Samaria
(watch mountain). This city is situated 30 miles north of Jerusalem and about six miles to the northwest of Shechem, in a wide basin-shaped valley, six miles in diameter, encircled with high hills, almost on the edge of the great plain which borders upon the Mediterranean. In the centre of this basin, which is on a lower level than the valley of Shechem, rises a less elevated hill, with steep yet accessible sides and a long fiat top. This hill was chosen by Omri as the site of the capital of the kingdom of Israel. He “bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of the owner of the hill, Samaria.” ( 1 Kings 16:23 , 24 ) From the that of Omri’s purchase, B.C. 925, Samaria retained its dignity as the capital of the ten tribes, and the name is given to the northern kingdom as well as to the city. Ahab built a temple to Baal there. ( 1 Kings 16:32 , 33 ) It was twice besieged by the Syrians, in B.C. 901, ( 1 Kings 20:1 ) and in B.C. 892, ( 2 Kings 6:24-7 ; 2 Kings 6:20 ) but on both occasions the siege was ineffectual. The possessor of Samaria was considered Deuteronomy facto king of Israel. ( 2 Kings 15:13 , 14 ) In B.C. 721 Samaria was taken, after a siege of three years, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, ( 2 Kings 18:9 , 10 ) and the kingdom of the ten tribes was put an end to. Some years afterward the district of which Samaria was the centre was repeopled by Esarhaddon. Alexander the Great took the city, killed a large portion of the inhabitants, and suffered the remainder to set it at Shechem. He replaced them by a colony of Syro-Macedonians who occupied the city until the time of John Hyrcanus, who took it after a year’s siege, and did his best to demolish it entirely. (B.C. 109.) It was rebuilt and greatly embellished by Herod the Great. He called it Sebaste=Augusta, after the name of his patron, Augustus Caesar. The wall around it was 2 1/2 miles long, and in the centre of the city was a park 900 feet square containing a magnificent temple dedicated to Caesar. In the New Testament the city itself does not appear to be mentioned; but rather a portion of the district to which, even in older times it had extended its name. ( Matthew 10:5 ; John 4:4 , 5 ) At this clay the city is represented by a small village retaining few vestiges of the past except its name, Sebustiyeh, an Arabic corruption of Sebaste. Some architectural remains it has, partly of Christian construction or adaptation, as the ruined church of St. John the Baptist, partly, perhaps, traces of Idumaean magnificence, St. Jerome, whose acquaintance with Palestine imparts a sort of probability to the tradition which prevailed so strongly in later days, asserts that Sebaste, which he invariably identifies with Samaria was the place in which St. John the Baptist was imprisoned and suffered death. He also makes it the burial-place of the prophets Elisha and Obadiah.
Seir
(hairy, Shaggy), We have both “land of Seir,” ( Genesis 32:3 ; 36:50 ) and “Mount Seir.” ( Genesis 14:6 ) It is the original name of the mountain range extending along the east side of the valley of Arabah, from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic, Golf. The Horites appear to have been the chief of the aboriginal inhabitants, ( Genesis 36:20 ) but it was ever afterward the possession of the Edomites, the descendants of Esau. The Mount Seir of the: Bible extended much farther south than the modern province, as is shown by the words of (2:1-8) It had the Arabah on the west, vs. 1 and 8; it extended as far south as the head of the Gulf of Akabah, ver. 8; its eastern border ran along the base of the mountain range where the plateau of Arabia begins. Its northern, order is not so accurately determined. There is a line of “naked” white hills or cliffs which run across the great valley about eight miles south of the Dead Sea, the highest eminence being Mount Hor, which is 4800 feet high. Mount Seir, an entirely different place from the foregoing; one of the landmarks on the north boundary of the territory of Judah. ( Joshua 15:10 ) only. It lay westward of Kirjath-jearim, and between it and Beth-shemesh. If Kuriel el-Enab be the former and Ain-shems the latter of these two, then Mount Seir cannot fail to be the ridge which lies between the Wady Aly and the Wady Ghurab . In a pass of this ridge is the modern village of Seir.
Sem
Shem the patriarch. ( Luke 3:36 )
Semitic Languages
[ Shemitic Languages LANGUAGES; Hebrew Language ]
Shamed
(keeper), properly Shamer or Shemer; one of the pens of Elpaal the Benjamite. ( 1 Chronicles 8:12 )
Shammua
(renowned). Reubenite spy, son of Zaccur. ( Numbers 13:4 ) (B.C. 1490.) Son of David, by his wife Bathsheba. ( 1 Chronicles 14:4 ) (B.C. 1045.) A Levite, the father of Abda. ( Nehemiah 11:17 ) The same as Shemaiah , 6. The representative of the priestly family of Bilgah or Bilgai, in the days of Joiakim. ( Nehemiah 12:18 ) (B.C. about 500.)
Shaphat
(judge). 1.The Simeonite spy, son of Hori. ( Numbers 13:5 ) (B.C. 1490). The father of the prophet Elisha. ( 1 Kings 19:18 , 19 ; 2 Kings 3:11 ; 6:31 ) (B.C. before 900.) One of the six sons of Shemaiah in the royal line of Judah. ( 1 Chronicles 3:22 ) (B.C. 350.) One of the chiefs of the Gadites in Bashan. ( 1 Chronicles 5:12 ) (B.C. 750.) The son of Adlai, who was over David’s oxen in the valleys. ( 1 Chronicles 27:29 ) (B.C. 1020.)
Sheba
one of the towns of the allotment of Simeon, ( Joshua 19:2 ) probably the same as Shema. ( Joshua 15:26 ) (seven, or all oath). A son of Raamah son of Cush. ( Genesis 10:7 ; 1 Chronicles 1:9 ) A soil of Joktan. ( Genesis 10:28 ; 1 Chronicles 1:22 ) A son of Jokshan son of Keturah. ( Genesis 25:3 ; 1 Chronicles 1:32 ) We shall consider, first, the history of the Joktanite Sheba; and secondly, the Cushite Sheba and the Keturahite Sheba together. I. The Joktanites were among the early colonists of southern Arabia, and the kingdom which they there founded was for many centuries called the kingdom of Sheba, after one of the sons of Joktan. The visit of the queen of Sheba to King Solomon. ( 1 Kings 10:1 ) is one of the familiar Bible incidents. The kingdom of Sheba embraced the greater part of the Yemen, or Arabia Felix. It bordered on the Red Sea, and was one of the most fertile districts of Arabia. Its chief cities, and probably successive capitals, were Seba, San’a (Uzal), and Zafar (Sephar). Seba was probably the name of the city, and generally of the country and nation. II. Sheba, son of Raamah son of Cush settled somewhere on the shores of the Persian Gulf. It was this Sheba that carried on the great Indian traffic with Palestine, in conjunction with, as we hold, the other Sheba, son of Jokshan son of Keturah, who like Dedan appears to have formed, with the Cushite of the same name, one tribe. (on oath), the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, ( 2 Samuel 20:1-22 ) the last chief of the Absalom insurrection. The occasion seized by Sheba was the emulation between the northern and southern tribes on David’s return. ( 2 Samuel 20:1 , 2 ) Sheba traversed the whole of Palestine apparently rousing the population, Joab following in full pursuit to the fortress Abel Beth-maachah, where Sheba was beheaded. ( 2 Samuel 20:3-22 )
Shechaniah
(dweller with Jehovah). A descendant of Zerubbabel. ( 1 Chronicles 3:21 , 22 ) Some descendants of Shechaniah returned with Ezra. ( Ezra 8:3 ) The sons of Shechaniah were another family who returned with Ezra. ( Ezra 8:5 ) (B.C. 459.) The son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam. ( Ezra 10:2 ) The father of Shemaiah, 2. ( Nehemiah 3:29 ) The son of Arah. ( Nehemiah 6:18 ) The head of a priestly family who returned with Zerubbabel. ( Nehemiah 12:3 ) (dweller with Jehovah). The tenth in order of the priests who were appointed by lot in the reign of David. ( 1 Chronicles 24:11 ) (B.C. 1014.) A priest in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 31:15 ) (B.C. 925.)
Shechem
(back or shoulder). An important city in central Palestine, in the valley between mounts Ebal and Gerizim, 34 miles north of Jerusalem and 7 miles southeast of Samaria. Its present name, Nablus, is a corruption of Neapolis, which succeeded the more ancient Shechem, and received its new name from Vespasian. On coins still extant it is called Flavia Neapolis. The situation of the town is one of surpassing beauty. It lies in a sheltered valley, protected by Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north. The feet of these mountains, where they rise from the town, are not more than five hundred yards apart. The bottom of the valley is about 1800 feet above the level of the sea, and the top of Gerizim 800 feet higher still. The sit of the present city, which was also that of the Hebrew city, occurs exactly on the water-summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there flow down the opposite slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Travellers vie with each other in the language which they employ to describe the scene that here bursts so suddenly upon them on arriving in spring or early summer at this paradise of the holy land. “The whole valley,” says Dr. Robinson, “was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams. it came upon us suddenly like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine.” The allusions to Shechem in the Bible are numerous, and show how important the place was in Jewish history. Abraham, on his first migration to the land of promise, pitched his tent and built an altar under the oak (or terebinth) of Moreh at Shechem. “The Canaanite was then in the land;” and it is evident that the region, if not the city, was already in possession of the aboriginal race. See ( Genesis 12:6 ) At the time of Jacob’s arrival here, after his sojourn in Mesopotamia, ( Genesis 33:18 ; 34 ) Shechem was a Hivite city, of which Hamor, the father of Shechem, was the headman. it was at this time that the patriarch purchased from that chieftain “the parcel of the field” which he subsequently bequeathed, as a special patrimony, to his son Joseph. ( Genesis 33:19 ; Joshua 24:32 ; John 4:5 ) The field lay undoubtedly on the rich plain of the Mukhna, and its value was the greater on account of the well which Jacob had dug there, so as not to be dependent on his neighbors for a supply of water. In the distribution of the land after its conquest by the Hebrews, Shechem fell to the lot of Ephraim, ( Joshua 20:7 ) but was assigned to the Levites, and became a city of refuge. ( Joshua 21:20 , 21 ) It acquired new importance as the scene of the renewed promulgation of the law, when its blessings were heard from Gerizim and its curses from Ebal, and the people bowed their heads and acknowledged Jehovah as their king and ruler. (27:11; Joshua 24:23-25 ) it was here Joshua assembled the people, shortly before his death, and delivered to them his last counsels. ( Joshua 24:1 , 25 ) After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, his bastard son, induced the Shechemites to revolt from the Hebrew commonwealth and elect him as king. ( Judges 9:1 ) ... In revenge for his expulsion after a reign of three years, Abimelech destroyed the city, and as an emblem of the fate to which he would consign it, sowed the ground with salt. ( Judges 9:34-45 ) It was soon restored, however, for we are told in ( 1 Kings 12:1 ) ... that all Israel assembled at Shechem, and Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor, went thither to be inaugurated as king. here, at this same place, the ten tribes renounced the house of David, and transferred their allegiance to Jeroboam, ( 1 Kings 12:16 ) under whom Shechem became for a time the capital of his kingdom. From the time of the origin of the Samaritans, the history of Shechem blends itself with that of this people and of their sacred mount, Gerizim. [ Samaria ] Shechem reappears in the New Testament. It is the Sychar of ( John 4:5 ) near which the Saviour conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The population of Nablus consists of about 5000, among whom are 500 Greek Christians, 150 Samaritans, and a few Jews. The enmity between the Samaritans and jews is as inveterate still as it was in the days of Christ. The Mohammedans, of course, make up the bulk of the population. The well of Jacob and the tomb of Joseph are still shown in the neighborhood of the town. The well of Jacob lies about a mile and a half east of the city, close to the lower road, and just beyond the wretched hamlet of Balata . The Christians sometimes call it Bir es-Samariyeh— “the well of the Samaritan woman.” The well is deep—75 feet when last measured—and there was probably a considerable accumulation of rubbish at the bottom. Sometimes it contains a few feet of water, but at others it is quite dry. It is entirely excavated in the solid rock, perfectly round, 9 feet in diameter, with the sides hewn smooth and regular. Of all the special localities of our Lord’s life, this is almost the only one absolutely undisputed. The tomb of Joseph lies about a quarter of a mile north of the well, exactly in the centre of the opening of the valley. It is a small between Gerizim and Ebal. It is a small, square enclosure of high whitewashed walls, surrounding a tomb of the ordinary kind, but with the peculiarity that it is placed diagonally to the walls, instead of parallel as usual. A rough pillar used as an altar and black with the traces of fire is at the head and another at the foot of the tome. In the walls are two slabs with Hebrew inscriptions, and the interior is almost covered with the names of pilgrims in Hebrew Arabic and Samaritan. Beyond this there is nothing to remark in the structure itself. The local tradition of the tomb, like that of the well is as old as the beginning of the fourth century. The son of Hamor, the chieftain of the Hivite settlement of Shechem at the time of Jacob’s arrival. ( Genesis 33:19 ; 34:2-26 ; Joshua 24:32 ; Judges 9:28 ) A man of Manasseh, of the clan of Gilead. ( Numbers 26:31 ) A Gileadite, son of Shemida, the younger brother of the foregoing. ( 1 Chronicles 7:19 )
Shem
(name), the eldest son of Noah. ( Genesis 5:32 ) He was 98 years old, married, and childless at the time of the flood. After it, he, with his father, brothers, sisters-in-law and wife, received the blessing of God, ( Genesis 9:1 ) and entered into the covenant. With the help of his brother Japheth, he covered the nakedness of their father and received the first blessing. ( Genesis 9:25-27 ) He died at the age of 630 years. The portion of the earth occupied by the descendants of Shem, ( Genesis 10:21 , 31 ) begins at its northwestern extremity with Lydia, and includes Syria (Aram), Chaldaea (Arphaxad), parts Of Assyria (Asshur), of Persia (Elam), and of the Arabian peninsula (Joktan). Modern scholars have given the name of Shemitic or Semitic to the languages spoken by his real or supposed descendants. [ Hebrew Language ]
Shema
A Reubenite, ancestor of Bela. ( 1 Chronicles 5:8 ) (B.C. before 1090.) Son of Elpaal. ( 1 Chronicles 8:13 ) Probably the same as Shimhi. (B.C. after 1450.) One of those who stood at Ezra’s right hand when he read the law to the people. ( Nehemiah 8:4 ) (B.C. 458.) ( Joshua 15:26 ) [ Sheba ]
Shemaah
(the rumor), a Benjamite of Gibeah, and father of Ahiezer and Joash. ( 1 Chronicles 12:3 ) (B.C. before 1054.)
Shemaiah
(heard by Jehovah). A prophet in the reign of Rehoboam. ( 1 Kings 12:22 ; 2 Chronicles 11:2 ) (B.C. 972.) He wrote a chronicle containing the events of Rehoboam’s reign. ( 2 Chronicles 12:5 , 15 ) The son of Shechaniah, among the descendants of Zerubbabel. ( 1 Chronicles 3:23 ; Nehemiah 3:28 ) A prince of the tribe of Simeon. ( 1 Chronicles 4:27 ) Son of Joel, Reubenite. ( 1 Chronicles 5:4 ) (B.C. after 1706.) Son of Hasshub, a Merarite Levite. ( 1 Chronicles 9:14 ; Nehemiah 11:15 ) Father of Obadiah or Abda, a Levite. ( 1 Chronicles 9:16 ) Son of Elizaphan, and chief of his house in the reign of David. ( 1 Chronicles 15:8 , 11 ) (B.C. 1043.) A Levite, son of Nethaneel and also a scribe in the time of David. ( 1 Chronicles 24:6 ) (B.C. 1014.) The eldest son of Obed-edom the Gittite. ( 1 Chronicles 26:4 , 6 , 7 ) (B.C. 1014.) A descendant of Jeduthun the singer who lived in the reign of Hezekiah ( 2 Chronicles 29:14 ) One of the sons of Adonikam who returned with Ezra. ( Ezra 5:13 ) One of Ezra’s messengers. ( Ezra 8:16 ) A priest of the family of Harim, who put away his foreign wife at Ezra’s bidding. ( Ezra 10:21 ) (B.C. 455.) A layman of Israel son of another Harim, who had also married a foreigner. ( Ezra 10:31 ) (B.C. 458.) Son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, a prophet in the time of Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 6:10 ) (B.C. 446.) The head of a priestly house who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 10:8 ; 12:6 , 18 ) (B.C. 410.) One of the princes of Judah at the time of the dedication of Jerusalem. ( Nehemiah 12:34 ) One of the choir on the same occasion. ( Nehemiah 12:38 ) A priest. ( Nehemiah 12:42 ) A false prophet in the time of Jeremiah. ( Jeremiah 29:24-32 ) A Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat. ( 2 Chronicles 17:8 ) (B.C. 909.) A Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 31:15 ) (B.C. 726.) A Levite in the reign of Josiah. ( 2 Chronicles 35:9 ) (B.C. 628.) The father of Urijah of Kirjath-jearim. ( Jeremiah 26:20 ) (B.C. before 608.) The father of Delaiah. ( Jeremiah 36:12 ) (B.C. before 605.)
Shemariah
(kept by Jehovah). A Benjamite warrior who came to David at Ziklag. ( 1 Chronicles 12:5 ) (B.C. 1054.) One of the family of Harim, a lay man of Israel who put away his foreign wife in the time of Ezra. ( Ezra 10:32 ) (B.C. 658.) Another who did the same. ( Ezra 10:41 )
Shemeber
(lofty flight), king of Zeboim, and ally of the king of Sodom when he was attacked by Chedorlaomer. (B.C. 1912.)
Shemer
(preserved), the owner of the hill on which the city of Samaria was built. ( 1 Kings 16:24 ) (B.C. 917.) [ Samaria ]
Shemida
(wise), a son of Gilead. ( Numbers 26:32 ; Joshua 17:2 ) (B.C. after 1690.)
Shemidah
Shemida the son of Gilead. ( 1 Chronicles 7:19 )
Shemidaites, The
the descendants of Shemida the son of Gilead. ( Numbers 26:32 )
Sheminith
(eighth), a musical term found in the title of ( Psalms 6:1 ) A similar direction is found in the title of ( Psalms 12:1 ) Comp. 1Chr 15:21 It seems most probable that Sheminith denotes a certain air known as the eighth, or a certain key in which the psalm was to be sung.
Shemitic Languages
the family of languages spoken by the descendants of Shem, chiefly the Hebrew, Chaldaic, Assyrian, Arabic Phoenician and Aramaic or Syriac. The Jews in their earlier history spoke the Hebrew, but in Christ’s time they spoke the Aramaic, sometimes called the Syro-Chaldaic.
Shemuel
(heard by God). A commissioner appointed from the tribe of Simeon to divide the land of Canaan. ( Numbers 34:20 ) (B.C. 1450.) Samuel the prophet. ( 1 Chronicles 6:33 ) Son of Tola, and one of the chiefs of the tribe of Issachar, ( 1 Chronicles 7:2 ) (B.C. 1014.)
Shimhi
(renowned), a Benjamite, apparently the same as Shema the son of Elpaal. ( 1 Chronicles 8:21 )
Shimri
(vigilant). A Simeonite son of Shemaiah. ( 1 Chronicles 4:37 ) (B.C. after 1450.) The father of Jediael, one of David’s guard. ( 1 Chronicles 11:45 ) (B.C. before 1043.) A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. ( 2 Chronicles 29:13 ) (B.C. 726.)
Sun
In the history of “greater light,” of the creation the sun is described as “greater light,” in contradistinction to the moon, the “lesser light,” in conjunction with which it was to serve “for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years,” while its special office was “to rule the day.” ( Genesis 1:14-16 ) The “signs” referred to were probably such extraordinary phenomena as eclipses, which were regarded as conveying premonitions of coming events. ( Jeremiah 10:2 ; Matthew 24:29 ) with Luke 21:25 The joint influence assigned to the sun and moon in deciding the “seasons,” both for agricultural operations and for religious festivals, and also in regulating the length and subdivisions of the years “correctly describes the combination of the lunar and solar year which prevailed at all events subsequent to the Mosaic period. Sunrise and sunset are the only defined points of time in the absence of artificial contrivances for telling the hour of the day. Between these two points the Jews recognized three periods, viz., when the sun became hot, about 9 A.M. ( 1 Samuel 11:9 ; Nehemiah 7:3 ) the double light, or noon. ( Genesis 43:16 ; 2 Samuel 4:5 ) and “the cool of the day,” shortly before sunset. ( Genesis 3:8 ) The sun also served to fix the quarters of the hemisphere, east, west north and south, which were represented respectively by the rising sun, the setting sun, ( Isaiah 45:6 ; Psalms 50:1 ) the dark quarter, ( Genesis 13:14 ; Joel 2:20 ) and the brilliant quarter, (33:23; Job 37:17 ; Ezekiel 40:24 ) or otherwise by their position relative to a person facing the rising sun—before, behind, on the left hand and on the right hand. ( Job 23:8 , 9 ) The worship of the sun, as the most prominent and powerful agent in the kingdom of nature, was widely diffused throughout the countries adjacent to Palestine. The Arabians appear to have paid direct worship to it without the intervention of any statue or symbol, ( Job 31:26 , 27 ) and this simple style of worship was probably familiar to the ancestors of the Jews in Chaldaea and Mesopotamia. The Hebrews must have been well acquainted with the idolatrous worship of the sun during the captivity in Egypt, both from the contiguity of On, the chief seat of the worship of the sun, as implied in the name itself (On being the equivalent of the Hebrew Bethshemesh, “house of the sun”) ( Jeremiah 43:13 ) and also from the connection between Joseph and Potipherah(“he who belongs to Ela”) the priest of On, ( Genesis 41:45 ) After their removal to Canaan, the Hebrews came in contact with various forms of idolatry which originated in the worship of the sun; such as the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Molech or Milcom of the Ammonites, and the Hadad of the Syrians. The importance attached to the worship of the sun by the Jewish kings may be inferred from the fact that the horses sacred to the sun were stalled within the precincts of the temple. ( 2 Kings 23:11 ) In the metaphorical language of Scripture the sun is emblematic of the law of God, ( Psalms 19:7 ) of the cheering presence of God, ( Psalms 84:11 ) of the person of the Saviour, ( John 1:9 ; Malachi 4:2 ) and of the glory and purity of heavenly beings. ( Revelation 1:16 ; 10:1 )
Swan
(Heb. tinshemeth), thus rendered by the Authorized Version in ( Leviticus 11:18 ; 14:16 ) where it occurs in the list of unclean birds Rut either of the renderings “porphyrio” (purple water-hen) and “ibis” is more probable. Neither of these birds occurs elsewhere in the catalogue; both would be familiar to residents in Egypt, and the original seems to point to some water-fowl. The purple water-hen is allied to our corn-crake and water-hen, and is the largest and most beautiful of the family Rallidae . It frequents marshes and the sedge by the banks of rivers in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean and is abundant in lower Egypt.
Synagogue, The Great
On the return of the Jews from Babylon, a great council was appointed according to rabbinic tradition, to reorganize the religious life of the people. It consisted of 120 members, and these were known as the men of the Great Synagogue, the successors of the prophets, themselves, in their turn, succeeded by scribes prominent, individually, as teachers. Ezra was recognized as president, Their aim was to restore again the crown, or glory, of Israel. To this end they collected all the sacred writings of the former ages and their own and so completed the canon of the Old Testament. They instituted the feast of Purim organized the ritual of the synagogue, and gave their sanction to the Shemoneh Esreh, the eighteen solemn benedictions in it. Much of this is evidently uncertain. The absence of any historical mention of such a body, not only in the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, but in Josephus, Philo, etc., has had some critics to reject the whole statement as a rabbinic invention. The narrative of ( Nehemiah 8:13 ) clearly implies the existence of a body of men acting as councillors under the presidency of Ezra; and these may have been an assembly of delegates from all provincial synagogues-a synod of the national Church.