - The chief duties of the priests were to watch over the fire on the altar of burnt offering, and to keep it burning evermore both by day and night, (Leviticus 6:12; 2 Chronicles 13:11) to feed the golden lamp outside the vail with oil (Exodus 27:20,21; Leviticus 24:2) to offer the morning and evening sacrifices, each accompanied with a meet offering and a drink offering, at the door of the tabernacle. (Exodus 29:38-44) They were also to teach the children of Israel the statutes of the Lord. (Leviticus 10:11; 33:10; 2 Chronicles 15:3; Ezekiel 44:23,24) During the journeys in the wilderness it belonged to them to cover the ark and all the vessels of the sanctuary with a purple or scarlet cloth before the Levites might approach them. (Numbers 4:5-15) As the people started on each days march they were to blow "an alarm" with long silver trumpets. (Numbers 10:1-8) Other instruments of music might be used by the more highly-trained Levites and the schools of the prophets, but the trumpets belonged only to the priests, The presence of the priests on the held of battle, (1 Chronicles 12:23,27; 2 Chronicles 20:21,22) led, in the later periods of Jewish history, to the special appointment at such times of a war priest. Other functions were hinted at in Deuteronomy which might have given them greater influence as the educators and civilizers of the people. They were to act (whether individually or collectively does not distinctly appear) as a court of appeal in the more difficult controversies in criminal or civil cases. (17:8-13) It must remain doubtful however how far this order kept its ground during the storms and changes that followed, Functions such as these were clearly incompatible with the common activities of men. Provision for support . - This consisted -

• Of one tenth of the tithes which the people paid to the Levites, i.e. one per cent on the whole produce of the country. (Numbers 18:26-28)


• Of a special tithe every third year. (14:28; 26:12)


• Of the redemption money, paid at the fixed rate of five shekels a head, for the first-born of man or beast. (Numbers 18:14-19)


• Of the redemption money paid in like manner for men or things specially dedicated to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:5)


• Of spoil, captives, cattle and the like, taken in war. (Numbers 31:25-47)


• Of the shew-bread, the flesh of the burnt offerings, peace offerings, trespass offerings, (Leviticus 6:26,29; 7:6-10; Numbers 18:8-14) and in particular the heave-shoulder and the wave-breast. (Leviticus 10:12-15)


• Of an undefined amount of the firstfruits of corn, wine and oil. (Exodus 23:19; Leviticus 2:14; 26:1-10)


• On their settlement in Canaan the priestly families had thirteen cities assigned them, with "suburbs" or pasture-grounds for their flocks. (Joshua 21:13-19) These provisions were obviously intended to secure the religion of Israel against the dangers of a caste of pauper priests, needy and dependent, and unable to bear their witness to the true faith. They were, on the other hand as far as possible removed from the condition of a wealthy order. Coarses . - The priesthood was divided into four and twenty "courses" or orders, (1 Chronicles 24:1-19; 2 Chronicles 23:8; Luke 1:5) each of which was to serve in rotation for one week, while the further assignment of special services during the week was determined by lot. (Luke 1:9) Each course appears to have commenced its work on the Sabbath, the outgoing priests taking the morning sacrifice, and leaving that of the evening to their successors. (2 Chronicles 23:8) Numbers - If we may accept the numbers given by Jewish writers as at all trustworthy, the proportion of the priesthood population of Palestine during the last century of their existence as an order, must have been far greater than that of the clergy has ever been in any Christian nation. Over and above those that were scattered in the country and took their turn there were not fewer than 24,000 stationed permanently at Jerusalem,and 12,000 at Jericho. It was almost inevitable that the great mass of the order, under such circumstances, should sink in character and reputation. The reigns of the two kings David and Solomon were the culminating period of the glory of the Jewish priesthood. It will be interesting to bring together the few facts that indicate the position of the priests in the New Testament period of their history. The number scattered throughout Palestine was, as has been stated, very large. Of these the greater number were poor and ignorant. The priestly order, like the nation, was divided between contending sects. In the scenes of the last tragedy of Jewish history the order passes away without honor, "dying as a fool dieth." The high priesthood is given to the lowest and vilest of the adherents of the frenzied Zealots. Other priests appear as deserting to the enemy. The destruction of Jerusalem deprived the order at one blow of all but an honorary distinction.

 

 

Prince, Princess

The only special uses of the word "prince" are -

• "Princes of provinces" (1 Kings 20:14) who were probably local governors or magistrates.


• The "princes" mentioned in (Daniel 6:1) (see Esth 1:1) wore the predecessors of the satraps of Darius Hystaspes. The word princess is seldom used in the Bible, but the persons to which it alludes - "daughters of kings" are frequently mentioned.

 

 

Principality

In several passages of the New Testament the term "principalities and powers" appears to denote different orders of angels,good or bad. See (Ephesians 6:12)

 

 

Prisca

(ancient), (2 Timothy 4:19) or Priscil'la (a diminutive from Prisca), the wife of Aquila. [Aquila] To what has been said elsewhere under the head of Aquila the following may be added: We find that the name of the wife is placed before that of the husband in (Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19) and (according to some of the best MSS.) in (Acts 18:26) Hence we should be disposed to conclude that Priscilla was the more energetic character of the two. In fact we may say that Priscilla is the example of what the married woman may do for the general service of the Church, in conJunction with home duties, as Phoebe is the type of the unmarried servant of the Church, or deaconess.

 

 

Prison

[For imprisonment as a punishment, see Punishments] It is plain that in Egypt special places were used as prisons, and that they were under the custody of a military officer. (Genesis 40:3; 42:17) During the wandering in the desert we read on two occasions of confinement "in ward" - (Leviticus 24:12; Numbers 15:34) but as imprisonment was not directed by the law, so we hear of none till the time of the kings, when the prison appears as an appendage to the palace, or a special part of it. (1 Kings 22:27) Private houses were sometimes used as places of confinement. By the Romans the tower of Antoni, was used as a prison at Jerusalem, (Acts 23:10) and at Caesarea the praetorium of Herod. The royal prisons In those days were doubtless managed after the Roman fashion, and chains, fetters and stocks were used as means of confinement. See (Acts 16:24) One of the readiest places for confinement was a dry or partially-dry wall or pit. (Jeremiah 35:6-11)

 

 

Prochorus

(leader of the chorus), one of the seven deacons, being the third of the list, and named next after Stephen and Philip. (Acts 6:5)

 

 

Proconsul

(for, or in place of, the consul). At the division of the provinces by Augustus, in the year B.C. 27, into senatorial and imperial, the emperor assigned to the senate such portions of territory as were peaceable and could be held without force of arms. Those which he retained were called imperial, and were governed by legates and procurators . [Procurator] Over the senatorial provinces the senate appointed by lot yearly an officer, who was called "proconsul" and who exercised purely proconsul, civil functions. The provinces were in consequence called "proconsular."

 

 

Procurator

The Greek agemon, rendered "governor" in the Authorized Version, is applied in the New Testament to the officer who presided over the imperial province of Judea. It is used of Pontius Pilate, (Matthew 27:1) ... of Felix, Acts 23, 24, and of Festus. (Acts 26:30) It is explained under Proconsul that after the battle of Actium, B.C. 27, the provinces of the Roman empire were divided by Augustus into two portions, giving some to the senate and reserving to himself the rest. The imperial provinces were administered by legali . No quaestor came into the emperor's provinces, but the property and revenues of the imperial treasury were administered by procuratores. Sometimes a province was governed by a procurator with the functions of a legatus. This was especially the case with the smaller provinces an the outlying districts of a larger province; and such is the relation in which Judea stood to Syria. The headquarters of the procurator were at Caesarea, (Acts 23:23) where he had a judgment seat, (Acts 25:6) in the audience chamber, (Acts 25:23) and was assisted by a council (Acts 25:12) whom he consulted in cases of difficulty. He was attended by a cohort as body-guard, (Matthew 27:27) and apparently went up to Jerusalem at the time of the high festivals, and there resided at the palace of Herod, in which was the praetorium or "judgment hall." (Matthew 27:27; Mark 15:16) comp. Acts 23:35

 

 

Prophet

The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is nabi, derived from a verb signifying "to bubble forth" like a fountain; hence the word means one who announces or pours forth the declarations of God. The English word comes from the Greek prophetes (profetes), which signifies in classical Greek one who speaks for another, especially one who speaks for a god, and so interprets his will to man; hence its essential meaning is "an interpreter." The use of the word in its modern sense as "one who predicts" is post-classical. The larger sense of interpretation has not, however, been lost. In fact the English word ways been used in a closer sense. The different meanings or shades of meanings in which the abstract noun is employed in Scripture have been drawn out by Locke as follows: "Prophecy comprehends three things: prediction; singing by the dictate of the Spirit; and understanding and explaining the mysterious, hidden sense of Scripture by an immediate illumination and motion of the Spirit." Order and office . - The sacerdotal order was originally the instrument by which the members of the Jewish theocracy were taught and governed in things spiritual. Teaching by act and teaching by word were alike their task. But during the time of the judges, the priesthood sank into a state of degeneracy, and the people were no longer affected by the acted lessons of the ceremonial service. They required less enigmatic warnings and exhortations, under these circumstances a new moral power was evoked the Prophetic Order. Samuel himself Levite of the family of Kohath, (1 Chronicles 6:28) and almost certainly a priest, was the instrument used at once for effecting a reform in the sacerdotal order (1 Chronicles 9:22) and for giving to the prophets a position of importance which they had never before held. Nevertheless it is not to be supposed that Samuel created the prophetic order as a new thing before unknown. The germs both of the prophetic and of the regal order are found in the law as given to the Israelites by Moses, (13:1; 18:20; 17:18) but they were not yet developed, because there was not yet the demand for them. Samuel took measures to make his work of restoration permanent as well as effective for the moment. For this purpose he instituted companies or colleges of prophets. One we find in his lifetime at Ramah, (1 Samuel 19:19,20) others afterward at Bethel, (2 Kings 2:3) Jericho, (2 Kings 2:2,5) Gilgal; (2 Kings 4:38) and elsewhere. (2 Kings 6:1) Their constitution and object similar to those of theological colleges. Into them were gathered promising students, and here they were trained for the office which they were afterward destined to fulfill. So successful were these institutions that from the time of Samuel to the closing of the canon of the Old Testament there seems never to have been wanting due supply of men to keep up the line of official prophets. Their chief subject of study was, no doubt, the law and its interpretation; oral, as distinct from symbolical, teaching being thenceforward tacitly transferred from the priestly to the prophetic order. Subsidiary subjects of instruction were music and sacred poetry, both of which had been connected with prophecy from the time of Moses (Exodus 15:20) and the judges. (Judges 4:4; 5:1) But to belong to the prophetic order and to possess the prophetic gift are not convertible terms. Generally, the inspired prophet came from the college of prophets, and belonged to prophetic order; but this was not always the case. Thus Amos though called to the prophetic office did not belong to the prophetic order. (Amos 7:14) The sixteen prophets whose books are in the canon have that place of honor because they were endowed with the prophetic gift us well as ordinarily (so far as we know) belonging to the prophetic order. Characteristics . - What then are the characteristics of the sixteen prophets thus called and commissioned and intrusted with the messages of God to his people?

• They were the national poets of Judea.


• They were annalists and historians. A great portion of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Daniel of Jonah, of Haggai, is direct or in direct history.


• They were preachers of patriotism, - their patriotism being founded on the religious motive.


• They were preachers of morals and of spiritual religion. The system of morals put forward by the prophets, if not higher or sterner or purer than that of the law, is more plainly declared, and with greater, because now more needed, vehemence of diction.


• They were extraordinary but yet authorized exponents of the law.


• They held a pastoral or quasi-pastoral office.


• They were a political power in the state.


• But the prophets were something more than national poets and annalists, preachers of patriotism moral teachers, exponents of the law, pastors and politicians. Their most essential characteristic is that they were instruments of revealing God's will to man, as in other ways, so specially by predicting future events, and in particular foretelling the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption effected by him. We have a series of prophecies which are so applicable to the person and earthly life of Jesus Christ as to be thereby shown to have been designed to apply to him. And if they were designed to apply to him, prophetical prediction is proved. Objections have, been urged. We notice only one, vis., vagueness. It has been said that the prophecies are too darkly and vaguely worded to be proved predictive by the events which they are alleged to foretell. But to this might be answered,


• That God never forces men to believe, but that there is such a union of definiteness and vagueness in the prophecies as to enable those who are willing to discover the truth, while the willfully blind are not forcibly constrained to see it.


• That, had the prophecies been couched in the form of direct declarations, their fulfillment would have thereby been rendered impossible or at least capable of frustration.


• That the effect of prophecy would have been far less beneficial to believers, as being less adapted to keep them in a state of constant expectation.


• That the Messiah of revelation could not be so clearly portrayed in his varied character as God and man, as prophet, priest and king, if he had been the mere teacher."


• That the state of the prophets, at the time of receiving the divine revelation, was such as necessarily to make their predictions fragmentary figurative, and abstracted from the relations of time.


• That some portions of the prophecies were intended to be of double application, and some portions to be understood only on their fulfillment, Comp. (John 14:29; Ezekiel 36:33)

 

 

Proselyte

(a stranger, a new comer), the name given by the Jews to foreigners who adopted the Jewish religion. The dispersion of the Jews in foreign countries, which has been spoken of elsewhere [Dispersion, The Jews Of The, THE], enabled them to make many converts to their faith. The converts who were thus attracted joined, with varying strictness, in the worship of the Jews. In Palestine itself, even Roman centurions learned to love the conquered nation built synagogues for them, (Luke 7:5) fasted and prayed, and gave alms after the pattern of the strictest Jews, (Acts 10:2,30) and became preachers of the new faith to the soldiers under them. (Acts 10:7) Such men, drawn by what was best in Judaism were naturally among the readiest receivers of the new truth which rose out of it, and became, in many cases, the nucleus of a Gentile Church. Proselytism had, however, its darker side. The Jews of Palestine were eager to spread their faith by the same weapons as those with which they had defended it. The Idumaeans had the alternative offered them by John Hyrcanus of death, exile or circumcision. The Idumeans were converted in the same way by Aristobulus. Where force was not in their power, they obtained their ends by the most unscrupulous fraud. Those who were most active in proselytizing were precisely those from whose teaching all that was most true and living had departed. The vices of the Jew were engrafted on the vices of the heathen. A repulsive casuistry released the convert from obligations which he had before recognized, while in other things he was bound hand and fool to an unhealthy superstition. It was no wonder that he became "twofold more the child of hell," (Matthew 23:15) than the Pharisees themselves. We find in the Talmud a distinction between proselytes of the gate and proselytes of righteousness,

• The term proselytes of the gate was derived from the frequently occurring description in the law the stranger that is within (Exodus 20:10) etc. Converts of thy gates this class were not bound by circumcision and the other special laws of the Mosaic code. It is doubtful however whether the distinction made in the Talmud ever really existed.


• The proselytes of righteousness, known also as proselytes of the covenant, were perfect Israelites. We learn from the Talmud that, in addition to circumcision, baptism was also required to complete their admission to the faith. The proselyte was placed in a tank or pool up to his neck in water. His teachers, who now acted as his sponsors, repeated the great commandments of the law. The baptism was followed as long as the temple stood, by the offering or corban.

 

 

Proverbs, Book Of

The title of this book in Hebrew is taken from its first word, mashal, which originally meant "a comparison." It is sometimes translated parable, sometimes proverb as here. The superscriptions which are affixed to several portions of the book, in chs. (Proverbs 1:1; 10:1; 25:1) attribute the authorship of those portions to Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. With the exception of the last two chapters, which are distinctly assigned to other author it is probable that the statement of the superscriptions is in the main correct, and that the majority of the proverbs contained in the book were uttered or collected by Solomon. Speaking roughly, the book consists of three main divisions, with two appendices: -

• Chs. 1-9 form a connected didactic Wisdom is praised and the youth exhorted to devote himself to her. This portion is preceded by an introduction and title describing the character and general aim of the book.


• Chs. 10-24 with the title "The Proverbs of Solomon," consist of three parts: (Proverbs 10:1-22; Proverbs 10:16) a collection of single proverbs and detached sentences out of the region of moral teaching and worldly prudence; (Proverbs 22:17-24; Proverbs 22:21) a more connected didactic poem, with an introduction, (Proverbs 22:17-22) which contains precepts of righteousness and prudence; (Proverbs 24:23-34) with the inscription "These also belong to the wise," a collection of unconnected maxims, which serve as an appendix to the preceding. Then follows the third division chs. 25-29, which, according to the superscription, professes to be collection of Solomon's proverbs, consisting of single sentences, which the men of the court of Hezekiah copied out. The first appendix, ch. 30, "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh," is a collection of partly proverbial and partly enigmatical sayings; the second, ch. 31, is divided into two parts, "The words of King Lemuel," vs. 1-6, and an alphabetical acrostic in praise of a virtuous woman, which occupies the rest of the chapter. Who was Agur and who was Jakeh, are questions which have been often asked and never satisfactorily answered. All that can be said of the first is that he was an unknown Hebrew sage, the son of an equally unknown Jakeh, and that he lived after the time of Hezekiah. Lemuel, like Agur, is unknown. It is even uncertain whether he is to be regarded as a real personage, or whether the name is merely symbolical. The Proverbs are frequently quoted or alluded to in the New Testament and the canonicity of the book thereby confirmed. The following is a list of the principal passages: - (Proverbs 1:16) compare Roma 3:10,15 (Proverbs 3:7) compare Roma 12:16 (Proverbs 3:11,12) compare Hebr 12:5,6, see also Reve 3:19 (Proverbs 3:34) compare Jame 4:6 (Proverbs 10:12) compare 1Pet 4:8 (Proverbs 11:31) compare 1Pet 4:18 (Proverbs 17:13) compare Roma 12:17; 1The 5:15; 1Pet 3:9 (Proverbs 17:27) compare Jame 1:19 (Proverbs 20:9) compare 1Joh 1:8 (Proverbs 20:20) compare Matt 15:4; Mark 7:10 (Proverbs 22:8) (LXX.), compare 2Cor 9:7 (Proverbs 25:21,22) compare, Roma 12:20 (Proverbs 26:11) compare, 2Pet 2:22 (Proverbs 27:1) compare, Jame 4:13,14

 

 

Province

• In the Old Testament this word appears in connection with the wars between Ahab and Ben-hadad. (1 Kings 20:14,15,19) The victory of the former is gained chiefly "by the young" probably men of the princes of the provinces the chiefs: of tribes in the Gilead country.


• More commonly the word is used of the divisions of the Chaldean kingdom. (Daniel 2:49; 3:1,30) and the Persian kingdom. (Ezra 2:1; Nehemiah 7:6; Esther 1:1,22; 2:3) etc. In the New Testament we are brought into contact with the administration of the provinces of the Roman empire. The classification of provinces supposed to need military control and therefore placed under the immediate government of the Caesar, and those still belonging theoretically to the republic and administered by the senate, and of the latter again into proconsular and praetorian, is recognized, more or less distinctly, in the Gospels and the Acts. [Proconsul; Procurator] The strategoi of (Acts 16:22) ("magistrates," Authorized Version), on the other hand were the duumviri or praetors of a Roman colony. The right of any Roman citizen to appeal from a provincial governor to the emperor meets us as asserted by St. Paul. (Acts 25:11) In the council of (Acts 25:12) we recognize the assessors who were appointed to take part in the judicial functions of the governor.

 

 

Psalms, Book Of

The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill'im, "Praises;" but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically a praise-hymn. The LXX. entitled them psalmoi or "psalms," i.e., lyrical pieces to be sung to a musical instrument. The Christian Church obviously received the Psalter from the Jews not only as a constituent portion of the sacred volume of Holy Scripture, but also as the liturgical hymn-book which the Jewish Church had regularly used in the temple. Division of the Psalms . - The book contains 150 psalms, and may be divided into five great divisions or books, which must have been originally formed at different periods. Book I. is, by the superscriptions, entirely Davidic nor do we find in it a trace of any but David's authorship. We may well believe that the compilation of the book was also David's work. Book II. appears by the date of its latest psalm, (Psalms 46:1) ... to have been compiled in the reign of King Hezekiah. It would naturally comprise, 1st, several or most of the Levitical psalms anterior to that date; and 2d, the remainder of the psalms of David previously uncompiled. To these latter the collector after properly appending the single psalm of Solomon has affixed the notice that "the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." (Psalms 72:20) Book III., the interest of which centers in the times of Hezekiah stretches out, by its last two psalms, to the reign of Manasseh: it was probably compiled in the reign of Josiah. It contains seventeen psalms, from Psal 73-89 eleven by Asaph, four by the sons of Horah, one (86) by David, and one by Ethan. Book IV. contains the remainder of the psalms up to the date of the captivity, There are seventeen, from Psal 90-106 - one by Moses, two by David, and the rest anonymous. Book V., the psalms of the return, contains forty-four, from Psal 107-180 - fifteen by David, one by Solomon and the rest anonymous. There is nothing to distinguish these two books from each other in respect of outward decoration or arrangement and they may have been compiled together in the days of Nehemiah. Connection of the Psalms with Israelitish history . - The psalm of Moses Psal 90, which is in point of actual date the earliest, faithfully reflects the long, weary wanderings, the multiplied provocations and the consequent punishments of the wilderness. It is, however, with David that Israelitish psalmody may be said virtually to commence. Previous mastery over his harp had probably already prepared the way for his future strains, when the anointing oil of Samuel descended upon him, and he began to drink in special measure, from that day forward, of the Spirit of the Lord. It was then that, victorious at home over the mysterious melancholy of Saul and in the held over the vaunting champion of the Philistine hosts, he sang how from even babes and sucklings God had ordained strength because of his enemies. Psal 8. His next psalms are of a different character; his persecutions at the hands of Saul had commenced. When David's reign has begun, it is still with the most exciting incidents of his history, private or public, that his psalms are mainly associated. There are none to which the period of his reign at Hebron can lay exclusive claim. But after the conquest of Jerusalem his psalmody opened afresh with the solemn removal of the ark to Mount Zion; and in Psal 24-29 which belong together, we have the earliest definite instance of David's systematic composition or arrangement of psalms for public use. Even of those psalms which cannot be referred to any definite occasion, several reflect the general historical circumstances of the times. Thus Psal 9 is a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the land of Israel from its former heathen oppressors. Psal 10 is a prayer for the deliverance of the Church from the highhanded oppression exercised from within. The succeeding psalms dwell on the same theme, the virtual internal heathenism by which the Church of God was weighed clown. So that there remain very few e.g. Psal 15-17,19,32 (with its choral appendage, 23), 37 of which some historical account may not be given. A season of repose near the close of his reign induced David to compose his grand personal thanksgiving for the deliverances of his whole life, Psal 18 the date of which is approximately determined by the place at which it ia inserted in the history. (2 Samuel 22:1) ... It was probably at this period that he finally arranged for the sanctuary service that collection of his psalms which now constitutes the first book of the Psalter. The course of David's reign was not, however, as yet complete. The solemn assembly convened by him for the dedication of the materials of the future temple, 1Chr 28, 29, would naturally call forth a renewal of his best efforts to glorify the God of Israel in psalms; and to this occasion we doubtless owe the great festal hymns, Psal 65-68, containing a large review of the past history, present position and prospective glories of God's chosen people. The supplications of Psal 69, suit best with the renewed distress occasioned by the sedition of Adonijah. Psal 71 to which Psal 70 a fragment of a former psalm, is introductory, forms David's parting strain. Yet that the psalmody of Israel may not seem finally to terminate with hint, the glories of the future are forthwith anticipated by his son in Psal 72. The great prophetical ode, Psal 45, connects itself most readily with the splendors of Jehoshaphat's reign. Psal 42-44, 74 are best assigned to the reign of Ahaz. The reign of Hezekiah is naturally rich in psalmody, Psal 46,73,75,76 connect themselves with the resistance to the supremacy of the Assyrians and the divine destruction of their host. We are now brought to a series of psalms of peculiar interest, springing out of the political and religious history of the,separated ten tribes. In date of actual composition they commence before the times of Hezekiah. The earliest is probably Psal 80 A supplication for the Israelitish people at the time of the Syrian oppression. All these psalms - 80-83 - are referred by their superscriptions to the Levite singers, and thus beer witness to the efforts of the Levites to reconcile the two branches of the chosen nation. The captivity of Manasseh himself proved to be but temporary; but the sentence which his sins had provoked upon Judah and Jerusalem still remained to be executed, and precluded the hope that God's salvation could be revealed till after such an outpouring of his judgments as the nation had never yet known. Labor and sorrow must be the lot of the present generation; through these mercy might occasionally gleam, but the glory which was eventually to be manifested must be for posterity alone. The psalms of Book IV. - bear generally the impress of this feeling. We pass to Book V. Psal 107 is the opening psalm of the return, sung probably at the first feast of tabernacles. Ezra 3 A directly historical character belongs to Psal 120-134, styled in our Authorized Version "Songs of Degrees." Internal evidence refers these to the period when the Jews under Nehemiah were, in the very face of the enemy, repairing the walls of Jerusalem and the title may well signify "songs of goings up upon the walls," the psalms being from their brevity, well adapted to be sung by the workmen and guards while engaged in their respective duties. Psal 139 is a psalm of the new birth of Israel from the womb of the Babylonish captivity, to a life of righteousness; Psal 140-143 may be a picture of the trials to which the unrestored exiles were still exposed in the realms of the Gentiles. Henceforward, as we approach the close of the Psalter, its strains rise in cheerfulness; and it fittingly terminates with Psal 147-150 which were probably sung on the occasion of the thanksgiving procession of Nehe 12, after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem had been completed. Moral characteristics of the Psalms . - Foremost among these meets us, undoubtedly, the universal recourse to communion with God. Connected with this is the faith by which the psalmist everywhere lives in God rather than in himself. It is of the essence of such faith that his view of the perfections of God should be true and vivid. The Psalter describes God as he is: it glows with testimonies to his power and providence, his love and faithfulness, his holiness and righteousness. The Psalms not only set forth the perfections of God; they proclaim also the duty of worshipping him by the acknowledgment and adoration of his perfections. They encourage all outward rites and means of worship. Among these they recognize the ordinance of sacrifice as in expression of the worshipper's consecration of himself to God's service. But not the less do they repudiate the outward rite when separated from that which it was designed to express. Similar depth is observable in the view taken by the psalmists of human sin. In regard to the law, the psalmist, while warmly acknowledging its excellence, feels yet that it cannot so effectually guide his own unassisted exertions as to preserve him from error Psal 19. The Psalms bear repeated testimony to the duty of instructing other in the ways of holiness. Psal 32,34, 51 This brings us to notice, lastly, the faith of the psalmists in righteous recompense to all men according to their deeds. Psal 37, etc. Prophetical character of the Psalms . - The moral struggle between godliness and ungodliness, so vividly depicted in the Psalms, culminates in Holy Scripture, in the life of the Incarnate Son of God upon earth. It only remains to show that the Psalms themselves definitely anticipated this culmination. Now there are in the Psalter at least three psalms of which the interest evidently centers in a person distinct from the speaker, and which, since they cannot without violence to the language be interpreted of any but the Messiah, may be termed directly and exclusively Messianic. We refer to Psal 2,45,110, to which may perhaps be added, Psal 72. It would be strange if these few psalms stood, in their prophetical significance absolutely alone among the rest. And hence the impossibility of viewing the psalms generally, notwithstanding the drapery in which they are outwardly clothed, as simply the past devotions of the historical David or the historical Israel. The national hymns of Israel are indeed also prospective; but in general they anticipate rather the struggles and the triumphs of the Christian Church than those of Christ himself.

 

 

Psaltery

This was a stringed instrument of music to accompany the voice. The Hebrew nabel or nebel is so rendered in the Authorized Version in all passages where if occurs, except in (Isaiah 5:12; 14:11; 22:24), marg.; (Amos 5:23; 6:6) where it is translated viol . The ancient viol was a six-stringed guitar. In the Prayer Book version of the Psalms the Hebrew word is rendered "lute." This instrument resembled the guitar, but was superior in tone, being larger, and having a convex back, somewhat like the vertical section of a gourd, or more nearly resembling that of a pear. These three instruments, the psaltery or sautry, the viol and lute, are frequently associated in the old English poets and were clearly instruments resembling each other though still different. The Greek psalterium (psalterion), from which our word is derived, denotes an instrument played with the fingers instead of a plectrum or quill, the verb being used of twanging the bow-string. It is impossible to say positively with what instrument the nebel of the Hebrew exactly corresponded, From the fact that nebel in Hebrew also signifies a wine-bottle or skin it has been conjectured that the term when applied to a musical instrument denotes a kind of bagpipe. The psalteries of David were made of cypress, (2 Samuel 6:5) those of Solomon of algum Or almug trees. (2 Chronicles 9:11) Among the instruments of the band which played before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image on the plains of Dura, we again meet with the psaltery. (Daniel 3:6,10,15) pesanterin .

 

 

Ptolemaeus, Or Ptolemy

was the common name of the Greek dynasty of Egyptian kings. PTOLEMAEUS I. SOTER, the son of Lagus, a Macedonian of low rank, distinguished himself greatly during the campaigns of Alexander; at whose death he secured for himself the government of Egypt, where he proceeded at once to lay the foundations of a kingdom, B.C. 323. He abdicated in favor of his youngest son, Ptolemy II. Philadelphus, two years before his death which took place in B.C. 283. Ptolemy Soter is described very briefly in Daniel, (Daniel 11:6) as one of those who should receive part of the empire of Alexander when it was "divided toward the four winds of heaven." PTOLEMAEUS II. PHILADELPHUS, B.C. 285-247, the youngest son of Ptolemy I., was made king two years before his father's death, to confirm the irregular succession. The conflict between Egypt and Syria was renewed during his reign in consequence of the intrigue of his half brother Magas. Ptolemy bestowed liberal encouragement on literature and science, founding the great library and museum at Alexandria, and gathered about him many men of learning, as the poet Theocritus, the geometer Euclid and the astronomer Aratua. This reign was a critical epoch for the development of Judaism, as it was for the intellectual history of the ancient world. The critical faculty was called forth in place of the creative, and learning in some sense supplied the place of original speculation. It was impossible on the Jew who was now become us true a citizen of the world as the Greek, should remain passive in the conflict of opinions. It is enough now to observe the greatness of the consequences involved in the union of Greek language with Jewish thought. From this time the Jew was familiarized with the great types of western literature, and in some degree aimed at imitating them. A second time and in new fashion Egypt disciplined a people of God. It first impressed upon a nation the firm unity of a family and then in due time reconnected a matured people with the world from which it had been called out. PTOLEMAEUS III. EUERGETES, B.C. 247-222, was the eldest son of Ptolemy Philadelphus and brother of Berenice the wife of Antiochus II. The repudiation and murder of his sister furnished him with an occasion for invading Syria, cir. B.C. 246. (Daniel 11:7) He extended his conquests as far as Antioch, and then eastward to Babylon, but was recalled to Egypt by tidings of seditions which had broken out there. His success was brilliant and complete. He carried "captives into Egypt their gods of the conquered nations, with their princes and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold." (Daniel 11:8) This capture of sacred trophies earned for the king the name Euergetes - "Benefactor." After his return to Egypt, cir. B.C. 243 he suffered a great part of the conquered provinces to fall again under the power of Seleucus. PTOLEMAEUS IV. PHILOPATOR, B.C. 222-205. After the death of Ptolemy Euergetes the line of the Ptolemies rapidly degenerated. Ptolemy Philopator, his eldest son, who succeeded him, was to the last degree sensual, effeminate and debased. But externally his kingdom retained its power and splendor and when circumstances forced him to action. Ptolemy himself showed ability not unworthy of his race. The description of the campaign of Raphia (B.C. 217) in the book of Daniel gives a vivid description of his character. (Daniel 11:10-12) cf. Macc. 1:1-3. After offering in the temple at Jerusalem sacrifices for the success they achieved, he attempted to enter the sanctuary. A sudden paralysis hindered his design; but when he returned to Alexandria he determined to inflict on the Alexandrine Jews the vengeance for his disappointment. He was succeeded by his only child, Ptolemy V. Epiphanes who was at the time only four or five years old. PTOLEMAEUS V. EPIPHANES, B.C. 205-181. The reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes was a critical epoch in the history of the Jews. The rivalry between the Syrian and Egyptian parties, some time divided the people, came to an open rupture in the struggles which marked his minority. In the strong language of Daniel "The robbers of the people exalted themselves to establish the vision." (Daniel 11:14) The accession of Ptolemy and the confusion of a disputed regency furnished a favorable opportunity for foreign invasion. "Many stood up against the king of the south" under Antiochus the Great and Philip III of Macedonia, who formed a league for the dismemberment of his kingdom. "So the king of the north [Antiochus] came, and cast up a mount, and took the most fenced city [Sidon], and the arms of the south did not withstand" [at Paneas B.C. 198]. (Daniel 11:14,15) The Romans interfered, and in order to retain the provinces of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia and Judea, Antiochus "gave him [Ptolemy] a young maiden" [his daughter Cleopatra as his betrothed wife]. (Daniel 11:27) But in the end his policy only partially succeeded. After the marriage of Ptolemy and Cleopatra was consummated B.C. 193, (Cleopatra, did "not stand on his side," but supported her husband in maintaining the alliance with Rome. The disputed provinces, however remained in the possession of Antiochus and Ptolemy was poisoned at the time when he was preparing an expedition to recover them from Seleucus, the unworthy successor of Antiochus. PTOLEMAEUS VI. PHILOMETOR, B.C. 181-145. On the death of Ptolemy Epiphanes, his wife Cleopatra held the regency for her young son, Ptolemy Philometor, and preserved peace with Syria till she died, B.C. 173. The government then fell into unworthy hands, and an attempt was made to recover Syria. Comp. 2 Macc. 4:21. Antiochus Epiphanes seems to have made the claim a pretext for invading Egypt. The generals of Ptolemy were defeated near Pelusium, probably at the close of B.C. 171, 1 Macc. 1:16 ff; and in the next year Antiochus, having secured the person of the young king, reduced almost the whole of Egypt. Comp. 2 Macc. 5:1. Meanwhile Ptolemy Euergetes II., the younger brother of Ptolemy Philometor, assumed the supreme power at Alexandris; and Antiochus, under the pretext of recovering the crown for Philometor, besieged Alexandria in B.C. 169. By this time, however, his selfish designs were apparent: the brothers were reconciled, and Antiochus was obliged to acquiesce for the time in the arrangement which they made. But while doing so he prepared for another invasion of Egypt, and was already approaching Alexandria when he was met by the Roman embassy led by C. Popillius Laenas, who, in the name of the Roman senate insisted on his immediate retreat (B.C.168), a command which the late victory at Pydna made it impossible to disobey. These campaigns, which are intimately connected with the visits of Antiochus to Jerusalem in B.C. 170, 168, are briefly described in (Daniel 11:25,30) The whole of Syria was afterward subdued by Ptolemy, and he was crowned at Antioch king of Egypt and Asia. 1 Macc. 11:13. Alexander, a rival claimant, attempted to secure the crown, but was defeated and afterward put to death by Ptolemy. But the latter did not long enjoy his success. He fell from his horse in the battle and died within a few days. 1 Macc. 11:18. Ptolemy Philometor is the last king of Egypt who is noticed in sacred history, and his reign was marked also by the erection of the temple at Leontopolis.

 

 

Ptolemais

[Accho]

 

 

Ptolemee, Or Ptolemeus

• "The son of Dorymenes," 1 Macc. 3:38; 2 Macc. 4:45; comp. Polyb. v, 61, a courtier who possessed great influence with Antiochus Epiphanes.


• The son of Agesarchus, a Megalopolitan, surnamed Macron, 2 Macc. 10:12, who was governor of Cyprus during the minority of Ptolemy Philometor. He afterward deserted the Egyptian service to join Antiochus Epiphanes. He stood in the favor of Antiochus, and received from him the government of Phoenicia and Coele-Syria. 2 Macc 8:8; 10:11,12. On the accession of Antiochus Eupator his conciliatory policy toward the Jews brought him into suspicion at court. He was deprived of his government, and in consequence of this disgrace he poisoned himself, cir. B.C. 164. 2 Macc. 10:13.


• The son of Abuhus, who married the daughter of Simon the Maccabee. He was a man of great wealth, and being invested with the government of the district of Jericho, formed the design of usurping the sovereignty of Judea.

 

 

Pua

properly Puvvah. Phuvah the son of Issachar. (Numbers 26:23) (B.C. 1452.)

 

 

Puah

(splendid).

• The father of Tola, a man of the tribe of Issachar and judge of Israel after Abimelech. (Judges 10:1) (B.C. 1211.)


• The son of Issachar, (1 Chronicles 7:1) elsewhere called Phuvah and Pua.


• One of the two midwives to whom Pharaoh gave instructions to kill the Hebrew male children at their birth. (Exodus 1:15) (B.C. 1571.)

 

 

Publican

The class designated by this word in the New Testament were employed as collectors of the Roman revenue. The Roman senate farmed the vectigalia (direct taxes) and the portorin (customs) to capitalists who undertook to pay a given sum into the treasury (in publicum), and so received the name of publicani . Contracts of this kind fell naturally into the hands of the equites, as the richest class of Romans. They appointed managers, under whom were the portitores, the actual custom-house officers, who examined each bale of goods, exported or imported, assessed its value more or less arbitrarily, wrote out the ticket, and enforced payment. The latter were commonly natives of the province in which they were stationed as being brought daily into contact with all classes of the population. The name pubicani was used popularly, and in the New Testament exclusively, of the portitores . The system was essentially a vicious one. The portitores were encouraged in the most vexatious or fraudulent exactions and a remedy was all but impossible. They overcharged whenever they had an opportunity, (Luke 3:13) they brought false charges of smuggling in the hope of extorting hush-money (Luke 19:8) they detained and opened letters on mere suspicion. It was the basest of all livelihoods. All this was enough to bring the class into ill favor everywhere. In Judea and Galilee there were special circumstances of aggravation. The employment brought out all the besetting vices of the Jewish character. The strong feeling of many Jews as to the absolute unlawfulness of paying tribute at all made matters worse. The scribes who discussed the question, (Matthew 22:15) for the most part answered it in the negative. In addition to their other faults, accordingly, the publicans of the New Testament were regarded as traitors and apostates, defiled by their frequent intercourse with the heathen, willing tools of the oppressor. The class thus practically excommunicated furnished some of the earliest disciples both of the Baptist and of our Lord. The position of Zacchaeus as a "chief among the publicans," (Luke 19:2) implies a gradation of some kind among the persons thus employed.

 

 

Publius

the chief man - probably the governor-of Melita, who received and lodged St. Paul and his companions on the occasion of their being shipwrecked off that island. (Acts 28:7) (A.D.55.)

 

 

Pudens

(modest), a Christian friend of Timothy at Rome. (2 Timothy 4:21) (A.D. 84.) According to legend he was the host of St. Peter and friend of St. Paul. and was martyred under Nero.

 

 

Puhites, The

According to (1 Chronicles 2:53) the "Puhites" or "Puthites" belonged to the families of Kirjath-jearim.

 

 

Pul

an Assyrian king, and the first Assyrian monarch mentioned in Scripture. He made an expedition against Menahem, king of Israel, about B.C. 770. (2 Kings 15:19)

(lord), a country or nation mentioned in (Isaiah 66:19) It is spoken of with distant nations, and is supposed by some to represent the island Philae in Egypt, and by others Libya.

 

 

Pulse

(seeds) usually means peas, beans and the seeds that grow in pods. In the Authorized Version it occurs only in (Lamentations 1:12,16) as the translation of words the literal meaning of which is "seeds" of any kind. Probably the term denotes uncooked grain of any kind, as barley wheat, millet, vetches, etc.

 

 

Punishments

The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, "blood for blood." Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in Scripture, next to the Fall itself, is that of Cain, the first murderer. That death was regarded as the fitting punishment for murder appears plain from the remark of Lamech. (Genesis 4:24) In the post-diluvian code, if we may so call it, retribution by the hand of man, even in the case of an offending animal, for blood shed, is clearly laid dawn. (Genesis 9:5,6) Passing onward to Mosaic times, we find the sentence of capital punishment, in the case of murder, plainly laid down in the law. The murderer was to be put to death, even if he should have taken refuge at God's altar or in a refuge city, and the same principle was to be carried out even in the case of an animal. Offences punished with death. - I. The following offences also are mentioned in the law as liable to the punishment of death:

• Striking, or even reviling, a parent. (Exodus 21:15,17)


• Blasphemy. (Leviticus 24:14,16,23)


• Sabbath-breaking. (Exodus 31:14; 35:2; Numbers 15:32-36)


• Witchcraft, and false pretension to prophecy. (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27; 13:5; 18:20)


• Adultery. (Leviticus 20:10; 22:22)


• Unchastity. (Leviticus 21:9; 22:21,23)


• Rape. (22:25)


• Incestuous and unnatural connections. (Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:11,14,16)


• Manstealing. (Exodus 21:16; 24:7)


• Idolatry, actual or virtual, in any shape. (Leviticus 20:2; 13:8,10,15; 17:2-7) see Josh 7:1 ... and Josh 22:20 and Numb 25:8


• False witness in certain cases. (19:16,19) II. But there is a large number of offences, some of them included in this list, which are named in the law as involving the,penalty of "cutting off from the people. On the meaning of this expression some controversy has arisen. There are altogether thirty six or thirty seven cases in the Pentateuch in which this formula is used. We may perhaps conclude that the primary meaning of "cutting off" is a sentence of death to be executed in some cases without remission, but in others voidable - (1) by immediate atonement on the offender's part; (2) by direct interposition of the Almighty i.e., a sentence of death always "regarded," but not always executed. Kinds of punishments . - Punishments are twofold, Capital and Secondary. I. Capital. (A) The following only are prescribed by the law:


• Stoning, which was the ordinary mode of execution. (Exodus 17:4; Luke 20:6; John 10:31; Acts 14:5) In the case of idolatry, and it may be presumed in other cases also, the witnesses, of whom there were to be at least two, were required to cast the first stone. (13:9; Acts 7:58)


• Hanging is mentioned as a distinct punishment. (Numbers 25:4; 2 Samuel 21:6,9)


• Burning, in pre-Mosaic times, was the punishment for unchastity. (Genesis 38:24) Under the law it was ordered in the case of a priest's daughter (Leviticus 21:9)


• Death by the sword or spear is named in the law, (Exodus 19:13; 32:27; Numbers 25:7) and it occurs frequently in regal and post-Babylonian times. (1 Kings 2:25,34; 19:1; 2 Chronicles 21:4) etc.


• Strangling is said by the rabbis to have been regarded as the most common but least severe of the capital punishments, and to have been performed by immersing the convict in clay or mud, and then strangling him by a cloth twisted round the neck. (B) Besides these ordinary capital punishments, we read of others, either of foreign introduction or of an irregular kind. Among the former


• Crucifixion is treated elsewhere.


• Drowning, though not ordered under the law, was practiced at Rome, and is said by St. Jerome to have been in use among the Jews.


• Sawing asunder or crushing beneath iron instruments. (2 Samuel 12:31) and perhaps (Proverbs 20:26; Hebrews 11:37)


• Pounding in a mortar, or beating to death, is alluded to in (Proverbs 27:22) but not as a legal punishment, and cases are described. 2 Macc. 6:28,30.


• Precipitation, attempted in the case of our Lord at Nazareth, and carried out in that of captives from the Edomites, and of St. James, who is said to have been cast from "the pinnacle" of the temple. Criminals executed by law were burned outside the city gates, and heaps of stones were flung upon their graves. (Joshua 7:25,26; 2 Samuel 18:17; Jeremiah 22:19) II. Of secondary punishments among the Jews, the original Principles were,


• Retaliation, "eye for eye," etc. (Exodus 21:24,25)


• Compensation, Identical (restitution)or analogous payment for loss of time or of power. (Exodus 21:18-36; Leviticus 24:18-21; 19:21) Slander against a wife's honor was to be compensated to her parents by a fine of one hundred shekels, and the traducer himself to be punished with stripes (22:18,19)


• Stripes, whose number was not to exceed forty, (25:3) whence the Jews took care not to exceed thirty-nine. (2 Corinthians 11:24)


• Scourging with thorns is mentioned (Judges 8:16) The stocks are mentioned (Jeremiah 20:2) passing through fire, (2 Samuel 12:31) mutilation, (Judges 1:6) 2 Macc. 7:4, and see (2 Samuel 4:12) plucking out hair, (Isaiah 50:6) in later times, imprisonment and confiscation or exile. (Ezra 7:26; Jeremiah 37:15; 38:6; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:4)

 

 

Punites, The

the descendants of Pua, or Puvah, the son of Issachar. (Numbers 26:23)

 

 

Punon

(darkness) one of the halting-places of the Israelite host during the last portion of the wandering. (Numbers 33:42,43) By Eusebius and Jerome, it is identified with Phaeno, which contained the copper-mines so well known at that period, and was situated between Petra and Zoar.

 

 

Purification

in its legal and technical sense, is applied to the ritual observances whereby an Israelite was formally absolved from the taint of uncleanness. The essence of purification, in all eases, consisted in the use of water, whether by way of ablution or aspersion; but in the majora delicta of legal uncleanness, sacrifices of various kinds were added and the ceremonies throughout bore an expiatory character. Ablution of the person and of the clothes was required in the cases mentioned in (Leviticus 15:18; 11:25,40; 15:18,17) In cases of childbirth the sacrifice was increased to a lamb of the first year, with a pigeon or turtle-dove. (Leviticus 12:8) The ceremonies of purification required in cases of contact with a corpse or a grave are detailed in (Numbers 19:1) ... The purification of the leper was a yet more formal proceeding, and indicated the highest pitch of uncleanness. The rites are described in (Leviticus 14:4-32) The necessity of purification was extended in the post-Babylonian Period to a variety of unauthorized cases. Cups and pots and brazen vessels were washed as a matter of ritual observance. (Mark 7:4) The washing of the hands before meals was conducted in a formal manner. (Mark 7:3) What play have been the specific causes of uncleanness in those who came up to purify themselves before the Passover, (John 11:55) or in those who had taken upon themselves the Nazarites' vow, (Acts 21:24,26) we are not informed. In conclusion it may he observed that the distinctive feature. In the Mosaic rites of purification is their expiatory character. The idea of uncleanness was not peculiar to the Jew; but with all other nations simple ablution sufficed: no sacrifices were demanded. The Jew alone was taught by the use of expiatory offerings to discern to its fullest extent the connection between the outward sign and the inward fount of impurity.

 

 

Purim

(lots), the annual festival instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the massacre with which they were threatened through the machinations of Haman. (Esther 9:1) ... It was probably called Purim by the Jews in irony. Their great enemy Haman appears to have been very superstitious, and much given to casting lots. (Esther 3:7) They gave the name. Purim, or "Lots," to the commemorative festival because he had thrown lots to ascertain what day would be suspicious for him to carry into effect the bloody decree which the king had issued at his instance. (Esther 9:24) The festival lasted two days, and was regularly observed on the 14th and 15th of Adar. According to modern custom, as soon as the stars begin to appear, when the 14th of the month has commenced, candles are lighted up in token of rejoicing, and the people assemble in the synagogue. After a short prayer and thanksgiving, the reading of the book of Esther commences. The book is written in a peculiar manner, on a roll called "the Roll" (Megillah). When the reader comes to the name of Haman, the congregation cry out, "May his name be blotted out," or, "Let the name of the ungodly perish." When the Megillah is read through, the whole congregation exclaim, "Cursed be Haman; blessed be Mordecai; cursed be Zoresh (the wife of Haman); blessed be Esther; cursed be all idolaters; blessed be all Israelites, and blessed be Harbonah who hanged Haman." In the morning service in the synagogue, on the 14th, after the prayers, the passage is read from the law, (Exodus 17:8-16) which relates the destruction of the Amalekites, the people of Agag, (1 Samuel 15:8) the supposed ancestor of Haman. (Esther 3:1) The Megillah is then read again in the same manner. The 14th of Adar, as the very day of the deliverance of the Jews, is more solemnly kept than the 13th; but when the service in the synagogue is over, all give themselves up to merry making.

 

 

Purosh

(flea). The descendants of Parosh, in number 2172, returned front Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:3; Nehemiah 7:8) Another detachment of 150 males, with Zechariah at their head, accompanied Ezra. (Ezra 8:3) They assisted in the building of the well of Jerusalem, (Nehemiah 3:26) and signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:14) (B.C. before 535-445.)

 

 

Purse

a bag for money. The Hebrews, when on a journey, were provided with a bag, in which they carried their money, (Genesis 42:35; Proverbs 1:14; 7:20; Isaiah 46:6) and, if they were merchants, also their weights. (25:13; Micah 6:11) This bag is described in the New Testament by the terms balantion (bag) (Luke 10:4; 12:33; 22:35,38) and glossokomon (originally the bag in which musicians carried the mouth-pieces of their Instruments). (John 12:6; 13:29) The girdle also served as a purse. (Matthew 10:9; Mark 6:8) Ladies wore ornamental purses. (Isaiah 3:24)

 

 

Put

(1 Chronicles 1:8; Nahum 3:9) [Phut, Put]

 

 

Puteoli

(sulphurous springs), the great landing-place of travelers to Italy from the Levant, and the harbor to which the Alexandrian corn-ships brought their cargoes. (Acts 27:13) The celebrated bay which is now the Bay of Naples was then called "Sinus Puteolanus." The city was at the northeastern angle of the bay. The name Puteoli arose from the strong mineral springs which are characteristic of the place. It was a favorite watering-place of the Romans its hot springs being considered efficacious for cure of various diseases. Here also ships usually discharged their passengers and cargoes, partly to avoid doubling the promontory of Circeium and partly because there was no commodious harbor nearer to Rome. Hence the ship in which Paul was conveyed from Melita landed the prisoners at this place, where the apostle stayed a week. (Acts 28:13,14) - Whitney . The associations of Puteoli with historical personages are very numerous. Scipio sailed from this place to Spain; Cicero had a villa in the neighborhood; here Nero planned the murder of his mother; Vespasian gave to this city peculiar privileges; and here Adrian was buried. In the fifth century it was ravaged by both Alaric and Genseric, and it never afterward recovered its former eminence. It is now a fourth-rate Italian town, still retaining the name of Pozzuoli . The remains of Puteoli are worthy of mention. Among them are the aqueduct the reservoirs, portions (probably) of the baths the great amphitheatre and the building called the temple of Serapis. No Roman harbor has left as solid a memorial of itself as this one, at which St. Paul landed in Italy.

 

 

Putiel

One of the daughters of Putiel was wife of Eleazar the son of Aaron, and mother of Phinehas. (Exodus 6:25) (B.C. before 1481.)

 

 

Pygarg

occurs, (14:5) in the list of clean animals as the rendering of the Heb. dishon, the name apparently of one species of antelope, though it is by no means easy to identify it.

 

 

Pyrrhus

the father of Sopater of Berea. (Acts 20:4) in Revised Version. (A.D. 55.)