Eating
The ancient Hebrews would not eat with the Egyptians ( Gen. 43:32 ). In the time of our Lord they would not eat with Samaritans ( John 4:9 ), and were astonished that he ate with publicans and sinners ( Matt. 9:11 ). The Hebrews originally sat at table, but afterwards adopted the Persian and Chaldean practice of reclining ( Luke 7:36-50 ). Their principal meal was at noon ( Gen. 43:16 ; 1 Kings 20:16 ; Ruth 2:14 ; Luke 14:12 ). The word “eat” is used metaphorically in Jer. 15:16 ; Ezek. 3:1 ; Rev. 10:9 . In John 6:53-58 , “eating and drinking” means believing in Christ. Women were never present as guests at meals (q.v.).
Egypt
The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. The Egyptians belonged to the white race, and their original home is still a matter of dispute. Many scholars believe that it was in Southern Arabia, and recent excavations have shown that the valley of the Nile was originally inhabited by a low-class population, perhaps belonging to the Nigritian stock, before the Egyptians of history entered it. The ancient Egyptian language, of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly connected with the Semitic family of speech. Egypt consists geographically of two halves, the northern being the Delta, and the southern Upper Egypt, between Cairo and the First Cataract. In the Old Testament, Northern or Lower Egypt is called Mazor, “the fortified land” ( Isa. 19:6 ; 37 : 25, where the A.V. mistranslates “defence” and “besieged places”); while Southern or Upper Egypt is Pathros, the Egyptian Pa-to-Res, or “the land of the south” ( Isa. 11:11 ). But the whole country is generally mentioned under the dual name of Mizraim, “the two Mazors.” The civilization of Egypt goes back to a very remote antiquity. The two kingdoms of the north and south were united by Menes, the founder of the first historical dynasty of kings. The first six dynasties constitute what is known as the Old Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of Cairo, called in the Old Testament Moph ( Hos. 9:6 ) and Noph. The native name was Mennofer, “the good place.” The Pyramids were tombs of the monarchs of the Old Empire, those of Gizeh being erected in the time of the Fourth Dynasty. After the fall of the Old Empire came a period of decline and obscurity. This was followed by the Middle Empire, the most powerful dynasty of which was the Twelfth. The Fayyum was rescued for agriculture by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty; and two obelisks were erected in front of the temple of the sun-god at On or Heliopolis (near Cairo), one of which is still standing. The capital of the Middle Empire was Thebes, in Upper Egypt. The Middle Empire was overthrown by the invasion of the Hyksos, or shepherd princes from Asia, who ruled over Egypt, more especially in the north, for several centuries, and of whom there were three dynasties of kings. They had their capital at Zoan or Tanis (now San), in the north-eastern part of the Delta. It was in the time of the Hyksos that Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph entered Egypt. The Hyksos were finally expelled about B.C. 1600, by the hereditary princes of Thebes, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and carried the war into Asia. Canaan and Syria were subdued, as well as Cyprus, and the boundaries of the Egyptian Empire were fixed at the Euphrates. The Soudan, which had been conquered by the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, was again annexed to Egypt, and the eldest son of the Pharaoh took the title of “Prince of Cush.” One of the later kings of the dynasty, Amenophis IV., or Khu-n-Aten, endeavoured to supplant the ancient state religion of Egypt by a new faith derived from Asia, which was a sort of pantheistic monotheism, the one supreme god being adored under the image of the solar disk. The attempt led to religious and civil war, and the Pharaoh retreated from Thebes to Central Egypt, where he built a new capital, on the site of the present Tell-el-Amarna. The cuneiform tablets that have been found there represent his foreign correspondence (about B.C. 1400). He surrounded himself with officials and courtiers of Asiatic, and more especially Canaanitish, extraction; but the native party succeeded eventually in overthrowing the government, the capital of Khu-n-Aten was destroyed, and the foreigners were driven out of the country, those that remained being reduced to serfdom. The national triumph was marked by the rise of the Nineteenth Dynasty, in the founder of which, Rameses I., we must see the “new king, who knew not Joseph.” His grandson, Rameses II., reigned sixty-seven years (B.C. 1348-1281), and was an indefatigable builder. As Pithom, excavated by Dr. Naville in 1883, was one of the cities he built, he must have been the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been one of his immediate successors, whose reigns were short. Under them Egypt lost its empire in Asia, and was itself attacked by barbarians from Libya and the north. The Nineteenth Dynasty soon afterwards came to an end; Egypt was distracted by civil war; and for a short time a Canaanite, Arisu, ruled over it. Then came the Twentieth Dynasty, the second Pharaoh of which, Rameses III., restored the power of his country. In one of his campaigns he overran the southern part of Palestine, where the Israelites had not yet settled. They must at the time have been still in the wilderness. But it was during the reign of Rameses III. that Egypt finally lost Gaza and the adjoining cities, which were seized by the Pulista, or Philistines. After Rameses III., Egypt fell into decay. Solomon married the daughter of one of the last kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty, which was overthrown by Shishak I., the general of the Libyan mercenaries, who founded the Twenty-second Dynasty ( 1 Kings 11:40 ; 14:25 , 26 ). A list of the places he captured in Palestine is engraved on the outside of the south wall of the temple of Karnak. In the time of Hezekiah, Egypt was conquered by Ethiopians from the Soudan, who constituted the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The third of them was Tirhakah ( 2 Kings 19:9 ). In B.C. 674 it was conquered by the Assyrians, who divided it into twenty satrapies, and Tirhakah was driven back to his ancestral dominions. Fourteen years later it successfully revolted under Psammetichus I. of Sais, the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Among his successors were Necho ( 2 Kings 23:29 ) and Hophra, or Apries ( Jer. 37:5 , 7 , 11 ). The dynasty came to an end in B.C. 525, when the country was subjugated by Cambyses. Soon afterwards it was organized into a Persian satrapy. The title of Pharaoh, given to the Egyptian kings, is the Egyptian Per-aa, or “Great House,” which may be compared to that of “Sublime Porte.” It is found in very early Egyptian texts. The Egyptian religion was a strange mixture of pantheism and animal worship, the gods being adored in the form of animals. While the educated classes resolved their manifold deities into manifestations of one omnipresent and omnipotent divine power, the lower classes regarded the animals as incarnations of the gods. Under the Old Empire, Ptah, the Creator, the god of Memphis, was at the head of the Pantheon; afterwards Amon, the god of Thebes, took his place. Amon, like most of the other gods, was identified with Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis. The Egyptians believed in a resurrection and future life, as well as in a state of rewards and punishments dependent on our conduct in this world. The judge of the dead was Osiris, who had been slain by Set, the representative of evil, and afterwards restored to life. His death was avenged by his son Horus, whom the Egyptians invoked as their “Redeemer.” Osiris and Horus, along with Isis, formed a trinity, who were regarded as representing the sun-god under different forms. Even in the time of Abraham, Egypt was a flourishing and settled monarchy. Its oldest capital, within the historic period, was Memphis, the ruins of which may still be seen near the Pyramids and the Sphinx. When the Old Empire of Menes came to an end, the seat of empire was shifted to Thebes, some 300 miles farther up the Nile. A short time after that, the Delta was conquered by the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, who fixed their capital at Zoan, the Greek Tanis, now San, on the Tanic arm of the Nile. All this occurred before the time of the new king “which knew not Joseph” ( Ex. 1:8 ). In later times Egypt was conquered by the Persians (B.C. 525), and by the Greeks under Alexander the Great (B.C. 332), after whom the Ptolemies ruled the country for three centuries. Subsequently it was for a time a province of the Roman Empire; and at last, in A.D. 1517, it fell into the hands of the Turks, of whose empire it still forms nominally a part. Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt in the time of the shepherd kings. The exile of Joseph and the migration of Jacob to “the land of Goshen” occurred about 200 years later. On the death of Solomon, Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Palestine ( 1 Kings 14:25 ). He left a list of the cities he conquered. A number of remarkable clay tablets, discovered at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper Egypt, are the most important historical records ever found in connection with the Bible. They most fully confirm the historical statements of the Book of Joshua, and prove the antiquity of civilization in Syria and Palestine. As the clay in different parts of Palestine differs, it has been found possible by the clay alone to decide where the tablets come from when the name of the writer is lost. The inscriptions are cuneiform, and in the Aramaic language, resembling Assyrian. The writers are Phoenicians, Amorites, and Philistines, but in no instance Hittites, though Hittites are mentioned. The tablets consist of official dispatches and letters, dating from B.C. 1480, addressed to the two Pharaohs, Amenophis III. and IV., the last of this dynasty, from the kings and governors of Phoenicia and Palestine. There occur the names of three kings killed by Joshua, Adoni-zedec, king of Jerusalem, Japhia, king of Lachish ( Josh. 10:3 ), and Jabin, king of Hazor (11:1); also the Hebrews (Abiri) are said to have come from the desert. The principal prophecies of Scripture regarding Egypt are these, Isa. 19 ; Jer. 43 : 8-13; 44:30; 46; Ezek. 29 -32; and it might be easily shown that they have all been remarkably fulfilled. For example, the singular disappearance of Noph (i.e., Memphis) is a fulfilment of Jer. 46:19 , Ezek. 30:13 .
Eliezer
God his help. (1.) “Of Damascus,” the “steward” (R.V., “possessor”) of Abraham’s house ( Gen. 15:2 , 3 ). It was probably he who headed the embassy sent by Abraham to the old home of his family in Padan-aram to seek a wife for his son Isaac. The account of this embassy is given at length in Gen. 24 . (2.) The son of Becher, and grandson of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 7:8 ). (3.) One of the two sons of Moses, born during his sojourn in Midian ( Ex. 18:4 ; 1 Chr. 23:15 , 17 ). He remained with his mother and brother Gershom with Jethro when Moses returned to Egypt. ( Ex. 18:4 ). They were restored to Moses when Jethro heard of his departure out of Egypt. (4.) One of the priests who blew the trumpet before the ark when it was brought to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 15:24 ). (5.) Son of Zichri, and chief of the Reubenites under David ( 1 Chr. 27:16 ). (6.) A prophet in the time of Jehoshaphat ( 2 Chr. 20:37 ). Others of this name are mentioned Luke 3:29 ; Ezra 8:16 ; 10:18 , 23 , 31 .
Embalming
The process of preserving a body by means of aromatics ( Gen. 50:2 , 3 , 26 ). This art was practised by the Egyptians from the earliest times, and there brought to great perfection. This custom probably originated in the belief in the future reunion of the soul with the body. The process became more and more complicated, and to such perfection was it carried that bodies embalmed thousands of years ago are preserved to the present day in the numberless mummies that have been discovered in Egypt. The embalming of Jacob and Joseph was according to the Egyptian custom, which was partially followed by the Jews ( 2 Chr. 16:14 ), as in the case of king Asa, and of our Lord ( John 19:39 , 40 ; Luke 23:56 ; 24:1 ). (See PHARAOH .)
Enchantments
(1.) The rendering of Hebrew latim_ or _lehatim , which means “something covered,” “muffled up;” secret arts, tricks ( Ex. 7:11 , 22 ; 8:7 , 18 ), by which the Egyptian magicians imposed on the credulity of Pharaoh. (2.) The rendering of the Hebrew keshaphim , “muttered spells” or “incantations,” rendered “sorceries” in Isa. 47:9 , 12 , i.e., the using of certain formulae under the belief that men could thus be bound. (3.) Hebrew lehashim , “charming,” as of serpents ( Jer. 8:17 ; comp. Ps. 58:5 ). (4.) Hebrew nehashim , the enchantments or omens used by Balaam ( Num. 24:1 ); his endeavouring to gain omens favourable to his design. (5.) Hebrew heber ( Isa. 47:9 , 12 ), “magical spells.” All kinds of enchantments were condemned by the Mosaic law ( Lev. 19:26 ; Deut. 18:10-12 ). (See DIVINATION .)
Engines
(1.) Heb. hishalon i.e., “invention” (as in Eccl. 7:29 ) contrivances indicating ingenuity. In 2 Chr. 26:15 it refers to inventions for the purpose of propelling missiles from the walls of a town, such as stones (the Roman balista) and arrows (the catapulta). (2.) Heb. mechi kobollo, i.e., the beating of that which is in front a battering-ram ( Ezek. 26:9 ), the use of which was common among the Egyptians and the Assyrians. Such an engine is mentioned in the reign of David ( 2 Sam. 20:15 ).
Ephah
Gloom. (1.) One of the five sons of Midian, and grandson of Abraham ( Gen. 25:4 ). The city of Ephah, to which he gave his name, is mentioned Isa. 60:6 , 7 . This city, with its surrounding territory, formed part of Midian, on the east shore of the Dead Sea. It abounded in dromedaries and camels ( Judg. 6:5 ). (2.) 1 Chr. 2:46 , a concubine of Caleb. (3.) 1 Chr. 2:47 , a descendant of Judah. Ephah, a word of Egyptian origin, meaning measure; a grain measure containing “three seahs or ten omers,” and equivalent to the bath for liquids ( Ex. 16:36 ; 1 Sam. 17:17 ; Zech. 5:6 ). The double ephah in Prov. 20:10 (marg., “an ephah and an ephah”), Deut. 25:14 , means two ephahs, the one false and the other just.
Ephraim
Double fruitfulness (“for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction”). The second son of Joseph, born in Egypt ( Gen. 41:52 ; 46:20 ). The first incident recorded regarding him is his being placed, along with his brother Manasseh, before their grandfather, Jacob, that he might bless them (48:10; comp. 27:1). The intention of Joseph was that the right hand of the aged patriarch should be placed on the head of the elder of the two; but Jacob set Ephraim the younger before his brother, “guiding his hands wittingly.” Before Joseph’s death, Ephraim’s family had reached the third generation ( Gen. 50:23 ).
Esarhaddon
Assur has given a brother, successor of Sennacherib ( 2 Kings 19:37 ; Isa. 37:38 ). He ascended the throne about B.C. 681. Nothing further is recorded of him in Scripture, except that he settled certain colonists in Samaria ( Ezra 4:2 ). But from the monuments it appears that he was the most powerful of all the Assyrian monarchs. He built many temples and palaces, the most magnificent of which was the south-west palace at Nimrud, which is said to have been in its general design almost the same as Solomon’s palace, only much larger ( 1 Kings 7:1-12 ). In December B.C. 681 Sennacherib was murdered by two of his sons, who, after holding Nineveh for forty-two days, were compelled to fly to Erimenas of Ararat, or Armenia. Their brother Esarhaddon, who had been engaged in a campaign against Armenia, led his army against them. They were utterly overthrown in a battle fought April B.C. 680, near Malatiyeh, and in the following month Esarhaddon was crowned at Nineveh. He restored Babylon, conquered Egypt, and received tribute from Manasseh of Judah. He died in October B.C. 668, while on the march to suppress an Egyptian revolt, and was succeeded by his son Assur-bani-pal, whose younger brother was made viceroy of Babylonia.
Esau
Hairy, Rebekah’s first-born twin son ( Gen. 25:25 ). The name of Edom, “red”, was also given to him from his conduct in connection with the red lentil “pottage” for which he sold his birthright (30, 31). The circumstances connected with his birth foreshadowed the enmity which afterwards subsisted between the twin brothers and the nations they founded (25:22, 23, 26). In process of time Jacob, following his natural bent, became a shepherd; while Esau, a “son of the desert,” devoted himself to the perilous and toilsome life of a huntsman. On a certain occasion, on returning from the chase, urged by the cravings of hunger, Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob, who thereby obtained the covenant blessing ( Gen. 27:28 , 29 , 36 ; Heb. 12:16 , 17 ). He afterwards tried to regain what he had so recklessly parted with, but was defeated in his attempts through the stealth of his brother ( Gen. 27:4 , 34 , 38 ). At the age of forty years, to the great grief of his parents, he married ( Gen. 26:34 , 35 ) two Canaanitish maidens, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Bashemath, the daughter of Elon. When Jacob was sent away to Padan-aram, Esau tried to conciliate his parents ( Gen. 28:8 , 9 ) by marrying his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. This led him to cast in his lot with the Ishmaelite tribes; and driving the Horites out of Mount Seir, he settled in that region. After some thirty years’ sojourn in Padan-aram Jacob returned to Canaan, and was reconciled to Esau, who went forth to meet him (33:4). Twenty years after this, Isaac their father died, when the two brothers met, probably for the last time, beside his grave (35:29). Esau now permanently left Canaan, and established himself as a powerful and wealthy chief in the land of Edom (q.v.). Long after this, when the descendants of Jacob came out of Egypt, the Edomites remembered the old quarrel between the brothers, and with fierce hatred they warred against Israel.
Esdraelon
The Greek form of the Hebrew “Jezreel,” the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., “the meadow of the son of Amer”) which stretches across Central Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterraanean, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee, extending about 14 miles from north to south, and 9 miles from east to west. It is drained by “that ancient river” the Kishon, which flows westward to the Mediterranean. From the foot of Mount Tabor it branches out into three valleys, that on the north passing between Tabor and Little Hermon ( Judg. 4:14 ); that on the south between Mount Gilboa and En-gannim ( 2 Kings 9:27 ); while the central portion, the “valley of Jezreel” proper, runs into the Jordan valley (which is about 1,000 feet lower than Esdraelon) by Bethshean. Here Gideon gained his great victory over the Midianites ( Judg. 7:1-25 ). Here also Barak defeated Sisera, and Saul’s army was defeated by the Philistines, and king Josiah, while fighting in disguise against Necho, king of Egypt, was slain ( 2 Chr. 35:20-27 ; 2 Kings 23 -29). This plain has been well called the “battle-field of Palestine.” “It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, in the history of whose wars with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain of Esdraelon, until the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Crusaders, Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched their tents in the plain, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon” (Dr. Clark).
Etham
Perhaps another name for Khetam, or “fortress,” on the Shur or great wall of Egypt, which extended from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez. Here the Israelites made their third encampment ( Ex. 13:20 ; Num. 33:6 ). The camp was probably a little to the west of the modern town of Ismailia. Here the Israelites were commanded to change their route ( Ex. 14:2 ), and “turn” towards the south, and encamp before Pi-hahiroth. (See EXODUS ; PITHOM .)
Ethiopia
Country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered ( Gen. 2:13 ; 2 Kings 19:9 ; Esther 1:1 ; Job 28:19 ; Ps. 68:31 ; 87:4 ), a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at Syene on the First Cataract ( Ezek. 29:10 ; 30:6 ), and extending to beyond the confluence of the White and Blue Nile. It corresponds generally with what is now known as the Soudan (i.e., the land of the blacks). This country was known to the Hebrews, and is described in Isa. 18:1 ; Zeph. 3:10 . They carried on some commercial intercourse with it ( Isa. 45:14 ). Its inhabitants were descendants of Ham ( Gen. 10:6 ; Jer. 13:23 ; Isa. 18:2 , “scattered and peeled,” A.V.; but in R.V., “tall and smooth”). Herodotus, the Greek historian, describes them as “the tallest and handsomest of men.” They are frequently represented on Egyptian monuments, and they are all of the type of the true negro. As might be expected, the history of this country is interwoven with that of Egypt. Ethiopia is spoken of in prophecy ( Ps. 68:31 ; 87:4 ; Isa. 45:14 ; Ezek. 30:4-9 ; Dan. 11:43 ; Nah. 3:8-10 ; Hab. 3:7 ; Zeph. 2:12 ).
Euphrates
Hebrew, Perath; Assyrian, Purat; Persian cuneiform, Ufratush, whence Greek Euphrates, meaning “sweet water.” The Assyrian name means “the stream,” or “the great stream.” It is generally called in the Bible simply “the river” ( Ex. 23:31 ), or “the great river” ( Deut. 1:7 ). The Euphrates is first mentioned in Gen. 2:14 as one of the rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the covenant which God entered into with Abraham (15:18), when he promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates (comp. Deut. 11:24 ; Josh. 1:4 ), a covenant promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David ( 2 Sam. 8:2-14 ; 1 Chr. 18:3 ; 1 Kings 4:24 ). It was then the boundary of the kingdom to the north-east. In the ancient history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded in which mention is made of the “great river.” Just as the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates represented the Assyrian power ( Isa. 8:7 ; Jer. 2:18 ). It is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia. From its source in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, into which it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles. It has two sources, (1) the Frat or Kara-su (i.e., “the black river”), which rises 25 miles north-east of Erzeroum; and (2) the Muradchai (i.e., “the river of desire”), which rises near Ararat, on the northern slope of Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden, 400 miles from the source of the former, and 270 from that of the latter, they meet and form the majestic stream, which is at length joined by the Tigris at Koornah, after which it is called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a deep and broad stream for above 140 miles to the sea. It is estimated that the alluvium brought down by these rivers encroaches on the sea at the rate of about one mile in thirty years.
Exodus
The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” ( Ex 12:51 ; Deut. 26:8 ; Ps 114 ; 136 ), about B.C. 1490, and four hundred and eighty years ( 1 Kings 6:1 ) before the building of Solomon’s temple. The time of their sojourning in Egypt was, according to Ex. 12:40 , the space of four hundred and thirty years. In the LXX., the words are, “The sojourning of the children of Israel which they sojourned in Egypt and in the land of Canaan was four hundred and thirty years;” and the Samaritan version reads, “The sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” In Gen. 15:13-16 , the period is prophetically given (in round numbers) as four hundred years. This passage is quoted by Stephen in his defence before the council ( Acts 7:6 ). The chronology of the “sojourning” is variously estimated. Those who adopt the longer term reckon thus: | Years | | From the descent of Jacob into Egypt to the | death of Joseph 71 | | From the death of Joseph to the birth of | Moses 278 | | From the birth of Moses to his flight into | Midian 40 | | From the flight of Moses to his return into | Egypt 40 | | From the return of Moses to the Exodus 1 | | 430 Others contend for the shorter period of two hundred and fifteen years, holding that the period of four hundred and thirty years comprehends the years from the entrance of Abraham into Canaan (see LXX. and Samaritan) to the descent of Jacob into Egypt. They reckon thus: | Years | | From Abraham’s arrival in Canaan to Isaac’s | birth 25 | | From Isaac’s birth to that of his twin sons | Esau and Jacob 60 | | From Jacob’s birth to the going down into | Egypt 130 | | (215) | | From Jacob’s going down into Egypt to the | death of Joseph 71 | | From death of Joseph to the birth of Moses 64 | | From birth of Moses to the Exodus 80 | | In all... 430 During the forty years of Moses’ sojourn in the land of Midian, the Hebrews in Egypt were being gradually prepared for the great national crisis which was approaching. The plagues that successively fell upon the land loosened the bonds by which Pharaoh held them in slavery, and at length he was eager that they should depart. But the Hebrews must now also be ready to go. They were poor; for generations they had laboured for the Egyptians without wages. They asked gifts from their neighbours around them ( Ex. 12:35 ), and these were readily bestowed. And then, as the first step towards their independent national organization, they observed the feast of the Passover, which was now instituted as a perpetual memorial. The blood of the paschal lamb was duly sprinkled on the door-posts and lintels of all their houses, and they were all within, waiting the next movement in the working out of God’s plan. At length the last stroke fell on the land of Egypt. “It came to pass, that at midnight Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh rose up in the night, and called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” Thus was Pharaoh (q.v.) completely humbled and broken down. These words he spoke to Moses and Aaron “seem to gleam through the tears of the humbled king, as he lamented his son snatched from him by so sudden a death, and tremble with a sense of the helplessness which his proud soul at last felt when the avenging hand of God had visited even his palace.” The terror-stricken Egyptians now urged the instant departure of the Hebrews. In the midst of the Passover feast, before the dawn of the 15th day of the month Abib (our April nearly), which was to be to them henceforth the beginning of the year, as it was the commencement of a new epoch in their history, every family, with all that appertained to it, was ready for the march, which instantly began under the leadership of the heads of tribes with their various sub-divisions. They moved onward, increasing as they went forward from all the districts of Goshen, over the whole of which they were scattered, to the common centre. Three or four days perhaps elapsed before the whole body of the people were assembled at Rameses, and ready to set out under their leader Moses ( Ex. 12:37 ; Num. 33:3 ). This city was at that time the residence of the Egyptian court, and here the interviews between Moses and Pharaoh had taken place. From Rameses they journeyed to Succoth ( Ex. 12:37 ), identified with Tel-el-Maskhuta, about 12 miles west of Ismailia. (See PITHOM .) Their third station was Etham (q.v.), 13:20, “in the edge of the wilderness,” and was probably a little to the west of the modern town of Ismailia, on the Suez Canal. Here they were commanded “to turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea”, i.e., to change their route from east to due south. The Lord now assumed the direction of their march in the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. They were then led along the west shore of the Red Sea till they came to an extensive camping-ground “before Pi-hahiroth,” about 40 miles from Etham. This distance from Etham may have taken three days to traverse, for the number of camping-places by no means indicates the number of days spent on the journey: e.g., it took fully a month to travel from Rameses to the wilderness of Sin ( Ex. 16:1 ), yet reference is made to only six camping-places during all that time. The exact spot of their encampment before they crossed the Red Sea cannot be determined. It was probably somewhere near the present site of Suez. Under the direction of God the children of Israel went “forward” from the camp “before Pi-hahiroth,” and the sea opened a pathway for them, so that they crossed to the farther shore in safety. The Egyptian host pursued after them, and, attempting to follow through the sea, were overwhelmed in its returning waters, and thus the whole military force of the Egyptians perished. They “sank as lead in the mighty waters” ( Ex. 15:1-9 ; comp. Ps. 77:16-19 ). Having reached the eastern shore of the sea, perhaps a little way to the north of ‘Ayun Musa (“the springs of Moses”), there they encamped and rested probably for a day. Here Miriam and the other women sang the triumphal song recorded in Ex. 15:1-21 . From ‘Ayun Musa they went on for three days through a part of the barren “wilderness of Shur” (22), called also the “wilderness of Etham” ( Num. 33:8 ; comp. Ex. 13:20 ), without finding water. On the last of these days they came to Marah (q.v.), where the “bitter” water was by a miracle made drinkable. Their next camping-place was Elim (q.v.), where were twelve springs of water and a grove of “threescore and ten” palm trees ( Ex. 15:27 ). After a time the children of Israel “took their journey from Elim,” and encamped by the Red Sea ( Num. 33:10 ), and thence removed to the “wilderness of Sin” (to be distinguished from the wilderness of Zin, 20:1), where they again encamped. Here, probably the modern el-Markha, the supply of bread they had brought with them out of Egypt failed. They began to “murmur” for want of bread. God “heard their murmurings” and gave them quails and manna, “bread from heaven” ( Ex. 16:4-36 ). Moses directed that an omer of manna should be put aside and preserved as a perpetual memorial of God’s goodness. They now turned inland, and after three encampments came to the rich and fertile valley of Rephidim, in the Wady Feiran. Here they found no water, and again murmured against Moses. Directed by God, Moses procured a miraculous supply of water from the “rock in Horeb,” one of the hills of the Sinai group (17:1-7); and shortly afterwards the children of Israel here fought their first battle with the Amalekites, whom they smote with the edge of the sword. From the eastern extremity of the Wady Feiran the line of march now probably led through the Wady esh-Sheikh and the Wady Solaf, meeting in the Wady er-Rahah, “the enclosed plain in front of the magnificient cliffs of Ras Sufsafeh.” Here they encamped for more than a year ( Num. 1:1 ; 10:11 ) before Sinai (q.v.). The different encampments of the children of Israel, from the time of their leaving Egypt till they reached the Promised Land, are mentioned in Ex. 12:37-19 ; Num. 10 -21; 33; Deut. 1 , 2 , 10 . It is worthy of notice that there are unmistakable evidences that the Egyptians had a tradition of a great exodus from their country, which could be none other than the exodus of the Hebrews.
Exodus, Book of
Exodus is the name given in the LXX. to the second book of the Pentateuch (q.v.). It means “departure” or “outgoing.” This name was adopted in the Latin translation, and thence passed into other languages. The Hebrews called it by the first words, according to their custom, Ve-eleh shemoth (i.e., “and these are the names”). It contains, (1.) An account of the increase and growth of the Israelites in Egypt (ch. 1) (2.) Preparations for their departure out of Egypt (2-12:36). (3.) Their journeyings from Egypt to Sinai (12:37-19:2). (4.) The giving of the law and the establishment of the institutions by which the organization of the people was completed, the theocracy, “a kingdom of priest and an holy nation” (19:3-ch. 40). The time comprised in this book, from the death of Joseph to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness, is about one hundred and forty-five years, on the supposition that the four hundred and thirty years (12:40) are to be computed from the time of the promises made to Abraham ( Gal. 3:17 ). The authorship of this book, as well as of that of the other books of the Pentateuch, is to be ascribed to Moses. The unanimous voice of tradition and all internal evidences abundantly support this opinion.
Ezekiel, Book of
Consists mainly of three groups of prophecies. After an account of his call to the prophetical office (1-3:21), Ezekiel (1) utters words of denunciation against the Jews (3:22-24), warning them of the certain destruction of Jerusalem, in opposition to the words of the false prophets (4:1-3). The symbolical acts, by which the extremities to which Jerusalem would be reduced are described in ch. 4, 5, show his intimate acquaintance with the Levitical legislation. (See Ex. 22:30 ; Deut. 14:21 ; Lev. 5:2 ; 7:18 , 24 ; 17:15 ; 19:7 ; 22:8 , etc.) (2.) Prophecies against various surrounding nations: against the Ammonites ( Ezek. 25:1-7 ), the Moabites (8-11), the Edomites (12-14), the Philistines (15-17), Tyre and Sidon (26-28), and against Egypt (29-32). (3.) Prophecies delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar: the triumphs of Israel and of the kingdom of God on earth ( Ezek. 33 -39); Messianic times, and the establishment and prosperity of the kingdom of God (40;48). The closing visions of this book are referred to in the book of Revelation ( Ezek. 38 = Rev. 20:8 ; Ezek. 47:1-8 = Rev. 22:1 , 2 ). Other references to this book are also found in the New Testament. (Comp. Rom. 2:24 with Ezek. 36:2 ; Rom. 10:5 , Gal. 3:12 with Ezek. 20:11 ; 2 Pet. 3:4 with Ezek. 12:22 .) It may be noted that Daniel, fourteen years after his deportation from Jerusalem, is mentioned by Ezekiel (14:14) along with Noah and Job as distinguished for his righteousness, and some five years later he is spoken of as pre-eminent for his wisdom (28:3). Ezekiel’s prophecies are characterized by symbolical and allegorical representations, “unfolding a rich series of majestic visions and of colossal symbols.” There are a great many also of “symbolcal actions embodying vivid conceptions on the part of the prophet” (4:1-4; 5:1-4; 12:3-6; 24:3-5; 37:16, etc.) “The mode of representation, in which symbols and allegories occupy a prominent place, gives a dark, mysterious character to the prophecies of Ezekiel. They are obscure and enigmatical. A cloudy mystery overhangs them which it is almost impossible to penetrate. Jerome calls the book ‘a labyrith of the mysteries of God.’ It was because of this obscurity that the Jews forbade any one to read it till he had attained the age of thirty.” Ezekiel is singular in the frequency with which he refers to the Pentateuch (e.g., Ezek. 27 ; 28:13 ; 31:8 ; 36:11 , 34 ; 47:13 , etc.). He shows also an acquaintance with the writings of Hosea ( Ezek. 37:22 ), Isaiah ( Ezek. 8:12 ; 29:6 ), and especially with those of Jeremiah, his older contemporary ( Jer. 24:7 , 9 ; 48:37).