Eagle
(Herb. nesher; properly the griffon vulture or great vulture, so called from its tearing its prey with its beak), referred to for its swiftness of flight ( Deut. 28:49 ; 2 Sam. 1:23 ), its mounting high in the air ( Job 39:27 ), its strength ( Ps. 103:5 ), its setting its nest in high places ( Jer. 49:16 ), and its power of vision ( Job 39:27-30 ). This “ravenous bird” is a symbol of those nations whom God employs and sends forth to do a work of destruction, sweeping away whatever is decaying and putrescent ( Matt. 24:28 ; Isa. 46:11 ; Ezek. 39:4 ; Deut. 28:49 ; Jer. 4:13 ; 48:40 ). It is said that the eagle sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring, and with fresh plumage assumes the appearance of youth. To this, allusion is made in Ps. 103:5 and Isa. 40:31 . God’s care over his people is likened to that of the eagle in training its young to fly ( Ex. 19:4 ; Deut. 32:11 , 12 ). An interesting illustration is thus recorded by Sir Humphry Davy:, “I once saw a very interesting sight above the crags of Ben Nevis. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the maneuvers of flight. They began by rising from the top of the mountain in the eye of the sun. It was about mid-day, and bright for the climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them. They paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their flight, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising toward the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight so as to make a gradually ascending spiral. The young ones still and slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted; and they continued this sublime exercise, always rising till they became mere points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching sight.” (See Isa. 40:31 .) There have been observed in Palestine four distinct species of eagles, (1) the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos); (2) the spotted eagle (Aquila naevia); (3) the common species, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca); and (4) the Circaetos gallicus, which preys on reptiles. The eagle was unclean by the Levitical law ( Lev. 11:13 ; Deut. 14:12 ).
Earnest
The Spirit is the earnest of the believer’s destined inheritance ( 2 Cor. 1:22 ; 5:5 ; Eph. 1:14 ). The word thus rendered is the same as that rendered “pledge” in Gen. 38:17-20 ; “indeed, the Hebrew word has simply passed into the Greek and Latin languages, probably through commercial dealings with the Phoenicians, the great trading people of ancient days. Originally it meant no more than a pledge; but in common usage it came to denote that particular kind of pledge which is a part of the full price of an article paid in advance; and as it is joined with the figure of a seal when applied to the Spirit, it seems to be used by Paul in this specific sense.” The Spirit’s gracious presence and working in believers is a foretaste to them of the blessedness of heaven. God is graciously pleased to give not only pledges but foretastes of future blessedness.
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.).
Eben-ezer
Stone of help, the memorial stone set up by Samuel to commemorate the divine assistance to Israel in their great battle against the Philistines, whom they totally routed ( 1 Sam. 7:7-12 ) at Aphek, in the neighbourhood of Mizpeh, in Benjamin, near the western entrance of the pass of Beth-horon. On this very battle-field, twenty years before, the Philistines routed the Israelites, “and slew of the army in the field about four thousand men” (4:1, 2; here, and at 5:1, called “Eben-ezer” by anticipation). In this extremity the Israelites fetched the ark out of Shiloh and carried it into their camp. The Philistines a second time immediately attacked them, and smote them with a very great slaughter, “for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken” ( 1 Sam. 4:10 ). And now in the same place the Philistines are vanquished, and the memorial stone is erected by Samuel (q.v.). The spot where the stone was erected was somewhere “between Mizpeh and Shen.” Some have identified it with the modern Beit Iksa, a conspicuous and prominent position, apparently answering all the necessary conditions; others with Dier Aban, 3 miles east of ‘Ain Shems.
Ebronah
Passage, one of the stations of the Israelites in their wanderings ( Num. 33:34 , 35 ). It was near Ezion-geber.
Eden
Delight. (1.) The garden in which our first parents dewlt ( Gen. 2:8-17 ). No geographical question has been so much discussed as that bearing on its site. It has been placed in Armenia, in the region west of the Caspian Sea, in Media, near Damascus, in Palestine, in Southern Arabia, and in Babylonia. The site must undoubtedly be sought for somewhere along the course of the great streams the Tigris and the Euphrates of Western Asia, in “the land of Shinar” or Babylonia. The region from about lat. 33 degrees 30’ to lat. 31 degrees, which is a very rich and fertile tract, has been by the most competent authorities agreed on as the probable site of Eden. “It is a region where streams abound, where they divide and re-unite, where alone in the Mesopotamian tract can be found the phenomenon of a single river parting into four arms, each of which is or has been a river of consequence.” Among almost all nations there are traditions of the primitive innocence of our race in the garden of Eden. This was the “golden age” to which the Greeks looked back. Men then lived a “life free from care, and without labour and sorrow. Old age was unknown; the body never lost its vigour; existence was a perpetual feast without a taint of evil. The earth brought forth spontaneously all things that were good in profuse abundance.” (2.) One of the markets whence the merchants of Tyre obtained richly embroidered stuffs ( Ezek. 27:23 ); the same, probably, as that mentioned in 2 Kings 19:12 , and Isa. 37:12 , as the name of a region conquered by the Assyrians. (3.) Son of Joah, and one of the Levites who assisted in reforming the public worship of the sanctuary in the time of Hezekiah ( 2 Chr. 29:12 ).
Edom
(1.) The name of Esau (q.v.), Gen. 25:30 , “Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage [Heb. haadom, haadom, i.e., ‘the red pottage, the red pottage’] ...Therefore was his name called Edom”, i.e., Red. (2.) Idumea ( Isa. 34:5 , 6 ; Ezek. 35:15 ). “The field of Edom” ( Gen. 32:3 ), “the land of Edom” ( Gen. 36:16 ), was mountainous (Obad. 1:8, 9, 19, 21). It was called the land, or “the mountain of Seir,” the rough hills on the east side of the Arabah. It extended from the head of the Gulf of Akabah, the Elanitic gulf, to the foot of the Dead Sea ( 1 Kings 9:26 ), and contained, among other cities, the rock-hewn Sela (q.v.), generally known by the Greek name Petra ( 2 Kings 14:7 ). It is a wild and rugged region, traversed by fruitful valleys. Its old capital was Bozrah ( Isa. 63:1 ). The early inhabitants of the land were Horites. They were destroyed by the Edomites ( Deut. 2:12 ), between whom and the kings of Israel and Judah there was frequent war ( 2 Kings 8:20 ; 2 Chr. 28:17 ). At the time of the Exodus they churlishly refused permission to the Israelites to pass through their land ( Num. 20:14-21 ), and ever afterwards maintained an attitude of hostility toward them. They were conquered by David ( 2 Sam. 8:14 ; comp. 1 Kings 9:26 ), and afterwards by Amaziah ( 2 Chr. 25:11 , 12 ). But they regained again their independence, and in later years, during the decline of the Jewish kingdom ( 2 Kings 16:6 ; R.V. marg., “Edomites”), made war against Israel. They took part with the Chaldeans when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, and afterwards they invaded and held possession of the south of Palestine as far as Hebron. At length, however, Edom fell under the growing Chaldean power ( Jer. 27:3 , 6 ). There are many prophecies concerning Edom ( Isa. 34:5 , 6 ; Jer. 49:7-18 ; Ezek. 25:13 ; 35:1-15 ; Joel 3:19 ; Amos 1:11 ; Obad.; Mal. 1:3 , 4 ) which have been remarkably fulfilled. The present desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies. After an existence as a people for above seventeen hundred years, they have utterly disappeared, and their language even is forgotten for ever. In Petra, “where kings kept their court, and where nobles assembled, there no man dwells; it is given by lot to birds, and beasts, and reptiles.” The Edomites were Semites, closely related in blood and in language to the Israelites. They dispossessed the Horites of Mount Seir; though it is clear, from Gen. 36 , that they afterwards intermarried with the conquered population. Edomite tribes settled also in the south of Judah, like the Kenizzites ( Gen. 36:11 ), to whom Caleb and Othniel belonged ( Josh. 15:17 ). The southern part of Edom was known as Teman.
Edrei
Mighty; strength. (1.) One of the chief towns of the kingdom of Bashan ( Josh. 12:4 , 5 ). Here Og was defeated by the Israelites, and the strength of the Amorites broken ( Num. 21:33-35 ). It subsequently belonged to Manasseh, for a short time apparently, and afterwards became the abode of banditti and outlaws ( Josh. 13:31 ). It has been identified with the modern Edr’a, which stands on a rocky promontory on the south-west edge of the Lejah (the Argob of the Hebrews, and Trachonitis of the Greeks). The ruins of Edr’a are the most extensive in the Hauran. They are 3 miles in circumference. A number of the ancient houses still remain; the walls, roofs, and doors being all of stone. The wild region of which Edrei was the capital is thus described in its modern aspect: “Elevated about 20 feet above the plain, it is a labyrinth of clefts and crevasses in the rock, formed by volcanic action; and owing to its impenetrable condition, it has become a refuge for outlaws and turbulent characters, who make it a sort of Cave of Adullam...It is, in fact, an impregnable natural fortress, about 20 miles in length and 15 in breadth” (Porter’s Syria, etc.). Beneath this wonderful city there is also a subterranean city, hollowed out probably as a refuge for the population of the upper city in times of danger. (See BASHAN .) (2.) A town of Naphtali ( Josh. 19:37 ).
Egg
(Heb. beytsah, “whiteness”). Eggs deserted ( Isa. 10:14 ), of a bird ( Deut. 22:6 ), an ostrich ( Job 39:14 ), the cockatrice ( Isa. 59:5 ). In Luke 11:12 , an egg is contrasted with a scorpion, which is said to be very like an egg in its appearance, so much so as to be with difficulty at times distinguished from it. In Job 6:6 (“the white of an egg”) the word for egg (hallamuth’) occurs nowhere else. It has been translated “purslain” (R.V. marg.), and the whole phrase “purslain-broth”, i.e., broth made of that herb, proverbial for its insipidity; and hence an insipid discourse. Job applies this expression to the speech of Eliphaz as being insipid and dull. But the common rendering, “the white of an egg”, may be satisfactorily maintained.
Eglon
The bullock; place of heifers. (1.) Chieftain or king of one of the Moabite tribes ( Judg. 3:12-14 ). Having entered into an alliance with Ammon and Amalek, he overran the trans-Jordanic region, and then crossing the Jordan, seized on Jericho, the “city of palm trees,” which had been by this time rebuilt, but not as a fortress. He made this city his capital, and kept Israel in subjection for eighteen years. The people at length “cried unto the Lord” in their distress, and he “raised them up a deliverer” in Ehud (q.v.), the son of Gera, a Benjamite. (2.) A city in Judah, near Lachish ( Josh. 15:39 ). It was destroyed by Joshua (10:5, 6). It has been identified with Tell Nejileh, 6 miles south of Tell Hesy or Ajlan, north-west of Lachish. (See LACHISH .)
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 .
Ehud
Union. (1.) A descendant of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 7:10 ), his great-grandson. (2.) The son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin ( Judg. 3:15 ). After the death of Othniel the people again fell into idolatry, and Eglon, the king of Moab, uniting his bands with those of the Ammonites and the Amalekites, crossed the Jordan and took the city of Jericho, and for eighteen years held that whole district in subjection, exacting from it an annual tribute. At length Ehud, by a stratagem, put Eglon to death with a two-edged dagger a cubit long, and routed the Moabites at the fords of the Jordan, putting 10,000 of them to death. Thenceforward the land, at least Benjamin, enjoyed rest “for fourscore years” ( Judg. 3:12-30 ). (See QUARRIES [2].) But in the south-west the Philistines reduced the Israelites to great straits ( Judg. 5:6 ). From this oppression Shamgar was raised up to be their deliverer.
Elah
Terebinth or oak. (1.) Valley of, where the Israelites were encamped when David killed Goliath ( 1 Sam. 17:2 , 19 ). It was near Shochoh of Judah and Azekah (17:1). It is the modern Wady es-Sunt, i.e., “valley of the acacia.” “The terebinths from which the valley of Elah takes its name still cling to their ancient soil. On the west side of the valley, near Shochoh, there is a very large and ancient tree of this kind known as the ’terebinth of Wady Sur,’ 55 feet in height, its trunk 17 feet in circumference, and the breadth of its shade no less than 75 feet. It marks the upper end of the Elah valley, and forms a noted object, being one of the largest terebinths in Palestine.” Geikie’s, The Holy Land, etc. (2.) One of the Edomite chiefs or “dukes” of Mount Seir ( Gen. 36:41 ). (3.) The second of the three sons of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh ( 1 Chr. 4:15 ). (4.) The son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel ( 1 Kings 16:8-10 ). He was killed while drunk by Zimri, one of the captains of his chariots, and was the last king of the line of Baasha. Thus was fullfilled the prophecy of Jehu (6, 7, 11-14). (5.) The father of Hoshea, the last king of Israel ( 2 Kings 15:30 ; 17:1 ).
Eleazar
God has helped. (1.) The third son of Aaron ( Ex. 6:23 ). His wife, a daughter of Putiel, bore him Phinehas ( Ex. 6:25 ). After the death of Nadab and Abihu ( Lev. 10:12 ; Num. 3:4 ) he was appointed to the charge of the sanctuary ( Num. 3:32 ). On Mount Hor he was clothed with the sacred vestments, which Moses took from off his brother Aaron and put upon him as successor to his father in the high priest’s office, which he held for more than twenty years ( Num. 20:25-29 ). He took part with Moses in numbering the people (26:3, 4), and assisted at the inauguration of Joshua. He assisted in the distribution of the land after the conquest ( Josh. 14:1 ). The high-priesthood remained in his family till the time of Eli, into whose family it passed, till it was restored to the family of Eleazar in the person of Zadok ( 1 Sam. 2:35 ; comp. 1 Kings 2:27 ). “And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son” ( Josh. 24:33 ). The word here rendered “hill” is Gibeah, the name of several towns in Palestine which were generally on or near a hill. The words may be more suitably rendered, “They buried him in Gibeah of Phinehas”, i.e., in the city of Phinehas, which has been identified, in accordance with Jewish and Samaritan traditions, with Kefr Ghuweirah=‘Awertah, about 7 miles north of Shiloh, and a few miles south-east of Nablus. “His tomb is still shown there, overshadowed by venerable terebinths.” Others, however, have identified it with the village of Gaba or Gebena of Eusebius, the modern Khurbet Jibia, 5 miles north of Guphna towards Nablus. (2.) An inhabitant of Kirjath-jearim who was “sanctified” to take charge of the ark, although not allowed to touch it, while it remained in the house of his father Abinadab ( 1 Sam. 7:1 , 2 ; comp. Num. 3:31 ; 4:15 ). (3.) The son of Dodo the Ahohite, of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the three most eminent of David’s thirty-seven heroes ( 1 Chr. 11:12 ) who broke through the Philistine host and brought him water from the well of Bethlehem ( 2 Sam. 23:9 , 16 ). (4.) A son of Phinehas associated with the priests in taking charge of the sacred vessels brought back to Jerusalem after the Exile ( Ezra 8:33 ). (5.) A Levite of the family of Merari ( 1 Chr. 23:21 , 22 ).
Elements
In its primary sense, as denoting the first principles or constituents of things, it is used in 2 Pet. 3:10: “The elements shall be dissolved.” In a secondary sense it denotes the first principles of any art or science. In this sense it is used in Gal. 4:3 , 9 ; Col. 2:8 , 20 , where the expressions, “elements of the world,” “week and beggarly elements,” denote that state of religious knowledge existing among the Jews before the coming of Christ, the rudiments of religious teaching. They are “of the world,” because they are made up of types which appeal to the senses. They are “weak,” because insufficient; and “beggarly,” or “poor,” because they are dry and barren, not being accompanied by an outpouring of spiritual gifts and graces, as the gospel is.
Eli
Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh ( 1 Sam. 1:3 , 9 ). He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son ( 1 Chr. 24:3 ; comp. 2 Sam. 8:17 ), who held that office. The office remained in his family till the time of Abiathar ( 1 Kings 2:26 , 27 ), whom Solomon deposed, and appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead (35). He acted also as a civil judge in Israel after the death of Samson ( 1 Sam. 4:18 ), and judged Israel for forty years. His sons Hophni and Phinehas grossly misconducted themselves, to the great disgust of the people ( 1 Sam. 2:27-36 ). They were licentious reprobates. He failed to reprove them so sternly as he ought to have done, and so brought upon his house the judgment of God (2:22-33; 3:18). The Israelites proclaimed war against the Philistines, whose army was encamped at Aphek. The battle, fought a short way beyond Mizpeh, ended in the total defeat of Israel. Four thousand of them fell in “battle array”. They now sought safety in having the “ark of the covenant of the Lord” among them. They fetched it from Shiloh, and Hophni and Phinehas accompanied it. This was the first time since the settlement of Israel in Canaan that the ark had been removed from the sanctuary. The Philistines put themselves again in array against Israel, and in the battle which ensued “Israel was smitten, and there was a very great slaughter.” The tidings of this great disaster were speedily conveyed to Shiloh, about 20 miles distant, by a messenger, a Benjamite from the army. There Eli sat outside the gate of the sanctuary by the wayside, anxiously waiting for tidings from the battle-field. The full extent of the national calamity was speedily made known to him: “Israel is fled before the Philistines, there has also been a great slaughter among the people, thy two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God is taken” ( 1 Sam. 4:12-18 ). When the old man, whose eyes were “stiffened” (i.e., fixed, as of a blind eye unaffected by the light) with age, heard this sad story of woe, he fell backward from off his seat and died, being ninety and eight years old. (See ITHAMAR .) Eli, Heb. eli, “my God”, ( Matt. 27:46 ), an exclamation used by Christ on the cross. Mark (15:34), as usual, gives the original Aramaic form of the word, Eloi.
Eliab
To whom God is father. (1.) A Reubenite, son of Pallu ( Num. 16:1 , 12 ; 26:8 , 9 ; Deut. 11:6 ). (2.) A son of Helon, and chief of the tribe of Zebulun at the time of the census in the wilderness ( Num. 1:9 ; 2:7 ). (3.) The son of Jesse, and brother of David ( 1 Sam. 16:6 ). It was he who spoke contemptuously to David when he proposed to fight Goliath ( 1 Sam. 17:28 ). (4.) One of the Gadite heroes who joined David in his stronghold in the wilderness ( 1 Chr. 12:9 ).
Eliada
Whom God cares for. (1.) One of David’s sons born after his establishment in Jerusalem ( 2 Sam. 5:16 ). (2.) A mighty man of war, a Benjamite ( 2 Chr. 17:17 ). (3.) An Aramite of Zobah, captain of a marauding band that troubled Solomon ( 1 Kings 11:23 ).
Eliakim
Whom God will raise up. (1.) The son of Melea ( Luke 3:30 ), and probably grandson of Nathan. (2.) The son of Abiud, of the posterity of Zerubbabel ( Matt. 1:13 ). (3.) The son of Hilkiah, who was sent to receive the message of the invading Assyrians and report it to Isaiah ( 2 Kings 18:18 ; 19:2 ; Isa. 36:3 ; 37:2 ). In his office as governor of the palace of Hezekiah he succeeded Shebna ( Isa. 22:15-25 ). He was a good man ( Isa. 22:20 ; 2 Kings 18:37 ), and had a splendid and honourable career. (4.) The original name of Jehoiakim, king of Judah ( 2 Kings 23:34 ). He was the son of Josiah.
Eliam
God’s people. (1.) The father of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah ( 2 Sam. 11:3 ). In 1 Chr. 3:5 his name is Ammiel. (2.) This name also occurs as that of a Gilonite, the son of Ahithophel, and one of David’s thirty warriors ( 2 Sam. 23:34 ). perhaps these two were the same person.
Elias
The Greek form of Elijah ( Matt. 11:14 ; 16:14 , etc.), which the Revised Version has uniformly adopted in the New Testament. (See ELIJAH .)
Eliashib
Whom God will restore. (1.) A priest, head of one of the courses of the priests of the time of David ( 1 Chr. 24:12 ). (2.) A high priest in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah ( Neh. 12:22 , 23 ). He rebuilt the eastern city wall (3:1), his own mansion being in that quarter, on the ridge Ophel (3:20, 21). His indulgence of Tobiah the Ammonite provoked the indignation of Nehemiah (13:4, 7).
Eliathah
To whom God will come, one of the foureen sons of the Levite Heman, and musician of the temple in the time of David ( 1 Chr. 25:4 ).
Elidad
Whom God has loved, son of Chislon, and chief of the tribe of Benjamin; one of those who were appointed to divide the Promised Land among the tribes ( Num. 34:21 ).
Eliel
To whom God is might. (1.) A chief of Manasseh, on the east of Jordan ( 1 Chr. 5:24 ). (2.) A Gadite who joined David in the hold at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:11 ). (3.) One of the overseers of the offerings in the reign of Hezekiah ( 2 Chr. 31:13 ).
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 .
Elihu
Whose God is he. (1.) “The son of Barachel, a Buzite” ( Job 32:2 ), one of Job’s friends. When the debate between Job and his friends is brought to a close, Elihu for the first time makes his appearance, and delivers his opinion on the points at issue ( Job 32 -37). (2.) The son of Tohu, and grandfather of Elkanah ( 1 Sam. 1:1 ). He is called also Eliel ( 1 Chr. 6:34 ) and Eliab (6:27). (3.) One of the captains of thousands of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:20 ). (4.) One of the family of Obed-edom, who were appointed porters of the temple under David ( 1 Chr. 26:7 ).
Elijah
Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made of a town called Thisbe, south of Kadesh, but it is impossible to say whether this was the place referred to in the name given to the prophet. Having delivered his message to Ahab, he retired at the command of God to a hiding-place by the brook Cherith, beyond Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. When the brook dried up God sent him to the widow of Zarephath, a city of Zidon, from whose scanty store he was supported for the space of two years. During this period the widow’s son died, and was restored to life by Elijah ( 1 Kings 17 : 2-24). During all these two years a famine prevailed in the land. At the close of this period of retirement and of preparation for his work (comp. Gal. 1:17 , 18 ) Elijah met Obadiah, one of Ahab’s officers, whom he had sent out to seek for pasturage for the cattle, and bade him go and tell his master that Elijah was there. The king came and met Elijah, and reproached him as the troubler of Israel. It was then proposed that sacrifices should be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining whether Baal or Jehovah were the true God. This was done on Carmel, with the result that the people fell on their faces, crying, “The Lord, he is the God.” Thus was accomplished the great work of Elijah’s ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to death by the order of Elijah. Not one of them escaped. Then immediately followed rain, according to the word of Elijah, and in answer to his prayer ( James 5:18 ). Jezebel, enraged at the fate that had befallen her priests of Baal, threatened to put Elijah to death ( 1 Kings 19:1-13 ). He therefore fled in alarm to Beersheba, and thence went alone a day’s journey into the wilderness, and sat down in despondency under a juniper tree. As he slept an angel touched him, and said unto him, “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.” He arose and found a cake and a cruse of water. Having partaken of the provision thus miraculously supplied, he went forward on his solitary way for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God, where he took up his abode in a cave. Here the Lord appeared unto him and said, “What dost thou here, Elijah?” In answer to his despondent words God manifests to him his glory, and then directs him to return to Damascus and anoint Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his room ( 1 Kings 19:13-21 ; comp. 2 Kings 8:7-15 ; 9:1-10 ). Some six years after this he warned Ahab and Jezebel of the violent deaths they would die ( 1 Kings 21:19-24 ; 22:38 ). He also, four years afterwards, warned Ahaziah (q.v.), who had succeeded his father Ahab, of his approaching death ( 2 Kings 1:1-16 ). (See NABOTH .) During these intervals he probably withdrew to some quiet retirement, no one knew where. His interview with Ahaziah’s messengers on the way to Ekron, and the account of the destruction of his captains with their fifties, suggest the idea that he may have been in retirement at this time on Mount Carmel. The time now drew near when he was to be taken up into heaven ( 2 Kings 2:1-12 ). He had a presentiment of what was awaiting him. He went down to Gilgal, where was a school of the prophets, and where his successor Elisha, whom he had anointed some years before, resided. Elisha was solemnized by the thought of his master’s leaving him, and refused to be parted from him. “They two went on,” and came to Bethel and Jericho, and crossed the Jordan, the waters of which were “divided hither and thither” when smitten with Elijah’s mantle. Arrived at the borders of Gilead, which Elijah had left many years before, it “came to pass as they still went on and talked” they were suddenly separated by a chariot and horses of fire; and “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven, “Elisha receiving his mantle, which fell from him as he ascended. No one of the old prophets is so frequently referred to in the New Testament. The priests and Levites said to the Baptist ( John 1:25 ), “Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias?” Paul ( Rom. 11:2 ) refers to an incident in his history to illustrate his argument that God had not cast away his people. James (5:17) finds in him an illustration of the power of prayer. (See also Luke 4:25 ; 9:54 .) He was a type of John the Baptist in the sternness and power of his reproofs ( Luke 9:8 ). He was the Elijah that “must first come” ( Matt. 11:11 , 14 ), the forerunner of our Lord announced by Malachi. Even outwardly the Baptist corresponded so closely to the earlier prophet that he might be styled a second Elijah. In him we see “the same connection with a wild and wilderness country; the same long retirement in the desert; the same sudden, startling entrance on his work ( 1 Kings 17:1 ; Luke 3:2 ); even the same dress, a hairy garment, and a leathern girdle about the loins ( 2 Kings 1:8 ; Matt. 3:4 ).” How deep the impression was which Elijah made “on the mind of the nation may be judged from the fixed belief, which rested on the words of Malachi (4:5, 6), which many centuries after prevailed that he would again appear for the relief and restoration of the country. Each remarkable person as he arrives on the scene, be his habits and characteristics what they may, the stern John equally with his gentle Successor, is proclaimed to be Elijah ( Matt. 11:13 , 14 ; 16:14; 17:10; Mark 9:11 ; 15:35 ; Luke 9:7 , 8 ; John 1:21 ). His appearance in glory on the mount of transfiguration does not seem to have startled the disciples. They were ‘sore afraid,’ but not apparently surprised.” (2.) The Elijah spoken of in 2 Chr. 21:12-15 is by some supposed to be a different person from the foregoing. He lived in the time of Jehoram, to whom he sent a letter of warning (comp. 1 Chr. 28:19 ; Jer. 36 ), and acted as a prophet in Judah; while the Tishbite was a prophet of the northern kingdom. But there does not seem any necessity for concluding that the writer of this letter was some other Elijah than the Tishbite. It may be supposed either that Elijah anticipated the character of Jehoram, and so wrote the warning message, which was preserved in the schools of the prophets till Jehoram ascended the throne after the Tishbite’s translation, or that the translation did not actually take place till after the accession of Jehoram to the throne ( 2 Chr. 21:12 ; 2 Kings 8:16 ). The events of 2 Kings 2 may not be recorded in chronological order, and thus there may be room for the opinion that Elijah was still alive in the beginning of Jehoram’s reign.
Elika
God is his rejector, one of David’s thirty-seven distinguished heros ( 2 Sam. 23:25 ).
Elim
Trees, ( Ex. 15:27 ; Num. 33:9 ), the name of the second station where the Israelites encamped after crossing the Red Sea. It had “twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees.” It has been identified with the Wady Ghurundel, the most noted of the four wadies which descend from the range of et-Tih towards the sea. Here they probably remained some considerable time. The form of expression in Ex. 16:1 seems to imply that the people proceeded in detachments or companies from Elim, and only for the first time were assembled as a complete host when they reached the wilderness of Sin (q.v.).
Elimelech
God his king, a man of the tribe of Judah, of the family of the Hezronites, and kinsman of Boaz, who dwelt in Bethlehem in the days of the judges. In consequence of a great dearth he, with his wife Naomi and his two sons, went to dwell in the land of Moab. There he and his sons died ( Ruth 1:2 , 3 ; 2:1, 3; 4:3, 9). Naomi afterwards returned to Palestine with her daughter Ruth.
Elioenai
Toward Jehovah are my eyes, the name of several men mentioned in the Old Testament ( 1 Chr. 7:8 ; 4:36 ; Ezra 10:22 , 27 ). Among these was the eldest son of Neariah, son of Shemaiah, of the descendants of Zerubbabel. His family are the latest mentioned in the Old Testament ( 1 Chr. 3:23 , 24 ).
Eliphalet
God his deliverance, one of David’s sons ( 2 Sam. 5:16 ); called also Eliphelet ( 1 Chr. 3:8 ).
Eliphaz
God his strength. (1.) One of Job’s “three friends” who visited him in his affliction (4:1). He was a “Temanite”, i.e., a native of Teman, in Idumea. He first enters into debate with Job. His language is uniformly more delicate and gentle than that of the other two, although he imputes to Job special sins as the cause of his present sufferings. He states with remarkable force of language the infinite purity and majesty of God (4:12-21; 15:12-16). (2.) The son of Esau by his wife Adah, and father of several Edomitish tribes ( Gen. 36:4 , 10 , 11 , 16 ).
Elipheleh
God will distinguish him, one of the porters appointed to play “on the Sheminith” on the occasion of the bringing up of the ark to the city of David ( 1 Chr. 15:18 , 21 ).
Eliphelet
God his deliverance. (1.) One of David’s distinguished warriors ( 2 Sam. 23:34 ); called also Eliphal in 1 Chr. 11:35 . (2.) One of the sons of David born at Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 3:6 ; 14:5 ); called Elpalet in 1 Chr. 14:5 . Also another of David’s sons ( 1 Chr. 3:8 ); called Eliphalet in 2 Sam. 5:16 ; 1 Chr. 14:7 . (3.) A descendant of king Saul through Jonathan ( 1 Chr. 8:39 ).
Elisabeth
God her oath, the mother of John the Baptist ( Luke 1:5 ). She was a descendant of Aaron. She and her husband Zacharias (q.v.) “were both righteous before God” ( Luke 1:5 , 13 ). Mary’s visit to Elisabeth is described in 1:39-63.
Elisha
God his salvation, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, who became the attendant and disciple of Elijah ( 1 Kings 19:16-19 ). His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his successor ( 1 Kings 19:16 ). This was the only one of the three commands then given to Elijah which he accomplished. On his way from Sinai to Damascus he found Elisha at his native place engaged in the labours of the field, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen. He went over to him, threw over his shoulders his rough mantle, and at once adopted him as a son, and invested him with the prophetical office (comp. Luke 9:61 , 62 ). Elisha accepted the call thus given (about four years before the death of Ahab), and for some seven or eight years became the close attendant on Elijah till he was parted from him and taken up into heaven. During all these years we hear nothing of Elisha except in connection with the closing scenes of Elijah’s life. After Elijah, Elisha was accepted as the leader of the sons of the prophets, and became noted in Israel. He possessed, according to his own request, “a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit ( 2 Kings 2:9 ); and for the long period of about sixty years (B.C. 892-832) held the office of “prophet in Israel” ( 2 Kings 5:8 ). After Elijah’s departure, Elisha returned to Jericho, and there healed the spring of water by casting salt into it ( 2 Kings 2:21 ). We next find him at Bethel (2:23), where, with the sternness of his master, he cursed the youths who came out and scoffed at him as a prophet of God: “Go up, thou bald head.” The judgment at once took effect, and God terribly visited the dishonour done to his prophet as dishonour done to himself. We next read of his predicting a fall of rain when the army of Jehoram was faint from thirst ( 2 Kings 3:9-20 ); of the multiplying of the poor widow’s cruse of oil (4:1-7); the miracle of restoring to life the son of the woman of Shunem (4:18-37); the multiplication of the twenty loaves of new barley into a sufficient supply for an hundred men (4:42-44); of the cure of Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy (5:1-27); of the punishment of Gehazi for his falsehood and his covetousness; of the recovery of the axe lost in the waters of the Jordan (6:1-7); of the miracle at Dothan, half-way on the road between Samaria and Jezreel; of the siege of Samaria by the king of Syria, and of the terrible sufferings of the people in connection with it, and Elisha’s prophecy as to the relief that would come ( 2 Kings 6:24-7:2 ). We then find Elisha at Damascus, to carry out the command given to his master to anoint Hazael king over Syria ( 2 Kings 8:7-15 ); thereafter he directs one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, instead of Ahab. Thus the three commands given to Elijah (9:1-10) were at length carried out. We do not again read of him till we find him on his death-bed in his own house ( 2 Kings 13:14-19 ). Joash, the grandson of Jehu, comes to mourn over his approaching departure, and utters the same words as those of Elisha when Elijah was taken away: “My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” Afterwards when a dead body is laid in Elisha’s grave a year after his burial, no sooner does it touch the hallowed remains than the man “revived, and stood up on his feet” ( 2 Kings 13:20-21 ).
Elishah
The oldest of the four sons of Javan ( Gen. 10:4 ), whose descendants peopled Greece. It has been supposed that Elishah’s descendants peopled the Peloponnesus, which was known by the name of Elis. This may be meant by “the isles of Elishah” ( Ezek. 27:7 ).
Elishama
Whom God hears. (1.) A prince of Benjamin, grandfather of Joshua ( Num. 1:10 ; 1 Chr. 7:26 ). (2.) One of David’s sons ( 2 Sam. 5:16 ). (3.) Another of David’s sons ( 1 Chr. 3:6 ). (4.) A priest sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the people the law ( 2 Chr. 17:8 ).
Elishaphat
Whom God has judged, one of the “captains of hundreds” associated with Jehoiada in the league to overthrow the usurpation of Athaliah ( 2 Chr. 23:1 ).
Elisheba
God is her oath, the daughter of Amminadab and the wife of Aaron ( Ex. 6:23 ).
Elishua
God his salvation, a son of David, 2 Sam. 5:15 = Elishama, 1 Chr. 3:6 .
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 .)
Encamp
An encampment was the resting-place for a longer or shorter period of an army or company of travellers ( Ex. 13:20 ; 14:19 ; Josh. 10:5 ; 11:5 ). The manner in which the Israelites encamped during their march through the wilderness is described in Num. 2 and 3. The order of the encampment (see CAMP ) was preserved in the march ( Num. 2:17 ), the signal for which was the blast of two silver trumpets. Detailed regulations affecting the camp for sanitary purposes are given ( Lev. 4:11 , 12 ; 6:11 ; 8:17 ; 10:4 , 5 ; 13:46 ; 14:3 ; Num. 12:14 , 15 ; 31:19; Deut. 23:10 , 12 ). Criminals were executed without the camp ( Lev. 4:12 ; comp. John 19:17 , 20 ), and there also the young bullock for a sin-offering was burnt ( Lev. 24:14 ; comp. Heb. 13:12 ). In the subsequent history of Israel frequent mention is made of their encampments in the time of war ( Judg. 7:18 ; 1 Sam. 13:2 , 3 , 16 , 23 ; 17:3 ; 29:1 ; 30:9 , 24 ). The temple was sometimes called “the camp of the Lord” ( 2 Chr. 31:2 , R.V.; comp. Ps. 78:28 ). The multitudes who flocked to David are styled “a great host (i.e., “camp;” Heb. mahaneh), like the host of God” ( 1 Chr. 12:22 ).
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 .)
Ensign
(1.) Heb. ‘oth, a military standard, especially of a single tribe ( Num. 2:2 ). Each separate tribe had its own “sign” or “ensign.” (2.) Heb. nes, a lofty signal, as a column or high pole ( Num. 21:8 , 9 ); a standard or signal or flag placed on high mountains to point out to the people a place of rendezvous on the irruption of an enemy ( Isa. 5:26 ; 11:12 ; 18:3 ; 62:10 ; Jer. 4:6 , 21 ; Ps. 60:4 ). This was an occasional signal, and not a military standard. Elevation and conspicuity are implied in the word. (3.) The Hebrew word degel denotes the standard given to each of the four divisions of the host of the Israelites at the Exodus ( Num. 1:52 ; 2:2 ; 10:14 ). In Cant. 2:4 it is rendered “banner.” We have no definite information as to the nature of these military standards. (See BANNER .)
Entertain
Entertainments, “feasts,” were sometimes connected with a public festival ( Deut. 16:11 , 14 ), and accompanied by offerings ( 1 Sam. 9:13 ), in token of alliances ( Gen. 26:30 ); sometimes in connection with domestic or social events, as at the weaning of children ( Gen. 21:8 ), at weddings ( Gen. 29:22 ; John 2:1 ), on birth-days ( Matt. 14:6 ), at the time of sheep-shearing ( 2 Sam. 13:23 ), and of vintage ( Judg. 9:27 ), and at funerals ( 2 Sam. 3:35 ; Jer. 16:7 ). The guests were invited by servants ( Prov. 9:3 ; Matt. 22:3 ), who assigned them their respective places ( 1 Sam. 9:22 ; Luke 14:8 ; Mark 12:39 ). Like portions were sent by the master to each guest ( 1 Sam. 1:4 ; 2 Sam. 6:19 ), except when special honour was intended, when the portion was increased ( Gen. 43:34 ). The Israelites were forbidden to attend heathenish sacrificial entertainments ( Ex. 34:15 ), because these were in honour of false gods, and because at such feast they would be liable to partake of unclean flesh ( 1 Cor. 10:28 ). In the entertainments common in apostolic times among the Gentiles were frequent “revellings,” against which Christians were warned ( Rom. 13:13 ; Gal. 5:21 ; 1 Pet. 4:3 ). (See BANQUET .)
Ephesians, Epistle to
Was written by Paul at Rome about the same time as that to the Colossians, which in many points it resembles. Contents of. The Epistle to the Colossians is mainly polemical, designed to refute certain theosophic errors that had crept into the church there. That to the Ephesians does not seem to have originated in any special circumstances, but is simply a letter springing from Paul’s love to the church there, and indicative of his earnest desire that they should be fully instructed in the profound doctrines of the gospel. It contains (1) the salutation (1:1, 2); (2) a general description of the blessings the gospel reveals, as to their source, means by which they are attained, purpose for which they are bestowed, and their final result, with a fervent prayer for the further spiritual enrichment of the Ephesians (1:3-2:10); (3) “a record of that marked change in spiritual position which the Gentile believers now possessed, ending with an account of the writer’s selection to and qualification for the apostolate of heathendom, a fact so considered as to keep them from being dispirited, and to lead him to pray for enlarged spiritual benefactions on his absent sympathizers” (2:12-3:21); (4) a chapter on unity as undisturbed by diversity of gifts (4:1-16); (5) special injunctions bearing on ordinary life (4:17-6:10); (6) the imagery of a spiritual warfare, mission of Tychicus, and valedictory blessing (6:11-24). Planting of the church at Ephesus. Paul’s first and hurried visit for the space of three months to Ephesus is recorded in Acts 18:19-21 . The work he began on this occasion was carried forward by Apollos (24-26) and Aquila and Priscilla. On his second visit, early in the following year, he remained at Ephesus “three years,” for he found it was the key to the western provinces of Asia Minor. Here “a great door and effectual” was opened to him ( 1 Cor. 16:9 ), and the church was established and strengthened by his assiduous labours there ( Acts 20:20 , 31 ). From Ephesus as a centre the gospel spread abroad “almost throughout all Asia” (19:26). The word “mightily grew and prevailed” despite all the opposition and persecution he encountered. On his last journey to Jerusalem the apostle landed at Miletus, and summoning together the elders of the church from Ephesus, delivered to them his remarkable farewell charge ( Acts 20:18-35 ), expecting to see them no more. The following parallels between this epistle and the Milesian charge may be traced: (1.) Acts 20:19 = Eph. 4:2 . The phrase “lowliness of mind” occurs nowhere else. (2.) Acts 20:27 = Eph. 1:11 . The word “counsel,” as denoting the divine plan, occurs only here and Heb. 6:17 . (3.) Acts 20:32 = Eph. 3:20 . The divine ability. (4.) Acts 20:32 = Eph. 2:20 . The building upon the foundation. (5.) Acts 20:32 = Eph. 1:14 , 18 . “The inheritance of the saints.” Place and date of the writing of the letter. It was evidently written from Rome during Paul’s first imprisonment (3:1; 4:1; 6:20), and probably soon after his arrival there, about the year 62, four years after he had parted with the Ephesian elders at Miletus. The subscription of this epistle is correct. There seems to have been no special occasion for the writing of this letter, as already noted. Paul’s object was plainly not polemical. No errors had sprung up in the church which he sought to point out and refute. The object of the apostle is “to set forth the ground, the cause, and the aim and end of the church of the faithful in Christ. He speaks to the Ephesians as a type or sample of the church universal.” The church’s foundations, its course, and its end, are his theme. “Everywhere the foundation of the church is the will of the Father; the course of the church is by the satisfaction of the Son; the end of the church is the life in the Holy Spirit.” In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul writes from the point of view of justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ; here he writes from the point of view specially of union to the Redeemer, and hence of the oneness of the true church of Christ. “This is perhaps the profoundest book in existence.” It is a book “which sounds the lowest depths of Christian doctrine, and scales the loftiest heights of Christian experience;” and the fact that the apostle evidently expected the Ephesians to understand it is an evidence of the “proficiency which Paul’s converts had attained under his preaching at Ephesus.” Relation between this epistle and that to the Colossians (q.v.). “The letters of the apostle are the fervent outburst of pastoral zeal and attachment, written without reserve and in unaffected simplicity; sentiments come warm from the heart, without the shaping out, pruning, and punctilious arrangement of a formal discourse. There is such a fresh and familiar transcription of feeling, so frequent an introduction of coloquial idiom, and so much of conversational frankness and vivacity, that the reader associates the image of the writer with every paragraph, and the ear seems to catch and recognize the very tones of living address.” “Is it then any matter of amazement that one letter should resemble another, or that two written about the same time should have so much in common and so much that is peculiar? The close relation as to style and subject between the epistles to Colosse and Ephesus must strike every reader. Their precise relation to each other has given rise to much discussion. The great probability is that the epistle to Colosse was first written; the parallel passages in Ephesians, which amount to about forty-two in number, having the appearance of being expansions from the epistle to Colosse. Compare: Eph 1:7 ; Col 1:14 Eph 1:10 ; Col 1:20 Eph 3:2 ; Col 1:25 Eph 5:19 ; Col 3:16 Eph 6:22 ; Col 4:8 Eph 1:19-2:5 ; Col 2:12 , 13 Eph 4:2-4 ; Col 3:12-15 Eph 4:16 ; Col 2:19 Eph 4:32 ; Col 3:13 Eph 4:22-24 ; Col 3:9 , 10 Eph 5:6-8 ; Col 3:6-8 Eph 5:15 , 16 ; Col 4:5 Eph 6:19 , 20 ; Col 4:3 , 4 Eph 5:22-6:9 ; Col 3:18-4:1 “The style of this epistle is exceedingly animated, and corresponds with the state of the apostle’s mind at the time of writing. Overjoyed with the account which their messenger had brought him of their faith and holiness ( Eph. 1:15 ), and transported with the consideration of the unsearchable wisdom of God displayed in the work of man’s redemption, and of his astonishing love towards the Gentiles in making them partakers through faith of all the benefits of Christ’s death, he soars high in his sentiments on those grand subjects, and gives his thoughts utterance in sublime and copious expression.”
Ephesus
The capital of proconsular Asia, which was the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of “the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.” It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana (q.v.), who there had her chief shrine; and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of containing 50,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky. Here were exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts. (Comp. 1 Cor. 4:9 ; 9:24 , 25 ; 15:32 .) Many Jews took up their residence in this city, and here the seeds of the gospel were sown immediately after Pentecost ( Acts 2:9 ; 6:9 ). At the close of his second missionary journey (about A.D. 51), when Paul was returning from Greece to Syria (18:18-21), he first visited this city. He remained, however, for only a short time, as he was hastening to keep the feast, probably of Pentecost, at Jerusalem; but he left Aquila and Priscilla behind him to carry on the work of spreading the gospel. During his third missionary journey Paul reached Ephesus from the “upper coasts” ( Acts 19:1 ), i.e., from the inland parts of Asia Minor, and tarried here for about three years; and so successful and abundant were his labours that “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (19:10). Probably during this period the seven churches of the Apocalypse were founded, not by Paul’s personal labours, but by missionaries whom he may have sent out from Ephesus, and by the influence of converts returning to their homes. On his return from his journey, Paul touched at Miletus, some 30 miles south of Ephesus ( Acts 20:15 ), and sending for the presbyters of Ephesus to meet him there, he delivered to them that touching farewell charge which is recorded in Acts 20:18-35 . Ephesus is not again mentioned till near the close of Paul’s life, when he writes to Timothy exhorting him to “abide still at Ephesus” ( 1 Tim. 1:3 ). Two of Paul’s companions, Trophimus and Tychicus, were probably natives of Ephesus ( Acts 20:4 ; 21:29 ; 2 Tim. 4:12 ). In his second epistle to Timothy, Paul speaks of Onesiphorus as having served him in many things at Ephesus ( 2 Tim. 1:18 ). He also “sent Tychicus to Ephesus” (4:12), probably to attend to the interests of the church there. Ephesus is twice mentioned in the Apocalypse (1:11; 2:1). The apostle John, according to tradition, spent many years in Ephesus, where he died and was buried. A part of the site of this once famous city is now occupied by a small Turkish village, Ayasaluk, which is regarded as a corruption of the two Greek words, hagios theologos; i.e., “the holy divine.”
Epistles
The apostolic letters. The New Testament contains twenty-one in all. They are divided into two classes. (1.) Paul’s Epistles, fourteen in number, including Hebrews. These are not arranged in the New Testament in the order of time as to their composition, but rather according to the rank of the cities or places to which they were sent. Who arranged them after this manner is unknown. Paul’s letters were, as a rule, dictated to an amanuensis, a fact which accounts for some of their peculiarities. He authenticated them, however, by adding a few words in his own hand at the close. (See GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO .) The epistles to Timothy and Titus are styled the Pastoral Epistles. (2.) The Catholic or General Epistles, so called because they are not addressed to any particular church or city or individual, but to Christians in general, or to Christians in several countries. Of these, three are written by John, two by Peter, and one each by James and Jude. It is an interesting and instructive fact that a large portion of the New Testament is taken up with epistles. The doctrines of Christianity are thus not set forth in any formal treatise, but mainly in a collection of letters. “Christianity was the first great missionary religion. It was the first to break the bonds of race and aim at embracing all mankind. But this necessarily involved a change in the mode in which it was presented. The prophet of the Old Testament, if he had anything to communicate, either appeared in person or sent messengers to speak for him by word of mouth. The narrow limits of Palestine made direct personal communication easy. But the case was different when the Christian Church came to consist of a number of scattered parts, stretching from Mesopotamia in the east to Rome or even Spain in the far west. It was only natural that the apostle by whom the greater number of these communities had been founded should seek to communicate with them by letter.”
Erech
(LXX., “Orech”), length, or Moon-town, one of the cities of Nimrod’s kingdom in the plain of Shinar ( Gen. 10:10 ); the Orchoe of the Greeks and Romans. It was probably the city of the Archevites, who were transplanted to Samaria by Asnapper ( Ezra 4:9 ). It lay on the left bank of the Euphrates, about 120 miles south-east of Babylon, and is now represented by the mounds and ruins of Warka. It appears to have been the necropolis of the Assyrian kings, as the whole region is strewed with bricks and the remains of coffins. “Standing on the summit of the principal edifice, called the Buwarizza, a tower 200 feet square in the centre of the ruins, the beholder is struck with astonishment at the enormous accumulation of mounds and ancient relics at his feet. An irregular circle, nearly 6 miles in circumference, is defined by the traces of an earthen rampart, in some places 40 feet high.”
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.
Eshcol
Bunch; brave. (1.) A young Amoritish chief who joined Abraham in the recovery of Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer ( Gen. 14:13 , 24 ). (2.) A valley in which the spies obtained a fine cluster of grapes ( Num. 13:23 , 24 ; “the brook Eshcol,” A.V.; “the valley of Eshcol,” R.V.), which they took back with them to the camp of Israel as a specimen of the fruits of the Promised Land. On their way back they explored the route which led into the south (the Negeb) by the western edge of the mountains at Telilat el-‘Anab, i.e., “grape-mounds”, near Beersheba. “In one of these extensive valleys, perhaps in Wady Hanein, where miles of grape-mounds even now meet the eye, they cut the gigantic clusters of grapes, and gathered the pomegranates and figs, to show how goodly was the land which the Lord had promised for their inheritance.”, Palmer’s Desert of the Exodus.
Esther
The queen of Ahasuerus, and heroine of the book that bears her name. She was a Jewess named Hadas’sah (the myrtle), but when she entered the royal harem she received the name by which she henceforth became known ( Esther 2:7 ). It is a Syro-Arabian modification of the Persian word satarah, which means a star. She was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite. Her family did not avail themselves of the permission granted by Cyrus to the exiles to return to Jerusalem; and she resided with her cousin Mordecai, who held some office in the household of the Persian king at “Shushan in the palace.” Ahasuerus having divorced Vashti, chose Esther to be his wife. Soon after this he gave Haman the Agagite, his prime minister, power and authority to kill and extirpate all the Jews throughout the Persian empire. By the interposition of Esther this terrible catastrophe was averted. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had intended for Mordecai ( Esther 7 ); and the Jews established an annual feast, the feast of Purim (q.v.), in memory of their wonderful deliverance. This took place about fifty-two years after the Return, the year of the great battles of Plataea and Mycale (B.C. 479). Esther appears in the Bible as a “woman of deep piety, faith, courage, patriotism, and caution, combined with resolution; a dutiful daughter to her adopted father, docile and obedient to his counsels, and anxious to share the king’s favour with him for the good of the Jewish people. There must have been a singular grace and charm in her aspect and manners, since ‘she obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her’ ( Esther 2:15 ). That she was raised up as an instrument in the hand of God to avert the destruction of the Jewish people, and to afford them protection and forward their wealth and peace in their captivity, is also manifest from the Scripture account.”
Eternal life
This expression occurs in the Old Testament only in Dan. 12:2 (R.V., “everlasting life”). It occurs frequently in the New Testament ( Matt. 7:14 ; 18:8 , 9 ; Luke 10:28 ; comp. 18:18). It comprises the whole future of the redeemed ( Luke 16:9 ), and is opposed to “eternal punishment” ( Matt. 19:29 ; 25:46 ). It is the final reward and glory into which the children of God enter ( 1 Tim. 6:12 , 19 ; Rom. 6:22 ; Gal. 6:8 ; 1 Tim. 1:16 ; Rom. 5:21 ); their Sabbath of rest ( Heb. 4:9 ; comp. 12:22). The newness of life which the believer derives from Christ ( Rom. 6:4 ) is the very essence of salvation, and hence the life of glory or the eternal life must also be theirs ( Rom. 6:8 ; 2 Tim. 2:11 , 12 ; Rom. 5:17 , 21 ; 8:30; Eph. 2:5 , 6 ). It is the “gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord” ( Rom. 6:23 ). The life the faithful have here on earth ( John 3:36 ; 5:24 ; 6:47 , 53-58 ) is inseparably connected with the eternal life beyond, the endless life of the future, the happy future of the saints in heaven ( Matt. 19:16 , 29 ; 25:46).
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 .)
Eunice
Happily conquering, the mother of Timothy, a believing Jewess, but married to a Greek ( Acts 16:1 ). She trained her son from his childhood in the knowledge of the Scriptures ( 2 Tim. 3:15 ). She was distinguished by her “unfeigned faith.”
Evangelist
A “publisher of glad tidings;” a missionary preacher of the gospel ( Eph. 4:11 ). This title is applied to Philip ( Acts 21:8 ), who appears to have gone from city to city preaching the word (8:4, 40). Judging from the case of Philip, evangelists had neither the authority of an apostle, nor the gift of prophecy, nor the responsibility of pastoral supervision over a portion of the flock. They were itinerant preachers, having it as their special function to carry the gospel to places where it was previously unknown. The writers of the four Gospels are known as the Evangelists.
Exile
(1.) Of the kingdom of Israel. In the time of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser II. carried away captive into Assyria ( 2 Kings 15:29 ; comp. Isa. 10:5 , 6 ) a part of the inhabitants of Galilee and of Gilead (B.C. 741). After the destruction of Samaria (B.C. 720) by Shalmaneser and Sargon (q.v.), there was a general deportation of the Israelites into Mesopotamia and Media ( 2 Kings 17:6 ; 18:9 ; 1 Chr. 5:26 ). (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF .) (2.) Of the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim ( Jer. 25:1 ), invaded Judah, and carried away some royal youths, including Daniel and his companions (B.C. 606), together with the sacred vessels of the temple ( 2 Chr. 36:7 ; Dan. 1:2 ). In B.C. 598 ( Jer. 52:28 ; 2 Kings 24:12 ), in the beginning of Jehoiachin’s reign ( 2 Kings 24:8 ), Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive 3,023 eminent Jews, including the king ( 2 Chr. 36:10 ), with his family and officers ( 2 Kings 24:12 ), and a large number of warriors (16), with very many persons of note (14), and artisans (16), leaving behind only those who were poor and helpless. This was the first general deportation to Babylon. In B.C. 588, after the revolt of Zedekiah (q.v.), there was a second general deportation of Jews by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jer. 52:29 ; 2 Kings 25:8 ), including 832 more of the principal men of the kingdom. He carried away also the rest of the sacred vessels ( 2 Chr. 36:18 ). From this period, when the temple was destroyed ( 2 Kings 25:9 ), to the complete restoration, B.C. 517 ( Ezra 6:15 ), is the period of the “seventy years.” In B.C. 582 occurred the last and final deportation. The entire number Nebuchadnezzar carried captive was 4,600 heads of families with their wives and children and dependants ( Jer. 52:30 ; 43:5-7 ; 2 Chr. 36:20 , etc.). Thus the exiles formed a very considerable community in Babylon. When Cyrus granted permission to the Jews to return to their own land ( Ezra 1:5 ; 7:13 ), only a comparatively small number at first availed themselves of the privilege. It cannot be questioned that many belonging to the kingdom of Israel ultimately joined the Jews under Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah, and returned along with them to Jerusalem ( Jer. 50:4 , 5 , 17 -20, 33-35). Large numbers had, however, settled in the land of Babylon, and formed numerous colonies in different parts of the kingdom. Their descendants very probably have spread far into Eastern lands and become absorbed in the general population. (See JUDAH, KINGDOM OF ; CAPTIVITY .)
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.
Exorcist
( Acts 19:13 ). “In that sceptical and therefore superstitious age professional exorcist abounded. Many of these professional exorcists were disreputable Jews, like Simon in Samaria and Elymas in Cyprus (8:9; 13:6).” Other references to exorcism as practised by the Jews are found in Matt. 12:27 ; Mark 9:38 ; Luke 9:49 , 50 . It would seem that it was an opinion among the Jews that miracles might be wrought by invoking the divine name. Thus also these “vagabond Jews” pretended that they could expel daemons. The power of casting out devils was conferred by Christ on his apostles ( Matt. 10:8 ), and on the seventy ( Luke 10:17-19 ), and was exercised by believers after his ascension ( Mark 16:17 ; Acts 16:18 ); but this power was never spoken of as exorcism.
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).
Ezra
Help. (1.) A priest among those that returned to Jerusalem under Zerubabel ( Neh. 12:1 ). (2.) The “scribe” who led the second body of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459, and author of the book of Scripture which bears his name. He was the son, or perhaps grandson, of Seraiah ( 2 Kings 25:18-21 ), and a lineal descendant of Phinehas, the son of Aaron ( Ezra 7:1-5 ). All we know of his personal history is contained in the last four chapters of his book, and in Neh. 8 and 12:26. In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus (see DARIUS ), he obtained leave to go up to Jerusalem and to take with him a company of Israelites ( Ezra 8 ). Artaxerxes manifested great interest in Ezra’s undertaking, granting him “all his request,” and loading him with gifts for the house of God. Ezra assembled the band of exiles, probably about 5,000 in all, who were prepared to go up with him to Jerusalem, on the banks of the Ahava, where they rested for three days, and were put into order for their march across the desert, which was completed in four months. His proceedings at Jerusalem on his arrival there are recorded in his book. He was “a ready scribe in the law of Moses,” who “had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” “He is,” says Professor Binnie, “the first well-defined example of an order of men who have never since ceased in the church; men of sacred erudition, who devote their lives to the study of the Holy Scriptures, in order that they may be in a condition to interpret them for the instruction and edification of the church. It is significant that the earliest mention of the pulpit occurs in the history of Ezra’s ministry ( Neh. 8:4 ). He was much more of a teacher than a priest. We learn from the account of his labours in the book of Nehemiah that he was careful to have the whole people instructed in the law of Moses; and there is no reason to reject the constant tradition of the Jews which connects his name with the collecting and editing of the Old Testament canon. The final completion of the canon may have been, and probably was, the work of a later generation; but Ezra seems to have put it much into the shape in which it is still found in the Hebrew Bible. When it is added that the complete organization of the synagogue dates from this period, it will be seen that the age was emphatically one of Biblical study” (The Psalms: their History, etc.). For about fourteen years, i.e., till B.C. 445, we have no record of what went on in Jerusalem after Ezra had set in order the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the nation. In that year another distinguished personage, Nehemiah, appears on the scene. After the ruined wall of the city had been built by Nehemiah, there was a great gathering of the people at Jerusalem preparatory to the dedication of the wall. On the appointed day the whole population assembled, and the law was read aloud to them by Ezra and his assistants ( Neh. 8:3 ). The remarkable scene is described in detail. There was a great religious awakening. For successive days they held solemn assemblies, confessing their sins and offering up solemn sacrifices. They kept also the feast of Tabernacles with great solemnity and joyous enthusiasm, and then renewed their national covenant to be the Lord’s. Abuses were rectified, and arrangements for the temple service completed, and now nothing remained but the dedication of the walls of the city ( Neh. 12 ).