Sparta; Spartans — Stork
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Sparta; Spartans — Stork
Sparta; Spartans - spar'-ta, spar'-tanz (Sparte (1 Maccabees 14:16), Spartiatai; Lacedaemonians (the King James Version 1 Maccabees 12:2, 5, 6, 10, 21; 1 Maccabees 14:20-23; 15:23; in 2 Maccabees 5:9, Greek Lakedaimonioi)): The passages in 1macc relate to a correspondence initiated by Jonathan, the priest, during the Maccabean revolt, and continued after his death with his brother Simon, between the Jews and the Lacedaemonians or Spartans, with a view to a friendly alliance. The proposals, curiously based on a claim to kindredship, were favorably received by the Lacedaemonians. See the letters (1 Maccabees 12:5 ff,19 ff; 14:16 ff). The claim to blood-relationship (compare 1 Maccabees 12:21; 2 Maccabees 5:9) is of course absurd, but there is no good reason to doubt the genuineness of the transaction described.ISBE Sparta; Spartans.2
See ARIUS; ASMONEANS; LACEDAEMONIANS; MACCABAEUS, etc.ISBE Sparta; Spartans.3
James OrrISBE Sparta; Spartans.4
Speaking, Evil - spe'-king.ISBE Speaking, Evil.2
See EVIL-SPEAKING; SLANDER.ISBE Speaking, Evil.3
Spear; Spearmen - sper, sper'-men.ISBE Spear; Spearmen.2
See ARMOR,III , 4; ARMY, 7.ISBE Spear; Spearmen.3
Specially - spesh'-al-i (me'odh (Psalms 31:11 the King James Version); malista): Used in an emphatic sense; derived from a superlative. While usually employed for emphasis, it carries with it slightly the idea of something additional. Not used in the Old Testament in the Revised Version (British and American), the sense of the Hebrew being,,expressed more clearly by "exceedingly," "very." Its ordinary New Testament usage is, "mostly," "particularly," "chiefly" or, "most of all." Paul in his practical exhortations says: "But if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8; compare Galatians 6:10; 1 Timothy 4:10).ISBE Specially.2
Walter G. ClippingerISBE Specially.3
Speckled - spek'-l'-d: Zechariah 1:8; the Revised Version (British and American) "sorrel."ISBE Speckled.2
See COLORS ; HYENA.ISBE Speckled.3
Spectacle - spek'-ta-k'-l (theatron): Occurs twice in the New Testament: (1) of the place where assemblies or exhibitions Were held (Acts 19:29, "theatre"); (2) figuratively of the suffering apostles (1 Corinthians 4:9).ISBE Spectacle.2
Speech - spech ('imrah, dabhar, etc.; logos): "Speech," the articulate utterance of thought, is the tranlation of various Hebrew terms which convey this idea of "saying" or "word"; so, in the New Testament, the term generally so rendered is logos, "word." See LOGOS; WORD. Eulogia in Romans 16:18 is "fair speech"; lalia in Matthew 26:73; Mark 14:70 the King James Version; John 8:43 is simply "talk." the Revised Version (British and American) has "speech" for various other words in the King James Version, as "matters" (1 Samuel 16:18, margin "bussiness"), "communication" (Matthew 5:37; Ephesians 4:29), "words" (Luke 20:20; 1 Corinthians 14:9); "persuasiveness of speech" for "enticing words" (Colossians 2:4), etc.ISBE Speech.2
Spelt - spelt (kuccemeth; olura, zea (Exodus 9:32, the King James Version "rye"; Isaiah 18:7, the King James Version "rye," margin "spelt"; Ezekiel 4:9, the King James Version "fitches" margin "spelt"; the Revised Version (British and American) adopts "spelt," influenced by the Septuagint, in all passages)): Spelt is the seed of Triticum spelta, a kind of wild wheat. Several writers would identify this kuccemeth with the Arabic kirsenneh (Vicia ervilia), a kind of vetch much used as camels' fodder.ISBE Spelt.2
Spice; Spices - spis, spi'-sis, -sez:ISBE Spice; Spices.2
(1) (besem (Exodus 30:23), bosem, plural besamim, all from root "to attract by desire," especially by smell): The list of spices in Exodus 30:23 includes myrrh, cinnamon, "sweet calamus cassia." These, mixed with olive oil, made the "holy anointing oil." Officials of the temple had charge of the spices (1 Chronicles 9:29). Among the treasures of the temple shown by Hezekiah to the messengers of Babylon were the spices (2 Kings 20:13). They were used in the obsequies of kings (2 Chronicles 16:14) and in preparation of a bride for a royal marriage (Esther 2:12, "sweet-odors" = balsam). Spices are frequently mentioned in Song (Esther 4:10, 14, 16; 5:1, margin and the King James Version "balsam"; Song of Solomon 5:13; 6:2, "bed of spices," margin "balsam"; Song of Solomon 8:14). These passages in Song may refer in particular to balsam, the product of the balsam plant, Balsamodendron opobalsamum, a plant growing in Arabia. According to Josephus it was cultivated at Jericho, the plant having been brought to Palestine by the Queen of Sheba (Ant., VIII, vi, 6; see also XIV , iv, 1;XV , iv, 2;BJ , I, vi, 6).ISBE Spice; Spices.3
See MYRRH.ISBE Spice; Spices.4
(2) cammim (Exodus 30:34, "sweet spices")): "Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense." It is a general term for fragrant substances finely powdered. Compare Arabic shamm, "a smell" or "sense of smell"; generally translated "sweet incense" (Exodus 25:6; 30:7; 31:11; 8, 15, 28; 39:38; 40:27 (the King James Version only); Leviticus 4:7; 16:12; Numbers 4:16; 2 Chronicles 2:4 (the King James Version only); 2 Chronicles 13:11). In Exodus 37:29; 40:27; 2 Chronicles 2:4, we have qsToreth cammim, "incense of sweet spices."ISBE Spice; Spices.5
(3) (nekho'th; thumiamata (Genesis 37:25, "spicery," margin "gum tragacanth or storax"); thumiama "incense" (Genesis 43:11, "spicery"; some Greek versions and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) have "storax")): Storax is the dried gum of the beautiful Styrax officinalis (see POPLAR), which was used as incense--different article from that now passing under that name. Tragacanth is the resinous gum of several species of milk vetch (Natural Order, Leguminosae), especially of the Astragalus gummifer. Septuagint "incense" is probably the best translation.ISBE Spice; Spices.6
(4) (reqach, "spiced" wine (Song of Solomon 8:2)).ISBE Spice; Spices.7
(5) (aroma, "spices" (Mark 16:1, the King James Version "sweet spices"; Luke 23:5624:1; John 19:40; in John 19:39 defined as a mixture of aloes and myrrh)).ISBE Spice; Spices.9
See PERFUME; BURIAL.ISBE Spice; Spices.10
(6) (amomon (Revelation 18:13), margin "amomum"; the King James Version "odours"): The Greek means "blameless," and it was apparently applied in classical times to any sweet and fine odor. In modern botany the name Amomum is given to a genus in the Natural Order. Zingiberaceae. The well-known cardamon seeds (Amomum cardamomum) and the A. grana Paradisi which yields the well-known "grains of Paradise," used as a stimulant, both belong to this genus. What was the substance indicated in Revelation 18:13 is quite uncertain.ISBE Spice; Spices.11
E. W. G. MastermanISBE Spice; Spices.12
Spider - spi'-der ((1) `akkabhish; compare Arabic `ankabut, English Versions of the Bible "spider"; Septuagint arachne (Job 8:14; Isaiah 59:5); (2) semamith, "lizard," the King James Version "spider"; Septuagint kalabotes (Proverbs 30:28)): Semamith of Proverbs 30:28 is probably the gecko, a kind of lizard, as Septuagint and the Revised Version (British and American) have it. See LIZARD. In Job 8:14 the spider's web is an emblem of frailty: "Whose confidence shall break in sunder, and whose trust is a spider's web." Frailty or futility seems to be indicated also in Isaiah 59:5-6: "They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: .... Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works" "Spider's web" is in Job 8:14 both `akkabhish, "spider's house," while in Isaiah 59:5 it is qure `akkabhish, qur, according to BDB, being "thread" or "film."ISBE Spider.2
Spikenard - spik'-nard (nerd; nardos (Song of Solomon 1:12; 4:14); neradhim; nardoi (Song of Solomon 4:13), "spikenard plants"; nardos pistike (Mark 14:3; John 12:3), "pure nard," margin "liquid nard"; the English word is for "spiked nard," which comes from the Nardus spicatus of the Vulgate): Spikenard is the plant Nardostachys jatamansi (Natural Order, Valerianaceae); in Arabic the name Sunbul hind, "Indian spike," refers, like the English and Latin name, to the "snike"-like shape of the plant from which the perfume comes. The dried plant as sold consists of the "withered stalks and ribs of leaves cohering in a bundle of yellowish-brown capillary fibres and consisting of a spike about the size of a small finger" (Sir W. Jones, As. Res., II, 409); in appearance the wholeISBE Spikenard.2
plant is said to look like the tail of an ermine. It grows in the Himalayas. The extracted perfume is an oil, which was used by the Romans for anointing the head. Its great costliness is mentioned by Pliny.ISBE Spikenard.3
With regard to the exact meaning of the pistike, in the New Testament, there is much difference of opinion: "pure" and "liquid" are both given in margin, but it has also been suggested among other things that this was a local name, that it comes from the Latin spicita or from pisita, the Sanskrit name of the spikenard plant. The question is an open one: either "genuine" or "pure" is favored by most commentators.ISBE Spikenard.4
E. W. G. MastermanISBE Spikenard.5
Spindle - spin'-d'-l.ISBE Spindle.2
Spinning - spin'-ing: Although spinning must have been one of the commonest of the crafts in Bible times, it is mentioned definitely in three passages only, namely, Exodus 35:25 f, where Tawah, is so translated, and in Matthew 6:28; Luke 12:27 nethein), where Jesus refers to the lilies of the field as neither toiling nor spinning.ISBE Spinning.2
The materials commonly spun were flax, cotton, wool, goats' hair. Goats' hair required little preparation other than washing, before spinning. Wool was first cleansed and then carded. The present method of carding, which no doubt is of ancient origin, is to pile the wool on a mat and then detach the fibers from each other by snapping a bow-string against the pile. The bow is specially constructed and carefully balanced so that it can be easily held with one hand while with the other the string is struck with a pestle-shaped mallet like a carver's mallet. The same instrument is used for carding cotton.ISBE Spinning.3
Flax was treated in ancient times as today, if the Egyptian sculptures have been rightly interpreted. The stalks after being stripped of their seeds were first retted. This operation consisted in soaking the stems in water until fermentation or rotting had so loosened the fibers that they could be separated from each other by combing. A series of washings and long exposure to the weather finally produced what was termed snowy-white linen.ISBE Spinning.4
The various fibers, mentioned above, to be made into thread, were gathered into a loose rope which was wound around a distaff or about the left hand. From this reel it was unwound as needed, the fibers more carefully adjusted with the thumbs and two first fingers of both hands, and then the rope twisted by means of a spindle. The spindle varied in form but was always a shaft, 8 to 12 in. in length, provided at one end with a hook or other means of fastening the thread and at the other end with a circular wharve or whorl of stone or other heavy material to give momentum to the rotating spindle. When 2 or 3 ft. of the rope was prepared as mentioned above, the spindle was twirled with the right hand or laid on the thigh and rotated by passing the hand over the shaft. After the thread was twisted it was wound on the spindle, fastened, and a new portion of rope prepared and twisted. The rope was sometimes fastened to a post and the spindle twisted with both hands, in which case the whorl was not necessary (see Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt, I, 317; II, 170, 172). Spinning was the work of both men and women in ancient Egypt. The Bible characterizes it as the work of women (Exodus 35:1-35; Proverbs 31:19). The same method of spinning is still used by the women of Syria, although imported yarn is largely taking the place of homespun thread.ISBE Spinning.5
Spirit - spir'-it (ruach; pneuma; Latin, spiritus):ISBE Spirit.2
1. Primary and Figurative SensesISBE Spirit.3
(1) As Wind, BreathISBE Spirit.4
(2) As Anger or FuryISBE Spirit.5
(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in ManISBE Spirit.6
2. Shades of MeaningISBE Spirit.7
(1) As Life-PrincipleISBE Spirit.8
(2) As Surviving DeathISBE Spirit.9
(3) Spiritual ManifestationsISBE Spirit.10
3. Human and Divine SpiritISBE Spirit.11
(1) The Human as Related with the DivineISBE Spirit.12
(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the TrinityISBE Spirit.13
4. Old Testament ApplicationsISBE Spirit.14
5. Various InterpretationsISBE Spirit.15
1. Primary and Figurative Senses: (1) As Wind, Breath: Used primarily in the Old Testament and New Testament of the wind, as in Genesis 8:1; Numbers 11:31; Amos 4:13 ("createth the wind"); Hebrews 1:7 (angels, "spirits" or "winds" in margin); often used of the breath, as in Job 12:10; 15:30, and in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (wicked consumed by "the breath of his mouth").ISBE Spirit.16
(2) As Anger or Fury: In a figurative sense it was used as indicating anger or fury, and as such applied even to God, who destroys by the "breath of his nostrils" (Job 4:9; Exodus 15:8; 2 Samuel 22:16; see 2 Thessalonians 2:8).ISBE Spirit.17
(3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man: Hence, applied to man--as being the seat of emotion in desire or trouble, and thus gradually of mental and moral qualities in general (Exodus 28:3, "the spirit of wisdom"; Ezekiel 11:19, "a new spirit" etc.). Where man is deeply stirred by the Divine Spirit, as among the prophets, we have a somewhat similar use of the word, in such expressions as: "The Spirit of the Lord came .... upon him" (1 Samuel 10:10).ISBE Spirit.18
2. Shades of Meaning: (1) As Life-Principle: The spirit as life-principle in man has various applications: sometimes to denote an apparition (Matthew 14:26, the King James Version "saying, It is a spirit"; Luke 24:37, the King James Version "had seen a spirit"); sometimes to denote angels, both fallen and unfallen (Hebrews 1:14, "ministering spirits"; Matthew 10:1, "unclean spirits"; compare also Matthew 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26-27; and in Revelation 1:4, "the seven Spirits .... before his throne").ISBE Spirit.19
(2) As Surviving Death: The spirit is thus in man the principle of life--but of man as distinguished from the brute--so that in death this spirit is yielded to the Lord (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 5:5, "that the spirit may be saved"). Hence, God is called the "Father of spirits" (Hebrews 12:9).ISBE Spirit.20
(3) Spiritual Manifestations: Thus generally for all the manifestations of the spiritual part in man, as that which thinks, feels, wills; and also to denote certain qualities which characterize the man, e.g. "poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3); "spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1); "of bondage" (Romans 8:15); "of jealousy" (Numbers 5:14); "of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7 the King James Version); "of slumber" (Romans 11:8 the King James Version). Hence, we are called upon to "rule over our own spirit" (Proverbs 16:32; 25:28), and are warned against being overmastered by a wrong spirit (Luke 9:55 the King James Version, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of"). So man may submit to the "spirit of error," and turn away from the "spirit of truth" (1 John 4:6). Thus we read of the "spirit of counsel" (Isaiah 11:2); "of wisdom" (Ephesians 1:17).ISBE Spirit.21
3. Human and Divine Spirit: (1) The Human as Related with the Divine: We go a step higher when we find the human spirit brought into relationship with the Divine Spirit. For man is but a creature to whom life has been imparted by God's spirit--life being but a resultant of God's breath. Thus life and death are realistically described as an imparting or a withdrawing of God's breath, as in Job 27:3; 33:4; 34:14, "spirit and breath" going together. The spirit may thus be "revived" (Genesis 45:27), or "overwhelmed" (Psalms 143:4), or "broken" (Proverbs 15:13). And where sin has been keenly felt, it is "a broken spirit" which is "a sacrifice to God" (Psalms 51:17); and when man submits to the power of sin, a new direction is given to his mind: he comes under a "spirit of whoredom" (Hosea 4:12); he becomes "proud in spirit" (Ecclesiastes 7:8), instead of being "patient in spirit"; he is a fool because he is "hasty in spirit" and gives way to "anger" (Ecclesiastes 7:9). The "faithful in spirit" are the men who resist talebearing and backbiting in the world (Proverbs 11:13). In such instances as these the difference between "soul" and "spirit" appears.ISBE Spirit.22
See SOUL; PSYCHOLOGY.ISBE Spirit.23
(2) Operations of the Divine Spirit as Third Person of the Trinity:ISBE Spirit.24
On this higher plane, too, we find the Divine Spirit at work. The terminology is very varied here: In the New Testament we read of the "Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19; Matthew 1:18, 20; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6); the "Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10 ff; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:9, 11; Ephesians 3:16, etc.); the "Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 4:6); or simply of "Spirit," with distinct reference to God (1 Corinthians 2:10; Romans 8:16, 23, etc.). God Himself is Spirit (John 4:24). Hence, God's power is manifested in human life and character (Luke 4:14; Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 2:4; especially Luke 24:49). The Book of Acts may be termed the Book of the Holy Spirit, working with power in man. This Spirit is placed on a level with Father and Son in the Apostolic Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14) and in the parting message of the Saviour to His disciples (Matthew 28:19). As the agent in redemption and sanctification His work is glorified by lives "renewed" in the very "spirit of the mind"--a collocation of terms which has puzzled many interpreters (Ephesians 4:23-24), where pneuma and nous appear together, to indicate a renewal which is all-embracing, `renewed in the spirit of your mind, so that the new man is put on, created in righteousness and true holiness' (see also John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 12:11, etc.).ISBE Spirit.25
4. Old Testament Applications: In the Old Testament this spirit of God appears in varied functions, as brooding over chaos (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13); as descending upon men, on heroes like Othniel, Gideon, etc. (Judges 3:10; 6:34), on prophets (Ezekiel 37:1), on "cunning workmen," like Bezalel and Aholiab (Exodus 31:2-3, 4, "filled with the Spirit of God"), and specially in such passages as Psalms 51:11, where the very presence of God is indicated by an abiding influence of the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of Yahweh is Yahweh himself."ISBE Spirit.26
5. Various Interpretations: May we not reach a still higher stage? Wendt in his interesting monograph (Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist), of which extracts are given in Dickson's Paul's Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, draws attention to the transcendental influence of the Divine ruach in the Old Testament as expressed in such phrases as `to put on' (Judges 6:34), `to fall upon' (Judges 14:6, 19), `to settle' (Numbers 11:25 f). May we not then rightly assume that more is meant than a mere influence emanating from a personal God? Are we not right in maintaining with Davidson that "there are indeed a considerable number of passages in the Old Testament which might very well express the idea that the Spirit is a distinct hypostasis or person."? (see SUBSTANCE). Rejecting the well-known passage in Genesis: "Let us make man after our own image," which some have interpreted in a trinitarian sense, we may point to such texts as Zechariah 4:6, "by my Spirit"; Isaiah 63:10-11, "They rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit"; "Where is he that put his holy Spirit in the midst of them?" This is borne out by the New Testament, with its warnings against "grieving the Holy Spirit," "lying against the Holy Spirit," and kindred expressions (Ephesians 4:30; Acts 5:3). It is this Spirit which "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16)--the spirit which, as Auberlen has put it (PRE1, article "Geist des Menschen"), "appears in a double relationship to us, as the principle of natural life, which is ours by birth, and that of spiritual life, which we receive through the new birth (Wiedergeburt)." Hence, Paul speaks of God whom he serves "with his spirit" (Romans 1:9); and in 2 Timothy 1:3 he speaks of serving God "in a pure conscience."ISBE Spirit.27
See CONSCIENCE; FLESH; HOLY SPIRIT; PSYCHOLOGY; SOUL.ISBE Spirit.28
Spirit of Divination - See DIVINATION.ISBE Spirit of Divination.2
Spirit, Evil - See SATAN; DEMON,DEMONIAC .ISBE Spirit, Evil.2
Spirit, Familiar - See FAMILIAR; DIVINATION; PYTHON.ISBE Spirit, Familiar.2
Spirit, Holy - See HOLY SPIRIT.ISBE Spirit, Holy.2
Spirit, Unclean (or Evil) - See DEMON,DEMONIAC .ISBE Spirit, Unclean (or Evil).2
Spirits in Prison - See PRISON, SPIRITS IN.ISBE Spirits in Prison.2
Spirits, Discernings of - See DISCERNINGS OF SPIRITS; SPIRITUAL GIFTS.ISBE Spirits, Discernings of.2
Spiritual - spir'-it-u-al (pneumatikos, "spiritual," from pneuma, "spirit"): Endowed with the attributes of spirit. Any being made in the image of God who is a Spirit (John 4:24.), and thus having the nature of spirit, is a spiritual being.ISBE Spiritual.2
(1) Spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12), in distinction from beings clothed in "flesh and blood"--the devil and his angels. This use of the word has reference to nature, essence, and not to character or moral quality. God, angels, man, devil, demons are in essence spiritual. The groundwork and faculties of their rational and moral being are the same. This limited use of the word in the New Testament has its adverb equivalent in Revelation 11:8, "which (the great and wicked city) spiritually is called Sodom." As the comprehensive term moral includes immoral, so spiritual includes unspiritual and all that pertains to spirit.ISBE Spiritual.3
(2) With the above exception, "spiritual" in the New Testament signifies moral, not physical antithesis: an essence springing from the Spirit of God and imparted to the spirit of man. Hence, spiritual in this sense always presupposes the infusion of the Holy Spirit to quicken, and inform. It is opposed (a) to sarkikos, "fleshly" (1 Corinthians 3:1), men of the flesh and not of the spirit; (b) to psuchikos, "natural," man in whom the pneuma, "spirit," is over-ridden, because of the Fall, by psuche, the principle of the animal life, "soul"; hence, the unrenewed man, unspiritual, alienated from the life of God (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). See MAN, NATURAL; (c) to natural, meaning physical, ".... sown a natural body; .... raised a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44).ISBE Spiritual.4
(3) In the New Testament and general use "spiritual" thus indicates man regenerated, indwelt, enlightened, endued, empowered, guided by the Holy Spirit; conformed to the will of God, having the mind of Christ, living in and led by the Spirit. The spiritual man is a new creation born from above (Romans 8:6; 1 Corinthians 2:15; 3:1; 14:37; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 2:5).ISBE Spiritual.5
(4) Ecclesiastically used of things sacred or religious, as spiritual authority, spiritual assembly, spiritual office.ISBE Spiritual.6
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual.8
Spiritual Blessing - (eulogia pneumatike): Any blessing administered in the realm of the spiritual life; specifically the blessing of the Spirit in introducing the believer into "the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3); a term expressing the fullness of blessing in God's gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.ISBE Spiritual Blessing.2
Spiritual Body - (soma pneumatikon, "body spiritual"): The resurrection-body, a body fitted to the capacities and wants of the spirit in the celestial world; an organism conformed to the spiritual life at the resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:44).ISBE Spiritual Body.2
See BODY, SPIRITUAL.ISBE Spiritual Body.3
Spiritual Drink - (pneumatikon poma): Having a spiritual significance, as referring to the water that flowed miraculously from the smitten rock (1 Corinthians 10:4; Numbers 20:11). Symbolic also of nourishment for the thirsty soul in the sacramental cup and the outpoured blood (life) of Christ.ISBE Spiritual Drink.2
See ROCK, 2, (1); SPIRITUAL ROCK.ISBE Spiritual Drink.3
Spiritual Gifts - (charismata):ISBE Spiritual Gifts.2
1. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of the WordISBE Spiritual Gifts.3
(1) ApostleshipISBE Spiritual Gifts.4
(2) ProphecyISBE Spiritual Gifts.5
(3) Discernings of spiritsISBE Spiritual Gifts.6
(4) TeachingISBE Spiritual Gifts.7
(5) The Word of KnowledgeISBE Spiritual Gifts.8
(6) The Word of WisdomISBE Spiritual Gifts.9
(7) Kinds of TonguesISBE Spiritual Gifts.10
(8) Interpretation of TonguesISBE Spiritual Gifts.11
2. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of Practical ServiceISBE Spiritual Gifts.12
(1) Workings of MiraclesISBE Spiritual Gifts.13
(2) Gifts of HealingsISBE Spiritual Gifts.14
(3) Ruling, GovernmentsISBE Spiritual Gifts.15
(4) HelpsISBE Spiritual Gifts.16
LITERATUREISBE Spiritual Gifts.17
The word charisma, with a single exception (1 Peter 4:10), occurs in the New Testament only in the Pauline Epistles, and in the plural form is employed in a technical sense to denote extraordinary gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon Christians to equip them for the service of the church. Various lists of the charismata are given (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-30; compare Ephesians 4:7-12), none of which, it is evident, are exhaustive. Some of the gifts enumerated cannot be said to belong in any peculiar sense to the distinctive category. "Faith" (1 Corinthians 12:9), for example, is the essential condition of all Christian life; though there were, no doubt, those who were endowed with faith beyond their fellows. "Giving" and "mercy" (Romans 12:8) are among the ordinary graces of the Christian character; though some would possess them more than others. "Ministry" (Romans 12:7), again, i.e. service, was the function to which every Christian was called and the purpose to which every one of the special gifts was to be devoted (Ephesians 4:12). The term is applied to any spiritual benefit, as the confirmation of Christians in the faith by Paul (Romans 1:11). And as the general function of ministry appears from the first in two great forms as a ministry of word and deed (Acts 6:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:17), so the peculiar charismatic gifts which Paul mentions fall into two great classes--those which qualify their possessors for a ministry of the word, and those which prepare them to render services of a practical nature.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.18
1. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of the Word: (1) ApostleshipISBE Spiritual Gifts.19
(1 Corinthians 12:28 f; compare Ephesians 4:11).--The name "apostle" is used in the New Testament in a narrower and a wider sense. It was the peculiar title and privilege of the Twelve (Matthew 10:2; Luke 6:13; Acts 1:25 f), but was claimed by Paul on special grounds (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 9:1, etc.); it was probably conceded to James the Lord's brother (1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19), and in a freer use of the term is applied to Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14; compare 1 Corinthians 9:5-6), Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7). From the Didache (xi.4 ff) we learn that the ministry of apostles was continued in the church into the sub-apostolic age (see LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC). The special gift and function of apostleship, taken in the widest sense, was to proclaim the word of the gospel (Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 1:17, etc.), and in particular to proclaim it to the world outside of the church, whether Jewish or Gentile (Galatians 2:7-8).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.20
See APOSTLE.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.21
(2) ProphecyISBE Spiritual Gifts.22
(Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28-29), under which may be included exhortation (Romans 12:8; compare 1 Corinthians 14:3). The gift of prophecy was bestowed at Pentecost upon the church as a whole (Acts 2:16 ff), but in particular measure upon certain individuals who were distinctively known as prophets. Only a few of the Christian prophets are directly referred to--Judas and Silas (Acts 15:32), the prophets at Antioch (Acts 13:1), Agabus and the prophets from Jerusalem (Acts 11:27 f), the four daughters of Philip the evangelist (Acts 11:9). But 1 Corinthians shows that there were several of them in the Corinthian church; and probably they were to be found in every Christian community. Some of them moved about from church to church (Acts 11:27 f; 21:10); and in the Didache we find that even at the celebration of the Eucharist the itinerant prophet still takes precedence of the local ministry of bishops and deacons (Didache x.7).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.23
It is evident that the functions of the prophet must sometimes have crossed those of the apostle, and so we find Paul himself described as a prophet long after he had been called to the apostleship (Acts 13:1). And yet there was a fundamental distinction. While the apostle, as we have seen, was one "sent forth" to the unbelieving world, the prophet was a minister to the believing church (1 Corinthians 14:4, 22). Ordinarily his message was one of "edification, and exhortation, and consolation" (1 Corinthians 14:3). Occasionally he was empowered to make an authoritative announcement of the divine will in a particular case (Acts 13:1 ff). In rare instances we find him uttering a prediction of a future event (Acts 11:28; 21:10 f).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.24
(3) Discernings of SpiritsISBE Spiritual Gifts.25
With prophecy must be associated the discernings of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:20 f; compare 1 John 4:1). The one was a gift for the speaker, the other for those who listened to his words. The prophet claimed to be the medium of divine revelations (1 Corinthians 14:30); and by the spiritual discernment of his hearers the truth of his claim was to be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29). There were false prophets as well as genuine prophets, spirits of error as well as spirits of truth (1 John 4:1-6; compare 2 Thessalonians 2:2; Didache xi). And while prophesyings were never to be despised, the utterances of the prophets were to be "proved" (1 Thessalonians 5:20 f), and that in them which came from the Spirit of God spiritually judged (1 Corinthians 2:14), and so discriminated from anything that might be inspired by evil spirits.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.26
See DISCERNINGS OF SPIRITS.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.27
(4) TeachingISBE Spiritual Gifts.28
(Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:28 f).--As distinguished from the prophet, who had the gift of uttering fresh truths that came to him by way of vision and revelation, the teacher was one who explained and applied established Christian doctrine--the rudiments and first principles of the oracles of God (Hebrews 5:12).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.29
(5) The Word of KnowledgeISBE Spiritual Gifts.30
Possibly the word of knowledge (gnosis).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.31
(6) The Word of WisdomISBE Spiritual Gifts.32
The word of wisdom (sophia) (1 Corinthians 12:8) are to be distinguished, the first as the utterance of a prophetic and ecstatic intuition, the second as the product of study and reflective thought; and so are to be related respectively to the functions of the prophet and the teacher.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.33
See TEACHER ,TEACHING .ISBE Spiritual Gifts.34
(7) Kinds of TonguesISBE Spiritual Gifts.35
(1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 30).--What Paul means by this he explains fully in 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. The gift was not a faculty of speaking in unknown foreign languages, for the tongues (glossai) are differentiated from the "voices" or languages (phonai) by which men of one nation are distinguished from those of another (1 Corinthians 14:10-11). And when the apostle says that the speaker in an unknown tongue addressed himself to God and not to men (1 Corinthians 14:2, 14) and was not understood by those who heard him (1 Corinthians 14:2), that he edified himself (1 Corinthians 14:4) and yet lost the power of conscious thought while praying with the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14 f), it would appear that the "tongues" must have been of the nature of devout ejaculations and broken and disjointed words, uttered almost unconsciously under the stress of high ecstatic feeling.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.36
(8) Interpretation of TonguesISBE Spiritual Gifts.37
Parallel to this gift was that of the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10, 30). If the gift of tongues had been a power of speaking unknown foreign languages, the interpretation of tongues would necessarily have meant the faculty of interpreting a language unknown to the interpreter; for translation from a familiar language could hardly be described as a charisma. But the principle of economy makes it improbable that the edification of the church was accomplished in this round-about way by means of a double miracle--a miracle of foreign speech followed by a miracle of interpretation. If, on the other hand, the gift of tongues was such as has been described, the gift of interpretation would consist in turning what seemed a meaningless utterance into words easy to be understood (1 Corinthians 12:9). The interpretation might be given by the speaker in tongues himself (1 Corinthians 12:5, 13) after his mood of ecstasy was over, as he translated his exalted experiences and broken cries into plain intelligible language. Or, if he lacked the power of self-interpretation, the task might be undertaken by another possessed of this special gift (1 Corinthians 12:27-28). The ability of a critic gifted with sympathy and insight to interpret the meaning of a picture or a piece of music, as the genius who produced it might be quite unable to do (e.g. Ruskin and Turner), will help us to understand how the ecstatic half-conscious utterances of one who had the gift of tongues might be put into clear and edifying form by another who had the gift of interpretation.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.38
See TONGUES, GIFT OF.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.39
2. Gifts Connected with the Ministry of Practical Service:ISBE Spiritual Gifts.40
(1) Workings of MiraclesISBE Spiritual Gifts.41
(1 Corinthians 12:10, 28-29).--The word used for miracles in this chapter (dunameis, literally, "powers") is employed in Acts (8:7,13; 19:11,12) so as to cover those cases of exorcism and the cure of disease which in Paul's list are placed under the separate category of "gifts of healing." As distinguished from the ordinary healing gift, which might be possessed by persons not otherwise remarkable, the "powers" point to a higher faculty more properly to be described as miraculous, and bestowed only upon certain leading men in the church. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul speaks of the "powers" he wrought in Corinth as among "the signs of an apostle." In Hebrews 2:4 the writer mentions the "manifold powers" of the apostolic circle as part of the divine confirmation of their testimony. In Romans 15:18 ff Paul refers to his miraculous gifts as an instrument which Christ used for the furtherance of the gospel and the bringing of the Gentiles to obedience. The working of "powers," accordingly, was a gift which linked itself to the ministry of the word in respect of its bearing upon the truth of the gospel and the mission of the apostle to declare it. And yet, like the wider and lower gift of healing, it must be regarded primarily as a gift of practical beneficence, and only secondarily as a means of confirming the truth and authenticating its messenger by way of a sign. The Book of Acts gives several examples of "powers" that are different from ordinary healings. The raising of Dorcas (Romans 9:33 ff) and of Eutychus (20:9 ff) clearly belong to this higher class, and also, perhaps, such remarkable cures as those of the life-long cripple at the Temple gate (Romans 3:1 ff) and Aeneas of Lydda (Romans 9:32 ff).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.42
(2) Gifts of HealingsISBE Spiritual Gifts.43
(1 Corinthians 12:9, 28, 30).ISBE Spiritual Gifts.44
See HEALING, GIFTS OF.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.45
(3) Ruling, GovernmentsISBE Spiritual Gifts.46
(Romans 12:8, Romans 1:1-32 Cor 12:28).--These were gifts of wise counsel and direction in the practical affairs of the church, such as by and by came to be formally entrusted to presbyters or bishops. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the ministry of office had not yet supplanted the ministry of inspiration, and Christian communities were guided and governed by those of their members whose wisdom in counsel proved that God through His Spirit had bestowed upon them the gift of ruling.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.47
(4) HelpsISBE Spiritual Gifts.48
(1 Corinthians 12:28).--This has sometimes been understood to denote the lowliest Christian function of all in Paul's list, the function of those who have no pronounced gifts of their own and can only employ themselves in services of a subordinate kind. But the usage of the Greek word (antilempsis) in the papyri as well as the Septuagint points to succor rendered to the weak by the strong; and this is confirmed for the New Testament when the same Greek word in its verbal form (antilambano) is used in Acts 20:35, when Paul exhorts the elders of the Ephesian church to follow his example in helping the weak. Thus, as the gift of government foreshadowed the official powers of the presbyter or bishop, the gift of helps appears to furnish the germ of the gracious office of the deacon--the "minister" paragraph excellence, as the name diakonos denotes--which we find in existence at a later date in Philippi and Ephesus (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-13), and which was probably created, on the analogy of the diakonia of the Seven in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1 ff), as a ministry, in the first place, to the poor.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.49
See, further, HELPS.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.50
LITERATURE.ISBE Spiritual Gifts.51
Hort, Christian Ecclesia, Lect X; Neander, Hist of the Planting of the Christian Church, I, 131 ff; Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, II, 255-75; Lindsay, Church and Ministry, passim; EB, IV, article "Spiritual Gifts"; ERE, III, article "Charismata"; PRE, VI, article "Geistesgaben."ISBE Spiritual Gifts.52
J. C. LambertISBE Spiritual Gifts.53
Spiritual House - (oikos pneumatikos, "house spiritual"): A body of Christians (a church), as pervaded by the Spirit and power of God (1 Peter 2:5); a term applicable to God's house: "house of prayer," the temple (Matthew 21:13); to heaven: "my Father's house" (John 14:2); to the tabernacle: "Moses .... faithful in all his house" (Hebrews 3:2); to saints: as "the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19), and "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19); hence, any "habitation of God in the spirit" (Ephesians 2:22) in which His glory dwells and His power and grace are manifest.ISBE Spiritual House.2
Spiritual Man - (ho pneumatikos): In distinction from the natural, the unrenewed man (1 Corinthians 2:15); man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and rules. This divine indwelling insures mental illumination: "He that is spiritual discerneth (AVm) (or interpreteth) all things"; moral renewal: "a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17); "a new man" (Ephesians 4:24); spiritual enduement: "Ye shall receive power" (Acts 1:8).ISBE Spiritual Man.2
See SPIRITUAL, 2; SPIRITUALITY; MAN.ISBE Spiritual Man.3
Spiritual Meat - (broma pneumatikon, "food spiritual"): Nourishment for the soul, referring specifically (1 Corinthians 10:3) to the manna by which the children of Israel were miraculously fed and which was made by Paul prophetically equivalent to the broken bread of the Christian sacrament symbolizing the body of Christ. Hence, (1) Christ Himself as the food of the soul: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:48-58); (2) anything that nourishes the spiritual life: (a) obedience to the will of God: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me" (John 4:32-34); (b) the truths of God in the Scriptures: "Word of righteousness" = "strong meat" (Hebrews 5:12-14); "word of God" (Matthew 4:4); (c) the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:1-2; compare 1 Corinthians 2:1-16).ISBE Spiritual Meat.2
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual Meat.3
Spiritual Rock - (pneumatike petra): Having a spiritual significance: supernatural, manifesting the power of the Divine Spirit; allegorically applied to Christ as fulfilling the type in the smitten rock in the desert, from which water miraculously burst forth to nourish the Israelites. A tradition current among the Jews affirms that this rock followed the people in their journeyings and gave forth a living stream for their supply. Paul made this ever-flowing rock a beautiful and accurate symbol of Christ: "The rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).ISBE Spiritual Rock.2
Without the characterizing word "spiritual," this figurative term, with the same significance, is common to the Scriptures; applied (1) to Yahweh, God: "Rock of his salvation," "their rock is not as our Rock" (Deuteronomy 32:15, 31); "Yahweh is my rock" (Psalms 18:2; compare Isaiah 26:4; 32:2; 1 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 22:2); (2) to the foundation-stone of Christian confession and testimony (Matthew 16:18; compare Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 1 Peter 2:6-8), and thus to Christ Himself; (3) in Christian hymnology to Jesus crucified and spear-pierced: "Rock of ages, cleft for me."ISBE Spiritual Rock.3
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual Rock.4
Spiritual Sacrifice - pneumatikai thusiai): A figure taken from the victim slain and offered on the altar, as e.g. the paschal lamb; thus signifying the complete and acceptable offering of the self-dedicated spirit. As the temple, priesthood and God Himself are spiritual, so is the sacrifice of the consecrated believer (1 Peter 2:5); compare "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1); "sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15-16). Any self-dedicating act of the inner man; the devout, renewed, consecrated spirit, e.g. Christian benevolence (Philippians 4:18); "to do good and to communicate" (Hebrews 13:16); "mercy" and "knowledge of God," instead of material and outward sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). This is defined and beautifully illustrated in the classic verse on this theme, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," etc. (Psalms 51:17).ISBE Spiritual Sacrifice.2
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual Sacrifice.3
Spiritual Songs - (odai pneumatikai): ode, English "ode," is the general, and generic word for "song," of which "psalms and hymns" are specific varieties (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). It includes all lyric poetry, but is limited by the word "spiritual" to songs inspired by the Holy Spirit and employed in the joyful and devotional expression of the spiritual life. While songs, like psalms and hymns, were used in public worship and praise, they were more intended for, and suited to, personal and private and social use; as, e.g. in family worship, at meals, in the agapai ("love-feasts"), in meetings for prayer and religious intercourse from house to house. The passages above cited give apostolic authority for the use of other than the Old Testament psalms in public praise, and rebuke the narrowness and unbelief that would forever limit the operations of the Holy Spirit and the hymnology of the church to the narrow compass of the Davidic era and the Davidic school of poetry and song.ISBE Spiritual Songs.2
The "new song" of Revelation 5:9; 14:3, and "the song of Moses and of the Lamb" (Revelation 15:3), indicate that spiritual songs are to be perpetuated in the eternal melodies of the redeemed.ISBE Spiritual Songs.3
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual Songs.4
Spiritual Things - (ta pneumatika): Things proceeding from the Holy Spirit and pertaining to man's spiritual life, worship, service. Contrasted in 1 Corinthians 9:11 and in Romans 15:27 with ta sarkika, things fleshly, physical, which have to do with man's sensuous, corporeal nature, such as food, raiment, money. By "spiritual things" Paul signifies the benefits accompanying salvation, the gifts of the Spirit--faith, hope, love, justification, sanctification, peace--all the fruits and blessings and aids of the regenerate life.ISBE Spiritual Things.2
Ecclesiastically:ISBE Spiritual Things.3
Things pertaining to spiritual office, the ministry of the Word, or the service of the sanctuary.ISBE Spiritual Things.4
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spiritual Things.5
Spirituality - spir-it-u-al'-i-ti: The state of being spiritual in the higher use of the word. It is purely a religious term and signifies the state of a soul vitalized by the Divine Spirit and made alive unto God. It covers the entire range of man's faculties: intellect, feeling, will--all the attributes of personality.ISBE Spirituality.2
1. Intellect: The intellectual can be divorced from the spiritual, but the spiritual can never be divorced from the intellectual. If a man is spiritual, his intellect is touched with the divine life and comes under the power of the divine baptism. One word describes this mental quickening and illumination--"vision." "The pure in heart shall see God." Paul affirms (1 Corinthians 2:12-13) that the Spirit of God operates directly on the mental faculties, adjusting reason and intellect to the divine reason, and enabling man to think God's thoughts and discern His purposes, nature and will. The common use of the word "spirituality" limits it mistakenly to religious experience, narrowly interpreted, but as spirituality brings the intellect into harmony with the divine reason in every realm of mental action, it may be as manifest in science, art, philosophy, commerce and law as in religion.ISBE Spirituality.3
2. Affections: The feelings and emotions are fertile soil for the spiritual life. Love is the beginning and end of true religion. Spirituality in the realm of the affections is that state of soul in which the heart with its holiest love is centered on God as revealed in Christ. The specific and supreme work of the Holy Spirit is to shed abroad God's love in the heart (Romans 5:5). Spirituality sets the affections on things above and brings the entire emotional nature under the regulating and redeeming sway of the Holy Spirit.ISBE Spirituality.4
3. Will: A spiritually-minded man is one whose will is set on God as well as his intellect and affections. In every fiber of his moral being, and in all the activities of his soul, he is under the guidance and dominion of the Holy Spirit. The affections present motives, the intellect estimates their worthiness, the will decides upon the course of action. When this trinity of mental operation--necessary to normal manhood--is under the sway of the Divine Spirit, man possesses spirituality, a state in which all the faculties of the soul are voluntarily and joyfully under the dominion and guidance of Christ's indwelling Spirit. When intellect, heart and will focus their energies reverently and affectionately upon Him, love--a passionate, ever-present, everdominant love--is the result. This is the triune sphere of the Holy Spirit's indwelling and activity, and the character of such a God-centered and Spirit-filled life is described by the exalted word "spirituality."ISBE Spirituality.5
Dwight M. PrattISBE Spirituality.6
Spiritually - spir'-it-u-al-i (pneumatikos): As in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "spiritually judged," i.e. by means of the spirit renewed and enlightened by the spirit of God; having the mind of the Spirit is to be spiritually-minded (compare the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) Romans 8:6).ISBE Spiritually.2
Allegorically used also (Revelation 11:8) to characterize, in a bad sense, the qualities of the spiritual (i.e. the spirit's) life: "which spiritually is called Sodom."ISBE Spiritually.3
See SPIRITUAL.ISBE Spiritually.4
Spit; Spittle - spit, spit'-l (yaraq, roq; (em)ptuo): Spitting in a person's face indicated gross contempt (Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9; Job 30:10; Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67; 27:30, etc.); when performed by an unclean person it produced defilement (Leviticus 15:8) which necessitated washing the clothes and a bath. When David allowed his spittle (rir) to run down over his beard, it was his purpose to behave like a lunatic (1 Samuel 21:13). "Till I swallow down my spittle" (Job 7:19) has the same import as the English "in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). Spittle was used by our Lord in restoring sight and speech (Mark 7:33; John 9:6) as signifying His will to cure. It was a widespread belief that spittle, accompanied with magical formulas, possessed medicinal qualities. "Oil" possessed a similar virtue. (Mark 6:13; James 5:14).ISBE Spit; Spittle.2
See BOOTY; WAR, 8.ISBE Spoil.3
Spoiler - spoil'-er (ha-shodhedh, "the spoiler"): A favorite expression of the prophet Jeremiah by which he describes generally the enemies that invade and devastate a country--with special reference to enemies that invade Judah (Jeremiah 12:12; 15:8); to enemies who devastate Moab (Jeremiah 48:8, 18); to enemies from the North who are to assail Babylon (Jeremiah 51:48), and in one case (Jeremiah 6:26) to Nebuchadrezzar making an irresistible advance upon Jerusalem. the American Standard Revised Version uniformly renders "destroyer."ISBE Spoiler.2
Spoke - spok (1 Kings 7:33).ISBE Spoke.2
See SEA,THE MOLTEN .ISBE Spoke.3
Sponge - spunj (spoggos): The word "sponge," the King James Version "spunge," occurs only in the accounts of our Lord's crucifixion in Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; John 19:29. Sponges have been known from the earliest periods. They are mentioned by Homer, Aeschylus, Aristophanes and other ancient writers. The sponge fisheries of the Eastern Mediterranean are still among the most important in the world. Sponges are animals of a very simple organization, fixed to rocks or other objects in the sea or in fresh water. The marketable sponge consists of a mass of soft interlacing fibers which constituted the skeleton of the living animal. The sponge fishers of the Levant dive from boats, with or without diving apparatus, and tear the sponges from the rocks with their hands. The sponges are allowed to die and rot in the air and are then thoroughly washed until nothing but the skeleton remains. Sponges which have calcareous or silicious skeletons are unfit for use.ISBE Sponge.2
Spoon - spoon (kaph; Septuagint thuiske, except in Jeremiah 52:18, where it is kreagra, literally, "fork"): A hollow vessel, a censer; a small vessel in which incense was to be burnt, as is seen from the account given in Numbers 7:1-89 of the oblations of the princes of the tribes after the setting-up of the tabernacle. Beginning with Numbers 7:14, we meet at every succeeding Numbers 6:11-27th verse the statement, "one golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense," till at Numbers 7:86 the summary statement is made, "the twelve golden spoons, full of incense."ISBE Spoon.2
Spot; Spotted - spot, spot'-ed (mum; spilos): The Hebrew word is used to denote a blemish which mars the perfection of the face, as in Song of Solomon 4:7; Job 11:15. It is translated "blemish" in Leviticus 24:19 f, where it means an injury the result of violence, and is rendered "blot" in Proverbs 9:7, where it signifies "shame" or "disgrace." The "spotted" cattle of Genesis 30:32-39 are animals of variegated color (Tala'; compare Ezekiel 16:16, "decked with divers colors"; Joshua 9:5, "patched"). For chabharburah in Jeremiah 13:23, see LEOPARD. Spilos is used in the figurative sense of a stain of sin in 2 Peter 3:14, and similarly along with rhutis ("a wrinkle") in Ephesians 5:27. The "garment spotted (verb, spiloomai) by the flesh" of Jude 1:23 is, as Calvin has para-phrased it, anything that in any way savors of sin or temptation. The "spots" of Jude 1:12 the King James Version are spilades, "hidden (sunken) rocks" which are betrayed by the surf beating over them (as in Homer Od. iii.298), and are so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). "Spot" in Leviticus 13:1-59 is referred to under FRECKLED SPOT; LEPROSY; TETTER.ISBE Spot; Spotted.2
"Without spot" in Numbers 19:2, etc., is tamim, a usual word for "perfect" (so the Revised Version margin); aspilos (the negative form of spilos) occurs in 1 Timothy 6:14; 1 Peter 1:19; 2 Peter 3:14, with James 1:27 ("unspotted"). For the King James Version Hebrews 9:14 see BLEMISH.ISBE Spot; Spotted.3
Alex. MacalisterISBE Spot; Spotted.4
Spouse - spouz (kallah, "bride," "daughter-in-law"): the Revised Version (British and American) gives "bride" for the King James Version "spouse" in Song of Solomon 4:8 ff, and "brides" for "spouses" in Hosea 4:13 f (margin "daughters-in-law").ISBE Spouse.2
See ESPOUSAL; MARRIAGE; RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.ISBE Spouse.3
Spread; Spreading - spred, spred'-ing: Alone, or in phrases like "spread abroad," "spread forth," etc., "spread" represents very many Hebrew terms, principally paras; in the New Testament the act of spreading is stronnumi, where in Matthew 21:1-46:Matthew 8:11-34b the King James Version has "strawed" (which see); compound in Luke 19:36. For "spread abroad" in Mark 1:28; 1 Thessalonians 1:8 (exerchomai), the Revised Version (British and American) has "went out" and "gone forth"; conversely, the Revised Version (British and American) has "spread abroad" for the King James Version "break forth" (Isaiah 54:3,), and "published" (diaphero, Acts 13:49), and for "commonly reported" (diaphemizo, Matthew 28:15).ISBE Spread; Spreading.2
Spring - See FOUNTAIN; WELL.ISBE Spring.2
Sprinkle; Sprinkling - sprin'-k'-l, sprin'-kling (zaraq, nazah; rhantizein): The first word means "to toss" or "scatter abundantly," e.g. in handfuls, as dust on the head (Job 2:12) or blood from a bowl (Exodus 9:8). The other Hebrew word is used of sprinkling with the finger (Leviticus 14:7; 16:14, etc.). In the account of Jezebel's death the word is used in its literal meaning of "spurt" (2 Kings 9:33).ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.2
Sprinkling (blood, water, oil) formed an important--if not the essential--part of the act of sacrifice. A consideration of the chief passages in the Old Testament will reveal the prominence and the significance of sprinkling as a feature of the sacrificial act. The significance of the sprinkling of blood is seen in the account of the establishment of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel (Exodus 24:6-8). Half the blood was sprinkled on the altar as representing the Deity, while the remainder was put into a basin and then sprinkled on the people. This ceremony is a survival in a modified form of the communal meal in which the tribal god and his worshippers sat together and participated in the same food, and in this way came to possess the same life. The two-fold sprinkling of blood resulted in the establishment of an inviolable bond (Numbers 18:17; 2 Kings 16:15). In the account of the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Exodus 29:16, 20-21) the blood of the ram of the burnt offering was sprinkled on the altar, while the blood of the ram of consecration was put on the altar and sprinkled on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. Water of purifying was sprinkled on the Levites at their ordination (Numbers 8:7). Lev gives detailed information in regard to sacrificial sprinkling. In the case of burnt offering the blood was sprinkled round about upon the altar (Leviticus 1:5, 11). The same practice obtained in the case of peace offerings, whether ox, lamb or goat (Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13). When a sin offering for sins inadvertently committed was made, the priest dipped his fingers in the blood and sprinkled it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the Holy Place (Leviticus 4:6). Elsewhere (Leviticus 16:11, 15) we read that Aaron took the blood of the sin offering and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy-seat, eastward, 7 times (see also Numbers 19:4). Sprinkling constituted part of the process of purification. But it is obvious that the sprinkling, even in this case, was a religious act, and not part of the actual physical cleaning. A simple kind of sprinkler was made by fastening a bunch of hyssop to a cedar rod by a piece of scarlet thread or wool and then the patient was besprinkled 7 times (Leviticus 14:7), while oil was sprinkled with the finger, also 7 times, before Yahweh (Leviticus 14:16; see also Exodus 12:22; Numbers 19:18; Psalms 51:7). The house in which the leper lived was disinfected in the same thorough manner (Leviticus 16:34).ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.3
In the case of persons who had contracted uncleanness through contact with a corpse, sprinkling with the "water of separation" was part of the process of cleansing. The water of separation consisted of the ashes of a red heifer (slain for the purpose) mixed with running water (Numbers 19:1-22). A sprinkler was used as in the case of the leper (Numbers 19:18). The final sprinkling--on the 7th day--was followed by a bath (Numbers 19:19). The "tent" in which the corpse lay, together with all the contents, were thoroughly disinfected.ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.4
See HEIFER, RED.ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.5
According to Ex (9:8,10) the plague of "boils and blains" was caused through the sprinkling of ashes ("soot" the Revised Version margin) in the air toward heaven, which settled on man and beast and produced the eruption. The narrative gives no clue in reference to the connection between the ashes and the eruption, but the religious character of the act is obvious. By means of it, the assistance of the Deity was invoked. According to primitive thought, there was no necessary connection between the religious act and the consummation devoutly wished for. The purpose of the religious observance was to influence, or bring pressure to bear upon, the Deity so that He might exert Himself on behalf of the worshipper. It is evident that sprinkling as part of the act of worship was believed to be religiously effectual. It was not symbolical nor morally significant. It was a religious act. It is not denied that in some passages sprinkling is symbolical. According to Ezek (36:25) the restored community will experience moral and spiritual renewal. There will be a "new heart" and a "new spirit." The sprinkling with clean water is the outward symbol of the inward lustration. In Isaiah 63:3 the sacrificial allusion is obvious. The conqueror who strides triumphantly from Bozrah is "besprinkled" with the life-blood (or juice) of his victims. In Isaiah 52:15 "sprinkle" is a doubtful rendering. There is no apparent connection between bodily disfigurement and national purification. the Revised Version margin renders "startle" (literally, "cause to spring"). The exalted dignity of the "martyr" will excite the wonder of kings and peoples.ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.6
In 1 Peter 1:2, "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" is used figuratively of its cleansing efficacy (compare Hebrews 9:13-14; 10:22).ISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.7
T. LewisISBE Sprinkle; Sprinkling.8
Spurious, Acts, Epistles, Gospels
Spurious, Acts, Epistles, Gospels - spa'-ri-us.ISBE Spurious, Acts, Epistles, Gospels.2
See APOCRYPHAL ACTS; APOCRYPHAL EPISTLES; APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.ISBE Spurious, Acts, Epistles, Gospels.3
Stachys - sta'-kis (Stachus): The name of a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent greetings. The name is Greek and uncommon; it has been found in inscriptions connected with the imperial household. Paul designates him "my beloved" (Romans 16:9).ISBE Stachys.2
Stack - stak: Exodus 22:6 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "shocks" (of grain).ISBE Stack.2
Stacte - stak'-te (nataph, "drops" (Job 36:27); stakte, meaning "oozing out in drops"): One of the ingredients of the holy ointment (Exodus 30:34; Ecclesiasticus 24:15, margin "opobalsamum," the King James Version "storax"). The marginal reading is a concession to Jewish tradition, but see SPICE, (1). Dioscorides describes two kinds of stacte, one of pure myrrh and one of storax and a fat mixed. See MYRRH. This nataph must have been either myrrh "in drops," as it is collected, or some other fragrant gum, similarly collected, such, for example, as gum tragacanth.ISBE Stacte.2
Staff - staf: Many Hebrew terms are represented by this word. The "staves" of the ark translate the word badh, literally, "a part," hence, branch, bar, etc. (Exodus 25:13-14, 15, 27-28, etc.). Other words, as matteh, maqqel, shebhet, used of the staff in the hand, the shepherd's staff, figuratively, "staff of bread" (matteh, Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13), as indispensable for support of life, are dealt with under ROD (which see). The New Testament word is rhabdos (Matthew 10:10 parallel Luke 9:3; Hebrews 11:21).ISBE Staff.2
Stake - stak: Isaiah 33:20; 54:2 for yathedh, "tent-pin," or, perhaps, "tent-pole" (Exodus 27:19; Judges 4:21, etc.). The King James Version Sirach 43:19, "The hoar frost, .... being congealed, lieth on the top of sharp stakes," is of course meaningless. the Revised Version (British and American) "When it is congealed, it is as points of thorns" renders the Greek very exactly, but the Hebrew would indicate for the original meaning "forms frost-flowers of sapphire."ISBE Stake.2
Stalk - stok: In Genesis 41:5, 22 is for qaneh, "cane"; in Joshua 2:6 for ets, "wood." In Hosea 8:7, the Revised Version margin has "stalk" for qamah, "that which stands." The Revised Version's "standing grain" is due to this meaning of qamah in Exodus 22:6, etc., but this translation spoils the figure. The meaning is, "They sow the wind, a worthless sowing, for such seed produces no stalk, it yields no grain."ISBE Stalk.2
Stall - stol ((1) marbeq, literally,, "a place for tying up" (Amos 6:4; Malachi 4:2), (2) 'abhac, "to give fodder" (Proverbs 15:17), (3) 'urvah, "to pluck and feed" (1 Kings 4:26; 2 Chronicles 9:25; 32:28), (4) repheth, "a resting place" (Habakkuk 3:17); (5) phatne, "a manger" or "crib" (Luke 13:15; compare 'ebhuc, translated "crib" in Isaiah 1:3; Proverbs 14:4)): During the season when cattle are not being used they are allowed to roam in the fields. Otherwise they are tied in rooms in the winter time, or under shelters made of green boughs in the summer, and all their food brought to them. Horses and cattle alike are haltered and the chains fastened through holes made in stones projecting from the walls. No stanchions and no separating partitions between animals are used. The horses are usually hobbled as well.ISBE Stall.2
Stammerer - stam'-er-er: Isaiah 32:4, `illegh, "inarticulate speaking." In Isaiah 28:11; 33:19, l`g (pointing uncertain) is rendered "strange" by the Revised Version (British and American), with "stammering" in the King James Version, the Revised Version margin. Probably the word means both, as primitive people always think that their own language alone is clearly pronounced. Or the word may mean "mocking."ISBE Stammerer.2
Standard-bearer - stand'-ard-bar'-er.ISBE Standard-bearer.2
See WAR, 5; BANNER.ISBE Standard-bearer.3
Standards - stand'-ardz.ISBE Standards.2
See WAR, 5; BANNER; ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 7.ISBE Standards.3
Standing - stand'-ing.ISBE Standing.2
Star in the East - See STAR OF THE MAGI; MAGI.ISBE Star in the East.2
Star of Bethlehem - See STAR OF THE MAGI.ISBE Star of Bethlehem.2
Star of the Magi - 1. The MagiISBE Star of the Magi.2
2. Herod's EnquiryISBE Star of the Magi.3
3. Two Facts concerning the StarISBE Star of the Magi.4
4. The Wisdom of the Magi Not AstrologicalISBE Star of the Magi.5
5. The Prophecy of BalaamISBE Star of the Magi.6
6. The Star Not a Conjunction of PlanetsISBE Star of the Magi.7
7. The Star Not Nova CassiopeiaeISBE Star of the Magi.8
8. The Legend of the WellISBE Star of the Magi.9
9. Lesson of the NarrativeISBE Star of the Magi.10
1. The Magi: The birth of our Lord was announced in a supernatural manner not only to Jews by the angelic message to the shepherds, but also to Gentiles, for "Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him" (Matthew 2:1-2). The word which has been rendered "wise men" in the King James Version and the English Revised Version (the American Standard Revised Version "Wise-men") is "Magi." These, according to Herodotus, were originally a tribe of the Medes (Herodotus i.101) and from their supposed skill in divination the term was applied to the learned and priestly caste among the followers of Zoroaster; they were thus in principle worshippers of one only God, and rejecters of polytheism and idolatry. The simple creed and high morality, which Zoroastrianism in its purest form professed, were well adapted to prepare its faithful disciples to receive a further revelation, and we may reasonably believe that the wise men who had been thus guided to worship the new-born king of the Jews had been faithful to the light afforded to them, for "in every nation he that feareth him (God), and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:35).ISBE Star of the Magi.11
See MAGI.ISBE Star of the Magi.12
2. Herod's Enquiry: The gospel tells us that the arrival of the Magi at Jerusalem threw Herod the king and all the city into great excitement, and Herod at once called a council of all the chief priests and scribes of the people that he might learn from them where the Messiah should be born. In reply they quoted to him the prophecy of Micah which had indicated Bethlehem as the destined site. "Then Herod privily called the Wise-men, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search out exactly concerning the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and worship him. And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy" (Matthew 2:7-10). So much, and no more, are we told of the star of the Magi, and the story is as significant in its omissions as in that which it tells us.ISBE Star of the Magi.13
3. Two Facts concerning the Star: What sort of a star it Was that led the wise men; how they learned from it that the King of the Jews was born; how it went before them; how it stood over where the young Child was, we do not know. We are indeed told but two facts concerning it: first, that its appearance in some way or other did inform the wise men, not of the birth of a king of the Jews, but of the King of the Jews for whose coming, not Israel only, but more or less consciously the whole civilized world was waiting; next, that, when they had come to Judea in consequence of this information, the star pointed out to them the actual spot where the new-born King was to be found. It went before them till it came and stood over where the young Child was. It may also be inferred from Matthew 2:10 that in some way or other the wise men had for a time lost sight of the star, so that the two facts mentioned refer to two separate appearances. The first appearance induced the Magi to leave the East and set out for Judea; the second pointed out to them the place at Bethlehem where the object of their search was to be found. Nothing is told us respecting the star except its work as a guide.ISBE Star of the Magi.14
There can be no doubt that the Magi took their journey in obedience to direct revelation from God, and since we are told that God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, so that they departed to their own country another way, it is but reasonable to suppose that their outward journey had been directed in a similar manner.ISBE Star of the Magi.15
4. The Wisdom of the Magi Not Astrological: It has been conjectured that as the Magians were credited with a great skill in astrology they may have been able to forecast the birth of our Lord by the rules of their article But this conjecture must be peremptorily rejected. It ascribes to the pseudo-science of astrology a reality to which it has no claim, for it is inconceivable that the planetary configurations can really foretell the birth of princes. Even if it were admitted that such could be the case, no such event could be taken as indicating the One Birth for which the world was waiting, unless some direct and explicit revelation from God had been received to that effect. For that Birth was necessarily unique, and science can deal only with repeated events. No astronomical research is now, or was at any time, competent in itself to supply the indication needed; it was not in virtue of any natural learning that the wise men understood the meaning of the star. And if a mere astronomical research was helpless to supply any such power of prediction, still more emphatically must the claim of "occult knowledge" be disallowed. So far as occult knowledge has had any basis in fact at all, it has been simply a euphemistic way of describing the frauds, impostures and crimes by which debased heathen priesthoods and "medicine men" have imposed upon the gross superstition of their followers. The very suggestion that, by means like these, God's purpose would be made known shows that those who suggest it have not entirely shaken off the influence of heathenism.ISBE Star of the Magi.16
5. The Prophecy of Balaam: The suggestion has often been made that the prophecy of Balaam, "There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17), may have been preserved in the East and have furnished the clue upon which the Magi acted. It is a pleasing thought that these devout Gentiles had thus preserved and meditated upon the prophecy given through one who may well have been of an allied order to themselves; but that prophecy can surely not have been sufficient in itself, and some much more direct intimation must have been vouch-safed to them; though the prophecy may have aided their faith and have dictated the form in which they announced their mission to King Herod and the Jews.ISBE Star of the Magi.17
6. The Star Not a Conjunction of Planets: We are not told how the Magi learned the meaning of the star, neither are we told what kind of a star it was. Some three centuries ago the ingenious and devout Kepler supposed that he could identify the star with a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces, the two planets being so close as to seem a single star. This conjunction took place in the month of May, 7 BC, not very long before the birth of our Lord is supposed to have taken place. But the late Professor Pritchard has shown (Nature and Revelation, 243-55), first, that a similar and closer conjunction occurred 59 years earlier, and should therefore have brought a Magian deputation to Judea then. Next, that the two planets never approached each other nearer than twice the diameter of the moon, so that they would have appeared, not as one star, but as two, and thirdly, if the planets had seemed to stand over Bethlehem as the wise men left Jerusalem, they would assuredly not have appeared to do so when they arrived at the little city. Ingenious as the suggestion was, it may be dismissed as unworthy of serious consideration.ISBE Star of the Magi.18
7. The Star Not Nova Cassiopeiae: Another suggestion has received at times a very wide popularity. In the year 1572 a wonderful new star appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. At its brightest it outshone Venus and was visible in the daylight, and though it gradually declined in splendor it was not lost to sight until after 16 months. There have been other instances of outbursts of short-lived bright stars, and in the annals of the years 1265 and 952 some brief notices have been found which may have referred to objects of this class, but more probably described comets. The guess was then hazarded that these three events might all refer to the same object; that the star in Cassiopeia might be a "variable" star, bursting into brilliancy about every 350 years or so; that it was the star that announced the birth of our Lord, and that it would reappear about the end of the 19th century to announce His second coming. This rumor was widely spread, and from time to time ignorant people have noticed the planet Venus which shines with extraordinary brilliancy when in particular parts of her orbit, and have imagined, especially when she has been thus seen as a morning star in the east, that she was none other than the star of Bethlehem at its predicted return. There is no reason to suppose that the star of 1572 had ever appeared before that date or will ever appear again; but in any case we are perfectly sure that it could not have been the star of Bethlehem, for Cassiopeia is a northern constellation, and the wise men in their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem had Cassiopeia and all her stars behind their back.ISBE Star of the Magi.19
The statement that the star "went before" the Magi gives the impression that it was some supernatural light like the shekhinah, "glory," resting upon the tabernacle, or the pillar of fire which led the children of Israel through the wilderness. But this view raises the questions as to the form in which it first appeared to the wise men, when they were still in the East, and how they came to call it a star, when they must have recognized how un-starlike it was. On the other hand, if what they saw when in the East was really a star, it seems most difficult to understand how it can have appeared to go before them and to stand over the place where the young Child lay.ISBE Star of the Magi.20
8. The Legend of the Well: Yet there is a legend still current in Palestine which may possibly explain how an actual star may have fulfilled this part, and there is a well at Bethlehem that is still shown to pilgrims as the means whereby the wise men "saw the star" the second time. It is said that when they had reached Bethlehem, apparently nearly at mid-day, one of them went to the well of the inn in order to draw water. Looking down into the well he saw the star reflected from the surface of the water and knew that it must be directly overhead. Its re-observation under such unusual circumstances would be a sufficient assurance to the Magi that they had reached the right place, and inquiry in the inn would soon inform them of the visit of the shepherds, and of the angelic message which had told them where to find the babe `born in the city of David, the Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.'ISBE Star of the Magi.21
If we may accept this legend we may take the star as having been what astronomers know as a "new" or "temporary" star, like that of 1572. When the Magi first saw it, and in consequence set out upon their journey, it may have been an evening star and thus, being seen only in the west shortly after sunset, it would appear, evening after evening, to point them their way to Judea. As they journeyed thither it probably faded as temporary stars in general quickly do. At the same time it would have drawn nearer and nearer to the sun, until it was lost in its rays by the time they reached Jerusalem, when they would seem to have lost sight of it altogether. Having thus lost it, they would naturally not expect to see it again until it had drawn away from the sun on the other side, and been detected as a morning star in the east before sunrise; they would not expect to discover it in the daytime.ISBE Star of the Magi.22
In the ordinary way, the planet Venus is, after the two "great lights," the brightest object in the heavens, but temporary stars are on record that have even exceeded Venus in brightness. The difficulty of seeing the planet Venus in full sunshine does not lie in her want of brightness, but in picking up and holding steadily so minute a point of light in the broad expanse of the gleaming sky. This difficulty, which would be even greater in the case of a star, would be lessened by looking down the well, as the shaft would narrow the field of view down to a small area, and would direct the observer's gaze straight to the star. There may also have been, at the very time of observation, a temporary revival of the brightness of the star as has been recorded in the case of one or two objects of the same class. The legend, whether well founded or not, seems to have some astronomical verisimilitude, and at any rate suggests a mode in which an actual star could have seemed to stand over the place where the young Child lay. It would also explain what seems to have been implied in the narrative, how it happened that the Magi alone, and not the Jews in general, perceived the star at its second appearance.ISBE Star of the Magi.23
9. Lesson of the Narrative: Yet it seems safer to conclude that the narrative has been purposely left--astronomically--too incomplete for any astronomical conclusion to be drawn from it. One verse more, and that a short one, could have answered all our inquiries, could have told us whether the star was a conjunction of the planets, a comet, or a temporary star; or whether it was a supernatural light like the pillar of fire in the wilderness. But that verse has not been given. The score of additional words which could have cleared up the matter have been withheld, and there can be no doubt as to the reason. The star, whatever its physical nature, was of no importance except as a guide to the birthplace of the infant Jesus. The reticence of the gospel narrative on all points, except those directly relating to our Lord Himself, enforces the truth that the Scriptures were not written to instruct us in astronomy, or in any of the physical sciences, but that we might have life eternal (John 17:3).ISBE Star of the Magi.24
E. W. MaunderISBE Star of the Magi.25
Star of Wormwood - See WORMWOOD.ISBE Star of Wormwood.2
Star; Stars - star, starz.ISBE Star; Stars.2
See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 6.ISBE Star; Stars.3
Stargazers - star'-gaz-erz.ISBE Stargazers.2
See ASTROLOGY, 5.ISBE Stargazers.3
Stars, Courses of - See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 1.ISBE Stars, Courses of.2
Stars, Falling; Morning; Wandering
Stars, Falling; Morning; Wandering - See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 8; I, 7; I, 9.ISBE Stars, Falling; Morning; Wandering.2
Stars, Seven - See ASTRONOMY.ISBE Stars, Seven.2
Stately - stat'-li (kebhuddah, "weight," "honor," "wealth"): "And sit upon a stately (magnificent) bed" (Ezekiel 23:41).ISBE Stately.2
Stater - sta'-ter (stater): Used only once, Matthew 17:27, where it is rendered by "piece of money" in the King James Version and "shekel" in the Revised Version (British and American). It was originally a standard Greek weight equal to two drachmas, but later it was used to designate the tetradrachma, and this is probably the coin referred to in the above passage.ISBE Stater.2
Stature - stat'-ur (madh, middah, "measure" (Numbers 13:32, etc.), qomah, "standing up" (1 Samuel 16:7, etc.); helikia, "greatness"): This last word means "height of the body," "stature," in Luke 2:52; 19:3; Ephesians 4:13, but it can mean "length of life" equally well and has this force in John 9:21, 23; Hebrews 11:11. And this meaning, not "stature" (as in the King James Version), is fixed for Matthew 6:27 parallel Luke 12:25, for to add some 18 inches (see CUBIT) to one's "stature" would be a grotesque feat, while it is the smallness of the act that is emphasized. Hence, the translation "able to extend his long path of life by a single cubit" (the Revised Version (British and American) "measure of life"). Compare also "great of stature" Baruch 3:26 (eumegethes).ISBE Stature.2
Burton Scott EastonISBE Stature.3
Staves - stavz (baddim): Ten or eleven Hebrew words are used in the Old Testament to describe various staffs, bars, and wooden rods used by the Hebrews (compare STAFF; ROD;SCEPTER ). One word only is used to describe the staves or wooden poles used for carrying the holy furniture of the tabernacle from place to place. That word is badh (plural baddim), which occurs 28 times in Exodus and Numbers and 5 times in Kings and Chronicles (compare also Job 17:16; Hosea 11:6). The only passage in which these staves are mentioned by another name is 1 Chronicles 15:15, where the staves used for carrying the ark from its captivity into Jerusalem are called motah. The reason for this probably is that the original baddim had been lost during the long absence of the sacred chest from its home in the tabernacle.ISBE Staves.2
In the wilderness wanderings, arrangements were made that four items of the holy furniture of the portable tabernacle should be carried on the shoulders of Levites, suspended on these staves. These were the golden altar of incense, the golden table for shewbread, the brazen altar of sacrifice, and the ark of the covenant (Exodus 35:12-16).ISBE Staves.3
In the case of the large altar of sacrifice, which was in reality a hollow wooden chest covered with brass (bronze) plates (see ALTAR), four rings were attached to the brass grating which rose midway in the chest, and through these rings the staves passed. The staves were of acacia wood and were covered with brass plating. In the case of the three golden utensils of the sanctuary, the staves were of acacia wood, covered with gold plates.ISBE Staves.4
The last mention of any of these staves is in 1 Kings 8:7-9, where it is stated of the ark, in the holy of holies in Solomon's Temple, that the ends of its staves were seen by anyone standing in the adjoining holy place, before (i.e. east of) the oracle. Priests only might view them there, the curtain being withdrawn. The writer of 1 Kings 8:1-66 adds that the staves were thus visible when he wrote, an item of evidence worthy of note as to the date of the document.ISBE Staves.5
W. Shaw CaldecottISBE Staves.6
Stay - sta: Is derived from two distinct forms. From one derivation it has the meaning "to stand" and so "to continue in one place" (Genesis 8:10; Leviticus 13:23, 28, etc.), "to forbear to act" (Ruth 1:13), "to rest," "to be trustful" (King James Version, the English Revised Version Isaiah 10:20; see below). Transitively it means "to cause to stay," "to hinder" (Daniel 4:35, etc.), and "stay" as a noun means "cessation of progress"' (Leviticus 13:5, 37), "sojourn." From the second derivation the verb means "to support" (Exodus 17:12; 1 Kings 22:35; Song of Solomon 2:5), while the noun means "a support" (1 Kings 10:19; Isaiah 3:1, etc.). the American Standard Revised Version has judged obsolete "stay on" in the sense "trust in," and for "stay" has substituted "lean" in Isaiah 10:20 and "rely" in Isaiah 30:12; 31:1; 50:10, although "stay themselves upon" (= "support themselves by") has been kept in Isaiah 48:2. Otherwise the Revised Version (British and American) has made few alterations. But such as have been made ("tarry ye" for "stay yourselves" in Isaiah 29:9 and the American Standard Revised Version "restrain" for "stay" in Job 37:4) could have been carried farther with advantage.ISBE Stay.2
Burton Scott EastonISBE Stay.3
Stead; Steads - sted, stedz (tachath, "(same) place"; AS stede, "place"): Occurs only in 1 Chronicles 5:22, "They dwelt in their stead (place) until the captivity."ISBE Stead; Steads.2
Stealing - ste'-ling.ISBE Stealing.2
See CRIMES ; PUNISHMENTS.ISBE Stealing.3
Stedfastness - sted'-fast-nes: (1) stereoma, "firmness": "The steadfastness of your faith in Christ" (Colossians 2:5). Some take this figuratively, in a military sense, of a "solid front" (see Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament, under the word). (2) sterigmos, "stability" (2 Peter 3:17; compare 1 Corinthians 15:58).ISBE Stedfastness.2
Steel - stel: the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "brass" for "steel" in 2 Samuel 22:35; Job 20:24; Psalms 18:34; Jeremiah 15:12, and "steel" for "torches" in Nahum 2:3.ISBE Steel.2
Stephanas - stef'-a-nas (Stephanas): The name occurs only in 1 Corinthians 1:16; 1 Corinthians 16:15-18. Stephanas was a Christian of Corinth; his household is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:15 as the first family won to Christ in Achaia, and in 1 Corinthians 1:16 as among the few personally baptized by Paul at Corinth. The "house of Stephanas," apparently of independent means, had "set themselves to minister unto the saints" (1 Corinthians 16:15), i.e. to do Christian service. Possibly this service consisted in putting their house at the disposal of the Christians at Corinth for worshipping, or in rendering special assistance in establishing intercommunication between the Corinthian church and the apostle, or the other churches. An instance of such service was the commission of Stephanas at Ephesus referred to in 1 Corinthians 16:17-18. At the occasion of some disorders in the Corinthian church Stephanas, with Fortunatus and Achaicus in the deputation, brought a letter of the Corinthians to Paul. Our present 1 Corinthians is the reply to this letter, and thus, in all probability, the three men mentioned above were the bearers of this epistle. With fine courtesy Paul expresses his appreciation for this service in 1 Corinthians 16:18, referring to it as a cherished opportunity of fellowship with his beloved Corinthians through these representatives. It is in consideration of such Christian service that Paul enjoins upon the Corinthians to show the house of Stephanas that respect and deference due to Christian leaders by willingly submitting to their direction.ISBE Stephanas.2
Stephen - ste'-vn (Stephanos, "crown" (Acts 6:5 through Acts 8:12)):ISBE Stephen.2
1. His Personal AntecedentsISBE Stephen.3
2. His Character and ActivityISBE Stephen.4
4. His Arraignment before the SanhedrinISBE Stephen.6
5. His Defence before the SanhedrinISBE Stephen.7
(1) Personal DefenceISBE Stephen.8
(2) Defense of His TeachingISBE Stephen.9
6. Martyrdom of StephenISBE Stephen.10
Known best as the proto-martyr of the Christian church, introducing the heroic period of persecutions. He deserves as well to be called the first great apologist for Christianity, since it was this that brought on his death as a martyr (circa 36 or 37 AD).ISBE Stephen.12
1. His Personal Antecedents: As his name and his relations in the church at Jerusalem seem to imply (Acts 6:3 ff), he was a Hellenist, i.e. a Greek-speaking Jew. Thus he belonged to that class of Jews usually residing outside of Palestine who, though distinguished from the orthodox Palestinian Jew by a broader outlook on life due to a more liberal education, were Jews none the less, the original Jewish element predominating in their character, and who might be true Israelites indeed, as Stephen was. Of his conversion to Christianity we know nothing, though there is a tradition that he was among the Seventy. As Stephen by his life and work marks a period of transition in the development of the early Christian church, so his name is connected with an important new departure within the organization of the church itself, namely, the institution of the office of the Seven (Acts 6:1 ff), who were entrusted with the administration of the work of relief in the church at Jerusalem--the foundation of the diaconate (Iren., Haer., i.26; Cyprian, Epist., iii.3). Of the seven men, all Hellenists, elected to this office at the occasion of a grievance of the Hellenistic Christians in the Jerusalem church against the Hebrew Christians, to the effect that in the distribution of alms their widows were being discriminated against, Stephen, who heads the list, is by far the most distinguished.ISBE Stephen.13
2. His Character and Activity: Stephen more than met the requirements of the office to which he was elected (Acts 6:3); the record characterizes him as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5), i.e. of an enthusiastic faith and of a deep spirituality, and his activity was not restricted to the functions of his office; in fact while nothing is said of the manner in which he fulfilled the duties of his office, though without doubt he fulfilled them faithfully, the record makes it very clear that the importance of Stephen lay in his activity as a preacher, a witness for Christ; it is this activity which has given him the place he holds in history (Acts 22:20). In itself that is not surprising, for in the early Christian church every Christian was at once a witness for Christ, and lay-preaching was common. The Seven from the first were occupied with essentially spiritual work, as also the later diaconate was engaged in something far different from mere charity organization. But Stephen was especially qualified for this high work, having been endued by the Holy Spirit with apostolical gifts, not only that of preaching, but also that of working miracles (Acts 6:8). In his freer views of Jewish law and customs, due to his deeper conception and better understanding of the essence of Christianity, he even excelled the apostles.ISBE Stephen.14
3. His Teaching: He burst the bonds of Judaism, by which the other apostles were still bound, by teaching that the temple and the Law of Moses were evanescent and that Christianity was destined to supersede Judaism (Acts 6:14). These freer views of Stephen, though possibly attributable to his Hellenic culture, were certainly not of Hellenistic origin, for just their promulgation is what brought him into controversy with the Hellenistic synagogues of Jerusalem. Though the Hellenist dispensed himself from keeping all of the Pharisaic additions to the Law, he always regarded the Law of Moses and the temple at Jerusalem as highly as the Palestinian Jew. Even Philo characterizes the Law of Moses in distinction from the laws of other nations, as stedfast, immovable and unchangeable, placing it on a level with the laws of Nature. The true source of Stephen's freer views of the Mosaic Law and the temple was Christ's own teachings, Stephen showing a wonderfully ripened understanding of them, paralleled only by that of Paul some time later. Christ's words regarding the temple (John 4:20-24; Mark 13:2) not only led Stephen to see that the true worship of God was not confined to the temple, but opened his eyes as to the purely formal character of this worship in that day, which, far from being true worship, had become a mere ceremonialism (Mark 7:6), and in the words of Christ (John 2:19) he saw an intimation of the new temple which was to take the place of the old. Thus also his conception of the transitory nature of the Mosaic Law may be traced to Christ's teaching as to the Sabbath, the laws of purifying, the fulfillment of the Law and Jewish customs of the day (Matthew 5:20) and of a better righteousness than that of the Pharisees and scribes (Matthew 9:16). As Christ had been drawn into controversy with Pharisees and scribes on account of these freer views, and as His word about the temple was used to frame the accusation against Him in His trial, so also in the case of Stephen. He did not hesitate to preach his views, choosing the Hellenistic synagogues for this purpose, and soon became engaged in controversies there. But, as the record says, his opponents "were not able to withstand the wisdom," i.e. better understanding, convincing knowledge, "and the Spirit," i.e. the deep earnestness and spirituality, "by which he spake" so convincingly (Acts 6:10; Matthew 10:19-20). Seeing themselves beaten, they took recourse to the ignoble method of declaring him a blasphemer and a heretic, by using the same foul means that the enemies of Jesus had resorted to, by suborning false witnesses to the plot, by stirring up the people against him, by appealing to their Jewish prejudices and to the scribes and elders, members of the Sanhedrin, and thus eventually brought about his arraignment.ISBE Stephen.15
4. His Arraignment before the Sanhedrin: The accusation which they brought against him, through the introduction of false witnesses, included a twofold charge, one against his person, a charge of blasphemous words against Moses which would make him also a blasphemer of God, and one against his teaching, charging him with revolutionary and radical statements concerning the temple and the Law. (compare Mark 14:58; 13:2; 15:29). "Customs of Moses" (Acts 6:14) were the institutions that distinguished the Jews and that were derived from Moses. By his reference to "this place" and "these customs" Stephen was understood to imply the destruction of the temple and the change of the Law, Christianity thus aiming not only at the overthrow of the Jews' religion but the very termination of their national existence.ISBE Stephen.16
The charge against Stephen's person was a baseless accusation. There was no blasphemy on the part of Stephen, save by perversion of his words. The charge against his teaching was both false and true. It was false as an implied insinuation that he impugned the divine origin and character of the temple and the Mosaic Law, but it was true as far as he conceived both to be only of a temporary nature and serving a merely provisional purpose, which, as we have seen, constituted the peculiarity of his teaching. As in the trial of Christ, the judge, Pontius Pilate, read his true verdict, "I find no guilt in him," written on His countenance and whole bearing, thus here the record tells us that the judges of Stephen, "All that sat in the council .... saw his face as it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15; 2 Corinthians 3:18); as if in refutation of the charge made against him, Stephen receives the same mark of divine favor which had been granted to Moses. It is a significant fact that Stephen was not arraigned before the Sanhedrin as being a Nazarene though at bottom it was the real cause of his arraignment. Thus also his defense before the Sanhedrin, though the name of Jesus was not mentioned until the very last, was in reality a grand apology for Christ.ISBE Stephen.17
5. His Defense before the Sanhedrin: While the assembly was overawed by the evidence of singular innocence and holiness written upon the countenance of Stephen (Acts 6:15), the question of the high priest "Are these things so?" broke in upon the silence. It drew forth from Stephen that masterful pleading which, so sublime in form and content and bare of all artificiality, belongs to the highest type of oratory, characterized by its deep, earnest, and genuine spirituality, the kind of oratory of which the great speeches of our own martyred Lincoln were models. It is not so much a plea in selfdefence as a grand apology for the cause which Stephen represents.ISBE Stephen.18
Beginning by mentioning "the God of glory" and ending with a vision of that glory itself, the speech is a wonderful apotheosis of the humble cause of the Nazarene, the enthusiastic tribute of its first great martyr delivered in the face of death. The contents of his speech are a recital of the most marked phases of Jewish history in the past, but as read from the point of view of its outworkings in the present--old facts interpreted by a spiritfilled disciple of Christ. It is in reality a philosophy of Israel's history and religion, and in so far it was a novum. Thus the new feature that it furnishes is its philosophy of this history which might be termed the Christian philosophy of Jewish history. In appealing to their reason he calls up picture after picture from Abraham to Moses; the speech exhibits vividly the continuity and the progress of the divine revelation which culminated in Jesus of Nazareth, the same thought as that expressed by Christ in Matthew 5:17 of the principal agreement between the Old Testament and the New Testament revelation.ISBE Stephen.19
The emotional appeal lies in the reverential and feeling manner in which he handles the history sacred to them all. The strong appeal to the will is made by holding up the figure of Moses type of the Law, in its vital significance, in such a way as passionately to apply it to the fundamental relation of divine plan and human conduct. Thus the aim of Stephen was to point out to his hearers the true meaning of Jewish history and Jewish Law in reference to the present, i.e. in such a way that they might better understand and judge the present and adjust their conduct to it accordingly. Their knowledge of Jewish history and Jewish religion as he would convey it to them would compel them to clear him of the accusation against him as blasphemer and false teacher.ISBE Stephen.20
In accordance with the accusation against him, his defense was a twofold one: personal defense and defense of his teaching.ISBE Stephen.21
(1) Personal DefenseISBE Stephen.22
The charge of blasphemy against God and contempt of the Law is implicitly repudiated by the tenor of the whole speech. The courteous and at once endearing terms in Stephen's address (Acts 7:2) to the council, and the terms "our fathers" and "our race" in Acts 7:2, 19 by which he closely associates himself with his hearers, his declaration of the divine majesty of Yahweh with which the speech opens (Acts 7:2), of the providential leading of the patriarchs (Acts 7:8, 10), his recognition of the Old Testament institutions as divinely decreed (Acts 7:8), his reference to the divine sanction of the Law and its condemnation of those who had not kept it (Acts 7:53), at the close of his speech, show clearly his reverence, not only for the past history of the Jewish race, but as well for its Sacred Writings and all of its religious institutions. It makes evident beyond doubt how not grounded the accusation of blasphemy against him was. Not to impiety or frivolity in Stephen, but to some other cause, must be due therefore the difference between him and his opponents. What it is Stephen himself shows unmistakenly in the second part of his defense.ISBE Stephen.23
(2) Defence of His TeachingISBE Stephen.24
The fundamental differences between Stephen and his opponents, as is evident from the whole tone and drift and purpose of his speech, lay in that he judged Old Testament history from the prophetical point of view, to which Jesus had also allied Himself, while his opponents represented the legalistic point of view, so characteristic of the Jewish thought of that day. The significance of this difference is borne out by the fact upon which Stephen's refutation hinges, namely, the fact, proved by the history of the past, that the development of the divine revelation and the development of the Jewish nation, so far from combining, move in divergent lines, due to a disposition of obstinate disobedience on the part of their fathers, and that therefore not he but they were disobedient to the divine revelation. Thus in a masterful way Stephen converts the charge of Antinomianism and anti-Mosaism brought against him into a countercharge of disobedience to the divine revelation, of which his hearers stood guilty in the present as their fathers had in the past. In this sense the speech of Stephen is a grand apology for the Christian cause which he represented, inasmuch as it shows clearly that the new religion was only the divinely-ordered development of the old, and not in opposition to it.ISBE Stephen.25
The main arguments of the speech may be summed up as follows: (a) God's self-manifestation to Israel in revealing His covenant and His will, so far from being bound to one sanctuary and conveyed to one single person (Moses), began long before Moses and long before there was a temple. Thus it was gradual, and as it had begun before Moses it was not completed by him, as is evident from his own words, "A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me" (Acts 7:2-37).ISBE Stephen.26
(b) The Jews to whom these revelations were granted, so far from being thankful at all stages of their history, had been slow to believe and understand them because they "would not be obedient" (Acts 7:39, 57). They resisted the purpose of God by obstinately and stiff-neckedly opposing those through whom God worked. Thus their fathers had turned away from Moses at the very moment when he was receiving God's greatest revelation, and, instead of obeying the "living oracles" (Acts 7:38) he gave them, turned to idol-worship for which God punished them by the Babylonian captivity (Acts 7:39-43). They had killed the prophets who had protested against the dead ritualism of the temple-worship and raised their voice in behalf of a true spiritual worship as that of the tabernacle had been (Acts 7:44-50, 52). This disposition of disobedience so characteristic of the race in its whole history, because, in spite of the divine revelation received, they remained unregenerate (Acts 7:51), reached its culmination in that awful crime of betrayal and murder committed by the present generation upon the "Righteous One" whose coming the prophets had predicted the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth, by which the Jews doomed not only their national existence, but also their temple-worship and the reign of the Law to destruction (Acts 7:52 through Acts 6:14).ISBE Stephen.27
Though the name of Jesus was not uttered by Stephen in his speech and does not occur until in his dying prayer, his hearers could not fail to notice the hidden reference to Him throughout the entire speech and to draw parallels intended by Stephen: As Joseph and Moses, types of the Messiah, had been rejected, scorned and illtreated (Acts 7:9, 27, 39), before being raised to be ruler and deliverer, so Jesus had also been repulsed by them.ISBE Stephen.28
The climax of his speech is reached in Acts 7:51-53, when Stephen, breaking off the line of argument, suddenly in direct address turns upon his hearers, and, the accused becoming the accuser, charges them openly with the sin of resisting the Holy Spirit, with the murder of the prophets and the Righteous One, and with continual disobedience to the Law. These words which mark the climax, though probably not the close of the speech, pointed the moral in terms of the most cutting rebuke, and were at once prophetical as to the effect the speech would have upon his hearers and for him.ISBE Stephen.29
6. Martyrdom of Stephen: Such arguing and directness as Stephen's could have but one result. Prejudiced and enraged as they were, the unanswerable arguments of Stephen, based on their own Scriptures, made them mad with fury, and doubtless through their demonstrations they stopped the speech. But Stephen, ansported with enthusiasm and inspiration, was vouchsafed a vision of the "glory of God," which he had mentioned in the beginning of his speech (Acts 7:2), and of Jesus, whose cause he had so gallantly defended (Acts 7:55). Stephen standing there, his gaze piercing into heaven, while time and human limitations seemed effaced for him, marks one of the most historic moments in the history of Israel, as his words constitute the most memorable testimony ever uttered in behalf of Christ: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man"--the only place where this title is uttered by any other person than Jesus--"standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). Now the audience could restrain its rage no longer, and the catastrophe followed immediately. Contrary to Roman law and order they took Stephen, and without awaiting sentence against him, amid a tumultuous scene, stoned him to death, the punishment prescribed in Mosaic Law for a blasphemer (Deuteronomy 17:7; Leviticus 24:14-16). This recourse to lynch law may have been connived at by the Roman authorities, since the act was without political significance. It is noteworthy, however, that the Jewish legal forms were observed, as if to give to the violence the appearance of legality. Accordingly, Stephen was taken outside the city (Leviticus 24:14; compare Luke 4:29); the witnesses threw the first stone at him (compare Deuteronomy 17:7) after taking off their upper garments and laying them at the feet of a "young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58)--afterward Paul, now about 30 years old--who evidently had charge of the whole proceedings.ISBE Stephen.30
Stephen died as he had lived, a faithful witness to his Master whom he acknowledged as such amid the rain of stones hurled at him, loudly calling upon His name, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59; compare Luke 23:46), and whose spirit he exemplified so nobly when, with a final effort, bending his knees, he "cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:60; compare Luke 23:34). "And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:60; compare 1 Corinthians 15:1-58).ISBE Stephen.31
The impression made by Stephen's death was even greater than that made by his life. Though it marks the beginning of the first great persecution of Christians, the death of the first Christian martyr resulted in the greatest acquisition Christianity has probably ever made, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. The vision of the risen and exalted Jesus vouchsafed to the dying Stephen presented Christianity to Saul of Tarsus in a new light, tending to remove what had been its greatest stumbling-block to him in the Crucified One. This revelation coupled with the splendid personality of Stephen, the testimony of his righteous life and the noble bravery of his sublime death, and above all his dying prayer, fell upon the honest soul of Saul with an irresistible force and inevitably brought on the Damascus event, as Augustine clearly recognized: "Si Stephanus non orasset, ecclesia Paulum non habuisset." Judged by his teaching, Stephen may be called the forerunner of Paul. He was one of the first to conceive of the fact that Christianity represented a new order of things and as such would inevitably supersede the old order. Thus his teachings forecast that greatest controversy of the first Christian century, the controversy between Judaism and Christianity, which reached its culmination-point in the Council of Jerusalem, resulting in the independence of the Christian church from the fetters of Judaistic legalism.ISBE Stephen.32
R. J. Knowling, "Acts" in Expositor's Greek Testament., II (1900); Feine, PRE3, XIX (1907); Pahncke in Studien u. Krit. (1912), I.ISBE Stephen.34
Steward - stu'-erd ('ish `al bayith (Genesis 43:16, 19; 44:1; 1 Kings 16:9), ha-meltsar (Daniel 1:11), ha-cokhen (Isaiah 22:15)):ISBE Steward.2
1. Old Testament Usage: In the King James Version the word "steward" is found in Genesis 15:2; 1 Chronicles 28:1, in addition to the above. The American Standard Revised Version renders Genesis 15:2 as "possessor," and 1 Chronicles 28:1 "rulers."ISBE Steward.3
The phrase ben-mesheq in Genesis 15:2 is best rendered "son of acquisition," hence, "heir." But this is disputed. Skinner in the ICC on Gen regards the text as hopelessly corrupt, and offers no solution of the difficulty. In the other passages, the phrase 'ish `al bayith is conveniently translated "steward," though literally it is "man over the house." The word ha-meltsar in Daniel 1:11 is translated in the King James Version as a proper noun. This is certainly a mistake. The margin gives "the steward," and this is followed in the Revised Version (British and American). A better rendering perhaps would be "overseer," as this man seemed to have the superintendence of the training and feeding of the young men until they were fitted to enter the king's service. He was thus rather a steward of persons than of property (see MELZAR). In Isaiah 22:15 Shebna is described in the text as "treasurer," but in the margin as "steward," and seems to combine the ideas in both the words "treasurer" and "steward." Shebna was thus one of the highest officials, having charge of the city's funds, and of administering them for the city's benefit.ISBE Steward.4
Though the word for "steward" occurs but once in that sense, the idea is one familiar to the Old Testament. Eliezer of Damascus was Abraham's slave and trusted steward. Heseems to have had the oversight of all his affairs and was entrusted with the important duty of getting a wife for Isaac. He apparently had charge over the family of his master as well as his property. Whether Isaac had such a steward or not is nowhere stated, but it is practically certain that he had. Jacob seems to have been Laban's steward for a time, as he apparently had full charge of the flocks and herds of his master. Joseph was practically Potiphar's steward, and when he became Pharaoh's chief minister, he himself had a steward over his own house (Genesis 39:4-5; 1, 4). The king Elah in his brief reign of two years had a steward in charge of his household (1 Kings 16:9). The same was doubtless true of all the kings, and it may be safely inferred that every household of distinction or of sufficient wealth had a steward in charge. The functions of this officer seem at times to have included the care of the children or minors, as well as of the property. Sometimes he was a slave, sometimes a freedman.ISBE Steward.5
2. In the New Testament: epitropos, oikonomos. These two terms denote similar positions. The exact difference cannot be clearly defined, as they are sometimes almost synonymous. The two are found together in Galatians 4:2. Some scholars say they are used synonymously, others that the first word is a more general term including the latter. Lightfoot and Ellicott think that the former refers rather to the guardianship of persons, the child's legal representative, while the latter word refers to the head servant appointed to manage the household or property (compare 2 Maccabees 11:1; 13:2). There would, however, not be any such hard-and-fast line between their respective duties; these might vary with every master, or might be combined in one individual.ISBE Steward.6
(1) In the Gospels. The idea seems to have been perfectly familiar to the people in Christ's day. Every household of distinction seems to have had a steward in charge, Herod's steward was named Chuzas, and his wife, Joanna, followed and ministered to Jesus (Luke 8:3). The word epitropos used here is held by some scholars to imply that he had charge of the education of Herod's children. This is very probable but not certain. In the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, it is the steward who pays the laborers at the close of the day (Matthew 20:8). The parable of the Unjust Steward best illustrates the practice. This steward was a freeman, had full charge of his master's affairs and could use them to his own advantage if he chose, was fully accountable to his master and had to render an account when called upon. If unfaithful he was usually discharged at once (Luke 16:1-13). The parables of the Minae or Pounds (Luke 19:12-27), the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), and the Wicked Husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46) teach similar truths. In His warning to His disciples Jesus seems to imply that they were to act as stewards in His absence (Luke 12:42). According to this passage a steward's task was to manage all the affairs of his master, attend to receipts and expenditures, and portion out to each one of the household what should come to him. The disciples were left thus in charge of His gospel and were to use this gift to the best advantage in behalf of others until His return. In John 2:8 the term "ruler" is given in the margin as "steward." The one referred to here was really director of the feast rather than steward, though in a sense charged with the responsibility of conducting it. Many stewards were no doubt slaves, as is implied in Matthew 24:45, while others were freedmen (Luke 16:1-21).ISBE Steward.7
(2) In the Epistles. The application of this term is largely confined to the ministry of the gospel. Paul and his fellow-laborers regarded themselves as stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). The idea is that he take scrupulous care of that which was entrusted to him, and give it out to others faithfully and as directed by his master Jesus Christ. A bishop or overseer is to be as God's steward (Titus 1:7). Peter considered himself and all other Christians as "stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10). The prevalence of the custom of having guardians and stewards over children in their minority is shown in Galatians 4:2. The difference in meaning of the two words used here is stated above. In Romans 16:23 Erastus is called the oikonomos of the city. This is best translated "treasurer." Erastus was thus an influential member of the community of Corinth and evidently a faithful Christian.ISBE Steward.8
James Josiah ReeveISBE Steward.9
Stewpan - stu'-pan (Leviticus 11:35 margin).ISBE Stewpan.2
Stiff-necked - stif'-nekt (qesheh `oreph, literally, "hard of neck"): As it is figuratively used, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the word means "stubborn," "untractable," "not to be led." The derivation of the idea was entirely familiar to the Jews, with whom the ox was the most useful and common of domestic animals. It was especially used for such agricultural purposes as harrowing and plowing (Judges 14:18; 1 Corinthians 9:9).ISBE Stiff-necked.2
The plow was usually drawn by two oxen. As the plowman required but one hand to guide the plow, he carried in the other an "ox-goad." This was a light pole, shod with an iron spike. With this he would prick the oxen upon the hind legs to increase their speed, and upon the neck to turn, or to keep a straight course when deviating. If an ox was hard to control or stubborn, it was "hard of neck," or stiff-necked. Hence, the figure was used in the Scriptures to express the stubborn, untractable spirit of a people not responsive to the guiding of their God (Exodus 32:9; 33:3; Deuteronomy 9:6; 2 Chronicles 36:13; Jeremiah 17:23, etc.). See also the New Testament where sklerotrachelos, is so translated (Acts 7:51), "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit.". Compare Baruch 2:30, 33.ISBE Stiff-necked.3
Arthur Walwyn EvansISBE Stiff-necked.4
Still - stil: "To be still" is "to keep silence" (Psalms 4:4, etc.) and so "to be quiet" (Psalms 107:29, etc.) or "inactive" in any way (Judges 18:9; 1 Kings 22:3; Zechariah 1:11, etc.). So "be still" in Psalms 46:10 means "desist from your war" (compare the Revised Version margin "let be"). The "still small voice" of 1 Kings 19:12 (the Revised Version margin "sound of gentle stillness") is due to taking the Hebrew demamah in its literal force of "silent," but the word here means "whisper"--"a whispering, little voice." This familiar passage, however, has made "still voice" good English, and the combination is used in Job 4:16 by the Revised Version margin. In Psalms 23:2 the translation "still waters" takes "waters of rest" (so literally for menuchah; compare the Revised Version margin) to mean "waters with little motion." But the meaning is either "wells by which the flocks rest" or "wells that give refreshing water." As an adverb "still" is perhaps more emphatic than in modern English; compare "power to keep still the kingdom," 2 Chronicles 22:9 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "to hold the kingdom").ISBE Still.2
Burton Scott EastonISBE Still.3
Sting - sting (parash, "to cut into"; kentron, "a goad," "spur"): A sharp, pointed organ or instrument for inflicting wounds by puncture; sting of an adder, Proverbs 23:32; of scorpions, Revelation 9:10. In the free quotation of 1 Corinthians 15:55 from Hosea 13:14, death is personified as a deadly animal, like a scorpion or serpent, which inflicts destruction by means of sin as its kentron. It should also be remembered that in Acts 26:14 the same Greek word is used with reference to an instrument for exciting fear, rather than death. Both figures are pertinent; for death is powerless, except through sin, and, also, when sin is vanquished, the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15) is gone.ISBE Sting.2
Stir, Stir Up - stur: Used transitively and intransitively to indicate inner, concentrated movement; translates a number of Hebrew and Greek verbs, each of which has its different shade of meaning. Thus, e.g. in Psalms 39:2, we have `akhar, "to be troubled," "excited"; in Song of Solomon 2:7, `ur, "to awake," "disturb" (by the festal dances and songs). In 2 Timothy 1:6, it stands for Greek anazopureo, used of the resuscitation of a flame; in 2 Peter 1:13; 3:1, Greek diegeiro, "to awaken from sleep or stupor"; in Acts 21:27, Greek sugcheo, "to commingle," vividly portraying the confusion and tumult that resulted; in Acts 13:50, Greek parotruno, "to urge on"; Acts 17:13, Greek saleuo, "to shake to and fro."ISBE Stir, Stir Up.2
Stock - stok: In English Versions of the Bible is used for:ISBE Stock.2
(1) The stem of a tree, whether alive (Job 14:8; Isaiah 40:24) or cut down (Isaiah 44:19; Wisdom of Solomon 14:21). In Jeremiah 2:27; 3:9; Hosea 4:12, where the Hebrew has simply `ets, "wood," either meaning is possible (tree-worship? idolatry?). In Jeremiah 10:8 the text is doubtful.ISBE Stock.3
(2) A family (Leviticus 25:47; 1 Esdras 5:37; Tobit 5:13; 1 Maccabees 12:21; 2 Maccabees 1:10; Acts 13:26; Philippians 3:5).ISBE Stock.4
(3) Elsewhere (Job 13:27, etc.) the word refers to an instrument of punishment.ISBE Stock.5
Stoics - sto'-iks (Stoikoi):ISBE Stoics.2
1. Origin and PropagationISBE Stoics.3
2. Metaphysics and ReligionISBE Stoics.4
3. Sensationalist EpistemologyISBE Stoics.5
4. Ethical TeachingISBE Stoics.6
5. Relation to ChristianityISBE Stoics.7
1. Origin and Propagation: The name was derived from the Stoa Poikile, the painted porch at Athens, where the founders of the school first lectured. This school of Greek philosophy was founded at Athens circa 294 BC by Zeno (circa 336-264 BC), a native of Citium, a Greek colony in Cyprus. But the Semitic race predominated in Cyprus, and it has been conjectured that Zeno was of Semitic rather than Hellenic origin. His Greek critics taunted him with being a Phoenician. It has therefore been suggested that the distinctive moral tone of the system was Semitic and not Hellenic. Further color is given to this view by the fact that Zeno's immediate successors at the head of the school also hailed from Asia Minor, Cleanthes (331-232 BC) being a native of Assos, and Chrysippus (280-206 BC) of Soli in Cilicia. Several other adherents of the system hailed from Asia Minor, and it flourished in several Asiatic cities, such as Tarsus and Sidon. In the 2nd century BC the doctrine was brought to Rome by Panaetius of Rhodes (circa 189-109 BC), and in the course of the two succeeding centuries it spread widely among the upper classes of Roman society. It reckoned among its adherents a Scipio and a Cato, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, as well as the freedman Epictetus. The most adequate account of the teaching of the Greek Stoics has been preserved in the writings of Cicero, who, however, was a sympathetic critic, rather than an adherent of the school. The system acquired its most lasting influence by its adoption as the formative factor in the jurisprudence of imperial Rome, and Roman law in its turn contributed to the formation of Christian doctrine and ethics.ISBE Stoics.9
2. Metaphysics and Religion: The main principles of Stoicism were promulgated by Zeno and Cleanthes, and Chrysippus formulated them into a systematic doctrine which became a standard of orthodoxy for the school, and which permitted but little freedom of speculation for its subsequent teachers. Whatever may have been the Semitic affinities of mind of Zeno and his followers, they derived the formal principles of their system from Greek antecedents. The ethical precept, "Follow Nature," they learnt from the Socratic school of Antisthenes, the Cynics. But they followed the earlier philosopher Heraclitus in defining the law of Nature as reason (logos), which was at once the principle of intelligence in man, and the divine reason immanent in the world. This doctrine they again combined with the prevalent Greek hylozoism, and therefore their metaphysics inclined to be a materialistic pantheism. On the one side, Nature is the organization of material atoms by the operation of its own uniform and necessary laws. On the other side, it is a living, rational being, subduing all its parts to work out a rational purpose inherent in the whole. As such it may be called Providence or God.ISBE Stoics.10
While the Stoics rejected the forms and rites of popular religion, they defended belief in God and inculcated piety and reverence toward Him. Their pantheism provided a basis for Greek polytheism also alongside of their monism, for where all the world is God, each part of it is divine, and may be worshipped. Another consequence of their pantheism was their attitude to evil, which they held to be only apparently or relatively evil, but really good in the harmony of the whole. Therefore they bore evil with courage and cheerfulness, because they believed that "all things worked together for good" absolutely.ISBE Stoics.11
3. Sensationalist Epistemology: The materialistic trend of their metaphysics also comes out in their epistemology, which was sensationalist. The human mind at its birth was a tabula rasa. Its first ideas were derived from sensations, the impressions made by the external world upon the soul, which they also conceived as a material body, though made of finer atoms than the external body. Out of these sense-impressions the mind built up its intuitions or preconceptions, and its notions, which constituted its store of ideas. It is not clear how far they attributed originative power to the mind as contributing some factor to the organization of knowledge, which was not derived from experience. The Stoic system is never consistently materialistic, nor consistently idealistic. Most of its terms are used in a dual sense, material and spiritual.ISBE Stoics.12
4. Ethical Teaching: But its ethical teaching shows that the main trend of the system was spiritualistic. For its crown and climax was the ethics. The Stoics did not pursue knowledge for its own sake. They speculated about ultimate problems only for the practical purpose of discovering a rule of life and conduct. And in their ethics, the great commandment, "Follow Nature," is interpreted in a distinctly idealistic sense. It means, "Follow reason," as reason inheres both in man and in the universe as a whole. It is submission to Providence or the rational order of the universe, and the fulfillment of man's own rational nature. The life according to Nature is man's supreme good. How actual Nature could be the ideal good that man ought to seek, or how man was free to pursue an ideal, while he was bound in a system of necessity, were fundamental paradoxes of the system which the Stoics never solved. They summed up their moral teaching in the ideal of the sage or the wise man. His chief characteristic is ataraxy, a calm passionless mastery of all emotions, and independence of all circumstances. He therefore lives a consistent, harmonious life, in conformity with the perfect order of the universe. He discovers this order by knowledge or wisdom. But the Stoics also defined this ideal as a system of particular duties, such as purity in one's self, love toward all men, and reverence toward God. In Stoic ethics, Greek philosophy reached the climax of its moral teaching. Nowhere else outside Christianity do we find so exalted a rule of conduct for the individual, so humane, hopeful and comprehensive an deal for society.ISBE Stoics.13
5. Relation to Christianity: When "certain .... of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered" Paul at Athens, and when, after the apostle had spoken on Mars' Hill, "some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again" (Acts 17:18, 32), it is no improbable inference that the Epicureans mocked, while the Stoics desired to hear more. For they would find much in the apostle's teaching that harmonized with their own views. Paul's quotation from the classics in his Athenian speech was from the Stoic poet, Aratus of Soli in Cilicia: "For we are also his offspring." His doctrine of creation, of divine immanence, of the spirituality and fatherhood of God, would be familiar and acceptable to them. His preaching of Christ would not have been unwelcome to them, who were seeking for the ideal wise man. Paul's moral teaching as it appears in his Epistles reveals some resemblance to Stoic ethics. it is possible that Paul had learnt much from the Stoic school at Tarsus. It is certain that subsequent Christian thought owed much to Stoicism. Its doctrine of the immanent Logos was combined with Philo's conception of the transcendent Logos, to form the Logos doctrine through which the Greek Fathers construed the person of Christ. And Stoic ethics was taken over almost bodily by the Christian church.ISBE Stoics.14
See EPICUREANS; PHILOSOPHY.ISBE Stoics.15
The chief extant sources are the writings of Cicero, De Finibus, De Natura Deorum, etc.; Seneca, Plutarch, M. Antoninus Aurelius, Epictetus, Diogenes Laertius, Sextus Empiricus and Stobaeus. Modern works: H. von Arnim, Stoicorum veterum fragmenta; Zeller, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics; R. D. Hicks, Stoic and Epicurean; W. L. Davidson, The Stoic Creed; E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism, which contains a full bibliography and deals with the relation of Stoicism to Christianity; on the latter point see also Lightfoot, Philippians, ExcursusII , "St. Paul and Seneca"; histories of philosophy by Rogers, Windelband, Ueberweg, and E. Caird.ISBE Stoics.17
Stomach - stum'-uk (stomachos): In man and most vertebrates, a membranous sac-like portion of the alimentary canal, in which the earlier stages of digestion take place and in which food is prepared to yield its nourishment (1 Timothy 5:23).ISBE Stomach.2
Used figuratively of pride, "A proud look and high stomach" (Psalms 101:7, Prayer-book Version), and courage, "Stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach" (2 Maccabees 7:21 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "with manly passion").ISBE Stomach.3
Stomacher - stum'-uk-er: Used to translate pethighil (Isaiah 3:24 the King James Version), where the meaning is uncertain. The English word denotes that part of a woman's dress which covered the breast and the pit of the stomach. It was usually much ornamented.ISBE Stomacher.2
Stone, Stones - ston, stonz:ISBE Stone, Stones.2
1. Hebrew and Greek Words: (1) Chiefly 'ebhen, and lithos; but also, occurring rarely, 'eshekh (Leviticus 21:20); tsur (Job 22:24), usually "rock"; tseror (2 Samuel 17:13); petros (John 1:42); psephos (Revelation 2:17). For cela`, usually "cliff," "crag," "rock," the King James Version, in Psalms 137:9; 141:6, has "stone," but the Revised Version (British and American) "rock." For the King James Version "stones," cheres (Job 41:30), the Revised Version (British and American) has "potsherds."ISBE Stone, Stones.3
2. Literal Usage: The word is used of great stones (Genesis 29:2); of small stones (1 Samuel 17:40); of stones set up as memorials (1 Samuel 7:12, "Eben-ezer," "stone of help"); of precious stones (Exodus 35:9, etc.); of hailstones (Joshua 10:11).ISBE Stone, Stones.5
3. Figurative Usage: Of hardness: "I will take the stony heart out of their flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19); of one smitten: "(Nabal's) heart died within him, and became as a stone" (1 Samuel 25:37); of weight: "A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty" (Proverbs 27:3); of dumbness: "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" (Habakkuk 2:19); of Jerusalem: "I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples" (Zechariah 12:3); of the corner-stone as a figure of high position:ISBE Stone, Stones.6
"The stone which the builders rejectedISBE Stone, Stones.7
Is become the head of the corner" (Psalms 118:22).ISBE Stone, Stones.8
See FLINT; ROCK.ISBE Stone, Stones.9
(2) Used also anatomically of the testicles (Leviticus 21:20; Deuteronomy 23:1; Job 40:17, pachadh, the Revised Version (British and American) "thighs").ISBE Stone, Stones.10
Alfred Ely DayISBE Stone, Stones.11
Stones, Precious - 1. Ancient and Modern NamesISBE Stones, Precious.2
2. Change of Signification of NamesISBE Stones, Precious.3
3. Three Important Lists of StonesISBE Stones, Precious.4
4. Interpretation of Greek Names Used by JohnISBE Stones, Precious.5
5. Interpretation of Hebrew NamesISBE Stones, Precious.6
6. Greek and Latin Equivalents of Hebrew NamesISBE Stones, Precious.7
7. Inconsistencies of Text or TranslationISBE Stones, Precious.8
8. Vulgate and SeptuagintISBE Stones, Precious.9
9. Hebrew Texts of Septuagint and English Versions of the BibleISBE Stones, Precious.10
10. Equivalence of Hebrew and Greek NamesISBE Stones, Precious.11
11. Interpretation of Greek Names Used by SeptuagintISBE Stones, Precious.12
12. List of Names with Biblical ReferencesISBE Stones, Precious.13
1. Ancient and Modern Names: Great difficulty is met with in any attempt to translate the Greek and Hebrew names mentioned in the Bible into names that would be used for the same minerals in a particular country at the present day. It is only within the last century, through the development of the sciences of chemistry and crystallography, that it has become possible to define mineral species with any considerable approach to precision. In ancient times various minerals were regarded as belonging to a single kind, and indicated by a single name, that are now distributed into different kinds and mentioned under different names.ISBE Stones, Precious.14
For example, 2,000 years ago the Greek term anthrax was used to signify various hard, transparent, red stones that are now known to differ much from one another in chemical composition, and are therefore assigned to different species and given different names; among them are oriental ruby (red corundum), balas ruby (red spinel), almandine and pyrope (red garnets); a stone designated anthrax by the ancient Greeks might thus belong to any one of a number of various kinds to the assemblage of which no name is now given, and the word anthrax has no simple equivalent in a modern language.ISBE Stones, Precious.15
2. Change of Signification of Names: Confusion is introduced in another way. The English names of most of the precious stones mentioned in the Bible are adaptations of Greek names through the Latin; for instance, the English word "topaz" is a modification of the Latin word topazius, itself merely a Latin form of the Greek word topazion. It would at first sight appear that the Greek word topazion must be translated into English by the word "topaz"; but, strangely, although the words are virtually identical, the stones indicated by the words are quite different. The topazion of the ancient Greeks was a green stone yielding to the action of a file and said to be brought from an island in the Red Sea, whereas the topaz of the present day is not a green stone, does not yield to the action of a file, and has not been brought from an island in the Red Sea. The topazion of the ancient Greeks is really the peridot, not the topaz, of modern mineralogy; topazion and topaz are different kinds of stone. For the interpretation of the Bible it is thus necessary to ascertain, if possible, the kind of stone to which a Greek or Hebrew name was applied at the time when the word was written.ISBE Stones, Precious.16
3. Three Important Lists of Stones: Most of the names of the precious stones mentioned in the Bible are contained in the Hebrew description of the breastplate of the high priest and the Greek description of the foundations of the New Jerusalem. The ornaments assigned to the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13) included only stones that had been used in the breastplate; indeed, in the Septuagint, they are the same twelve, mentioned in precisely the same order.ISBE Stones, Precious.17
The stones of the breastplate according to our Hebrew text (Exodus 28:17-21) were:ISBE Stones, Precious.18
The foundations of the New Jerusalem are (Revelation 21:19-20):ISBE Stones, Precious.19
1 iaspisISBE Stones, Precious.20
2 sappheirosISBE Stones, Precious.21
3 chalkedonISBE Stones, Precious.22
4 smaragdosISBE Stones, Precious.23
5 sardonuxISBE Stones, Precious.24
6 sardionISBE Stones, Precious.25
7 chrusolithosISBE Stones, Precious.26
8 berullosISBE Stones, Precious.27
9 topazionISBE Stones, Precious.28
10 chrusoprasosISBE Stones, Precious.29
11 huakinthosISBE Stones, Precious.30
12 amethustosISBE Stones, Precious.31
Only 4 of the latter stones are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, also in the Book of Revelation, namely: iaspis (4:3; 21:18), smaragdos (4:3), sardion (4:3) and huakinthos (9:17).ISBE Stones, Precious.32
4. Interpretation of Greek Names Used by John: For the interpretation of the Greek names used by John, much help is given by Pliny's great work on Natural History, published 77 AD, for it records what was known about precious stones at the very time when John himself was living. The Greek names of stones and their Latin verbal equivalents had presumably the same signification for both these writers; it is thus possible, in some cases at least, to ascertain what name is now assigned to a stone mentioned in the New Testament if the name and description are recorded in the treatise of Pliny; the results are given in the alphabetical list below. All twelve stones, except chalkedon, are mentioned by Pliny; the few important stones described by him, but not mentioned by John as foundations, are crystallum and adamas, both of them colorless; onyx, remarkable rather for structure than color; electrum (amber), a soft material; carbunculus, fiery red; callaina, pale green, probably turquoise; cyanus, dark blue; and opalus (opal); ranked in Pliny's time immediately after smaragdus in value. Achates (agate) is omitted, but was no longer precious.ISBE Stones, Precious.33
5. Interpretation of Hebrew Names: In the interpretation of the Hebrew names of the stones of the breastplate there is much greater difficulty, for no Hebrew literature other than the Old Testament has been preserved, and little help is afforded by the contexts of other verses in which some of the Hebrew names of precious stones occur. If we could assume that the Septuagint and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) versions of the description of the breastplate were made from Hebrew texts absolutely identical in respect of the names of the stones with those used for the preparation of the English Versions of the Bible, and that the versions were correctly made, the Greek equivalents of the Hebrew terms for the time of the Septuagint translators (about 280 BC) and their Latin equivalents for the time of Jerome (about 400 AD) would be directly determinable by collation of the Hebrew original with the Greek and Latin translations.ISBE Stones, Precious.34
It must be remembered, however, that a Hebrew writer, in describing the arrangement of a row of stones, began with that on his right and mentioned them in the order right to left, while a western writer begins with the stone on his left and mentions them in the reverse order. Hence, in translating a Hebrew statement of arrangement into a western language, one may either translate literally word by word, thus adopting the Hebrew direction of reading, or, more completely, may adopt the western direction for the order in the row. As either method may have been adopted by the Septuagint translators, it follows that 'odhem and bareqeth, the first and last stones of the 1st row according to our Hebrew text, may respectively be equivalent either to sardion and smaragdos, or, conversely, to smaragdos and sardion; and similarly for the other rows. The number of the middle stone of any row is the same whichever direction of reading is adopted. 'Odhem being red, and sardion and smaragdos respectively red and green (see below), 'odhem must be equivalent to the former, not the latter, and the Septuagint translators must have adopted the Hebrew direction of reading the rows.ISBE Stones, Precious.35
6. Greek and Latin Equivalents of Hebrew Names: Other sets of possible equivalents are derivable by collation of the Biblical description with each of the two descriptions given by Josephus (Ant., III, vii, 5; BJ, V, v, 7). The possible Greek and Latin equivalents of Hebrew names are thus as follows:ISBE Stones, Precious.36
It may be remarked, as regards the 1st stone of the 1st row, that in the time of Josephus the stone sardonux could be signified also by the more general term sardion; and, as regards the 1st stone of the 2nd row, that anthrax and carbo being respectively Greek and Latin for "glowing coal," anthrax and carbunculus, diminutive of carbo, were used as synonyms for certain red stones.ISBE Stones, Precious.37
7. Inconsistencies of Text or TranslationsISBE Stones, Precious.38
From the inconsistencies of the above table of possible equivalents it may be inferred that either (1) essentially different translations were given in several cases for the same Hebrew word, or (2) the Hebrew texts used in the preparation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) versions were, in respect of the precious stones, different from each other and from that used in the preparation of English Versions of the Bible, or (3) the breastplate differed at different epochs, or (4) one or other, or both, of the descriptions by Josephus are incorrect. Conceivably differences may have arisen in all the above-mentioned ways.ISBE Stones, Precious.39
(1) Inconsistency of Septuagint TranslatorsISBE Stones, Precious.40
That the Septuagint translators were uncertain as to the correct translation of the Hebrew names used for the precious stones into the Greek names used in their time, and that they translated the Hebrew name of a stone in more than one way may be shown as follows. In the Hebrew text corresponding to English Versions of the Bible the word shoham, designating the 2nd stone of the 4th row of the breastplate, occurs also in several verses where there is no mention of other stones, and where there is thus no risk of accidental interchange, such as may easily occur when technical terms, more especially if unintelligible to the transcriber, are near to one another in the text. Now, for our versions shoham has been systematically translated "onyx," and for the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) the Hebrew word having the same position in the text has been systematically translated by a Latin synonym of onyx, namely, lapis onychinus (except in Job 28:16, where lapis sardonychus is the rendering). Hence, it is probable that the word in these particular verses was shoham in the Hebrew original of the Vulgate, and therefore also of the Hebrew original of the Septuagint. Yet in the Septuagint the Hebrew word is translated soom (1 Chronicles 29:2, indicating that the translator, not knowing the Greek word for shoham, gave merely its Greek transliteration) as well as smaragdos (Exodus 28:9; 35:27; 39:6 or Septuagint 36:13), prasinos (Genesis 2:12), sardion (Exodus 25:7; 35:9 or Septuagint 35:8), onux (Job 28:16).ISBE Stones, Precious.41
These differences suggest that there were different Septuagint translators, even for different chapters of the same book, and that little care was taken by them to be consistent with one another in the translation of technical terms.ISBE Stones, Precious.42
(2) Differences of Hebrew TextsISBE Stones, Precious.43
That the Hebrew texts used for the Septuagint, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and English Versions of the Bible were not identical in all the verses in which there is mention of precious stones is especially clear from an analysis of the respective descriptions of the ornaments of the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13). In the Septuagint 12 stones are mentioned; as already stated, they have precisely the same names and are mentioned in precisely the same order as the stones of the breastplate described in that version, the only difference being that gold and silver are inserted in the middle of the list. On the other hand, in Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and English Versions of the Bible descriptions of the ornaments, only 9 of the 12 stones of the breastplate are mentioned; they are not in the same order as the corresponding stones in the breastplate as described in those VSS, silver is not mentioned at all, while gold is placed, not in the middle, but at the end of the list. Further, the order of mention of the stones in English Versions of the Bible differs from that of mention in Vulgate.ISBE Stones, Precious.44
(3) Changes in the BreastplateISBE Stones, Precious.45
That the breastplate in use in the time of the Septuagint translators (about 280 BC) may have been different from the one described in the Book of Exodus is manifest if we have regard to the history of the Jewish nation; for Jerusalem was captured by Shishak, king of Egypt, about 973 BC, by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, about 586 BC, and by Ptolemy Soter, king of Egypt, about 320 BC. The original breastplate may have been part of the spoil on one or other of these occasions, and have then disappeared forever.ISBE Stones, Precious.46
Again, between the times of the Septuagint translators and Josephus, Jerusalem was more than once in the hands of its enemies; in 198 BC the city was captured by Antiochus the Great; in 170 BC it was stormed, and its temple plundered, by Antiochus Epiphanes; in 54 BC the temple was desecrated by Crassus. The breastplate familiar to Josephus (for he was long a priest in the temple of Jerusalem) may thus not have been identical with that in use when the Septuagint version was made.ISBE Stones, Precious.47
And if the signification of the Hebrew names of the stones had not been carefully passed down from one generation to another while the breastplate was no longer in existence (for instance, during the Babylonian captivity), or if stones like those of the original breastplate were not available when a new breastplate was being made, there would inevitably be differences in the breastplate at different times.ISBE Stones, Precious.48
The probability of this hypothesis of one or more replacements of the breastplate is still further increased if we have regard to the large stones that were set in gold buttons and fastened to the shoulderpieces of the ephod, the vestment to which the breastplate itself was attached (Exodus 28:9; 39:6 or Septuagint 36:13). According to the Septuagint, the material was smaragdos (and therefore green); according to Josephus it was sardonux (and therefore red with a layer of white). Though the Septuagint translators may never have had opportunities of looking closely at the stones, they might be expected to know the color of the material; Josephus must have seen them often. But the complete difference of colors of smaragdos and sardonux suggests that the difference of the names is due, not to a Septuagint mistranslation of the Hebrew name shoham, but to an actual difference of the material; it may have been smaragdos (and green) at the time when the Septuagint translation was made, and yet sardonux (and red with a layer of white) in the time of Josephus.ISBE Stones, Precious.49
(4) Descriptions Given by JosephusISBE Stones, Precious.50
That in respect of the breastplate it is unsafe to collate the Hebrew texts of the various versions with that of Josephus may be demonstrated as follows. The 2nd stone of the 2nd row, termed cappir in our Hebrew text, is termed sappheiros in the Septuagint and sapphirus in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Wherever else cappir occurs in our Hebrew text, sappheiros occurs in the corresponding place in the Septuagint and sapphirus in the Vulgate; it may thus be inferred that in respect of the word cappir our Hebrew text and the Hebrew texts used for the Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) versions were in complete accord with one another. Also, it is certain that the Latin word sapphirus was derived from the Greek word sappheiros, and that either the latter had its origin in the Hebrew word cappir or that both words had the same source. There is no reason to think that from the time of the Septuagint translators to that of Jerome the word sappheiros was ever used to signify any other than one kind of stone or that the kind was ever called iaspis. But in both the descriptions given by Josephus the middle stone of the 2nd row is given as iaspis, not as sappheiros, which he makes the last stone of the row. Hence, for the middle stone of the 2nd row, the Hebrew texts were concordant in giving the name cappir, but they fundamentally differed from that of Josephus whose two descriptions agree in giving the name iaspis; it is not a difference of mere nomenclature or translation, but of the kind of stone set in a definite part of the breastplate. This being the case, collation of the Hebrew, Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) descriptions of the breastplate with those given by Josephus cannot be relied on to give a true Greek or a true Latin equivalent for the Hebrew name of any of the stones.ISBE Stones, Precious.51
It may be added that the two descriptions given by Josephus differ from each other only as regards the order of the stones in the last two rows; in the 3rd row, the order is precisely reversed; in the 4th row the order is chrusolithos, onuchion, berullion for Ant, and onuchion, berullion, chrusolithos for BJ. Josephus, Antiquities was written at greater leisure than BJ, and was not completed till 18 years later; Josephus had thus more time for the consultation of old manuscripts. Speaking generally, it is more accurate than his earlier treatise as regards the history of those times of which he had no direct knowledge; its description of the breastplate is more precise as regards the arrangement of the stones, and is therefore the one to which the greater weight must be given. It differs from the Septuagint only through the interchange of the 2nd and 3rd stones in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rows; and possibly Josephus gave the order from his memory either of the Septuagint or of the actual breastplate.ISBE Stones, Precious.52
The only difference between the descriptions given in the Septuagint and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) is that the last two stones, namely berullion (beryllus) and onuchion (onychinus), are interchanged.ISBE Stones, Precious.53
8. Vulgate and Septuagint: As already pointed out, the Hebrew texts of the Septuagint and English Versions of the Bible must have differed completely as regards the descriptions of the ornaments of the king of Tyre; it is thus not at all certain that they were in complete accord as regards the descriptions of the breastplate. In fact, it is generally accepted that the Hebrew word yashepheh and the Greek word iaspis are virtually identical, and that they were used to signify the same kind of stone.ISBE Stones, Precious.54
9. Hebrew Texts of Septuagint and English Versions of the Bible:ISBE Stones, Precious.55
Hence, it follows that the Hebrew text of English Versions of the Bible is not identical with the Hebrew texts of the Septuagint and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) versions in respect of the stones in the 2nd and 4th rows; if our Hebrew text is correct as regards yashepheh, that stone was the last stone in the last row; if the Hebrew texts of the Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) versions were correct, yashepheh, which had for its Greek equivalent iaspis, must have been the last stone in the 2nd row; further, onuchion (Septuagint) and beryllus (Vulgate) must be equivalent, not to yashepheh, but to some other stones of the breastplate.ISBE Stones, Precious.56
10. Equivalence of Hebrew and Greek Names: Taking these matters into consideration, the following have considerable claims to be regarded as equivalents:ISBE Stones, Precious.57
The remaining three stones, tarshish, shoham and yahalom, are thus equivalent to chrusolithos, onuchion and berullion, but it is uncertain which Greek name corresponds to any of those Hebrew names.ISBE Stones, Precious.58
11. Interpretation of Greek Names Used by Sepuagint:ISBE Stones, Precious.59
For the interpretation of the Greek names of stones mentioned in the Septuagint (and thus of the Hebrew names in the original text), the work of Theophrastus, a contemporary of the Septuagint translators, is very useful. That author mentions, besides krustallos and margarites which occur elsewhere than in the description of the breastplate, nine of the Septuagint names of the breastplate stones, namely: achates, amethustos (as amethuson), anthrax, iaspis, ligurion (as lugkurion), onuchion, sappheiros, sardion, smaragdos. The three stones mentioned in the Septuagint but not by Theophrastus are berullion, chrusolithos, and topazion. Since he mentions only four stones that are not referred to in the Septuagint, namely chrusokolla, hualoeides, kuanos and omphax, it follows that the Septuagint translators at Alexandria introduced every important name that was then in use at Athens for a precious stone.ISBE Stones, Precious.60
In the following alphabetical list references are given to all the verses in which each name of a precious stone occurs, and for each use of a translated name the corresponding word in the original text.ISBE Stones, Precious.61
12. List of Names with Biblical References: Achates (achates): probably Septuagint translation of shebho (Exodus 28:19; 39:12). It is not mentioned in Apocrypha or the New Testament.ISBE Stones, Precious.62
Adamant (see also special article): in Ezekiel 3:9; Zechariah 7:12, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew shamir.ISBE Stones, Precious.63
Agate: in Exodus 28:19; 39:12, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew shebho; in Isaiah 54:12; Ezekiel 27:16, the King James Version translation of Hebrew kadhkodh.ISBE Stones, Precious.64
'Achlamah: in Exodus 28:19; 39:12: Exodus 3:11-22rd stone, Exodus 3:11-22rd row, of the breastplate. Septuagint translates amethustos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates amethystus; English Versions of the Bible "amethyst."ISBE Stones, Precious.65
The Septuagint rendering amethustos is generally accepted as correct, but the late Professor N. S. Maskelyne, F.R.S., formerly (1857-80) Keeper of Minerals in the British Museum, gave reasons for regarding the 'achlamah of breastplate times as possibly an onyx in which white bands alternated with waxy-yellow to reddish-yellow bands.ISBE Stones, Precious.66
Amber: in Ezekiel 1:4, 27; 8:2, the King James Version, the English Revised Version and the American Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew chashmal; in Exodus 28:19, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew leshem.ISBE Stones, Precious.67
Amethustos (amethustos): in Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 12:11-17th foundation of the New Jerusalem; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates amethystus; English Versions of the Bible "amethyst." Four varieties of amethystus were recognized by Pliny as precious; all of them were transparent, and of purple tint or of tints derived from purple. According to the Septuagint, amethustos was the 3rd stone, 3rd row, of the breastplate, and the stone occupying this position is given in our Hebrew text as 'achlamah. Amethustos is mentioned under the name amethuson by Theophrastus; he describes it as a transparent stone resembling wine in color and as used by the gem engravers of his day. Amethystus and amethuson were doubtless identical with the amethyst of the present day, a purple variety of quartz (silica). Beads and other ornaments of amethyst found in old Egyptian tombs show that the stone was regarded as precious in very ancient times.ISBE Stones, Precious.68
Amethyst: in Exodus 28:19; 39:12, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew 'achlamah; in Revelation 21:20, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek amethustos.ISBE Stones, Precious.69
Anthrax (anthrax): in Tobit 13:17; Ecclesiasticus 32:5, English Versions of the Bible translates "carbuncle." According to the Septuagint, anthrax was also a stone of the breastplate, 1st stone, 2nd row, but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text of the Septuagint in respect of this word. The anthrax of Theophrastus included different kinds of hard, red stone used by the gem engravers. It is the carbunculus of Pliny's time, and probably included the oriental ruby (corundum, alumina), the balas ruby (spinel, aluminate of magnesium), the almandine (a kind of garnet, alumino-silicate of iron) and pyrope (another kind of garnet, alumino-silicate of magnesium) of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.70
Bareqeth: in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13: Ezekiel 3:11-27rd stone, Ezekiel 1:11-28st row, of breastplate. Septuagint probably translates smaragdos, but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text of the Septuagint in respect of this word: English Versions of the Bible translates "carbuncle"; the Revised Version margin translates "emerald." The rendering smaragdos may be correct, but no emeralds of very early age have been found in Egypt. From the similarity of the words bareqeth and baraq ("lightning"), it has been suggested that possibly the breastplate stone was not green but of bluish-red color, in which case it may have been an almandine (garnet). English Versions of the Bible has interchanged the names given by Septuagint, to the 3rd stone of the 1st row (smaragdos, "emerald") and the 1st stone of the 2nd row (anthrax, "carbuncle").ISBE Stones, Precious.71
Bdellium (see also special article): in Genesis 2:12; Numbers 11:7, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew bedholach.ISBE Stones, Precious.72
Bedholach: The Septuagint translates anthrax in Genesis 2:12, and krustallos in Numbers 11:7; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and English Versions of the Bible translate bdellium. Some commentators, rejecting both the Septuagint translations, interpret the material to be pearl, others to be the gum of an Arabian tree.ISBE Stones, Precious.73
Berullos (berullos): in Tobit 13:17; Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 8:11-13th foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates beryllus; English Versions of the Bible translates "beryl." According to Septuagint, berullion was a stone of the breastplate, the 2nd stone, 4th row; owing to uncertainty as to their Hebrew text, there is doubt as to the Hebrew word translated berullion. Berullos is not mentioned by Theophrastus, who may have regarded it as included in the smaragdos of his day.ISBE Stones, Precious.74
In the time of Pliny 8 varieties were recognized; he says that beryllus was already thought by some to be "of the same nature as the smaragdus, or at least closely analogous. India produces them, and they are rarely to be found elsewhere. The lapidaries cut all beryls of a hexagonal form because the color which is deadened by a dull uniformity of surface is heightened by the reflections resulting from the angles. If they are cut in any other way, these stones have no brilliancy whatever. The most esteemed beryls are those which in color resemble the pure green of the sea. Some are of opinion that beryls are naturally angular."ISBE Stones, Precious.75
This description suggests the identity of the seagreen beryllus of Pliny's time with the sea-green beryl (alumino-silicate of beryllium) of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.76
Beryl: in Exodus 28:20; 39:13; Song of Solomon 5:14; Ezekiel 1:16; 10:9; 28:13; Daniel 10:6, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew tarshish; in Genesis 2:12; Exodus 25:7 margin; Exodus 28:9, 20; 35:27 margin; 1 Chronicles 29:2 margin; Job 28:16 margin, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew shoham; in Tobit 13:17; Revelation 21:20, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek berullos.ISBE Stones, Precious.77
Carbuncle: in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew bareqeth; in Exodus 28:18 margin; Exodus 39:11; Ezekiel 27:16; 28:13, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew nophekh; in Isaiah 54:12, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew 'eqdach; Tobit 13:17; Ecclesiasticus 32:5, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek anthrax.ISBE Stones, Precious.78
Chalcedony: in Exodus 28:20, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew tarshish; in Revelation 21:19, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek chalkedon.ISBE Stones, Precious.79
Chalkedon (chalkedon): in Revelation 21:19: the Revelation 3:11-22rd foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates calcedonius; English Versions of the Bible translates "chalcedony." Though the name Chalcedon (Latin form) occurs in Pliny, it is not as the name of a stone but as that of a free town then standing on the southern side of the Bosphorus, probably close to the site on which Scutari now stands. Chalcedon had once been noted for its copper mines; but the latter, when Pliny wrote, had been so far exhausted that they were no longer worked.ISBE Stones, Precious.80
Pliny refers to a kind of smaragdus (a green stone) as having been found near Chalcedon, but adds that the stones were of very small size and value. They were "brittle, and of a color far from distinctly pronounced; they resembled in their tints the feathers that are seen in the tail of the peacock or on the neck of the pigeon. More or less brilliant, too, according to the angle at which they were viewed, they presented an appearance like that of veins and scales." In another place he refers to a stone from Chalcedon or Calchedon (another reading) as being an iaspis of turbid hue. It is possible that at Patmos or Ephesus, at one of which John was living when he wrote the Book of Revelation, the word chalkedon was used to specify the particular kind of smaragdus or iaspis that had been found near the town of that name. It is uncertain what name would be given to such a stone in the present day, but the signification now attached to the name "chalcedony" (cryptocrystalline silica) cannot be traced farther back than the 15th century.ISBE Stones, Precious.81
Chrusolithos (chrusolithos): in Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 7:11-17th foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates chrysolithus; the King James Version translates "chrysolyte"; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "chrysolite." According to Septuagint chrusolithos was one of the stones of the breastplate (lst stone, 4th row), but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text of the Septuagint in respect of this word; the name is not mentioned by Theophrastus. The chrysolithus of Pliny was a "transparent stone with a refulgence like that of gold." Those were most valued which "when placed by the side of gold, impart to it a sort of whitish hue, and so give it the appearance of silver."ISBE Stones, Precious.82
It may perhaps have included the yellow sapphire (alumina), the yellow quartz (citrine, silica) and the yellow jargoon (zircon; silicate of zirconium) of the present day. The term "chrysolite" is now applied to a different mineral, namely, to a yellow variety of olivine (silicate of magnesium and iron), a species that includes the green precious stone peridot as another of its varieties.ISBE Stones, Precious.83
Chrusoprasos (chrusoprasos): in Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 10:11-11th foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and the King James Version translate chrysoprasus; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "chrysoprase." The chrysoprasus was regarded by some naturalists of the time of Pliny as a variety of beryllus. The 1st variety of beryllus and the most esteemed was, as stated above, of a pure sea-green color; the 2nd was paler, and approached a golden tint; the 3rd, allied to the 2nd in brilliancy but more pallid, was the chrysoprasus. The latter was thought by other naturalists to belong to an independent genus of stone. In another place Pliny describes the color as like that of the leek, but as varying in tint between the topazion of his day (our peridot) and gold. The stone may have been a yellowish-green plasma (chalcedony, crypto-crystalline silica) or, as suggested by King, pale chrysoberyl (aluminate of beryllium); it is not the chrysoprase of the present day, which is an apple-green chalcedony (colored by nickel).ISBE Stones, Precious.84
Chrysolite, chrysolyte: "chrysolite" in Ezekiel 28:13, the King James Version margin translation of Hebrew tarshish; Revelation 21:20, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Greek chrusolithos; "chrysolyte" in Revelation 21:20, the King James Version translation of Greek chrusolithos.ISBE Stones, Precious.85
Chrysoprase, chrysoprasus: "chrysoprase" in Ezekiel 27:16, the King James Version margin translation of Hebrew kadhkodh; Revelation 21:20, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Greek chrusoprasos; "chrysoprasus" in Revelation 21:20, the King James Version translation of Greek chrusoprasos.ISBE Stones, Precious.86
Coral, red coral (see special article): "coral" in Job 28:18; Ezekiel 27:16, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew ra'moth; Lamentations 4:7, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew peninim; "red coral" in Job 28:18, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew peninim.ISBE Stones, Precious.87
Crystal (see special article): in Job 28:17, the King James Version translation of Hebrew zekhukhith; Ezekiel 1:22, the King James Version translation of Hebrew qerach; in Job 28:18, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Hebrew gabhish; in Revelation 4:6; 22:1, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek krustallos; in Revelation 21:11, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek krustallizo ("to shine like crystal").ISBE Stones, Precious.88
Diamond: in Jeremiah 17:1, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew shamir; in Exodus 28:18; 39:11; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew yahalom.ISBE Stones, Precious.89
'Eqdach: in Isaiah 54:12: Septuagint translates krustallos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) periphrases as lapides sculpti ("engraved stones"); English Versions of the Bible translates "carbuncles." From the similarity to qadhach, "to burn," it is interpreted as meaning fiery or sparkling, whence comes the rendering "carbuncles."ISBE Stones, Precious.90
Electrum (see special article): Ezekiel 1:4, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew chashmal, "amber."ISBE Stones, Precious.91
Emerald: in Exodus 28:18; 39:11; Ezekiel 27:16; 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew nophekh; in Exodus 28:17; 39:10, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew bareqeth; in Tobit 13:16; Judith 10:21; Ecclesiasticus 32:6; Revelation 21:19, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek smaragdos; in Revelation 21:19, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek adjective smaragdinos.ISBE Stones, Precious.92
Gabhish: in Job 28:18: The Septuagint transliterates gabis; the King James Version translates "pearls"; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "crystal." From the similarity to gabhash, "ice," the rendering "crystal" is suggested.ISBE Stones, Precious.93
Chashmal: in Ezekiel 1:4, 27; 8:2: The Septuagint translates elektron; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and the Revised Version margin translate electrum; the King James Version, the English Revised Version and the American Revised Version margin translate "amber"; the American Standard Revised Version translates "glowing metal." The elektron of the time of the Septuagint and Theophrastus was the amber, of the present day; in the time of Pliny amber was an object of luxury ranked next to crystal, and the term electrum was then applied, not only to amber, but also to a metallic alloy of gold and silver.ISBE Stones, Precious.94
Huakinthos, (huakinthos): in Revelation 9:17; 21:20: the Revelation 11:11-19th foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates hyacinthus; the King James Version translates "jacinth"; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "jacinth" (Revelation 21:20) and "hyacinth" (Revelation 9:17); the Revised Version margin translates "sapphire" (Revelation 21:20). Pliny describes the hyacinthus as being very different from amethystus, "though partaking of a color that closely' borders upon it" and as being of a more diluted violet, It may have been the pale blue sapphire (alumina) of the present day; the modern hyacinth, or jacinth, is a quite different stone, a brownish to reddish zircon (silicate of zirconium).ISBE Stones, Precious.95
Hyacinth, jacinth (see also special article on HYACINTH): "hyacinth" in Revelation 9:17, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Greek huakinthos; "jacinth" in Exodus 28:19; 39:12, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Hebrew leshem; in Revelation 9:17; 21:20, the King James Version translation of Greek huakinthos.ISBE Stones, Precious.96
Iaspis (iaspis): in Revelation 4:3; 11, 18 f: the Revelation 1:11-20st foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates jaspis; English Versions of the Bible translates "jasper." According to Septuagint iaspis was the 3rd stone, 2nd row, of the breastplate, but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text of the Septuagint in respect of this word; Septuagint translates also kadhkodh as iaspis (Isaiah 54:12). Pliny describes iaspis as being generally green and often transparent; he recognizes as many as 14 varieties.ISBE Stones, Precious.97
He adds that "many countries produce this stone: that of India is like smaragdus in color; that of Cyprus is hard and of a full sea-green; and that of Persia is skyblue. Similar to the last is the Caspian iaspis. On the banks of the river Thermodon the iaspis is of an azure color; in Phrygia it is purple; and in Cappadocia of an azure-purple, somber and not refulgent. The best kind is that which has a shade of purple, the next best being the rose-colored, and the next the stone with the green color of the smaragdus," etc.ISBE Stones, Precious.98
The term "jasper" is now restricted to opaque stones; the green transparent kind of iaspis may have been identical with the green chalcedony (crypto-crystalline silica) called plasma at the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.99
Jasper: in Exodus 28:20; 39:13; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew yashepheh; in Revelation 4:3; Revelation 21:11, 18-19, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek iaspis.ISBE Stones, Precious.100
Kadhkodh: in Isaiah 54:12; Ezekiel 27:16: The Septuagint translates iaspis (Isaiah 54:12) and transliterates chorchor (Ezekiel 27:16); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates jaspis (Isaiah 54:12) and transliterates chodchod (Ezekiel 27:16); the King James Version translates "agate"; the King James Version margin translates "chrysoprase" (Ezekiel 27:16); the Revised Version (British and American) translates "ruby." There is little to indicate the probable meaning of the word.ISBE Stones, Precious.101
Qerach: in Ezekiel 1:22: Septuagint translates krustallos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates crystallum; English Versions of the Bible translates "crystal"; the Revised Version margin translates "ice." The translations are suggested by the similarity to the Hebrew qerach, "ice."ISBE Stones, Precious.102
Krustallos (krustallos): in Revelation 4:6; 22:1: Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates crystallum; English Versions of the Bible translates "crystal." The crystallum of Pliny was the rock-crystal (clear quartz) of the present day. Among the localities cited for crystallum by Pliny are "the crags of the Alps, so difficult of access that it is usually found necessary to be suspended by ropes in order to extract it."ISBE Stones, Precious.103
Lapis lazuli: in Revelation 21:19, the Revised Version margin translation of Greek sappheiros.ISBE Stones, Precious.104
Leshem: in Exodus 28:19; 39:12: Exodus 1:11-22st stone, Exodus 3:11-22rd row, of the breastplate. Septuagint probably translates ligurion, but there is uncertainty as to their Hebrew text; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) probably translates ligurius; the King James Version translates "ligure"; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "jacinth"; the Revised Version margin translates "amber."ISBE Stones, Precious.105
The ligurion of the Septuagint is probably identical with the lugkurion of Theophrastus; this was a yellow to yellowishred stone used by seal engravers, and was transparent and difficult to polish. The yellow ligurion may be the yellow jargoon of the present day (zircon, silicate of zirconium), a stone much used by the ancient Greek and Roman engravers; but as the jargoon has not been found among ancient Egyptian work, it has been suggested that the ligurion of the breastplate may have been a yellow quartz (citrine) or agate. The yellowish-red ligurion may have been one of the stones to which the name "jacinth" (also a zircon) is now applied. Professor Maskelyne, rejecting the Septuagint translated, suggests that the leshem was identical with the neshem of the Egyptians, namely the green feldspar now called amazon stone; as an alternative rendering to this he suggests yellow jasper. The translation "amber" (Revised Version, margin) is not likely to be correct, for that material would have been too soft for use as a stone of the breastplate; its properties do not accord with those assigned by Theophrastus to the lugkurion.ISBE Stones, Precious.106
Ligure: in Exodus 38:19; 39:12, the King James Version translation of Hebrew leshem.ISBE Stones, Precious.107
Ligurion (ligurion): in Septuagint Exodus 28:19; 39:12, Septuagint translation of Hebrew leshem: Exodus 1:11-22st stone, Exodus 3:11-22rd row, of breastplate.ISBE Stones, Precious.108
Margarites (margarites): in Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:45-46; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 18:12, 16; 21:21: Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates margarita; English Versions of the Bible translates "pearl." The margarites is mentioned by Theophrastus as being one of the precious stones, but not pellucid, as produced in a kind of oyster and in the pinna, and as brought from the Indies and the shores of certain islands in the Red Sea. Hence, it was identical with the pearl of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.109
Nophekh, in Exodus 28:18; 39:11; Ezekiel 27:16; 28:13: Ezekiel 1:11-28st stone, Ezekiel 2:11-10nd row, of the breastplate. There is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text used by the Septuagint, but probably nophekh is translated anthrax (except in Ezekiel 27:16, where the text differs); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) probably translates carbunculus; English Versions of the Bible translates "emerald"' the Revised Version margin translates "carbuncle." English Versions of the Bible interchanges the names given by the Septuagint to the 3rd stone, 1st row (smaragdos, "emerald") and the 1st stone, 2nd row (anthrax, "carbuncle"). Professor Maskelyne suggests that the nophekh of the breastplate may have been the mophak or mafka of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the turquoise of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.110
'Odhem, in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13: Ezekiel 1:11-28st stone, Ezekiel 1:11-28st row, of the breastplate. Septuagint probably translates sardion, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) probably translates sardius; English Versions of the Bible translates "sardius"; EVm translates "ruby." The Hebrew word is related to ['adham], "to be red," and signifies a reddish stone; it may have been sard (a name given not only to red, but also to pale reddish-yellow or brown, translucent chalcedony), but was more probably carnelian, a red stone closely allied to sard, and much used by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians.ISBE Stones, Precious.111
Onuchion, (onuchion, onux): "onux," Septuagint translation of Hebrew shoham (Job 28:16); onuchion, perhaps Septuagint translation of shoham in the descriptions of the ornaments of the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13) and the stones of the breastplate (being there made 3rd stone, 4th row, in Exodus 28:20; 39:13), but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text of the Septuagint; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates onyx, lapis onychinus, lapis sardonychus. The onuchion of Theophrastus was a hard, translucent stone used by the seal engravers; it consisted of white and dusky layers in alternation. The onyx of Roman times was an opaque stone of white and black layers, like the onyx of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.112
Onyx: in Genesis 2:12; Exodus 25:7; 9, 20; 9, 27; 6, 13; 1 Chronicles 29:2; Job 18:16; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew shoham.ISBE Stones, Precious.113
Pearl: in Job 28:18, the King James Version translation of Hebrew gabhish; in Job 28:18, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew peninim; in Matthew 7:6; 13:45 f; 1 Timothy 2:9; Revelation 18:12, 16; Revelation 21:20-21, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek margarites.ISBE Stones, Precious.114
Peninim, in Job 28:18; Proverbs 3:15; 8:11; 20:15; 31:10; Lamentations 4:7: Septuagint (from which Proverbs 20:15 is missing) periphrases the word or had a different Hebrew text; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates ebur antiquum ("old ivory") in Lamentations 4:7, but elsewhere periphrases the word or had a different Hebrew text; English Versions of the Bible translates "rubies"; the Revised Version margin translates "red coral," or "pearls," except for Lamentations 4:7, where the translation is "corals." The word is similar to an Arabic word meaning "branches" and may signify red coral, which has been highly esteemed since very ancient times; a description of korallion is given by Theophrastus. Pliny says that in his day the reddest and most branched was most valued.ISBE Stones, Precious.115
PiTedhah, in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Job 28:19; Ezekiel 28:13: Ezekiel 2:11-10nd stone, Ezekiel 1:11-28st row, of the breastplate. Septuagint translates topazion in Job 28:19 and probably also in the other verses; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates topazius; English Versions of the Bible translates "topaz." The topazion of ancient times appears to have been scarcely known before the Ptolemaic period, and Professor Maskelyne suggested that the Hebrew word may possibly be allied to bijada, which in Persian and Arabic signifies "garnet."ISBE Stones, Precious.116
Ramoth: in Job 28:18, the King James Version margin translation of Hebrew ra'moth.ISBE Stones, Precious.117
Ra'moth, in Job 28:18; Ezekiel 27:16: Septuagint translates meteora (Job 28:18) and ramoth (Ezekiel 27:16); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) periphrases the passages; English Versions of the Bible translates "coral"; the King James Version margin translates "ramoth" (only in Job 28:18). There is little to indicate the meaning of the Hebrew word.ISBE Stones, Precious.118
Ruby: in Job 28:18; Proverbs 3:15; 8:11; 20:15; 31:10; Lamentations 4:7, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew peninim; in Isaiah 54:12; Ezekiel 27:16, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Hebrew kadhkodh; in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13, the King James Version margin translation of Hebrew 'odhem.ISBE Stones, Precious.119
Sappheiros (sappheiros): in Tobit 13:16; Revelation 21:19: the Revelation 2:11-29nd foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates sapphirus; English Versions of the Bible translates "sapphire"; the Revised Version margin translates "lapis lazuli" (but only in Revelation 21:19). According to the Septuagint, sappheiros was the 2nd stone, 3rd row, of the breastplate, but there is uncertainty as to the Hebrew text. Pliny describes sapphirus as "refulgent with spots like gold. It is also of an azure color, though sometimes, but rarely, it is purple; the best kind being that which comes from Media. In no case, however, is this stone transparent." These characteristics correspond to the lapis lazuli (sulphato-silicate of sodium and aluminum), not to the sapphire (alumina) of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.120
Cappir, in Exodus 24:10; 28:18; 39:11; Job 28:6, 16; Song of Solomon 5:14; Isaiah 54:11; Lamentations 4:7; Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1; 28:13: Ezekiel 2:11-10nd stone, Ezekiel 2:11-10nd row, of the breastplate. Septuagint translates sappheiros; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates sapphirus and (Exodus 24:10) lapis sapphirinus; English Versions of the Bible translates "sapphire." The Hebrew word is universally accepted as equivalent to the Greek sappheiros; that name was used, not for the stone now known as sapphire, but for that now known as lapis lazuli, a substance which was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as a precious stone.ISBE Stones, Precious.121
Sardine (stone), sardius: "sardine" (stone) in Revelation 4:3, the King James Version translation of Greek sardinon, an error of text for sardion; "sardius" in Revelation 4:3, the Revised Version (British and American) translation of Greek sardion; in Revelation 21:20, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek sardion; in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew 'odhem.ISBE Stones, Precious.122
Sardion (sardion): in Revelation 4:3; 21:20: the Revelation 6:11-17th foundation of the New Jerusalem. According to the Septuagint, sardion was the 1st stone, 1st row, of the breastplate. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates sardius; the King James Version translates "sardine" (stone) (Revelation 4:3) and "sardius" (Revelation 21:20); the Revised Version (British and American) translates "sardius." The sarda of Pliny's time was much used by the seal engravers. There were three Indian varieties, all of them transparent, one of them red in color; there was then no precious stone in more common use; those of honey-color were less valued. It probably included both the sard and the carnelian of the present day (crypto-crystalline silica).ISBE Stones, Precious.123
Sapphire: in Exodus 24:10; 28:18; 39:11; Job 28:6, 16; Song of Solomon 5:14; Isaiah 54:11; Lamentations 4:7; Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1; 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew sappir; in Tobit 13:16; Revelation 21:19, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek sappheiros; in Revelation 21:20, the Revised Version margin translation of Greek huakinthos.ISBE Stones, Precious.124
Sardonux (sardonux): in Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 5:11-14th foundation of the New Jerusalem. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and English Versions of the Bible translate sardonyx. According to Pliny, the name sardonyx was at first given to an Indian (red) sarda with a layer of white in it, both being transparent.ISBE Stones, Precious.125
Pliny says that later three colors were considered essential, but that they might be repeated indefinitely. The Arabian sardonyx was "characterized by several different colors, black or azure for the base and vermilion surrounded with a line of rich white for the upper part, not without a certain glimpse of purple as the white passes into the red."ISBE Stones, Precious.126
The sardonux of John's time is included in the sardonyx of the present day.ISBE Stones, Precious.127
Sardonyx: in Revelation 21:20, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek sardonux; Exodus 28:18; 39:11, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew yahalom.ISBE Stones, Precious.128
Shamir, in Jeremiah 17:1; Ezekiel 3:9; Zechariah 7:12; Septuagint omits Jeremiah 17:1, and in the other two verses either periphrases the word or had a different text; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates (unguis) adamantinus in Jeremiah 17:1, and adamas in the other two verses; English Versions of the Bible translates "diamond" (Jeremiah 17:1) and "adamant" (Ezekiel 3:9; Zechariah 7:12). Shamir was a hard material used for engraving precious stones; in the days of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah, splinters of both diamond and corundum (white sapphire or adamant stone) were probably available for the purpose. Both diamond and adamant are English modifications of the Latin adamas; the form "diamond" has been restricted for some centuries to the more precious of the above stones.ISBE Stones, Precious.129
Shebho, in Exodus 28:19; 39:12: the Exodus 2:11-25nd stone, Exodus 3:11-22rd row, of the breastplate. Both Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) probably translate achates, but their Hebrew texts are uncertain; English Versions of the Bible translates "agate." The name achates was given in ancient times to certain stones having banded structures, the agates of the present day. In the time of Theophrastus achates was sold at a great price, but by the time of Pliny had ceased to be a precious stone. Professor Maskelyne suggests that the shebho of the breastplate may have signified the "stone of Sheba" or "Seba," a district in Southern Arabia, and have been the Arabian onyx.ISBE Stones, Precious.130
Shoham, in Genesis 2:12; Exodus 25:7; 9, 20; 9, 27; 6, 13; 1 Chronicles 29:2; Job 28:16; Ezekiel 28:13: the Ezekiel 2:11-10nd stone, Ezekiel 4:11-17th row, of the breastplate. Septuagint translates prasinos, i.e. "leek-green stone" (Genesis 2:12), sardion (Exodus 25:7; 35:9), smaragdos (Exodus 28:9; 35:27), berullion, probably, through interchange of words in the Hebrew text (Exodus 28:20; 39:13), soom (1 Chronicles 29:2), onux (Job 28:16) and perhaps onuchion (Ezekiel 28:13); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates onyx (Ezekiel 28:13), lapis sardonychus (Job 28:16) and lapis onychinus elsewhere; English Versions of the Bible translates "onyx"; the Revised Version margin translates "beryl" (except in Ezekiel 28:13). Professor Maskelyne and Professor Sayce, accepting green as the color of shoham, have expressed the opinion that the stone known by that name in very early times was the stone called 'siamu by the Assyrians, and therefore the green turquoise; Professor Maskelyne gives "amazon stone" as an alternative rendering of the word. Berullion is given by the Septuagint as the 2nd stone, onuchion as the 3rd stone, of the 4th row; sardion as the 1st stone, smaragdos as the 3rd stone, of the 1st row; but their Hebrew text is uncertain.ISBE Stones, Precious.131
Smaragdinos, smaragdos (smaragdinos): in Revelation 4:3: the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates smaragdinus; English Versions of the Bible translates "emerald." Smaragdos (smaragdos) in Tobit 13:16; Judith 10:21; Ecclesiasticus 32:5; Revelation 21:19: the Vulgate translates it as smaragdus; English Versions of the Bible translates "emerald." According to the Septuagint, smaragdos was the 3rd stone, 1st row, of the breastplate, but their Hebrew text is uncertain. The smaragdos of Theophrastus was a small, scarce, presumably green, stone used by the gem engravers. In Pliny's time the genus smaragdus comprised no fewer than 12 kinds; one of them was the emerald of the present day, and probably the smaragdos of Theophrastus.ISBE Stones, Precious.132
Tarshish, in Exodus 28:20; 39:13; Song of Solomon 5:14; Ezekiel 1:16; 10:9; 28:13; Daniel 10:6: the Daniel 1:11-21st stone, Daniel 4:11-37th row, of the breastplate. The Septuagint translates tharsis (Song of Solomon 5:14; Ezekiel 1:16; Daniel 10:6), anthrax (Ezekiel 10:9); in the remaining verses there is uncertainty as to the order of the Hebrew words in the several texts. The most likely Septuagint equivalent of tarshish is either chrusolithos or berullion; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates hyacinthus (Song of Solomon 5:14), mare ("sea") (Ezekiel 1:16), chrysolithus (Ezekiel 10:9; Daniel 10:6). The Septuagint gives anthrax as the 1st stone, 2nd row, chrusolithos as the 1st stone, 4th row, berullion as the 2nd stone, 4th row, of the breastplate; English Versions of the Bible translates "beryl"; the King James Version margin translates "chrysolite" (in Ezekiel 28:13 only); the Revised Version margin translates "chalcedony" (Exodus 28:20; 39:13), "topaz" (Song of Solomon 5:14) and "stone of Tarshish" (Ezekiel 10:9). Professor Maskelyne suggests that the stone may have been citrine (quartz), if yellow as suggested by chrusolithos, and green jasper, if green as suggested by berullion.ISBE Stones, Precious.133
Topaz: in Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Job 28:19; Ezekiel 28:13, English Versions of the Bible translation of Hebrew piTedhah; in Revelation 21:20, English Versions of the Bible translation of Greek topazion; in Song of Solomon 5:14, the Revised Version margin translation of Hebrew tarshish.ISBE Stones, Precious.134
Topazion (topazion): in Revelation 21:20: the Revelation 9:11-21th foundation of the New Jerusalem. According to the Septuagint topazion was the 2nd stone, 1st row, of the breastplate. Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates topazius; English Versions of the Bible translate it as "topaz."ISBE Stones, Precious.135
The topazion of Pliny's time was "held in very high estimation for its green tints; when it was first discovered it was preferred to every other kind of precious stone." It was said to be brought from an island in the Red Sea, off the coast of Arabia. It was the only stone of high value that yielded to the action of the file. Topazion is not mentioned by Theophrastus. Pliny's account corresponds to the peridot of the present day (silicate of magnesium and iron), not to our topaz (fluosilicate of aluminium).ISBE Stones, Precious.136
Yahalom, in Exodus 28:18; 39:11; Ezekiel 28:13: the Ezekiel 3:11-27rd stone, Ezekiel 2:11-10nd row, of the breastplate. Owing to the uncertainty as to the order of the words in the Hebrew text of the Septuagint, there is uncertainty as to the Greek equivalent of yahalom; probably it is one of the words chrusolithos, berullion, onuchion, given by the Septuagint as the names of the stones of the 4th row. English Versions of the Bible translates "diamond"; this is certainly wrong, for the stone had a name engraved on it and the method of engraving a diamond was not invented till 2,000 or 3,000 years after the breastplate was made; nor were diamonds, if known at all, then known so large as to be comparable in respect of size, with the other stones of the breastplate. The Revised Version margin translates "sardonyx" (in Exodus only). Professor Maskelyne suggests that the Hebrew yahalom and the Greek hualos may be kindred words and that yahalom may have been a bluish glass (considered valuable in very early times), or blue chalcedony, or perhaps even beryl.ISBE Stones, Precious.137
Yashepheh, in Exodus 28:20; 39:13; Ezekiel 28:13: the Ezekiel 3:11-27rd stone, Ezekiel 4:11-17th row, of the breastplate. Septuagint probably translates iaspis, though iaspis is placed by the Septuagint as the 3rd stone, 2nd row; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) probably translates jaspis; English Versions of the Bible translate it as "jasper." The equivalence of the Hebrew yashepheh and the Greek iaspis is generally accepted.ISBE Stones, Precious.138
Zekhukhith, in Job 28:17: Septuagint translates hualos, a name given at first to any transparent stone, but in later times only to glass; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) translates vitrum; the King James Version translates "crystal"; the Revised Version (British and American) translates "glass." Zekhukhith is related to a Hebrew word meaning "to be pure," whence the renderings crystal and glass.ISBE Stones, Precious.139
Lazarus FletcherISBE Stones, Precious.140
Stone-squarers - ston'-skwar-erz: the King James Version in 1 Kings 5:18; the Revised Version (British and American) "the Gebalites" (which see).ISBE Stone-squarers.2
Stoning - ston'-ing.ISBE Stoning.2
See PUNISHMENTS.ISBE Stoning.3
Stool - stool ('obhnayim): It is not clear what the character and purpose of this stool were Septuagint has no reference to it). It seems to have been a chair of a peculiar sort upon which a woman reclined in parturition (Exodus 1:16). The Hebrew word is in the dual number and primarily means "two stones." The only other place where it occurs is Jeremiah 18:3, where it is rendered "wheels" Septuagint epi ton lithon, "on the stones"). In 2 Kings 4:10, the word translated in the King James Version as "stool" (kicce') is in the Revised Version (British and American) more correctly translated "seat."ISBE Stool.2
See also BIRTH-STOOL; SEAT.ISBE Stool.3
Storax - sto'-raks.ISBE Storax.2
See POPLAR; STACTE.ISBE Storax.3
Store-cities - stor'-cit-iz (mickenoth): the Revised Version (British and American) Exodus 1:11 (of PITHOM and RAAMSES (which see)) for the King James Version "treasure cities" (compare 1 Kings 9:19; 2 Chronicles 8:4, 6; 16:4, etc.). Depots of provisions and magazines of arms.ISBE Store-cities.2
Storehouses - stor'-houz-iz, -ez: The following chief changes in the use of this word (representing various Hebrew words) in the Revised Version (British and American) to be noted are: In Deuteronomy 28:8, the Revised Version (British and American) has "barns" ('acamim); in 1 Chronicles 27:25, "treasures" ('otsroth); in Nehemiah 12:25, for "thresholds" has "storehouses" ('asuppim), so, for "Asuppim" in 1 Chronicles 26:15, 17 ("house of Asuppim," "toward Asuppim") has "store-house"; in Luke 12:24, for "storehouse" has "store-chamber" (tameion). In other passages the King James Version "storehouse" is retained (Genesis 41:56; 2 Chronicles 32:28, mickenoth; Psalms 33:7, 'otsroth; Jeremiah 50:26, ma'abhucim).ISBE Storehouses.2
Stories - sto'-riz: For the King James Version "stories" (ma'aloth) in Amos 9:6, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "chambers" (in heavens); in Genesis 6:16 (ark); Ezekiel 42:3, 6 (temple), the word is supplied. the Revised Version (British and American) in the latter verse reads in the text "the third story" (margin as in the King James Version). In 1 Kings 6:5, 10, the Revised Version (British and American) has "stories" (yatsia` yatsua`; see TEMPLE), and in Ezekiel 41:6 supphes "stories."ISBE Stories.2
Stork - stork (chacidhah; variously rendered in the Septuagint: Leviticus 11:19, erodios; Deuteronomy 14:18, pelekan; Job 39:13, hasida (transliteration of Hebrew); Zechariah 5:9, (epops; Latin Ciconia alba): A large wading bird of the family Ardeidae, related to crane, ibis, heron and bittern. The stork on wing is a bird of exquisite beauty. The primary, secondary and a few of the tertiary wing feathers are black, the remainder, also the head, neck, and back and under parts white, the bill and legs red. When a perching white bird suddenly unfolds these wonderful wings, having at times a sweep of 7 ft., and sails away, it makes a very imposing picture. Zechariah in a vision saw a woman having the wings of a stork; Zechariah 5:9, "Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came forth two women, and the wind was in their wings; now they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between eaxth and heaven." These birds winter in Africa. In their spring migration many pairs pause in Palestine, others cross the Mediterranean and spread over the housetops, ruins and suitable building-places of Europe as far north as Rolland and England. Always and everywhere the bird has been more or less protected on account of its fidelity to a chosen location, its fearlessness of man and the tender love between mated pairs and for its young.ISBE Stork.2
The stork first appears among the birds of abomination, and it is peculiar that the crane does not, for they are closely related. But the crane eats moles, mice, lizards and smaller animals it can capture, also frogs and fish. To this same diet the stork adds carrion and other offensive matter, and the laws of Moses, as a rule, are formulated with good reason. Yet at one time, storks must have been eaten, for Pliny quoted Cornelius Nepos, who died in the days of Augustus Caesar, as saying that "in his time storks were holden for a better dish at board than cranes." Pliny adds: "Yet see, how in our age now, no man will touch a stork if it be set before him on the board, but everyone is ready to reach into the crane and no dish is more in request." He also wrote that it was a capital crime in Thessaly to kill storks, because of their work in slaying serpents. This may have been the beginning of the present laws protecting the bird, reinforced by the steady growth of respect and love for its tender, gentle disposition. The Hebrew word chaidhah, from which the stork took its name, means "kindness."ISBE Stork.3
There is a smaller stork having a black neck and back, that homes in Palestine, but only in small numbers as compared with the white. These birds flock and live in forests around the borders of waste and desert places, and build in trees. The young of both species remain a long time in the nest and are tenderly cared for, so much so indeed that from their performances and love of building on housetops arose the popular tradition that the stork delivers newly born children to homes. The birds first appear in Leviticus 11:19 and Deuteronomy 14:18. Jeremiah noticed that the stork was migratory; see Deuteronomy 8:7: "Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the law of Yahweh." The Psalmist referred to their nesting in the cedars of Lebanon, for in Palestine these birds could not build on housetops, which were flat, devoid of chimneys and much used by the people as we use a veranda today; see Psalms 104:17:ISBE Stork.4
"Where the birds make their nests:ISBE Stork.5