(oppression).

1. The mother of Absalom; also called MAACHAH.

2. Maacah, or (in

) Maachah, a small kingdom in close proximity to Palestine which appears to have lain outside Argob,

and Bashun.

The Ammonite war was the only occasion on which the Maacathites came into contact with Israel when their king assisted the Ammonites against Joab with a force which he led himself.

(oppression).

1. The daughter of Nahor by his concubine Beumah.

2. The father of Achish who was king of Gath at the beginning of Solomon’s reign.

3. The daughter, or more probably granddaughter, of Absalom named after his mother; the third and favorite wife of Rehoboam, and mother of Abijah.

The mother of Abijah is elsewhere called "Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah."

During the reign of her grandson Asa she occupied at the court of Judah the high position of "king’s mother," comp.

but when he came of age she was removed because of her idolatrous habits.

4. The concubine of Caleb the son of Hezron.

5. The daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, and mother of Absalom

also called Maacah in Authorized Version of

6. The wife of Machir the Manassite.

7. The wife of Jehiel, father or founder of Gibeon.

8. The father of Hanan, one of the heroes of David body-guard.

9. A Simeonite, father of Sephatiah, prince of his tribe in the reign of David.

;

(ornament of Jehovah), one of the sons of Kani, who had married a foreign wife.

one of the priests who returned with Zerubbabel,

elsewhere (ver.

) called MOADIAH.

(compassionate), one of the Bene-Asaph who took part in the solemn musical service by which the wall of Jerusalem was dedicated.

(ascent of scorpions), the full form of the name given as AKRABBIM in

[AKRABBIM]

(bareness), one of the towns of Judah, in the district of the mountains.

The places which occur in company with have been identified at a few miles to the north of Hebron, but Maarath has hitherto eluded observation.

(work of the Lord), the name of four persons who had married foreign wives. In the time of Ezra,

1. A descendant of Jeshua the priest.

2. A priest, of the sons of Harim.

3. A priest, of the sons of Pashur.

4. One of the laymen, a descendant of Pahath-moab.

5. The father of Azariah.

6. One of those who stood on the right hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people.

7. A Levite who assisted on the same occasion.

8. One of the heads of the people whose descendants signed the covenant with Nehemiah.

9. Son of Baruch the descendant of Pharez the son of Judah,

10. A Benjamite, ancestor of Sallu.

11. Two priests of this name are mentioned,

as taking part in the musical service which accompanied the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem under Ezra. One of them is probably the same as No. 6.

12. Father of Zephaniah, who was a priest in the reign of Zedekiah.

13. Father of Zedekiah the false prophet.

14. One of the Levites of the second rank, appointed by David to sound "with psaltries on Alamoth."

15. The son of Adaiah, and one of the captains of hundreds in the reign of Joash king of Judah.

16. An officer of high rank in the reign of Uzziah.

He was probably a Levite, comp:

and engaged in a semi-military capacity.

17. The "king’s son," killed by Zichri the Ephraimitish hero in the invasion of Judah by Pekah king of Israel, during the reign of Ahaz.

18. The governor of Jerusalem in the reign of Josiah.

19. The son of Shallum, a Levite of high rank in the reign of Jehoiakim.

comp, 1Chr 9:19

20. A priest; ancestor of Baruch and Seraiah, the sons of Neriah.

(work of the Lord), a priest who after the return from Babylon dwelt in Jerusalem.

(small), son of Mattathias in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

(wrath), son of Ram, the first-born of Jerahmeel.

(consolation of Jehovah).

1. One of the priests who signed the covenant with Nehemiah.

2. A priest in the reign of David, head of the twenty-fourth course.

Four books which bear the common title of "Maccabees" are found in some MSS. of the LXX. Two of these were included in the early current Latin versions of the Bible, and thence passed into the Vulgate. As forming part of the Vulgate they were received as canonical by the Council of Trent, and retained among the Apocrypha by the reformed churches. The two other books obtained no such wide circulation and have only a secondary connection with the Maccabaean history.

1. THE FIRST BOOK OF MACCABEES contains a history of the patriotic struggle of the Jews in resisting the oppressions of the Syrian kings, from the first resistance of Mattathias to the settled sovereignty and death of Simon, a period of thirty-three years—B.C. 168-135. The great subject of the book begins with the enumeration of the Maccabaean family, ch, 2:1-5, which is followed by an account of the part which the aged Mattathias took in rousing and guiding the spirit of his countrymen. ch. 2:6-70. The remainder of the narrative is occupied with the exploits of Mattathias’ five sons. The great marks of trustworthiness are everywhere conspicuous. Victory and failure end despondency are, on the whole, chronicled with the same candor. There is no attempt to bring into open display the working of Providence. The testimony of antiquity leaves no doubt that the book was first written in Hebrew. Its whole structure points to Palestine as the place of its composition. There is, however, considerable doubt as to its date. Perhaps we may place it between B.C. 120-100. The date and person of the Greek translator are wholly undetermined.

2. THE SECOND BOOK OF MACCABEES. —The history of the second book of Maccabees begins some years earlier than that of the first book. and closes with the victory of Judas Maccabaeus over Nicanor. It thus embraces a period of twenty years, from B.C. 180 to B.C. 161. The writer himself distinctly indicates the source of his narrative—the five books of Jason of Cyrene, ch. 2:23, of which he designed to furnish a short and agreeable epitome for the benefit of those who would be deterred from studying the larger work. Of Jason himself nothing more is known than may be gleaned from this mention of him. The second book of Maccabcees is not nearly so trustworthy as the first. In the second book the groundwork of facts is true, but the dress in which the facts are presented is due in part at least to the narrator. The latter half of the book, chs. 8-15, is to be regarded as a series of special incidents from the life of Judas, illustrating the providential interference of God in behalf of his people, true in substance, but embellished in form.

3. THE THIRD BOOK OF MACCABEES contains the history of events which preceded the great Maccabaean struggle beginning with B.C. 217.

4. THE FOURTH BOOK OF MACCABEES contains a rhetorical narrative of the martyrdom of Eleazar and of the "Maccabaean family," following in the main the same outline as 2 Macc.

(extended land), a large and celebrated country lying north of Greece, the first part of Europe which received the gospel directly from St. Paul, and an important scene of his subsequent missionary labors and those of his companions. It was bounded by the range of Haemus or the Balkan northward, by the chain of Pindus westward, by the Cambunian hills southward, by which it is separated from Thessaly, an is divided on the east from Thrace by a less definite mountain boundary running southward from Haemus. Of the space thus enclosed, two of the most remarkable physical features are two great plains, one watered by the Axius, which comes to the sea, at the Thermaic Gulf, not far from Thessalonica; the other by the Strymon, which after passing near Philippi, flows out below Amphipolis. Between the mouths of these two rivers a remarkable peninsula projects, dividing itself into three points, on the farthest of which Mount Athos rises nearly into the region of perpetual snow. Across the neck of this peninsula St. Paul travelled more than once with his companions. This general sketch sufficiently describes the Macedonia which was ruled over by Philip and Alexander and which the Romans conquered from Perseas. At first the conquered country was divided by Aemilius Paulus into four districts, but afterward was made one province and centralized under the jurisdiction of a proconsul, who resided at Thessalonica. The character of the Christians of Macedonia is set before us in Scripture in a very favorable light. The candor of the Bereans is highly commented,

the Thessalonians were evidently objects of St. Paul’s peculiar affection,

and the Philippians, besides their general freedom from blame, are noted as remarkable for their liberality and self-denial.

see 2Cor 9:2; 11:9

a castle of the Herods on the southern border of their Perean dominions, nine miles east of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Here John the Baptist was imprisoned, and here was held the feast where Herodias, at whose request John was beheaded, danced before the king.

(bond of the Lord), one of the lion-faced warriors of Gad, who joined the fortunes of David when living in retreat at Ziklag.

(bond). Sheva, the father of Machbena, is named in the genealogical list of Judah as the offspring of Manchah, the concubine of Caleb ben-Hezron.

(decrease), the father of Geuel the Gadite, who went with Caleb and Joshua to spy out the land of Canaan.

(sold).

1. The eldest son,

of the patriarch Manasseh by an Aramite or Syrian concubine.

At the time of the conquest the family of Machir had become very powerful, and a large part of the country on the east of Jordan was subdued by them.

2. The son of Ammiel, a powerful sheikh of one of the transjordanic tribes, who rendered essential service to the cause of Saul and of David successively.

the descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.

(what is like the liberal?), one of the sons of Bani who put away his foreign wife at Ezra’s command.

(double, or a portion). [HEBRON]

(middle land),

is usually called the third son of Japhet, and the progenitor of the Medes; but probably all that is intended is that the Medes, as well as the Gomerites, Greeks, Tabareni, Moschi, etc., descended from Japhet.

[MIDIAN]

(dunghill), one of the towns in the south district of Judah.

In the time of Eusebius and Jerome it was called Menois, and was not far from Gaza. The first stage southward from Gaza is now el-Minyay, which is perhaps the modern representative of Menois, and therefore of Madmannah.

(dunghill), a place in Moab, threatened with destruction in the pronunciations of Jeremiah.

(dunghill), one of the, Benjamite villages north of Jerusalem the inhabitants of which were frightened away by the approach of Sennacherib along the northern road.

In Scripture "madness" is recognized as a derangement proceeding either from weakness and misdirection of intellect or from ungovernable violence of passion. In one passage alone,

is madness expressly connected with demoniacal possession by the Jews in their cavil against our Lord; in none is it referred to any physical causes.

(strife) one of the principal cities of Canaan before the conquest, probably in the north. Its king joined Jabin and his confederates in their attempt against Joshua at the waters of Xierom, and like the rest was killed.

(a tower). (The name given in the Revised Version of

for Magdala. It is probably another name for the same place, or it was a village so near it that the shore where Christ landed may have belonged to either village. —ED.)

(congregating), a proper name in

but whether of a man or of a place is doubtful; probably the latter, as all the names from

to 34, except Elam and Harim, are names of places.

(a tower). The chief MSS. and versions exhibit the name as MAGADAN, as in the Revised Version. Into the limits of Magadan Christ came by boat, over the Lake of Gennesareth after his miracle of feeding the four thousand on the Mountain of the eastern side,

and from thence he returned in the same boat to the opposite shore. In the parallel narrative of St. Mark, ch.

we find the "parts of Dalmanutha," on the western edge of the Lake of Gennesareth. The Magdala, which conferred her name on "Mary the Magdalene one of the numerous migdols, i.e. towers, which stood in Palestine, was probably the place of that name which is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as near Tiberias, and this again is as probably the modern el-Mejdel, a miserable little Muslim village, of twenty huts on the water’s edge at the southeast corner of the plain of Gennesareth. It is now the only inhabited place on this plain.

(prince of God), one of the "dukes" of Edom, descended from Esau.

(Authorized Version wise men).

1. In the Hebrew text of the Old Testament the word occurs but twice, and then only incidentally.

"Originally they were a class of priests among the Persians and Medes who formed the king’s privy council, and cultivated as trology, medicine and occult natural science. They are frequently referred to by ancient authors. Afterward the term was applied to all eastern philosophers." —Schaff’s Popular Commentary. They appear in Herodotus’ history of Astyages as interpreters of dreams, i. 120; but as they appear in Jeremiah among the retinue of the Chaldean king, we must suppose Nebuchadnezzar’s conquests led him to gather round him the wise men and religious teachers of the nations which he subdued, and that thus the sacred tribe of the Medes rose under his rule to favor and power. The Magi took their places among "the astrologers and star gazers and monthly prognosticators." It is with such men that, we have to think of Daniel and his fellow exiles as associated. The office which Daniel accepted

was probably rab-mag —chief of the Magi.

2. The word presented itself to the Greeks as connected with a foreign system of divination and it soon became a byword for the worst form of imposture. This is the predominant meaning of the word as it appears in the New Testament.

3. In one memorable instance, however, the word retains its better meaning. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, ch.

the Magi appear as "wise men"—properly Magians —who were guided by a star from "the east" to Jerusalem, where they suddenly appeared in the days of Herod the Great, inquiring for the new-born king of the Jews, whom they had come to worship. As to the country from which they came, opinions vary greatly; but their following the guidance of a star seems to point to the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, where astronomy was Cultivated by the Chaldeans. [See STAR OF THE EAST] (Why should the new star lead these wise men to look for a king of the Jews?

(1) These wise men from Persia were the most like the Jews, in religion, of all nations in the world. They believed in one God, they had no idols, they worshipped light as the best symbol of God. (2) The general expectation of such a king. "The Magi," says) Ellicott, "express the feeling which the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius tell us sixty or seventy years later had been for a long time very widely diffused. Everywhere throughout the East men were looking for the advent of a great king who was to rise from among the Jews. It had fermented in the minds of men, heathen as well as Jews, and would have led them to welcome Jesus as the Christ had he come in accordance with their expectation." Virgil, who lived a little before this, owns that a child from heaven was looked for, who should restore the golden age and take away sin. (3) This expectation arose largely from the dispersion of the Jews among all nations, carrying with them the hope and the promise of a divine Redeemer. Isai 9, 11; Dani 7 (4) Daniel himself was a prince and chief among this very class of wise men. His prophecies: were made known to them; and the calculations by which he pointed to the very time when Christ should be born became, through the book of Daniel, a part of their ancient literature. —ED.) According to a late tradition, the Magi are represented as three kings, named Gaspar, Melchior and Belthazar, who take their place among the objects of Christian reverence, and are honored as the patron saints of travellers.

Magic is "the science or practice of evoking spirits, or educing the occult powers of nature to produce effects apparently supernatural." It formed an essential element in many ancient religions, especially among the Persians, Chaldeans and Egyptians. The Hebrews had no magic of their own. It was so strictly forbidden by the law that it could never afterward have had any: recognized existence, save in times of general heresy or apostasy and the same was doubtless the case in the patriarchal ages. The magical practices which obtained among the Hebrews were therefore borrowed from the nations around. From the first entrance into the land of promise until the destruction of Jerusalem we have constant glimpses of magic practiced in secret, or resorted to not alone by the common but also as the great. It is a distinctive characteristic of the Bible that from first to last it warrants no such trust or dread. Laban attached great value to, and was in the habit of consulting, images.

During the plagues in Egypt the magicians appear.

Balaam also practiced magic.

Saul consulted the witch of Endor. An examination of the various notices of magic in the Bible gives this general result: They do not, act far as can be understood, once state positively that any but illusive results were produced by magical rites. (Even the magicians of Egypt could imitate the plagues sent through Moses only so long as they had previous notice and time to prepare. The time Moses sent the plague unannounced the magicians failed; they "did so with their enchantments," but in vain. So in the case of the witch of Endor. Samuel appearance was apparently unexpected by her; he did not come through the enchantments. —Ed.) The Scriptures therefore afford no evidence that man can gain supernatural powers to use at his will. This consequence goes some way toward showing that we may conclude that there is no such thing se real magic; for although it is dangerous to reason on negative evidence, yet in a case of this kind it is especially strong. [DIVINATION]

(region of Gog). In

Magog appears as the second son of Japheth; in

it appears as a country or people of which Gog was the prince. The notices of Magog would lead us to fix a northern locality: it is expressly stated by Ezekiel that "he was to come up from the sides of the north,"

from a country adjacent to that of Togarmah or Armenia, ch. 58:6 and not far from "the isles" or maritime regions of Europe. ch.

The people of Magog further appear as having a force of cavalry,

and as armed with the bow. ch.

From the above data, may conclude that Magog represents the important race of the Scythians.

(terror on every side), the name giver. by Jeremiah to Pashur the priest when he smote him and put him in the stocks for prophesying against the idolatry of Jerusalem.

(moth-killer) one of the heads of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah.

The same as MAGBISH in

(disease), one of the three children of Hammoleketh the sister of Gilead.

(praise of God).

1. The fourth in descent from Adam, according to the Sethite genealogy, and son of Cainan.

Revised Version.

2. A descendant of Perez or Pharez the son of Judah.

(stringed instrument), the daughter of Ishmael, and one of the wives of Esau.

(stringed instrument) one of the eighteen wives of King Rehoboam, apparently his first.

only. She was her husband’s cousin, being the daughter of King David’s son Jerimoth.

a town on the east of the Jordan. The name signifies two hosts or two camps,and was given to it by Jacob, because he there met "the angels of God."

We next meet with it in the records of the conquest.

It was within the territory of Gad,

and therefore on the south side of the torrent Jabbok. The town with its "suburbs" was allotted to the service of the Merarite Levites.

Mahanaim had become in the time of the monarchy a place of mark.

David took refuge there when driven out of the western part of his kingdom by Absalom.

Mahanaim was the seat of one of Solomon’s commissariat officers.

and it is alluded to in the song which bears his name. ch.

There is a place called Mahneh among the villages of the part of Jordan, through its exact position is not certain.

(camp of Dan), spoken of as "behind Kirjath-jearim,"

and as between Zorah and Eshtaol." ch.

(impetuous),

an inhabitant of Netophah in the tribe of Judah, and one of David’s captains.

(grabbing).

1. A Zohathite of the house of Korah.

2. Also a Kohathite, in the reign of Hezekiah.

the designation of Eliel, one of the warriors of King David’s guard, whose name is preserved in the catalogue of

only.

(visions). One of the fourteen sons of Heman the Kohathite.

(i.e. hasten-booty speedspoil), whose name was given by divine direction to indicate that Damascus and Samaria were soon to be plundered by the king of Assyria.

(disease), the eldest of the five daughters of Zelophehad the grandson of Manasseh.

(sick).

1. Son of Merari, the son of Levi and ancestor of the family of the Mahlites.

2. Bon of Mushi and grandson of Merari.

(sick) the first husband of Ruth; son of Eiimelech and Naomi.

comp. 1Sam 17:12

(dancing), the father of the four men most famous for wisdom next to Solomon himself.

(end), a place, apparently a town, named once only—

—in the: specification of the jurisdiction of Solomon a commissariat officer, Ben-Dekar. Makaz has not been discovered.

(place of assemblies), a place mentioned only in

as that of a desert encampment of the Israelites.

(place of shepherds), a place memorable in the annals of the conquest of Canaan as the scene of the execution by Joshua of the five confederate kings,

who had hidden themselves in a cave at this place. (It was a royal city of the Canaanites, in the plains of Judah. Conder identifies it with the modern el-Moghar, 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem, where are two caves large enough to contain five men each. Schaff says that "one cave has, curiously enough, five loculi rudely scooped in its side, and an enthusiast might contend that this was the very place of sepulchre of the five kings."-ED.)

(a mortar or deep hollow), a place evidently in Jerusalem, the inhabitants of which are denounced by Zephaniah.

Ewald conjectures that it was the Phoenician quarter" of the city.

(king of help), one of the sons of King Saul.

(king or kingdom), the name of the servant of the high priest whose right ear Peter cut off at the time of the Saviour’s apprehension in the garden.

the son of Cainan.

marg.; Luke 3:37

(my fullness), a Kohathite, one of the fourteen sons of Heman the singer.

(counsellor).

1. A Levite of the family of Merari, and ancestor of Ethan the singer

2. One of the sons of Bani.

and

3. One of the descendants of Harim,

who had married foreign wives.

4. A priest or family of priests.

and

5. One of the heads of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah.

6. One of the families of priests who returned with Zerubbabel,

probably the same as No. 4.

apparently the same with SHEMAIAH in

(riches)

a word which often occurs in the Chaldee Terguma of Onkelos and later writers, and in the Syriac version, and which signifies "riches." It is used in St. Matthew as a personification of riches.

(strength, fatness) an ancient Amorite, who with his brothers, Eshcol and Aner, was in alliance with Abram,

and under the shade of whose oak grove the patriarch dwelt in the interval between his residence at Bethel and at Beersheba. ch.

In the subsequent chapters Mamre is a mere local appellation. ch,

Four Hebrew terms are rendered "man" in the Authorized Version:

1. Adam, the name of the man created in the image of God. It appears to be derived from adam, "he or it was red or ruddy," like Edom. This was the generic term for the human race.

2. Ish, "man," as distinguished from woman, husband.

3. Geber, "a man," from gabar, "to be strong," generally with reference to his strength.

4. Methim, "men," always masculine. Perhaps it may be derived from the root muth, "he died."

(comforter) is mentioned in

as one of the teachers and prophets in the church at Antioch at the time of the appointment of Saul and Barnabas as missionaries to the heathen. He is said to have been brought up with Herod Antipas. He was probably his foster-brother.

(rest), a place named in

only in connection with the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin.

(rest) one of the sons of Shobal, and descendant of Seir the Horite.

and half from Salma, the founder of Bethlehem. ver. 54.

(forgetting), the eldest son of Joseph,

born 1715-10 B.C. Both he and Ephraim were born before the commencement of the famine. He was placed after his younger brother, Ephraim, by his grandfather Jacob, when he adopted them into his own family, and made them heads of tribes. Whether the elder of the two sons was inferior in form or promise to the younger, or whether there was any external reason to justify the preference of Jacob, we are not told. In the division of the promised land half of the tribe of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan in the district embracing the hills of Gilead with their inaccessible heights and impassable ravines, and the almost impregnable tract of Argob.

Here they throve exceedingly, pushing their way northward over the rich plains of Jaulan and Jedur to the foot of Mount Hermon.

But they gradually assimilated themselves with the old inhabitants of the country, and on them descended the punishment which was ordained to he the inevitable consequence of such misdoing. They, first of all Israel, were carried away by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, and settled in the Assyrian territories.

The other half tribe settled to the west of the Jordan, north of Ephraim.

... For further particulars see EPHRAIM.

(forgetting).

1. The thirteenth king of Judah, son of Hezekiah,

ascended the throne at the age of twelve, and reigned 55 years, from B.C. 608 to 642. His accession was the signal for an entire change in the religious administration of the kingdom. Idolatry was again established to such an extent that every faith was tolerated but the old faith of Israel. The Babylonian alliance which the king formed against Assyria resulted in his being made prisoner and carried off to Babylon in the twenty-second year of his reign, according to a Jewish tradition. There his eyes were opened and he repented, and his prayer was heard and the Lord delivered him,

and he returned after some uncertain interval of time to Jerusalem. The altar of the Lord was again restored, and peace offerings and thank offerings were sacrificed to Jehovah.

But beyond this the reformation did not go. On his death, B.C. 642, he was buried as Ahaz had been, not with the burial of a king, in the sepulchres of the house of David, but in the garden of Uzza,

and long afterward, in suite of his repentance, the Jews held his name in abhorrence.

2. One of the descendants of Pahathmoab, who in the days of Ezra had married a foreign wife.

3. One of the laymen, of the family of Hashum who put away his foreign wife at Ezra command.

1. Manasseh, king of Judah.

2. Manasseh the son of Joseph.

that is, the members of the tribe of Manasseh.

(Heb. dudraim) are mentioned in

and in Song 7:13 The mandrake, Atropa mandragora, is closely allied to the well-known deadly nightshade, A. bellndonna, and to the tomato, and belongs to the order Solanaceae, or potato family. It grows in Palestine and Mesopotamia. (It grows low, like lettuce, which its leaves somewhat resemble, except that they are of a dark green. The flowers are purple,and the root is usually forked. Its fruit when ripe (early in May) is about the size of a small apple, 24 inches in diameter, ruddy or yellow and of a most agreeable odor (to Orientals more than to Europeans) and an equally agreeable taste. The Arabs call it "devil’s apple," from its power to excite voluptuousness. Dr. Richardson ("Lectures on Alcohol," 1881) tried some experiments with wine made of the root of mandrake, and found it narcotic, causing sleep, so that the ancients used it as an anaesthetic. Used in small quantities like opium, it excites the nerves, and is a stimulant. —ED.)

(a portion (by weight)). [WEIGHTS AND MEASURES]

This word occurs only in

in connection with the birth of Christ. It means a crib or feeding trough; but according to Schleusner its real signification in the New Testament is the open court-yard attached to the inn or khan, in which the cattle would be shut at night, and where the poorer travellers might unpack their animals and take up their lodging, when they mere either by want of means excluded from the house.

(what is this?) (Heb. man). The most important passages of the Old Testament on this topic are the following:

25

From these passages we learn that the manna came every morning except the Sabbath, in the form of a small round seed resembling the hear frost that it must be gathered early, before the sun became so hot as to melt it; that it must be gathered every day except the Sabbath; that the attempt to lay aside for a succeeding day, except on the clay immediately preceding the Sabbath, failed by the substance becoming wormy and offensive; that it was prepared for food by grinding and baking; that its taste was like fresh oil, and like wafers made with honey, equally agreeable to all palates; that the whole nation, of at least 2,000,000, subsisted upon it for forty years; that it suddenly ceased when they first got the new corn of the land of Canaan; and that it was always regarded as a miraculous gift directly from God, and not as a product of nature. The natural products of the Arabian deserts and other Oriental regions which bear the name of manna have not the qualities or uses ascribed to the manna of Scripture. The latter substance was undoubtedly wholly miraculous, and not in any respect a product of nature, though its name may have come from its resemblance to the natural manna The substance now called manna in the Arabian desert through which the Israelites passed is collected in the month of June from the tarfa or tamarisk shrub (Tamarix gallica). According to Burckhardt it drops from the thorns on the sticks and leaves with which the ground is covered, and must be gathered early in the day or it will be melted by the sun. The Arabs cleanse and boil it, strain it through a cloth and put it in leathern bottles; and in this way it can be kept uninjured for several years. They use it like honey or butter with their unleavened bread, but never make it into cakes or eat it by itself. The whole harvest, which amounts to only five or six hundred pounds, is consumed by the Bedouins, "who," says Schaff consider it the greatest dainty their country affords." The manna of European commerce conies mostly from Calabria and Sicily. It’s gathered during the months of June and July from some species of ash (Ornus europaea and O. rotundifolia), from which it drops in consequence of a puncture by an insect resembling the locust, but distinguished from it by having a sting under its body. The substance is fluid at night and resembles the dew but in the morning it begins to harden.

(rest), the father of Samson; a Danite, native of the town of Zorah.

(B.C. 1161) [SAMSON]

one who kills another unintentionally, and is thus distinguished from a murderer, who kills with malice aforethought. The cases of manslaughter mentioned in Scripture appear to be a sufficient indication of the intention of the lawgiver.

1. Death by a blow in a sudden quarrel.

2. Death by a stone or missile thrown at random. Ibid.

3. By the blade of an axe flying from its handle.

In all these and the like cases the manslayer was allowed to retire to a city of refuge. A thief overtaken at night in the act of stealing might lawfully be put to death, but if the sun had risen the killing him was to be regarded as murder.

the word employed in the Authorized Version to translate no less than four Hebrew terms, entirely distinct and independent in both derivation and meaning. 1.

the garment with which Jael covered Sisera.

2. Rendered "mantle" in

etc. This word is in other passages of the Authorized Version rendered "coat," "cloak" and "robe." 3.

only. Apparently some article of a lady’s dress. 4.

The sole garment of the prophet Elijah. It was probably of sheepskin, such as is worn by the modern dervishes.

(oppression) the father of Achish king of Gath, with whom David took refuge.

(habitation), one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, in the district of the mountains.

Its interest for us lies in its connection with David.

The name of Maon still exists in Main, a lofty conical hill, south of and about seven miles distant from Hebron.

a people mentioned in one of the addresses of Jehovah to the repentant Israelites,

elsewhere in the Authorized Version called Mehunim.

(sad, bitter), the name which Naomi adopted in the exclamation forced from her by the recognition of her fellow citizens at Bethlehem.

(bitterness), a place which lay in the wilderness of Shur or Etham, three days journey distant,

from the place at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and where was a spring of bitter water, sweetened subsequently by the casting in of a tree which "the Lord showed" to Moses. Howarah, distant 16 1/2 hours (47 miles) from Ayoun Mousa, the Israelites’ first encampment, has been by many identified with it, apparently because it is the bitterest water in the neighborhood.

(trembling) one of the land marks on the boundary of the tribe of Zebulun.

an Aramaic or Syriac expression used by St. Paul at the conclusion of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, ch.

signifying "our Lord cometh."

The Hebrew shesh, the generic term for marble, may probably be taken to mean almost any shining stone. The so-called marble of Solomon’s architectural works may thus have been limestone. There can be no doubt that Herod both in the temple and elsewhere employed Parian or other marble. The marble pillars and tesserae of various colors of the palace at Susa came doubtless from Persia.

[MONTH]

the evangelist Mark.

; Phle 1:24; 1Pet 5:13 [MARK]

(crest of a hill), one of the cities of Judah in the low country.

It was one of the cities fortified and garrisoned by Rehoboam after the rupture with the northern kingdom.

Near it was fought the great battle between Asa and Zerah.

It is mentioned once or twice in the history of the Maccabaean war of independence. 2 Macc. 12:35. About 110 B.C. it was taken from the Idumaeans by John Hyrcanus. It was in ruins in the fourth century, when Eusebius and Jerome describe it as in the second mile from Eleutheropolis. South-southwest of Beitjibrin —in all probability Eleutheropolis-and it little over a Roman mile therefrom is a site called Marash, which is possibly the representative of the ancient Mareshah.

one of the evangelists, and probable author of the Gospel bearing his name. (Marcus was his Latin surname. His Jewish name was John, which is the same as Johanan (the grace of God). We can almost trace the steps whereby the former became his prevalent name in the Church. "John, whose surname was Mark" in

becomes "John" alone in

"Mark" in

and thenceforward there is no change.

; Phlm 1:24; 2Tim 4:11 The evangelist was the son of a certain Mary, a Jewish matron of some position who dwelt in Jerusalem,

and was probably born of a Hellenistic family in that city. Of his father we know nothing; but we do know that the future evangelist was cousin of Barnabas of Cyprus, the great friend of St. Paul. His mother would seem to have been intimately acquainted with St. Peter, and it was to her house, as to a familiar home, that the apostle repaired, A.D. 44, after his deliverance from prison

This fact accounts for St. Mark’s intimate acquaintance with that apostle, to whom also he probably owed his conversion, for St. Peter calls him his son.

We hear Of him for the first time in Acts 15:25 where we find him accompanying and Barnabas on their return from Jerusalem to Antioch, A.D. 45. He next comes before us on the occasion of the earliest missionary journey of the same apostles, A.D. 48, when he joined them as their "minister."

With them he visited Cyprus; but at Perga in Pamphylia,

when they were about to enter upon the more arduous part of their mission, he left them, and, for some unexplained reason, returned to Jerusalem to his mother and his home. Notwithstanding this, we find him at Paul’s side during that apostle’s first imprisonment at Rome, A.D. 61-63, and he Is acknowledged by him as one of his few fellow laborers who had been a "comfort" to him during the weary hours of his imprisonment.

; Phle 1:24 We next have traces of him in

"The church that is in Babylon ... saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son." From this we infer that he joined his spiritual father, the great friend of his mother, at Babylon, then and for same hundred years afterward one of the chief seats of Jewish culture. From Babylon he would seem to have returned to Asia Minor; for during his second imprisonment A.D. 68 St. Paul, writing to Timothy charges him to bring Mark with him to me, on the ground that he was "profitable to him For the ministry."

From this point we gain no further information from the New Testament respecting the evangelist. It is most probable, however that he did join the apostle at Rome whither also St. Peter would seem to have proceeded, and suffered martyrdom with St. Paul. After the death of these two great pillars of the Church; ecclesiastical tradition affirms that St. Mark visited Egypt, founded the church of Alexandria, and died by martyrdom.—Condensed from Cambridge Bible for Schools.—ED.)

1. By whom written. —The author of this Gospel has been universally believed to be Mark or Marcus, designated in

as John Mark, and in ch. 5,13 as John.

2. When is was written. —Upon this point nothing absolutely certain can be affirmed, and the Gospel itself affords us no information. The most direct testimony is that of Irenaeus, who says it was after the death of the apostles Peter and Paul. We may conclude, therefore, that this Gospel was not written before A.D. 63. Again we may as certainly conclude that it was not written after the destruction of Jerusalem, for it is not likely that he would have omitted to record so remarkable a fulfillment of our Lord’s predictions. Hence A.D. 63-70 becomes our limit, but nearer than this we cannot go. —Farrar.

3. Where it was written. —As to the place, the weight of testimony is uniformly in favor of the belief that the Gospel was written and published at Rome. In this Clement, Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, all agree. Chrysostom, indeed, asserts that it was published at Alexandria; but his statement receives no confirmation, as otherwise it could not fail to have done, from any Alexandrine writer. —Farrar.

4. In what language. —As to the language in which it was written, there never has been any reasonable doubt that it was written in Greek.

5. Sources of information. —Mark was not one of the twelve; and there is no reason to believe that he was an eye and ear witness of the events which he has recorded but an almost unanimous testimony of the early fathers indicates Peter as the source of his information. The most important of these testimonies is that of Papias, who says, "He, the Presbyter (John), said, Mark, being the Interpreter of Peter, wrote exactly whatever he remembered but he did not write in order the things which were spoken or done by Christ. For he was neither a hearer nor a follower of the Lord, but, as I said, afterward followed Peter, who made his discourses to suit what was required, without the view of giving a connected digest of the discourses of our Lord. Mark, therefore, made no mistakes when he wrote down circumstances as he recollected them; for he was very careful of one thing, to omit nothing of what he heard, and to say nothing false in what he related." Thus Papias writes of Mark. This testimony is confirmed by other witnesses. —Abbott.

6. For whom it was written. —The traditional statement is that it was intended primarily for Gentiles, and especially for those at Rome. A review of the Gospel itself confirms this view.

7. Characteristics. — (1) Mark’s Gospel is occupied almost entirely with the ministry in Galilee and the events of the passion week. It is the shortest of the four Gospels, and contains almost no incident or teaching which is not contained in one of the other two synoptists; but (2) it is by far the most vivid and dramatic in its narratives, and their pictorial character indicates not only that they were derived from an eye and ear witness, but also from one who possessed the observation and the graphic artistic power of a natural orator such as Peter emphatically was. (3) One peculiarity strikes us the moment we open it, —the absence of any genealogy of our Lord. This is the key to much that follows. It is not the design of the evangelist to present our Lord to us, like St. Matthew as the Messiah, "the son of David and Abraham," ch. 1:1, or, like St. Luke, as the universal Redeemer, "the son of Adam, which was the son of God." ch. 3:38. (4) His design is to present him to us as the incarnate and wonder-working Son of God, living and acting among men; to portray him in the fullness of his living energy. —Cambridge Bible for Schools.

(any open place of public resort in cities or towns where public trials and assemblies were held and goods were exposed for sale. "The market-places or bazaars of the East were, and are at this day, the constant resort of unoccupied people, the idle, the news-mongers." —Hackett s Ill. S.S. —ED.)

In the Revised Version for Appii Forum of the Authorized Version, which see.

(bitterness), one of the towns of the western lowland of Judah.

1. Its origin and history. —The institution of marriage dates from the time of man’s original creation.

From

we may evolve the following principles: (1) The unity of man and wife, as implied in her being formed out of man. (2) The indissolubleness of the marriage bond, except on; the strongest grounds, Comp.

(3) Monogamy, as the original law of marriage (4) The social equality of man and wife. (5) The subordination of the wife to the husband.

(6) The respective duties of man and wife. In the patriarchal age polygamy prevailed,

but to a great extent divested of the degradation which in modern times attaches to that practice. Divorce also prevailed in the patriarchal age, though but one instance of it is recorded.

The Mosaic law discouraged polygamy, restricted divorce, and aimed to enforce purity of life. It was the best civil law possible at the time, and sought to bring the people up to the pure standard of the moral law. In the Post-Babylonian period monogamy appears to have become more prevalent than at any previous time. The practice of polygamy nevertheless still existed; Herod the Great had no less than nine wives at one time. The abuse of divorce continued unabated. Our Lord and his apostles re-established the integrity and sanctity of the marriage bond by the following measures: (a) By the confirmation of the original charter of marriage as the basis on which all regulations were to be framed.

(b) By the restriction of divorce to the case of fornication, and the prohibition of remarriage in all persons divorced on improper grounds.

(c) By the enforcement of moral purity generally

etc., and especial formal condemnation of fornication.

2. The conditions of legal marriage. —In the Hebrew commonwealth marriage was prohibited (a) between an Israelite and a non-Israelite. There were three grades of prohibition: total in regard to the Canaanites on either side; total on the side of the males in regard to the Ammonites and Moabites; and temporary on the side of the males in regard to the Edomites and Egyptians, marriages with females in the two latter instances being regarded as legal. The progeny of illegal marriages between Israelites and non-Israelites was described as "bastard."

(b) between an Israelite and one of his own community. The regulations relative to marriage between Israelites and Israelites were based on considerations of relationship. The most important passage relating to these is contained in

wherein we have in the first place a general prohibition against marriage between a man and the "flesh of his flesh," and in the second place special prohibitions against marriage with a mother, stepmother, sister or half-sister, whether "born at home or abroad," granddaughter, aunt, whether by consanguinity on either side or by marriage on the father’s side, daughter in-law, brother’s wife, stepdaughter, wife’s mother, stepgranddaughter, or wife’s sister during the lifetime of the wife. An exception is subsequently made,

in favor of marriage with a brother’s wife in the event of his having died childless. The law which regulates this has been named the "levirate," from the Latin levir, "brother-in-law."

3. The modes by which marriage was effected. —The choice of the bride devolved not on the bridegroom himself, but on his relations or on a friend deputed by the bridegroom for this purpose. The consent of the maiden was sometimes asked

but this appears to have been subordinate to the previous consent of the father and the adult brothers.

Occasionally the whole business of selecting the wife was left in the hands of a friend. The selection of the bride was followed by the espousal, which was a formal proceeding undertaken by a friend or legal representative on the part of the bridegroom and by the parents on the part of the bride; it was confirmed by oaths, and accompanied with presents to the bride. The act of betrothal was celebrated by a feast, and among the more modern Jews it is the custom in some parts for the bride. groom to place a ring on the bride’s finger. The ring was regarded among the Hebrews as a token of fidelity

and of adoption into a family.

Between the betrothal sad the marriage so interval elapsed, varying from a few days in the patriarchal age,

to a full year for virgins and a month for widows in later times. During this period the bride-elect lived with her friends, and all communication between herself and her future husband was carried on through the medium of a friend deputed for the purpose, termed the "friend of the bridegroom."

She was now virtually regarded as the wife of her future husband; hence faithlessness on her part was punishable with death,

the husband having, however, the option of "putting her away."

The essence of the marriage ceremony consisted in the removal of the bride from her father’s house to that of the bridegroom or his father. The bridegroom prepared himself for the occasion by putting on a festive dress, and especially by placing on his head a handsome nuptial turban.

The bride was veiled. Her robes were white,

and sometimes embroidered with gold thread,

and covered with perfumes!

she was further decked out with jewels.

When the fixed hour arrived, which was, generally late in the evening, the bridegroom set forth from his house, attended by his groomsmen (Authorized Version "companions,"

"children of the bride-chamber,"

preceded by a band of musicians or singers,

and accompanied by persons hearing flambeaux,

2 Esdr. 10:2;

and took the bride with the friends to his own house. At the house a feast was prepared, to which all the friends and neighbors were invited,

and the festivities were protracted for seven or even fourteen days.

The guests were provided by the host with fitting robes,

and the feast was enlivened with riddles,

and other amusements. The last act in the ceremonial was the conducting of the bride to the bridal chamber,

where a canopy was prepared.

The bride was still completely veiled, so that the deception practiced on Jacob,

was not difficult. A newly married man was exempt from military service, or from any public business which might draw him away from his home, for the space of a year,

a similar privilege was granted to him who was ‘betrothed.

4. The social and domestic conditions of married life. —The wife must have exercised an important influence in her own home. She appears to have taken her part in family affairs, and even to have enjoyed a considerable amount of independence.

etc. In the New Testament the mutual relations of husband and wife are a subject of frequent exhortation.

The duties of the wife in the Hebrew household were multifarious; in addition to the general superintendence of the domestic arrangements, such as cooking, from which even women of rank were not exempt.

and the distribution of food at meal times,

the manufacture of the clothing and of the various fabrics required in her home devolved upon her,

and if she were a model of activity and skill, she produced a surplus of fine linen shirts and girdles, which she sold and so, like a well-freighted merchant ship, brought in wealth to her husband from afar.

The legal rights of the wife are noticed in

under the three heads of food, raiment, and duty of marriage or conjugal right.

5. The allegorical and typical allusions to marriage have exclusive reference to one object, viz., to exhibit the spiritual relationship between God and his people. In the Old Testament

In the New Testament the image of the bridegroom is transferred from Jehovah to Christ,

and that of the bride to the Church,

the hill of Mars or Ares, better known by the name of Areopagus, of which hill of Mars or Ares is a translation. The Areopagus was a rocky height in Athens, opposite the western end of the Acropolis. It rises gradually from the northern end, and terminates abruptly on the south, over against the Acropolis, at which point it is about fifty or sixty feet above the valley. The spot is memorable as the place of meeting of the Council of Areopagus. This body existed as a criminal tribunal before the time of Solon, and was the most ancient and venerable of all the Athenian courts. It consisted of all persons who had held the office of archon, and who were members of the council for life unless expelled for misconduct. Before the time of Solon the court tried only cases of willful murder, wounding, poison, and arson: but he gave it extensive powers of a censorial and political nature. The council continued to exist even under the Roman emperors. Its meetings were held on the southeastern summit of the rock. The Areopagus possesses peculiar interest to the Christian as the spot from which St. Paul delivered his memorable address to the men of Athens.

St. Paul "disputed daily" in the "market" or agora,

which was situated south of the Areopagus in the valley lying between this and the hills of the Acropolis, the Pnyx and the Museum. Attracting more and more attention, "certain philosophers of the Epicureans and Stoics" brought him up from the valley, probably by the stone steps, to the Areopagus above, that they might listen to him more conveniently.

(worthy), one of the seven of Persia, "wise men which knew the times," which saw the king’s face and sat first in the kingdom.

(a lady), the sister of Lazarus and Mary. [LAZARUS] The facts recorded in Luke 10 and John 11 indicate a character devout after the customary Jewish type of devotion, sharing in Messianic hopes and accepting Jesus as the Christ. When she first comes before us,

her spirit is "cumbered with much serving," is "careful and troubled about many things." Her love, though imperfect in its form, is yet recognized as true, and she has the distinction of being one whom Jesus loved.

Her position is obviously that of the elder sister the head and manager of the household. In the supper at Bethany

the old character shows itself still, but it has been freed from evil. She is no longer "cumbered," no longer impatient. Activity has been calmed by trust.

In the evening of the same day we find her sitting desolate at the tomb with Mary Magdalene,

and at the dawn of Easter morning she was again there with sweet spices, which she had prepared on the Friday night,

and was one of those who had "a vision of angels, which said that he was alive."

She had four sons and at least three daughters. The names of the daughters are unknown to us; those of the sons are, James, Joses, Jude and Simon, two of whom became enrolled among the twelve apostles [JAMES], and a third [SIMON] may have succeeded his brother ill charge of the church of Jerusalem. By many she is thought to have been the sister of the Virgin Mary.

Different explanations have been given of this name; but the most natural is that she came from the town of Magdala. She appears before us for the first time in

among the women who "ministered unto him of their substance." All appear to have occupied a position of comparative wealth. With all the chief motive was that of gratitude for their deliverance from "evil spirits and infirmities." Of Mary it is said specially that "seven devils went out of her," and the number indicates a possession of more than ordinary malignity. She was present during the closing hours of the agony on the cross.

She remained by the cross till all was over, and waited till the body was taken down and placed in the garden sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathaea,

when she, with Salome and Mary the mother of James, "bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint" the body.

The next morning accordingly. in the earliest dawn,

they came with Mary the mother of James to the sepulchre. Mary Magdalene had been to the tomb and had found it empty, and had seen the "vision of angels."

To her first of all Jesus appeared after his resurrection.

Mary Magdalene has become the type of a class of repentant sinners; but there is no authority for identifying her with the "sinner" who anointed the feet of Jesus in

neither is there any authority for the supposition that Mary Magdalene is the same as the sister of Lazarus. Neither of these theories has the slightest foundation in fact.

was sister to Barnabas.

She was among the earliest disciples, and lived at Jerusalem. She gave up her house to be used as one of the chief places of meeting. The fact that Peter went to that house on his release from prison indicates that there was some special intimacy,

between them. (There is a tradition that the place of meeting of the disciples, and hence Mary’s house, was on the upper slope of Zion, and that it was here that the Holy Ghost came upon the disciples with tongues of flame on the day of Pentecost. —ED.)

She and her sister Martha appear in

as receiving Christ in their house. Mary sat listening eagerly for every word that fell from the divine Teacher. She had chosen that good part, the "one thing needful." The same character shows itself in the history of

... Her grief was deeper, but less active. Her first thought, when she saw the Teacher in whose power and love she that trusted, was one of complaint. But the great joy and love which her brother’s return to life called up in her poured themselves out in larger measure than had been seen before. The treasured alabaster box of ointment was brought forth at the final feast of Bethany.

the mother of our Lord. There is no person perhaps in sacred or profane history around whom so many legends have been grouped a the Virgin Mary; and there are few whose authentic history is more concise. She was, like Joseph, of the tribe of Judah and of the lineage of David.

She had a sister, named, like herself,

and she was connected by marriage,

with Elizabeth, who was of the tribe of Levi and of the lineage of Aaron. This is all that we know of her antecedents. She was betrothed to Joseph of Nazareth; but before her marriage she became with child by the Holy Ghost, and became the mother of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Her history at this time, her residence at Bethlehem, flight to Egypt, and return to her early home st Nazareth, are well known. Four times only does she appear after the commencement of Christ’s ministry. These four occasions are—

1. The marriage at Cana in Galilee took place in the three months which intervened between the baptism of Christ and the passover of the year 27. Mary was present, and witnessed the first miracle performed by Christ, when he turned the water into wine. She had probably become a widow before this time.

2. Capernaum,

and Nazareth,

appear to have been the residence of Mary for a considerable period. The next time that she is brought before us we find her at Capernaum, where she, with other relatives, had gone to inquire about the strange stories they had heard of her son Jesus. They sought an audience with our Lord, which was not granted, as he refused to admit any authority on the part of his relatives, or any privilege on account of their relationship.

3. The next scene in Mary’s life brings us to the foot of the cross. With almost his last words Christ commended his mother to the care of him who had borne the name of the disciple whom Jesus loved: "Woman, behold thy son." And front that hour St. John assures us that he took her to his own abode. So far as Mary is portrayed to us in Scripture, she is, as we should have expected the most tender, the most faithful humble, patient and loving of women, but a woman still.

4. In the days succeeding the ascension of Christ Mary met with the disciples in the upper room,

waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit with power.

a Roman Christian who is greeted by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, ch.

as having toiled hard for him.

(song of wisdom), the title of thirteen Psalms 32,45,44,45,52-55,74,78,68,69,142 Ewald regards

(Authorized Version, "sing ye praises with understanding;" Heb. maschil) as the key to the meaning of maschil, which in his opinion is a musical term denoting a melody requiring great skill in its execution.

(drawn out), one of the sons of Aram.

In

the name appears as Meshech. The name Mash is probably represented by the Mons Masius of classical writers, a range which forms the northern boundary of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates.

(entreaty), the same as Misheal or Mishal.

(vineyard of noble vines), an ancient place, the native spot of Samiah, one of the old king of the Edomites.

(burden), a son of Ishmael.

His descendants were not improbably the Masani, placed by Ptolemy in the east of Arabia, near the borders of Babylonia.

(temptation), a name given to the spot, also called Meribah, where the Israelites tempted Jehovah.

= METHUSELAH, the son of Enoch.

(pushing forward) daughter of Mezahab and mother of Mehetabel, who was wife of Hadar or Hadad of Pau, king of Edom.

(rain of Jehovah), a family of the tribe of Benjamin, to which Saul the King of Israel belonged.

(a gift).

1. The priest of Baal slain before his altars in the idol temple at Jerusalem.

He probably accompanied Athalia from Samaria.

2. The father of Shephatiah.

(gift of Jehovah), a station the latter part of the wandering of the Israelites.

It was probably situated to the southeast of the Dead Sea.

(gift of Jehovah).

1. The original name of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was changed when Nebuchadnezzar placed him on the throne.

2. A Levite singer of the sons of Asaph.

He was leader of the temple choir after its restoration,

in the time of Nehemiah, and took part in the musical service which accompanied the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem.

3. A descendant of Asaph, and ancestor of Jahaziel the Levite, in the reign of Jehoshaphat.

4. One of the sons of Elam.

5. One of the sons of Zattu.

6. A descendant of Pahath-moab,

and

7. One of the sons of Bani.

who all put away their foreign wives at Ezra’s command.

8. A Levite, father of Zaccur and ancestor of Hanan the under-treasurer who had charge of the offerings for the Levites in the time of Nehemiah.

9. One of the fourteen sons of Heman, whose office it was to blow the horns in the temple service appointed by David.

10. A descendant of Asaph the Levite minstrel, who assisted in the purification of the temple in the reign of Hezekiah.

(gift of Jehovah), probably a contraction of Mattathiah.

1. Son of Nathan and grandson of David, in the genealogy of Christ.

(B.C. after 1014.)

2. An Israelite, son of Hashun, who divorced his Gentile wife after the return from Babylon.

(B.C. 458.)

(gift of Jehovah), the Greek form of Mattathiah.

1. Son of Amos, in the genealogy of Christ.

(B.C. after 406.)

2. Son of Semei.

3. The father of the Maccabees. (B.C. 168 and previous.)

(gift of Jehovah), a contraction of Mattaniah.

1. Two Israelites who divorced their Gentile wives after the return from the Babylonish captivity.

(B.C. 469.)

2. A priest, son of Joiarib, in the time of Joiakim.

(B.C. after 536.)

(gift), grandfather of Joseph the husband of the Virgin Mary.

(gift of God), a form of the name Matthan.

1. son of Levi, in the genealogy of Christ.

(B.C. after 623.)

2. Grandfather of the Virgin Mary.

(gift of Jehovah). (A contraction, as is also Matthias, of Mattathias. His original name was Levi, and his name Matthew was probably adopted as his new apostolic name was a Jew. His father’s name was Alphaeus. His home was at Capernaum His business was the collection of dues and customs from persons and goods crossing the Sea of Galilee, or passing along the great Damascus road which ran along the shore between Bethsaida, Julius and Capernaum. Christ called him from this work to he his disciple. He appears to have been a man of wealth, for he made a great feast in his own house, perhaps in order to introduce his former companions and friends to Jesus. His business would tend to give him a knowledge of human nature, and accurate business habits, and of how to make a way to the hearts of many publicans and sinners not otherwise easily reached. He is mentioned by name, after the resurrection of Christ, only in

but he must have lived many years as an apostle, since he was the author of the Gospel of Matthew which was written at least twenty years later. There is reason to believe that he remained for fifteen years at Jerusalem, after which he went as missionary to the Persians, Parthians and Medes. There is a legend that he died a martyr in Ethiopia. —ED.)

1. Its authorship. —That this Gospel was written by the apostle Matthew there is no reason to doubt. Seventeen independent witnesses of the first four centuries attest its genuineness.

2. Its original language. —The testimony of the early Church is unanimous that Matthew wrote originally in the Hebrew language. On the otherhand doubt is thrown over this opinion, both statements of by an examination of the fathers and by a consideration of peculiar forms of language employed in the Gospel itself. The question is unsettled, the best scholars not agreeing in their Judgment concerning it. If there was a Hebrew original, it disappeared at a very early age. The Greek Gospel which we now possess was it is almost certain, written in Matthew’s lifetime; and it is not at all improbable that he wrote the Gospel in both the Greek and Hebrew languages. —Lyman Abbolt. It is almost certain that our Lord spoke in Greek with foreigners, but with his disciples and the Jewish people in Aramaic (a form of language closely allied to the Hebrew). —Schaff. The Jewish historian Josephus furnishes an illustration of the fate of the Hebrew original of Matthew. Josephus himself informs us that he, wrote his great work "The History of the Jewish Wars," originally in Hebrew, his native tongue, for the benefit of his own nation, and he afterward translated it into Greek. No notices of the Hebrew original now survive. —Professor D.S. Gregory.

3. The date.— The testimony of the early Church is unanimous that Matthew wrote first of the early Church is among the evangelists. Irenieus relates that Matthew wrote his Gospel while Peter and Paul were preaching, and founding the Church at Rome, after A.D. 61. It was published before the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 50.—Alford. We would place our present Gospel between A.D. 60 and 66. If there was an original Hebrew Gospel, an earlier date belongs to it —Ellicott.

4. Its object.— This Gospel was probably written in Palestine for Jewish Christians. It is an historical proof that Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew is the Gospel for the Jew. It is the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah of the prophets. This Gospel takes the life of Jesus as it was lived on earth, and his character as it actually appeared, and places them alongside the life and character of the Messiah as sketched in the prophets, the historic by the side of the Prophetic, that the two may appear in their marvellous unity and in their perfect identity. —Professor Gregory.

(gift of God), the apostle elected to fill the place of the traitor Judas.

All beyond this that we know of him for certainty is that he had been a constant attendant upon the Lord Jesus during the whole course of his ministry; for such was declared by St. Peter to be the necessary qualification of one who was to be a witness of the resurrection. It is said that he preached the gospel and suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia.

(gift of God).

1. A Levite who presided over the offerings made in the pans.

comp. Levi 6:20 ( Levi 6:12 ) etc.

2. One of the Levites appointed by David to minister before the ark in the musical service,

"with harps upon Sheminith," comp.

to lead the choir.

3. One of the family of Nebo who had married a foreign wife, in the days of Ezra.

4. Probably a priest, who stood at the right hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people.

The tool used in Arabia for loosening the ground, described by Neibuhr, answers generally to our mattock or grubbing-axe, i.e. a single-headed pickaxe. The ancient Egyptian hoe was of wood, and answered for hoe, spade and pick.

(i.e. a hammer), a sort of battleaxe or hammer, used as an implement of war.

(fortresses). The marginal note to the Authorized Version of

"the god of forces," gives as the equivalent of the last word "Mauzzim, or gods protectors, or munitions." There can be little doubt that mauzzim is to be taken in its literal sense of "fortresses," just as in

"the god of fortresses" being then the deity who presided over strongholds. The opinion of Gesenius is that "the god of fortresses" was Jupiter Capitolinus, for whom Antiochus built a temple at Antioch. Liv. xli. 20.

(the twelve signs). The margin of the Authorized Version of

gives Mazzaroth as the name of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

1. In

meadow appears to be an Egyptian term meaning some kind of flag or waterplant, as its use in

(Authorized Version "flag") seems to show.

2. In

the sense of the Hebrew word translated meadow is doubly uncertain. The most plausible interpretation is that of the Peshito-Syriac, which by a slight difference in the vowel-points makes the word mearah, "the cave."

appears to have been situated somewhere at the northeast part of the city, outside of the walls of Zion.

Our information on the subject of meals is but scanty. The early Hebrews do not seem to have given special names to their several meals, for the terms rendered "dine" and "dinner" in the Authorized Version (

) are in reality general expressions, which might more correctly be rendered "eat" and "portion of food." In the New Testament "dinner" and "supper,"

are more properly "breakfast" and "dinner." There is some uncertainty as to the hours at which meals were taken; the Egyptians undoubtedly took their principal mean at noon,

laborers took a light meal at that time.

comp. ver. Ruth 2:17 The Jews rather followed the custom that prevails among the Bedouins, and made their principal meal after sunset, and a lighter meal at about 9 or 10 A.M. The old Hebrews were in the habit of sitting.

The table was in this case but slightly elevated above the ground, as is still the case in Egypt. As luxury increased, the practice of sitting was exchanged for that of reclining was the universal custom. As several guests reclined on the same couch, each overlapped his neighbor, as it were, and rested his head on or near the breast of the one who lay behind him; he was then said to "lean on the bosom" of his neighbor.

The ordinary arrangement of the couches was in three sides of a square, the fourth being left open for the servants to bring up the dishes. Some doubt attends the question whether the females took their meals along with the males. Before commencing the meal the guests washed their hands. This custom was founded on natural decorum: not only was the hand the substitute for our knife and for, but the hands of all the guests were dipped into one and the same dish. Another preliminary step was the grace or blessing, of which we have but one instance in the Old Testament —

—and more than one pronounced by our Lord himself in the new Testament —Matt 15:36; Luke 9:16; John 6:11 The mode of taking the food differed in no material point from the modern usages of the East. Generally there was a single dish, into which each guest dipped his hand.

Occasionally separate portions were served out to each.

A piece of bread was held between the thumb and two fingers of the right hand, and was dipped either into a bowl of melted grease (in which case it was termed "a sop,")

or into the dish of meat, whence a piece was conveyed to the mouth between the layers of bread. At the conclusion of the meal, grace was again said in conformity with

and the hands were again washed. On state occasions more ceremony was used, and the meal was enlivened in various ways. A sumptuous repast was prepared; the guests were previously invited,

and on the day of the feast a second invitation was issued to those that were bidden.

The visitors were received with a kiss,

water was furnished for them to wash their feet with,

the head, the beard, the feet, and sometimes the clothes, were perfumed with ointment,

on special occasions robes were provided,

and the head was decorated with wreaths.

The regulation of the feast was under the superintendence of a special officer,

(Authorized Version "governor of the feast"), whose business it was to taste the food and the liquors before they were placed on the table, and to settle about the toasts and amusements; he was generally one of the guests, Ecclus. 32:1,2, and might therefore take part in the conversation. The places of the guests were settled according to their respective rand,

portions of food were placed before each,

the most honored guests receiving either larger,

or more choice,

portions than the rest. The meal was enlivened with music, singing and dancing,

or with riddles,

and amid these entertainments the festival was prolonged for several days.

(a cave), a place named in

only. The word means in Hebrew a cave, and it is commonly assumed that the reference is to some remarkable cavern in the neighborhood of Zidon.

[WEIGHTS AND MEASURES]

It does not appear that the word "meat" is used in any one instance in the Authorized Version of either the Old or New Testament in the sense which it now almost exclusively bears of animal food. The latter is denoted uniformly by "flesh." The word "meat," when our English version was made, meant food in general; or if any particular kind was designated, it referred to meal, flour or grain. The only real and inconvenient ambiguity caused by the change which has taken place in the meaning of the word is in the case of the "meat offering." [MEAT OFFERING]

The law or ceremonial of the meat offering is described in

... and Levi 6:14-23 It was to be composed of fine flour, seasoned with salt and mixed with oil and frankincense, but without leaven; and it was generally accompanied by a drink offering of wine. A portion of it, including all the frankincense, was to be burnt on the altar as "a memorial;" the rest belonged to the priest; but the meat offerings offered by the priests themselves were to be wholly burnt. Its meaning appears to be exactly expressed in the words of David.

It will be seen that this meaning involves neither of the main ideas of sacrifices —the atonement for sin and self-dedication to God. It takes them for granted, and is based on them. Rather it expresses gratitude and love to God as the giver of all. Accordingly the meat offering, properly so called, seems always to have been a subsidiary offering, needing to be introduced by the sin offering which represented the one idea, and to have formed an appendage to the burnt offering, which represented the other. The unbloody offerings offered alone did not properly belong to the regular meat offerings; they were usually substitutes for other offerings. Comp.

[MEAT]

(building of Jehovah). In this form appears, In one passage only —2Sam 23:27 —the name of one of David’s guard, who is elsewhere called SIBBECHAI,

or SIBBECAI,

in the Authorized Version.

that is, the native or inhabitant of a place called Mecherah.

In the parallel list of

... the name appears, with other variations, as "the Maachathite." ver.

(love). [ELDAD AND MEDAD]

(contention), a son of Abraham and Keturah.

(water of rest), a town on the eastern side of Jordan, first alluded to in

Here it seems to denote the limit of the territory of Heshbon. It next occurs in the enumeration of the country divided among the transjordanic tribes,

as giving its name to a district of level downs called "the Mishor of Medeba" or "the Mishor on Medeba." At the time of the conquest Medeba belonged to the Amorites, apparently one of the towns taken from Moab by them. In the time of Ahaz Medeba was a sanctuary of Moab.

It has retained its name down, our own times, and lies four miles southeast of Heshbon, on it rounded but rocky hill.

(middle land). Media lay northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iran. Its greatest length was from north to south, and in this direction it extended from the 32d to the 40th parallel, a distance of 550 miles. In width it reached front about long. 45 degrees to 53 degrees; but its average breadth was not more than from 250 to 300 miles. The division of Media commonly recognized by the Greeks and Romans was that into Media Magna and Media Atropatene.

1. Media Atropatene corresponded nearly to the modern Azerbijan, being the tract situated between the Caspian and the mountains which run north from Zagros.

2. Media Magna lay south and east of Atropatene. It contained great part of Kurdistan and Luristan, with all Ardelan and Arak Ajemi. It is indicative of the division that there were two Ecbatanas, respectively the capitals of the two districts. The Medes were a nation of very high antiquity; we find a notice of them in the primitive Babylonian history of Berosus, who says that the Medes conquered Babylon at a very remote period (cir. B.C. 2458), and that eight Median monarchs reigned there consecutively, over a space of 224 years. The deepest obscurity hangs, however, over the whole history of the Medes from the time of their bearing sway in Babylonia, B.C. 2458-2234, to their first appearance in the cuneiform inscriptions among the enemies of Assyria, about B.C. 880. Near the middle of the seventh century B.C. the Median kingdom was consolidated, and became formidable to its neighbors; but previous to this time it was not under the dominion of a single powerful monarch, but was ruled by a vast number of petty chieftains. Cyaxares, the third Median monarch, took Nineveh and conquered Assyria B.C. 625. The limits of the Median empire cannot be definitely fixed. From north to south it was certainly confined between the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates on the one side, the Black and Caspian Seas on the other. From east to west it had, however, a wide expansion, since it reached from the Halys at least as far as the Caspian Gates, and possible farther. It was separated from Babylonia either by the Tigris or more probably by a line running about halfway between that river and the Euphrates. Its greatest length may be reckoned at 1500 miles from northwest to southeast, and its average breadth at 400 or 450 miles. Its area would thus be about 600,000 square miles, or somewhat greater than that of modern Persia. Of all the ancient Oriental monarchies the Median was the shortest in duration. It was overthrown by the Persians under Cyrus, B.C. 558, who captured its king, Astyages. The treatment of the Medes by the victorious Persians was not that of an ordinary conquered nation. Medes were appointed to stations of high honor and importance under Cyrus and his successors. The two nations seem blended into one, and we often find reference to this kingdom as that of the "Medes and Persians."

The references to the Medes in the canonical Scriptures are not very numerous, but they are striking. We first hear of certain "cities of the Medes," in which the captive Israelites were placed by "the king of Assyria" on the destruction of Samaria, B.C. 721

Soon afterward Isaiah prophesies the part which the Medes shall take in the destruction of Babylon,

which is again still more distinctly declared by Jeremiah,

who sufficiently indicates the independence of Media in his day. ch.

Daniel relates the fact of the Medo-Persia conquest,

giving an account of the reign of Darius the Mede, who appears to have been made viceroy by Cyrus.

In Ezra we have a mention of Achmetha (Ecbatana), "the palace in the province of the Medes," where the decree of Cyrus was found,

—a notice which accords with the known facts that the Median capital was the seat of government under Cyrus, but a royal residence only, and not the seat of government, under Darius Hystaspis. Finally, in Esther the high rank of Media under the Persian kings, yet at the same time its subordinate position, is marked by the frequent composition of the two names in phrases of honor, the precedence being in every ease assigned to the Persians.

Darius, "the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes,"

or "the Mede," ch.

is thus denoted in

Egypt was the earliest home of medical and other skill for the region of the Mediterranean basin, and every Egyptian mummy of the more expensive and elaborate sort involved a process of anatomy. Still we have no trace of any philosophical or rational system of Egyptian origin; still medicine in Egypt was a mere art or profession. Compared with the wild countries around them, however, the Egyptians must have seemed incalculably advanced. Representations of early Egyptian surgery apparently occur on some of the monuments of Beni-Hassan. Those who have assisted at the opening of a mummy have noticed that the teeth exhibited a dentistry not inferior in execution to the work of the best modern experts. This confirms the statement of Herodotus that every part of the body was studied by a distinct practitioner. The reputation of Egypt’s practitioners in historical times was such that both Cyrus and Darius sent to that country for physicians or surgeons. Of midwifery we have a distinct notice,

and of women as its Practitioners, which fact may also be verified from the scriptures. The scrupulous attention paid to the dead was favorable to the health of the living. The practice of physic was not among the Jews a privilege of the priesthood. Any one might practice it, and this publicity must have kept it pure. Rank and honor are said to be the portion of the physician, and his office to be from the Lord. Ecclus. 38:1,3,12. To bring down the subject to the period of the New Testament, St. Luke, "the beloved physician," who practiced at Antioch whilst the body was his care, could hardly have failed to be convenient with all the leading opinions current down to his own time. Among special diseases named in the Old Testament is ophthalmia,

which is perhaps more common in Syria and Egypt than anywhere else in the world; especially in the fig season, the juice of the newly-ripe fruit having the power of giving it. It may occasion partial or total blindness.

The "burning boil,"

is merely marked by the notion of an effect resembling that of fire, like our "carbuncle." The diseases rendered "scab" and "scurvy" in

may be almost any skin disease. Some of these may be said to approach the type of leprosy. The "botch (shechin) of Egypt,"

is so vague a term as to yield a most uncertain sense. In

is mentioned a disease attacking the "knees and legs," consisting in a "sore botch which cannot be healed," but extended, in the sequel of the verse, from the "sole of the foot to the top of the head." The Elephantiasis gracorum is what now passes under the name of "leprosy;" the lepers, e.g., of the: huts near the Zion gate of modern Jerusalem are elephantissiacs. [LEPROSY] The disease of King Antiochus, 2 Macc. 9:5-10, etc., was that of a boil breeding worms. The case of the widow’s son restored by Elisha,

was probably one of sunstroke. The palsy meets us in the New Testament only, and in features too familiar to need special remark. palsy, gangrene and cancer were common in all the countries familiar to the scriptural writers, and neither differs from the modern disease of the same name. Mention is also made of the bites and stings of poisonous reptiles.

Among surgical instruments or pieces of apparatus the following only are alluded to in Scripture: A cutting instrument, supposed a "sharp stone,"

the "knife" of

The "awl" of

was probably a surgical instrument. The "roller to bind" of

was for a broken limb, and is still used. A scraper, for which the "potsherd" of Job was a substitute.

is a prescription in form. An occasional trace occurs of some chemical knowledge, e.g. the calcination of the gold by Moses,

the effect of "vinegar upon natron,"

; comp. Jere 2:22 The mention of "the apothecary,"

and of the merchant in "powders,"

shows that a distinct and important branch of trade was set up in these wares, in which, as at a modern druggist’s, articles of luxury, etc., are combined with the remedies of sickness. Among the most favorite of external remedies has always been the bath. There were special occasions on which the bath was ceremonially enjoined. The Pharisees and Essenes aimed at scrupulous strictness in all such rules.

River-bathing was common but houses soon began to include a bathroom.

(place of crowns) was in a very marked position on the southern rim of the plain of Esdraelon, on the frontier line of the territories of the tribes of Issachar and Manasseh, 6 miles from Mount Carmel and 11 from Nazareth. It commanded one of those passes from the north into the hill country which were of such critical importance on various occasions in the history of Judea. Judith 4:7. The first mention occurs in

where Megiddo appears as the city of one of the kings whom Joshua defeated on the west of the Jordan. The song of Deborah brings the place vividly before us, as the scene of the great conflict between Sisera and Barak. When Pharaoh-necho came from Egypt against the king of Assyria, Josiah joined the latter, and was slain at Megiddo.

Megiddo is the modern el-Lejjun, which is undoubtedly the Legio of Eusebius and Jerome. There is a copious stream flowing down the gorge, and turning some mills before joining the Kishon. Here are probably the "waters of Megiddo" of

(favored of God), another and less correct form of Mehetabel. The ancestor of Shemaiah the prophet who was hired against Nehemiah by Tobiah and Sanballat.

(favored of God), the daughter of Matred, and wife of Hadad king of Edom.

(famous, noble), a family of Nethinim, the descendants of Mehida. returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel.

(price), the son of Chelub the brother of Shuah.

a word occurring once only—

It no doubt denotes that Adriel belonged to a place celled Meholah.

(smitten by God), the son of Irad, and fourth in descent from Cain.

(faithful), one of the seven eunuchs of Ahasuerus.

(habitations).

Elsewhere called Mehunims and Meunim.

a people against whom King Uzziah waged a successful war.

The name is the plural of Maon [MAON]. Another notice of the Mehunims in the reign of Hezekiah (cir. B.C. 726-697) is found in

Here they are spoken of as it pastoral people, either themselves Hamites or in alliance with Hamites quiet and peaceable, dwelling in tents. Here, however, the Authorized Version treats the word as an ordinary noun and renders it "habitations." The latest appearance of the name Mehunims in the Bible is in the lists of those who returned front the captivity with Zerubbabel.

Authorized Version "Mehunim;"

Authorized Version "Meunim."

(hunters of yellowness) a town in the territory of Dan.

only in the neighborhood of Joppa or Japho.

(foundation), one of the towns which were reinhabited after the captivity by the men of Judah.

(Jehovah delivers), a Gibeonite who assisted in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.

(my king, my counsel).

1. The son of Janna, and ancestor of Joseph in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

(Jehovah’s king), a priest, the father of Pashur.

(king of righteou