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Matthew George Easton
Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (1897) · 3,964 entries on site
Built by God. (1.) A town in the north boundary of Judah ( Josh. 15:11 ), called afterwards by the Greeks Jamnia, the modern Yebna, 11 miles south of Jaffa. After the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), it became one of the most populous cities of Judea, and the seat of a celebrated school. (2.) A town on the border of Naphtali ( Josh. 19:33 ). Its later name was Kefr Yemmah, “the village by the sea,” on the south shore of Lake Merom.
( John 4:5 , 6 ). This is one of the few sites in Palestine about which there is no dispute. It was dug by Jacob, and hence its name, in the “parcel of ground” which he purchased from the sons of Hamor ( Gen. 33:19 ). It still exists, but although after copious rains it contains a little water, it is now usually quite dry. It is at the entrance to the valley between Ebal and Gerizim, about 2 miles south-east of Shechem. It is about 9 feet in diameter and about 75 feet in depth, though in ancient times it was no doubt much deeper, probably twice as deep. The digging of such a well must have been a very laborious and costly undertaking. “Unfortunately, the well of Jacob has not escaped that misplaced religious veneration which cannot be satisfied with leaving the object of it as it is, but must build over it a shrine to protect and make it sacred. A series of buildings of various styles, and of different ages, have cumbered the ground, choked up the well, and disfigured the natural beauty and simplicity of the spot. At present the rubbish in the well has been cleared out; but there is still a domed structure over it, and you gaze down the shaft cut in the living rock and see at a depth of 70 feet the surface of the water glimmering with a pale blue light in the darkness, while you notice how the limestone blocks that form its curb have been worn smooth, or else furrowed by the ropes of centuries” (Hugh Macmillan). At the entrance of the enclosure round the well is planted in the ground one of the wooden poles that hold the telegraph wires between Jerusalem and Haifa.
Judge, a Meronothite who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem ( Neh. 3:7 ).
Beheld by God. (1.) The third son of Hebron ( 1 Chr. 23:19 ). (2.) A Benjamite chief who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ). (3.) A priest who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 16:6 ). (4.) The son of Zechariah, a Levite of the family of Asaph ( 2 Chr. 20:14-17 ). He encouraged Jehoshaphat against the Moabites and Ammonites.
(1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter ( Matt. 20:20 ; 27:56 ). With John and Peter he was present at the transfiguration ( Matt. 17:1 ; Mark 9:2 ), at the raising of Jairus’s daughter ( Mark 5:37-43 ), and in the garden with our Lord (14:33). Because, probably, of their boldness and energy, he and John were called Boanerges, i.e., “sons of thunder.” He was the first martyr among the apostles, having been beheaded by King Herod Agrippa ( Acts 12:1 , 2 ), A.D. 44. (Comp. Matt. 4:21 ; 20:20-23 ). (2.) The son of Alphaeus, or Cleopas, “the brother” or near kinsman or cousin of our Lord ( Gal. 1:18 , 19 ), called James “the Less,” or “the Little,” probably because he was of low stature. He is mentioned along with the other apostles ( Matt. 10:3 ; Mark 3:18 ; Luke 6:15 ). He had a separate interview with our Lord after his resurrection ( 1 Cor. 15:7 ), and is mentioned as one of the apostles of the circumcision ( Acts 1:13 ). He appears to have occupied the position of head of the Church at Jerusalem, where he presided at the council held to consider the case of the Gentiles ( Acts 12:17 ; 15:13-29 : 21:18-24). This James was the author of the epistle which bears his name.
(1.) Author of, was James the Less, the Lord’s brother, one of the twelve apostles. He was one of the three pillars of the Church ( Gal. 2:9 ). (2.) It was addressed to the Jews of the dispersion, “the twelve tribes scattered abroad.” (3.) The place and time of the writing of the epistle were Jerusalem, where James was residing, and, from internal evidence, the period between Paul’s two imprisonments at Rome, probably about A.D. 62. (4.) The object of the writer was to enforce the practical duties of the Christian life. “The Jewish vices against which he warns them are, formalism, which made the service of God consist in washings and outward ceremonies, whereas he reminds them (1:27) that it consists rather in active love and purity; fanaticism, which, under the cloak of religious zeal, was tearing Jerusalem in pieces (1:20); fatalism, which threw its sins on God (1:13); meanness, which crouched before the rich (2:2); falsehood, which had made words and oaths play-things (3:2-12); partisanship (3:14); evil speaking (4:11); boasting (4:16); oppression (5:4). The great lesson which he teaches them as Christians is patience, patience in trial (1:2), patience in good works (1:22-25), patience under provocation (3:17), patience under oppression (5:7), patience under persecution (5:10); and the ground of their patience is that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, which is to right all wrong (5:8).” “Justification by works,” which James contends for, is justification before man, the justification of our profession of faith by a consistent life. Paul contends for the doctrine of “justification by faith;” but that is justification before God, a being regarded and accepted as just by virtue of the righteousness of Christ, which is received by faith.
Splendid. (1.) The king of Lachish, who joined in the confederacy against Joshua ( Josh. 10:3 ), and was defeated and slain. In one of the Amarna tablets he speaks of himself as king of Gezer. Called also Horam ( Josh. 10:33 ). (2.) One of the sons of David ( 2 Sam. 5:15 ), born in Jerusalem. (3.) A town in the southern boundary of Zebulum ( Josh. 19:12 ); now Yafa, 2 miles south-west of Nazareth.
An adversary. (1.) A son of Simeon ( 1 Chr. 4:24 ). (2.) One of the chiefs sent by Ezra to bring up the priests to Jerusalem ( Ezra 8:16 ). (3.) Ezra 10:18 .
(Heb. yashpheh, “glittering”), a gem of various colours, one of the twelve inserted in the high priest’s breast-plate ( Ex. 28:20 ). It is named in the building of the New Jerusalem ( Rev. 21:18 , 19 ). It was “most precious,” “clear as crystal” (21:11). It was emblematic of the glory of God (4:3).
Trodden hard, or fastness, or “the waterless hill”, the name of the Canaanitish city which stood on Mount Zion ( Josh. 15:8 ; 18:16 , 28 ). It is identified with Jerusalem (q.v.) in Judg. 19:10 , and with the castle or city of David ( 1 Chr. 11:4 , 5 ). It was a place of great natural strength, and its capture was one of David’s most brilliant achievements ( 2 Sam. 5:8 ).
(1.) Invoker of Jehovah. The son of Shimri, a chief Simeonite ( 1 Chr. 4:37 ). (2.) One of those who repaired the walls of Jerusalem after the return from Babylon ( Neh. 3:10 ). (3.) Knowing Jehovah. The chief of one of the courses of the priests ( 1 Chr. 24:7 ). (4.) A priest in Jerusalem after the Exile ( 1 Chr. 9:10 ).
God’s living one. (1.) The father of Gibeon ( 1 Chr. 9:35 ). (2.) One of David’s guard ( 1 Chr. 11:44 ). (3.) One of the Levites “of the second degree,” appointed to conduct the music on the occasion of the ark’s being removed to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 15:18 , 20 ). (4.) A Hachmonite, a tutor in the family of David toward the close of his reign ( 1 Chr. 27:32 ). (5.) The second of Jehoshaphat’s six sons ( 2 Chr. 21:2 ). (6.) One of the Levites of the family of Heman who assisted Hezekiah in his work of reformation ( 2 Chr. 29:14 ). (7.) A “prince” and “ruler of the house of God” who contributed liberally to the renewal of the temple sacrifices under Josiah ( 2 Chr. 35:8 ). (8.) The father of Obadiah ( Ezra 8:9 ). (9.) One of the “sons” of Elam ( Ezra 10:26 ). (10.) Ezra 10:21 .
Jehovah-given. (1.) The son of King Ahaziah. While yet an infant, he was saved from the general massacre of the family by his aunt Jehosheba, and was apparently the only surviving descendant of Solomon ( 2 Chr. 21:4 , 17 ). His uncle, the high priest Jehoiada, brought him forth to public notice when he was eight years of age, and crowned and anointed him king of Judah with the usual ceremonies. Athaliah was taken by surprise when she heard the shout of the people, “Long live the king;” and when she appeared in the temple, Jehoiada commanded her to be led forth to death ( 2 Kings 11:13-20 ). While the high priest lived, Jehoash favoured the worship of God and observed the law; but on his death he fell away into evil courses, and the land was defiled with idolatry. Zechariah, the son and successor of the high priest, was put to death. These evil deeds brought down on the land the judgement of God, and it was oppressed by the Syrian invaders. He is one of the three kings omitted by Matthew (1:8) in the genealogy of Christ, the other two being Ahaziah and Amaziah. He was buried in the city of David ( 2 Kings 12:21 ). (See JOASH [4].) (2.) The son and successor of Jehoahaz, king of Israel ( 2 Kings 14:1 ; comp. 12:1; 13:10). When he ascended the throne the kingdom was suffering from the invasion of the Syrians. Hazael “was cutting Israel short.” He tolerated the worship of the golden calves, yet seems to have manifested a character of sincere devotion to the God of his fathers. He held the prophet Elisha in honour, and wept by his bedside when he was dying, addressing him in the words Elisha himself had used when Elijah was carried up into heaven: “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.” He was afterwards involved in war with Amaziah, the king of Judah ( 2 Chr. 25:23-24 ), whom he utterly defeated at Beth-shemesh, on the borders of Dan and Philistia, and advancing on Jerusalem, broke down a portion of the wall, and carried away the treasures of the temple and the palace. He soon after died (B.C. 825), and was buried in Samaria ( 2 Kings 14:1-17 , 19 , 20 ). He was succeeded by his son. (See JOASH [5.].)
Succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days ( 2 Chr. 36:9 ). He is also called Jeconiah ( Jer. 24:1 ; 27:20 , etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1). He was succeeded by his uncle, Mattaniah = Zedekiah (q.v.). He was the last direct heir to the Jewish crown. He was carried captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with the flower of the nobility, all the leading men in Jerusalem, and a great body of the general population, some thirteen thousand in all ( 2 Kings 24:12-16 ; Jer. 52:28 ). After an imprisonment of thirty-seven years ( Jer. 52:31 , 33 ), he was liberated by Evil-merodach, and permitted to occupy a place in the king’s household and sit at his table, receiving “every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life” (52:32-34).
He whom Jehovah has set up, the second son of Josiah, and eighteenth king of Judah, which he ruled over for eleven years (B.C. 610-599). His original name was Eliakim (q.v.). On the death of his father his younger brother Jehoahaz (=Shallum, Jer. 22:11 ), who favoured the Chaldeans against the Egyptians, was made king by the people; but the king of Egypt, Pharaoh-necho, invaded the land and deposed Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 23:33 , 34 ; Jer. 22:10-12 ), setting Eliakim on the throne in his stead, and changing his name to Jehoiakim. After this the king of Egypt took no part in Jewish politics, having been defeated by the Chaldeans at Carchemish ( 2 Kings 24:7 ; Jer. 46:2 ). Palestine was now invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim was taken prisoner and carried captive to Babylon ( 2 Chr. 36:6 , 7 ). It was at this time that Daniel also and his three companions were taken captive to Babylon ( Dan. 1:1 , 2 ). Nebuchadnezzar reinstated Jehoiakim on his throne, but treated him as a vassal king. In the year after this, Jeremiah caused his prophecies to be read by Baruch in the court of the temple. Jehoiakim, hearing of this, had them also read in the royal palace before himself. The words displeased him, and taking the roll from the hands of Baruch he cut it in pieces and threw it into the fire ( Jer. 36:23 ). During his disastrous reign there was a return to the old idolatry and corruption of the days of Manasseh. After three years of subjection to Babylon, Jehoiakim withheld his tribute and threw off the yoke ( 2 Kings 24:1 ), hoping to make himself independent. Nebuchadnezzar sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, and Ammonites ( 2 Kings 24:2 ) to chastise his rebellious vassal. They cruelly harassed the whole country (comp. Jer. 49:1-6 ). The king came to a violent death, and his body having been thrown over the wall of Jerusalem, to convince the beseieging army that he was dead, after having been dragged away, was buried beyond the gates of Jerusalem “with the burial of an ass,” B.C. 599 ( Jer. 22:18 , 19 ; 36:30). Nebuchadnezzar placed his son Jehoiachin on the throne, wishing still to retain the kingdom of Judah as tributary to him.
Jehovah defends, a priest at Jerusalem, head of one of the sacerdotal courses ( 1 Chr. 9:10 ; 24:7 ). His “course” went up from Babylon after the Exile ( Ezra 2:36-39 ; Neh. 7:39-42 ).
Jehovah-judged. (1.) One of David’s body-guard ( 1 Chr. 11:43 ). (2.) One of the priests who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 15:24 ). (3.) Son of Ahilud, “recorder” or annalist under David and Solomon ( 2 Sam. 8:16 ), a state officer of high rank, chancellor or vizier of the kingdom. (4.) Solomon’s purveyor in Issachar ( 1 Kings 4:17 ). (5.) The son and successor of Asa, king of Judah. After fortifying his kingdom against Israel ( 2 Chr. 17:1 , 2 ), he set himself to cleanse the land of idolatry ( 1 Kings 22:43 ). In the third year of his reign he sent out priests and Levites over the land to instruct the people in the law ( 2 Chr. 17:7-9 ). He enjoyed a great measure of peace and prosperity, the blessing of God resting on the people “in their basket and their store.” The great mistake of his reign was his entering into an alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel, which involved him in much disgrace, and brought disaster on his kingdom ( 1 Kings 22:1-33 ). Escaping from the bloody battle of Ramoth-gilead, the prophet Jehu ( 2 Chr. 19:1-3 ) reproached him for the course he had been pursuing, whereupon he entered with rigour on his former course of opposition to all idolatry, and of deepening interest in the worship of God and in the righteous government of the people ( 2 Chr. 19:4-11 ). Again he entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. But the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-gaber was speedily wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the co-operation of the king of Israel, and although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted ( 2 Chr. 20:35-37 ; 1 Kings 22:48-49 ). He subsequently joined Jehoram, king of Israel, in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful. The Moabites were subdued; but the dreadful act of Mesha in offering his own son a sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth in the sight of the armies of Israel filled him with horror, and he withdrew and returned to his own land ( 2 Kings 3:4-27 ). The last most notable event of his reign was that recorded in 2 Chr. 20 . The Moabites formed a great and powerful confederacy with the surrounding nations, and came against Jehoshaphat. The allied forces were encamped at Engedi. The king and his people were filled with alarm, and betook themselves to God in prayer. The king prayed in the court of the temple, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.” Amid the silence that followed, the voice of Jahaziel the Levite was heard announcing that on the morrow all this great host would be overthrown. So it was, for they quarrelled among themselves, and slew one another, leaving to the people of Judah only to gather the rich spoils of the slain. This was recognized as a great deliverance wrought for them by God (B.C. 890). Soon after this Jehoshaphat died, after a reign of twenty-five years, being sixty years of age, and was succeeded by his son Jehoram ( 1 Kings 22:50 ). He had this testimony, that “he sought the Lord with all his heart” ( 2 Chr. 22:9 ). The kingdom of Judah was never more prosperous than under his reign. (6.) The son of Nimshi, and father of Jehu, king of Israel ( 2 Kings 9:2 , 14 ).
Mentioned in Scripture only in Joel 3:2 , 12 . This is the name given in modern times to the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and the Kidron flows through it. Here Jehoshaphat overthrew the confederated enemies of Israel ( Ps. 83:6-8 ); and in this valley also God was to overthrow the Tyrians, Zidonians, etc. ( Joel 3:4 , 19 ), with an utter overthrow. This has been fulfilled; but Joel speaks of the final conflict, when God would destroy all Jerusalem’s enemies, of whom Tyre and Zidon, etc., were types. The “valley of Jehoshaphat” may therefore be simply regarded as a general term for the theatre of God’s final judgments on the enemies of Israel. This valley has from ancient times been used by the Jews as a burial-ground. It is all over paved with flat stones as tombstones, bearing on them Hebrew inscriptions.
Jehovah is there, the symbolical title given by Ezekiel to Jerusalem, which was seen by him in vision ( Ezek. 48:35 ). It was a type of the gospel Church.
Jehovah our rightousness, rendered in the Authorized Version, “The LORD our righteousness,” a title given to the Messiah ( Jer. 23:6 , marg.), and also to Jerusalem (33:16, marg.).
Jehovah-given. (1.) The son of Obed-edom ( 1 Chr. 26:4 ), one of the Levite porters. (2.) The son of Shomer, one of the two conspirators who put king Jehoash to death in Millo in Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 12:21 ). (3.) 2 Chr. 17:18 .
Snatched away by God. (1.) A descendant of Benjamin ( 1 Chr. 9:35 ; 8:29 ). (2.) One of the Levites who took part in praising God on the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 16:5 ). (3.) 2 Chr. 29:13 . A Levite of the sons of Asaph. (4.) 2 Chr. 26:11 . A scribe. (5.) 1 Chr. 5:7 . A Reubenite chief. (6.) One of the chief Levites, who made an offering for the restoration of the Passover by Josiah ( 2 Chr. 35:9 ). (7.) Ezra 8:13 . (8.) Ezra 10:43 .
Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness ( 1 Chr. 12:10 ). (2.) A Gadite warrior ( 1 Chr. 12:13 ). (3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ). (4.) One of the chiefs of the tribe of Manasseh on the east of Jordan ( 1 Chr. 5:24 ). (5.) The father of Hamutal ( 2 Kings 23:31 ), the wife of Josiah. (6.) One of the “greater prophets” of the Old Testament, son of Hilkiah (q.v.), a priest of Anathoth ( Jer. 1:1 ; 32:6 ). He was called to the prophetical office when still young (1:6), in the thirteenth year of Josiah (B.C. 628). He left his native place, and went to reside in Jerusalem, where he greatly assisted Josiah in his work of reformation ( 2 Kings 23:1-25 ). The death of this pious king was bewailed by the prophet as a national calamity ( 2 Chr. 35:25 ). During the three years of the reign of Jehoahaz we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the enmity of the people against him broke out in bitter persecution, and he was placed apparently under restraint ( Jer. 36:5 ). In the fourth year of Jehoiakim he was commanded to write the predictions given to him, and to read them to the people on the fast-day. This was done by Baruch his servant in his stead, and produced much public excitement. The roll was read to the king. In his recklessness he seized the roll, and cut it to pieces, and cast it into the fire, and ordered both Baruch and Jeremiah to be apprehended. Jeremiah procured another roll, and wrote in it the words of the roll the king had destroyed, and “many like words” besides ( Jer. 36:32 ). He remained in Jerusalem, uttering from time to time his words of warning, but without effect. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city ( Jer. 37:4 , 5 ), B.C. 589. The rumour of the approach of the Egyptians to aid the Jews in this crisis induced the Chaldeans to withdraw and return to their own land. This, however, was only for a time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God announcing that the Chaldeans would come again and take the city, and burn it with fire (37:7, 8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (B.C. 588). The Chaldeans released him, and showed him great kindness, allowing him to choose the place of his residence. He accordingly went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea. Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, and refusing to listen to Jeremiah’s counsels, went down into Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with him ( Jer. 43:6 ). There probably the prophet spent the remainder of his life, in vain seeking still to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long revolted (44). He lived till the reign of Evil-Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and must have been about ninety years of age at his death. We have no authentic record of his death. He may have died at Tahpanhes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar; but of this there is nothing certain.
Place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites ( Josh. 3:16 ). Its site was near the ‘Ain es-Sultan, Elisha’s Fountain ( 2 Kings 2:19-22 ), about 5 miles west of Jordan. It was the most important city in the Jordan valley ( Num. 22:1 ; 34:15 ), and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. It was the key to Western Palestine. This city was taken in a very remarkable manner by the Israelites ( Josh. 6 ). God gave it into their hands. The city was “accursed” (Heb. herem, “devoted” to Jehovah), and accordingly ( Josh. 6:17 ; comp. Lev. 27:28 , 29 ; Deut. 13:16 ) all the inhabitants and all the spoil of the city were to be destroyed, “only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron” were reserved and “put into the treasury of the house of Jehovah” ( Josh. 6:24 ; comp. Num. 31:22 , 23 , 50 -54). Only Rahab “and her father’s household, and all that she had,” were preserved from destruction, according to the promise of the spies ( Josh. 2:14 ). In one of the Amarna tablets Adoni-zedec (q.v.) writes to the king of Egypt informing him that the ‘Abiri (Hebrews) had prevailed, and had taken the fortress of Jericho, and were plundering “all the king’s lands.” It would seem that the Egyptian troops had before this been withdrawn from Palestine. This city was given to the tribe of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:21 ), and it was inhabited in the time of the Judges ( Judg. 3:13 ; 2 Sam. 10:5 ). It is not again mentioned till the time of David ( 2 Sam. 10:5 ). “Children of Jericho” were among the captives who returned under Zerubbabel Ezra 2:34 ; Neh. 7:36 ). Hiel (q.v.) the Bethelite attempted to make it once more a fortified city ( 1 Kings 16:34 ). Between the beginning and the end of his undertaking all his children were cut off. In New Testament times Jericho stood some distance to the south-east of the ancient one, and near the opening of the valley of Achor. It was a rich and flourishing town, having a considerable trade, and celebrated for the palm trees which adorned the plain around. It was visited by our Lord on his last journey to Jerusalem. Here he gave sight to two blind men ( Matt. 20:29-34 ; Mark 10:46-52 ), and brought salvation to the house of Zacchaeus the publican ( Luke 19:2-10 ). The poor hamlet of er-Riha, the representative of modern Jericho, is situated some two miles farther to the east. It is in a ruinous condition, having been destroyed by the Turks in 1840. “The soil of the plain,” about the middle of which the ancient city stood, “is unsurpassed in fertility; there is abundance of water for irrigation, and many of the old aqueducts are almost perfect; yet nearly the whole plain is waste and desolate...The climate of Jericho is exceedingly hot and unhealthy. This is accounted for by the depression of the plain, which is about 1,200 feet below the level of the sea.” There were three different Jerichos, on three different sites, the Jericho of Joshua, the Jericho of Herod, and the Jericho of the Crusades. Er-Riha, the modern Jericho, dates from the time of the Crusades. Dr. Bliss has found in a hollow scooped out for some purpose or other near the foot of the biggest mound above the Sultan’s Spring specimens of Amorite or pre-Israelitish pottery precisely identical with what he had discovered on the site of ancient Lachish. He also traced in this place for a short distance a mud brick wall in situ, which he supposes to be the very wall that fell before the trumpets of Joshua. The wall is not far from the foot of the great precipice of Quarantania and its numerous caverns, and the spies of Joshua could easily have fled from the city and been speedily hidden in these fastnesses.
Increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat ( 1 Kings 11:26-39 ), “an Ephrathite,” the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of Zereda, and while still young was promoted by Solomon to be chief superintendent of the “burnden”, i.e., of the bands of forced labourers. Influenced by the words of the prophet Ahijah, he began to form conspiracies with the view of becoming king of the ten tribes; but these having been discovered, he fled to Egypt ( 1 Kings 11:29-40 ), where he remained for a length of time under the protection of Shishak I. On the death of Solomon, the ten tribes, having revolted, sent to invite him to become their king. The conduct of Rehoboam favoured the designs of Jeroboam, and he was accordingly proclaimed “king of Israel” ( 1 Kings 12 : 1-20). He rebuilt and fortified Shechem as the capital of his kingdom. He at once adopted means to perpetuate the division thus made between the two parts of the kingdom, and erected at Dan and Bethel, the two extremities of his kingdom, “golden calves,” which he set up as symbols of Jehovah, enjoining the people not any more to go up to worship at Jerusalem, but to bring their offerings to the shrines he had erected. Thus he became distinguished as the man “who made Israel to sin.” This policy was followed by all the succeeding kings of Israel. While he was engaged in offering incense at Bethel, a prophet from Judah appeared before him with a warning message from the Lord. Attempting to arrest the prophet for his bold words of defiance, his hand was “dried up,” and the altar before which he stood was rent asunder. At his urgent entreaty his “hand was restored him again” ( 1 Kings 13:1-6 , 9 ; comp. 2 Kings 23:15 ); but the miracle made no abiding impression on him. His reign was one of constant war with the house of Judah. He died soon after his son Abijah ( 1 Kings 14:1-18 ). (2.) Jeroboam II., the son and successor of Jehoash, and the fourteenth king of Israel, over which he ruled for forty-one years, B.C. 825-784 ( 2 Kings 14:23 ). He followed the example of the first Jeroboam in keeping up the worship of the golden calves ( 2 Kings 14:24 ). His reign was contemporary with those of Amaziah ( 2 Kings 14:23 ) and Uzziah (15:1), kings of Judah. He was victorious over the Syrians (13:4; 14:26, 27), and extended Israel to its former limits, from “the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain” (14:25; Amos 6:14 ). His reign of forty-one years was the most prosperous that Israel had ever known as yet. With all this outward prosperity, however, iniquity widely prevailed in the land ( Amos 2:6-8 ; 4:1 ; 6:6 ; Hos. 4:12-14 ). The prophets Hosea (1:1), Joel (3:16; Amos 1:1 , 2 ), Amos (1:1), and Jonah ( 2 Kings 14:25 ) lived during his reign. He died, and was buried with his ancestors (14:29). He was succeeded by his son Zachariah (q.v.). His name occurs in Scripture only in 2 Kings 13:13 ; 14:16 , 23 , 27 , 28 , 29 ; 15:1 , 8 ; 1 Chr. 5:17 ; Hos. 1:1 ; Amos 1:1 ; 7:9 , 10 , 11 . In all other passages it is Jeroboam the son of Nebat that is meant.
Founded by God, a “desert” on the ascent from the valley of the Dead Sea towards Jerusalem. It lay beyond the wilderness of Tekoa, in the direction of Engedi ( 2 Chr. 20:16 , 20 ). It corresponds with the tract of country now called el-Hasasah.
Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” ( 2 Chr. 25:28 ). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means “possession of peace,” or “foundation of peace.” The dual form probably refers to the two mountains on which it was built, viz., Zion and Moriah; or, as some suppose, to the two parts of the city, the “upper” and the “lower city.” Jerusalem is a “mountain city enthroned on a mountain fastness” (comp. Ps. 68:15 , 16 ; 87:1; 125:2; 76:1, 2; 122:3). It stands on the edge of one of the highest table-lands in Palestine, and is surrounded on the south-eastern, the southern, and the western sides by deep and precipitous ravines. It is first mentioned in Scripture under the name Salem ( Gen. 14:18 ; comp. Ps. 76:2 ). When first mentioned under the name Jerusalem, Adonizedek was its king ( Josh. 10:1 ). It is afterwards named among the cities of Benjamin ( Judg. 19:10 ; 1 Chr. 11:4 ); but in the time of David it was divided between Benjamin and Judah. After the death of Joshua the city was taken and set on fire by the men of Judah ( Judg. 1:1-8 ); but the Jebusites were not wholly driven out of it. The city is not again mentioned till we are told that David brought the head of Goliath thither ( 1 Sam. 17:54 ). David afterwards led his forces against the Jebusites still residing within its walls, and drove them out, fixing his own dwelling on Zion, which he called “the city of David” ( 2 Sam. 5:5-9 ; 1 Chr. 11:4-8 ). Here he built an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite ( 2 Sam. 24:15-25 ), and thither he brought up the ark of the covenant and placed it in the new tabernacle which he had prepared for it. Jerusalem now became the capital of the kingdom. After the death of David, Solomon built the temple, a house for the name of the Lord, on Mount Moriah (B.C. 1010). He also greatly strengthened and adorned the city, and it became the great centre of all the civil and religious affairs of the nation ( Deut. 12:5 ; comp. 12:14; 14:23; 16:11-16; Ps. 122 ). After the disruption of the kingdom on the accession to the throne of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of the two tribes. It was subsequently often taken and retaken by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and by the kings of Israel ( 2 Kings 14:13 , 14 ; 18:15, 16; 23:33-35; 24:14; 2 Chr. 12:9 ; 26:9 ; 27:3 , 4 ; 29:3 ; 32:30 ; 33:11 ), till finally, for the abounding iniquities of the nation, after a siege of three years, it was taken and utterly destroyed, its walls razed to the ground, and its temple and palaces consumed by fire, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon ( 2 Kings 25 ; 2 Chr. 36 ; Jer. 39 ), B.C. 588. The desolation of the city and the land was completed by the retreat of the principal Jews into Egypt ( Jer. 40 -44), and by the final carrying captive into Babylon of all that still remained in the land (52:3), so that it was left without an inhabitant (B.C. 582). Compare the predictions, Deut. 28 ; Lev. 26:14-39 . But the streets and walls of Jerusalem were again to be built, in troublous times ( Dan. 9:16 , 19 , 25 ), after a captivity of seventy years. This restoration was begun B.C. 536, “in the first year of Cyrus” ( Ezra 1:2 , 3 , 5 -11). The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain the history of the re-building of the city and temple, and the restoration of the kingdom of the Jews, consisting of a portion of all the tribes. The kingdom thus constituted was for two centuries under the dominion of Persia, till B.C. 331; and thereafter, for about a century and a half, under the rulers of the Greek empire in Asia, till B.C. 167. For a century the Jews maintained their independence under native rulers, the Asmonean princes. At the close of this period they fell under the rule of Herod and of members of his family, but practically under Rome, till the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. The city was then laid in ruins. The modern Jerusalem by-and-by began to be built over the immense beds of rubbish resulting from the overthrow of the ancient city; and whilst it occupies certainly the same site, there are no evidences that even the lines of its streets are now what they were in the ancient city. Till A.D. 131 the Jews who still lingered about Jerusalem quietly submitted to the Roman sway. But in that year the emperor (Hadrian), in order to hold them in subjection, rebuilt and fortified the city. The Jews, however, took possession of it, having risen under the leadership of one Bar-Chohaba (i.e., “the son of the star”) in revolt against the Romans. Some four years afterwards (A.D. 135), however, they were driven out of it with great slaughter, and the city was again destroyed; and over its ruins was built a Roman city called Aelia Capitolina, a name which it retained till it fell under the dominion of the Mohammedans, when it was called el-Khuds, i.e., “the holy.” In A.D. 326 Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the view of discovering the places mentioned in the life of our Lord. She caused a church to be built on what was then supposed to be the place of the nativity at Bethlehem. Constantine, animated by her example, searched for the holy sepulchre, and built over the supposed site a magnificent church, which was completed and dedicated A.D. 335. He relaxed the laws against the Jews till this time in force, and permitted them once a year to visit the city and wail over the desolation of “the holy and beautiful house.” In A.D. 614 the Persians, after defeating the Roman forces of the emperor Heraclius, took Jerusalem by storm, and retained it till A.D. 637, when it was taken by the Arabians under the Khalif Omar. It remained in their possession till it passed, in A.D. 960, under the dominion of the Fatimite khalifs of Egypt, and in A.D. 1073 under the Turcomans. In A.D. 1099 the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon took the city from the Moslems with great slaughter, and was elected king of Jerusalem. He converted the Mosque of Omar into a Christian cathedral. During the eighty-eight years which followed, many churches and convents were erected in the holy city. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt during this period, and it alone remains to this day. In A.D. 1187 the sultan Saladin wrested the city from the Christians. From that time to the present day, with few intervals, Jerusalem has remained in the hands of the Moslems. It has, however, during that period been again and again taken and retaken, demolished in great part and rebuilt, no city in the world having passed through so many vicissitudes. In the year 1850 the Greek and Latin monks residing in Jerusalem had a fierce dispute about the guardianship of what are called the “holy places.” In this dispute the emperor Nicholas of Russia sided with the Greeks, and Louis Napoleon, the emperor of the French, with the Latins. This led the Turkish authorities to settle the question in a way unsatisfactory to Russia. Out of this there sprang the Crimean War, which was protracted and sanguinary, but which had important consequences in the way of breaking down the barriers of Turkish exclusiveness. Modern Jerusalem “lies near the summit of a broad mountain-ridge, which extends without interruption from the plain of Esdraelon to a line drawn between the southern end of the Dead Sea and the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean.” This high, uneven table-land is everywhere from 20 to 25 geographical miles in breadth. It was anciently known as the mountains of Ephraim and Judah. “Jerusalem is a city of contrasts, and differs widely from Damascus, not merely because it is a stone town in mountains, whilst the latter is a mud city in a plain, but because while in Damascus Moslem religion and Oriental custom are unmixed with any foreign element, in Jerusalem every form of religion, every nationality of East and West, is represented at one time.” Jerusalem is first mentioned under that name in the Book of Joshua, and the Tell-el-Amarna collection of tablets includes six letters from its Amorite king to Egypt, recording the attack of the Abiri about B.C. 1480. The name is there spelt Uru-Salim (“city of peace”). Another monumental record in which the Holy City is named is that of Sennacherib’s attack in B.C. 702. The “camp of the Assyrians” was still shown about A.D. 70, on the flat ground to the north-west, included in the new quarter of the city. The city of David included both the upper city and Millo, and was surrounded by a wall built by David and Solomon, who appear to have restored the original Jebusite fortifications. The name Zion (or Sion) appears to have been, like Ariel (“the hearth of God”), a poetical term for Jerusalem, but in the Greek age was more specially used of the Temple hill. The priests’ quarter grew up on Ophel, south of the Temple, where also was Solomon’s Palace outside the original city of David. The walls of the city were extended by Jotham and Manasseh to include this suburb and the Temple ( 2 Chr. 27:3 ; 33:14 ). Jerusalem is now a town of some 50,000 inhabitants, with ancient mediaeval walls, partly on the old lines, but extending less far to the south. The traditional sites, as a rule, were first shown in the 4th and later centuries A.D., and have no authority. The results of excavation have, however, settled most of the disputed questions, the limits of the Temple area, and the course of the old walls having been traced.
(1.) Joshua, the son of Nun ( Acts 7:45 ; Heb. 4:8 ; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus ( Col. 4:11 ). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish him from others so called, he is spoken of as “Jesus of Nazareth” ( John 18:7 ), and “Jesus the son of Joseph” ( John 6:42 ). This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea ( Num. 13:8 , 16 ), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua ( Num. 13:16 ; 1 Chr. 7:27 ), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save ( Matt. 1:21 ). The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods, (1) that of his private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and (2) that of his public life, which lasted about three years. In the “fulness of time” he was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter ( Matt. 1:1 ; Luke 3:23 ; comp. John 7:42 ). His birth was announced to the shepherds ( Luke 2:8-20 ). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see him who was born “King of the Jews,” bringing gifts with them ( Matt. 2:1-12 ). Herod’s cruel jealousy led to Joseph’s flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king ( Matt. 2:13-23 ), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (2:23; comp. Luke 4:16 ; John 1:46 , etc.). At the age of twelve years he went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with his parents. There, in the temple, “in the midst of the doctors,” all that heard him were “astonished at his understanding and answers” ( Luke 2:41 , etc.). Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that he returned to Nazareth and “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” ( Luke 2:52 ). He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to about three years. “Each of these years had peculiar features of its own. (1.) The first year may be called the year of obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because he seems during it to have been only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea. (2.) The second year was the year of public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee. (3.) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favour ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity, and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land.”, Stalker’s Life of Jesus Christ, p. 45. The only reliable sources of information regarding the life of Christ on earth are the Gospels, which present in historical detail the words and the work of Christ in so many different aspects. (See CHIRST .)
Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and “captain of the host” during the whole of David’s reign ( 2 Sam. 2:13 ; 10:7 ; 11:1 ; 1 Kings 11:15 ). His father’s name is nowhere mentioned, although his sepulchre at Bethlehem is mentioned ( 2 Sam. 2:32 ). His two brothers were Abishai and Asahel, the swift of foot, who was killed by Abner ( 2 Sam. 2:13-32 ), whom Joab afterwards treacherously murdered (3:22-27). He afterwards led the assault at the storming of the fortress on Mount Zion, and for this service was raised to the rank of “prince of the king’s army” ( 2 Sam. 5:6-10 ; 1 Chr. 27:34 ). His chief military achievements were, (1) against the allied forces of Syria and Ammon; (2) against Edom ( 1 Kings 11:15 , 16 ); and (3) against the Ammonites ( 2 Sam. 10:7-19 ; 11:1 , 11 ). His character is deeply stained by the part he willingly took in the murder of Uriah (11:14-25). He acted apparently from a sense of duty in putting Absalom to death (18:1-14). David was unmindful of the many services Joab had rendered to him, and afterwards gave the command of the army to Amasa, Joab’s cousin ( 2 Sam. 20:1-13 ; 19:13 ). When David was dying Joab espoused the cause of Adonijah in preference to that of Solomon. He was afterwards slain by Benaiah, by the command of Solomon, in accordance with his father’s injunction ( 2 Sam. 3:29 ; 20:5-13 ), at the altar to which he had fled for refuge. Thus this hoary conspirator died without one to lift up a voice in his favour. He was buried in his own property in the “wilderness,” probably in the north-east of Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 2:5 , 28 -34). Benaiah succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the army. (2.) 1 Chr. 4:14 . (3.) Ezra 2:6 .
Joel was probably a resident in Judah, as his commission was to that people. He makes frequent mention of Judah and Jerusalem (1:14; 2:1, 15, 32; 3:1, 12, 17, 20, 21). He probably flourished in the reign of Uzziah (about B.C. 800), and was contemporary with Amos and Isaiah. The contents of this book are, (1.) A prophecy of a great public calamity then impending over the land, consisting of a want of water and an extraordinary plague of locusts (1:1-2:11). (2.) The prophet then calls on his countrymen to repent and to turn to God, assuring them of his readiness to forgive (2:12-17), and foretelling the restoration of the land to its accustomed fruitfulness (18-26). (3.) Then follows a Messianic prophecy, quoted by Peter ( Acts 2:39 ). (4.) Finally, the prophet foretells portents and judgments as destined to fall on the enemies of God (ch. 3, but in the Hebrew text 4).
Whom Jehovah graciously bestows. (1.) One of the Gadite heroes who joined David in the desert of Judah ( 1 Chr. 12:12 ). (2.) The oldest of King Josiah’s sons ( 1 Chr. 3:15 ). (3.) Son of Careah, one of the Jewish chiefs who rallied round Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made governor in Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 25:23 ; Jer. 40:8 ). He warned Gedaliah of the plans of Ishmael against him, a warning which was unheeded ( Jer. 40:13 , 16 ). He afterwards pursued the murderer of the governor, and rescued the captives (41:8, 13, 15, 16). He and his associates subsequently fled to Tahpanhes in Egypt (43:2, 4, 5), taking Jeremiah with them. “The flight of Gedaliah’s community to Egypt extinguished the last remaining spark of life in the Jewish state. The work of the ten centuries since Joshua crossed the Jordan had been undone.”
(1.) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John ( Acts 4:6 ). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2.) The Hebrew name of Mark (q.v.). He is designated by this name in the acts of the Apostles (12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37). (3.) THE APOSTLE, brother of James the “Greater” ( Matt. 4:21 ; 10:2 ; Mark 1:19 ; 3:17 ; 10:35 ). He was one, probably the younger, of the sons of Zebedee ( Matt. 4:21 ) and Salome ( Matt. 27:56 ; comp. Mark 15:40 ), and was born at Bethsaida. His father was apparently a man of some wealth (comp. Mark 1:20 ; Luke 5:3 ; John 19:27 ). He was doubtless trained in all that constituted the ordinary education of Jewish youth. When he grew up he followed the occupation of a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, John, with many others, gathered round him, and was deeply influenced by his teaching. There he heard the announcement, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and forthwith, on the invitation of Jesus, became a disciple and ranked among his followers ( John 1:36 , 37 ) for a time. He and his brother then returned to their former avocation, for how long is uncertain. Jesus again called them ( Matt. 4 : 21; Luke 5:1-11 ), and now they left all and permanently attached themselves to the company of his disciples. He became one of the innermost circle ( Mark 5:37 ; Matt. 17:1 ; 26:37 ; Mark 13:3 ). He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. In zeal and intensity of character he was a “Boanerges” ( Mark 3:17 ). This spirit once and again broke out ( Matt. 20:20-24 ; Mark 10:35-41 ; Luke 9:49 , 54 ). At the betrayal he and Peter follow Christ afar off, while the others betake themselves to hasty flight ( John 18:15 ). At the trial he follows Christ into the council chamber, and thence to the praetorium (18:16, 19, 28) and to the place of crucifixion (19:26, 27). To him and Peter, Mary first conveys tidings of the resurrection (20:2), and they are the first to go and see what her strange words mean. After the resurrection he and Peter again return to the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord reveals himself to them (21:1, 7). We find Peter and John frequently after this together ( Acts 3:1 ; 4:13 ). John remained apparently in Jerusalem as the leader of the church there ( Acts 15:6 ; Gal. 2:9 ). His subsequent history is unrecorded. He was not there, however, at the time of Paul’s last visit ( Acts 21:15-40 ). He appears to have retired to Ephesus, but at what time is unknown. The seven churches of Asia were the objects of his special care ( Rev. 1:11 ). He suffered under persecution, and was banished to Patmos (1:9); whence he again returned to Ephesus, where he died, probably about A.D. 98, having outlived all or nearly all the friends and companions even of his maturer years. There are many interesting traditions regarding John during his residence at Ephesus, but these cannot claim the character of historical truth.
The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its genuineness, but without success. The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself ( John 20:31 ). It was at one time supposed that he wrote for the purpose of supplying the omissions of the synoptical, i.e., of the first three, Gospels, but there is no evidence for this. “There is here no history of Jesus and his teaching after the manner of the other evangelists. But there is in historical form a representation of the Christian faith in relation to the person of Christ as its central point; and in this representation there is a picture on the one hand of the antagonism of the world to the truth revealed in him, and on the other of the spiritual blessedness of the few who yield themselves to him as the Light of life” (Reuss). After the prologue (1:1-5), the historical part of the book begins with verse 6, and consists of two parts. The first part (1:6-ch. 12) contains the history of our Lord’s public ministry from the time of his introduction to it by John the Baptist to its close. The second part (ch. 13-21) presents our Lord in the retirement of private life and in his intercourse with his immediate followers (13-17), and gives an account of his sufferings and of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection (18-21). The peculiarities of this Gospel are the place it gives (1) to the mystical relation of the Son to the Father, and (2) of the Redeemer to believers; (3) the announcement of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter; (4) the prominence given to love as an element in the Christian character. It was obviously addressed primarily to Christians. It was probably written at Ephesus, which, after the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), became the centre of Christian life and activity in the East, about A.D. 90.
The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia ( 1 Chr. 24:10 ), and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron ( Luke 1:5 ). The mission of John was the subject of prophecy ( Matt. 3:3 ; Isa. 40:3 ; Mal. 3:1 ). His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel. Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God’s truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision ( Luke 1:64 ). After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in Luke 1:80 . John was a Nazarite from his birth ( Luke 1:15 ; Num. 6:1-12 ). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea ( Matt. 3:1-12 ). At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from “every quarter” were attracted to him. The sum of his preaching was the necessity of repentance. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a “generation of vipers,” and warned them of the folly of trusting to external privileges ( Luke 3:8 ). “As a preacher, John was eminently practical and discriminating. Self-love and covetousness were the prevalent sins of the people at large. On them, therefore, he enjoined charity and consideration for others. The publicans he cautioned against extortion, the soldiers against crime and plunder.” His doctrine and manner of life roused the entire south of Palestine, and the people from all parts flocked to the place where he was, on the banks of the Jordan. There he baptized thousands unto repentance. The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth ( Matt. 3:5 ), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John, on the special ground that it became him to “fulfil all righteousness” (3:15). John’s special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now “increase” as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip ( Luke 3:19 ). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus (q.v.), a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred ( Matt. 14:3-12 ). John’s death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of our Lord’s ministry. Our Lord himself testified regarding him that he was a “burning and a shining light” ( John 5:35 ).
Beauty, a town in the portion of Dan ( Josh. 19:46 ; A.V., “Japho”), on a sandy promontory between Caesarea and Gaza, and at a distance of 30 miles north-west from Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest towns in Asia. It was and still is the chief sea-port of Judea. It was never wrested from the Phoenicians. It became a Jewish town only in the second century B.C. It was from this port that Jonah “took ship to flee from the presence of the Lord” ( Jonah 1:3 ). To this place also the wood cut in Lebanon by Hiram’s men for Solomon was brought in floats ( 2 Chr. 2:16 ); and here the material for the building of the second temple was also landed ( Ezra 3:7 ). At Joppa, in the house of Simon the tanner, “by the sea-side,” Peter resided “many days,” and here, “on the house-top,” he had his “vision of tolerance” ( Acts 9:36-43 ). It bears the modern name of Jaffa, and exibituds all the decrepitude and squalor of cities ruled over by the Turks. “Scarcely any other town has been so often overthrown, sacked, pillaged, burned, and rebuilt.” Its present population is said to be about 16,000. It was taken by the French under Napoleon in 1799, who gave orders for the massacre here of 4,000 prisoners. It is connected with Jerusalem by the only carriage road that exists in the country, and also by a railway completed in 1892. It is noticed on monuments B.C. 1600-1300, and was attacked by Sannacharib B.C. 702.
Heb. Yarden, “the descender;” Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, “the watering-place” the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name descender is significant of the fact that there is along its whole course a descent to its banks; or it may simply denote the rapidity with which it “descends” to the Dead Sea. It originates in the snows of Hermon, which feed its perennial fountains. Two sources are generally spoken of. (1.) From the western base of a hill on which once stood the city of Dan, the northern border-city of Palestine, there gushes forth a considerable fountain called the Leddan, which is the largest fountain in Syria and the principal source of the Jordan. (2.) Beside the ruins of Banias, the ancient Caesarea Philippi and the yet more ancient Panium, is a lofty cliff of limestone, at the base of which is a fountain. This is the other source of the Jordan, and has always been regarded by the Jews as its true source. It rushes down to the plain in a foaming torrent, and joins the Leddan about 5 miles south of Dan (Tell-el-Kady). (3.) But besides these two historical fountains there is a third, called the Hasbany, which rises in the bottom of a valley at the western base of Hermon, 12 miles north of Tell-el-Kady. It joins the main stream about a mile below the junction of the Leddan and the Banias. The river thus formed is at this point about 45 feet wide, and flows in a channel from 12 to 20 feet below the plain. After this it flows, “with a swift current and a much-twisted course,” through a marshy plain for some 6 miles, when it falls into the Lake Huleh, “the waters of Merom” (q.v.). During this part of its course the Jordan has descended about 1,100 feet. At Banias it is 1,080 feet above sea-level. Flowing from the southern extremity of Lake Huleh, here almost on a level with the sea, it flows for 2 miles “through a waste of islets and papyrus,” and then for 9 miles through a narrow gorge in a foaming torrent onward to the Sea of Galilee (q.v.). “In the whole valley of the Jordan from the Lake Huleh to the Sea of Galilee there is not a single settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, from the base of Hermon to the ravine of Hieromax, a region of great fertility, 30 miles long by 7 or 8 wide, there are only some three inhabited villages. The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now well nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force: ‘I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation...And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it...And your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate’ ( Lev. 26:31-34 ).”, Dr. Porter’s Handbook. From the Sea of Galilee, at the level of 682 feet below the Mediterranean, the river flows through a long, low plain called “the region of Jordan” ( Matt. 3:5 ), and by the modern Arabs the Ghor, or “sunken plain.” This section is properly the Jordan of Scripture. Down through the midst of the “plain of Jordan” there winds a ravine varying in breadth from 200 yards to half a mile, and in depth from 40 to 150 feet. Through it the Jordan flows in a rapid, rugged, tortuous course down to the Dead Sea. The whole distance from the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is in a straight line about 65 miles, but following the windings of the river about 200 miles, during which it falls 618 feet. The total length of the Jordan from Banias is about 104 miles in a straight line, during which it falls 2,380 feet. There are two considerable affluents which enter the river between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, both from the east. (1.) The Wady Mandhur, called the Yarmuk by the Rabbins and the Hieromax by the Greeks. It formed the boundary between Bashan and Gilead. It drains the plateau of the Hauran. (2.) The Jabbok or Wady Zerka, formerly the northern boundary of Ammon. It enters the Jordan about 20 miles north of Jericho. The first historical notice of the Jordan is in the account of the separation of Abraham and Lot ( Gen. 13:10 ). “Lot beheld the plain of Jordan as the garden of the Lord.” Jacob crossed and recrossed “this Jordan” (32:10). The Israelites passed over it as “on dry ground” ( Josh. 3:17 ; Ps. 114:3 ). Twice afterwards its waters were miraculously divided at the same spot by Elijah and Elisha ( 2 Kings 2:8 , 14 ). The Jordan is mentioned in the Old Testament about one hundred and eighty times, and in the New Testament fifteen times. The chief events in gospel history connected with it are (1) John the Baptist’s ministry, when “there went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and were baptized of him in Jordan” ( Matt. 3:6 ). (2.) Jesus also “was baptized of John in Jordan” ( Mark 1:9 ).
Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 30:23 , 24 ), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add [Heb. yoseph] to me another son” ( Gen. 30:24 ). He was a child of probably six years of age when his father returned from Haran to Canaan and took up his residence in the old patriarchal town of Hebron. “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age,” and he “made him a long garment with sleeves” ( Gen. 37:3 , R.V. marg.), i.e., a garment long and full, such as was worn by the children of nobles. This seems to be the correct rendering of the words. The phrase, however, may also be rendered, “a coat of many pieces”, i.e., a patchwork of many small pieces of divers colours. When he was about seventeen years old Joseph incurred the jealous hatred of his brothers ( Gen. 37:4 ). They “hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.” Their anger was increased when he told them his dreams (37:11). Jacob desiring to hear tidings of his sons, who had gone to Shechem with their flocks, some 60 miles from Hebron, sent Joseph as his messenger to make inquiry regarding them. Joseph found that they had left Shechem for Dothan, whither he followed them. As soon as they saw him coming they began to plot against him, and would have killed him had not Reuben interposed. They ultimately sold him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants for twenty pieces (shekels) of silver (about $2, 10s.), ten pieces less than the current value of a slave, for “they cared little what they had for him, if so be they were rid of him.” These merchants were going down with a varied assortment of merchandise to the Egyptian market, and thither they conveyed him, and ultimately sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an “officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard” ( Gen. 37:36 ). “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake,” and Potiphar made him overseer over his house. At length a false charge having been brought against him by Potiphar’s wife, he was at once cast into the state prison (39; 40), where he remained for at least two years. After a while the “chief of the cupbearers” and the “chief of the bakers” of Pharaoh’s household were cast into the same prison (40:2). Each of these new prisoners dreamed a dream in the same night, which Joseph interpreted, the event occurring as he had said. This led to Joseph’s being remembered subsequently by the chief butler when Pharaoh also dreamed. At his suggestion Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the king’s dreams. Pharaoh was well pleased with Joseph’s wisdom in interpreting his dreams, and with his counsel with reference to the events then predicted; and he set him over all the land of Egypt ( Gen. 41:46 ), and gave him the name of Zaphnath-paaneah. He was married to Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On, and thus became a member of the priestly class. Joseph was now about thirty years of age. As Joseph had interpreted, seven years of plenty came, during which he stored up great abundance of corn in granaries built for the purpose. These years were followed by seven years of famine “over all the face of the earth,” when “all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn” ( Gen. 41:56 , 57 ; 47:13, 14). Thus “Joseph gathered up all the money that was in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought.” Afterwards all the cattle and all the land, and at last the Egyptians themselves, became the property of Pharaoh. During this period of famine Joseph’s brethren also came down to Egypt to buy corn. The history of his dealings with them, and of the manner in which he at length made himself known to them, is one of the most interesting narratives that can be read ( Gen. 42 -45). Joseph directed his brethren to return and bring Jacob and his family to the land of Egypt, saying, “I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land is yours.” Accordingly Jacob and his family, to the number of threescore and ten souls, together with “all that they had,” went down to Egypt. They were settled in the land of Goshen, where Joseph met his father, and “fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while” ( Gen. 46:29 ). The excavations of Dr. Naville have shown the land of Goshen to be the Wady Tumilat, between Ismailia and Zagazig. In Goshen (Egyptian Qosem) they had pasture for their flocks, were near the Asiatic frontier of Egypt, and were out of the way of the Egyptian people. An inscription speaks of it as a district given up to the wandering shepherds of Asia. Jacob at length died, and in fulfilment of a promise which he had exacted, Joseph went up to Canaan to bury his father in “the field of Ephron the Hittite” ( Gen. 47:29-31 ; 50:1-14 ). This was the last recorded act of Joseph, who again returned to Egypt. “The ‘Story of the Two Brothers,’ an Egyptian romance written for the son of the Pharaoh of the Oppression, contains an episode very similar to the Biblical account of Joseph’s treatment by Potiphar’s wife. Potiphar and Potipherah are the Egyptian Pa-tu-pa-Ra, ‘the gift of the sun-god.’ The name given to Joseph, Zaphnath-paaneah, is probably the Egyptian Zaf-nti-pa-ankh, ‘nourisher of the living one,’ i.e., of the Pharaoh. There are many instances in the inscriptions of foreigners in Egypt receiving Egyptian names, and rising to the highest offices of state.” By his wife Asenath, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim ( Gen. 41:50 ). Joseph having obtained a promise from his brethren that when the time should come that God would “bring them unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,” they would carry up his bones out of Egypt, at length died, at the age of one hundred and ten years; and “they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin” ( Gen. 50:26 ). This promise was faithfully observed. Their descendants, long after, when the Exodus came, carried the body about with them during their forty years’ wanderings, and at length buried it in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor ( Josh. 24:32 ; comp. Gen. 33:19 ). With the death of Joseph the patriarchal age of the history of Israel came to a close. The Pharaoh of Joseph’s elevation was probably Apepi, or Apopis, the last of the Hyksos kings. Some, however, think that Joseph came to Egypt in the reign of Thothmes III. (see PHARAOH ), long after the expulsion of the Hyksos. The name Joseph denotes the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in Deut. 33:13-17 ; the kingdom of Israel in Ezek. 37:16 , 19 , Amos 5:6 ; and the whole covenant people of Israel in Ps. 81:4 . (2.) One of the sons of Asaph, head of the first division of sacred musicians ( 1 Chr. 25:2 , 9 ). (3.) The son of Judah, and father of Semei ( Luke 3:26 ). Other two of the same name in the ancestry of Christ are also mentioned (3:24, 30). (4.) The foster-father of our Lord ( Matt. 1:16 ; Luke 3:23 ). He lived at Nazareth in Galilee ( Luke 2:4 ). He is called a “just man.” He was by trade a carpenter ( Matt. 13:55 ). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that he died before Jesus entered on his public ministry. This is concluded from the fact that Mary only was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. His name does not appear in connection with the scenes of the crucifixion along with that of Mary (q.v.), John 19:25 . (5.) A native of Arimathea, probably the Ramah of the Old Testament ( 1 Sam. 1:19 ), a man of wealth, and a member of the Sanhedrim ( Matt. 27:57 ; Luke 23:50 ), an “honourable counsellor, who waited for the kingdom of God.” As soon as he heard the tidings of Christ’s death, he “went in boldly” (lit. “having summoned courage, he went”) “unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.” Pilate having ascertained from the centurion that the death had really taken place, granted Joseph’s request, who immediately, having purchased fine linen ( Mark 15:46 ), proceeded to Golgotha to take the body down from the cross. There, assisted by Nicodemus, he took down the body and wrapped it in the fine linen, sprinkling it with the myrrh and aloes which Nicodemus had brought ( John 19:39 ), and then conveyed the body to the new tomb hewn by Joseph himself out of a rock in his garden hard by. There they laid it, in the presence of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and other women, and rolled a great stone to the entrance, and departed ( Luke 23:53 , 55 ). This was done in haste, “for the Sabbath was drawing on” (comp. Isa. 53:9 ). (6.) Surnamed Barsabas ( Acts 1:23 ); also called Justus. He was one of those who “companied with the apostles all the time that the Lord Jesus went out and in among them” ( Acts 1:21 ), and was one of the candidates for the place of Judas.
Healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah ( 2 Kings 22:1 ; 2 Chr. 34:1 ). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22 , 23 . He stands foremost among all the kings of the line of David for unswerving loyalty to Jehovah (23:25). He “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father.” He ascended the throne at the early age of eight years, and it appears that not till eight years afterwards did he begin “to seek after the God of David his father.” At that age he devoted himself to God. He distinguished himself by beginning a war of extermination against the prevailing idolatry, which had practically been the state religion for some seventy years ( 2 Chr. 34:3 ; comp. Jer. 25:3 , 11 , 29 ). In the eighteenth year of his reign he proceeded to repair and beautify the temple, which by time and violence had become sorely dilapidated ( 2 Kings 22:3 , 5 , 6 ; 23:23; 2 Chr. 34:11 ). While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses. When this book was read to him, the king was alarmed by the things it contained, and sent for Huldah, the “prophetess,” for her counsel. She spoke to him words of encouragement, telling him that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the threatened days of judgment came. Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of their ancient national covenant with God. The Passover was then celebrated, as in the days of his great predecessor, Hezekiah, with unusual magnificence. Nevertheless, “the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah” ( 2 Kings 22:3-20 ; 23:21-27 ; 2 Chr. 35:1-19 ). During the progress of this great religious revolution Jeremiah helped it on by his earnest exhortations. Soon after this, Pharaoh-Necho II. (q.v.), king of Egypt, in an expedition against the king of Assyria, with the view of gaining possession of Carchemish, sought a passage through the territory of Judah for his army. This Josiah refused to permit. He had probably entered into some new alliance with the king of Assyria, and faithful to his word he sought to oppose the progress of Necho. The army of Judah went out and encountered that of Egypt at Megiddo, on the verge of the plain of Esdraelon. Josiah went into the field in disguise, and was fatally wounded by a random arrow. His attendants conveyed him toward Jerusalem, but had only reached Hadadrimmon, a few miles south of Megiddo, when he died ( 2 Kings 23:28 , 30 ; comp. 2 Chr. 35:20-27 ), after a reign of thirty-one years. He was buried with the greatest honours in fulfilment of Huldah’s prophecy ( 2 Kings 22:20 ; comp. Jer. 34:5 ). Jeremiah composed a funeral elegy on this the best of the kings of Israel ( Lam. 4:20 ; 2 Chr. 35:25 ). The outburst of national grief on account of his death became proverbial ( Zech. 12:11 ; comp. Rev. 16:16 ).
When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the capital of the new kingdom ( Josh. 18:28 ), which was called the kingdom of Judah. It was very small in extent, being only about the size of the Scottish county of Perth. For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. For the next eighty years there was no open war between them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against Damascus. For about another century and a half Judah had a somewhat checkered existence after the termination of the kingdom of Israel till its final overthrow in the destruction of the temple (B.C. 588) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s body-guard ( 2 Kings 25:8-21 ). The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of 3,435 square miles. (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF .)
Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into Egypt ( Gen. 46:12 ; Ex. 1:2 ). At the time of the Exodus, when we meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the number of 74,000 males ( Num. 1:26 , 27 ). Its number increased in the wilderness (26:22). Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, represented the tribe as one of the spies (13:6; 34:19). This tribe marched at the van on the east of the tabernacle ( Num. 2:3-9 ; 10:14 ), its standard, as is supposed, being a lion’s whelp. Under Caleb, during the wars of conquest, they conquered that portion of the country which was afterwards assigned to them as their inheritance. This was the only case in which any tribe had its inheritance thus determined ( Josh. 14:6-15 ; 15:13-19 ). The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was at first fully one-third of the whole country west of Jordan, in all about 2,300 square miles ( Josh. 15 ). But there was a second distribution, when Simeon received an allotment, about 1,000 square miles, out of the portion of Judah ( Josh. 19:9 ). That which remained to Judah was still very large in proportion to the inheritance of the other tribes. The boundaries of the territory are described in Josh. 15:20-63 . This territory given to Judah was divided into four sections. (1.) The south (Heb. negeb), the undulating pasture-ground between the hills and the desert to the south ( Josh. 15:21 .) This extent of pasture-land became famous as the favourite camping-ground of the old patriarchs. (2.) The “valley” (15:33) or lowland (Heb. shephelah), a broad strip lying between the central highlands and the Mediterranean. This tract was the garden as well as the granary of the tribe. (3.) The “hill-country,” or the mountains of Judah, an elevated plateau stretching from below Hebron northward to Jerusalem. “The towns and villages were generally perched on the tops of hills or on rocky slopes. The resources of the soil were great. The country was rich in corn, wine, oil, and fruit; and the daring shepherds were able to lead their flocks far out over the neighbouring plains and through the mountains.” The number of towns in this district was thirty-eight ( Josh. 15:48-60 ). (4.) The “wilderness,” the sunken district next the Dead Sea ( Josh. 15:61 ), “averaging 10 miles in breadth, a wild, barren, uninhabitable region, fit only to afford scanty pasturage for sheep and goats, and a secure home for leopards, bears, wild goats, and outlaws” ( 1 Sam. 17:34 ; 22:1 ; Mark 1:13 ). It was divided into the “wilderness of En-gedi” ( 1 Sam. 24:1 ), the “wilderness of Judah” ( Judg. 1:16 ; Matt. 3:1 ), between the Hebron mountain range and the Dead Sea, the “wilderness of Maon” ( 1 Sam. 23:24 ). It contained only six cities. Nine of the cities of Judah were assigned to the priests ( Josh. 21:9-19 ).
The Graecized form of Judah. (1.) The patriarch ( Matt. 1:2 , 3 ). (2.) Son of Simon ( John 6:71 ; 13:2 , 26 ), surnamed Iscariot, i.e., a man of Kerioth ( Josh. 15:25 ). His name is uniformly the last in the list of the apostles, as given in the synoptic (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The evil of his nature probably gradually unfolded itself till “Satan entered into him” ( John 13:27 ), and he betrayed our Lord (18:3). Afterwards he owned his sin with “an exceeding bitter cry,” and cast the money he had received as the wages of his iniquity down on the floor of the sanctuary, and “departed and went and hanged himself” ( Matt. 27:5 ). He perished in his guilt, and “went unto his own place” ( Acts 1:25 ). The statement in Acts 1:18 that he “fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out,” is in no way contrary to that in Matt. 27:5 . The sucide first hanged himself, perhaps over the valley of Hinnom, “and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong on his face, and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below.” Why such a man was chosen to be an apostle we know not, but it is written that “Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him” ( John 6:64 ). Nor can any answer be satisfactorily given to the question as to the motives that led Judas to betray his Master. “Of the motives that have been assigned we need not care to fix on any one as that which simply led him on. Crime is, for the most part, the result of a hundred motives rushing with bewildering fury through the mind of the criminal.” (3.) A Jew of Damascus ( Acts 9:11 ), to whose house Ananias was sent. The street called “Straight” in which it was situated is identified with the modern “street of bazaars,” where is still pointed out the so-called “house of Judas.” (4.) A Christian teacher, surnamed Barsabas. He was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas with the decision of the council ( Acts 15:22 , 27 , 32 ). He was a “prophet” and a “chief man among the brethren.”
Gr. praitorion ( John 18:28 , 33 ; 19:9; Matt. 27:27 ), “common hall.” In all these passages the Revised Version renders “palace.” In Mark 15:16 the word is rendered “Praetorium” (q.v.), which is a Latin word, meaning literally the residence of the praetor, and then the governor’s residence in general, though not a praetor. Throughout the Gospels the word “praitorion” has this meaning (comp. Acts 23:35 ). Pilate’s official residence when he was in Jerusalem was probably a part of the fortress of Antonia. The trial of our Lord was carried on in a room or office of the palace. The “whole band” spoken of by Mark were gathered together in the palace court.
(Heb. rothem), called by the Arabs retem, and known as Spanish broom; ranked under the genus genista. It is a desert shrub, and abounds in many parts of Palestine. In the account of his journey from Akabah to Jerusalem, Dr. Robinson says: “This is the largest and most conspicuous shrub of these deserts, growing thickly in the water-courses and valleys. Our Arabs always selected the place of encampment, if possible, in a spot where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and during the day, when they often went on in advance of the camels, we found them not unfrequently sitting or sleeping under a bush of retem to shelter them from the sun. It was in this very desert, a day’s journey from Beersheba, that the prophet Elijah lay down and slept beneath the same shrub” ( 1 Kings 19:4 , 5 ). It afforded material for fuel, and also in cases of extremity for human food ( Ps. 120:4 ; Job 30:4 ). One of the encampments in the wilderness of Paran is called Rithmah, i.e., “place of broom” ( Num. 33:18 ). “The Bedawin of Sinai still burn this very plant into a charcoal which throws out the most intense heat.”
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