Volume I, pages 703–721 of the 1732 edition, from HOP to JAC: everything printed on these pages, in order.
Continued from Honour
Mal. i. 6. 1 Tim. i. 17. Exod. xx. 12. Esth. xiii. 14. Ps. xxix. 2. Numb. xxiv. 11.particular marks of deference and distinction; but likewise for real services which are due to them: for example, Honour thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land. This Precept requires, not only that we should shew our Parents respect and deference, but likewise that we should assist them, and perform such services for them as they may stand in need of. And Balak King of Moab said to Balaam, I thought to promote thee to great honour, but lo the Lord hath kept thee back from honour; that is to say, hath deprived you of the reward I designed for you. And Prov. iii. 9.Solomon, Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of thine encrease: Testify your respect to him by presents and offerings.
By Honour is also understood that adoration which is due to God only. I was afraid to transfer the Honour of my God to man, says Mordecai. And the Psalmist, Give unto the Lord the Honour due unto his name. And Malachi, If I be the Lord, where is my honour? Ubi est honor meus? And St. Paul, Unto the only wise God be honour and glory.
Acts xxviii. 20.HOPE. The Hope of Israel, was the coming of the Messiah, the end of the Babylonish Captivity, and the happiness of Heaven. The Lord is the Hope of the righteous; their Hope shall not be confounded; on the contrary, the Hope of the ungodly shall perish: Spes impiorum Prov. x. 28. Job viii. 13. Psal. xvi. 9. Acts ii. 26. Rom. iv. 18. Wisd. xvi. 29. Zech. ix. 12.peribit: it shall be without effect; or they shall live and die without Hope. Hope deferred, maketh the heart sad; but when any one possesses what he desires, his soul is comforted. The flesh of the righteous shall rest in peace; shall expect with tranquility a future resurrection. Abraham against hope believed in hope, contra spem in spem, when being advanced in years, God promised him a son. The hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the winter’s hoar-frost. He speaks of the Israelites who neglected to gather Manna, which melted in the Sun; and so their hope vanished. The Prisoners of hope, Vincti spei, are the Israelites who were in Captivity, but were in hopes of deliverance.
Hope in the New Testament is generally taken for Hope in Jesus Christ, Hope of eternal Blessings, Hope of a future Resurrection: Gloriamur in spe gloriæ filiorum Rom. v. 2. Rom. v. 4, 5. Rom. xv. 4. 1 Cor. xiii. 13. 1 Tim. i. 1.Dei. Experience produces Hope, and Hope maketh not ashamed. Our Hope is founded on the patience and consolation which we derive from the Scriptures. Faith, Hope, and Charity make up the whole treasure of Christians. Jesus Christ is all our Hope: Christi Jesu spei nostræ. All our Hope in this life and the next, consists in his Merits, his Blood, his Grace, his Promises, and Spirit.
HOPHNI, and Phinehas, sons of Eli 1 Sam. ii. 12, 13, &c. Levit. iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. Levit. vii. 31, 32. 1 Sam. ii. 22, 23, &c. In the year of the World 2851, before J. C. 1149, before the Vulgar Æra 1153.the High-Priest, were, says the Scripture, sons of Belial, wicked, dissolute, and perverse men, whose will and lust were the only rule they acted by. They knew not the Lord, they did not pay him the honour which was due to him, nor performed the functions of their Ministry in the Tabernacle, as they ought to do; for when any Israelite had sacrificed a Peace-offering, the son or servant of the Priest came while they were dressing the flesh of it, and holding a fork with three teeth belonging to it in his hand, he put it into the pot, and all that he could take up with it was the Priest’s. They treated thus all the people of Israel, who came to sacrifice at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. In like manner also before the fat was burnt, the Priest’s servant came, and said to him, who sacrificed, Give me flesh to roast, for I will have none sodden, but raw. Let us first burn the fat, said he who sacrificed, according to custom, and after that take as much flesh as you will. But the servant replied, no; you shall give it me presently, or I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of Eli’s sons was great before the Lord; because they diverted the Children of Israel from coming to offer their sacrifices. That we may have a right understanding of this place, it is necessary to observe, that the Text takes no notice of Burnt-offerings, or Sacrifices for sin, but only of Peace -offerings, or those presented out of mere devotion; the blood whereof, the fat, the kidneys, and the caul which covers the intestines, were offered to the Lord. After this, all the rest of the Sacrifice belonged to him, at whose expence the offering was made. He was to give the Priest for his fee, the right shoulder and the breast of the victim. Moses does not say, whether this should be given dressed, or raw: but it appears from this place, 1. That it was not given to the Priest till it was dressed; and, 2. that the Priest had no right to demand it, till the fat was offered upon the fire of the Altar.
Now the High-Priest Eli was no stranger to his sons irregularities: he knew besides, that they lay with the women, who came to watch at the door of the Tabernacle. He reproved them for it, but so faintly, that they took no care at all to change their behaviour. Wherefore the Lord sent a Prophet to him, who said, Why do you trample under foot my Sacrifices and Offerings, which I have commanded to be presented to me in my Tabernacle? And why have you honoured your sons more than me, by thus eating with them the best of what is offered by all Israel? Therefore thus saith the Lord, I promised indeed that thy house should serve before me for ever; but now I am very far from designing this, says the Lord: for them that honour
me, I will honour; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed. The time is coming when I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, and there shall not be an old man in thy family; and when all Israel shall be in prosperity, thou shalt see a man in the Temple, who shall be the object of thine envy. Thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall both die in the same day, and I will raise up a faithful Priest for my service, who shall act according to my own heart.
About the year of the World 2861, before J. C. 1139, before the Vulg. Æra 1143. 1 Sam. x. 11, 12, &c.Some years after, the Lord caused Eli and his sons to be threatned by the young Prophet Samuel, to whom he said, that since Eli had not reproved and corrected his sons as he ought, the iniquity of his house should be never expiated, either by Sacrifices or Offerings, but that he would pour out all the evils upon it, wherewith he had threatned it. Accordingly, the Philistins having declared war against the Israelites, and they in the first action with In the year of the World 2888, before J. C. 1112, before the Vulgar Æra 1116the Philistins having fled, and lost about four thousand men, the Elders of Israel said; Bring hither the Ark of the Lord, that being placed among us, it may save us from the hand of our enemies. The people therefore sent to Shiloh, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, brought the Ark into the camp. But God permitted the Philistins to obtain another victory over the Israelites, so that they killed thirty thousand men, among the rest Hophni and Phinehas, and took the Ark of the Covenant, and carried it away with them into their own country. The news of this misfortune being brought to Shiloh, the wife of Phinehas, who was ready to lie in, was suddenly seized with her bearing pains, and died in labour. Eli being informed that his two sons were dead, and the Ark taken, fell backwards from his seat, and broke his neck. Thus the threatnings of God were verified against the house of Eli.
Jerem xliv. 30.HOPHRAH, King of Egypt, who lived in the time of Zedekiah King of Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar the great King of Chaldæa. Herodotus calls him Apries. Herodot. l. 2. c. 161, 162, 169.Zedekiah King of Judah, being weary of the Babylonish yoke, which that King had obliged him to submit to, made an alliance with Hophrah King of Egypt, and to this end sent Ambassadors to him in the seventh year of his reign. Ezekiel reproaches him for so doing in very strong terms; He who sent his Ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people: shall he prosper? shall he escape that doth such things? or shall he break the covenant and be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord, surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him King, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
Two years after, that is to say, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar marched against Jerusalem, and took all Jerem. xxxix. 1. lii. 4.the cities of Judah, except Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem. Pharaoh Hophrah seeing his ally in the utmost extremity, left Egypt, and came at the head of his army to his assistance. Nebuchadnezzar hereupon raised the siege of Jerusalem, and marched against the King of Egypt; and at the same time, Jeremiah foretold to Zedekiah, that the Egyptians would return into their own country, without daring to encounter the Chaldæans, and that Nebuchadnezzar would take Jerusalem, which fell out accordingly; Zedekiah himself being taken, and carried prisoner to Babylon. At that Jerem. xliv. 30.time Jeremiah prophesied, that the King of Egypt should be delivered into the hands of his enemies, in like manner as Zedekiah had fal’n into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; and Ezekiel addressed his discourse to Hophrah in the words following: “ Thus saith the “ Lord, Behold I am against thee, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great Dragon “ that lieth in the midst of the rivers, “ which hath said, my river is mine own, “ and I have made it for myself. But I “ will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will “ cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto “ thy scales, and I will bring thee up out “ of the midst of thy rivers, and all the “ fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy “ scales. And I will leave thee thrown “ into the wilderness, thee and all the fish “ of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the “ open fields, thou shalt not be brought “ together, nor gathered: I have given “ thee for meat to the beasts of the field, “ and to the fowls of heaven. And all “ the inhabitants of Egypt shall know, “ that I am the Lord, because they have “ been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. “ When they took hold of thee by “ thy hand, thou didst break, and rent all “ their shoulder: and when they leaned “ upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all “ their loins to be at a stand. Therefore “ behold I will bring a sword upon thee, “ and the land of Egypt shall be desolate “ and waste, and they shall know that I “ am the Lord, &c.”
The xxxth and xxxist Chapters of the same Prophet are likewise levelled against the King of Egypt. There Ezekiel describes the fall of Egypt, the ruin and desolation of it after a very pathetick manner, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. In the Ezek. xxx. 20.seventh day of the first month the Lord said to Ezekiel, “ Son of man, I have “ broken the arm of Pharaoh King of “ Egypt; and lo, it shall not be bound up “
to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword … I will break his arms, and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the King of Babylon.” Ezek. xxxii. 1, 2, 3, &c. Ezek. xxxi. 1, 2, &c. The first day in the third month of the eleventh year.Some months after, Ezekiel prophesied again against Hophrah King of Egypt: And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh King of Egypt, and to his multitude, whom art thou like in thy greatness? Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs, and under his shadow dwelt many nations… all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. But because he was lifted up with pride, I have delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen, who will treat him as he pleases… And thou Pharaoh shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that be slain by the sword: such shall be the fate of Pharaoh, and all his people, saith the Lord God.” The Prophet continues in the following chapter, and makes a mournful song upon the fall of Pharaoh Hophrah. “Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art a whale in the seas, and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, I will spread out my net over thee, with a company of many people, and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then I will leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. At thy death I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee… the sword of the King of Babylon shall come upon thee: by the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, they are all invincible people; they shall destroy the pride of Egypt, and the whole multitude of her people shall be dispersed; and when I have thus destroyed Egypt, and all that dwell therein, then they shall know that I am the Lord.”
These predictions were executed without delay, first against the person of Apries, or Hophrah, by the hands of Amasis, and afterwards against the kingdom of Egypt, and the Egyptians, by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Herodotus says, that Hophrah was the son of Amasis, &c.
After the death of Hophrah, Nebuchadnezzar took and destroyed Jerusalem, then he attacked the city of Tyre a, and took it after a siege of thirteen years. During this In the year of the World 3415, before J. C. 585, before the Vulgar Æra 588. a In the year of the World 3432, before J. C. 568, before the Vulgar Æra 571. Ezek. xxix. 18, 20. xxx. 1, 19.long siege, he was reduced to great straits, and to make him amends in some sort for his losses, God said to Ezekiel; “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar with his army has done me great service at the siege of Tyre; the heads of all his people shed their hair, and all their shoulders were peeled: yet neither he nor his army have received any recompense for the service they have done me in taking Tyre: therefore thus saith the Lord, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, he shall take all the people, and make booty of them: he shall divide the spoil, and after this manner his army shall receive their wages, and he shall be paid for the service he has done me at the siege of Tyre: I have given him the land of Egypt, because he hath wrought for me, saith the Lord.”
Accordingly Nebuchadnezzar marched against Egypt, and subdued it from Migdol or Magdol, which is at the entrance of the kingdom, as far as Siena, which lies at the other extremity towards the frontiers of Ezek. xxix. 6.Ethiopia. He committed strange ravages every where, killed a great number of inhabitants, Idem xxix. 30, &c.obtained great victories, and reduced the land to such a solitude, that it could not recover itself in forty years. NebuchadnezzarIdem xxix. 13. granted Amasis conditions of peace: he left this Prince in Egypt with the title of King, but tributary and subject to him: after which he returned to Babylon loaded with the spoils of so many conquered Provinces.
Deut. xxxii. 50. Numb. xx. 26. xxvii. 13.HOR, a Mountain in Arabia Petræa, on the confines of Idumæa, which Aaron received the Lord’s orders to ascend, in order to be gathered to his fathers. He died, and was buried there in the fortieth year of the departure of the Hebrews out of Egypt, in the year of the World 2552, before Jesus Christ 1448, before the Vulgar Æra 1452.
HORAM, King of Gezer, who being desirous to assist the King of Lachish, was defeated by Joshua, and his whole country ravaged. Josh. x. 33. In the year of the World 2554, before Jesus Christ 1446, before the Vulgar Æra 1450.
Exod. iii. 1, 2, 3, &c. Exod. xvii. 6.HOREB, a Mountain in Arabia Petræa, very near Mount Sinai; so that Horeb and Sinai seem only to be two Hills belonging to the same Mountain. Sinai lies to the East, and Horeb to the West; so that when the Sun rises, the latter is covered with the shadow of Sinai. There are two or three fine springs, and abundance of fruit-trees on the top of Horeb; whereas there is none but rain-water on Sinai. At Horeb God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. At the foot of the same Mountain Moses struck the rock, and drew water from it to satisfy the people’s thirst. Lastly, Elijah retired to the same place to avoid the persecution of Jezebel. It is said 1 Kings xix. 8.very frequently in the Hebrews, that God gave his Law to the Hebrews at Horeb, though in other places this is said expressly to have been done at Sinai; because, as we have observed, Horeb and Sinai made in some sort but one Mountain.
The Rock of HOREB, whence Moses drew water. See Exod. xvii. 6, 7. and hereafter RAPHIDIM.
HOREM, a City of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 38.
HORI, the son of Lotan, of the race of Seir the Horite. Gen. xxxvi. 22.
HORITES, an ancient people, who at the beginning dwelt in the Mountains of Gen. xiv. 6. Gen. xxxvi. 20, —30.Seir beyond Jordan. They had Princes, and were powerful even before Esau made a conquest of their country. The Horites, the descendants of Seïr, and the Edomites, seem afterwards to have been confounded, and to have composed but one people. They dwelt in Arabia Petræa, and Arabia Deut. ii. 1. & xxxiii. 2. & Judg. v. 4. חורים Chorim, or Horim, Horræi. 1 Kings xxi. 8, 11. & Neh. ii. 16. iv. 14. v. 7. vi. 17. vii. 5. xiii. 17. Eccl. x. 17. Isai. xxxiv. 12. Jerem. xxvii. 20. xxxix. 6. חרמה Anathema. Judg. i. 17.Deserta, to the south-east of the Promised Land.
We find the Hebrew word Chori or Chorim, which in the book of Genesis is translated Horites, to be used in an appellative sense in several other passages of Scripture, and to signify, Heros, great and powerful men; and it is very probable that the Greeks derived from hence their Heroes, in like manner as they derived Anax, a King, from the sons of Anak, the famous Giant in Palestine.
HORMAH, Herma, Harma, or Arama; it should be written Chorma, or Cherma. This City was called Zephath before the Hebrews gave it the name of Hormah, which signifies Anathema. What gave occasion for this denomination, was this: the King of Arad, who was a Canaanite, and dwelt to the south of the Land of Promise, having attacked the Hebrews, put them to flight, and took a very rich booty from them: hereupon the Israelites engaged themselves by vow to devote every thing belonging to the King of Arad to the curse, and intirely destroy it: for which reason this place was called Numb. xxi. 3. חרמה Chormah.Hormah. It is very probable that this vow was not executed till after Joshua entred into the Land of Promise. Among the Kings overcome by him, we find a King of Herma or Hormah, and a King of Ared or Josh. xv. 30.Arad. Hormah belonged to the Tribe of Simeon.
Isai. v. 1.HORNS. The Hebrews by the word Horns sometimes understood an eminence, an angle, a corner; Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei: my beloved has a vineyard situated on an Eminence, or on the corner of a rich and fertile Mountain. By the Horns of the Altar of Burnt-offerings, Exod. xxvii. 2. xxx. 2.many understand the Angles of this Altar; but it is certain that there were besides Horns or Eminences at the four corners of the Altar, to which were fastened four chains that the grate belonging to the Altar hung by.
Exodus xxxiv. 29. 1 Sam. ii. 1, 10.Horn signifies likewise glory, brightness, rays; for example, it is said, that Moses’s face was encompassed with Horns, that is to say, it was radiant, that as it were Horns of light issued from it. And in other places it is said, Mine Horn is exalted in the Lord. He hath exalted the Horn of his anointed: that is to say, he hath loaded me with honour; he hath advanced the Glory of his King or Priest. Lift not up your horn Psal. lxxv. 5, 6.on high, says the Psalmist; do not boast yourselves. His Horn shall be exalted with honour; he shall be loaded with honours, &c. 1 Sam. xvi. 1.As the Ancients frequently made use of Horns to hold liquors, the vessels wherein oil was put, and perfumes, are called often Horns, whether they really were of horn, or of any other matter. Fill thine Horn with oil, says the Lord to Samuel, and go, anoint David King. The High-Priest 1 Kings i. 39. Job xlii. 14.Zadok took an horn of oil out of the Tabernacle, and with it anointed Solomon. Job called one of his daughters by the name of Horn of Antimony, Cornu stibii, or Horn to put Antimony in, which the women of the East still make use of at this day.
The principal defence and greatest strength of horned beasts consists in their Horns; and the Scripture mentions the Horn as the symbol of strength. The Lord Psalm cxxxii. 17. Eccl. xlvii. 6. Eccl. xlvii. 8. Jer. xlviii. 25. Lament. ii. 3. Ezek. xxix. 21. Deut. xxxiii. 17.exalteth the Horn of David; the Horn of his People; he breaketh the Horn of the Ungodly: he cutteth off the Horn of Moab, he cutteth off in his fierce anger all the Horn of Israel; he promises to make the Horn of Israel bud forth; to re-establish the honour of it, and restore it to its former vigour. Moses compares Joseph to a young bull, and says, that he has Horns like those of a Rhinoceros. The sacred Authors frequently express victory in words like these following: Thou shalt toss them
Psal. xliv. 6. Ezek. xxxii. 2. xxxiv. 21, &c.into the air with Horns; thou shalt disperse them as a Bull disperses every thing that comes before him with his Horns.
Kingdoms and great Powers are often described by the word Horns. It is thus Daniel represents the power of the Persians, of the Greeks, of Syria, and Egypt. 1 Macc. vii. 46. Dan. vii. viii.He figures to us Darius and Alexander like a Goat and a Ram running violently at each other with their Horns: and Antiochus Epiphanes as an Horn which utters blasphemies, and makes war with the Saints. In these passages, the Prophet represents these animals to us as having many Horns, one whereof grew from the other; which should not surprize us, since in Barbary and the Isle of Cyprus there are Rams to be seen still at this day which have many Horns. In Daniel they are mysterious; but the mystery is founded upon a particular which sometimes happens in nature.
In the first book of the Maccabees, ix. 1, 12, 16, the right and left wings of an army are called the right and left Horn. And in Habakkuk it is said, that the Lord cometh from Paran all encompassed with glory and majesty, having Horns in his hands; that is to say, having his hands armed with flaming darts, and fiery arrows. In profane Authors darts and arrows are sometimes called Horns, because formerly they were armed with Horns. Several people fastened Horns to the end of their darts, and the Centaur Dorylas was provided with the two Horns of an Ox, instead of javelins.
Ovid. Metam. l. 12.Sævique vicem præstantia teli Cornua dura boum multo madefacta cruore.
HORON, or Oronaïm, a City of Arabia, from whence came Sanballat. See Nehem. ii. 10, &c.ORONAIM.
HORONAIM, a Town of the Moabites. Isai. xv. 5. Josephus speaks of it, Antiq. l. xiii. 23. xiv. 2.
HORSE, a very common beast, and very well known in these countries; but very rare among the Hebrews till Solomon’s time. Before him, we find no horsemen mentioned in the armies of Israel. God forbids the Kings of his people to keep many Horses, and to make use of this pretence that so they might carry the people back again into Egypt. He commands Joshua to ham-string the Horses of the Canaanites, which he should take in battle, and to burn their chariots of war. David having won a great battle against Hadadezer King of Shobah, took seventeen hundred Horses, and lamed all belonging to the chariots of war, reserving only an hundred chariots. The Judges and Princes of Israel used generally to ride on Mules or Asses. After David’s time, Horses were more common in the country of Judah, &c.
Solomon is the first King of Judah who had a great number of Horses, and he kept them rather for pomp than for war; for we do not read that he made any military expeditions. He had, says the Scripture, forty thousand stalls of Horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen distributed in his fortified places. He had his Horses from Egypt, and there was not a set which did not cost him more than six hundred shekels, which make of our money about ninety pounds. Moses had forbidden the King of the Hebrews to keep a great number of Horses, lest at any time he should be inclined to carry the people back into Egypt.
HORSES consecrated to the Sun. We read in the second book of Kings, that Josiah took away the Horses which the Kings of Judah his predecessors had consecrated to the Sun. We know the Sun was worshipped over all the East, and that the Horse, the swiftest of tame beasts, was consecrated to this Deity, who was represented as riding in a chariot drawn by the most beautiful and swiftest Horses in the world, and performing every day his journey from East to West, in order to communicate his Light to mankind. In Persia, and among the Messagetæ, Horses were sacrificed to the Sun.
Ovid. Fast. l. 1. Herodot. l. 1. c. 55.Placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum;
Ne celeri detur victima tarda Deo. Xenophon describes a solemn Sacrifice of Horses, which was made with ceremony to the Sun: they were all of the finest, and were led with a white chariot, crowned, and consecrated to the same God. We may believe that the Horses which Josiah removed out of the Court of the Temple, were appointed for the like Sacrifices.
The Rabbins inform us, that these Horses were every morning put to the chariots Rabb. Salom. & Kimchi.dedicated to the Sun, whereof there is mention made in the same book, and that the King, or some of his Officers, got up and rode to meet the Sun in its rising, as far as from the eastern gate of the Temple to the suburbs of Jerusalem.
Others are of opinion, that the Horses mentioned in the book of Kings, were of wood, stone, or metal, erected in the Temple in honour of the Sun. Others, that they were Horses which none were permitted to ride, or fasten to the yoke, but were free, and left to themselves, like those which Julius Cæsar let loose, and set at liberty, after his passage of the Rubicon. The PersiansSuet. in Julio. Dion. Nicol. in Severo. Tacit. de Mor. Germ. had likewise such Horses, as well as the ancient Germans. Those belonging to the Persians were of the colour of Tygers; those of the
8 U Ger-
Germans were all white1. They were never employed in any profane use, and people took presages of what was to come from their neighing and their motion.
HORSE-LEACH, a sort of Worm that lives in the water, of a black or brown colour, which fastens upon the flesh, and does not quit it till it is intirely full of Horat.blood: Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo. Solomon2 in the Proverbs says, The Horse-leach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. This Horse-leach is Lust; its two daughters are Avarice and Ambition, which are never satisfied. The Septuagint say three daughters, instead of two. Boch. de Animal. Sacr. part.Bochart is of opinion, that the Hebrew word Halukah, which the Septuagint and Vulgate translate Horse-leach, signifies Destiny, and that the two daughters of this Destiny are Hell and the Grave,
HOSAI, the Prophet of the Lord, who lived in the time of Manasseh King of Judah2 Chron. xxxiii. 19., and wrote what happened under the reign of this Prince. The Jews are of opinion, that Hosai and Isaiah are the same person, this Prophet also living in the reign of Manasseh. Others take Hosai in a general sense for Prophets and Seers: and thus the Septuagint explain it.
The Syriac calls him Hanan, and the Arabic, Sapkan.
HOSANNA, or rather Hosa-na, is an Salva quæso.Hebrew word which signifies, Save, I beseech you. It is a form of blessing, or wishing one well. Thus at our Saviour’s entrance into Jerusalem, when the people cried Hosanna filio David, their meaning was, Lord preserve this Son of David; heap favours and blessings on him.
I. HOSEA. This is the first name of Joshua, the son of Nun. The Greeks call him Ausé, or Ausem. Afterwards he bore the name of Joshua. See the Article JOSHUA.
II. HOSEA, the son of Beeri, is the first Epiphan. de vita Prophet.of the small Prophets. Epiphanius says, that he was of the town of Belemoth, in the Tribe of Issachar, which is no other in all probability than Beelmeon, towards Esdraelon, in this Tribe. The Rabbins say, Beerah was his father, who is mentioned in 1 Chr. v. 6.the Chronicles, and was Prince of the Tribe of Reuben at the time when Tiglath-pilesér carried some of the Tribes of Israel into In the year of the World 3245, before J. C. 755, before the Vulgar Æra 759. See 2 Kings xv. 29.captivity. But if it be so, Hosea must be said to be of the Tribe of Reuben, and a native of Beelmeon beyond Jordan. This Prophet lived in the kingdom of Samaria, and his prophecies for the most part have a view to this state; though there are likewise some particular things which concern the Kingdom of Judah.
We read in the introduction to his Prophecy, that he prophesied under the Kings of Judah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; and under Jeroboam II. King of Israel. If he prophesied in the reigns of all these Princes, he must have lived a very long time; for there are an hundred and twelve years from the beginning Uzziah’s began in 3194, and Hezekiah’s ended in 3306.of Uzziah’s to the end of Hezekiah’s reign. Add, if you please, twenty or five and twenty years which might be the age of Hosea, when he began to prophesy, and this will make an hundred and thirty two, or an hundred and thirty seven years. And if we were to take ten years from Uzziah, and as many from Hezekiah, during which Hosea might not have prophesied, there will still remain an hundred and twelve or fifteen years. In the whole collection of Hosea’s prophecies, we find nothing which proves that he prophesied so long; and besides, why should his prophecies be dated in the title by the reigns of the Kings of Judah, when he did not live under their dominion? It is therefore very probable, that this title is not Hosea’s, but some ancient Vide nov. Edit. Hieron. t. 1. p. 727.transcriber’s; and that the true beginning of this Prophet’s work, is at these words: The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. It is our opinion, that he began about the end of Jeroboam’s reign, who was the second King of Israel of this name.
Hieron. in Osee, initio. Basil. in Isai. i. Rufin. Riber. Sanct. alii. b Hos. iv. 15. ix. 15. xii. 11. c Hos. v. 1. d Hos. vi. 8. f Hos. v. 1. vi. 8.St. Jerom, and many others, believe Hosea to be the oldest Prophet, whose writings are in our possession. He was witness to the first captivity of the four Tribes, carried away by Tiglath-pilesér, and the extinction of the kingdom of Samaria by Salmanesar. St. Jerom will have it, that he prophesied even afterwards. The first verses of chap. i. have a view to the death of Zechariah King of Israel, and son of Jeroboam II. From the sixth verse of the first chapter to the third chapter, is a prediction of the captivity of Israel: but after he has foretold this captivity, he declares the return and end of it. He inveighs strongly against the disorders, which prevailed in the kingdom of the ten Tribes. It appears, that in his time there were Idols, not only at Dan, Bethel, and Samaria, but likewise at Gilgal3, upon Tabor c, at Sichem d, Beer-sheba e, and upon the Mountains of Gilead f. He speaks of the Israelites, as of a people intirely corrupted, and the measure of whose sins was filled up. He foretels that
their golden calves should be pulled down, cast upon the ground, and carried into Hos. viii. 5. x. 5, 6. Hos. iv. 15. Hos. viii. 14. Hos. i. 7.Assyria.
He reflects with the same severity upon the irregularities which reigned in Judah. He stands up against those who went to worship the false Gods at Gilgal. He speaks of Sennacherib’s invading the territories of Judah. He foretels that the people of Judah should still continue some time in their country after the captivity of the ten Tribes; but that after this, they likewise themselves should be carried captives beyond the Euphrates, from whence the Lord would bring them back after a certain number of years. The style of Hosea is obscure, and his expressions often dubious and perplexed. The things whereof he speaks contribute farther to his obscurity, by reason of their distance, and our ignorance of the history of those times.
In the beginning of Hosea’s Prophecy we read, that the Lord directed him, To take unto him a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms; that is to say, to marry a woman, who before her marriage had lived a debauched life, but who after her marriage should retire from all bad conversation, and whose children should be legitimate, notwithstanding that by reason of the blemish which their mother had contracted by her former life, they were called the children of whoredoms. This prostitute woman, and the children to be born of her, were a figure, and a kind of real prophecy, which described the idolatry and infidelity of Samaria and the ten Tribes, formerly the Lord’s spouse, but afterwards become adulterous and corrupt. The children of this faithless woman are children of prostitution, since they imitate the idolatry of their mother. God gives these children the names of Jezreel, Lo-rechamah, or without mercy, and Lo-ammi, thou art no longer my people; to shew, 1. That God was going to revenge upon the house of Jehu King of Israel, the sins which he had committed at Jezreel, when he usurped the Kingdom of the ten Tribes. 2. That the Lord would treat his idolatrous and sinful people without mercy. 3. Lastly, that he would reject them, and no more look upon them as his people.
Many interpreters4 shocked at the irregularity of Hosea’s marriage with a woman of a bad life, have thought this to be only a parable; that the Prophet called the wife whom he married, a prostitute, with a design only of awakening the attention of the Israelites; or that all this passed only in a vision, without the Prophet’s coming to the execution of it. But the whole sequel of Hosea’s narration shews sufficiently, that this marriage was very real, though figurative as to the things which it described, and were to be afterwards performed; and this is the opinion of St. Basil, Theodoret, St. Austin, and many good Interpreters.
III. HOSEA, the last King of Israel. He was the son of Elah, and having conspired 2 Kings xv. 30. In the year of the World 3265, before J. C. 735, before the Vulgar Æra 739. 2 Kings xvii. 1, 2, &c.against Pekah, the son of Remaliah, King of Israel, he killed him, and made himself master of his dominions. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like the Kings of Israel, who preceded him; that is to say, according to the Jewish Doctors, he did not restrain his subjects from going, if they would, to Jerusalem, and worshipping the Lord there; whereas the Kings of Israel his predecessors had forbid it under severe penalties, and had even placed guards upon the road to prevent it.
Salmanesar, King of Assyria, having intelligence that Hosea, whose kingdom till then had been tributary to the Assyrians, was thinking of a revolt, and to this end had taken measures with So King of Egypt, in order to shake off the Assyrian yoke, he marched against him, made inroads upon all the country, and after he had caused great desolation in it, laid siege to Samaria5. The city was taken after a siege of three years, in the ninth year of Hosea’s reign. Salmanesar In the year of the World 3282, before J. C. 718, before the Vulgar Æra 722. Hos. i. 10, 11. See 2 Kings xvii. 3, 6. Hos. xiii. 16. Micah i. 6.used the Israelites with the utmost cruelty. He opened the women big with child, and dashed their tender infants in pieces against the ground. Samaria was reduced to an heap of ruins. The King of Assyria removed all the Israelites of the ten Tribes remaining in the country, beyond the Euphrates, and sent Cuthæans in their room, who are still at this day known there by the name of Samaritans. In this manner were the threatnings of God, so often pronounced against this sinful city, verified.
The Chronology of Hosea’s reign is extremely perplexed, by reason of the inconsistency of some dates which are set down in Scripture. It is said, 2 Kings xv. 30. that Hosea began to reign in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. (This was the fourth of Ahaz, for Jotham his father died four years before, having reigned only sixteen years, 2 Kings xv. 32, 33.) And in chap. xvii. 1. of this same book, it is said, that Hosea began to reign in the twelfth year of Ahaz. Lastly, the Scripture, 2 Kings xv. 27. allows Pekah to have reigned but twenty years. Notwithstanding, if the last year of Pekah and the first of Hosea concur with the twentieth of Jotham, 2 Kings xv. 30. it is clear, that Pekah must have reigned two
and twenty years, since Jotham began to reign in the second year of Pekah, 2 Kings xv. 32. To reconcile all these differences, it may be said, that Hosea conspired against Pekah in the twentieth year of this Prince, which was the eighteenth after the beginning of Jotham’s reign. It was two years longer before Hosea made himself master of Pekah’s dominions; so that he was not acknowledged King of Israel till two years after, that is to say, in the fourth year of Ahaz, and the twentieth of Jotham. Lastly, in the twelfth year of Ahaz, he reigned quietly over all Israel, according to chap. xvii. 1. See Usher and the Commentators, in order to reconcile these different dates.
HOSHAIAH, the father of Jezaniah, one of the principal Jews of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. Nehem. xii. 32.
HOSHAMA, the son of Jeconiah. 1 Chron. iii. 18.
HOSPITALITY. Hospitality has always been very much in esteem among civilized people. In Homer and the old Greek writers, we see what respect they had for their Guests. They believed, that the Gods sometimes went through the world disguised like travellers6, and observed the conduct of mankind towards one another. The apprehension they had of despising some God instead of a traveller, induced them to receive the greatest strangers with respect, and the Rights of Hospitality were the most sacred and inviolable among them.
The Scripture furnishes us with several examples of Hospitality exercised by the Patriarchs. Abraham received three Angels, threw himself at their feet, invited, Genes. xviii. 2, 3, &c.pressed them, served them himself, and stood in their presence; Sarah his wife took care of matters in the kitchen, and baked bread for his Guests. Lot waited at the city-gate to receive such Guests, as might come thither. When the inhabitants Gen. xix. 1, 2, 3.of Sodom appeared before his house, in order to insult his Guests, he went out, he spake to them, he exposed himself to their fury, and offered to give up his own daughters to their brutality, provided they would spare them. The same almost is observable Judg. xix. 16, 17.in the old man of Gibeah, who had received the young Levite and his wife. St. Paul makes use of Abraham’s and Lot’s example to encourage the Faithful, and persuade them to the exercise of this virtue, saying, that they who have practised it, have merited the honour of Matth. x. 40, 41.receiving Angels under the form of men. The Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, who abounded with the Spirit of their Master, with great care recommended Hospitality to the Faithful; and the primitive Christians made one principal part of their duty to consist in the exercise of this virtue. Our Saviour tells his Apostles, that whosoever receiveth them, receiveth him himself; and that whosoever should give them even a glass of water, should not lose his reward. Lastly, at the day of Judgment he will say to the wicked, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire; I was a stranger, and ye received me not … and in as much as ye have not done it unto the least of mine, ye have not done it unto me. St. Peter requires the Faithful to use Hospitality to their brethren without murmuring 1 Pet. iv. 3.and complaint. St. Paul in several of his Epistles recommends Hospitality; Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, says he Hebr. xiii. 2. Hebr. xiii. 2. 1 Tim. iii. 2. & Tit. i. 8.to the Hebrews. See likewise Rom. xii. 13. Given to Hospitality. But he recommends it particularly to Bishops. In the two Epistles to Timothy and Titus, where he sets down the duties and qualities of a Bishop, he does not forget Hospitality. Let no one be made a Bishop, who does not exercise Hospitality, says St. Gregory Greg. Mag. Ep. ad Joan. Episc. Hieron. Ep. ad Oceau.the Great. And if the Bishop does not receive all strangers into his house, he is inhuman. Episcopus, nisi omnes receperit, inhumanus est, says St. Jerom.
The primitive Christians were so zealous and so exact in the discharge of this duty, that the very Heathens admired them for it. They were Hospitable to all strangers, but chiefly to those who were of the same faith and communion. Believers scarce ever went without Letters of communion, which testified the purity of their Faith: this was sufficient to procure them reception in all those places, where the name of Jesus Christ was known. It is our opinion, that the two last Epistles of St. John the Evangelist, may be such kind of letters of communion and recommendation, which were given to Christians who travelled.
HOTHAM, the son of Heber, of the Tribe of Asher. 1 Chron. vii. 32.
HOTHIR, the son of Heman, and Head of the twenty-first Family of the Levites. 1 Chron. xxv. 4, 28.
HOURS. The ancient Hebrews did not divide the Day by Hours. The Day was divided into four parts; Morning, Highday or Noon, the first Evening and the
last Evening; and the Night was divided Lament. ii. 19. Judg. vii. 19. Exod. xxiv. 24.into three parts, Night, Mid-night, and the Morning-watch. If we find sometimes the word Hours in the Septuagint, it signifies the Seasons, as in Homer and Hesiod.
The word Hours occurs often in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament: for example, Pluam cras hâ ipsâ Exod. ix. 28.horâ grandinem. And, Liberi qui eâdem horâ nati sunt, &c. And, Hâc eâdem horâ, ego tradam omnes istos vulnerandos in conspectu Israel, &c. And in Daniel, Quâcunque horâ audiveritis sonitum, &c. In Tobit, Quasi dimidiam fere horam. And, Prostrati per horas tres. And Judith, Per multas horas unâ voce clamaverunt ad Deum, &c. But in the books of Moses, and the other writings in Hebrew, Hora is used for the precise time or season7. In Daniel, we find the word Schaata, which is translated Hour, and may be derived from the verb scaah, which signifies to cease, to be at rest.
The books of Daniel, Tobit, and Judith are the first wherein we find the word Hour mentioned expressly in the sense we give it, or rather in the sense wherein the Ancients construed it, who made use of it both in Greek and Latin to signify a part either of the day or night. Daniel iv. 16. says, he was about an Hour considering the meaning of King Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision. Tobit, xi. 14. tells us, that he continued about half an Hour in very great pain, after which the pearl fell from his eyes. The same Tobit relates, xii. 22. that after the Angel Raphaël had declared to him, and his son Tobias, who he was, they prostrated themselves before him, and remained in this posture for about two Hours. Judith vii. 18. declares, that the people of Bethulia being met together in the Synagogue, spent many Hours in crying to the Lord, beseeching him to deliver them from the hands of Holofernes. The Hebrew text does not speak particularly of Hours, but only of Lines or Degrees; as where it mentions Ahaz’s Dial, or the retrogradation of the Sun on this Sun-dial. But however it may be expressed in the text, it is certain that Hours, and the division of the Day into several parts, is the matter there in question. Now Ahaz is much more ancient than either Daniel, Tobit, or Judith.
John xi. 9. and Matth. xx. 3, 4, 5.But what were the Hours mentioned in these books? this is very difficult to determine with any certainty. The sacred Writers do not inform us; there is no Chaldee or Syriac Author remaining, of any great antiquity, to give us an account of them; and the Greeks, who in matters of profound erudition, and the most remote antiquity, are our best authorities next to the sacred Writings, knew nothing of the original of Hours among foreign nations, and trace it no higher among themselves than the time of Anaximenes or Anaximander, who lived in the reign of Cyrus, towards the end of the Babylonish captivity. This Author had travelled into Chaldæa, and might very well have learned from thence the manner of dividing the Day by Hours. Herodotus, who lived in the reign of Xerxes8, says expressly, that the Greeks received from the Babylonians the use of Gnomons and Dials. And Xenophon9, who followed young Cyrus in his expedition, introduces Euthydemus saying, that the Sun, which is luminous, discovers to us the Hours of the Day, and the Stars the Hours of the Night. Aristophanes10, who lived in the time of Socrates, speaks likewise of the solar Gnomon or Index, and of Hours. He makes one of his Actors ask what a-clock it is by the Sun-dial? The Reader may see our remarks under the word DIALS.
The result of what we have said is this, that the use of Clocks or Sun-dials, and the distribution of the Day into several Hours, is more ancient among the Eastern people than among the Greeks; that the Author of this invention is not known, and that the first monument we are acquainted with, which speaks in an express manner of it, is the second book of Kings, chap. xx. where we have an account of the Sun’s retrogradation on Ahaz’s dial; and lastly, that we cannot tell in what manner the ancient Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Hebrews, divided their Hours of the Day and Night; whether they were equal or unequal.
In the books of the New Testament we see very clearly the Day divided into twelve equal Hours, after the manner of the Greeks and Romans. These Hours were equal to each other, but unequal with respect to the different seasons. The twelve Hours of the longest days in summer were much longer than those of the shortest Days in winter. The first Hour was that which followed the rising of the Sun, and was answerable to our six a-clock in the Morning in the Equinox; and to other times in proportion to the length or shortness of the Days. The third Hour was answerable to nine a-clock of the Morning in the Equinox; the sixth at all times to Noon; and so on. In the New Testament we observe Matth. xiv. 25. Mark vi. 48. xiii. 35.likewise the Night to be divided
into four Watches; a custom which the Jews had borrowed from the Romans.
HUKOK, a City of Asher; the same probably as that which is made part of Naphtali in Joshua xix. 33. It was yielded to the Levites, and assigned to be a City of 1 Chron. vi. 75.refuge. The Tribes of Asher and Naphtali bordering on one another, it is not surprizing that a City lying on the limits of both Tribes should be sometimes attributed to one, sometimes to another.
Gen. x. 23.HUL, or Chul, the son of Aram. Josephus calls him Otrus, and places him in Armenia. We find several footsteps of the name of Chul in this country, as the cities of Cholana, Colimna, Colsa, Olane, Choluatha, &c. Hul might have given his name to some of these places.
HULDAH, a Prophetess, the wife of Shallum; was consulted by Josiah concerning the book of the Law which had been 2 Kings xxii. 14, 15.found in the Treasury of the Temple.
King Josiah having set people to work upon the repairs of the Temple, Hilkiah the High-Priest found there in the Treasury 2 Kings xxii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c.the original of the book of the Law, and Shaphan the Overseer being sent thither with a message from the King, Hilkiah told him, that in the Temple he had found the book of God’s Law, and at the same time put it into his hands. Shaphan took and read it, and after he had given the King an account of the commission which he had been charged with, he told him, that he had received the book of the Law from the High-Priest, and read it before the King; who, upon hearing it, rent his clothes, and commanded Hilkiah the High-Priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Asahiah the King’s servant, to go and consult the Lord for him. Go, said he, enquire of the Lord for me, for the people and all Judah, concerning the contents of this book; for the wrath of God is terribly inflamed against us, because our fathers would not hearken unto the words of this book, nor fulfil what is commanded in it.
They therefore went to Huldah the Prophetess, the wife of Shallum Keeper of the Wardrobe, who dwelt at Jerusalem in the second city; to her they related what had happened, and declared to her the King’s orders. Huldah answered them, Thus saith the Lord, Tell the man who sent you to me, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the evils which are threatned in this book, because they have forsaken me to worship strange Gods, and have provoked me by their whole conduct; my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be extinguished. As to the King of Judah who sent you, you shall say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, because thou wert touched with fear at the reading of this book, and hast humbled thyself before the Lord, hast rent thy garments, and shed tears in my presence, I have heard thee, saith the Lord, thou shalt be gathered to thy fathers, and buried peaceably in thine own sepulchre, and thine eyes shall not behold the evils which I will bring upon this place.
2 Kings xxiii. 1, 2, 3, 4.The King having received this answer, convened all the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem in the Temple, was there present himself with them, and all the people from the highest to the lowest, read to them out of the book which had been found, renewed with them the covenant of the Lord, and made them promise to observe his Laws and Ordinances more faithfully for the future; at the same time he destroyed all the remains of Idolatry which were in the Temple, and in all the Country. The time of Huldah’s death we are not acquainted with; but the discovery of the book of the Law, whereof we are speaking, fell out in the year of the World 3380, before Jesus Christ 620, before the Vulgar Æra 623.
HUMAN SACRIFICES. See Matth. xi. 29.SACRIFICES.
HUMILITY. Humility is the virtue of Christ and Christians. It consists in having low thoughts of ourselves, founded upon the knowledge of our unworthiness, and dependance on God’s aid. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, says 1 Pet. v. 5.our Saviour. God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble, says St. Peter.
Humilitas is often used for humiliation. Gen. xxix. 39. Vidit Dominus humilitatem meam. Deut. xxvi. 7. Respexit humilitatem nostram. Esth. xv. 2. Memorare dierum humilitatis tuæ. Psal. ix. 14. Vide humilitatem meam de inimicis meis, &c.
Erasmus had formerly a considerable dispute concerning the word Humilitas in the hymn Magnificat, Luc. i. 48. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ, which in this place signifies, as he pretended, the humble and low estate only of the blessed Virgin; so that humilitas in this passage would be equivalent to humiliatio or vilitas. He was opposed by certain Monks, to whom he replied in his Colloquy intitled Medardus. It is plain, humilitas does not always signify the virtue of Humility, but oftentimes the poor, mean, dejected state of people, and the timorous, diffident and modest thoughts which this condition 2 Sam. viii. 1. Psal. lxxi. 4.inspires.
To humble signifies often to afflict, to bring into bondage, to beat, subdue. Humiliatus est Moab: the Moabites were humbled, their force was broken. Percussit David Philistæos & humiliavit eos: he conquered the Philistins, and subdued their power. Humiliabit calumniatorem: God shall humble the slanderer
Psal. xvii. 27.or oppressor; he shall load him with confusion, he shall pull him down. Oculos superborum humiliabis; thou wilt humble, confound, or cover the proud with shame.
1 Pet. v. 6.To humble a Virgin, or a Woman taken in war, signifies to rob her of her honour. Jeremiah, Lament. v. 11. Mulieres in Sion humiliaverunt. Ezek. xxii. 10. Immunditiam menstruatæ humiliaverunt in te: They came near a woman at a certain time when the Law forbids it.
To be humbled under the hand of God, to acknowledge his wisdom and power. Hast thou not seen how Ahab is humbled? is contrite, touched with grief and repentance. Because thy heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord; because thou hast been touched with sorrow and repentance at the sight of my people’s transgressions. The Jews being informed that Holofernes was come into their country, humbled their soul in fasting and prayer. St. Paul advises the faithful of Rome, not arrogantly to exalt themselves, but to accommodate themselves to those of low estate. Non alta sapientes, sed humilibus consentientes.
HUMTAH, a City in the Tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 54. There is mention of a City called Themath or Thamath in the Greek, 1 Sam. xxx. 29. and St. Jerom speaks of Thabatha, the place of St. Hilarion’s nativity, five miles from Gaza, towards the south. Nicephorus, who calls it Thebasa, places it at fifteen miles distance from the same city, Gaza. I should be ready to believe that it is the same place as Athmatha or Humtah.
HUNTING, To Hunt. Hunting is a kind of apprenticeship to war, and an imitation of it. Nimrod was a mighty Hunter before God. He was a warrior, a conqueror, a tyrant, who subdued free people, and put those to death who would not submit to his dominion. The Prophets sometimes express War under the name of Hunting. I will send for many hunters, says Jeremiah, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. He speaks of the Chaldæans or Persians, who took the Jews, and held them under their dominion. Some are of opinion, that the Hunters mentioned by Jeremiah are the Persians, who set the Hebrews at liberty; and in a more elevated sense, the Apostles, who are, as it were, Hunters, that endeavour to take men with their preaching. Ezekiel speaks likewise of the Kings, who were persecutors of the Jews, under the name of Hunters; Principes aquilonis omnes, & universi venatores. He places them in hell, with the Kings who were not circumcised.
The Psalmist thanks God for having delivered him from the snares of the Hunters. Micah complains, that every one lays ambuscades for his neighbour, and that one brother hunts after another to destroy him. Vir fratrem suum ad mortem venatur. Ezekiel inveighs against the false Prophets, who place cushions under the elbows of sinners, and lay nets to catch them in the chase. Jeremiah in his Lamentations represents Jerusalem as complaining of her enemies, who have taken her like a bird in their nets.
As for Hunting with Dogs, the Reader may see Dogs.
HUPHAM, or Huppim, the son of Benjamin, Head of the Family of the Huphamites. Numb. xxvi. 39.
HUPPAH, a Priest, whose Family had the thirteenth Rank in the four and twenty Classes, appointed by David for the service of the Temple in their turns. 1 Chron. xxiv. 13.
HUPPIM, the son of Machir. 1 Chron. vii. 15.
HUPPIM, otherwise Hupham, the son of Benjamin. See HUPHAM.
I. HUR, the son of Caleb, the son of Esron, different from Caleb the son of Jepunneh. Hur, if we believe Josephus, was husband to Miriam, the sister of Moses. Others say, he was his son; we know very few particulars concerning the life of Hur: but by the little which the Scripture says of him, we see that Moses had a great regard for him. When this Legislator had sent Joshua against the Amalekites, he went up the Mountain with Hur and Aaron in his company; and while he lifted up his hands praying to the Lord, Aaron and Hur supported his arms, to prevent his growing weary. And when Moses ascended Mount Sinai, in order to receive the Law there, he told the Elders, that if any difficulty should arise, they had Aaron and Hur with them, whom they might consult. Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri the father of Bezeliel.
II. HUR, a Prince of Midian, who was killed in an encounter between Phinehas and the Midianites.
HURAI, of the Valley or Brook of Gaash, one of the Heroes belonging to David’s Army. He is called Hiddai in 2 Sam. xxiii. 30.
HURAM, the son of Ehud of the Tribe of Benjamin. 1 Chron. viii. 5.
HURI, the son of Jaroah, of the Tribe of Gad, father of Abihail. 1 Chron. v. 14. and not of Abigail.
HUSHAI, the Archite, David’s friend. He being informed of Absalom’s rebellion, and that David was obliged to fly from Jerusalem, met his King and his Friend upon an eminence without the city, with his clothes rent, and his head covered with earth. David perceiving him, told Æra 1023him, that if he went with him, he would be
a burden to him; but that he might do him an important service, if he returned to the city, and pretended to be in Absalom’s interest, in order to defeat the counsel of Ahitophel; and that he should be careful to acquaint him with every thing that passed, by the means of Abiathar and Zadoc the High -Priests, to whom he should give notice of every thing.
2 Sam. xvi. 17, 18, &c.Hushai therefore returned to Jerusalem, and as he entred the city, Absalom likewise entred at the same time. To him therefore he went, and said to him, God save the King, God save the King. Absalom answered, Do you use your Friend in this manner? why are you not with David? Hushai said, I will be with him, whom the Lord hath chosen; and will continue with that King, whom this people and all the men of Israel have acknowledged. As I obeyed your father, so will I obey you. After 2 Sam. xvii. 1, 2, 3, &c.this, Ahitophel told Absalom, that he would take ten thousand men, and pursue David that very night; fall upon him, and defeat him, while he was overwhelmed with his fatigue. This advice seemed good to Absalom, and all in his interest.
But Absalom had a mind farther to know the opinion of Hushai the Archite, and sending for him, proposed what Ahitophel had said to him. Hushai answered, Ahitophel’s counsel is not proper at this time. You know your father, and they who are with him are men of great bravery, and exasperated with grief. David is a great soldier, and will make no stay in the open field; he is perhaps at this time hidden in some cave. If you attack him, and any misfortune happens to you, it will be said immediately, that Absalom’s party is defeated; and the bravest of those, who are attached to you, will be dispirited. In my judgment, it would be more advantageous to gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba, after which you may fall upon your father and destroy his party, without leaving one man to follow him: if he should shut himself up in any city, all Israel will besiege him, pull every stone in the walls down with ropes, without leaving one stone upon another.
This advice of Hushai was approved by Absalom and all the Elders of the people; and God permitted thus the counsel of Ahitophel to be overborn, to the great misfortune of Absalom. Hushai immediately communicated what had passed to the High -Priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the news was soon carried to David, who ordered all his people to pass the river Jordan with all speed, lest Absalom, changing his resolution, might fall upon him with his troops. Ahitophel observing his counsel to be neglected, and foreseeing the destruction of Absalom, returned to his own house, and in despair hanged himself. We know not what the end of Hushai In the year of the World 2981, before J. C. 1019, before the Vulgar Æra 1023.was.
HUSHAM, King of Edom, successor to Jobab. Gen. xxxvi. 34.
HUSHATH, the place where Sibbechai was born, one of the brave Officers belonging to David’s Army. 2 Sam.xxi. 18.
HUSHIM, the son of Dan. Gen.xlvi.23.
HUSHIM, the father of Ahitub and Luke xv. 16. Κεράτια, Siliquæ.Elpaal. 1 Chron. viii. 11.
HUSKS, in Latin, Siliquæ, Shells or Husks of Peas or Beans. The prodigal Son, oppressed with want, and pinched with Syr. Arab. Grot. Hammond. Cleric. Bochart, &c.hunger, desired to feed on the Husks, that were provided for the Hogs. But the most learned Interpreters are of opinion, that the Greek Keratia signifies Carob-beans, the fruit of a tree growing in Egypt, and bearing the same name. There was a sort of wine or liquor of great use in Syria drawn from it, and the lees of it were given to the Hogs. The Greeks and Latins both mention these Carob-beans by the name of Ceratia; and Pliny, as well as the Vulgate, calls them Siliquæ.
This fruit is very common in Palestine, Greece, Italy, Provence, and Barbary: it is suffered to ripen and grow dry upon the tree; the poor feed upon it, and the cattle are fattened with it. The Carob-tree is of a middle size, full of branches, and abounding with round leaves of an inch or two in diameter. The blossoms of it are little red clusters, with abundance of yellowish stalks. The fruits of it are flat cods from half a foot to fourteen inches long, and an inch and an half broad: they are brown a-top, sometimes crooked, composed of two Husks, which are separated by membranes into several cells, wherein are contained flat seeds something like those of Cassia. The substance of these Husks is filled with a sweetish honey kind of juice, not very unlike that of the pith of Cassia. It is in all probability the crooked figure of this Husk which has occasioned its being called in Greek, Keratia, which signifies little Horns.
HYACINTH, by this word we understand a precious Stone, a sort of Flower, and a particular kind of Colour. The Flower Hyacinth is not spoken of in Scripture, but the Colour only, and Stone of this Cant. v. 14. Rev. xxi. 20.name, which we are now going to take notice of in their proper Articles.
The Hyacinth Stone. The Spouse in Solomon’s Song says, that her Beloved’s hands were as gold rings set with Hyacinths; and St. John, in the Revelations, says, that the eleventh foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem is of Hyacinth. Now there are reckoned four sorts of Hyacinths. The first has something of the colour of a Ruby; the second is of a gilded yellow; the third of a citron yellow; the fourth of the colour of a granate. The
Hebrew Text of the Canticles instead of Hyacinth, reads the Stone of Tarshish. It is again mentioned in Exodus11. We do not well know what Stone it is, but the generality explain it Chrysolite.
As to the Hyacinth Colour, Moses often speaks of it12. He makes use of the Hebrew word Techeloth, which, according to the most learned Interpreters13, was an azure blue, or very deep purple, like a violet colour. This colour was dyed with the blood of a kind of oister, called in Latin, Murex, and in Hebrew, Chilson.
HYADES. This word comes from the Greek Hyetos, Rain. We find it only in Job14, where it is placed to answer the Hebrew, Chimah. In the same book Chimah is likewise translated Pleiades. In our our opinion, the word in the original signifies the East, or the Spring. See our Comment upon Job ix. 9.
HYÆNA, or Hiena, a four-footed beast. Its name is not to be met with in the Latin Text of the Old Testament, nor in the New; but the Hebrew Text of Leviticus15 reads, The daughter of the Hiena, Bath-Haïana, instead of Struthio, which we read in the Vulgate. The same name is to be found in several other places of the Hebrew Text, where it is generally translated Struthio, the Ostrich, though it is not very certain, that this is its true signification. See hereafter the Article OSTRICH.
It is certain that Bath-Haïana, or the daughter of the Hiena is a bird; Moses mentions it in his enumeration of such birds, the use whereof was prohibited. But the animal which is known to us by the name of Hiena, is a four-footed beast, almost as large as a Wolf, excepting that its legs are not so long. The hair of it is rough, and its skin spotted with divers colours. Hiena’s were formerly produced at Rome in the publick games, and they have been represented on some medals on the score of their rarity. It is an uncommon creature, which is scarce to be seen any where but in Egypt. Spanheim, who had copies of it engraved from medals, describes it with the head of a mastiff, with short triangular ears, a lion’s tail and feet, and hair spotted all over like a tyger’s.
Bochart, and Ludolphus in his History of Æthiopia maintain, that the Hyæna is in the Hebrew called Tzeboa16. Jeremiah speaks of it17 in chap. xii. 9. The import of the Vulgate is as follows: Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird. And the Septuagint; Mine heritage is unto me a cave of the Hiena. The Hebrew may very well bear the sense of the Vulgate; but Bochart affirms, that the word Hait, translated bird, signifies in general all sorts of wild beasts; and that Tzeboah, which is rendred tinged with divers colours, signifies the Hiena, so named in the sacred language on the score of its spots, and the variety of its hair.
Plin. l. viii. c. 30. l. xxviii. c. 8.Pliny speaks of the Hyæna, and describes it in a manner which seems fabulous. He says that it changes its sex every year, is one year male, and the next female; and that from its eyes are taken precious stones, from the name of this creature called Hyenea. Aristotle and Ælian say, that it makes dogs dumb with its shadows; that it imitates the speech of mankind, and deceives them, in order to draw them out of their houses, and devour them. They add, that it has feet like a man’s, and no Vertebræ in the neck.
Busbequius, in his travels to Amasia, relates several particulars of this animal. He says it is almost in the shape of a wolf, but not so tall. That its hair is like that of a wolf, except its being more bristling, and marked at certain distances with great black spots. It has no neck, but its head is fastened to the vertebræ or chine-bone of the back, so that it is forced to turn itself quite round, whenever it would look behind. It is very cruel and voracious; it drags dead bodies out of the grave, and carries them to its den. Instead of teeth, it has one continued bone in the jaw. It is said to imitate the voice of a man, and that by this means it often deceives travellers. Busbeq. Iter Amasian. p. 76.
As to the daughter of the Haïana, which is a bird, the use whereof is forbidden by Moses, the Scripture-account of it, which may lead us to some discovery of its species, is as follows: It appears by Job and Micah, that this was a mournful bird, which in its pinings used to make a great noise. I am a brother to dragons, or crocodiles, and a companion to the daughters of the Hyæna. IsaiahIsai. xiii. 21. Jerem. l. 39. and Jeremiah, speaking of the destruction of Babylon, and the state to which it was to be reduced, say, that it will seem as a retreat for wild beasts, for dragons, and the daughters of the Hyæna. Isaiah repeats the Isai. xxxiv. 13. Lament. iv. 3.same thing, speaking of the destruction of Bozra the capital of Edom. Lastly, Jeremiah in his Lamentations intimates, that this bird is extremely cruel. The dragons, or crocodiles, give suck to
their young ones, but the daughter of my people is become as cruel as the daughter of the Hyæna in the wilderness.
It has been the opinion of several Interpreters, that this was the little or great owl, a melancholy, mournful, solitary bird, the cry whereof was piercing and disagreeable; but I do not know how they can accuse it of cruelty; I do not see that they reproach it with this defect. We have offered some conjectures on Isaiah xiii. 21, 22. to prove that the daughter of the Hyæna was the swan. The cruelty wherewith Jeremiah reproaches this bird, agrees very well with the ostrich, which forsakes, they say, its eggs and its young ones. But I find nothing in the Authors who have said any thing of this bird, which justifies its being mournful, noisy, of bad omen, but its belonging to the water, and its delighting in ruins and abandoned places.
HYMENÆUS, was probably a citizen of Ephesus, who being converted at some of the first sermons of St. Paul, fell afterwards into the heresy of those who denied the resurrection 2 Tim. ii. 17.of the flesh, and said, that it was already accomplished. St. Austin thinks, Aug. in Joan. Homil. 19.that their error consisted in saying, that there was no other resurrection besides that of the soul; which by Faith and Baptism is revived from Sin to Grace. St. Paul sends word to Timothy, in the year of Jesus Christ 63, that he had excommunicated Hymenæus, and given him over to Satan; and 1 Tim. i. 20. 1 Tim. ii. 17.two years after Hymenæus ingaged in some new error with one Philetus. We know nothing of the end of Hymenæus.
HYMN. This word is borrowed from the Greek, Hymnos. It signifies a religious Song or Poem, composed in honour of God or the Saints. The word Hymn is often used as synonimous to that of Canticle, Song, or Psalm, which the Hebrews scarce distinguish at all, having no particular term which signifies properly an Hymn, as distinct from a Psalm or Canticle. The Hebrewמזמור Mismor. Psalmus. word Mismor, which signifies a Psalm, is more general, and is likewise translated Canticum, or Ode; and the word Tehilla, which signifies Praise, is rendred תהלה Laus, Hymnus. Eph. v. 19. Coloss. iii. 16. Matth. xxvi. 30.Hymnus. St. Paul requires Christians to entertain one another with Psalms, and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. St. Matthew says, that Jesus Christ having supp’d, sung an Hymn, and went out. He recited the Hymns or Psalms which the Jews were used to sing after having eat the Passover. The Hymns which are sung in the Christian Church, and are distinguished from the Psalms, are pieces of Poetry composed generally by very pious but not inspired Authors.
כנף Chaneph, hypocrita, impius, peccator, proditor, impurus. Jer. iii. 1. xxiii. 15.HYPOCRITE. This word comes from the Greek, Hypocrités, he who feigns to be what he is not, who puts on a false Person, like the Actors in Tragedies and Comedies. It is generally applied to those who assume the appearances of virtue, without having any thing of the reality of it. Our Saviour frequently accused the Pharisees of Hypocrisy. In the books of the Old Testament, the Hebrew, Chaneph, which is rendred Hypocrite, Counterfeit, signifies likewise a profane, wicked man, one polluted and corrupted, a man of impiety, a deceiver. Jeremiah makes use of the word Chaneph to express the infection, the pollutions of the land of Judah, caused by the sins of its inhabitants.
HYSSOP, an Herb very generally known, and in Hebrew called Esob. It was אזובEsob. Hyssopus. Exod. xii. 22.commonly made use of in Purifications instead of a sprinkler. For example, God commanded the Hebrews, when they came out of Egypt, to take a bunch of Hyssop, to dip it in the blood of the Paschal Lamb, and sprinkle the lintel and the two sideposts with it. Sometimes they added a little wool to it, of a scarlet colour. For example, in the Purification of Lepers, they Levit. xiv. 4.dipped a bunch composed of Hyssop, the branches of Cedar, and red wool in water, mingled with the blood of a bird, and with it sprinkled the Leper.
John xix. 29.Hyssop is a shrub, which shoots out abundance of suckers from one root only; it is as hard as any large wood, and grows about a foot and an half high. At particular distances on both sides its stock, it pushes out longish leaves, which are hard, odoriferous, warm, and a little bitter to the taste. The blossom of it appears at the top of the stem, of an azure colour, and like an ear of corn. There are two sorts of it, the garden, and mountain Hyssop. It is very probable that Hyssop grew to a very great height in Judæa, since it is said in the Gospel, that the soldiers having filled a sponge with vinegar, they put it upon a stick made of Hyssop, and presented it to our Saviour’s mouth, who was then upon the Cross.
JAAKAN, or Bene-Jaakan, or the Children of Jaakan, an incampment of the Deut. x. 6.Israelites in the Wilderness between Gidgad and Moseroth.
JAALAM, the son of Esau and Aholibamah. Gen. xxxvi. 3.
JAASAU, was one of those who had married a strange woman, and after the Jews returned from the captivity of Babylon, separated from her. Ezra x. 37.
I. JAAZANIAH, the son of a Maachathite. 2 Kings xxv. 23.
II. JAAZANIAH, the son of Jeremiah the Rechabite. Jerem. xxxv. 3.
III. JAAZANIAH, the son of Schaphan, the chief of those idolatrous Israelites who were shewn to Ezekiel in a vision. Ezek. viii. 11.
IV. JAAZANIAH, the son of Azur, one of those wicked Israelites who said of Jerusalem, this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. Ezek. xi. 1, 3.
JAAZIAH, the son of Merari the Levite. 1 Chron. xxiv. 26.
JABAL, the son of Lamech and Adah, was the Father of those who lodge under Gen.iv. 20.tents, and shepherds; that is to say, he was as it were the Prince and Institutor of those, who, like the Arabian Scenites and Nomades, live under tents in the fields, and are by trade shepherds. The word Father is taken often for Master, Head, or Institutor.
I. JABEZ. We find a man of this name in the Chronicles; but the Scripture, 1 Chron. iv. 9, 10.which very much commends his piety, does not tell us whose son he was. There are some who think him to be the son of Cos, or Kenaz; in which opinion there is nothing but what is very probable.
II. JABEZ, the father of Shallum, the fifteenth King of Israel, or kingdom of Samaria. 2 Kings xv. 10.
III. JABEZ, a City in the Half-tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan. The Scripture calls it generally Jabesh-Gilead, because it lay in Gilead, at the foot of the Mountains which go by this name. Eusebius18 places it six miles from Pella towards Gerasa; and consequently it must be eastward of the sea of Tiberias. The city of Jabesh-Gilead was sacked by the Israelites, because it refused to join its arms with theirs in the war undertaken against the Tribe of Benjamin, upon the score of the great outrage which Judg. xxi. 8. The year is uncertain.the Levite’s wife suffered in the city of Gibeah. Some years after, Naash King of the Ammonites,1 Sam. xi. 1, &c. In the year of the World 2909, before J. C. 1091, before the Vulgar Æra 1094. b 1 Sam. xxxi. 11, 12, &c. In the year of the World 2949, before J. C. 1051, before the Vulgar Æra 1055. laying siege to Jabez, the inhabitants desired him to accept of their surrender upon conditions: but the answer which this Prince gave them, was, that they were to expect no other terms than to have their right eyes pulled out. The inhabitants hereupon desired a truce of seven days, promising to give up the city upon what conditions he pleased, if in this time they were not relieved. But Saul being informed of the extremities, which they were reduced to, came speedily to their assistance, cut in pieces Naash’s army, and delivered them. They continued ever after to shew great gratitude to Saul and his family, and upon the death of this Prince, they carried off his and his son’s bodies, which the Philistins had hung upon the walls of Bethsan, and buried them honourably in a wood near their city b.
You have here some remarks upon the siege of this place, and the speedy succour brought to its inhabitants by Saul.
Observations on the siege of Jabesh, and the defeat of the Ammonites, 1 Sam. xi. 1——11. Joseph. Antiq. l. 6. c. 6.☞ What appears to me most surprizing, not to say almost impossible, in this war, is, that Saul should be able to get together so numerous and formidable an army in less than eight days time; for upon a review of it at Besech, he found it to consist of three hundred thousand Israelites, and thirty thousand of the Tribe of Judah. Josephus enlarges this number in a very extraordinary manner, upon what foundation I cannot tell. He reckons seven hundred thousand Israelites, and seventy thousand men of the Tribe of Judah: without doubt there is a mistake in his computation; wherefore we must keep to the sacred Writer’s account of the matter. Nor can I easily believe that this could be done without a miracle. For the Tribes could not have had intelligence upon one and the same day, considering their distance from one another, and it was very difficult to make them all appear at the same time at the place of general rendezvous, in a readiness to march and fight the enemy. I know very well that they were a well-disciplined people, marching in haste to the succour of their brethren, who were shut up in Jabesh; but whatever expedition the most remote might use, I do not see how naturally they could come time enough: yet they arrive at the appointed time and place, and Saul inspired by God, puts himself at the head of them, and marches directly against the enemy, whom he surprizes in their camp.
I shall speak elsewhere of Samaria, which Benhadad invested with a very numerous army; the conditions proposed by the King of Syria to Ahab King of Israel and his people, seem altogether unreasonable, sufficient to carry the besieged to the utmost extremities, and induce them to kill themselves, rather than submit to them: but the proposal made here to the inhabitants of Jabesh, by Naash King of the Ammonites, is still worse. He having attacked 1 Sam. xi. 1.the city, all the inhabitants declared, that if he would accept of their surrender upon articles, they were willing to become subject to him. To which he replies, On this condition Ibid. vs. 2.will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. The condition is cruel, and shocking to nature; notwithstanding the besieged seem to submit to it, and answer him; Give us Ibid. vs. 3.seven days respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel, and then if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. Which was granted them.
The messengers therefore sent express by the city, departed; and coming to Gibeah, where Saul dwelt, they reported to the people the sad condition of their brethren, the inhabitants of Jabesh; and all the people were so affected with the relation, as to shed tears. Saul returned about the same time out of the field following his herd, and said, What aileth the people that they weep thus? And they told him what message they had received from the inhabitants of Jabesh. Hereupon the Spirit of God came immediately upon Saul, and his anger was kindled greatly against the cruel Naash King of the Ammonites, who was not content with subduing the inhabitants of Jabesh, but proposed likewise to make them a reproach to all Israel. Then Saul took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, So shall it be done unto his oxen, who shall not take the field, and follow Saul and Samuel. There was not a moment to be lost in succouring those of Jabesh; there were but six days remaining: wherefore Saul thought on this expedient in order to touch the compassion of the Tribes, and excite them to hasten immediately to the assistance of their brethren. Then the fear of the Lord fell on all the people, the proposal made by Naash struck them with horror; and they all appeared at the place assigned, as if they had been but one man.
Saul having drawn his army together, and reviewed it at Besech, marched without doubt all night, in order to arrive at Jabesh by the time he had promised, having sent word to the inhabitants of the city by messengers dispatched for this purpose, that they should be relieved the next day when the sun was in full force. The people of Jabesh received this news, as may be well imagined, with great joy, and sent word to the Ammonites, in terms to this effect; To-morrow morning we will come out unto you, and you shall treat us as you please. The Commentator observes with reason, that they did not falsify: for the next day they were to make a vigorous sally, and go out unto them, but with sword in hand, while their brethren were to fall upon the camp of the Ammonites. This was indeed a stratagem; for upon these ambiguous expressions, the enemies kept themselves less upon their guard, supposing that the inhabitants of the town had lost all hope of being succoured.
Ibid. vs. 11.The next day being come, Saul divided his army into three bodies, and by break of day fell upon the camp of the Ammonites. He surprized, in all probability, this great army of the Ammonites, and attacked their camp in three different places of the circumvallation, in order to find them employment every where. This surprize intirely confounded them; for the Scripture does not say that they made the least resistance. It is not to be questioned, but that the people of the town immediately sallied out upon the enemy, as well to keep their word, as to assist their brethren in cutting them to pieces.
The Hebrews were very well acquainted with the art of war; we see every where in Scripture, that it was their method to fight in separate bodies, and drawn up very deep. It appears here that they formed three strong phalanx’s, which were to be divided by little distances, in order to serve for a retreat to the wounded, and to carry orders; the Tribes likewise were separated by intervals, and distinguished by their colours.
I do not understand why Dom Calmet should affirm, that it might be the fourth day of the truce which was granted to the inhabitants of Jabesh, when they were delivered. I have already shewn, that this was impossible, and I believe, that at the soonest it was not till the seventh day, or even at the first dawn of the eighth. He says farther in his Comment on the 11th verse of the same chapter, “ That he does “ not observe, that either the Hebrews or “ their neighbours fortified their camp, “ but only placed sentries at the avenues.”
Hist. de l’Anci. Test. in quarto, tom. 1. p. 582.He certainly did not consider well what he said; for in his History of the Old Testament, speaking of the war between Benhadad and Ahab, he says, “ That it was “ the custom to inclose besieged towns with “ ditches, and redoubts, in order to reduce “ the besieged by famine.”
Josh. xi. 1, 2, 3, &c.Besides, it is certain, that Moses made intrenchments about his camp; and not only lines of circumvallation, but those too of contravallation were in use among the Jews and their neighbours. The Reader may see, if he pleases, the Comment on Polybius, where he will find a Treatise concerning the way of attacking and defending places among the Ancients, in which there are several examples of lines drawn quite round besieged places.
I. JABIN, King of Hazor, in the northern part of the Land of Canaan. This Prince, amazed at Joshua’s conquests, who had already subdued the whole southern part of Canaan, sent to the other Kings in the northern part along the river Jordan and the Mediterranean, and in the Mountains which lie to the north of the Land of Canaan, to engage them in a league offensive and defensive; in order whereunto, he represented to them, how much reason they had to apprehend every thing, and that the Israelites would be soon masters of the whole country, if they suffered themselves to be attacked one after another: but this was of no other use than to hasten their destruction, and make Joshua’s victory more compleat, since he gained more ground, and won more cities in one day, and by one battle only, than he could have run over in many days. Jabin therefore entred into a confederacy with the Kings of Madon, Jobab, Shimron, and Achshaph, and several other people of Canaan, to fall upon the Israelites, who were under the conduct of Joshua, before they were settled in the country. All these Kings and confederated troops rendezvous’d at the waters of Merom, in order to engage the Israelites. Hereupon the Lord said to Joshua, Be not afraid, for to-morrow about this time, I will deliver them all into your hands; you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. Joshua therefore marched against them, and attacked them suddenly at the waters of Merom, defeated, and pursued them as far as great Zidon, unto Mizrephoth-maim, and unto the Valley of Mizpeh. He lamed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire. This done, Joshua marched back to Hazor, took it, and killed the King of that city. This was the end of Jabin. He was put to death about the year of the World 2555.
Observations on the King of Hazor’s defeat, and of the other Kings confederated against the Israelites. Josh. xi. 1, &c. aIt is surprizing that the sacred Writer should have so much neglected to relate the circumstances of so memorable a battle, since Josephus a affirms, that the confederate army belonging to the Kings in alliance against Israel, consisted of three hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, and twenty thousand chariots of war: it must have been at least so numerous, since
Antiq. l. v. c. 1.Joseph. Josh. xi. 4.the Scripture compares it with the sand of the sea.
Joshua was no doubt dismayed when he understood, that Jabin and all the other Kings were in league against him, and had drawn together so formidable an army, in order to resist him more easily, and oppress the Hebrews with their numbers; but God encouraged him in these words, Fear not, for to-morrow about this time I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. This however did not hinder Joshua, who was an able and experienced General, from putting every thing in practice that artifice and cunning could suggest, in order to succeed in his undertaking. Nothing is more a proof of a General’s capacity and understanding, than the stratagems he makes use of, when he is not able to employ open force, to overpower an enemy; surprize is the surest and most honourable means, and stratagems of this kind are very frequent in history.
Joshua therefore thought to surprize his enemies, who having too great an opinion of their strength, were less upon their guard. Nothing is more common than negligence and want of providence in a General, who sees himself at the head of an army infinitely superior to his enemies; he cannot imagine that it ever so much as once enters into their thoughts, to venture to attack him; his soldiers likewise sleep upon this confidence, and are the more remiss; this is what gives occasion for those extraordinary, and almost always fortunate enterprizes, of the weaker against the stronger. Observe this; small armies, under good conduct and command, have at all times been used to beat others that were more numerous; of the defeat whereof there are more examples in history, than of disadvantages received by the others, who have ventured to prevent and surprize them by hard marches made without their notice, upon which all the success of surprizes absolutely depends.
Josh. xi. 7, 8.I see no prodigy nor extraordinary miracle, in this famous defeat of the King of Hazor, and his allies; the sacred text sufficiently demonstrates, that there was none. Joshua marched with great expedition against them, and his whole army with him as far as the waters of Merom, and charging them on a sudden, the Lord delivered them into the hands of the children of Israel, who defeated them, and pursued them every way… so that not so much as one of them escaped. According to the recital in the sacred Author, Dom Calmet says very much to the purpose, “ That Joshua must have “ divided his army into several bodies,
“ in order to pursue the fugitives; and “ that he sent part of it beyond Jordan, “ and part towards Zidon, and Mizrephoth; the situation of the places leaving room to judge, that he pursued “ them several days, wheresoever the battle “ was fought.”
The only circumstance we find in Scripture, relating to the march of the Israelitish army, very much perplexes the Commentators. Josephus says, that Joshua Joseph. Ant’q. l. v. c. i.was in sight of the enemy after five days march. From Gilgal, whence Joshua set out, to Merom, is, according to Eusebius’s position, says Dom Calmet, about twenty leagues. The Israelites might be very well five days a travelling twenty leagues; the greater or less expedition of marches depends upon the nature of the country, and a great army can with much ado march two or three leagues a day, in a country where there are mountains and narrow passes: nor could it be any miracle, if an enemy that was ill served by spies, should have no intelligence of their march; this is too frequently to be seen in our days, to disbelieve any thing of the like nature’s happening in more remote ages. Joshua might likewise have made himself master of all the passes, to prevent the enemy’s having any intelligence of his march, which must have been slow through the defilées and mountains, which were to be passed by him before he could come at them. Suppose again, that Joshua had directed his march on the side of the lake Semechon, by which way he would have had forty leagues to go; I have nothing to say against such a supposition: for when the business on foot is to surprize an army, the least difficult way, though it be the longest, is the best; it is that which the enemy least distrusts, and by which an army is often attacked in flank or rear, at a time least expected. But be this as it will, Joshua surprized the King of Hazor and his Allies, and cut their troops in pieces.
We find many examples in Scripture of surprizing camps and armies in this manner, particularly under the Maccabees, wherein we see things were carried on with admirable conduct, and in a way not at all inferior to the most memorable actions of this kind in antiquity.
As to the order of battle, wherein the two armies were drawn up, as the sacred Writer gives us no detail of the circumstances of this action, I can offer nothing thereupon but conjectures and probabilities: there is all the appearance that can be, that it happened in a plain; that Joshua according to the method of the Asiaticks, which was that likewise of the Jews, ranged his whole infantry in one line in the form of a Phalanx, distinguished by great bodies, with very small intervals between them. There is no mention of horse, wherefore I have not mentioned any in the army of the Israelites. The King of Hazor had them in great numbers: I suppose them to have their station upon the wings, and the foot in the center. The people of Asia, and all the Eastern nations, used to post the horse upon the wings, that they might be more easily detached against the run-aways after the victory.
Judg. iv. 1, 2, &c. From 2699 to 2719.II. JABIN, King of Hazor, twenty years oppressed the Israelites. He had nine hundred chariots of iron, and Sisera the General of his troops, commanded a very powerful army. God in compassion to his people, raised up Deborah the Prophetess, wife to Lapidoth, and Barak the son of Abinoam, who delivered the Israelites from this oppression. Sisera was defeated by Barak at the foot of Mount Carmel, and the Israelites having the advantage, fortified themselves against Jabin, and at last intirely Josh. xix. 33.subdued him.
JABNEEL, a Town upon the frontiers of Naphtali. There is another of the same name in the Tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 11.
JABNEH, otherwise Jamnia, a City of the Philistins. See JAMNIA.
JABOK, or Jabbok, a Brook on the other side of Jordan, the spring whereof is in the Mountains of Gilead. It falls into Jordan pretty near the sea of Tiberias, to the south of this sea. Near this brook the Gen. xxxii. 1, 2. … 23.Patriarch Jacob met the Angels19, who wrestled with him. The Jabbok separated the land of the Ammonites from the Gaulanitis, and the territories of Og King of Bashan.
JACHAN, the son of Abihail, of the Tribe of Gad. 1 Chron. v. 13.
I. JACHIN, the fifth son of Simeon; he went down into Egypt with his father, and was Head of the Family of the Jachinites. Numb. xxvi. 12.
II. JACHIN, Head of the Family of this name, which was the one and twentieth of the four and twenty Families of Priests, 1 Chron. xxiv. 17.
III. JACHIN. This is the name of one of the two Pillars which were placed on each side the Porch of Solomon’s Temple. The other Pillar was called Boaz. They were of brass; four inches thick, eighteen
cubits high, and twelve cubits in circumference20; I mean the shaft of the Pillar, without including the basis or pedestal, the height whereof the Scripture does not mention; nor the chapiter, which was five cubits high. Upon the top of each of these two Pillars was a crown, or chapiter five cubits high, (1 Kings vii. 16. Jerem. lii. 21.) In some places these chapiters are reckoned to be but three cubits, (1 Kings xxv. 17.) and elsewhere four, (1 Kings vii. 19.) The reason of this proceeds from considering them under different views; and comprehending sometimes the ornaments, and rose or lilly at the top; and sometimes not including them. The intire body of the crown consisted of five cubits; but if neither the lilly on the top, nor the ornaments, whereby the chapiter was joined to the shaft of the Pillar, were included, it was but three cubits high. Lastly, if the lilly only or rose be taken away, it was four cubits in height. Jachin signifies Stability, and Boaz Firmness.
JACOB, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, was born in the year of the World 2168, before Jesus Christ 1832, before the Vulgar Æra 1836. He was the younger brother of Esau, and a twin. It was observed that at his birth, he held his brother Esau’s heels; for this reason he was called Jacob, which signifies one, who supplants, or takes his adversary by the foot in order to throw him down. This was a kind of prognostick of what he was to do afterwards. While Rebekah was big with child, Isaac being gone to consult the Lord concerning the struggling of these twins in their mother’s womb, God declared to him, that Rebekah should be the mother of two sons, who should become Princes of two great People; but that the eldest should be Gen. xxv. 25. Gen. xxv. 21, 22, 23. Gen. xxv. 32.subject to the youngest. Jacob was of a meek and peaceable temper, and loved a quiet life at home; whereas Esau was of a more turbulent and fierce nature, and was passionately fond of hunting. Isaac had a particular tenderness for Esau; but Rebekah was more fond of Jacob.
Jacob having one day prepared a mess of pottage for himself, Esau, who returned extremely fatigued, and with a very sharp appetite from hunting, desired his brother to give him some of that, which he had provided for his own eating: but Jacob refused, unless he would give up his right of seniority to him. Esau replied, Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit will this birth-right do to me? Jacob said, Swear to me then, and Esau sware to him, and sold his birth-right unto him; and immediately taking the bread and pottage of lentiles, he did eat, and drink, and went away, without giving himself any uneasiness concerning the privilege, which he had thus disposed of. This action, which seemed to be a jest only, declared sufficiently the spirit and sentiments of the two brothers; and St. Paul makes no scruple of treating Esau as a profane person for having in this manner Hebr. xii. 16. Gen. xxvii. 1, 2, &c. In the year of the World 2245, before J. C. 1755, before the Vulgar Æra 1759.sold his birth-right.
Long after this, the two brothers being seventy seven years of age, and Isaac their father an hundred thirty-seven, it happened that Isaac fell into a languishing indisposition; and believing his last hour to be near, he called his son Esau, and bad him go, take his hunting weapons, get him some venison, dress it as he knew he liked, and bring it to him; and he would give him his last blessing. Esau obeyed, took his weapons, and went an hunting. Now Isaac’s sight was so much weakened with age, that he was able to discern nothing. His wife Rebekah, who had heard what he said to Esau, gave notice of it to her favourite son Jacob, and added; Follow the advice, which I am now giving you; go speedily to the flock, and bring me two of the best kids, that I may prepare them for your father. You shall present them to him, and he will give you his blessing. Jacob at first excused himself, saying, you know my brother Esau is all hairy, and that I am very smooth; if my father touches me with his hands, I fear he will imagine, that I intended to deceive him; and so I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. Rebekah answered him, Let this curse fall upon me, my son, hearken to me only, and go look for what I bid you. Jacob went, and Rebekah prepared a mess for Isaac in the manner which she knew to be grateful to him. She dressed Jacob in some of Esau’s best clothes, covered his hands and neck with the skins of the kids, which she had cooked for him, gave him the mess, and brought him into Isaac’s chamber.
Isaac hearing him, asked who he was, for, as has been said, he saw nothing; Jacob answered, I am your son Esau21. Isaac said, how comes it that you have met with somesomething
Jacob continues on the next page
Footnotes
-
Translators’ note. Herodian calls them Διὸς Ἵπποι. The Romans thought it an irreligious insolence in Camillus to use white Horses in his Triumph. Maxime conspectus ipse est curru equis albis juncto urbem invectus, parumque id non civile modo sed humanum etiam visum, Jovis Solisque equis æquiparatum Dictatorem in Religionem etiam trahebant. Liv. l. 5. ↩
-
Prov. xxx. 15. לעלוקה שתי בנותLXX. τῇ βδέλλῃ τρεῖς θυγατέρες. ↩
-
See Amos v. 5. Amos was contemporary with Hosea. ↩
-
Vide Hieronym. in Osee. Isidor. Haimo. Vat. Figuer. Burgens. Abenezra. Kimchi. Alii apud Theodoret. &c. ↩
-
Salmanesar came into Judæa about the year 3276. He began the siege of Samaria in the year of the World 3279, before Jesus Christ 721, before the Vulgar Æra 725. ↩
-
Translators’ note. Of this Tradition among the Heathens, we have some intimiation in Homer, Odyss. P. Καί τε Θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσι, Παντοῖοι τελέθοντες, ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας, Ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ἐφορῶντες. And of these Peregrinations we have frequent instances in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Summo delabor Olympo, Et Deus humanâ lustro sub imagine terras. 1 Metam. ↩
-
Hebr. בעתhoc eodem tempore, or למועד הזהStatuto hoc tempore. And in Daniel, בעדנאin tempore statuto. Elsewhere בשעתאHora. Dan. iii 6. & iv. 16. שעתא חדאHora una. ↩
-
Herodot. l. 2. Πόλον κὶ γνώμονα κὶ τὰ δώδεκα μέρεα τῆς ἡμέρης παρὰ Βαβυλωνίως ἔμαθον ῞Ελληνες. ↩
-
Xenophon. Ἀπομνημονυμάτων, l. 4. ↩
-
Aristophan. in Γηρυτάδῃ. ↩
-
Exod. xxviii. 20. חרשישTarshish. ↩
-
Exod. xxv. 4. חבלתHyacinthus. ↩
-
See Braunius, de Vest. Sacerd. Hebr. l. 1. c. 13. ↩
-
Job ix. 9. כימהChimah, Hyades. Job. xxxviii. 31. כימהPleiades. ↩
-
Levit. xi. 16. בת־היענהVide & Job xxx. 29. Isa. xiii. 21. & xxxiv. 13. & Jerem. l. 39. & Lam. iv. 3. & Mich. i. 8. ↩
-
צבועTzeboa. See Boch. Hierozoïcon, parte 1. l. 3. c. 11. & Ludolph. Comment. in Hist. Ethiopic. l. 1. n. 81. ↩
-
העיט צבוע נחלתי ליLXX. Μὴ σπήλαιον ὑαίνης ἡ κληρονομία μυϊμοί. ↩
-
Euseb. in locis, in Arisoth. Procop. Gaz. in Judic. makes it twenty miles from Pella to Jabez. ↩
-
Translators’ note. Our Author here expresses it, as if this Patriarch wrestled with several Angels, contrary to the letter of the Text, Gen. xxxii. 24, &c. It is said indeed in the first verse of this Chapter, That the Angels of God met him. But the dispute is mentioned as passing between Jacob and a single person. ↩
-
1 Kings vii. 15. Jerem. li. 21. The Chronicles, 2 Chron. iii. 15, 17. allow the two Pillars to be but 35 cubits high; from whence it is thought that they were each but seventeen cubits and an half high. Eighteen Hebrew cubits, make 30 feet 9 inches; 12 cubits, 20 feet 6 inches. ↩
-
If any one would know what the Fathers and Interpreters have said concerning this action of Jacob, and whether it were a sin or not, whether it were or were not a lye; for the affirmative, viz. for that opinion which holds it to be both a lye and a sin, he may consult S. Aug. de Doctr. Christian. c. 23. &l. 22. contra Faust. c. 83. Bonfrere, & Est. in Genef. xxvii. And for the negative, viz. that it was no sin, and was one of those lyes which are allowable, see Origen. l. 6. Stro- mat. apud Hieronym. l. 1. Apolog. contra Rufin. Chrysostom. Homil. 52, & 53. in Genef. Cassian collat. 17. c. 17, & seq. & c. 21, & seq. Others are of opinion, that there was no sin in it, it, and that Jacob acted by the inspiration of God; as Biel. in 3. Sent. dist. 38. & Petr. de Alliaco in 1. Sent. q. 12. Lastly, others maintain that this was no lye, and consequently no sin. See S. Gregory, lib. 1. Homil. 6. in Ezech. & in Job. l. 1. c. 3. Isidor. Hispal. Beda, Rupert. D. Thom. 22. qu. 93. art. 3. ad Can. l. 2. de locis, c. 4. Others again think that the sin in this particular committed by him was only venial; as Lyr. Tost. Cajet. Lipom. משמני הארן יהיה מושבך ומטל השמים מעל ↩