Mash - (mash): Named in Genesis 10:23 as one of the sons of Aramaic In the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 1:17 the name is given as "Meshech" (meshekh), and the Septuagint (Mosoch) supports this form in both passages. "Meshech," however, is a Japhetic name (Genesis 10:2), and "Mash" would seem to be the original reading. It is probably to be identified with the Mons Masius of classical writers (Strabo, etc.), on the northern boundary of Mesopotamia.ISBE Mash.2

Mashal

Mashal - ma'-shal (mashal, 1 Chronicles 6:74).ISBE Mashal.2

See MISHAL.ISBE Mashal.3

Masias

Masias - ma-si'-as (Codex Alexandrinus, Masias; Codex Vaticanus, Meisaias): The head of one of the families of Solomon's servants (1 Esdras 5:34); it has no equivalent in the parallel Ezra 2:55 ff; the Revised Version margin "Missaias."ISBE Masias.2

Masman

Masman - mas'-man.ISBE Masman.2

See MAASMAS.ISBE Masman.3

Mason

Mason - ma'-s'n: The translation of 4 Hebrew words: (1) charash 'ebhen, "graver of stone" (2 Samuel 5:11); (2) (3) gadhar (2 Kings 12:12), charash qur (1 Chronicles 14:1), "maker of a wall (or hedge)"; (4) chatsabh, "a hewer or digger (of stones)" (1 Chronicles 22:2; Ezra 3:7). Lebanon still supplies the greater number of skilled masons to Palestine and Syria (see 2 Samuel 5:11), those of Shweir being in special repute.ISBE Mason.2

See CRAFTS,II , 8; also ARCHITECTURE;BUILDING ; GEBAL; HOUSE.ISBE Mason.3

Maspha

Maspha - mas'-fa (1 Maccabees 3:46, the Revised Version (British and American) "Mizpeh").ISBE Maspha.2

See MIZPEH , 4.ISBE Maspha.3

Masrekah

Masrekah - mas'-re-ka, mas-re'-ka (masreqah; Masekka): A place mentioned in the list of ancient rulers of Edom (Genesis 36:31), "before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." Masrekah was the royal city of Samlah, son of Hadad (Genesis 36:36; 1 Chronicles 1:47). The name may mean "place of choice vines," but there is nothing to show in what locality it must be sought.ISBE Masrekah.2

Massa

Massa - mas'-a (massa', "burden"): Descendant of Abraham through Ishmael (Genesis 25:14; 1 Chronicles 1:30). His people may be the Masani of Ptolemy, having Eastern Arabia near Babylon as their habitat. The marginal reading of the heading to Proverbs 31:1-31 mentions Lemuel as king of Massa. If that reading is accepted, it would seem that a tribe and probably a place were named from Ishmael's descendant. The reading is doubtful, however, for where the phrase recurs in Proverbs 30:1-33 (Revised Version (British and American)) it appears to be a gloss.ISBE Massa.2

Massacre of the Innocents

Massacre of the Innocents - mas'-a-ker.ISBE Massacre of the Innocents.2

See INNOCENTS, MASSACRE OF THE.ISBE Massacre of the Innocents.3

Massah and Meribah

Massah and Meribah - mas'-a, mer'-i-ba (maccah umeribhah, "proving and strife"; peirasmos kai loidoresis): These names occur together as applied to one place only in Exodus 17:7; they stand, however, in parallelism in Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalms 95:8. In all other cases they are kept distinct, as belonging to two separate narratives. The conjunction here may be due to conflation of the sources. Of course, it is not impossible that, for the reason stated, the double name was given, although elsewhere (Deuteronomy 6:16; 9:22) the place is referred to as Massah.ISBE Massah and Meribah.2

1. First Instance: This scene is laid in Exodus 17:1 at REPHIDIM (which see) and in Exodus 17:6 at HOREB (which see). It is near the beginning of the desert wanderings. In dearth of water the people murmur and complain. Moses, appealing to God, is told what to do. He takes with him the elders of Israel, and smites with his rod the rock on which the Lord stands in Horeb, whereupon water gushes forth, and the people drink. Here Moses alone is God's agent. There is no hint of blame attaching to him. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because of the of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord (Exodus 17:7). In some way not indicated, here and at Meribah, God put the Levites to proof (Deuteronomy 33:8).ISBE Massah and Meribah.3

2. Second Instance: The second narrative describes what took place at Kadesh (i.e. "Kadesh-barnea") when the desert wanderings were nearly over (Numbers 20:1-13). The flow of water from the famous spring for some reason had ceased. In their distress the people became impatient and petulant. At the door of the tent of meeting Moses and Aaron received the Lord's instructions. In his speech of remonstrance to the people Moses seemed to glorify himself and his brother; and instead of speaking to the rock as God had commanded, he struck it twice with his rod. The flow of water was at once restored; but Moses and Aaron were heavily punished because they did not sanctify God in the eyes of the children of Israel. The "Waters of Meribah" was the name given to this scene of strife. The incident is referred to in Numbers 20:24, and Deuteronomy 32:51 (merobhath qadhesh, the King James Version "Meribah-Kadesh," the Revised Version (British and American) "Meribah of Kadesh"). In Psalms 81:7 God appears as having tested Israel here. The sin of Israel and the ensuing calamity to Moses are alluded to in Psalms 106:32.ISBE Massah and Meribah.4

The place appears in Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28, as on the southern border of the land of Israel, in the former as "Meriboth-kadesh," in the latter as "Meribath-kadesh" (Meriboth = plural Meribath = "construct singular") where the position indicated is that of `Ain Qadis, "Kadesh-barnea."ISBE Massah and Meribah.5

In Deuteronomy 33:2, by a slight emendation of the text we might read meribhoth qadhesh for meribhebhoth qodhesh. This gives a preferable sense.ISBE Massah and Meribah.6

W. EwingISBE Massah and Meribah.7

Massias

Massias - ma-si'-as (Codex Alexandrinus, Massias; Codex Vaticanus, Asseias): One of those who put away their "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:22) = "Maaseiah" of Ezra 10:22.ISBE Massias.2

Mast

Mast - See SHIPS AND BOATS,II , 2, (3); 3.ISBE Mast.2

Master

Master - mas'-ter ('adhon, ba`al, rabbi; despotes, didaskalos, kurios, rhabbi): "Master," when the translation of 'adhon, "ruler," "lord" (Sir), often translated "lord," denotes generally the owner or master of a servant or slave (Genesis 24:9, etc.; Genesis 39:2, etc.; Exodus 21:4, etc.; Deuteronomy 23:15 bis; 2 Samuel 9:9-10 twice; Proverbs 30:10); elsewhere it is rather "lord" or "ruler" (often king, e.g. 1 Samuel 24:6, 8; 26:16); in the plural 'adhonim, it is, as the rule, used only of God (but see Genesis 19:2, 18; Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 136:3, "Lord of lords"; Isaiah 26:13, "other lords"; Isaiah 19:4 (Hebrew "lords"); Isaiah 24:2). Ba`al, "lord," "owner," is translated "master": "the master of the house" (Exodus 22:8; Judges 19:22-23); "the ass his master's crib" (Isaiah 1:3). We have it also translated "masters of assemblies" (Ecclesiastes 12:11). See ASSEMBLIES,MASTERS OF . Compare Ecclesiasticus 32:1, "master (of a feast)," the Revised Version (British and American) "ruler"; John 2:9, "ruler of the feast"; [rabh] (Daniel 1:3; Jonah 1:6, "shipmaster"); rabh, Aramaic, "great," "mighty," "elder" (Daniel 4:9; 5:11," master of the magicians"); also [sar], "head" or "chief" (Exodus 1:11, "taskmasters"; 1 Chronicles 15:27, "master of the song," the Revised Version margin "the carrying of the ark, Hebrew the lifting up"); `ur, "to call," "to awake," is also rendered "master" in the King James Version, "The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar," margin "him that waketh and him that answereth," the Revised Version (British and American) as the King James Version margin (Malachi 2:12).ISBE Master.2

The verb "to master" does not occur in the Old Testament, but we have in Apocrypha (Wisdom of Solomon 12:18) "mastering thy power" (despozon ischuos), the Revised Version (British and American) "being sovereign over (thy) strengh."ISBE Master.3

In the New Testament despotes answers to 'adhon as "master" (1 Timothy 6:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:21), rendered also "Lord" (Luke 2:29,etc.); kurios, is "Master," "Lord," "Sir," used very frequently of God or of Christ (Matthew 1:20, 22, 24), translated "Master" (Matthew 6:24; 15:27; the King James Version Mark 13:35; Romans 14:4, etc.); kathegetes, a "leader," is translated "Master" (Matthew 23:8 (the King James Version),10); didaskalos, a title very often applied to our Lord in the Gospels, is "Teacher," translated "Master" in the King James Version Matthew 8:19; 9:11; Mark 4:38; Luke 3:12, etc.; the Revised Version (British and American) "Teacher"; also John 3:2, 10; James 3:1, "be not many masters," the Revised Version (British and American) "teachers"; rhabbi, rhabbei ("Rabbi") (a transliterated Hebrew term signifying "my Teacher") is also in several instances applied to Jesus, the King James Version "Master" (Matthew 26:25, 49; Mark 9:5; 11:21; John 9:2 (the Revised Version (British and American) leaves untranslated) Mark 10:51, "Rabboni," the King James Version "Lord"; John 20:16 ("Rabbouni"), the Revised Version (British and American) "Rabboni," which see).ISBE Master.4

For "master" the Revised Version (British and American) has "lord" (1 Samuel 26:16; 4, 10; Amos 4:1; Mark 13:35; Romans 14:4); "master" for "lord" (Genesis 39:16; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 6:10); for "good man of the house" (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39), "master of the house"; in Ephesians 6:5, the Revised Version margin gives "Gr lords" (in Ephesians 6:9, "their Master and yours" is also Greek kurios); instead of "the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:4), the Revised Version (British and American) reads "our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ," margin "the only Master, and our Lord Jesus Christ"; for "overcame them" (Acts 19:16), "mastered both of them."ISBE Master.5

W. L. WalkerISBE Master.6

Mastery

Mastery - mas'-ter-i, gebhurah, shelet, Aramaic; agonizomai, athleo): "Mastery" occurs twice in the Old Testament and twice in the King James Version of the New Testament: in Exodus 32:18 (gebhurah, "might"), "the voice of them that shout for mastery"; in Daniel 6:24 ([~shelet, "to have power"), "The lions had the mastery of them"; in 1 Corinthians 9:25, agonizomai, "to contend for a prize," to be a combatant in the public games, is translated "striveth for the mastery," the Revised Version (British and American) "striventh in the games"; and in 2 Timothy 2:5, athelo, with the same meaning, is translated "strive for masteries," the Revised Version (British and American) "contend in the games." From the Greek we have the words "athlete," etc..ISBE Mastery.2

W. L. WalkerISBE Mastery.3

Mastic, Mastick

Mastic, Mastick - mas'-tik (schinos): A tree mentioned only in Susanna verse 54 (compare Genesis 37:25 margin). It is the Pistacia lentiscus (Arabic, Mistaki), a shrub which attains a height of 10 to 12 ft., growing in thickets on the slopes round the Mediterranean. The gum which exudes through incisions made in the bark is greatly prized as a masticatory. The smell and flavor are suggestive of the terebinth. It is chewed in order to preserve the teeth and gums. But often men chew it without any special purpose, just because they like it. The mastick produced in Chios is most highly esteemed. It is employed in making perfumes and sweetmeats; in preparing bread a little is sometimes added to the dough just before it is put into the oven.ISBE Mastic, Mastick.2

W. EwingISBE Mastic, Mastick.3

Mathanias

Mathanias - math-a-ni'-as: the King James Version in 1 Esdras 9:31.ISBE Mathanias.2

See MATTHANIAS.ISBE Mathanias.3

Mathelas

Mathelas - ma-the'-las (Codex Alexandrinus, Mathelas; Codex Vaticanus, Maeelas; the King James Version Matthelas): One of the priests who had married "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:19) = "Maaseiah" of Ezra 10:18.ISBE Mathelas.2

Mathusala

Mathusala - ma-thu'-sa-la (Mathousala): Greek form of "Methuselah," the Revised Version (British and American) (Luke 3:37 the King James Version).ISBE Mathusala.2

Matred

Matred - ma'-tred (maTredh, "expulsion"): The mother of Mehetabel, wife of Hadar, one of the kings of Edom (Genesis 36:39; 1 Chronicles 1:50, "Hadad"). The Septuagint and Peshitta designate Matred as male, i.e. as son of Mezahab instead of daughter.ISBE Matred.2

Matri

Matri - ma'-tri (maTri, "rainy"): A family of the tribe of Benjamin to which King Saul belonged (1 Samuel 10:21 the King James Version).ISBE Matri.2

Matrites

Matrites - ma'-trits (ha-maTri): The Revised Version (British and American) translation of maTri with the definite article, "the Matrites" (1 Samuel 10:21).ISBE Matrites.2

Mattan

Mattan - mat'-an (mattan, "a gift"):ISBE Mattan.2

(1) A priest in the house of Baal, slain by Jehoiada before Baal's altar (2 Kings 11:18; 2 Chronicles 23:17).ISBE Mattan.3

(2) The father of Shephatiah a contemporary and persecutor of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:1), one of those who put Jeremiah into Malechiah's dungeon (Jeremiah 38:6).ISBE Mattan.4

Mattanah

Mattanah - mat'-a-na (mattanah; Codex Vaticanus, Manthanaein; Codex Alexandrinus, Manthanein): A station of the Israelites which seems to have lain between Beer and Nahaliel (Numbers 21:18 f). The name means "gift," and might not inappropriately be applied to a well in the wilderness (Budde translates "Out of the desert a gift"; see The Expository Times,VI , 482). Some would therefore identify it with Beer. This is improbable. There is now no clue to the place, but it must have lain Southwest of the Dead Sea.ISBE Mattanah.2

Mattaniah

Mattaniah - mat-a-ni'-a (mattanyaha, "gift of Yah"):ISBE Mattaniah.2

(1) King Zedekiah's original name, but changed by Nebuchadnezzar when he made him king over Judah instead of his nephew Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:17).ISBE Mattaniah.3

(2) A descendant of Asaph (1 Chronicles 9:15), leader of the temple choir (Nehemiah 11:17; 12:8). Mentioned among the "porters," keepers of "the storehouses of the gates" (Nehemiah 12:25), and again in Nehemiah 12:35 as among the "priests' sons with trumpets."ISBE Mattaniah.4

(3) May be the same as (2), though in 2 Chronicles 20:14 he is mentioned as an ancestor of that Jahaziel whose inspired words in the midst of the congregation encouraged Jehoshaphat to withstand the invasion of Moab, Ammon and Seir (2 Chronicles 20:14 ff).ISBE Mattaniah.5

(4-7) Four others who had foreign wives, (a) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:27 (Ezra 10:26); (b) the Othonias of 1 Esdras 9:28 (Ezra 10:27); (c) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:31 (Ezra 10:30); (d) the fourth of these in 1 Esdras 9:34 the King James Version has had his name blended into that of Mattenai, and the two appear as the composite name Mamnitanemus (Ezra 10:37). He is a son of Bani.ISBE Mattaniah.6

(8) A Levite, father of Zaccur, ancestor of Hanan the under-treasurer of the Levitical offerings under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:13).ISBE Mattaniah.7

(9) One of the sons of Heman the singer, whose office it was to blow the horns in the temple-service as David had appointed it (1 Chronicles 25:4-5). He was head of the 9th division of the 12 Levites (1 Chronicles 25:16), who were proficient in the Songs of Yahweh (1 Chronicles 25:7).ISBE Mattaniah.8

(10) One of the sons of Asaph who helped Hezekiah in the fulfilling of his vow to cleanse the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 29:13).ISBE Mattaniah.9

Henry WallaceISBE Mattaniah.10

Mattatha

Mattatha - mat'-a-tha (Mattatha): Son of Nathan the son of David in the genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:31).ISBE Mattatha.2

Mattathah

Mattathah - mat'-a-tha: the Revised Version (British and American).ISBE Mattathah.2

See MATTATTAH.ISBE Mattathah.3

Mattathias

Mattathias - mat-a-thi'-as (Mattathias). The persons of this name in the Apocrypha are:ISBE Mattathias.2

(1) Mattathias the father of the Maccabees.ISBE Mattathias.3

See ASMONEANS; MACCABEES.ISBE Mattathias.4

(2) One of the 7 who stood on Ezra's right hand as he read the law (1 Esdras 9:43) = "Mattithiah" of Nehemiah 8:4.ISBE Mattathias.5

(3) The son--probably the youngest (compare 1 Maccabees 16:2)--of Simon the Maccabean, treacherously murdered along with his father and his brother Judas by his brother-in-law Ptolemy, son of Abubus in the stronghold of Dok near Jericho in the 177th Seleucid--136-135BC (1 Maccabees 16:14).ISBE Mattathias.6

(4) Son of Absalom, one of the two "captains of the forces" who in the campaign against Demetrius in the plain of Hazor gallantly supported Judas, enabling the latter to turn an impending defeat into a great victory (1 Maccabees 11:70).ISBE Mattathias.7

(5) One of the three envoys sent by Nicanor to treat with Judas in 161 BC (2 Maccabees 14:19). No names of envoys are given in the account of 1 Maccabees 7:27 ff.ISBE Mattathias.8

(6) One of the sons of Asom who put away his "strange wife" (1 Esdras 9:33) = the King James Version "Matthias" = "Mattattah" of Ezra 10:33.ISBE Mattathias.9

In addition to these two of this name are mentioned in the New Testament:ISBE Mattathias.10

(7) Luke 3:25, "son of Amos."ISBE Mattathias.11

(8) Luke 3:26, "son of Semein."ISBE Mattathias.12

S. AngusISBE Mattathias.13

Mattattah

Mattattah - mat'-a-ta (mattattah): the Revised Version (British and American) for "Mattathah" in the King James Version (Ezra 10:33). The same as "Mattathias" of 1 Esdras 9:33, the King James Version "Matthias" (which see).ISBE Mattattah.2

Mattenai

Mattenai - mat-e-na'-i, mat'-e-ni (mattenay, "liberal"):ISBE Mattenai.2

(1) (2) Two who married foreign wives, one a son of Hashum (Ezra 10:33; in 1 Esdras 9:33 "Altanneus"); the other a son of Bani (Ezra 10:37).ISBE Mattenai.3

(3) A priest in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua (Nehemiah 12:19), representing the house of Joiarib.ISBE Mattenai.4

Matter

Matter - mat'-er: This word being a very general term may express various ideas. the Revised Version (British and American) therefore frequently changes the reading of the King James Version in order to state more definitely the meaning of the context (compare Exodus 24:14; 1 Samuel 16:18; 1 Kings 8:59; 2 Samuel 11:19; Esther 3:4; Psalms 35:20; 64:5; Proverbs 16:20; 18:13). dabhar, and the Greek logos, both meaning "word," are very frequently translated by "matter." hule, "wood," is rendered "matter" in James 3:5 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "how much wood is kindled"; compare Sirach 28:10). Job 32:18 translates literally, "words"; also Daniel 4:17, "sentence." diaphero, "to carry in different places," "to differ," is rendered "to make matter" (Galatians 2:6). The meaning is "it makes a difference," "it matters," "it is of importance."ISBE Matter.2

A. L. BreslichISBE Matter.3

Matthan

Matthan - mat'-than (Textus Receptus Matthan, Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek Maththan): An ancestor of Jesus, grandfather of Joseph the husband of Mary (Matthew 1:15).ISBE Matthan.2

See MATTHAT.ISBE Matthan.3

Matthanias

Matthanias - mat-tha-ni'-as (Codex Alexandrinus, Matthanias, Codex Vaticanus, Matan):ISBE Matthanias.2

(1) One of those who put away their "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:27) = "Mattaniah" of Ezra 10:26.ISBE Matthanias.3

(2) the King James Version "Mathanias" (1 Esdras 9:31) = "Mattaniah" of Ezra 10:30. Codex Vaticanus, followed by Swete, reads Beskaspasmus.ISBE Matthanias.4

Matthat

Matthat - mat'-that (Matthat, Maththat): The name of two ancestors of Jesus in Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:24, 29), one being the grandfather of Joseph, the husband of Mary.ISBE Matthat.2

Matthew

Matthew - math'-u: Matthew the apostle and evangelist is mentioned in the 4 catalogues of the apostles in Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13, though his place is not constant in this list, varying between the Acts 7:11-60th and the Acts 8:11-40th places and thus exchanging positions with Thomas. The name occurring in the two forms Matthaios, and Maththaios, is a Greek reproduction of the Aramaic Mattathyah, i.e. "gift of Yahweh," and equivalent to Theodore. Before his call to the apostolic office, according to Matthew 9:9, his name was Levi. The identity of Matthew and Levi is practically beyond all doubt, as is evident from the predicate in Matthew 10:3; and from a comparison of Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27 with Matthew 9:9. Mark calls him "the son of Alpheus" (Mark 2:14), although this cannot have been the Alpheus who was the father of James the Less; for if this James and Matthew had been brothers this fact would doubtless have been mentioned, as is the case with Peter and Andrew, and also with the sons of Zebedee. Whether Jesus, as He did in the case of several others of His disciples, gave him the additional name of Matthew is a matter of which we are not informed. As he was a customs officer (ho telones, Matthew 10:3) in Capernaum, in the territory of Herod Antipas, Matthew was not exactly a Roman official, but was in the service of the tetrarch of Galilee, or possibly a subordinate officer, belonging to the class called portitores, serving under the publicani, or superior officials who farmed the Roman taxes. As such he must have had some education, and doubtless in addition to the native Aramaic must have been acquainted with the Greek His ready acceptance of the call of Jesus shows that he must have belonged to that group of publicans and sinners, who in Galilee and elsewhere looked longingly to Jesus (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34; 15:1). Just at what period of Christ's ministry he was called does not appear with certainty, but evidently not at once, as on the day when he was called (Matthew 9:11, 14, 18; Mark 5:37), Peter, James and John are already trustworthy disciples of Jesus. Unlike the first six among the apostles, Matthew did not enter the group from among the pupils of John the Baptist. These are practically all the data furnished by the New Testament on the person of Matthew, and what is found in post-Biblical and extra-Biblical sources is chiefly the product of imagination and in part based on mistaking the name of Matthew for Matthias (compare Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, chapter liv, note 3). Tradition states that he preached for 15 years in Palestine and that after this he went to foreign nations, the Ethiopians, Macedonians, Syrians, Persians, Parthians and Medea being mentioned. He is said to have died a natural death either in Ethiopia or in Macedonia. The stories of the Roman Catholic church that he died the death of a martyr on September 21 and of the Greek church that this occurred on November 10 are without any historical basis. Clement of Alexandria (Strom., iv.9) gives the explicit denial of Heracleon that Matthew suffered martyrdom.ISBE Matthew.2

G. H. SchoddeISBE Matthew.3

Matthew, the Gospel of

Matthew, the Gospel of - (euaggelion kata Maththaion (or Matthaion)):ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.2

1. Name of Gospel--Unity and IntegrityISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.3

2. Canonicity and AuthorshipISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.4

3. Relation of Greek and Aramaic GospelsISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.5

4. Contents, Character, and PurposeISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.6

5. Problems of Literary RelationISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.7

6. Date of GospelISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.8

LITERATUREISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.9

1. Name of Gospel--Unity and Integrity: The "Gospel according to Matthew," i.e. the Gospel according to the account of Matthew, stands, according to traditional, but not entirely universal, arrangement, first among the canonical Gospels. The Gospel, as will be seen below, was unanimously ascribed by the testimony of the ancient church to the apostle Matthew, though the title does not of itself necessarily imply immediate authorship. The unity and integrity of the Gospel were never in ancient times called in question. Matthew 1:1-25; Matthew 2:1-23, particularly--the story of the virgin birth and childhood of Jesus--are proved by the consentient testimony of manuscripts, VSS, and patristic references, to have been an integral part of the Gospel from the beginning (see VIRGIN BIRTH). The omission of this section from the heretical Gospel of the Ebionites, which appears to have had some relation to our Gospel, is without significance.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.10

The theory of successive redactions of Mt, starting with an Aramaic Gospel, elaborated by Eichhorn and Marsh (1801), and the related theories of successive editions of the Gospel put forth by the Tubingen school (Baur, Hilgenfeld, Kostlin, etc.), and by Ewald (Bleek supposes a primitive Greek Gospel), lack historical foundation, and are refuted by the fact that manuscripts and versions know only the ultimate redaction. Is it credible that the churches should quietly accept redaction after redaction, and not a word be said, or a vestige remain, of any of them?ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.11

2. Canonicity and Authorship: (1) Canonicity. The apostolic origin and canonical rank of the Gospel of Matthew were accepted without a doubt by the early church. Origen, in the beginning of the 3rd century could speak of it as the first of "the four Gospels, which alone are received without dispute by the church of God under heaven" (in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, VI, 25). The use of the Gospel can be traced in the apostolic Fathers; most distinctly in Barnabas, who quotes Matthew 22:14 with the formula, "It is written" (5). Though not mentioned by name, it was a chief source from which Justin took his data for the life and words of Jesus (compare Westcott, Canon, 91 ff), and apostolic origin is implied in its forming part of "the Memoirs of the Apostles," "which are called Gospels," read weekly in the assemblies of the Christians (Ap. i.66, etc.). Its identity with our Matthew is confirmed by the undoubted presence of that Gospel in the Diatessaron of Tatian, Justin's disciple. The testimony of Papias is considered below. The unhesitating acceptance of the Gospel is further decisively shown by the testimonies and use made of it in the works of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and by its inclusion in the Muratorian Canon, the Itala, Peshitta, etc.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.12

See CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT; GOSPELS.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.13

(2) Authorship. The questions that cluster around the First Gospel have largely to do with the much-discussed and variously disputed statement concerning it found in Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 39), cited from the much older work of Papias, entitled Interpretation of the Words of the Lord. Papias is the first who mentions Matthew by name as the author of the Gospel. His words are: "Matthew composed the Logia (logia, "words," "oracles") in the Hebrew (Aramaic) tongue, and everyone interpreted them as he was able." Papias cannot here be referring to a book of Matthew in which only the discourses or sayings of Jesus had been preserved, but which had not any, or only meager accounts of His deeds, which imaginary document is in so many critical circles regarded as the basis of the present Gospel, for Papias himself uses the expression ta logia, as embracing the story, as he himself says, in speaking of Mark, "of the things said or done by Christ" (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 24; compare particularly T. Zahn, Introduction to New Testament, section 54, and Lightfoot, Supernatural Religion, 170 ff). Eusebius further reports that after Matthew had first labored among his Jewish compatriots, he went to other nations, and as a substitute for his oral preaching, left to the former a Gospel written in their own dialect (III, 24). The testimony of Papias to Matthew as the author of the First Gospel is confirmed by Irenaeus (iii.3, 1) and by Origen (in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, V, 10), and may be accepted as representing a uniform 2nd-century tradition. Always, however, it is coupled with the statement that the Gospel was originally written in the Hebrew dialect. Hence, arises the difficult question of the relation of the canonical Greek Gospel, with which alone, apparently, the fathers were acquainted, to this alleged original apostolic work.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.14

3. Relation of Greek and Aramaic Gospels: One thing which seems certain is that whatever this Hebrew (Aramaic) document may have been, it was not an original form from which the present Greek Gospel of Matthew was translated, either by the apostle himself, or by somebody else, as was maintained by Bengel, Thiersch, and other scholars. Indeed, the Greek Matthew throughout bears the impress of being not a translation at all, but as having been originally written in Greek, and as being less Hebraistic in the form of thought than some other New Testament writings, e.g. the Apocalypse. It is generally not difficult to discover when a Greek book of this period is a translation from the Hebrew or Aramaic. That our Matthew was written originally in Greek appears, among other things, from the way in which it makes use of the Old Testament, sometimes following the Septuagint, sometimes going back to the Hebrew. Particularly instructive passages in this regard are 12:18-21 and 13:14,15, in which the rendering of the Alexandrian translation would have served the purposes of the evangelist, but he yet follows more closely the original text, although he adopts the Septuagint wherever this seemed to suit better than the Hebrew (compare Keil's Commentary on Matthew, loc. cit.).ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.15

The external evidences to which appeal is made in favor of the use of an original Hebrew or Aramaic. Matthew in the primitive church are more than elusive. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, V, 10) mentions as a report (legetai) that Pantaenus, about the year 170 AD, found among the Jewish Christians, probably of South Arabia, a Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew, left there by Bartholomew; and Jerome, while in the Syrian Berea, had occasion to examine such a work, which he found in use among the Nazarenes, and which at first he regarded as a composition of the apostle Matthew, but afterward declared not to be such, and then identified with the Gospel according to the Hebrews (Evangelium secundum or juxta Hebraeos) also called the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, or of the Nazarenes, current among the Nazarenes and Ebionites (De Vir. Illustr., iii; Contra Pelag., iii.2; Commentary on Matthew 12:13, etc.; see GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS). For this reason the references by Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius to the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew are by many scholars regarded as referring to this Hebrew Gospel which the Jewish Christians employed, and which they thought to be the work of the evangelist (compare for fuller details See Hauck-Herzog, Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche,XII , article "Matthaeus der Apostel"). Just what the original Hebrew. Mathew was to which Papias refers (assuming it to have had a real existence) must, with our present available means, remain an unsolved riddle, as also the possible connection between the Greek and Hebrew texts. Attempts like those of Zahn, in his Kommentar on Matthew, to explain readings of the Greek text through an inaccurate understanding of the imaginary Hebrew original are arbitrary and unreliable. There remains, of course, the possibility that the apostle himself, or someone under his care (thus Godet), produced a Greek recension of an earlier Aramaic work.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.16

The prevailing theory at present is that the Hebrew Matthean document of Papias was a collection mainly of the discourses of Jesus (called by recent critics Q), which, in variant Greek translations, was used both by the author of the Greek Matthew and by the evangelist Luke, thus explaining the common features in these two gospels (W.C. Allen, however, in his Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Matthew, disputes Luke's use of this supposed common source, Intro, xlvi ff). The use of this supposed Matthean source is thought to explain how the Greek Gospel came to be named after the apostle. It has already been remarked, however, that there is no good reason for supposing that the "Logia" of Papias was confined to discourses. See further on "sources" below.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.17

4. Contents, Character and Purpose: (1) Contents and Character. As respects contents, the Gospel of Mt can be divided into 3 chief parts: (1) preliminary, including the birth and early youth of the Lord (Matthew 1:1-25; Matthew 2:1-23); (2) the activity of Jesus in Galilee (Matthew 3:1-17 through Matthew 18:1-35); (3) the activity of Jesus in Judea and Jerusalem, followed by His passion, death, and resurrection (Matthew 19:1-30 through Matthew 28:1-20). In character, the Gospel, like those of the other evangelists, is only a chrestomathy, a selection from the great mass of oral tradition concerning the doings and sayings of Christ current in apostolic and early Christian circles, chosen for the special purpose which the evangelist had in view. Accordingly, there is a great deal of material in Matthew in common with Mark and Lk, although not a little of this material, too, is individualistic in character, and of a nature to vex and perplex the harmonist, as e.g. Matthew's accounts of the temptation, of the demoniacs at Gadara, of the blind man at Jericho (Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 8:28-34; Matthew 20:20-34); yet there is much also in this Gospel that is peculiar to it. Such are the following pericopes: Matthew 1:1-25; Matthew 2:1-23; Matthew 9:27-36; Matthew 10:15, 37-40; Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 12:11-12, 15-21, 33-38; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-52; Matthew 14:28-31; Matthew 16:17-19; Matthew 17:24-27; Matthew 18:15-35; Matthew 19:10-12; Matthew 20:1-16; 21:10 f,Matthew 14:1-36-Matthew 16:1-28; Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 23:8-22; 24:42 through Matthew 25:46; Matthew 27:3-10, 62-66; 28:11 ff. The principle of arrangement of the material is not chronological, but rather that of similarity of material. The addresses and parables of Jesus are reported consecutively, although they may have been spoken at different times, and material scattered in the other evangelists--especially in Luke--is found combined in Matthew. Instances are seen in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-48 through Matthew 7:1-29), the "mission address" (Matthew 10:1-42), the seven parables of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:1-58), the discourses and parables (Matthew 18:1-35), the woes against the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-39), and the grand eschatological discourses (Matthew 24:1-51; Matthew 25:1-46) (compare with parallel in the other gospels, on the relation to which, see below).ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.18

(2) Purpose. The special purpose which the writer had in view in his Gospel is nowhere expressly stated, as is done, e.g., by the writer of the Fourth Gospel in John 20:30-31, concerning his book, but it can readily be gleaned from the general contents of the book, as also from specific passages. The traditional view that Matthew wrote primarily to prove that in Jesus of Nazareth is to be found the fulfillment and realization of the Messianic predictions of the Old Testament prophets and seers is beyond a doubt correct. The mere fact that there are about 40 proof passages in Matthew from the Old Testament, in connection even with the minor details of Christ's career, such as His return from Egypt (2:15), is ample evidence of this fact, although the proof manner and proof value of some of these passages are exegetical cruces, as indeed is the whole way in which the Old Testament is cited in the New Testament.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.19

See QUOTATIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.20

The question as to whether the Gospel was written for Jewish Christians, or for Jews not yet converted, is less important, as this book, as was the case probably with the Epistle of James, was written at that transition period when the Jewish and the Christian communions were not yet fully separated, and still worshipped together.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.21

Particular indications as to this purpose of the Gospel are met with at the beginning and throughout the whole work; e.g. it is obvious in Matthew 1:1, where the proof is furnished that Jesus was the son of Abraham, in whom all families of the earth were to be blessed (Genesis 12:3), and of David, who was to establish the kingdom of God forever (2 Samuel 7:1-29). The genealogy of Luke, on the other hand (2 Samuel 3:23 ff), with its cosmopolitan character and purpose, aiming to show that Jesus was the Redeemer of the whole world, leads back this line to Adam, the common ancestor of all mankind. Further, as the genealogy of Matthew is evidently that of Joseph the foster and legal father of Jesus, and not that of Mary, as is the case in Luke, the purpose to meet the demands of the Jewish reader is transparent. The full account in Matthew of the Sermon on the Mount, which does not, as is sometimes said, contain a "new program of the kingdom of God"--indeed does not contain the fundamental principles of the Gospel at all--but is the deeper and truly Biblical interpretation of the Law over against the superficial interpretation of the current Pharisaism, which led the advocates of the latter in all honesty to declare, "What lack I yet?" given with the design of driving the auditors to the gospel of grace and faith proclaimed by Christ (compare Galatians 3:24)--all this is only intelligible when we remember that the book was written for Jewish readers. Again the gegraptai--i.e. the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture, a matter which for the Jew was everything, but for the Gentile was of little concern--appears in Matthew on all hands. We have it e.g. in connection with the birth of Jesus from a virgin, His protection from Herod, His coming to Nazareth (Matthew 1:22 f; Matthew 2:5-6, 15, 17 f,Matthew 23:1-39), the activity of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:3; compare Matthew 11:10), the selection of Galilee as the scene of Jesus' operations (Matthew 4:14 ff), the work of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (Matthew 5:17), His quiet, undemonstrative methods (Matthew 12:17 ff), His teaching by parables (Matthew 13:35), His entrance into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:4 f,Matthew 16:1-28), His being arrested (Matthew 26:54), the betrayal of Judas (Matthew 27:9), the distribution of His garments (Matthew 27:35). Throughout, as Professor Kubel says, the Gospel of Mt shows a "diametrical contrast between Christ and Pharisaism." Over against the false Messianic ideas and ideals of contemporary teachings among the Jews, Mt selects those facts from the teachings and deeds of Christ which show the true Messiah and the correct principles of the kingdom of God. In this respect the Gospel can be regarded as both apologetic and polemical in its aim, in harmony with which also is its vivid portraiture to the growing hostility of the Jews to Christ and to His teachings which, in the latter part of Matthew, appears as intense as it does in John. Nowhere else do we find such pronounced denunciations of the Pharisees and their system from the lips of Jesus (compare Matthew 9:11 ff; Matthew 12:1 ff; Matthew 15:1 ff; Matthew 16:1 ff; and on particular points Matthew 5:20 ff; Matthew 9:13; 23:23; see also Matthew 8:12; 9:34; 12:24; 21:43). It is from this point of view, as representing the antithesis to the narrow Pharisaic views, that we are to understand the writer's emphasis on the universality of the kingdom of Jesus Christ (compare Matthew 3:1-12; Matthew 8:10-12; Matthew 21:33-44; Matthew 28:18-20)--passages in which some have thought they discerned a contradiction to the prevailing Jewish strain of the Gospel.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.22

5. Problems of Literary Relation: The special importance of the Gospel of Matthew for the synoptic problem can be fully discussed only in the article on this subject (see GOSPELS,THE SYNOPTIC ), and in connection with Mark and Luke. The synoptic problem deals primarily with the literary relations existing between the first 3 Gospels. The contents of these are in many cases so similar, even in verbal details, that they must have some sources in common, or some dependence or interdependence must exist between them; on the other hand, each of the 3 Gospels shows so many differences and dissimilarities from the other two, that in their composition some independent source or sources--oral or written--must have been employed. In general it may be said that the problem itself is of little more than literary importance, having by no means the historical significance for the development of the religion of the New Testament which the Pentateuchal problem has for that of the Old Testament. Nor has the synoptic problem any historical background that promises a solution as the Pentateuchal problem has in the history of Israel. Nothing save an analysis of the contents of these Gospels, and a comparison of the contents of the three, offers the scholar any material for the study of the problem, and as subjective taste and impressions are prime factors in dealing with materials of this sort, it is more than improbable, in the absence of any objective evidence, that the synoptic problem in general, or the question of the sources of Matthew in particular, will ever be solved to the satisfaction of the majority of scholars. The hypothesis which at present has widest acceptance is the "two-source" theory, according to which Mark, in its existing or some earlier form, and the problematical original Matthew (Q), constitute the basis of our canonical Gospel.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.23

In proof of this, it is pointed out that nearly the whole of the narrative-matter of Mark is taken up into Matthew, as also into Luke, while the large sections, chiefly discourses, common to Matthew and Luke are held, as already said, to point to a source of that character which both used. The difficulties arise when the comparison is pursued into details, and explanation is sought of the variations in phraseology, order, sometimes in conception, in the respective gospels.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.24

Despite the prestige which this theory has attained, the true solution is probably a simpler one. Matthew no doubt secured the bulk of his data from his own experience and from oral tradition, and as the former existed in fixed forms, due to catechetical instruction, in the early church, it is possible to explain the similarities of Matthew with the other two synoptics on this ground alone, without resorting to any literary dependence, either of Matthew on the other two, or of these, or either of them, on Matthew. The whole problem is purely speculative and subjective and under present conditions justifies a cui bono? as far as the vast literature which it has called into existence is concerned.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.25

6. Date of Gospel: According to early and practically universal tradition Mt wrote his Gospel before the other three, and the place assigned to it in New Testament literature favors the acceptance of this tradition. Irenaeus reports that it was written when Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome (ill.1), and Eusebius states that this was done when Matthew left Palestine and went to preach to others (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 24). Clement of Alexandria is responsible for the statement that the presbyters who succeeded each other from the beginning declared that "the gospels containing the genealogies (Matthew and Luke) were written first" (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, VI, 14). This is, of course, fatal to the current theory of dependence on Mark, and is in consequence rejected. At any rate, there is the best reason for holding that the book must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (compare 2415). The most likely date for the Greek Gospel is in the 7th Christian decade. Zahn claims that Matthew wrote his Aramaic Gospel in Palestine in 62 AD, while the Greek Matthew dates from 85 AD, but this latter date is not probable.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.26

LITERATURE.ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.27

Introduction to the Commentary on Matthew (Meyer, Alford, Allen (ICC), Broadus (Philadelphia, 1887), Morison, Plummer, Schaeffer in Lutheran Commentary (New York, 1895), etc.); works on Introduction to the New Testament (Salmon, Weiss, Zahn, etc.); articles in Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedia may be consulted. See also F.C. Burkitt, The Gospel History and Its Transmission; Wellhausen, Das Evangelium Matthaei and Einleitung in die drei ersten Evangelien; Sir J.C. Hawkins, Horae Synopticae; Westcott, Introduction to the Study of the Gospels; Lightfoot, Essays on Supernatural Religion, V, "Papias of Hierapolis" (this last specially on the sense of Logia).ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.28

See also the works cited in MARK,THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO .ISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.29

G. H. SchoddeISBE Matthew, the Gospel of.30

Matthias

Matthias - ma-thi'-as (Matthias, or Maththias; Mattithyah, "given of Yah"): Matthias was the one upon whom the lot fell when he, along with Joseph Barsabbas, was put forward to fill up the place in the apostleship left vacant by Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15-26). This election was held at Jerusalem, and the meeting was presided over by Peter. The conditions demanded of the candidates were that they should "have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us," and that the one chosen should "become a witness with us of his resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22). The mode of procedure was by lot, and with prayer was the election made (compare Acts 1:24).ISBE Matthias.2

Hilgenfeld identifies Matthias with Nathanael (compare NATHANAEL). He was traditionally the author of the "Gospel of Matthias," a heretical work referred to by Origen (Hom. on Lk, i), by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, 25, 6) and by Hieronymus (Proem in Matth.). No trace of it is left. The Gnostic Basilides (circa 133 AD) and his son Isidor claimed to ground their doctrine in the "Gospel of Basilides" on the teaching Matthias received directly from the Saviour (Hippol., vii.20) (compare Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, 167). Various parts of the apocryphal "Contendings of the Apostles" deal with the imprisonment and blinding of Matthias by the Ethiopian cannibals, and his rescue by Andrew (compare Budge, Contendings of the Apostles,II , 163, 164, 267-88; see also ANDREW). According to the Martyrdom of Matthias (Budge, II, 289-94) he was sent to Damascus, and died at Phalaeon, a city of Judea. Other sources mention Jerusalem as the place of Matthias' ministry and burial.ISBE Matthias.3

C. M. KerrISBE Matthias.4

Mattithiah

Mattithiah - mat-i-thi'-a (mattithyah, or mattithyahu, "gift of Yah"):ISBE Mattithiah.2

(1) The Mattithiah of Nehemiah 8:4 (1st spelling) was one of those who stood at Ezra's right hand while he read the law (compare 1 Esdras 9:43). He may be the individual set over "things that were baked in pans" (1 Chronicles 9:31).ISBE Mattithiah.3

(2) One of those appointed by David to minister before the ark, and to "celebrate and to thank and praise Yahweh, the God of Israel" (1 Chronicles 16:4-5).ISBE Mattithiah.4

(3) One of those who had foreign wives (Ezra 10:43). In 1 Esdras 9:35, "Mazitias."ISBE Mattithiah.5

(4) One of the Levites who ministered before the ark with harps 1 Chronicles 15:18, 21; 3, 11, 1 Chronicles 2:11-55nd spelling).ISBE Mattithiah.6

Henry WallaceISBE Mattithiah.7

Mattock

Mattock - mat'-ok: The translation of 3 Hebrew words: (1) machereshah, probably "a pick-axe" (1 Samuel 13:20-21; compare 1 Samuel 13:21 margin); (2) cherebh, "sword," "ax," "tool" (2 Chronicles 34:6 the King James Version, "with their mattocks," the King James Version margin "mauls," the Revised Version (British and American) "in their ruins," the Revised Version margin "with their axes"); (3) ma`-der, "a hoe," "rake," "chopping instrument" (Isaiah 7:25). Vines were usually grown on terraces on the hills of Palestine, and then the mattock was in constant use. The usual mattock is a pick with one end broad, the other pointed.ISBE Mattock.2

Maul

Maul - mol (mephits, literally, "a breaker," "a club," "mace," "mattock"): A smashing weapon like the oriental war-club or the clubs always carried by the shepherds of Lebanon (Proverbs 25:18; compare Jeremiah 51:20 margin).ISBE Maul.2

Mauzzim

Mauzzim - moz'-em, mots'-em (ma`uzzim, "places of strength," "fortress"): Many conjectures as to the meaning of this word and its context (Daniel 11:38; compare Daniel 11:19, 39) have been made. The Septuagint (uncertainly), Theodotion, and the Geneva Version render it as a proper name. Theodoret adopted Theodotion's reading and explained it as "Antichrist"! Grotius thought it a corruption of "Azizos, the Phoenician war-god, while Calvin saw in it the "god of wealth"! Perhaps the buzz of conjectures about the phrase is owing to the fact that in the first passage cited the word is preceded by 'Eloah, meaning God. The context of the passage seems clearly to make the words refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, and on this account some have thought that the god Mars--whose figure appears on a coin of Antiochus--is here referred to. All this is, however, little better than guesswork, and the Revised Version (British and American) translation, by setting the mind upon the general idea that the monarch referred to would trust in mere force, gives us, at any rate, the general sense, though it does not exclude the possibility of a reference to a particular deity. In Daniel 11:19 and 39, the word "Mauzzim" is simply translated "fortresses," and the idea conveyed is that the mental obsession of fortresses is equivalent to deifying them. A conjecture of Layard's (Nineveh, II, 456, note), is, at any rate, worth referring to.ISBE Mauzzim.2

Henry WallaceISBE Mauzzim.3

Maw

Maw - mo (qebhah (compare qobhah, Numbers 25:8), keres; Septuagint enustron): The first word means the maw or stomach of ruminants. It is derived from a root designating "hollowed out." It is mentioned alongside of the shoulder and the two cheeks of ox and sheep, which are the priest's share of any sacrifice brought by Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:3). Septuagint, where enustron corresponds to Attic enustron, denotes the fourth stomach or abomasum, which was considered as a delicacy, and was almost a national dish of the Athenians, just as tripe is of the Londoners. The parallel form qobhah is used for the body of a woman, which is being transfixed by a spear thrust in Numbers 25:8. The last word keres is found in a metaphorical sense: "(Nebuchadrezzar) hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies" (Jeremiah 51:34).ISBE Maw.2

H. L. E. LueringISBE Maw.3

Mazitias

Mazitias - maz-i-ti'-as (Codex Alexandrinus, Mazitias; Codex Vaticanus, Zeitias): One of those who had taken "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:35), identical with Mattithiah (Ezra 10:43).ISBE Mazitias.2

Mazzaloth

Mazzaloth - maz'-a-loth (The Planets).ISBE Mazzaloth.2

See ASTROLOGY, 9.ISBE Mazzaloth.3

Mazzaroth

Mazzaroth - maz'-a-roth: The 12 constellations of the Zodiac.ISBE Mazzaroth.2

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 12.ISBE Mazzaroth.3

Mazzebah

Mazzebah - maz-e'-ba, mats-e'-ba.ISBE Mazzebah.2

See PILLAR.ISBE Mazzebah.3

Meadow

Meadow - med'-o: (1) `aroth, "the meadows (the King James Version "paper reeds") by the Nile" (Isaiah 19:7); ma`areh-gabha`, the King James Version "meadows of Gibeah," the Revised Version (British and American) "Maareh-geba," the Revised Version margin "the meadow of Geba, or Gibeah" (Judges 20:33); from `arah, "to be naked"; compare Arabic ariya, "to be naked," `ara'a', "a bare tract of land." `Aroth and ma`areh signify tracts bare of trees. (2) 'achu, in Pharaoh's dream of the kine, the King James Version "meadow," the Revised Version (British and American) "reed grass" (Genesis 41:2, 18). 'Achu is found also in Job 8:11, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "flag," the Revised Version margin "reed-grass." According to Gesenius, achu is an Egyptian word denoting the vegetation of marshy ground. (3) 'abhel keramim, "Abel-cheramim," the Revised Version margin "The meadow of vineyards," the King James Version "the plain (the King James Version margin, "Abel") of the vineyards" (Judges 11:33); "Abel-beth-maacah" (1 Kings 15:20; 2 Kings 15:29; compare 2 Samuel 20:14-15, 18); "Abel-shittim" (Numbers 33:49; compare Numbers 25:1; Joshua 2:1; 3:1; Judges 7:22; Joel 3:18; Micah 6:5); "Abel-meholah" (Judges 7:22; 1 Kings 4:12; 19:16); "Abel-maim" (2 Chronicles 16:4); "Abel-mizraim" (Genesis 50:11); "stone," the King James Version "Abel," the Revised Version margin "Abel," that is "a meadow" (1 Samuel 6:18); compare Arabic 'abal, "green grass," and 'abalat, "unhealthy marshy ground," from wabal, "to rain."ISBE Meadow.2

Alfred Ely DayISBE Meadow.3

Meah

Meah - me'-a (me'ah, "hundred").ISBE Meah.2

See HAMMEAH.ISBE Meah.3

Meal

Meal - mel ('okhel): Denotes the portion of food eaten at any one time. It is found as a compound in Ruth 2:14, "meal-time," literally, "the time of eating."ISBE Meal.2

See FOOD.ISBE Meal.3

Meal Offering

Meal Offering - See SACRIFICE.ISBE Meal Offering.2

Meals, Meal-time

Meals, Meal-time - melz: Bread materials, bread-making and baking in the Orient are dealt with under BREAD (which see). For food-stuffs in use among the Hebrews in Bible times more specifically see FOOD. This article aims to be complementary, dealing especially with the methods of preparing and serving food and times of meals among the ancient Hebrews.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.2

The Book of Judges gives a fair picture of the early formative period of the Hebrew people and their ways of living. It is a picture of semi-savagery--of the life and customs of free desert tribes. In 1 Samuel we note a distinct step forward, but the domestic and cultural life is still low and crude. When they are settled in Palestine and come in contact with the most cultured people of the day, the case is different. Most that raised these Semitic invaders above the dull, crude existence of fellahin, in point of civilization, was due to the people for whom the land was named (Macalister, Hist of Civilization in Pal). From that time on various foreign influences played their several parts in modification of Hebrew life and customs. A sharp contrast illustrative of the primitive beginnings and the growth of luxury in Israel in the preparation and use of foods may be seen by a comparison of 2 Samuel 17:28 f with 1 Kings 4:22 f.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.3

I. Methods of Preparing Food. 1. Cereals: The most primitive way of using the cereals was to pluck the fresh ears (Leviticus 23:14; 2 Kings 4:42), remove the husk by rubbing (compare Deuteronomy 23:25 and Matthew 12:1), and eat the grain raw. A practice common to all periods, observed by fellahin today, was to parch or roast the ears and eat them not ground. Later it became customary to grind the grain into flour, at first by the rudimentary method of pestle and mortar (Numbers 11:8; compare Proverbs 27:22), later by the hand-mill (Exodus 11:5; Job 31:10; compare Matthew 24:41), still later in mills worked by the ass or other animal (Matthew 18:6, literally, "a millstone turned by an ass"). The flour was then made into bread, with or without leaven.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.4

See LEAVEN.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.5

Another simple way of preparing the grain was to soak it in water, or boil it slightly, and then, after drying and crushing it, to serve it as the dish called "groats" is served among western peoples.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.6

The kneading of the dough preparatory to baking was done doubtless, as it is now in the East, by pressing it between the hands or by passing it from hand to hand; except that in Egypt, as the monuments show, it was put in "baskets" and trodden with the feet, as grapes in the wine press. (This is done in Paris bakeries to this day.)ISBE Meals, Meal-time.7

See BREAD; FOOD.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.8

2. Vegetables: Lentils, several kinds of beans, and a profusion of vegetables, wild and cultivated, were prepared and eaten in various ways. The lentils were sometimes roasted, as they are today, and eaten like "parched corn." They were sometimes stewed like beans, and flavored with onions and other ingredients, no doubt, as we find done in Syria today (compare Genesis 25:29, 34), and sometimes ground and made into bread (Ezekiel 4:9; compare Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins,IX , Ezekiel 4:1-17). The wandering Israelites in the wilderness looked back wistfully on the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic of Egypt (Numbers 11:5), and later we find all of these used for food in Palestine How many other things were prepared and used for food by them may be gathered from the Mishna, our richest source of knowledge on the subject.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.9

3. Meat: The flesh of animals--permission to eat which it would seem was first given to Noah after the deluge (Genesis 1:29 f; Genesis 9:3 f)--was likewise prepared and used in various ways: (a) Roasting was much in vogue, indeed was probably the oldest of all methods of preparing such food. At first raw meat was laid upon hot stones from which the embers had been removed, as in the case of the "cake baken on the hot stones" (1 Kings 19:6 the Revised Version margin; compare Hosea 7:8, "a cake not turned"), and sometimes underneath with a covering of ashes. The fish that the disciples found prepared for them by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:9) was, in exception to this rule, cooked on the live coals themselves. A more advanced mode of roasting was by means of a spit of green wood or iron (for baking in ovens, see FOOD). (b) Boiling was also common (see Genesis 25:29; Exodus 12:9, etc., the American Standard Revised Version; English Versions of the Bible more frequently "seething," "sod," "sodden"), as it is in the more primitive parts of Syria today. The pots in which the boiling was done were of earthenware or bronze (Leviticus 6:28). When the meat was boiled in more water than was required for the ordinary "stew" the result was the broth (Judges 6:19 f), and the meat and the broth might then be served separately. The usual way, however, was to cut the meat into pieces, larger or smaller as the case might demand (1 Samuel 2:13; Ezekiel 24:3 ff; compare Micah's metaphor, Micah 3:3), and put these pieces into the cooking-pot with water sufficient only for a stew. Vegetables and rice were generally added, though crushed wheat sometimes took the place of the rice, as in the case of the "savory meat" which Rebekah prepared for her husband from the "two kids of the goats" (Genesis 27:9). The seeds of certain leguminous plants were also often prepared by boiling (Genesis 25:29; 2 Kings 4:38). (c) The Hebrew housewives, we may be sure, were in such matters in no way behind their modern kinswomen of the desert, of whom Doughty tells: "The Arab housewives make savory messes of any grain, seething it and putting thereto only a little salt and samn (clarified butter)."ISBE Meals, Meal-time.10

4. Oil: Olive oil was extensively and variously used by the ancient Hebrews, as by most eastern peoples then, as it is now. (a) Oriental cooking diverges here more than at any other point from that of the northern and western peoples, oil serving many of the purposes of butter and lard among ourselves. (b) Oil was used in cooking vegetables as we use bacon and other animal fats, and in cooking fish and eggs, as sJso in the finer sorts of baking. See BREAD; FOOD; OIL. (c) They even mixed oil with the flour, shaped it into cakes and then baked it (Leviticus 2:4). The "little oil" of the poor widow of Zerephath was clearly not intended for the lamps, but to bake her pitiful "handful of meal" (1 Kings 17:12). (d) Again the cake of unmixed flour might be baked till almost done, then smeared with oil, sprinkled with anise seed, and brought by further baking to a glossy brown. A species of thin flat cakes of this kind are "the wafers anointed with oil" of Exodus 29:2, etc. (e) Oil and honey constituted, as now in the East, a mixture used as we use butter and honey, and are found also mixed in the making of sweet cakes (Ezekiel 16:13, 19). The taste of the manna is said in Exodus 16:31 to be like that of "wafers made with honey," and in Numbers 11:8 to be like "the taste of cakes baked with oil" (Revised Version margin).ISBE Meals, Meal-time.11

II. Meals, Meal-Time, etc.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.12

(1) It was customary among the ancient Hebrews, as among their contemporaries in the East in classical lands, to have but two meals a day. The "morning morsel" or "early snack," as it is called in the Talmud, taken with some relish like olives, oil or melted butter, might be used by peasants, fishermen, or even artisans, to "break their fast" (see the one reference to it in the New Testament in John 21:12, 15), but this was not a true meal. It was rather ariston proinon (Robinson, BRP, II, 18), though some think it the ariston, of the New Testament (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, II, 205, note 3; compare Plummer, International Critical Commentary, on Luke 11:37). To "eat a meal," i.e. a full meal, in the morning was a matter for grave reproach (Ecclesiastes 10:16), as early drinking was unusual and a sign of degradation (of Acts 2:15).ISBE Meals, Meal-time.13

(2) The first meal (of "meal-time," literally, "the time of eating," Ruth 2:14; Genesis 43:16), according to general usage, was taken at or about noon when the climate and immemorial custom demanded a rest from labor. Peter's intended meal at Joppa, interrupted by the messengers of Cornelius, was at "the sixth hour," i.e. 12 M. It corresponded somewhat to our modern "luncheon," but the hour varied according to rank and occupation (Shabbath 10a). The Bedawi take it about 9 or 10 o'clock (Burckhardt, Notes, I, 69). It is described somewhat fully by Lane in Modern Egyptians. To abstain from this meal was accounted "fasting" (Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 14:24). Drummond (Tropical Africa) says his Negro bearers began the day's work without food.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.14

(3) The second and main meal (New Testament, deipnon) was taken about the set of sun, or a little before or after, when the day's work was over and the laborers had "come in from the field" (Luke 17:7; 24:29 f). This is the "supper time," the "great supper" of Luke 14:16, the important meal of the day, when the whole family were together for the evening (Burckhardt, Notes, I, 69). It was the time of the feeding of the multitudes by Jesus (Mark 6:35; Matthew 14:15; Luke 9:12), of the eating of the Passover, and of the partaking of the Lord's Supper. According to Jewish law, and for special reasons, the chief meal was at midday--"at the sixth hour," according to Josephus (Vita, 54; compare Genesis 43:16-25; 2 Samuel 24:15 Septuagint). It was Yahweh's promise to Israel that they should have "bread" in the morning and "flesh" in the evening (Exodus 16:12), incidental evidence of one way in which the evening meal differed from that at noon. At this family meal ordinarily there was but one common dish for all, into which all "dipped the sop" (see Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20), so that when the food, cooked in this common stew, was set before the household, the member of the household who had prepared it had no further work to do, a fact which helps to explain Jesus' words to Martha, `One dish alone is needful' (Luke 10:42; Hastings Hastings, Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, under the word "Meals").ISBE Meals, Meal-time.15

(4) Sabbath banqueting became quite customary among the Jews (see examples cited by Lightfoot, Hor. Heb et Talmud on Luke 14:1; compare Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,II , 52, 437; Farrar, Life of Christ,II , 119, note). Indeed it was carried to such an excess that it became proverbial for luxury. But the principle which lay at the root of the custom was the honor of the Sabbath (Lightfoot, op. cit., III, 149), which may explain Jesus countenance and use of the custom (compare Luke 7:36; 11:37; Luke 14:7-14), and the fact that on the last Sabbath He spent on earth before His passion He was the chief guest at such a festive meal (John 12:2). It is certain that He made use of such occasions to teach lessons of charity and religion, in one case even when His host was inclined to indulge in discourteous criticism (Luke 7:39; 38, 45 f; compare John 12:7 f). He seems to have withheld His formal disapproval of what might be wrong in tendency in such feasts because of the latent possibilities for good He saw in them, and so often used them wisely and well. It was on one of these occasions that a fellow-guest in his enthusiasm broke out in the exclamation, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (Luke 14:15), referring evidently to the popular Jewish idea that the Messianic kingdom was to be ushered in with a banquet, and that feasting was to be a chief part of its glories (compare Isaiah 25:6; Luke 13:29).ISBE Meals, Meal-time.16

See BANQUET.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.17

III. Customs at Meals. In the earliest times the Hebrews took their meals sitting, or more probably squatting, on the ground like the Bedouin and fellahin of today (see Genesis 37:25, etc.), with the legs gathered tailor-fashion (Palestine Exploration Fund Statement, 1905, 124). The use of seats naturally followed upon the change from nomadic to agricultural life, after the conquest of Canaan. Saul and his mess-mates sat upon "seats" (1 Samuel 20:25), as did Solomon and his court (1 Kings 10:5; compare 1 Kings 13:20, etc.). With the growth of wealth and luxury under the monarchy, the custom of reclining at meals gradually became the fashion. In Amos' day it was regarded as an aristocratic innovation (Amos 3:12; 6:4), but two centuries later Ezekiel speaks of "a stately bed" or "couch" (compare Esther 1:6 the Revised Version (British and American)) with "a table prepared before it" (Ezekiel 23:41), as if it was no novelty. By the end of the 3rd century BC it was apparently universal, except among the very poor (Judith 12:15; Tobit 2:1). Accordingly, "sitting at meat" in the New Testament (English Versions of the Bible) is everywhere replaced by "reclining" (Revised Version margin), though women and children still sat. They leaned on the left elbow (Sirach 41:19), eating with the right hand (see LORD'S SUPPER). The various words used in the Gospels to denote the bodily attitude at meals, as well as the circumstances described, all imply that the Syrian custom of reclining on a couch, followed by Greeks and Romans, was in vogue (Edersheim, II, 207). Luke uses one word for it which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament (kataklithenai, 7:36; 14:8; 24:30; and kataklinein, 9:14,15), which Hobart says is the medical term for laying patients or causing them to lie in bed (Medical Language of Luke, 69). For costumes and customs at more elaborate feasts see BANQUET; DRESS. For details in the "minor morals" of the dinner table, see the classical passages (Sirach 31:12-18; Sirach 32:3-12), in which Jesus ben-Sira has expanded the counsel given in Proverbs 23:1 f; compare Kennedy in The 1-Volume Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, under the word "Meals."ISBE Meals, Meal-time.18

LITERATURE.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.19

Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; O. Holtzmann, Eine Untersuchung zum Leben Jesu, English translation, 206; B. Weiss, The Life of Christ, II, 125, note 2; Plummer, International Critical Commentary, "Luke," 159 f; Farrar, Life of Christ; Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible (five volumes), Hastings, Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, the 1-volume Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible; Encyclopedia Biblica; Jewish Encyclopedia, etc.ISBE Meals, Meal-time.20

George B. EagerISBE Meals, Meal-time.21

Mean

Mean - men: The noun "meaning" (Daniel 8:15 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "I sought to understand"; and 1 Corinthians 14:11) is synonymous with "signification" but in 1 Maccabees 15:4 the King James Version it expresses "purpose" (the Revised Version (British and American) "I am minded to land"). The noun "mean" in Hebrew always occurs in the plural, and is generally used in the sense of "agency," "instrument" (compare 1 Kings 10:29, etc.). the Revised Version (British and American) very frequently changes, King James Version: Wisdom of Solomon 8:13, "because of her"; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, "in any wise"; Luke 8:36, "how"; Proverbs 6:26, "on account of"; Revelation 13:14, "by reason of" (compare also 2 Thessalonians 3:16; John 9:21). Hebrews 9:15 (the King James Version "that by means of death") translates literally, "that a death having taken place," from ginomai, "to become," "to happen." Acts 18:21 the King James Version, "I must by all means keep this feast," is omitted in the Revised Version (British and American) in harmony with several cursives, the Vulgate, and some other versionsISBE Mean.2

The adjective "mean" is used in the sense of "common," "humble" ('adham, "man"; compare Isaiah 2:9; 5:15; 31:8 omits "mean"). It is also used in the sense of "obscure" (Proverbs 22:29, chashokh, "obscure"; asemos, literally, "without a mark," "unknown," Acts 21:39). "Mean" is found in expressions like "in the meanwhile" (the King James Version 1 Kings 18:45, the Revised Version (British and American) "little while"; John 4:31; Romans 2:15, the Revised Version (British and American) "one with another"); "in the meantime" (1 Maccabees 11:41 the King James Version; Luke 12:1); and "in the mean season" the King James Version (1 Maccabees 11:14; 15:15). The adverb "meanly" is found (2 Maccabees 15:38) in the sense of "moderately."ISBE Mean.3

The verb "mean" expresses purpose (Isaiah 3:15; 10:7; Genesis 50:20, etc.). In some cases the Revised Version (British and American) renders literal translation: Acts 27:2, "was about to sail" (the King James Version "meaning to sail"); compare Acts 21:13; 2 Corinthians 8:13. In other instances the idea of "to mean" is "to signify," "to denote" (1 Samuel 4:6; Genesis 21:29; Matthew 9:13, etc.). Luke 15:26 translates literally, "what these things might be." In Exodus 12:26 the sense of "mean ye" is "to have in mind."ISBE Mean.4

A. L. BreslichISBE Mean.5

Meani

Meani - me-a'-ni: the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) "Maani" (1 Esdras 5:31).ISBE Meani.2

Mearah

Mearah - me-a'-ra (me`arah; omitted in the Septuagint): A town or district mentioned only in Joshua 13:4, as belonging to the Zidonians. The name as it stands means "cave." If that is correct it may be represented by the modern village Mogheiriyeh, "little cave," not far from Sidon. Perhaps, however, we should find in the word the name of a Sidonian city, with the preposition min, that has suffered change in transcription. Septuagint reads "from Gaza"; but Gaza is obviously too far to the South.ISBE Mearah.2

Measure; Measures

Measure; Measures - mezh'-ur, Several different words in the Hebrew and Greek are rendered by "measure" in English Versions of the Bible. In Job 11:9 and Jeremiah 13:25 it stands for madh, middah, and it is the usual rendering of the verb madhadh, "to measure," i.e. "stretch out," "extend," "spread." It is often used to render the words representing particular measures, such as ['ephah] (Deuteronomy 25:14-15; Proverbs 20:10; Micah 6:10); or kor (1 Kings 4:22; 5:11 (1 Kings 5:2 and 1 Kings 5:18 Hebrew text); 2 Chronicles 2:10 (Hebrew text 2 Chronicles 2:9) 2 Chronicles 27:5; Ezra 7:22); or seah (Genesis 18:6; 1 Samuel 25:18; 1 Kings 18:32; 2 Kings 7:1, 16, 18); or batos, "bath" (Luke 16:6). For these terms see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. It also renders middah, "measure of length" (Exodus 26:2); mesurah, a liquid measure (Leviticus 19:35; 1 Chronicles 23:29; Ezekiel 4:11, 16); mishpaT, "judgment" (Jeremiah 30:11; 46:28); ca'ce'ah, a word of uncertain meaning, perhaps derived from seah (Isaiah 27:8); shalish, "threefold, large measure" (Psalms 80:5 (Hebrew text Psalms 80:6); Isaiah 40:12); tokhen, and mathkoneth, "weight" and that which is weighed, taken as measure (Ezekiel 45:11). In Isaiah 5:14 it stands for choq, "limit." In the New Testament, besides being the usual rendering of the verb metreo, and of the noun metron, it is used for choinix, a dry measure containing about a quart (Revelation 6:6).ISBE Measure; Measures.2

H. PorterISBE Measure; Measures.3

Measuring Line

Measuring Line - (qaw, qeweh): The usual meaning is simply line, rope or cord, in Isaiah 28:10, 13, but the line was used for measurement, as is evident from such passages as 1 Kings 7:23; Job 38:5; Jeremiah 31:39. Whether the line for measuring had a definite length or not we have no means of knowing. In Isaiah 44:13 it refers to the line used by the carpenter in marking the timber on which he is working, and in Zechariah 1:16 it refers to the builder's line.ISBE Measuring Line.2

Figuratively: It signifies destruction, or a portion of something marked off by line for destruction, as in 2 Kings 21:13; or for judgment, as in Isaiah 28:17.ISBE Measuring Line.3

H. PorterISBE Measuring Line.4

Measuring Reed

Measuring Reed - (qeneh hamiddah; kalamos): Used in Ezekiel 40:5 ff; Ezekiel 42:16; 45:1; Revelation 11:1; Revelation 21:15-16. The length of the reed is given as 6 cubits, each cubit being a cubit and a palm, i.e. the large cubit of 7 palms, or about 10 ft. See CUBIT. Originally it was an actual reed used for measurements of considerable length, but came at last to be used for a measure of definite length, as indicated by the reference in Ezkiel (compare "pole" in English measures).ISBE Measuring Reed.2

Meat

Meat - met (broma, brosis): In the King James Version used for food in general, e.g. "I had my meat of herbs" (2 Esdras 12:51); "his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat," the Revised Version (British and American) "food" (John 4:8). The English word signified whatever is eaten, whether of flesh or other food.ISBE Meat.2

Meat Offering

Meat Offering - See SACRIFICE.ISBE Meat Offering.2

Mebunnai

Mebunnai - me-bun'-i, me-bun'-a-i (mebhunnay, "well-built"): One of David's "braves" (2 Samuel 23:27). In 2 Samuel 21:18 he is named "Sibbechai" (the Revised Version (British and American) "Sibbecai"), and is there mentioned as the slayer of a Philistine giant. The Revised Version (British and American) spelling occurs in 1 Chronicles 11:29, the King James Version "Sibbechai" in 1 Chronicles 20:4 (compare 2 Samuel 21:18); and in 1 Chronicles 27:11 the Revised Version (British and American) spelling recurs, where this person is mentioned as captain of the 8th course of the 12 monthly courses that served the king in rota. Scribal error, and the similarity in Hebrew spelling of the two forms accounts for the difference in spelling. the Revised Version (British and American) consistently tries to keep this right.ISBE Mebunnai.2

Henry WallaceISBE Mebunnai.3

Mecherathite

Mecherathite - me-ke'-rath-it (mekherathi, "dweller in Mecharah"): Possibly this is a misreading of "Maachathite" (the King James Version). It is the description of Hepher, one of David's valiant men (1 Chronicles 11:36).ISBE Mecherathite.2

In the Wallel list of 2 Samuel 23:1-39, especially 2 Samuel 23:34, the "Maachathite" is mentioned without name in the place in the list given to Hepher in 1 Chronicles 11:36. The variations do not destroy the conviction that the list is virtually the same.ISBE Mecherathite.3

Meconah

Meconah - me-ko'-na (mekhonah; Machna): A town apparently in the neighborhood of Ziklag, named only in Nehemiah 11:28, as reoccupied by the men of Judah after the Captivity. It is not identified.ISBE Meconah.2

Medaba

Medaba - med'-a-ba: The Greek form of "Medeba" in 1 Maccabees 9:36.ISBE Medaba.2

Medad

Medad - me'-dad (medhadh, "affectionate"): One of the 70 elders on whom the spirit of the Lord came in the days of Moses enabling them to prophesy. Medad and one other, Eldad, began to prophesy in the camp, away from the other elders who had assembled at the door of the tabernacle to hear God's message. Joshua suggested that Eldad and Medad be stopped, but Moses interceded on their behalf, saying, "Would that all Yahweh's people were prophets!" (Numbers 11:26-29). The subject-matter of their prophecy has been variously supplied by tradition. Compare the Palestine Targums at the place, the apocalyptic Book of Eldad and Modad, and Ba`al ha-Turim (ad loc.).ISBE Medad.2

Ella Davis IsaacsISBE Medad.3

Medan

Medan - me'-dan (medhan, "strife"): One of the sons of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32). The tribe and its place remain unidentified, and the conjecture that the name may be connected with the Midianites is unlikely from the fact that in the list of the sons of Abraham and Keturah Midian is mentioned alongside of Medan.ISBE Medan.2

Medeba

Medeba - med'-e-ba (medhebha'; Maidaba, Medaba): The name may mean "gently flowing water," but the sense is doubtful. This city is first mentioned along with Heshbon and Dibon in an account of Israel's conquests (Numbers 21:30). It lay in the Mishor, the high pastoral land of Moab. The district in which the city stood is called the Mishor or plain of Medeba in the description of the territory assigned to Reuben (Joshua 13:9), or the plain by Medeba (Joshua 13:16). Here the Ammonites and their Syrian allies put the battle in array against Joab, and were signally defeated (1 Chronicles 19:7). This must have left the place definitely in the possession of Israel. But it must have changed hands several times. It was taken by Omri, evidently from Moab; and Mesha claims to have recovered possession of it (M S, ll. 7,8,29,30). It would naturally fall to Israel under Jeroboam II; but in Isaiah 15:2 it is referred to as a city of Moab. It also figures in later Jewish history. John, son of Mattathias, was captured and put to death by the Jambri, a robber tribe from Medeba. This outrage was amply avenged by Jonathan and Simon, who ambushed a marriage party of the Jambri as they were bringing a noble bride from Gabbatha, slew them all and took their ornaments (1 Maccabees 9:36 ff; Ant, XII, i, 2, 4). Medeba was captured by Hyrcanus "not without the greatest distress of his army" (Ant., XIII, ix, 1). It was taken by Janneus from the Nabateans. Hyrcanus promised to restore it with other cities so taken to Aretas in return for help to secure him on the Judean throne (ibid., xv, 4; XIV, i, 4). Ptolemy speaks of it as a town in Arabia Petrea, between Bostra and Petra. Eusebius and Jerome knew it under its ancient name (Onomasticon, under the word). It became the seat of a bishropric, and is mentioned in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), and in other ecclesiastical lists.ISBE Medeba.2

The ancient city is represented by the modern Madeba, a ruined site with an Arab village, crowning a low hill, some 6 miles South of Heshbon, with which it was connected by a Roman road. The ruins, which are considerable, date mainly from Christian times. The surrounding walls can be traced in practically their whole circuit. There is a large tank, now dry, measuring 108 yds. X 103 yds., and about 12 ft. in depth. In 1880 it was colonized by some Christian families from Kerak, among whom the Latins carry on mission work. In December, 1896, a most interesting mosaic was found. It proved to be a map of part of Palestine and Lower Egypt of the time of Justinian. Unfortunately it is much damaged. An account of it will be found in Palestine Exploration Fund Statement, 1897, 213 ff, 239; 1898, 85, 177 ff, 251.ISBE Medeba.3

W. EwingISBE Medeba.4

Medes

Medes - medz (madhi; Assyrian Amada, Mada; Achaem. Persian Mada; Medoi (Genesis 10:2; 2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chronicles 1:5; Ezra 6:2; Esther 1:3, 14, 18-19; 10:2; Isaiah 13:17; 21:2; Jeremiah 25:25; 11, 28; Daniel 5:28; 1, 9, 13, 16; 8:20; 9:1; 11:1)): Mentioned as Japhethites in Genesis 10:2, i.e. Aryans, and accordingly they first called themselves Arioi (Herod. vii.62), in Avestic Airya = Skt. Arya, "noble." They were closely allied in descent, language and religion with the Persians, and in secular history preceded their appearance by some centuries. Like most Aryan nations they were at first divided into small village communities each governed by its own chiefs (called in Assyrian chazanati by Assur-bani-pal: compare Herod. i.96). Shalmaneser II mentions them (Nimrod Obelisk, i.121) about 840 BC. They then inhabited the modern A'zarbaijan (Media Atropatene). Rammanu-nirari III of Assyria (Rawlinson, Western Asiatic Inscriptions, I, 35) declares that he (810-781 BC) had conquered "the land of the Medes and the land of Parsua" (Persis), as well as other countries. This probably meant only a plundering expedition, as far as Media was concerned. So also Assur-nirari II (Western Asiastic Inscriptions, II, 52) in 749-748 BC overran Namri in Southwest Media. Tiglath-pileser IV (in Babylonian called Pulu, the "Pul" of 2 Kings 15:19) and Sargon also overran parts of Media. Sargon in 716 BC conquered Kisheshin, Kharkhar and other parts of the country. Some of the Israelites were by him transplanted to "the cities of the Medes" (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; the Septuagint reading Ore, cannot be rendered "mountains" of the Medes here) after the fall of Samaria in 722 BC. It was perhaps owing to the need of being able to resist Assyria that about 720 BC the Medes (in part at least) united into a kingdom under Deiokes, according to Herodotus (i.98). Sargon mentions him by the name Dayaukku, and says that he himself captured this prince (715 BC) and conquered his territory two years later. After his release, probably, Deiokes fortified Ecbatana (formerly Ellippi) and made it his capital. It has been held by some that Herodotus confounds the Medes here with the Manda (or Umman-Manda, "hosts of the Manda") of the inscriptions; but these were probably Aryan tribes, possibly of Scythian origin, and the names Mada and Manda may be, after all, identical. Esar-haddon in his 2nd year (679-678 BC) and Assurbani-pal warred with certain Median tribes, whose power was now growing formidable. They (or the Manda) had conquered Persis and formed a great confederacy. Under Kyaxares (Uvakh-shatara--Deiokes' grandson, according to Herodotus), they besieged Nineveh, but Assur-bani-pal, with the assistance of the Ashguza (? the Ashkenaz of Genesis 10:3), another Aryan tribe, repelled them. The end of the Assyrian empire came, however, in 606 BC, when the Manda under their king Iriba-tukte, Mamiti-arsu "lord of the city of the Medes," Kastarit of the Armenian district of Kar-kassi, the Kimmerians (Gimirra = Gomer) under Teushpa (Teispes, Chaishpish), the Minni (Manna; compare Jeremiah 51:27), and the Babylonians under Nabu-pal-ucsur, stormed and destroyed Nineveh, as Nabu-nahid informs us. The last king of Assyria, Sin-sar-iskun (Sarakos), perished with his people.ISBE Medes.2

Herodotus says that Deiokes was succeeded by Phraortes (Fravartish) his son, Phraortes by his son Kyaxares; and the latter in turn left his kingdom to his son Astyages whose daughter Mandane married Cambyses, father of the great Cyrus. Yet there was no Median empire (such as he describes) then, or at least it did not embrace all the Aryan tribes of Western Asia, as we see from the inscriptions that in 606BC , and even later, many of them were under kings and princes of their own (compare Jeremiah 25:25; 51:11). Herodotus tells us they were divided into six tribes, of whom the Magi were one (Herod. i.101). Kyaxares warred for 5 years (590-585 BC) with the Lydians, the struggle being ended in May, 585, by the total eclipse of the sun foretold by Thales (Herodotus i.74).ISBE Medes.3

The alliance between the Medes and the Babylonians ended with Nebuchadnezzar's reign. His successor Nabu-nahid (555 BC) says that in that year the Medes under Astyages (Ishtuwegu) entered Mesopotamia and besieged Haran. Soon after, however, that dynasty was overthrown; for Cyrus the Persian, whom Nabu-nahid the first time he mentions him styles Astyages' "youthful slave" (ardusu cachru), but who was even then king of Anshan (Anzan), attacked and in 549 BC captured Astyages, plundered Ecbatana, and became king of the Medes. Though of Persian descent, Cyrus did not, apparently, begin to reign in Persia till 546 BC. Henceforth there was no Median empire distinguished from the Persian (nor is any such mentioned in Daniel, in spite of modern fancies). As the Medes were further advanced in civilization and preceded the Persians in sovereignty, the Greek historians generally called the whole nation "the Medes" long after Cyrus' time. Only much later are the Persians spoken of as the predominant partners. Hence, it is a sign of early date that Daniel (8:20) speaks of "Media and Persia," whereas later the Book of Esther reverses the order ("Persia and Media," Esther 1:3, 14, 18-19; 10:2), as in the inscriptions of Darius at Behistun. Under Darius I, Phraortes (Fravartish) rebelled, claiming the throne of Media as a descendant of Kyaxares. His cause was so powerfully supported among the Medes that the rebellion was not suppressed till after a fierce struggle. He was finally taken prisoner at Raga (Rai, near Tehran), brutally mutilated, and finally impaled st Ecbatana. After that Median history merges into that of Persia. The history of the Jews in Media is referred to in Daniel and Esther 1:1, 1-22 Maccabees tells something of Media under the Syrian (Esther 6:14) and Parthian dominion (14:1-3; compare Josephus, Ant,XX , iii). Medes are last mentioned in Acts 2:9. They are remarkable as the first leaders of the Aryan race in its struggle with the Semites for freedom and supremacy.ISBE Medes.4

W. St. Clair TisdallISBE Medes.5

Media

Media - me'-di-a (madhay; Achaem. Persian Mada; Media): Lay to the West and Southwest of the Caspian, and extended thence to the Zagrus Mountains on the West On the North in later times it was bounded by the rivers Araxes and Cyrus, which separated it from Armenia. Its eastern boundaries were formed by Hyrcania and the Great Salt Desert (now called the Kavir), and it was bounded on the South by Susiana. In earlier times its limits were somewhat indefinite. It included Atropatene, (Armenian Atrpatakan, the name, "Fire-guarding," showing devotion to the worship of Fire) to the North, and Media Magna to the South, the former being the present A'zarbaijan. Near the Caspian the country is low, damp and unhealthy, but inland most of it is high and mountainous, Mt. Demavand in the Alburz range reaching 18,600 ft. Atropatene was famed for the fertility of its valleys and table-lands, except toward the North. Media Magna is high; it has fruitful tracts along the course of the streams, but suffers much from want of water, though this was doubtless more abundant in antiquity. It contained the Nisaean Plain, famous for its breed of horses. The chief cities of ancient Media were Ecbatana, Gazaea, and Ragae. The Orontes range near Ecbatana is the present Alvand. Lake Spauta is now known as Urmi (Urumiah).ISBE Media.2

W. St. Clair TisdallISBE Media.3

Median

Median - me'-di-an.ISBE Median.2

See DARIUS; MEDES; MEDIA.ISBE Median.3

Mediation; Mediator

Mediation; Mediator - me-di-a'-shun, me'-di-a-ter:ISBE Mediation; Mediator.2

I. INTRODUCTORYISBE Mediation; Mediator.3

1. The TermsISBE Mediation; Mediator.4

(1) MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.5

(2) MediatorISBE Mediation; Mediator.6

2. The Principle of MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.7

II. MEDIATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENTISBE Mediation; Mediator.8

1. Negative Teaching in the Old TestamentISBE Mediation; Mediator.9

2. The Positive Teaching: Early PeriodISBE Mediation; Mediator.10

3. Prophetic MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.11

4. Priestly MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.12

5. The Theocratic King: the MessiahISBE Mediation; Mediator.13

6. The Suffering ServantISBE Mediation; Mediator.14

7. Superhuman Agents of MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.15

(1) Angelic MediationISBE Mediation; Mediator.16

(2) Divine WisdomISBE Mediation; Mediator.17

III. IN SEMI-CANONICAL AND NON-CANONICAL JEWISH LITERATUREISBE Mediation; Mediator.18

IV. MEDIATION AND MEDIATOR IN THE NEW TESTAMENTISBE Mediation; Mediator.19

1. The Synoptic GospelsISBE Mediation; Mediator.20

(1) Christ as ProphetISBE Mediation; Mediator.21

(2) Christ as KingISBE Mediation; Mediator.22

(3) Christ as Priest (Redeemer)ISBE Mediation; Mediator.23

2. Primitive Apostolic TeachingsISBE Mediation; Mediator.24

(1) The Early Speeches in ActsISBE Mediation; Mediator.25

(2) Epistles of James and JudeISBE Mediation; Mediator.26

(3) 1 PeterISBE Mediation; Mediator.27

3. Epistles of PaulISBE Mediation; Mediator.28

(1) The Need of a MediatorISBE Mediation; Mediator.29

(2) The QualificationsISBE Mediation; Mediator.30

(3) The Means, the Death of ChristISBE Mediation; Mediator.31

(4) The Resurrection and ExaltationISBE Mediation; Mediator.32

(5) The Cosmic Aspect of Christ's MediatorshipISBE Mediation; Mediator.33

4. Epistle to the HebrewsISBE Mediation; Mediator.34

5. The Johannine WritingsISBE Mediation; Mediator.35

(1) The Fourth GospelISBE Mediation; Mediator.36

(2) The EpistlesISBE Mediation; Mediator.37

(3) The ApocalypseISBE Mediation; Mediator.38

V. CONCLUSIONISBE Mediation; Mediator.39

LITERATUREISBE Mediation; Mediator.40

I Introductory.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.41

1. The Terms: (1) Mediation: "Mediation" in its broadest sense may be defined as the act of intervening between parties at variance for the purpose of reconciling them, or between parties not necessarily hostile for the purpose of leading them into an agreement or covenant. Theologically, it has reference to the method by which God and man are reconciled through the instrumentality of some intervening process, act or person, and especially through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The term itself does not occur in Biblical literature.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.42

(2) Mediator: The term "mediator" (= middleman, agent of mediation) is nowhere found in Old Testament or Apocrypha (English Versions of the Bible), but the corresponding Greek word mesites, occurs once in Septuagint (Job 9:33 the King James Version, "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us," where "daysman" stands for Hebrew mokhiach, "arbitrator," the American Standard Revised Version, the English Revised Version margin "umpire" (see DAYSMAN); Septuagint has ho mesites hemon, "our mediator," as a paraphrase for Hebrew benenu, "betwixt us"). Even in the New Testament, mesites, "mediator," occurs only 6 times, namely, Galatians 3:19-20 (of Moses), and 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24 (of Christ).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.43

2. The Principle of Mediation: Though the actual terms are thus very rare, the principle of mediation is one of great significance in Biblical theology, as well as in the Jewish-Alexandrian philosophy. It corresponds to a profound human instinct or need which finds expression in some form or other in most religions. It is an attempt to solve the problem raised by (1) the idea of the infinite distance which separates God from man and the universe, and (2) the deeply felt want of bringing them into a harmonious relation. The conception of mediation will differ, therefore, according to whether the distance to be surmounted is understood ethically or metaphysically. If it be thought of in an ethical or religious sense, that is, if the emphasis be laid on the fact of human sin as standing in the way of man's fellowship with God, then mediation will be the mode by which peaceful relations are established between sinful man and the absolutely righteous God. But if the antithesis of God and the world be conceived of metaphysically, i.e. be based on the ultimate nature of God and of the world conceived as essentially opposed to each other, then mediation will be the mode by which the transcendent God, without Himself coming into direct contact with the world, is able to produce effects in it through an intermediate agent (or agents). The latter conception (largely the result of an exaggerated Platonic dualism) exerted an important influence on later Jewish thought, and even on Christian theology, and will come briefly under our consideration. But in the main we shall be concerned with the former view, as more in harmony with the development of Biblical theology which culminates in the New Testament doctrine of atonement. Mediation between God and man as presented in the Scriptures has 3 main aspects, represented respectively by the functions of the prophet, the priest, and theocratic king. Here and there in the Old Testament these tend to meet, as in Melchizedek the priest-king, and in the Suffering Servant of Deutero-Isaiah, who unites the priestly function of sacrifice with the prophetic function of revealing the Divine will. But on the whole, these aspects of mediation in the Old Testament run along lines which have no meeting-point in one person adequate to all the demands. In the New Testament they intersect in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who realizes in Himself the full meaning of the prophetic, priestly, and kingly ideals.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.44

II. Mediation in the Old Testament. 1. Negative Teaching in the Old Testament: We do not find in the Old Testament a fixed and final doctrine of mediation universally accepted as an axiom of religious thought, but only a gradual movement toward such a doctrine, under the growing sense of God's exaltation and of man's frailty and sinfulness. Such a passage as 1 Samuel 2:25 seems definitely to contradict the idea of mediation. Still more striking are the words of Job above referred to, "There is no umpire betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both," i.e. to enforce his decision (Job 9:33), where the Septuagint paraphrases, "Would that there were a mediator and a reprover and a hearer between us both." The note of despair which characterizes this passage shows that Job has no hope that such an arbitrator between him and God is forthcoming. Yet the words give pathetic utterance to the deep inarticulate cry of humanity for a mediator. In this connection we should note the protests of prophets and psalmists against an unethical view of mediation by animal sacrifices (Micah 6:6-8; Psalms 40:6-8, etc.), and their frequent direct appeals to God for mercy without reference to any mediation (Psalms 25:7; 32:5; 103:8 ff, etc.).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.45

2. The Positive Teaching: Early Period: (1) Mediatory Sacrifice. In the patriarchal age, before the official priest had been differentiated from the rest of the community, the function of offering sacrifice was discharged by the head of the family or clan on behalf of his people, as by Noah (Genesis 8:20), Abraham (Genesis 12:7-8; Genesis 15:9-11), Isaac (Genesis 26:24 f), Jacob (Genesis 31:54; 33:20). So Job, conceived by the writer as living in patriarchal antiquity, is said to have offered sacrifices vicariously for his sons (Job 1:5). Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem (Genesis 14:18-20), is a figure of considerable theological interest, inasmuch as he was taken by the author of Psalms 110:1-7 as the forerunner of the ideal theocratic king who was also priest, and by the author of He as prototype of Christ's priesthood.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.46

(2) Intercessory Prayer. Intercession is in all stages of thought an essential element in mediation. We have striking examples of it in Genesis 18:22-33; Job 42:8-10.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.47

(3) The Mosaic Covenant. In Moses we have for the first time a recognized national representative who acted both as God's spokesman to the people, and the people's spokesman before God. He alone was allowed to "come near unto Yahweh," and to him Yahweh spake "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus 33:11). He went up to God and "reported the words of the people" to Him, as to a sovereign who cannot be approached save by his duly accredited minister (Exodus 19:8). We have a striking example of his intercessory mediation in the episode of the golden calf, when he pleaded effectively with God to turn from His wrath (Exodus 32:12-14), and even offered to "make atonement for" (kipper, literally, "cover") their sin by confessing their sin before God, and being willing to be blotted out of God's book, so that the people might be spared (Exodus 32:30-32). Here we have already the germs of the idea of vicarious suffering for sin.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.48

(4) Intercessory Mediation. Samuel is by Jeremiah classed with Moses as the chief representative of intercessory mediation (Jeremiah 15:1). He is reported as mediating by prayer between Israel and God, and succeeding in warding off the punishment of their sin (1 Samuel 7:5-12). On such occasions, prayer was wont to be accompanied by confessions of sins and by an offering to Yahweh.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.49

3. Prophetic Mediation: Samuel represents the transition from the ancient seer or soothsayer to the prophetic order. The prophet was regarded as the organ of Divine revelation, to consult whom was equivalent to "inquiring of God" (1 Samuel 9:9)--a commissioner sent by God (Isaiah 6:8 f) to proclaim His will by word and action. In that capacity he was Yahweh's representative among men, and so could speak in a tone of authority. Prophetic revelation is essential to the Old Testament religion (compare Hebrews 1:1), which by it stands distinguished from a mere philosophy or natural religion. God is not merely a passive object of human discovery, but one who actively and graciously reveals Himself to His chosen people through the medium of the authorized exponents of His mind and will. Thus in the main the prophet stands for the principle of mediation in its man-ward aspect. But the God-ward aspect is not absent, for we find the prophet mediating with God on behalf of men, making intercession for them (Jeremiah 14:19-22; Amos 7:2 f,5 f).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.50

4. Priestly Mediation: Mediation is in a peculiar sense the function of the priest. In the main he stands for the principle in its God-ward aspect. Yet in the early period it was the man-ward aspect that was most apparent; i.e. the priest was at first regarded as the medium through which Yahweh delivered His oracles to men, the human mouthpiece of supernatural revelation, giving advice in difficult emergencies by casting the sacred lot. Before the time of the first literary prophets, the association of the priests with the ephod and the lot had receded into the background (though the high priest theoretically retained the gift of interpreting the Divine will through the Urim and Thummim, Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8); but the power they lost with the oracle they gained at the altar. First they acquired a preferential status at the local sanctuaries; then, in the Deuteronomic legislation, where sacrifice is limited to the Jerusalem sanctuary, it is assumed that only Levite priests can officiate. Finally, in the Levitical system as set forth in the Priestly Code (which regulated Jewish worship in the post-exilic times), the Aaronic priests, now clearly distinguished from the Levites, have the sole privilege of immediate access to God in His sanctuary (Numbers 4:19-20; Numbers 16:3-5). God's transcendence and holiness are now so emphasized that between Him and the sin-stained people there is almost an infinite chasm. Hence, the people can only enjoy its ideal right of drawing nigh unto God and offering sacrifice to Him through the mediation of the official priesthood. The mediatorship of priests derived its authority, not from their moral purity or personal worth, but from the ceremonial purity which attached to their office. All priests are not on the same level. A process of graduated sanctity narrows down their number as the approach is made to the Most Holy Place, which symbolizes the presence chamber of Yahweh. (1) Out of the sacred nation as a whole, the priestly tribe of Levi is elected and invested with a special sanctity to perform all the subordinate acts of service within the tabernacle (Numbers 8:19; 18:6). (2) Within this sacred tribe, the members of the house of Aaron are set apart and invested with a still higher sanctity; they alone officiate at the altar in the Holy Place and expiate the guilt of the people by sacrifice and prayer, thus representing the people before God. Yet even they are only admitted to the proximate nearness of the Holy Place. (3) The gradation of the hierarchy is completed by the recognition of a single, supreme head of the priesthood--the high priest. He alone can enter the Holy of Holies, and that alone once a year, on the Day of Atonement, when he makes propitiation not only for himself and the priesthood, but for the entire congregation. The ritual of the Day of Atonement is the highest exercise of priestly mediatorship. On that day, the whole community has access to Yahweh through their representative, the high priest, and through him offer atonement for their sins. Moreover, the role of the high priest as mediator is symbolized by his wearing the breastplate bearing the names of the children of Israel, whenever he goes into the Holy Place (Exodus 28:29).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.51

Something must be said of the sacrificial system, through which alone the priest exercised his mediatorial functions. For his mediatorship did not depend on his direct personal influence with God, exercised, for instance, through intercessory prayer (intercession is not mentioned by the Priestly Code (P) as a duty of the priest, though referred to by the prophets, Joel 2:17; Malachi 1:9). It depended rather on an elaborate system of sacrifice, of which the priest was but an official agent. It was he who derived his authority from the system, rather than the system from him. The most characteristic features in the ritual of P are the sin offering (chatta'th, Leviticus 4:1-35; Leviticus 5:1-19; Leviticus 6:24-30) and the guilt offering ('asham, Leviticus 5:1-19 through Leviticus 7:1-38; Leviticus 14:1-57; Leviticus 19:1-37), which seem peculiar to P. These are meant to restore the normal relation of the people or of individuals to God, a relation which sin has disturbed. Hence, these sacrifices, when duly administered by the priest, are distinctly mediatorial or reconciliatory in character, i.e. they make atonement for or "cover" (kipper) the sin of the guilty community or individuals. This seems the case also, though in a far less degree, even with the burnt, peace, and meal offerings, which, though "not offered expressly, like the sin and guilt offerings, for the forgiveness of sin, nevertheless were regarded .... as `covering,' or neutralizing, the offerer's unworthiness to appear before God, and so, though in a much less degree than the sin or guilt offering, as effecting propitiation" (Driver in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, IV, 132). We must beware, however, of reading the full New Testament doctrine of sin and propitiation into the sacrificial law. Two important points of difference may be noted: (1) The law does not provide atonement for all sins, but only for sins of ignorance or inadvertence, committed within the covenant. Deliberate sins fall outside the scope of priestly mediation. (2) While sin includes moral impurity, it must be admitted that the chief emphasis falls on ceremonial uncleanness, because it is only violation of physical sanctity that can be fully rectified by ritual ordinance. The law was essentially a civil code, and was not adequate to deal with inward sins. Thus the sacrificial system in itself is but a faint adumbration of the New Testament doctrine of Christ's high-priestly work, which has reference to sin in its widest and deepest meaning. Yet, in spite of these limitations, the priestly ritual was, as far as it went, an organized embodiment of the sin-consciousness, and so prepared the way for the coming of a perfect Mediator.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.52

5. The Theocratic King: the Messiah: On another plane than that of the priest is the mediation of theocratic king. Yahweh was ideally the sole king of Israel. But He governed the people mediately through His vicegerent theocratic king, the agent of His will. The king was regarded as "Yahweh's anointed" (1 Samuel 16:6, etc.), and his person as inviolable. He was the "visible representative of the invisible Divine King" (Riehm). The ideal of theocratic king was most nearly represented by David, the man after Yahweh's own heart (compare 1 Samuel 13:14). This fact led to Yahweh's covenant-promise that David's house should constitute a permanent dynasty, and his throne be established forever (2 Samuel 7:5-17; compare Psalms 89:19-37). The indestructibility of the Davidic dynasty was the basal conviction on which the hope of a Messiah was built. It led to attention being further concentrated on one preeminent King in David's line, who should be the Divinely accredited representative of Yahweh, and reign in His name. As a Divinely endowed human hero, the Messiah will possess attributes which will qualify Him to mediate between God and His people in national life and affairs, and so inaugurate the ideal age of peace and righteousness. He is portrayed especially as the Royal Saviour of Israel, through whom the salvation of the people is mediated and justice administered (e.g. Isaiah 11:1-10; Isaiah 61:1-3; Psalms 72:4, 13; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Jeremiah 33:15-16).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.53

6. The Suffering Servant: In the wonderful figure of exilic prophecy, the Suffering Servant of Yahweh, the principle of mediation is exemplified both in its man-ward and God-ward aspects. In its man-ward aspect, his mission is the prophetic one of being God's anointed messenger to men, His witness before the world (Isaiah 42:6, 19; 43:10; 49:2; Isaiah 50:4-5; Isaiah 61:1-3). But the profound originality of the conception of the Servant lies chiefly in the God-ward significance of his suffering (Isaiah 53:1-12). The Servant suffered vicariously as an atonement for the sins of the people. His death is even said to be a "guilt-offering" ('asham, Isaiah 53:10), and he is represented as making "intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). Here is the profoundest expression in the Old Testament of the principle of mediatorship.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.54

The substitution of voluntary, deliberate, human sacrifice for that of unwilling beasts elevates the sacrificial idea to a new ethical plane, and brings it into far more vital and organic relation to human life. The basis of the mediatorship of the Servant seems to be the principle of the solidarity or organic unity of the people, involving the ideal unity of the Servant and the people he represents. In the earlier servant-passages the Servant is identical with the whole nation (Isaiah 41:8; 44:1 f, and often), and the unity is therefore actual, not ideal merely. In other passages, however, they are clearly to be distinguished, for while the people as a whole is unfaithful to its mission, the Servant remains faithful and suffers for it. Whether in Isaiah 53:1-12 the Servant is the pious remnant of the people or is conceived of as an individual we need not here consider. In either case, the tie between the Servant and the whole nation is never completely broken; the idea of their mystical union is still the groundwork of the prophet's thought. In virtue of this ideal relation, the Servant is the representative of the nation before God, not in a mere official sense (as in the case of the priest), but on the ground of personal merit, as the true Israel, the embodiment of the national ideal. On that ground God can accept his suffering in lieu of the deserved penalty of the whole people. We have here a wonderful adumbration of the New Testament doctrine of atonement through the One Mediator, the Son of Man, the representative of the race.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.55

See SERVANT OF JEHOVAH.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.56

7. Superhuman Agents of Mediation: In later Judaism, the growing sense of God's transcendence favored the tendency to introduce supernatural intermediaries between God and the world.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.57

(1) Angelic Mediation. Not until post-exilic times did angels come to have theological significance. Previously, when God was anthropomorphically conceived as appearing periodically on earth in visible form, the need of angelic mediation was not felt. The "angel" in early narrative (e.g. Genesis 16:7-11) did not possess abiding personality distinct from God, but was God Himself temporarily manifested in human form. But the more God came to be conceived as "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," the greater was the need for mediation between God and the world, and even between God and His servant the prophet. In post-exilic writers there is an increasing disposition to fill up the gap between God and the prophet with superhuman beings. Thus Zechariah receives all Divine instruction through angels; and similarly Daniel receives explanations of his dreams. We do not in the Old Testament hear of angels interceding with God (God-ward mediation), but only as intermediaries of revelation and of the Divine will (man-ward mediation). Modern Jewish scholars deny that Judaistic angelology implied that God was transcendent in the sense of being remote and out of contact with the world. So, e.g., Montefiore (Hibbert Lectures, 423-31), but even he admits a "natural disinclination to bring the Godhead downward to human conditions," and that "for supernatural conversations angels formed a convenient substitute for God" (p. 430). The doctrine of angels had no influence on the New Testament doctrine of mediation, which moves on the plane of the ethical, rather than on the basis of the merely physical transcendenee of God.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.58

(2) Divine Wisdom. Of more importance as a preparation for theology of the New Testament is the doctrine of Wisdom, in which the Jews found "a middle term between the religion of Israel and the philosophy of Greece." In Proverbs 8:22-31 Wisdom is depicted as an individual energy, God's elect Son, His companion and master-workman (Proverbs 8:30) in creation, but whose chief delight is with the children of men. Though the personification is here purely ideal and poetical, and the ethical interest predominates over the metaphysical, yet we have in such a passage a clear proof of contact with Greek thought (especially Platonism and Stoicism), and of the felt need of a mediator between God and the visible world. This mode of thought, linked to the Hebrew conception of the Divine Word as the efficient expression of God's thought and the medium of His activity (Isaiah 55:11; Psalms 33:6; 107:20), has left its mark on Philo's Logos-doctrine and on the New Testament Christology.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.59

See WISDOM.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.60

III. In Semi-and Non-canonical Jewish Literature. In the Apocrypha, the idea of mediation is for the most part absent. We have one or two references to angelic intercession (Tobit 12:12, 15), a function not attributed to angels in the Old Testament, but prominent in later apocalyptic literature (e.g. Enoch 9:10; 15:2; 40:6). The tradition of the agency of angels in the promulgation of the law is first found in the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 33:2 (not in the Hebrew original), but was greatly amplified in rabbinical literature (Josephus, Ant, XV, v, 3). In The Wisdom of Solomon a bold advance is made toward the conception of Wisdom as a personal mediator of creation (especially 7:22-27). In later Judaism, the idea of the Word is further developed. The Targums constantly refer the Divine activity to the memera' or "Word" of God, where the Old Testament refers it to God directly, and speaks of it as Israel's Intercessor before God and as Redeemer. This usage seems to arise out of a reluctance to bring God into immediate contact with the world; hence, God's self-manifestation is represented as mediated through a quasi-personal agent. The tendency finds its full development, however, not among the Jerusalem Jews, but among the Jews of Alexandria, especially in Philo's Logos-doctrine. Deeply influenced by the Platonic dualism, Philo thought of God as pure Spirit, incapable of contact with matter, so that without mediation God could not act on the world. To fill up the great gap he conceived of intermediary beings which represented at once the Ideas of Plato, the active Powers of the Stoics, and the angels of the Old Testament. The highest of these was the Divine Logos, the mediator between the inaccessible, transcendent Being and the material universe. On the one hand, in relation to the world, the Logos is the Mediator of creation and of revelation; on the other, in his God-ward activity, he is the representative of the world before God, its High Priest, Intercessor, and Paraclete. Yet Philo's Logos was probably nothing more than a high philosophical abstraction vividly imaged in the mind. In spite of Philo's influence on early Christian theology, and even perhaps on some New Testament writers, his doctrine of mediation moves on quite different lines from the central New Testament doctrine, which is concerned above all with the reconciliation of God and man on account of sin, and not with the metaphysical reconciliation of the absolute and the finite world. The Mediator of Philo is an abstraction of speculative thought; the Mediator of the New Testament is a concrete historical person known to experience.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.61

See PHILO,JUDAEUS .ISBE Mediation; Mediator.62

IV. Mediation and Mediator in the New Testament. The relatively independent lines of development which the conception of mediation has hitherto taken now meet and coalesce in Jesus Christ.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.63

1. The Synoptic Gospels: The traditional division of Christ's mediatorial work into that of prophet, priest and king (very common since Calvin, but now often discarded) offers a convenient method of treating the subject, though we must avoid making the division absolute, as if Christ's work fell apart into three separate and independent functions. The unity of the work of salvation is preserved by the fact that "no one of the offices fills up a moment of time alone, but the others are always cooperative," although "Christ's mediatorial work puts now this, now that side in the foreground." "The triple division is of special value, because it sets in a vivid light the continuity between the Old Testament theocracy and Christianity" (Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine, English translation, III, 385 ff). These three aspects of Christ's mediatorship can be distinguished in the Synoptics, although the formal distinction is the work of later analysis.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.64

(1) Christ as Prophet. It was in the character of Prophet that He mainly impressed the common mind, which was moved to inquire "Whence hath this man this wisdom?" and by His reply, "A prophet is not without honor," etc., He virtually accepts that title (Matthew 13:54, 57). As Prophet, Christ is the mediator of revelation; through Him alone can men come to know God as Father (Matthew 11:27) and "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:11). In all His teaching we feel that He speaks within the center of truth, and hence can teach with authority and not as the scribes (Matthew 7:29), who approach the truth from without. His teaching is part of His redemptive work, and not something extraneous to it, for the sin from which He redeems includes ignorance and error.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.65

(2) Christ as King. The official name "Christ" (= Messiah, the anointed King) refers primarily to His kingship. The Messianic hope had taught men to look forward to the rule of God on earth instituted and administered through His representative. Christ was the fulfillment of that hope. Though He held an attitude of reserve in the matter, there can be no doubt that He conceived of Himself as the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30; 14:16 f; compare His entry into Jerusalem as a triumphant king, Mark 11:1 ff; the inscription on the cross, Mark 15:26). But it is also clear that He fundamentally modified the Messianic idea, (a) by suffusing it with the thought of vicarious suffering, and (b) by giving it an ethical and spiritual rather than a national and official significance. The note of His kingship was that of authority (Mark 1:27; 2:10; Matthew 7:29; 28:18) exercised in the realm of truth and conscience. His kingship includes the future as well as the present; He is the arbiter of human destiny (Matthew 25:31 ff).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.66

(3) Christ as Priest (Redeemer). The synoptists do not hint at the priestly analogy. Our Lord often spoke of forgiveness without mentioning Himself as the one through whom it was mediated, as if it flowed directly from the gracious heart of the Father (compare the parables of Luke 15:1-32). But there are other passages which emphasize the close connection of His person with men's redemption. Men's attitude to Him decides absolutely their relation to God (Matthew 10:32, 40). Rest of soul is mediated to the heavy laden through Him (Matthew 11:28-30). He claims authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). We have no evidence that He spoke definitely of His death until after Peter's confession at Caesarea (Mark 8:31, "began to teach," etc.), though we seem to have vague allusions earlier (e.g. the allegory of the bridegroom, Mark 2:19-20). This may be partly due to conscious reserve, in accordance with the true pedagogical method by which He adapted His teaching to the progressive receptivity of His followers. But inasmuch as we must think of Him as subject to the ordinary laws of human psychology, the idea of His death must have been to Him a growth, matured partly by outward events, and partly by the development of His inner consciousness as the Suffering Messiah. In His later ministry, He frequently taught that He must suffer and die (Mark 9:12, 31; 10:32 f; Mark 12:8; 14:8 and parallel passages; compare Mark 10:38; Luke 12:49 f). There are two important passages which expressly connect His death with His mediatorial work. The first is Mark 10:45 (parallel Matthew 20:28), "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." The context shows that it was while the thought of His approaching death filled His mind that our Lord uttered these words (compare Mark 10:33, 38 f). As to the exact meaning of ransom (lutron) there are two circles of ideas with which it may be associated. (a) It may mean a sacrificial offering, representing Hebrew kopher (literally, "covering," "propitiatory gift") which it translates several times in Septuagint (e.g. Exodus 30:12). Thus, Ritschl defines it as "an offering which, because of its specific worth to God, is a protection or coveting against sin" (Rechtfertigung und Versohnung, II, 68-88). (b) It may mean ransom price, the purchase-money paid for the emancipation of a slave. In Septuagint, lutron in most cases stands for some form of the roots ga'al, "to deliver," padhah, "to redeem" (e.g. Leviticus 25:51; Numbers 3:51). Hence, Wendt explains the "ransom" as the price by which Jesus redeemed His disciples from their bondage to suffering and death (Teaching of Jesus, II, 226 ff). This analogy certainly suits the context better than that drawn from the Levitical ritual, for it brings out the contrast between the liberating work of Christ and the enslaving work of those who "lord it over" men. We must not press the analogy in detail or seek here an answer to the question, who was the recipient of the ransom price (e.g. whether the Devil, as many Fathers, notably Origen and Gregory of Nyssa; God, as Anselm and later theologians; the "eternal law of righteousness," as Dale). The purpose of the passage is primarily practical, not speculative. It is certainly pressing the figurative language of Jesus too far to insist that the ransom price is the exact quantitative equivalent of the lives liberated, or of the penalty they had deserved regarded as a debt. This is too prosaic and literalistic an interpretation of a passage which has its setting in the ethical rather than in the commercial realm, and which breathes a spirit closely akin to that of Isaiah 53:1-12, where suffering and service axe, as here, combined.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.67

The other passage in which Christ definitely connects His mediatorship with His death is that which reports His words at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22-24; Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:19 f; compare 1 Corinthians 11:24 f). The reported words are not identical in the several narratives. But even in their simplest form (in Mark), there is evidently a threefold allusion, to the paschal lamb, to the sacrifice offered by Moses at the ratification of the covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24:8), and to Jeremiah's prophecy of a new covenant (Exodus 31:18). There can be little doubt that the paschal feast, though it does not conform in detail to any of the Levitical sacrifices, was regarded as a sacrifice, as is indicated by the blood ceremonial (Exodus 12:21-27). The blood of the covenant, too, is sacrificial; and, as we have seen, it is probable that all blood sacrifices, and not those of the sin and guilt offerings only, were associated with propitiatory power. Wendt denies that there is here any reference to sin and its forgiveness (Teachings of Jesus, II, 241 f). It must be admitted that the words in Matthew "unto remission of sins," which have no counterpart in the other reports, are probably an explanatory expansion of the words actually uttered. But they are a true interpretation of their meaning, as is attested by the fact that the new covenant of Jeremiah's prophecy was one of forgiveness and justification (Jeremiah 31:34), and that Christ speaks of His blood as shed for others. And as the Passover signified deliverance from bondage to an earthly power (Egypt), so the Supper stands for forgiveness and deliverance from a spiritual power (sin). Clearly Christ here represents Himself as the Mediator of the new covenant, through whom men are to find acceptance with God, though the exact modus operandi of His sacrifice is not indicated.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.68

The Synoptics give special prominence to those historical events which are most intimately associated with Christ's mediatorship--not only the agony in the garden and the crucifixion, but also the resurrection and ascension (which make possible His intercessory mediation in heaven).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.69

2. Primitive Apostolic Teachings: (1) The Early Speeches in Acts. The early speeches in Acts reveal a primitive stage of theological reflection. Yet they are essentially Christocentric. (a) It is the Messianic Kingship of Christ that is chiefly emphasized. The main thesis is that Jesus is the Messiah (the "anointed one"; compare Acts 4:27; 10:38), and that His Messiahship was realized in the crucifixion and attested by the resurrection. An important feature is the use of the title "Servant" for Christ (Acts 3:13, 16; 27, 30; compare Acts 8:30-35), in evident reference to the Suffering Servant of Deutero-Isaiah. In the phrase, "thy holy Servant .... whom thou didst anoint," coming immediately after the Messianic quotation, "against the Lord, and against his Anointed" (Acts 4:26 f), we have a concise instance of that coalescing of the idea of the Messiah with that of the Suffering Servant which gave the Messianic idea an entirely new meaning. As Messiah, Jesus was the sole Mediator of salvation (Acts 4:12). (b) Another Old Testament type which finds its fulfillment in Jesus is that of the "prophet like unto" Moses (Acts 3:22; 7:37; compare Deuteronomy 18:15, 18). (c) But the priestly functions of Christ are not explicitly touched on. The questions are not faced, What is the God-ward significance of His death? How is it effective for man's salvation? It is rather the man-ward significance that is made explicit, i.e. Jesus as Messiah mediates salvation to men from His place of exaltation at the right hand of God. Yet the germs of a God-ward mediation are found in the identification of the Messiah with the Suffering Servant.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.70

(2) Epistles of James and Jude. In these epistles the doctrine of Christ's mediation does not occupy a prominent place. To James, Christianity is the culmination of Judaism. Christ's mediatorial functions are set forth more by way of presupposition than by explicit statement, and the whole weight is laid on the kingly and prophetic offices. The Messiahship of Jesus is assumed to such an extent that the title "Christ" has become part of the proper name, and His Lordship is also implied (1:1; 2:1). Nothing definite is said of His function in salvation; it is God Himself who regenerates, but the medium of regeneration is "the word of truth," "the implanted word" (1:18,21), whichISBE Mediation; Mediator.71

must refer to the word which Jesus had preached. This implies that Jesus as prophetic teacher is the Mediator of salvation. Nothing is said of the death on the cross or its saving significance. The Epistle of Jude assumes the Lordship of Christ, through whom God's Saviourhood works, and whose mercy results in eternal life (1:4,21,25).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.72

(3) 1 Peter. In 1 Peter we have the early apostolic teaching touched with Paulinism. The fact that salvation is mediated through the sufferings and death of Christ is now explicitly stated. Christ has suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous (3:18). The suffering has significance both God-ward and man-ward. Relatively to God it is a sacrificial offering which opens up a way of access to Him; He suffered "that he might bring us to God" (3:18), and that through His representative priesthood the ideal "holy priesthood" of all God's people might be realized, for it is "through Jesus Christ" that men's "spiritual sacrifices" become "acceptable to God" (2:5). So the elect are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, i.e. brought into communion with God by His sacrifice (1:2). Relatively to man, it is a means of ransoming or liberating man from the bondage compare sin. "Knowing that ye were redeemed (elutrothete, literally, "ransomed," from lutron, "ransom," an echo of Mark 10:45) .... with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-19). The sacrificial language is simple and undeveloped, and it is not clear whether the figure of "lamb" implies a reference to the paschal lamb or to Isaiah 53:7, or to both. The effect on man is, however, clear. Christ "bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24; see the whole passage, 1 Peter 2:21-24, reminiscent of the figure of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, chapter 53).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.73

3. Epistles of Paul: Christ's mediatorship stands at the very center of Paul's gospel; this in spite of the fact that only once does he apply the term "mediator" to Christ (1 Timothy 2:5), and that in the only other passage where he uses the word, he applies it to Moses, in a sense which might seem to be inconsistent with the idea of Christ's mediatorship, namely, where he discusses the relation of law to promise. The law was "ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not .... of one; but God is one" (Galatians 3:19-20).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.74

This passage has had to undergo about 300 different interpretations. The view that the "mediator" here is Christ (Origen, Augustine and most of the Fathers, Calvin, etc.) is clearly untenable. Modern exegetes agree that the reference is to Moses (compare Leviticus 26:46, where the Septuagint has "by the hand of Moses"; Philo calls Moses "mediator and reconciler," De Vit. Moys, iii.19), who, according to a rabbinical tradition, received the Law through the intermediation of angles (compare Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2). Nor is it likely that Paul meant the reader to realize the glory of the law and the solemnity of its ordination (Meyer). The point is rather the inferiority of the law to the evangelical promise to Abraham. Mediation implies at least two parties between whom it is carried on. The law was given by a double mediatorship, that of the angels and that of Moses, and was thus two removes from its Divine source. But in relation to the promise God stood alone, i.e. acted freely, unconditionally, independently, and for Himself alone. The promise is no agreement between two, buy the free gift of the one God (so Schleiermacher, Lightfoot, etc.). This is by no means a denial of the Divine origin of the law (Ritschl), for the mediation of angels and of Moses was Divinely authorized; but it does seem to make the method of mediation inferior to that of the direct communication of God's gracious will to man. Paul is not, however, treating of the principle of mediation in the abstract, but only that form of it which implies a contract between two parties. Christ is not Mediator in the same sense as Moses, for the free and unconditioned character of the forgiving grace which Christ mediates is by no means diminished by the fact of His mediation.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.75

What, then, is Paul's positive teaching on Christ's Mediatorship?ISBE Mediation; Mediator.76

(1) The Need of a Mediator: The need of a Mediator arises out of the fact of sin. Sin interrupts the harmonious relation between God and man. It results in a state of mutual alienation. On the one hand, man is in a state of enmity to God (Romans 5:10; 8:7; Colossians 1:21). On the other hand, God is moved to righteous wrath in relation to the sinner (Romans 1:18; 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6). Hence, the need of a mutual change of attitude, a removal of God's displeasure against the sinner as well as of the sinner's hostility to God. God could not restore man to favor by a mere fiat, without some public exhibition of Divine righteousness, and vindication of His character as not indifferent to sin (compare Romans 3:25-26). Such exhibition demanded a Mediator.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.77

(2) The Qualifications: The qualification of Christ to be the Mediator depends on His intimate relation to both parties at variance.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.78

(a) Christ's Relation to Man: Firstly, He is Himself a man, i.e. not merely "man" generically, but an individual man. The "one mediator between God and men" is "himself man, Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5), "born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4), "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3, where the word "likeness" does not make "flesh" unreal, but qualifies "sinful"), i.e. bore to the eye the aspect of an ordinary man; secondly, He bore a particular relation to a section of humanity, the Jews (Romans 1:3; 9:5); thirdly, He bore a universal relation to mankind in general. He was more than an individual among many, like a link in a chain. He was the Second Adam, the archetypal, universal, representative Man, whose actions therefore had significance beyond Himself and were ideally the actions of humanity, just as Adam's act had, on a lower plane, a significance for the whole race (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.79

(b) His Relation to God: Paul very frequently speaks of Christ as the "Son of God," and that in a unique sense. Moreover, He was the "image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15), and subsisted originally "in the form of God" (Philippians 2:6). He is set alongside with God over against idols (1 Corinthians 8:5-6), and is coordinated with God in the benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14). Clearly Paul sets Him in the Divine sphere over against all that is not God. Yet he assigns Him a certain subordination, and even asserts that His mediatorial kingship will come to an end, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24, 28). But this cessation of His function as Mediator of salvation, when its end shall have been attained, cannot affect His Divine dignity, "since the mediatorial sovereignty which is now ceasing was not its cause, but its consequence" (B. Weiss, II, 396).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.80

(3) The Means, the Death of Christ: The means of effecting the reconciliation was mainly the death on the cross. Paul emphasizes the mediating value of the death both on its objective (God-ward) side and on its subjective (man-ward) side. First, it is the objective ground of forgiveness and favor with God. On the basis of what Christ has done, God ceases to reckon to men their sins (2 Corinthians 5:19). Paul's view of the death may be seen by considering some of his most characteristic expressions. (a) It is an act of reconciliation. This involves a change of attitude, not only in man, but in God, a relinquishing of the Divine wrath without which there can be no restoration of peaceful relations (though this is disputed by many, e.g. Ritschl, Lightfoot, Westcott, Beyschlag), but not a change of nature or of intention, for the Divine wrath is but a mode of the eternal love, and moreover it is the Father Himself who provides the means of reconciliation and undertakes to accomplish it (2 Corinthians 5:19; compare Colossians 1:20-21; Ephesians 2:16). (b) It is an act of propitiation (Romans 3:25, hilasterion, from hilaskesthai, "to render favorable" or "propitious"). Here there is a clear though tacit reference to a change of attitude on God's part. He who was not formerly propitious to man was appeased through the death of Christ. Yet the propitiatory means are provided by God Himself, who takes the initiative in the matter ("whom God set forth," etc.). (c) It is a ransom. The Mediator "gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:6). The idea of payment of a ransom price is clearly implied in the word "redemption" (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14, apolutrosis, from lutron, "ransom"). It is not alone the fact of liberation (Westcott, Ritschl), but also the cost of liberation that is referred to. Hence, Christians are said to be "redeemed," "bought with a price" (Galatians 3:13; 4:5; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; compare 1 Peter 1:18 f). Yet the metaphor cannot be pressed to yield an answer to the question to whom the ransom was paid. All that can safely be said is that it expresses the tremendous cost of our salvation, namely, the self-surrendered life ("the blood") of Christ. (d) Strong substitutionary language is sometimes used, notably in Galatians 3:13 ("having become a curse for us") and in 2 Corinthians 5:21 ("Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf"). But the sinless substitute is not regarded as actually punished (that would be a moral contradiction). His death was not penal substitution, but a substitute for penalty. It had the value to God of the punishment of sinners, in virtue of His oneness with the race. It was the recognition from within humanity of the sinfulness of sin, and expressed the Divine righteousness as fully as penalty would have done. The secret seems to be Christ's sympathetic love by which He identified Himself with man's sin and doom of death. (e) Sacrificial language is used, as in 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2, and in the references to Christ's "blood." Not often, however, does Paul explicitly speak of the death in terms of the Levitical ritual, which would be less congenial to his mind than the prophetic conception of the Suffering Servant. Yet he does seem to regard the death of Christ as the culmination of all that the sacrifices of the Old Testament had imperfectly realized. Secondly, the subjective aspect of Christ's work is emphasized quite as much as the objective. The death of Christ, being inwardly assimilated by faith, becomes to the believer the principle of ethical transformation, so that he may become worthy of the Divine favor which he now enjoys. As a result of his subjective identity with Christ through faith, the objective state of privilege is changed into actual liberation from sin (Galatians 2:20; 6:14; Romans 6:6-7; Colossians 3:3).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.81

(4) The Resurrection and Exaltation: The resurrection and exaltation of Christ are essential to His mediatorial work (1 Corinthians 15:17). It is not alone that the resurrection "proves that the death of Christ was not the death of a sinner, but the vicarious death of the sinless Mediator of salvation" (B. Weiss, I, 436), but that salvation cannot be realized except through communion with the living, glorified Christ, without which the subjective identity of the believer with Christ by which redemption is personally appropriated would not be possible (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:4-5; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 3:1). The exaltation also makes possible His continuous heavenly intercession on our behalf (Romans 8:34), which is the climax of His mediatorial activities.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.82

(5) The Cosmic Aspect of Christ's Mediatorship: In his later epistles (especially Colossians and Ephesians), Paul lays stress on Christ's mediatorial activity in creation and providence, though the germs of his later teaching are found in the earlier epistles (1 Corinthians 8:6). He is resisting a kind of nascent Gnostic dualism, according to which God could communicate with the world only through a hierarchy of intermediate powers. Against this he proclaims Christ as the one and only Mediator between God and the universe, having, on the one hand, a unique relation to God ("the image of the invisible God," Colossians 1:15; in whom the fullness of God dwells, Colossians 1:19; 2:9), and, on the other hand, a unique relation to the world, as its creative agent, its immanent principle of unity, and its ultimate goal (Colossians 1:15-17). Here the apostle shows affinity with the Logos-doctrine of Philo, though the differences are marked and fundamental. Corresponding to this wider view of Christ's person, there is a wide view of the reconciliation wrought through Him. It even extends to the world beyond man, and restores the broken harmony of the universe (Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 1:10).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.83

4. Epistle to the Hebrews: The main thesis of Hebrews is the absoluteness and finality of the gospel and its superiority over Judaism. The finality of Christianity depends on the fact that it has a perfect Mediator, who is the substance of which the various Jewish forms of mediation were types and shadows. He illustrates this by a series of contrasts between Christ and the mediators of the old system (by the application of principles and exegetical methods which reveal the influence of the school of Philo). In each contrast, Christ's superiority is based on His Sonship. (1) Christ is superior to the prophets as Mediator of revelation. The Old Testament revelation was fragmentary and multiform, while now God speaks, not through many agents, but through One, and that one a Son. As Son He is the perfectly adequate expression of the Father. The author takes us at once to the high transcendental sphere of Christ's relations to God and the universe, in virtue of which He is God's Mediator in creation, providence, revelation and redemption (Hebrews 1:1-3). (2) He is superior to the angels, through whose mediation the law was given (Hebrews 1:4-14). (3) He is superior to Moses, the human agent in the giving of the law (Hebrews 3:1-6). (4) He is greater than Aaron the high priest, the people's representative before God. This leads to the central doctrine of the epistle, the high-priesthood of Jesus. The following are the salient points in the elaborate treatment of this subject:ISBE Mediation; Mediator.84

(1) Christ's Qualification for the High-Priesthood Is Twofold:ISBE Mediation; Mediator.85

(a) His participation in all human experience (except sin), which guarantees His power of sympathy. Every high priest, as men's representative before God, must be "taken from among men" (Hebrews 5:1). Hence, the author lays great stress on the human nature and experiences of Christ (compare Hebrews 2:10, 17-18; 4:15; Hebrews 5:7-8). (b) His Divine appointment. Every priest must have a call from God. So Christ has been appointed priest, not indeed in the Aaronic line, but after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:1-10).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.86

(2) The Nature of His Priesthood, Its Superiority to the Levitical Priesthood.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.87

The priests of the Old Testament themselves needed atonement, for they were not sinless; Christ is holy, guileless, undefiled, and need not make atonement for His own sins. They were priests only for a time, and were many in number, for they were mortal; but He abideth forever, and His priesthood is eternal. They were dependent on the law of physical descent; He was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, whose priesthood did not depend on genealogy or pedigree, and who combined the functions of king with those of priest. In a word, their order was transient, temporary, shadowy; His belonged to the world of unchanging reality (Hebrews 7:1-28).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.88

(3) The Realization of His High-Priesthood. A high priest implies a sacrifice; hence, Christ must "have somewhat to offer" (Hebrews 8:3). In the Levitical system, the priest and the sacrifice are distinct from each other. But Christ offered not an external gift, but Himself. Much stress is laid on Christ's voluntary obedience (Hebrews 5:8; 10:7), progressively attained through suffering, and culminating in the absolute surrender of His life ("blood") in death. His sacrifice harmonizes with the principle that "apart from shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22), although the principle is lifted from the physical to the spiritual realm. In working this out, the author makes use of analogies drawn from three parts of the Levitical ritual. (a) Christ's death was a sin offering. He has offered one final sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:12, 18). As priest, he has "made propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17); as victim He was "once (for all) offered to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:28). (b) The Sinaitic covenant (Exodus 24:8) is made use of. Christ is "the mediator of a new (better) covenant" (Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24), i.e. the agent interposing between God and man in the establishment of a new relationship analogous to Moses in the old covenant. Even the first covenant was dedicated with blood, and so the blood of the Son of God was "the blood of the covenant" (Hebrews 10:29; compare Mark 14:24). On the double meaning of the word diatheke ("covenant," "testament"), the author bases a twofold argument for the necessity of Christ's death (Hebrews 9:15 ff). (c) The ritual of the Day of Atonement furnishes another analogy. As the high priest once a year entered the most holy place of the earthly people, so Christ has entered once for all the true spiritual sanctuary in heaven, and there He presents Himself to God as the Mediator able to make intercession for us with the Father (Hebrews 9:12, 24-26; compare Hebrews 7:25). He is a ministering priest in the true tabernacle, the immediate presence of God (Hebrews 8:2). Thus the ascension and session make possible the culmination of the mediatorial work of Christ in the eternal sacrifice and intercession within the veil.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.89

(4) The Man-ward Efficacy of His Mediatorship. The effect of Christ's death on man is described by the words "cleanse," "sanctify," "perfect" (Hebrews 9:14; 10, 14, 29; 13:12), words which have a ritualistic quite as much as an ethical sense, meaning the removal of the sense of guilt, dedication to God, and the securing of the privilege of full fellowship with Him. The ultimate blessing that comes to man through the work of Christ is the privilege of free, unrestricted access to God by the removal of the obstacle of guilt (Hebrews 4:16; 10:19 ff).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.90

5. The Johannine Writings: (1) The Fourth Gospel. Aspects of our Lord's teaching unassimilated by the other disciples, and therefore but meagerly touched on in the Synoptics, find prominence in the Gospel of John, but colored by his own meditations. Great emphasis is laid on the idea of salvation by revelation mediated through Jesus Christ. The historical revelation of God in the person and teaching of Jesus is the main subject of the Gospel. But in the Prologue we have the eternal background of the historical manifestation in the doctrine of the Logos, who, as Son in eternal fellowship with the Father, His mediator in creation, and the immanent principle of revelation in the world, is fitted to become God's Revealer in history (1:11-18). His work on earth is to dispense light and life, knowledge of God and salvation. Through Him God gives to the world eternal life (3:16). He is the Water of Life (4:14; 7:37), the Bread of Life (6:48 ff), the Light of the World (8:12); it is by inward appropriation of Him that salvation is mediated to men (6:52 ff). He is the perfect revealer of God, hence, the only means of access to the Father (14:6,9). It is on salvation by illumination and communion, rather than on salvation by reconciliation and atonement that chief stress is laid. Sacrificial or propitiatory language is not used of Christ's death. Yet emphasis is laid on the voluntary and vicarious character of His death. He lays down His life of Himself (10:18); "The good shepherd layeth down his life for (= on behalf of) the sheep" (10:11; compare 15:13). Christ's death was the supreme example of the law that self-sacrifice is necessary to the highest and most fruitful life (12:23 ff). In John 17:1-26 we have a unique instance of our Lord's intercessory prayer.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.91

(2) The Epistles. In 1 John we find more explicit statements with regard to the connection between the death of Christ and sin. "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1:7); "He was manifested to take away sins" (3:5); "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father," i.e. a pleader who will mediate with God on our behalf, the ground of His intercessory efficacy being that He is the "propitiation for our sins" (2:2; 4:10, a term which links the Johannine doctrine to that of Paul, though 1 John represents Christ Himself, and not merely His death on the cross, as the propitiation). This latter term shows that an objective value is attached to the atonement, as in some way neutralizing or making amends for sin in the eyes of God, yet in such a way as not to contradict the principles of righteousness (compare "Jesus Christ the righteous," 2:1).ISBE Mediation; Mediator.92

(3) The Apocalypse. The Apocalypse presents both aspects of Christ's mediation. On the one hand, He is associated with God in the government of the world and in judgment (Revelation 3:21; 7:10; 6:16), holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18), is the Lord of lords and King of kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), and is the Mediator of creation (Revelation 3:14). On the other hand, by His sacrificial act He represents men before God. The most characteristic expression of this is the title "the Lamb" (29 t). By His blood the guilty are cleansed and made saints, purchased unto God (Revelation 5:9; 7:14). The lamb is the symbol of the sacrificial love which is the heart of God's sovereignty (Revelation 5:6). It is not clear whether the allusion in this title is to the paschal lamb or to the Suffering Servant pictured as a lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), or to both. In any case it contains the idea of Christ's redemptive sacrifice, which is declared to be an essential part of God's eternal counsel (Revelation 13:8 margin, "the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the world").ISBE Mediation; Mediator.93

V. Conclusion. Our inquiry will have shown how central and prominent is the idea of mediation throughout the Scriptures. We might even say it supplies the key to the unity of the Bible. In the Old Testament the principle is given "in divers portions and in divers manners," but in the New Testament it converges in the doctrine of the person and work of the One final Mediator, the Son of God. Amid all the rich diversity of the various parts of the New Testament, there is one fundamental conception common to all, that of Christ as at once the interpreter of God to men and the door of access for men to God. Especially is Christ's self-sacrifice presented as the effective cause of our salvation, as a means of removing the guilt and sin which stand as a barrier in the way of God's purpose concerning man and of man's fellowship with God. There is a tendency in some influential writers of today to speak disparagingly of the doctrine of the one Mediator, on the ground that it injures the direct relationship of man with God (e.g. R. Eucken, Truth of Religion, 583 ff). Here we can reply only that the doctrine properly defined is attested in universal Christian experience, and that, so far from standing in the way of our personal approach to God, it is a simple historical fact that apart from the work of Jesus we would not enjoy that free access to Him which is now our privilege.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.94

LITERATURE.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.95

Besides the commentaries, such works on Old Testament Theology as those of Oehler, Schultz, A.B. Davidson, and on New Testament Theology by B. Weiss, Beyschlag, Holtzmann, W.B. Stevens, Weinel; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus; A.B. Bruce, Paul's Conception of Christianity and The Epistle to the Hebrews; J. Denney, The Death of Christ; Du Bose, The Gospel in the Gospels, The Gospel according to Paul, High-Priesthood and Sacrifice. For the idea of mediation in Jewish religion, Oesterley, The Jewish Doctrine of Mediation; Toy, Judaism and Christianity. Much material on the Biblical doctrine may be found in such works as Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine; Ritschl, Die christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung und Versohnung, 3 volumes (Volumes I and III, English translation); Dale, The Atonement; McLeod Campbell, The Nature of the Atonement; F.D. Maurice, The Doctrine of Sacrifice; Moberly, Atonement and Personality; J. Scott Lidgett, The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement; G.B. Stevens, Christian Doctrine of Salvation; articles in HDB, DCG, and in this Encyclopedia on "Mediation"; "Mediator"; "Atonement"; "Messiah"; "Propitiation"; "Prophets"; "Priests"; "Ransom"; "Reconciliation"; "Sacrifice"; Salvation," etc.ISBE Mediation; Mediator.96

D. Miall EdwardsISBE Mediation; Mediator.97

Medicine

Medicine - med'-i-sin, med'-i-s'-n (gehah, teruphah, rephu'ah): These words are used in the sense of a remedy or remedies for disease. In Proverbs 17:22 the King James Version, a merry heart is said to do good "like a medicine." There is an alternative reading in the King James Version margin, "to a medicine," the Revised Version (British and American) "is a good medicine"; the Revised Version margin gives another rendering, "causeth good healing," which is the form that occurs in the Septuagint and which was adopted by Kimchi and others. Some of the Targums, substituting a waw for the first h in gehah, read here "doeth good to the body," thus making this clause antithetic to the latter half of the verse. In any case the meaning is that a cheerful disposition is a powerful remedial agent.ISBE Medicine.2

In the figurative account of the evil case of Judah and Israel because of their backsliding (Jeremiah 30:13), the prophet says they have had no rephu'ah, or "healing medicines." Later on (Jeremiah 46:11), when pronouncing the futility of the contest of Neco against Nebuchadrezzar, Jeremiah compares Egypt to an incurably sick woman going up to Gilead to take balm as a medicine, without any benefit. In Ezekiel's vision of the trees of life, the leaves are said (the King James Version) to be for medicine, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "healing," thereby assimilating the language to that in Revelation 22:2, "leaves of the tree .... for the healing of the nations" (compare Ezekiel 47:12).ISBE Medicine.3

Very few specific remedies are mentioned in the Bible. "Balm of Gilead" is said to be an anodyne (Jeremiah 8:22; compare Jeremiah 51:8). The love-fruits, "mandrakes" (Genesis 30:14) and "caperberry" (Ecclesiastes 12:5 margin), myrrh, anise, rue, cummin, the "oil and wine" of the Good Samaritan, soap and sodic carbonate ("natron," called by mistake "nitre") as cleansers, and Hezekiah's "fig poultice" nearly exhaust the catalogue. In the Apocrypha we have the heart, liver and gall of Tobit's fish (Tobit 6:7). In the Egyptian pharmacopoeia are the names of many plants which cannot be identified, but most of the remedies used by them were dietetic, such as honey, milk, meal, oil, vinegar, wine. The Babylonian medicines, as far as they can be identified, are similar. In the Mishna we have references to wormwood, poppy, hemlock, aconite and other drugs. The apothecary mentioned in the King James Version (Exodus 30:25, etc.) was a maker of perfumes, not of medicines. Among the fellahin many common plants are used as folk-remedies, but they put most confidence in amulets or charms, which are worn by most Palestinian peasants to ward off or to heal diseases.ISBE Medicine.4

Alexander MacalisterISBE Medicine.5

Meditation

Meditation - med-i-ta'-shun (haghuth, sichah): "Meditation" is the translation of haghuth, from haghah, "to murmur," "to have a deep tone," hence, "to meditate" (Psalms 49:3); of haghigh, "sighing," "moaning" (Psalms 5:1; see Psalms 5:2); of higgayon, "the murmur" or dull sound of the harp, hence, meditation (Psalms 19:14, "Let .... the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight"); of siach, "speech," "meditation" (Psalms 104:34, "Let my meditation be sweet unto him"); of sichah, a "bowing down," "musing" (Psalms 119:97, 99; 2 Esdras 10:5). "To meditate" is the translation of haghah (Joshua 1:8; Psalms 1:2; 63:6; Isaiah 33:18 the King James Version); of suach (Genesis 24:63); of siach (Psalms 119:15, 23, etc.; Psalms 143:5, the King James Version "muse"; 1 Chronicles 16:9; Psalms 105:2 margin). In Apocrypha we have "to meditate" (Ecclesiasticus 14:20, "Blessed is the man that shall mediate in wisdom," the Revised Version margin "most authorities read come to an end" (teleutesei); Ecclesiasticus 39:1, "meditateth in the law of the Most High" (dianoeomai)). The lack of meditation is a great want in our modern religious life. In the New Testament, we have "to meditate" (promeletao, "to take care beforehand"), Luke 21:14, and "meditate" (meletao, "to take care"), 1 Timothy 4:15 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "be diligent"); compare Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:2.ISBE Meditation.2

W. L. WalkerISBE Meditation.3

Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea - med-i-te-ra'-ne-an (he thalassa): To the Hebrews the Mediterranean was the sea, as was natural from their situation.ISBE Mediterranean Sea.2

Hence, they speak of it simply as "the sea" (ha-yam), e.g. Genesis 49:13; Numbers 13:29; 34:5; Judges 5:17; or, again, it is "the great sea" (ha-yam ha-gadhol, e.g. Numbers 34:6-7; Joshua 9:1; 12, 47; Ezekiel 47:10, 15, 19-20; 48:28); or, because it lay to the West of Palestine, as "the great sea toward the going down or the sun" (Joshua 1:4; 23:4), and, since the west was regarded as the "back," in contrast to the east as the "front," as "hinder (or "western" the Revised Version (British and American), "uttermost" or "utmost" the King James Version) sea" (ha-yam ha-'acharon), Deuteronomy 11:24; 34:2; Zechariah 14:8; Joel 2:20, in the last two passages contrasted with "the former (King James Version, "eastern" the Revised Version (British and American)) sea" ha-yam ha-qadhmoni), i.e. the Dead Sea. See FORMER. That portion of the Mediterranean directly West of Palestine is once (Exodus 23:31) referred to as "the sea of the Philis" yam pelishtim). the King James Version has "sea of Joppa" (Ezra 3:7) where the Revised Version (British and American) correctly renders "to the sea, unto Joppa" (compare 2 Chronicles 2:16). Similarly, the King James Version "the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia" (Acts 27:5) is better rendered "the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia" (Revised Version).ISBE Mediterranean Sea.3

In the New Testament, references to the Mediterranean are common, especially in the accounts of Paul's voyages, for which see PAUL. Jesus once (Mark 7:24 ff) came to or near the sea.ISBE Mediterranean Sea.4

The Mediterranean basin was the scene of most ancient civilizations which have greatly influenced that of the western world, except those whose home was in the valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates; and even these continually thrust themselves into it, so far as they could. As its name implies, it is an inland area, united to the Atlantic only by the narrow Straits of Gibraltar. In comparatively recent geological time it was also joined to the Red Sea, the alluvial deposits of the Nile, which have extended the line of the Delta, having with the aid of drifting desert sands subsequently closed the passage and joined the continents of Asia and Africa. The total length of the Mediterranean is about 2,300 miles, its greatest breadth about 1,080 miles, and its area about 1,000,000 square miles. It falls naturally into the western and eastern (Levant) halves, dividing at the line running from Tunis to Sicily, where it is comparatively shallow; the western end is generally the deeper, reaching depths of nearly 6,000 ft. On the North it is intersected by the Italian and Balkan peninsulas, forming the Gulf of Lyons, the Adriatic and the Aegean. In ancient times these and other divisions of the Mediterranean bore specific names given by the Greeks and Romans, but from the nature of the case their limits were ill defined. The temperature of the Mediterranean is in summer warmer, in winter about the same as that of the Atlantic. Its water has a slightly greater specific gravity, probably because of a larger proportionate evaporation.ISBE Mediterranean Sea.5

William Arthur HeidelISBE Mediterranean Sea.6

Meeda

Meeda - me-e'-da.ISBE Meeda.2

See MEEDDA.ISBE Meeda.3

Meedda

Meedda - me-ed'-a (Meedda, but Swete, Dedda, following Codex Vaticanus; the King James Version Meeda): The head of one of the families of Nethinim (temple slaves) who went up with Zerubbabel from the captivity (1 Esdras 5:32); identical with "Mehida" of Ezra 2:52 and Nehemiah 7:54.ISBE Meedda.2

Meekness

Meekness - mek'-nes (`anawah; praotes, prautes): "Meekness" in the Old Testament (`anawah, `anwah) is from `anaw, "suffering," "oppressed," "afflicted," denoting the spirit produced under such experiences. The word is sometimes translated "poor" (Job 24:4, the Revised Version margin "meek"; Amos 8:4); "humble" (Psalms 9:12, 18, the Revised Version margin "meek"); "lowly" (Proverbs 3:34; 16:19, the Revised Version (British and American) "poor," margin "meek"). It is generally associated with some form of oppression. The "meek" were the special objects of the Divine regard, and to them special blessings are promised (Psalms 22:26, "The meek shall eat and be satisfied"; Psalms 25:9, "The meek will he guide in justice; and the meek will he teach his way"; Psalms 37:11, "The meek shall inherit the land"; Psalms 147:6, "Yahweh upholdeth the meek"; Psalms 149:4, "He will beautify the meek with salvation," the Revised Version margin "victory"; compare Isaiah 11:4; 29:19; 61:1, "Yahweh hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek," the Revised Version margin "poor"; Zephaniah 2:3; Psalms 45:4, "because of (the Revised Version margin "in behalf of") truth and meekness and righteousness"). Of Moses it is said he "was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth," notwithstanding the Divine revelations given him, and in the face of opposition (Numbers 12:3; compare 2 Corinthians 12:1-6). Meekness is ascribed even to Yahweh Himself (2 Samuel 22:36, "Thy gentleness (`anawah) hath made me great"; compare Psalms 18:36 (`anwah), the Revised Version margin "condescension"); men are exhorted to seek it (Zephaniah 2:3, "Seek righteousness, seek meekness"; compare Proverbs 15:1; 16:14; 25:15; Ecclesiastes 10:4).ISBE Meekness.2

In the Apocrypha also "meekness" holds a high place (Ecclesiastes 1:18, "The fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction: faith and meekness are his delight," the Revised Version (British and American) "in faith and meekness is his good pleasure"; Ecclesiastes 3:19, "Mysteries are revealed unto the meek" (the Revised Version (British and American) omits); compare Ecclesiastes 10:14).ISBE Meekness.3

"Meekness" in the New Testament (praotes, prautes) is not merely a natural virtue, but a Christian "grace"; it is one of the "fruits of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:23). The conception of meekness, as it had been defined by Aristotle, was raised by Christianity to a much higher level, and associated with the commonly despised quality of humility (see under the word). It was the spirit of the Saviour Himself (Matthew 11:29): "I am meek (praos) and lowly in heart" (compare 2 Corinthians 10:1, "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ"); it presupposes humility, flows from it, and finds expression in moderation (see under the word). (See Trench, Syn. of New Testament, 145; Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, New Testament Lexicon, under the word) Christians are exhorted to cherish it and show it in their relations to one another (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:11; Titus 3:2, "showing all meekness toward all men"); it ought to characterize Christian teachers or those in authority in "instructing (the Revised Version (British and American) "correcting," margin "instructing") them that oppose themselves" (2 Timothy 2:25); the saving, "implanted" (the Revised Version margin "inborn") word is to be received "with meekness" (James 1:21); a man is to "show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13), and to give a reason for the hope that is in him, "with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).ISBE Meekness.4

The interchangeableness of "meek" with "poor," etc., in the Old Testament ought to be specially noted. our Lord's opening of His ministry at Nazareth (Luke 4:18, "He anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor"), and His message to John (Matthew 11:5, "The poor have good tidings preached to them") are in harmony therewith.ISBE Meekness.5

W. L. WalkerISBE Meekness.6

Meet

Meet - met, adjective (yashar; axios): Various words are employed to express meetness, the sense of what is proper, worthy, or fit. We have yashar, "straight," "upright," "right" (2 Kings 10:3, "meetest"; Jeremiah 26:14, the Revised Version (British and American) "right"); yashar (Jeremiah 27:5, the Revised Version (British and American) "right"); yosher (Proverbs 11:24, the Revised Version margin "what is justly due"); 'arikh, Aramaic "meet" (Ezra 4:14); bene, "sons of" (Deuteronomy 3:18, the King James Version "meet for the war," margin "Hebrew sons of power," the Revised Version (British and American) "men of valor"); kun, "to be right" etc. (Exodus 8:26); `asah "to be made," "used" (Ezekiel 15:5 twice, the Revised Version margin "made into"), tsaleach, "to be good or fit for" (Ezekiel 15:4, the Revised Version (British and American) "profitable"); ra'ah, "seen," "looked out," "chosen" (Esther 2:9); axios, "worthy" (Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20, the Revised Version (British and American) "worthy"; 1 Corinthians 16:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:3); dikaios, "just," "right" (Philippians 1:7 the Revised Version (British and American) "right"; 2 Peter 1:13 the Revised Version (British and American) "right"); euthetos, "we set" (Hebrews 6:7); euchrestos, "very useful," "profitable" (2 Timothy 2:21, "meet for the master's use"); hikanos, "sufficient" (1 Corinthians 15:9); hikanoo, "to make sufficient" (Colossians 1:12); kalos, "beautiful," "honest" (Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27); dei "it behooveth" (Luke 15:32; Romans 1:27, the Revised Version (British and American) "due"). For "meet" (supplied) (Judges 5:30), the Revised Version (British and American) has "on"; for "Surely it is meet to be said unto God" (Job 34:31), "For hath any said unto God?" In 2 Maccabees 9:12, we have dikaios, the Revised Version (British and American) "right."ISBE Meet.2

W. L. WalkerISBE Meet.3

Megiddo; Megiddon

Megiddo; Megiddon - me-gid'-o, me-gid'-on (meghiddo, meghiddon; Magiddo, Mageddon, Magdo): A royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was slain by Joshua (Joshua 12:21). It lay within the territory of Issachar, but was one of the cities assigned to Manasseh (Joshua 17:11; 1 Chronicles 7:29). Manasseh, however, was not able to expel the Canaanites, who therefore continued to dwell in that land. Later, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, the Canaanites were put to taskwork (Joshua 17:12 f; Judges 1:27 f). The host of Sisera was drawn to the river Kishon, and here, "by the waters of Megiddo," the famous battle was fought (Judges 5:19). By the time of Solomon, Israel's supremacy was unquestioned. Megiddo was included in one of his administrative districts (1 Kings 4:12), and it was one of the cities which he fortified (1 Kings 9:15). Ahaziah, mortally wounded at the ascent of Gur, fled to Megiddo to die (2 Kings 9:27). At Megiddo, Josiah, king of Judah, attempted to arrest Pharaoh-necoh and his army on their march to the Euphrates against the king of Assyria. Here the Egyptian monarch "slew him .... when he had seen him," and from Megiddo went the sorrowful procession to Jerusalem with Josiah's corpse (2 Kings 23:29 f; 2 Chronicles 35:20 ff). The sad tale is told again in 1 Esdras 1:25 ff. "The mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon" became a poetical expression for the deepest and most despairing grief (Zechariah 12:11).ISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.2

See also ARMAGEDDON.ISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.3

The constant association of Megiddo with Taanach (Tell Ta`anek) points to a position on the south edge of the plain of Esdraelon. In confirmation of this, we read (RP, 1st series, II, 35-47) that Thothmes III captured Megiddo, after having defeated the Palestinian allies who opposed him. He left his camp at Aruna (possibly `Ar`arah), and, following a defile (possibly Wady `Arah), he approached Megiddo from the South We should thus look for the city where the pass opens on the plain; and here, at Khan el-Lejjan, we find extensive ruins on both sides of a stream which turns several mills before falling into the Kishon. We may identify the site with Megiddo, and the stream with "the waters of Megiddo." Pharaoh-necoh would naturally take the same line of march, and his advance could be nowhere more hopefully opposed than at el-Lejjun. Tell el-Mutasellim, a graceful mound hard by, on the edge of the plain, may have formed the acropolis of Megiddo.ISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.4

The name Mujadda` attaches to a site 3 miles South of Beisan in the Jordan valley. Here Conder would place Megiddo. But while there is a resemblance in the name, the site really suits none of the Biblical data. The phrase "Taanach by the waters of Megiddo" alone confines us to a very limited area. No position has yet been suggested which meets all the conditions as well as el-Lejjun.ISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.5

The Khan here shows that the road through the pass from Esdraelon to the plain of Sharon and the coast was still much frequented in the Middle Ages.ISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.6

W. EwingISBE Megiddo; Megiddon.7

Mehetabel; Mehetabeel

Mehetabel; Mehetabeel - me-het'-a-bel, me-het'-a-bel (mehetah'el, "whom God makes happy"):ISBE Mehetabel; Mehetabeel.2

(1) Daughter of Matred, wife of Hadad or Hadar, the 8th and apparently last of the kings of Edom (Genesis 36:39; 1 Chronicles 1:50).ISBE Mehetabel; Mehetabeel.3

(2) Grandfather of that Shemaiah who played a treacherous part against Nehemiah at the suggestion of Tobiah and Sanballat, by trying to persuade Nehemiah to commit sacrilege (Nehemiah 6:10-13).ISBE Mehetabel; Mehetabeel.4

Mehida

Mehida - me-hi'-da (mechidha', "renowned"; "Meeda" (1 Esdras 5:32)): Ancestor and patronymic of a family of Nethinim who came back from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:52; Nehemiah 7:54).ISBE Mehida.2

Mehir

Mehir - me'-her (mechir, "price," "hire"): A descendant of Judah, son of Chelub, nephew of Shuah (1 Chronicles 4:11). Perug, a Chaldee name of equivalent meaning, is given for this person in the Targum of Rabbi Joseph.ISBE Mehir.2

Meholathite

Meholathite - me-ho'-la-thit (mecholathi): The Gentiledesignation of Adriel, the son of Barzillai, who married Merab, the daughter of King Saul (1 Samuel 18:19; 2 Samuel 21:8), the name Michal in 2 Samuel 21:8 being doubtless a copyist's error.ISBE Meholathite.2

See ABEL-MEHOLAH.ISBE Meholathite.3

Mehujael

Mehujael - me-hu'-ja-el (mechuya'el, mechiya'el, "smitten of God"): A descendant of Cain through Enoch and Irad (Genesis 4:18). The list in Genesis 5:12 ff is a working-over of the same material of genealogy by another hand at a different date of spelling (compare spelling of Chaucer and that of today). In that ease, Mehalalel would be the correspondent name to Mehujael (see Expository Times, X, 353).ISBE Mehujael.2

Mehuman

Mehuman - me-hu'-man (me`human (Esther 1:10)): A eunuch of Ahasuerus, the first of the seven chamberlains.ISBE Mehuman.2

Mehunim

Mehunim - me-hu'-nim (me`unim).ISBE Mehunim.2

See MEUNIM.ISBE Mehunim.3

Me-jarkon

Me-jarkon - me-jar'-kon (me ha-yarqon; thalassa Hierakon): The Hebrew may mean "yellow water." The phrase is literally, "the waters of Jarkon." Septuagint reads "and from the river, Jarkon and the boundary near Joppa." From this possibly we should infer a place called Jarkon in the lot of Dan; but no name resembling this has been found. The text (Joshua 19:46) is corrupt.ISBE Me-jarkon.2

Mekonah

Mekonah - me-ko'-na (mekhonah).ISBE Mekonah.2

See MECONAH.ISBE Mekonah.3

Melatiah

Melatiah - mel-a-ti'-a (melatyah, "Yah's deliverance"): A Gibeonite who assisted in building the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7).ISBE Melatiah.2

Melchi

Melchi - mel'-ki (Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Melchei; Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Melchi): The name of two ancestors of Jesus according to Luke's genealogy, one being in the 4th generation before Joseph, the husband of Mary, the other being in the 3rd generation before Zerubbabel (Luke 3:24, 28).ISBE Melchi.2

Melchiah

Melchiah - mel-ki'-a (malkhiyah, "Yah's king"): A priest and father of Pashur (Jeremiah 21:1 the King James Version); elsewhere and in the Revised Version (British and American) called MALCHIAH and MALCHIJAH (which see).ISBE Melchiah.2

Melchias

Melchias - mel-ki-as (Codex Vaticanus, Melcheias, Codex Vaticanus (b), Codex Alexandrinus, Melchias): Name of three men who had taken "strange wives":ISBE Melchias.2

(1) 1 Esdras 9:26 = "Malchijah" (Ezra 10:25).ISBE Melchias.3

(2) 1 Esdras 9:32 = "Malchijah" (Ezra 10:31).ISBE Melchias.4

(3) One of those who stood at Ezra's left hand when the law was read (1 Esdras 9:44) = "Malchijah" (Nehemiah 8:4), possibly identical with (1) or (2).ISBE Melchias.5

Melchiel

Melchiel - mel'-ki-el (Melchiel, Codex Vaticanus, Melcheiel): The father of Charmis, one of the governors of Bethulia (Judith 6:15). Other readings are Sellem and Mochisel.ISBE Melchiel.2

Melchishua

Melchishua - mel-ki-shoo'-a (malkishua`, "king's help").ISBE Melchishua.2

See MALCHI-SHUA.ISBE Melchishua.3

Melchizedek; Melchisedec

Melchizedek; Melchisedec - mel-kiz'e-dek, and (the King James Version in the book of Hebrews) (malki-tsedheq, "Tsedheq, or Tsidhiq is my king" (Genesis 14:18 ff; Psalms 110:4); Melchisedek (Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:207:1; Hebrews 7:10-11, 15, 17)): The name is explained in Hebrews 7:2 as "king of righteousness," with "-i" as the old genitive ending; but the correct explanation is no doubt the one given above; compare Adoni-zedek in Joshua 10:1, where Septuagint with Judges 1:5-7 has Adonibezek. Melchizedek was king of Salem (= Jerusalem) and "a priest unto 'El `Elyon" (Genesis 14:18). He brought bread and wine to Abraham after the latter's victory over the kings, and also bestowed upon him the blessing of 'El `Elyon. Abraham gave him "a tenth of all," i.e. of the booty probably, unless it be of all his possessions. Genesis 14:22 identifies Yahweh with 'El `Elyon, the title of the Deity as worshipped at Jerusalem; and so Hebrews 7:1 ff, following Septuagint of Genesis 14:18 ff, calls Melchizedek. "priest of God Most High," i.e. Yahweh.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.2

Skinner (Gen, 271, where Josephus, Ant, XVI, vi, 2, and Am M 6:1 are cited) points out that the Maccabees were called "high priests of God most high." Hence, some hold that the story of Melchizedek is an invention of Judaism, but Gunkel (Genesis 3:1-24, (285) ff) maintains that he is a traditional, if not a historical, character.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.3

Psalms 110:4 makes the klng-priest who is addressed there a virtual successor of Melchizedek, and the kings of Jerusalem might well, as Gunkel suggests, have been considered successors of Melchizedek in the same way that Charlemagne was regarded as the successor of the Caesars, and the latter as successors of the Pharaohs in Egypt. This leads naturally to an early date being ascribed to Psalms 110:1-7.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.4

The thought of a priest after the order of Melchizedek is taken up by the author of Hebrews. He wanted to prove the claim of Christ to be called priest. It was impossible, even had he so wished, to consider Jesus as an Aaronic priest, for He was descended from the tribe of Judah and not from that of Levi (7:14). The words of Psalms 110:4 are taken to refer to Him (Hebrews 5:5 f), and in Hebrews 7:5 ff the order of Melchizedek is held to be higher than that of Aaron, for the superiority of Melchizedek was acknowledged by Abraham (a) when he paid tithes to Melchizedek and (b) when he was blessed by Melchizedek, for "the less is blessed of the better." It might be added that Jesus can be considered a priest after the order of Melchizedek in virtue of His descent from David, if the latter be regarded as successor to Melchizedek But the author of He does not explicitly say this. Further, Aaron is only a "type" brought forward in He to show the more excellent glory of the work of Jesus, whereas Melchizedek is "made like unto the Son of God" (Hebrews 7:3), and Jesus is said to be "after the likeness of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 7:15).ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.5

Hebrews 7:1 ff presents difficulties. Where did the author get the material for this description of Melchizedek? (1) Melchizedek is said to be "without father, without mother, (i.e.) without genealogy"; and (2) he is described as "having neither beginning of days nor end of life"; he "abideth a priest continually." The answer is perhaps to be had among the Tell el-Amarna Letters, among which are at least 6, probably 8, letters from a king of Urusalim to Amenophis IV, king of Egypt, whose "slave" the former calls himself. Urusalim is to be identified with Jerusalem, and the letters belong to circa 1400 BC. The name of this king is given as Abd-Khiba (or Abd-chiba), though Hommel, quoted by G.A. Smith, Jerusalem, II, 14, note 7, reads Chiba. Zimmer, in ZA, 1891, 246, says that it can be read Abditaba, and so Sayce (HDB, III, 335b) calls him `ebhedh tobh. The king tells his Egyptian overlord, "Neither my father nor my mother set me in this place: the mighty arm of the king (or, according to Sayce, "the arm of the mighty king") established me in my father's house" (Letter 102 in Berlin collection, ll. 9-13; also number 103, ll. 25-28; number 104, ll. 13-15; see, further, H. Winckler, Die Thontafeln von Tell-el-Amarna; Knudtzon, Beitrage zur Assyriologie, IV, 101 ff, 279 ff, cited by G.A. Smith, Jerusalem, II, 8, note 1).ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.6

It thus becomes clear that possibly tradition identified Melchizedek with Abd-Khiba. At any rate the idea that Melchizedek was "without father, without mother, (i.e.) without genealogy" can easily be explained if the words of Abd-Khiba concerning himself can have been also attributed to Melchizedek. The words meant originally that he acknowledged that he did not come to the throne because he had a claim on it through descent; he owed it to appointment. But Jewish interpretation explained them as implying that he had no father or mother. Psalms 110:4 had spoken of the king there as being "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek," and this seems to have been taken to involve the perpetuity of Melchizedek also as priest. Melchizedek was then thought of as "having neither beginning of days" = "without father, without mother, without genealogy," and again as not having "end of life" = "abideth a priest continually." Hence, he is "made like unto the son of God," having neither beginning of days nor end of life. We get another New Testament example of Jewish interpretation in Galatians 4:21 ff. We have no actual proof that Melchizedek is identical with Abd-Khiba; possibly the reference to the former as being "without father," etc., is not to be explained as above. But why should Melchizedek, and he alone, of all the Old Testament characters be thought of in this way?ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.7

Westcott, Hebrews, 199, has a suggestive thought about Melchizedek: "The lessons of his appearance lie in the appearance itself. Abraham marks a new departure. .... But before the fresh order is established we have a vision of the old in its superior majesty; and this, on the eve of disappearance, gives its blessing to the new."ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.8

On the references to Melchizedek in Philo see Westcott, op. cit., 201; F. Rendall, Hebrews, App., 58 ff; and especially (with the passages and other authorities cited there) G. Milligan, Theology of Epistle to the Hebrews, 203 ff.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.9

The conclusions we come to are: (1) There was a tradition in Jerusalem of Melchizedek, a king in pre-Israelitish times, who was also priest to 'El `Elyon. This is the origin of Genesis 14:18 ff, where 'El `Elyon is identified with Yahweh. (2) Psalms 110:1-7 makes use of this tradition and the Psalmist's king is regarded as Melchizedek's successor. (3) The Epistle to the Hebrews makes use of (a) Psalms 110:1-7, which is taken to be a prophecy of Christ, (b) of Genesis 14:18 ff, and (c) of oral tradition which was not found in the Old Testament. It is this unwritten tradition that is possibly explained by the Tell el-Amarna Letters. See, further, articles by Sayce, Driver, and Hommel in Expository Times, VII, VIII.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.10

See also JERUSALEM.ISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.11

David Francis RobertsISBE Melchizedek; Melchisedec.12

Melea

Melea - me'-le-a, mel'-e-a (Melea): An ancestor of Jesus in Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:31).ISBE Melea.2

Melech

Melech - me'-lek (melekh, "king"): Great-grandson of Jonathan, son of Saul, grandson of Mephibosheth or Meribbaal (1 Chronicles 8:35; 9:41).ISBE Melech.2

Melicu

Melicu - mel'-i-ku (melikhu, also melukhi, "regnant"): Same as MALLUCHI (which see).ISBE Melicu.2

Melita

Melita - mel'-i-ta (Melite, Acts 28:1): Is now generally identified with Malta. The former error in attributing the reference to the island of Meleda on the East coast of the Adriatic Sea was due to the ancient practice of employing the term Adria to include the Ionian and Sicilian seas.ISBE Melita.2

Malta is the largest of a group of islands including Gozo and the islets Comino, Cominotto and Filfla, lying about 56 miles from the southern extremity of Sicily, 174 from the mainland of Italy, and 187 from the African coast. Malta itself is 17 1/2 miles long and 9 1/4 broad, and contains an area of 95 square miles. Its modern capital, Valetta, is situated in 35 degrees 54' North latitude and 14 degrees 31' East longitude.ISBE Melita.3

The central position of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea gave it great importance as a naval station. It was probably at first a Phoenician colony, and later passed under the influence, if not domination, of the Sicilian Greeks. But the Romans captured it from the Carthaginians in 218 BC (Livy xxi.51) and attached it definitely to the province of Sicily. Under Roman rule the inhabitants were famous for their industry, especially in the production of textile fabrics, probably of native cotton. The celebrated vestis melitensis was a fine and soft material for dresses and for the covering of couches (Cicero Verr. ii.72,176; ii.74,183; iv.46,103; Diodorus v.12,22). At the time when Paul visited the island it would seem that the administration was entrusted to a deputy of the proprietor of Sicily, who is referred to as protos Melitaion (Acts 28:7; CIG, 5754), or Melitensium primus omnium (CIL, x, 7495) (see PUBLIUS). A bay 2 1/2 miles Northwest of Valetta, the mouth of which is held by tradition to be the place where the vessel that bore Paul ran ashore, tallies admirably with the description of the locality in Acts. The Admiralty charts indicate places near the west side of the entrance to the bay, where the depth is first 20 ft. and then 15 ft., while the rush of the breakers in front of the little island of Salmoneta and behind it suit the reference to a place "where two seas met" (Acts 27:41). The inlet is called the Bay of Paul. The topographical question has been exhaustively treated by Ramsay in Paul the Traveler.ISBE Melita.4

George H. AllenISBE Melita.5

Melody

Melody - mel'-o-di: zimrah, a musical piece or song to be accompanied by an instrument (Isaiah 51:3); an instrument of praise (Amos 5:23); naghan, "to play on a stringed instrument," "Make sweet melody, sing many songs" (Isaiah 23:16); psallo to celebrate the praises of God with music (Ephesians 5:19).ISBE Melody.2

See MUSIC.ISBE Melody.3

Melons

Melons - mel'-unz (`abhattichim; compare Arabic battikh, the "water melon"; pepones): In Numbers 11:5, the melon is referred to as common in Egypt, and there can be no doubt that the variety indicated is the watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) which is indigenous in tropical Africa. It has been cultivated in Egypt since the earliest times.ISBE Melons.2

Melzar

Melzar - mel'-zar (ha-meltsar; Septuagint Abiesdri, Theod. Hamelsad): Possibly a transliteration of the Babylonian Ameluucur, the officer to whom was entrusted the bringing-up of Daniel and his three companions (Daniel 1:11 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "the steward," margin "Hebrew: Hammelzar"). It has been suggested that the name is not the name of a person, but denotes the office of guardian, like the Babylonian maccaru. In this case the "l" would come by dissimulation from the first of the two "s" sounds, which on its side has come from an assimilated "n", the root being nacaru, "to protect" "to guard."ISBE Melzar.2

R. Dick WilsonISBE Melzar.3

Male — Masaloth

Mem — Middle Wall