SOL – STO

Volume II, pages 740–758 of the 1732 edition, from SOL to STO: everything printed on these pages, in order.

Continued from Solomon

Shape of a Bird delivered all their Messages, and perform’d all their Orders. But leaving these Dreams, let us return to Solomon the Son of David.

They pretend he was not only King of the Jews, and of the neighbouring Nations subdued by David, but that he possessed also the universal Monarchy of the whole Earth. His Visier, or prime Minister of State, was Asaph, of whom the Scripture makes mention, and to whom David addresses several of his Psalms. And not only all the Men of the World, but also the good and evil Spirits, the Birds, and even the Winds, were under his Direction. He had, as they say, a wonderful Ring, which discover’d to him not only Things present, but also the past and the future. The Form and Matter of his Throne was so magnificent as to exceed all Description of it. Instead of a Canopy and Pavillion, he was shaded by Birds that continually flew about him. Twelve thousand golden Thrones were at his Right-hand, and twelve thousand of Silver at his Left-hand. The golden Thrones were the Seats of the Patriarchs and Prophets, and the Silver ones for the Doctors and wise Men that assisted at his Councils.

The Demons being jealous of the Glory of Solomon, publish’d several Books of Magick and Superstition in the Name of this Prince, in order to persuade the Ignorant and Simple, that it was from these Books that Solomon derived his Knowledge in the Art of governing his Kingdom, which made him so famous in the World. But Solomon gather’d in all these pernicious Books, shut them up in a Chest under Lock and Key, and buried the Key under his Throne, that no one might get at it. But it happen’d that after the Death of this Prince, the Demons or Magicians took away these Books from this Place, and dispers’d them over the World as the Works of Solomon. This perhaps is more than enough to shew the Genius of the Eastern People, and the great Veneration they have for Solomon even to this Day.

SOLYME, a Town beyond Jordan, in the Canton of Gaulon. Joseph. Lib. de vitâ suâ, p. 1013.

SOLYMI. Homer, and the Poet Chœrilus,¹ have mention’d the Solymi, an antient and venerable People, who spoke Phenician, who wore their Hair cut round, and who dwelt in the Solymean Mountains, near a great Lake. These are Marks which Josephus and Tacitus thought to agree with the Jews, here call’d Solymi, because of their capital City Jerusalem; a Nation remarkable for the Singularity of their Laws, and of their Actions, speaking Phenician or Hebrew, dwelling in a mountainous Country at Jerusalem, situate in the Mountains, and near the Lake Asphaltites, one of the greatest Lakes known.

Yet notwithstanding all these Tokens, many learned Men maintain, that the Solymi, spoke of by Homer and Chœrilus, are not the Jews. A Circumstance which very much favours their Opinion is this, that according to Chœrilus the Solymi wore their Hair cut round, which was expressly forbid to the Jews by Moses. See Leviticus xix. 7. and SISOE. And besides the Lake Asphaltites was seven or eight Leagues from Jerusalem. The Arms which the Poet assigns to them can hardly agree with the Jews. He says they wore Helmets made of the Leather of a Horse’s Head dry’d in the Smoke. The Jews had never much to do with Horses in their Country, being much incommoded with Mountains.

But who then are these Solymi? Some think them to be the Moabites, or the Midianites, bordering upon the Lake Asphaltites, and reckon’d among the Arabians, who, as Historians inform us, us’d to cut their Hair round in a Circle. ‘Tis true, we do not any where find them call’d Solymi; but Josephus² speaks of a Town or Village of this Name, lying beyond the Jordan in the Gaulonitis. Others think,³ that the Solymean Mountains were in Pisidia, near to Lycia; and that it is there that we must seek for the Solymi mention’d by Homer and Chœrilus.

SOPHA. Epiphanius says, that the Prophet Malachi was born in the City of Sopha, belonging to the Tribe of Zebulun.

SOPHACH. See SHOPHACH.

SOPHER, or Shopher, one of the Commanders of the Army of Zedekiah King of Judah, 2 Kings xxv. 19. But Sopher may rather be taken for a Scribe, Secretary, or Commissioner, who had the Superintendance of the King’s Army. Shopher signifies a Secretary.

SOREK, or Sorec, a Brook that pass’d through the Tribe of Dan. ‘Twas also the Place where dwelt the famous Delilah, Samson’s Mistress.⁴ Eusebius says, it was not far from Zorah and Eshtaol, which was the Place of Samson’s usual Abode⁵.

Caphar-Sorek, or the Camp of Sorek, was a Town near Zorah, or Saraa, according to the same Eusebius.

The Wine of Sorek, was that which was made in the Vale of this Name. Some have thought it to be the same as the Wine of Askalon, which is famous among the Antients. The Brook of Sorek did not run far from this City. The Rabbins think Sorek to be a particular Kind of Plant or Vine, which bears a great Quantity of excellent Fruit, and at all Seasons. It is certain, that Sorek does not only signify the Grape or the Wine of the Valley of Sorek, but a Kind of Wine in general; and probably of the white or yellowish Grape, of which they made the White-wines in this Country. The Lord Isai. v. 2. Isai. xvi. 8. Gen. xlix. 11. Jer. ii. 21. Isa. xix. 9. Zech. i. 8.says, he planted his Vine of Sorek. Isaiah tells us of the Plant of Sorek, which was to be seen at Jazer beyond Jordan. The Wine of Sorek was excellent; and the Colour of the Sorek was probably yellow, or white inclining to yellow. Isaiah speaks of the Flax of Sorek, or Colour of Sorek; and Zechariah describes Horses of the same Colour.⁶ Some will have it, that it was in the Valley of Sorek that the famous Bunch of Grapes was gather’d, which was brought to the Israelites in the Desart, Numbers xiii. 2. But this Opinion is without any Foundation.

SORROW, Tristitia; this is a Passion that contracts the Heart, sinks the Spirits, and spoils the Health of the Body. The Scripture advises us, not to suffer ourselves to be overcome with Sorrow. a St. Paul distinguishes two sorts of Sorrow; one a godly, and the other a worldly Sorrow. Godly Sorrow 2 Cor. vii. 10.worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of; but the Sorrow of the World worketh Death. For behold, this self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what Carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what Indignation, yea, what Fear, yea, what vehement Desire, yea, what Zeal, yea, what Revenge! He elsewhere reproves the Thessalonians, for the too great Sorrow that they 1 Thes. iv. 13.shew’d at the Death of their Relations. The wise Man commends a kind of Sorrow, which is rather a serious and sober Deportment, and a banishing of vain Joys, than a Eccles. vii. 3.real Sorrow. Sorrow is better than Laughter; for by the Sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better. The Heart of the Wise is in the House of Mourning, but the Heart of Fools is in the House of Mirth. He intends to tell us, that the grave and serious Air of a Master that reproves us, is more profitable than the Laughter and Caresses of those that flatter us. Jesus Christ upbraids the Pharisees with that counterfeit Air of Sorrow and Mortification, that they affected to put on when they fasted. But he would have his Disciples avoid all such Affectation, which are the Effects of Self-love, and to gain the Matth. vi. 16. Isai. xlii. 4.Approbation of Men. Isaiah, describing the Qualities of the Messiah, says, he shall not be severe or violent, he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set Judgment in the Earth. The Hebrew Text says, He shall not quench, and shall not break: His Reign shall be a Reign of Mildness and Mercy. St. James advises those to pray that are in SorrowJam. v. 13.. Is any among you afflicted, let him pray.

I. SOSIPATER, or Sopater. Sosipater and Dositheus, two Captains of Judas Maccabeus’s Army,⁷ defeated ten thousand Men of the Army of Timotheus, who had shut themselves up in a strong Hold.

II. SOSIPATER, of whom St. Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans, was his Rom. xvi. 21.Kinsman, as some think. Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my Kinsmen, salute you. However, there is some Difficulty in this, since Jason was of Thessalonica, and Sosipater of Berea in Macedonia, and therefore very distant from Tarsus the Country of St. Origen in Rom. xvi.Paul. Origen believes they were originally Gentiles, which is another Reason to think they were not the Apostle’s Kinsmen. But in what Sense then does he call them his Kinsmen? Is it because they were of the same Nation, of the same Tribe, of the same City, of the same Religion, or that they were only ally’d to him? This is what can only be determin’d at Random. I even think that it may be confidently asserted, that this Sosipater, who was at Rome in the 58th Year of Jesus Christ, when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, cannot be the Sosipater of Berea; since he accompanied St. Paul in the same Year 58, in his Journey to Jerusalem, and who probably went with him from Corinth, from whence the Epistle to the Romans was written, to go by way of Macedonia to Jerusalem See Acts xx. 4, 5, 6, &c.

Acts xx. 4.This is what we know of Sosipater. He was of Berea, as has been said; and it is very likely St. Paul converted him in the 52d Year of the vulgar Era, when he visited that City. The Latin Text of the Acts, and some Greek Manuscripts, call him Pyrrhus. When St. Paul departed from Corinth, in Acts xx. 4, 5, 6.order to go to Jerusalem, in the 58th Year of the vulgar Era, he was accompany’d by Sosipater, by Aristarchus, and some other Disciples, they came with him as far as Philippi, from whence Saint Paul sent them before him to Troas, where they staid for him, so that he could not be at the same Time at Rome, as has been observed. We know not what became of Sosipater after this Time: But the Latins make his Feast on the 25th of June, and⁸

call him a Disciple of St. Paul’s. The Greeks honour him upon the 28th or 29th of April. They join him with Jason, and call him a Kinsman of St. Paul’s. Thus they confound Sosipater of Berea with him of Rome. We have made the same Mistake in our Commentary upon the Acts, and upon the Epistle to the Romans; and I know of no Commentator that has not done the same.

SOSIUS, a General of the Roman Army, who assisted Herod to make himself Master of Jerusalem, a when it was defended by Antigonus, Son of Aristobulus. See the Articles HEROD and ANTIGONUS.

SOSTHENES, Chief of the Synagogue of Corinth. The Jews of Corinth laying hold of St. Paul, carry’d him before the Tribunal of Gallio, and accused him of attempting to introduce a new Way of worshipping God among them. But the Proconsul sent them back again, and told them, That he would not enter into any Controversy, that had relation only to their own Laws and Ceremonies. Then they seized Sosthenes, the Chief of the Synagogue,⁹ and began to beat him before the Tribunal; but Gallio would take no Cognizance of the Matter. This is the Account we have of it in the Acts. ‘Tis disputed whether they were Jews or Gentiles, that thus laid hold on Sosthenes and beat him. The Greek printed Copy of the Acts intimates, they were the Gentiles. St. Austin¹⁰ and Bede read in the same manner. They imagin’d, that the Pagans seeing Gallio’s ill Reception of the Jews, the more to insult them, had a mind to abuse the Chief of their Synagogue, who was at their Head; whether it was meerly out of Hatred to the Jews, or out of Friendship to St. Paul. This Opinion is follow’d by Cajetan, Lyran, Grotius, and some others.

Others¹¹ think, that Sosthenes, however Head of the Synagogue, yet might be a Friend and secret Disciple of St. Paul’s; and that the other Jews, seeing themselves neglected by Gallio, might vent their Malice upon Sosthenes the Head of their Synagogue. These will also have it, that this is the same Sosthenes whose Name is read, with that of St. Paul, at the Beginning of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Ephesus in the 56th Year of the vulgar Era, three Years after this Scuffle happen’d at Corinth. However, it must be own’d, that this Opinion has not always been universal in the Church; since, in the Time of Eusebius,¹² it was thought, that Sosthenes was one of the seventy-two Disciples, and consequently he could not be Chief of the Synagogue of Corinth twenty Years after the Death of Jesus Christ. The Greeks keep his Feast upon the 8th of December, and give him the Title of an Apostle, as being one of the Seventy. They also make him the first Bishop of Colophon. The Latins, ever since the ninth Century, honour him as a Disciple of St. Paul’s, upon the 11th of June, and the 28th of November. See M. de Tillemont, t. 1. Hist. Eccl. Not. 45. upon St. Paul p. 592.

SOSTRATUS. He commanded the Fortress that the Greeks had built in the upper City of Jerusalem, for Antiochus Epiphanes.¹³ He having earnestly press’d, but to little Purpose, the Highpriest Menelaus to go with the Money that he ow’d King Antiochus; was sent for to Antioch with the same Menelaus, and had the Government of the Isle of Cyprus bestow’d on him. Thus it is in the Latin Text; but the Greek reads it,¹⁴ Sostratus left in his Place, (in the Citadel of Jerusalem) Crates, who had been (or then was) Governor of Cyprus, or Commander of the Troops that the King of Syria had then in that Island.

SOUL. The Word Soul is very equivocal, in the Stile of the Hebrews. It is taken for the Soul that animates Mankind, for that which animates Beasts, for a living Gen. xiv. 21.Person: Give me the Souls, says the King of Sodom to Abraham, and take the Goods to thy self. And elsewhere; Abraham took Sarai his Wife, and Lot his Brother’s Son, and their Substance that they had gathered, and the Souls that they had gotten in Haran; that is to say, the Slaves they had purchased, or the Children that had been born to them.

Gen. xxxii. 30. Genesis xxxvii. 22.The Soul is also taken for the Life: My Life [Heb. Soul] is preserved. And, Kill not his Soul; or, Put him not to Death. My Soul shall live; or, Thou shalt preserve me alive. Those that sought my Soul, or, had a Design upon my Life. Not to take his Soul in vain; or, Not to swear falsely by his Life.

Numbers ix. 6. Num. xix. 11.It is taken sometimes for Death. Who were defiled by the dead Body of a Man, or, by the Soul. And, He that toucheth the dead Body [Heb. Soul] of any Man, shall be unclean seven Days.

‘Tis often used also for Desire, Love, Gen. xxiii. 8. Numbers xi. 6.Inclination. If it be your Mind; Heb. If it please your Soul. And, Our Soul is dried away, or disgusted at the Sight of the Manna. To consume thine Eyes, and to grieve thine Heart; or, Thy Soul shall¹⁵

be dried up with Envy, to see thy Rival in the Temple in thy Place.

Lastly : The Soul is taken for the Life Deut. xii. 23.of a Beast. Be sure that thou eat not the Blood; for the Blood is the Life, or Soul: Their Blood is to them instead of a Soul. I Gen. ix. 9, 10.establish my Covenant with you, and with your Seed after you; and with every living Creature [ Heb. Soul ] that is with you, of the Fowl, of the Cattle, and of every Beast of the Earth with you, from all that go out of the Ark, to every Beast of the Earth. Prov. xii. 10.And, A righteous Man regardeth the Life of his Beast; he compassionates their Labours, and comforts them; but the tender Mercies of the Wicked are cruel.

There is in this Dictionary a particular Article about BEASTS, wherein we enquire into the Sentiments that the ancient Hebrews and Orientals profess’d concerning their Souls.

A great Number of Questions may be proposed, concerning the Soul of Man, its Nature or Essence, and concerning its Creation. Whether all Souls were created at the Beginning of the World, or whether God still creates them every Day? Whether the Soul be immortal? Whether it passes from Body to Body by a Transmigration? Whether all Souls are equally enlightned and perfect? We shall add a Word or two concerning each of these Questions. We have already treated of this Matter at its full Length in a particular Dissertation, which may be found in the new Collection of our Dissertations, printed in three Volumes, t. 1. p. 460, &c.

When God had form’d the Body of Man out of the Dust, or out of the Mud of the Gen. ii. 7.Earth, he breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life, and Man became a living Soul, or, a living Man. This Breath of Life, has been consider’d by some, as the Principle Grot. in Genes.of the Animal Life of Man, which, in this respect, according to them, is in nothing different from that of a Beast. God gives to Men and to Brutes a Breath of Gen.vi.17.Life, or a vivifying Spirit : Omnem carnem in quâ est spiritus vitæ; that is to say, All the Animals that were to be consumed and put to Death by the Waters of the Deluge. ‘Tis this Spirit of Life that God withdraws when he pleases, and brings all Flesh to Job xxxiv. 14.Corruption: Si Spiritum illius & flatum ad se trahat, deficiet omnis caro simul, says Job. And the Psalmist, speaking of the Animals, to which God gives their Subsistence, says, Thou takest away their Psal. civ. 29. Eccl. xii.7.Breath, they die, and return to their Dust. And Solomon; Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. And St. Paul, speaking to Acts xvii. 25.the Philosophers of Athens, says, That God requires not a bodily Worship, as having need of any thing, seeing he giveth to all Life, and Breath, and all things.

But besides this Spirit, this Breath, which is in us the Principle of animal Life, which is common to Men and to Brutes, and which is scattered and dispersed after Death, we must acknowledge, that there is in Man a spiritual Substance, a reasonable and immortal Soul, the Origin of our Thoughts, of our Desires, of our Reasonings; which distinguishes us from the Brute Creation, and in which chiefly consists Gen. i. 26.our Resemblance to God: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem & similitudinem nostram. This Substance must be spiritual, Plato, p. 78,80,81, 95, &c. Horat. l.1. sat. 2.because it thinks; it must be immortal, because it is spiritual. Some Philosophers have been of Opinion, that it was a Portion of the Deity: Divinæ particulam auræ. But how can the Deity be conceived to be obnoxious to the Evils and Weaknesses of our Souls; to Sin, to Desire, to Pain?

‘Tis true, the Scripture ascribes both to Man and Beast, a Soul, a Spirit, Life, and Respiration; but it allows to Man alone the Privilege of Understanding, the Knowledge of God, Wisdom, Immortality, the Hope of future Happiness, and of eternal Life. It only threatens Men with the Punishments of another Life, and the Pains of Hell.

But are Souls meerly spiritual, without any Mixure of Matter, even the most fine and subtile? This is the Opinion of Christian Philosophers and Divines. The Antients were not convinced of this Principle. The ancient Compiler of the Book of Enoch thought the Angels to be corporeal, and consequently the Souls of Men; since he supposes Souls to be of the same Nature as the Angels. The ancient Greek and Latin Fathers, who read in the Book of Genesis,¹⁶ that the Angels of God saw that the Daughters of Men were handsome, and took to themselves such as they thought fit to be their Wives, and from them produced Giants; those Fathers, I say, made no doubt of their having Bodies, and that they were susceptible of all those Passions, which are the natural Consequences of those Bodies, and that Matter, which they imputed to them.

But as it was very difficult to reconcile this Opinion, of the Materiality of the Soul with its other Properties, which can only agree to a pure Spirit; they persuaded themselves, that the Soul was composed of two Parts; one purely spiritual, which has the Faculty of Thinking, and which approaches to the Nature of God; and the other subtile, penetrating, and approaching to the Nature of very fine Air. The Author of the Book of Enoch,

of which we have spoken, says, that the Spirits of the Souls of Men put up their Sighs even to Heaven. The Spirit, or the Understanding is inclosed in the Soul, as in its Case. The Soul, when separated from the Body has still a Resemblance of the Body which it animated, and is, as it were, the Image of it. But the Spirit, the Intellectual Part, has nothing that is sensible or corporeal. When Souls appear to Men after Death, ‘tis the Soul, and not the Spirit, that returns. The Soul of PatroclusHomer. Iliad. xxiii. appear’d to Achilles; it resembled the Hero it had animated; it had his Stature, his Eyes, his Voice, and even his very Cloaths. When Ulysses descended into Hell, he there Id. Odyss. A. v.600.saw the divine Hector; that is to say, his Image, his Soul; for as to himself, or his Spirit, it was with the immortal Gods, partaking of their Joys and Festivals.

The Rabbins also ascribe to Souls, after their Separation from the Body, another subtile Body, which they call the Vessel or Scabbard of the Soul. They hold, that immediately after Death, the Souls of the Wicked are invested with a kind of Cloaths, in which they are condemned to suffer: That the Souls of the Saints, on the contrary, are clad in a magnificent Habit, and with a splendid Body, by the Help of which they are inured to the Brightness and Felicity of their happy State. The Apostles made no Doubt of the Apparition of Spirits, and thought these Spirits to have the Form and Appearance, the Voice, and all the outward Marks of the Persons to which they belonged. The Giants Job xxvi. 5. Prov. ix. 18. Isai. xiv. 9. Ezekiel xxxi. 32.of old, who groan’d under the Waters, and the Kings of the Nations that are under the Earth, are represented to us, as having the same Ensigns of Honour, the same outward Form, as they had upon Earth. When Jesus Christ appear’d to his Apostles after his Resurrection, St. Thomas, fearing it was only a meer Phantom, or a Spirit, such as sometimes appear’d, according to the Opinion of the People, and that no Conclusion could be drawn from thence, that the Bodies were risen; our Saviour, to confirm him, and to remove his Scruples, bid him touch him, and lay his Hand upon his Wounds, to convince him that he was really risen: And when all John xx. 25,26,27.on a sudden he presented himself in the midst of his Disciples, he says to them, Why are ye troubled, and why do Thoughts arise in your Hearts? Behold my Hands and my Feet, Luk. xxiv. 38, 39.that it is I my self: Handle me, and see; for a Spirit has not Flesh and Bones, as ye see me have.

Perhaps it will be said, that these Sentiments of the Apostles are only some Remains of those Prejudices that they had imbibed from Judaism, and from which they were afterwards deliver’d, after the Descent of the Holy Ghost. It may be pretended, that the Opinions of the Rabbins, are Errors extracted from the Philosophy of the Pagans, who not being illuminated by the Light of Faith and Revelation, have form’d to themselves plausible Systems, to explain what was advanced concerning Souls. I shall not stay here, only to explain what the ancient Jews believed about this Article, without giving my self the Trouble to refute it.

We commonly believe, that God creates Souls at the time that Bodies are produced, which they are to inform. The Jews,¹⁷ on the contrary, think that God created them all at the Beginning, and that they come to join themselves to Bodies, drawn by a certain Attraction which it was not easy to resist. The Angels, the Demons, and Souls, are Substances of the same Nature, says Philo¹⁸; they differ only in Name. As there are good and bad Angels, so there are also good and bad Souls. The Angels and Souls make their Abode in the purest and highest Region of the Air, from whence they descend into the Bodies which they animate, and bring thither either their good or bad Qualities. The Essenians, says Josephus¹⁹ hold Souls to be immortal, and that drawn by a certain natural Attraction, they come to shut themselves up in human Bodies, as in Prisons; that after Death, those who have lived well, withdraw into delicious Places beyond the Ocean; and that those who have lived ill, are banish’d to dark Places, there to suffer the Punishment due to their Crimes. And speaking of the Pharisees, he says,²⁰ that they of this Sect are persuaded, that Souls that have lived well, return, after Death, to the Place from whence they came, with a Power of still returning into other Bodies, but that the Souls of the Wicked are condemned to eternal Punishment.

John ix. 2.When the Apostles saw a Man that was born blind, they ask’d Jesus Christ, If it was the Man’s own Fault, or that of his Parents, that he was born blind? They thought therefore, that this Man, before his Birth, might have deserved this Punishment for some Sin, and for the bad Use that he had made of his Liberty. Our Saviour tells them, That it was neither as a Punishment for his own Sins, or for those of his Parents; but that God had thus permitted it, that his Works might be made manifest in the Person of this poor blind Man: Thus reproving their vain Curiosity; and insinuating to them, That

he restor’d his Sight to him, for the Glory of his heavenly Father.

The Rabbins teach,²¹ that the Souls of such Dead as have not been buried, cannot enter into the Place where the Souls of the Departed are, but that they wander about ‘till their Bodies are laid in their Tomb. This Opinion may be observed among the old Greeks and Latins. Homer relates, that PatroclusIliad. Ψ. v. 70, &c. appear’d to Achilles, and said to him; ” Bury me quickly, that ” I may enter within the Gates of the ” Kingdom of Pluto; because that the ” Souls, those Phantoms of the Dead, drive ” me from thence, and will not suffer me ” to pass over the River; but I wander ” about the Gates of the vast Palace of ” the God of Hell.” And Virgil says,

They were also of Opinion, that the Souls of the greatest Part of the Jews remain’d a Year in a kind of Purgatory, and in a State that was undetermin’d: That during this Time they frequently visit the Bodies they have animated: That they appear, and may receive Assistance from the Prayers and the Alms that are made for them: That the Apparition of Samuel to Saul was during that Year that immediately follow’d his Decease; but that after this Year is pass’d, the Spirits or Demons have no longer any Power over the Souls of the Dead²². Justin Martyr²³ and Origen²⁴ have thought, that the Souls, even of good Men, were, after Death, under the Power of the Devil, who made them sometimes appear, at the Charms and Evocations Anast. Antioch. in Adeg. qu. 12.of Magicians. Anastasius of Antioch strongly supports the Sentiments of Origen, and maintains, that the Souls of the Just were in the Power of the Devil in Hell, before Jesus Christ descended thither, and deliver’d them from thence by his Power.

Vid. Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 35.The Thalmudists think, that Souls separate from the Body, know all that passes upon Earth, because they are commonly a whole Year before they enter into Heaven: During all this time they go to and fro through the World, and there learn whatever is said or done there. They do not enter into Heaven, ‘till after the Body is reduced to Dust, according Eccles. xii. 7.to those Words of Solomon; Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. In a Conference that was held in the Presence of the Pope, in the Year 1412,²⁵ the Jews were accused of lighting up Wax-candles at the Feet or the Head of the Dead, that the Soul might have Light when it came to seek for its Body. It is certain, that even at this Day they light up a Lamp at the Pillow of a dead Man’s Bed, after the Body is carried away to be bury’d, and that this Lamp burns there for seven Days²⁶: But they are not agreed that this is done to light the Soul at its Return thither.

Gen. ii. 7. Gen. i. 20. Gen. vi. 3.The Immortality of the Soul, is a fundamental Doctrine of both Jewish and Christian Religion. The ancient Patriarchs liv’d and dy’d in the Persuasion of this Truth. Moses has acknowledg’d it, when he says, that God breathed into Adam’s Nostrils the Breath of Life, and Man became a living Soul. And that God said, Let us make Man in our Image, after our Likeness. And when God had resolved to drown all Mankind by the Waters of the Deluge; ” My Spirit shall no longer abide ” in Man, because he is Flesh”²⁷. ‘Twas in the Hope of Immortality and of another Life, that the Patriarchs received the Promises of the Lord. For what Recompence did Abraham receive in this Life, for so many virtuous Actions perform’d by him; he that liv’d all his Life like a Stranger, without possessing one Foot of Land in the Country that had been promis’d him? When this Patriarch died, and was gathered to his Fathers, according to the Language of the Scriptures; this was not to tell us, that his Body was laid in the same Tomb with his Fathers. We know that he was originally of Chaldea, that his Fathers were bury’d there; that as to himself, he was bury’d in the Land of Canaan, in a Sepulchre that he had purchased. It must therefore be meant, that he went to join himself to his Fathers in another Life. The same must be said of Aaron, and of Moses, who at their Deaths were gathered to their Fathers; that is, they enter’d into the Place where their Ancestors were waiting for the Redemption and the Coming of the Messiah.

Numbers xxiii. 10.When Balaam the Sorcerer asked of God, that his Death might be like to that of the Just, or of the Israelites, what did he understand by that, but that he might die, like them, in the Hope and Expectation of a happy Resurrection? For as to other Circumstances, the Death of the Hebrews was not different from that of other Nations. Death is a Tribute that all Men alike must pay to Nature.

Another decisive Proof, which shew’d that the Israelites believed the Immortality of the Soul, was the Persuasion they had, that the Souls of the Dead sometimes appear’d again after their Decease. Samuel

1 Sam. xxviii. 13, 14, 15.appear’d to the Witch of Endor, Jeremiah appear’d to Judas Maccabeus. When the 2 Macc. xv. 14.Apostles saw Jesus Christ walking towards them upon the Sea, they thought him to be Mat. xiv. 26.an Apparition; and when he appear’d to them after his Resurrection, he said to Luk. xxiv. 39.them; Handle me, and see, for a Spirit has not Flesh, and Bones, as ye see me have. They believed also a Resurrection to come, the Punishment of the Wicked in another Life, an Abraham’s Bosom for the Reception of the Just; they had in their Histories Examples of dead Men raised to Life again, as those that were raised by Elijah and Elisha. Moses had forbid them to consult or Deuter. xxviii. 18.inquire of the Dead. All this proves, beyond Contradiction, that the Jews believed the Immortality of the Soul.

If the Saducees have deny’d this Immortality, as also the Resurrection; if the Rabbins Maimonides and Kimchi, who taught the Annihilation of the Soul, were look’d upon by their Nation as a Kind of Hereticks and Innovators; those of whom Solomon has express’d the Sentiments in Eccles. iii. 19, 20.these Terms: That which befalleth the Sons of Men, befalleth Beasts, even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other, yea, they have all one Breath, so that a Man hath no Pre-eminence above a Beast; for all is Vanity. All go unto one Place, all are of the Dust, and all turn to Dust again. These were the Sentiments of impious and wicked People, disapproved and condemned by all good Israelites, and confuted by Solomon himself, Eccles. xii. 7.who says; Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

We have spoke of the Metempsychosis, or Transmigration of Souls, in its particular Place, as also of Purgatory, of the Rewards and Punishments of another Life, in the Article of A Life to come. As for the Souls of Brutes; see BRUTES. The Reader may consult the Dissertation of Ludovicus Capellus, concerning the State of Souls after their Departure; and our Dissertation concerning the Nature of the Soul, and concerning its State after Death, according to the Opinion of the antient Hebrews. In the new Collection of Dissertations, in three Volumes in Quarto, Tom. 1. p. 460, &c.

SPAIN. All the World knows this Part of Europe, which is surrounded by the Sea; by the Ocean towards the West and North, by the Mediterranean towards the South and East, and by France towards the East and North. The Hebrews call Spain by Obad. 20. Bochart. Phaleg. l. 3. c. 7.the Name of Sepharad. Eusebius, and after him Bochart, think that Tharsis is the Father of the Spaniards. St. Paul Rom. xv. 24, 28.tells the Romans, that he hopes to see them as he goes to Spain: But it is doubted whether he was ever there or no. See the Commentators upon Rom. xv. 24. Several Fathers²⁸ have positively affirm’d it; but others speak of it with more Diffidence. Baronius and Pererius are for the Affirmative, Scotus and Thomas for the Negative. See Mr. de Tillemont, Note 73 upon Saint Paul.

צפור Στρεθίον, Passer.SPARROW, Passer, in Hebrew, Tzipphor. This Hebrew Word is us’d not only for a Sparrow, but also for all Sorts of clean Birds, or such whose Use was not forbid by the Law. The Rabbins Kimchi, Pomarius, and Aquinas, even pretend, that it signifies all Kind of Birds in general; which is very well confirm’d by Bochart²⁹. But he shews also, that it signifies particularly a Sparrow. In most of the Passages where Passer or Sparrow is read, there is to be understood a Bird in general. As for Example, Transmigra Psal. xi. 1.in montem sicut Passer; Flee as a Bird to your Mountain: For it is known, that Sparrows do not frequent Mountains. And Psal. cii. 7.elsewhere, I watch, and am as a Sparrow alone upon the House-top. It ought to be understood of the Owl, that hides itself under the Roofs of Houses. And again, Cedri Psal. civ. 16, 17.Libani, illic passeres nidificabunt; The Sparrows do not build in the Cedars of Libanus. In these Passages therefore Passer or Sparrow signifies a Bird in general.

There is a famous Passage in Leviticus³⁰, where Moses appoints him, that is declared clean from his Leprosy, to bring to the Priest at the Entry of the Tabernacle, two young Sparrows alive, and which it is allow’d to eat; or rather, two Birds alive, and clean. For if they must needs be Sparrows, what need it be added, that they must be such as may be eaten; as if there were two Sorts of ‘em? Thus the Seventy read only Birds, and the Interpreter of Origen reads two Hens. The Leprous Person therefore was to bring two clean Birds to the Door of the Tabernacle, with a Bundle of Cedar-branches and Hyssop, tied up with a scarlet String. They fill’d an earthen Vessel with Water; then the Priest took one of the little Birds, and tied it with the scarlet String to the Bundle of Cedar and Hyssop, the Head towards the Handle, and the Tail and Wings towards that Part of the Bundle that was to be dipp’d in the Water. The Leprous Person took the other Bird, sacrificed it, and made its Blood run into the Water provided in the Vessel. Then the Priest dipp’d the Bundle of Cedar and Hyssop, with the living Bird, into the Water mingled with Blood, and with it sprinkled

the Leper that was healed. After which he set the Bird at Liberty that had been dipp’d in the Blood of its Companion. The same Ceremony was us’d when the Priest purify’d a House, where any Spot had appear’d of what they call’d the Leprosy of Houses. There were also other Sacrifices of Birds, which were appointed by the Law, chiefly in favour of the poorer Sort; but the Kind of the Birds was ascertain’d. Moses expressly required Doves. See the Lev. i. 15. v. 8.Article DOVE.

SPEAR, that pierced the Side of our Saviour. Tavernier says, in his Persian Travels, l. 1. p. 44. that in a Monastery near to Erivan, they shew the Iron of a Spear, or Lance, which, according to the Tradition of the Armenians, is that with which the Side of Jesus Christ was pierced upon the Cross. They hold this Spear in great Veneration, and say it was brought into their Country by St. Matthew himself; Here is the Figure of it, which is very particular.

SPECULA. This Word signifies an Eminence, where a Centinel was placed to watch afar off. It is put for the Name of a Place, 2 Chron. xx. 24. Cum venisset ad Speculam, quæ respicit solitudinem. The Hebrew reads Misphah, or Mizpah of the Desart, and may stand for Mizpeh, a City of Benjamin, Josh. xviii. 26.

SPIKENARD, or Nard. A Plant that grows in the Indies, whose Root is very small and slender. It puts forth a long, small Stalk, and has several Ears or Spikes even with the Ground, which has given it the Name of Spikenard. The Nard of the Mountain is more odoriferous than that which grows near the Waters. All the Species of Spikenard are hot and drying; they provoke Urine, and are binding, when taken to drink. The Indian Nard, commonly call’d Spica Nardi, if it be genuine, must be of a yellowish Colour, inclining towards purple, and should have its Spikes long, so that the Bristles of the Spike should be large and odoriferous. The Taste should be something sharp and bitter, and dry upon the Tongue, and afterwards leave the Mouth full of a very agreeable Savour. ‘Tis thought that Rosemary and Lavender are Kinds of Spikenard. They made a Perfume of great Esteem with the Blade or Spike of the Nard, and of which the Scripture speaks pretty often. The Spouse in the Canticles says;³¹ While the King sitteth at his Table, my Spikenard sendeth forth the Smell thereof. And in the Gospel, St. Mark³² speaks of the Perfume of Spikenard; and St. John³³ mentions Nardus pisticus, by which several understand the pure and unsophisticated Nard.

Plin. l. xii. c. 12.But there is great Probability, that the Copiers of St. John have put Nardi pistici instead of Nardi spicati, or Spikenard. The Spikenard, as we call it, or the Blade of the Nard, is the most esteem’d for making of Perfumes: And the Perfume taken from the Leaves is much less valuable. Cacumina Nardi in aristas se spargunt, says Pliny, ideo geminâ dote Nardi spicas & folia celebrant.

רוחRuach. Πνεῦμα, Spiritus.SPIRIT. In Hebrew, Ruach; in Greek, Pneuma; in Latin, Spiritus. In Scripture the Word Spirit is taken sometimes for the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, who inspires the Prophets, animates good Men, pours his Unction into our Hearts, imparts to us Light and Comfort, in whose Name we are baptized, as well as in those of the Father and Son; lastly, that enlivening Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Gen. vii. 15. Num. xvi. 22. Job xii. 10.At other times it is taken for the Breath, the Respiration, the animal Life, which belongs as well to Men as other Animals: This Breath that God has given us, and which he takes away again, when he takes away our Lives.

It signifies also the reasonable Soul which animates us, and which preserves its Being, even after the Death of the Body. That spiritual, reasoning, and chusing Substance, capable of eternal Happiness.

Psal. x. 7. 1 Kings xix. 11. Psal. xlvii. 8.The Word Spiritus is sometimes put also for the Wind: Thus, Spiritus procellarum. Spiritus grandis & fortis. In spiritu vehementi conteres naves Tharsis, &c. In all which Places Spiritus signifies only a strong Wind.

Spiritus is also taken to signify an Angel, a Demon, a Ghost, a Soul separated from the Body. It is said in the Acts, that the Saducees deny’d the Existence of Angels and Spirits. Jesus Christ appearing to Acts xxiii. 8. Luk. xxiv. 39. Heb. i. 14. 1 Sam. xviii. 10. xvi. 14. xix. 9.his Disciples, said to ‘em; Handle me, and see; for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones, as ye see me have. In St. Paul the good Angels are call’d Ministring Spirits. ‘Tis said in the Book of Samuel, that the evil Spirit from God came upon Saul. And in the Gospel the Devils are often call’d unclean Spirits, evil Spirits, Spirits of Darkness.

Lastly, Spirit is sometimes taken for the Disposition of the Heart, or of the Body; because it was presumed, that the good or evil Inclinations of each of these proceeded from good or bad Spirits. Thus is to be understood, Numb. v. 14. Hos. iv. 2. Zech. xii. 10. Luke xiii. 10. Eccl. xv. 5. Isai. xi. 2.a Spirit of Jealousy, a Spirit of Fornication, a Spirit of Prayer, a Spirit of Infirmity, a Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, a Spirit of Fear of the Lord. and such like.

Concerning the Spirit that inspired the Prophets, and which caus’d the Motions and Agitations; see the Article ENTHU- SIASM.

Distinguishing or Discerning of Spirits. This was a Gift of God, which consisted in discerning, whether a Man was really inspired of the Spirit of God, or whether he was a false Prophet and Impostor, who only follows the Impulse of his own Spirit, or of 1 Cor. xii. 10.the Spirit of Satan. St. Paul speaks of the discerning of Spirits, among the miraculous Gifts that God granted to the Faithful, and the first Settlement of Christianity. And St. John in his Epistle; Beloved, believe not 1 John iv. 1.every Spirit, but try the Spirits, whether they are of God: Because many false Prophets are gone out into the World.

To quench the Spirit. St. Paul says to 1 Thes. v. 19.the Thessalonians, that they ought not to quench the Spirit. Spiritum nolite extinguere. The Spirit may be quenched in these two ways; first, by forcing, in some manner, the Holy Ghost to withdraw himself from us, by Sin, by Irregularity of Manners, by Vanity, by Avarice, by Negligence, and by other Crimes that are contrary to Charity, to Truth, to Peace, and to the other Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Secondly, the Spirit is quenched when we do such Actions as make God to take from us his supernatural Gifts and Favours, such as Prophecy, the Gift of Tongues, the Gift of healing Diseases. For tho’ these Gifts were of mere Grace, and that God may communicate them sometimes to wicked People, yet he has often granted them to the Prayers of the Faithful, and took them away again, to punish their Abuse or Contempt of them.

Ephes. iv. 30.To grieve the Spirit, may be also taken in two ways; either in the Sense of an internal Grace, habitual or actual. Or in the Sense of miraculous Gifts, with which God favour’d the primitive Christians. We grieve the Spirit of God, by withstanding his holy Inspirations, the Motions of his Grace, or by living in a luke-warm and negligent Manner. We grieve him also by despising his Gifts, or neglecting them, by abusing his Favours, either out of Vanity, Curiosity, or Negligence. And in a contrary Sense, we stir up the Spirit of God which is in us, by the Practice of Vertue, by our Exactness in complying with his Inspirations, by Fervour in his Service, by renewing our Gratitude, &c.

The Spirit, as it is oppos’d to the Flesh, is put for the Soul by which we are animated. Gen. vi. 3.” My Spirit shall no longer abide ” in Man, because he is but Flesh. ” I will destroy all Mankind, I will take from them my Breath that I gave them, and the Soul that I infused into them, because they are all carnal, debased by carnal Inclinations, by brutish Passion: Because, in a Word, all Flesh have corrupted their Way upon the Earth; they have in a great measure forgot that they are reasonable Creatures, and have plunged themselves into the State and Condition of Beasts.

Spirit, in the moral Sense, is oppos’d to Rom. vii. 25.the Flesh. With the Mind, or Spirit, I myself serve the Law of God; but with the Rom. viii. 13.Flesh the Law of Sin. And again; If ye live after the Flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the Deeds of Gal. v. 19, 22.the Body, ye shall live. And elsewhere; Now the Works of the Flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, &c. But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.

The Spirit of Jesus Christ, which animates true Christians, and the Children of God, and which distinguishes them from the Children of Darkness, who are animated by the Spirit of the World; is the Gift of Grace, and of Adoption, the holy Spirit that is poured into our Hearts, and which gives us Confidence to say to God, Rom. viii. 5.My Father, My Father. Those that are animated by this Spirit have crucified the Flesh, with the Affections and Lusts thereof. Gal. v. 24. Rom. viii. 9.If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. And elsewhere; Ye are not in the Flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. The Spirit of Jesus Christ animated 1 Pet. i. 11.the Prophets, and inclined them industriously to inquire at what Time that should happen, which they had foretold concerning his Passion and Glory.

1 Pet. iii. 18,19,20.Christ was put to Death in the Flesh, but quickned by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the Days of Noah. This Passage has very much perplex’d the Commentators; and indeed there are Difficulties in it that can hardly be surmounted. The Commentators may be consulted, who have treated expressly on this Subject. This is the Sense that to us appears the most simple and reasonable. Jesus Christ, after his Resurrection, by the Power of the same holy Spirit who had rais’d him up, descended into Hell, or into the Prison, into the Place where the Souls of the holy Patriarchs were detain’d, and where they waited for his Coming. He proclaim’d Deliverance to them, and took them out of this Confinement. And as to such Spirits as had been heretofore incredulous in the Times of Noah, to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who had caus’d the Truth to be declared to them, and who had exhorted them to Repentance in the Time of Noah;

Noah; but who would not hearken to this Invitation, and therefore were dead in Hardness and Incredulity; these also were inform’d of the Coming of Jesus Christ, and acquainted with his Descent into Hell; but this News served only to increase their Remorse, their Punishment, and Despair.

Spirits. Apparitions of Spirits. The Notion, that Spirits, Angels, Demons, the Souls of the Dead, sometimes appear to Men, is universally spread among all Nations. It is founded upon an infinite Number of Histories, and Experiments, but chiefly upon the Authority of the sacred Books. The Books of the Old and New Testament are full of the Apparitions of Angels and Demons; and there we may also observe the Opinion, that supposes the Return and Appearing of the Spirits and Souls of dead Persons, in the Story of the raising the Ghost of Samuel by the Witch of Endor, in what is said by Jesus Christ to his Apostles; Handle me, and see, for a Spirit has not Flesh and Bones, as ye see me have: In what was imagin’d by the Apostles, 39.when they saw Jesus Christ in the Night walking upon the Water. Dicentes quia phantasma est. And in the Acts of the Acts xii. 13, 15.Apostles, when St. Peter stood knocking at the Door, they thought it was his Angel, because they knew he had been put into Prison but a little before. And in the Books of the Maccabees, the Highpriest Onias, and the Prophet Jeremiah, appear’d in a Dream to Judas Maccabeus.

SPITHAMA, a sort of Measure, of the Length of about a Foot. This Word is not found in the Vulgate, but it is in the Greek, Judg. iii. 16. where it answers to the Hebrew Word Gomed,³⁴ which is a Measure whose Length is unknown. Spithama is also read in the Greek, Exodus xxviii. 16. xxxix. vii. & 1 Sam. xvii. 4. Isai. xl. 12. Ezek. xliii. 14. where it answers the Hebrew Word Zereth,³⁵ which signifies half a Cubit, or ten Inches and something more.

SPITTLE, Saliva. The Spittle of him who was troubled with a Gonorrhœa made that Person unclean upon whom it accidentally fell. He continu’d unclean till Evening, and was not purify’d till after he had wash’d himself and his Cloaths. To spit in any one’s Face was look’d upon as the greatest Outrage that could be done him. Job xxx. 10. Isai. l. 6.See Numb. xii. 14. If her Father had but spit in her Face, should she not be ashamed seven Days? The Widow of a Man that died without Children, might spit in the Face of his Brother, or of his nearest Kinsman, that refused to take her to Wife. The Soldiers spit in the Face of our Saviour at Deut. xxv. 9.his Passion³⁶.

Gen. xlii. 16.SPY. The Patriarch Joseph pretended to arrest his Bretheren, and did in Effect secure his Brother Simeon in Prison, feigning that he took them for Spies. According to the Rules of War, a Spy taken in a Camp deserves to be hanged. Moses sent twelve Num. xiii. 2, 3, &c.Spies to explore the Land of Canaan, and to find out the Nature of the Country, what was its Strength, its Cities, its Inhabitants. They departed from the Camp at Paran, were forty Days in making the Tour of the Country, and return’d to the Camp of the Israelites loaded with a Vine-branch and its Grapes, which they carry’d on a Staff between two, as well because of the Largeness of the Fruit, as for fear of bruising it. When they return’d, they made their Report to the People, saying; “The Country where we have been is indeed a Country flowing with Milk and Honey, as may be understood from the Fruits we have brought with us; but the Inhabitants are robust and warlike, and the Cities are very strong and well fortify’d. We have seen there Giants of the Race of Anak. Amalek dwells to the South, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Ammorites, in the Mountains, and the Canaanites along the Sea-coast.” Then the People began to murmur, saying; “We shall never be able to become Masters of this Country, Num. xiv. 1, 2, 3, &c.because the People that inhabit it are stronger than we are.” But Caleb, one of the Messengers, endeavour’d to encourage them, saying; “Let us go and take Possession of this Country, which we shall easily be able to accomplish.” The others, on the contrary, disparaged the Land, insisted upon the great Difficulty there would be to conquer it, and said; “This Country devours its Inhabitants, and the People we have seen are of an extraordinary Size: We saw there Monsters of Men, Giants of the Race of Anak, in Comparison of whom we are but Grasshoppers.” At these Words all the People began to cry, and bewail’d themselves all that Night, loudly exclaiming against Moses and Aaron, and saying one to another; “Let us set a Captain over us, that may lead us back to Egypt.” Joshua and Caleb used all their Endeavours in vain to pacify them; they took up Stones to stone them.

But of a sudden the Glory of the Lord appear’d over the Tabernacle of the Covenant, directing his Voice to Moses, and threatned to smite the whole Congregation, and utterly to destroy them. But Moses interceded for them, and obtain’d, that they might not all die at once. But the Lord swore, that none of those, who had thus

Josh. ii. 1, 2, 3, &c.murmur’d against him, should see the Land which he had promis’d to their Fathers, except Caleb and Joshua, who had continued faithful to him.

Mention is again made of Spies in the Book of Joshua. This Captain of the People of the Lord being ready to pass over Jordan at the Head of the Israelites, to put them in Possession of the Land of Promise, sent two Men to Jericho, to learn the Condition of that Place. They went thither, and entered into the House of a Woman named Rahab. She entertain’d them; and when the King of Jericho had Intelligence of their Arrival, he sent to demand them of Rahab. But she concealed them upon the Platform of her House, and told the Messengers, that they went out again a little before Night, and before the Gates of the City were shut. As soon as the Messengers were gone away, she went to the Spies, and told them, that she knew the Lord had delivered up the Land of Canaan to the Hebrews, and that Fear and Consternation had seized all the Inhabitants; that the Fame of the Miracles that the Lord had wrought in their Favour, was spread far and near, and struck the whole Land with a Panick. She desired them, as an Acknowledgement of what she had done to save their Lives, that they would promise her with an Oath, to preserve her and her Family, when they should become Masters of Jericho. The Spies made her this Promise, and she let them down by a Rope, over the Wall of the City, which was just behind her House, and they returned back to Joshua safe and found. St. Paul commends the Faith of Rahab, who received and entertained the Spies.

Heb. ii. 31.STACTE. This Greek Word signifies the Gum that distils from the Tree which produces Myrrh. Salmasius distinguishes Stacte from Plaste, in that Stacte is the liquid Part of the Myrrh, which is brought from the Myrrh by Contusion, and which was the purest and most valuable Part of it. It was also called simply, The Perfume, or Myrrh. Plaste was the harder Part, which remain’d after the Myrrh call’d Stacte had been squeezed from it, and which was reduced into Lumps or Cakes; so that it was rather a Kind of Incense than a Perfume. Stacte is found in several Places in Scripture; [in the Latin Vulgate.] For Example, Gen. xxxvii. 25. where it is said, that Ishmaelitish Merchants were carrying into Egypt, aromata, & resinam, & staćten. And Gen. xliii. 11. where Jacob bids his Sons carry with them some Stacte, to the Governour of Egypt, who was Joseph. The Hebrew says, Zeri and Lath. ‘Tis agreed, the first signifies Resina, Balm; But the Signification of Lat or Lath is unknown. Some explain it by Myrrh, others by Turpentine, or Chesnuts, or Ladanum, or Ledum, which is a certain resinous Liquor distilling from a kind of Cistus.

Moses also speaks of Stacte³⁷ in the Enumeration of the Drugs that were to enter into the Composition of the Perfume which was to be offer’d in the holy Place upon the golden Altar. But in this Place the Hebrew reads Neteph, which certainly signifies liquid Myrrh, or in Form of a perfum’d Oil.

Lastly, Ezekiel also speaks of Stacte;³⁸ but the Hebrew has Kidda, which the Septuagint translate by Iris; and St. Jerome in Exod. xxx. 24. by Casia odorifera. It is very likely that it signifies the Essence of Iris.

STACHYS, a Disciple of St. Paul’s, of whom he makes honourable mention in his Rom. xvi. 9. Niceph. Calist. l. 2. c. 39.Epistle to the Romans. We know of none of the Particulars of his Life that can be rely’d on. Nicephorus Calistus assures us, that St. Andrew came and preached for some Time at Byzantium, afterwards call’d Constantinople; but being obliged to leave it, he ordain’d St. Stachys for Bishop there. The Menæa of the Greeks set down the Feast of St. Stachys on the 31st of October; in which they are follow’d by the Roman Martyrology, which also makes him Bishop of Byzantium, and which assures us, ‘tis to him that St. Paul makes his Recommendations in the Epistle to the Romans, and whome he calls his well-beloved. The Greeks give him the Title of an Apostle, and put him among the seventy-two Disciples. But we find nothing of all this in any Authors of greater Antiquity than Nicephorus.

Salmas. ad Solin. p. 521. צריZeri לטLat.STADIUM, a Furlong, a Measure of Length, which consisted of one hundred and twenty-five geometrical Paces. Eight Furlongs make a Mile, and three Miles make a common League. See the Table of Measures.Stadium is also taken for the Place where they perform’d their publick Exercises of Running. St. Paul alludes to these Spectacles and these Exercises, when he 1 Cor. ix. 24.says, They which run in a Race (in Stadio) run all, but one receiveth the Prize. These Places were call’d Stadia, because they were distinguish’d into Courses or Distances by certain resting Places; so that some of the Racers run but one Distance, some two or more, each according to his Strength.

STAFF. Anna says of her Son Tobias, Tob. v. 17.Is he not the Staff of our Hand? God threatens Moab to break the Staff of his Glory, his Strength, in which he placed his Confidence: How is the strong Staff Jer.

xlviii. 17.

broken, and the beautiful Rod! When the Prophets threaten with a Famine, they say, Ezek. iv. 16.that God will break the Staff of Bread, or reduce them to the utmost Necessity. Do 2 Kings xviii. 21. Ezek.xxix.you hope to find Assistance in that Staff of a Reed, in the King of Egypt? He is a brittle Reed, which will break under every one Isai.xxxvi. 6. Isai. x. 5.that would lean upon it, and its Splinters will enter into his Hand, and wound him. The Wicked shall be as a Staff in the Hand of God; he shall make use of it to prove the Good: Assur virga furoris mei, & baculus, Zechar. viii. 4.&c. In Jerusalem shall still be seen old Men leaning upon their Staffs. Jacob says, that Genesis xxxii, 10.he passed over Jordan, having only a Staff in his Hand, and that he passed back again with two great Troops of Persons and Flocks of Cattle. God commanded the Israelites, when they ate the Passover, to have a Staff in their Hands, like Travellers. Exod. x.David makes a kind of Imprecation against Joab, saying, that there should always be 2 Sam. iii. 29. מחזיק בפלךsome of his Family that should walk with a Staff; that is to say, there should always be lame Persons. St. Jerom has translated it by Persons handling the Spindle: Tenentes fusum.

STAR, Stella; in Hebrew, Chochab. Under ככבChochab. Stella, Sidus.the Name of Stars, the ancient Hebrews comprehended all the heavenly Bodies, Constellations, and Planets; in a word, all the Luminaries, except the Sun and the Moon. The Scripture often expresses it self in such a manner, as should seem to attribute Sense and Understanding to the Stars. The Sun and Moon were call’d, by the idolatrous Israelites, the King and Queen of Heaven; and the Stars were (as it were) Deut. xvii. 3.their Army and Militia. Both one and the other have often received those Honours, which were only due to the Creator.

The Number of the Stars was look’d upon as infinite: And the Psalmist, to exalt the Power and Magnificence of God, says, that he numbers the Stars, and calls them by their Names. He is described as a King taking a Review of his Army, and gives every one of his Soldiers such a Name as he thinks fit. When the Scripture would express a very extraordinary Increase and Multiplication, it uses the Similitude of the Stars of Heaven, or of the Sands of the Sea: Gen. xv. 5. xxii. 17. xxvi. 4. Exodus xxxii. 13, &c. Job xxv. 5. Job xxxviii. 7. Job ix. 7.I will multiply thy Seed as the Stars of the Heaven, and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore. Job says, that in the Eyes of God, the Stars themselves are impure; that they form’d a kind of Concert of Musick to his Honour, at the Beginning of the Creation; and that God locks them up as with a Key, and hinders them from appearing, but when he pleases.

Ezekiel xxxii. 7. Joel ii. 1. & iii. 20. Amos v. 26. ככב אלהיכם Mat. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 25. Job ix. 9. & xxxviii. 31.In Times of Disgrace and Publick Calamity, ‘tis said, the Stars with-hold their Light, and are cover’d with Darkness; Numbers xxiv. 17.that they fall from Heaven, and disappear. These are figurative and emphatick Expressions, which are only weaken’d and enervated by being explain’d. Amos says, that the Israelites in the Wilderness carried with them a Star, to which they paid divine Honours: Ye have born ---- the Star of your God, which ye made to your selves. The Hebrew says, Stellam Deorum vestrorum. Job speaks in two Places, of four of the principal Constellations that were known to the Antients; the Bear, Orion, the Hyades, and the Star of the South.

Gen. i. 14, 15, 16. Job xxxviii. 7. Isai. xiv. 13.As to the Star that Balaam foretold should come out of Jacob, and which primarily is understood of Jesus Christ, who is the true Star which fills the World with its Brightness; and secondarily, of that material Star that appear’d to the Wise Men, and guided them from the East to Bethlehem; we have spoken of it under the Article MAGI, and in our Dissertation upon the same Subject, which we have prefix’d to our Commentary upon St. Matthew.

Deut. iv. 19.STARS. To give the Hebrews a Caution against the Idolatry that prevail’d through almost all the East, of worshipping the Sun, Moon, and Stars; Moses informs us, in the Beginning of Genesis, that God gave them their Being, and that he separated them from that Mass of Matter which he had produced out of Nothing. Job describes the Stars to us, as praising the Creator at the Beginning of the World. And Isaiah makes Lucifer say at his Rebellion; I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God.

The Beauty and Splendor that Men have observed in the Stars, and the great Advantages that they derive from thence; the wonderful Order that they have discover’d in their Courses; the Influence that has been ascribed to them, in the Production and Preservation of Animals, of Fruits, Plants, and Minerals, have prevail’d with almost all People of the World to impute to them Life, Knowledge, Power, and to pay them a sovereign Worship and Adoration. Moses says; Lest thou lift up thine Eyes unto Heaven, and when thou seest the Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars, even all the Host of Heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all Nations under the whole Heaven. And Job says; If I beheld the Sun when it shined, or the Moon Job xxxi. 26,27,28.walking in Brightness; and my Heart hath been secretly enticed, or my Mouth hath kissed my Hand, (by way of Adoration): This also were an Iniquity to be punished by the Judge; for I should have denied the God that is above. The Worship of Baal, of Astarte, of the Queen of Heaven, of the Host of

Heaven, &c. with which the Jews were often reproach’d, was no other than the Acts vii. 42.Worship of the Stars, especially of the Sun and Moon. St. Stephen, in the Acts, after having spoke of the Worship of the Golden Calf by the Israelites in the Wilderness, says, that God gave them up to their Blindness, and that they paid their Adoration to the Host of Heaven, and that they carry’d in the Desart the Tent of Moloch, and the Ark of their God Remphan. We examine elsewhere into the Meaning of these Words of St. Stephen.

The Jews, both ancient and modern, ascribe great Influence to the Stars. Philo³⁹ imputes to them a great Part of whatever happens upon the Earth. He says elsewhere,⁴⁰ that the Stars are not only Animals, but even most pure Spirits; that the Air is replete with Animals, or Spirits, which are continually descending, to animate Bodies. He had borrow’d these Notions from his Master Plato. Origen was guilty of the same Mistake⁴¹. The Rabbins also ascribe Intelligence to the Heaven and the Stars⁴²: They maintain, that they have a Knowledge of God; that they know themselves; that God is the Object of their Desires; that their Knowledge and Actions are more perfect than those of Men.

Maimonides says, that among wise Men there is no Controversy about the Stars: They all agree, that they have a great Influence upon the Generation and Corruption of sublunary Bodies.⁴³ Some impute the Direction of Affairs rather to the Angels, than the Stars; but others maintain, that it is the Stars which pour out their Influences upon the Earth: Every Herb, according to them, has its particular Star, from whence it receives its Virtue; which Virtue is even extended to the Body of Man, and to the principal Actions of his Life. However, this does not take away the Liberty of Man; the Planets lay them under no Necessity: Their Effects are chiefly confined to the Body; as Health, Complexion, and whatever depends thereon.

Job xxxviii. 7.The sacred Books sometimes seems to ascribe Knowledge to the Stars: We are told, that the Stars praised the Lord at the Beginning of the World. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars are excited to praise the Lord. The Moon is said to withdraw her Light, to obey the Voice of Joshua: That the Sun stopt its Course, at Psalm xviii. 6.the Command of this General of God’s People: That the Sun rises as a Bridegroom, that comes out of his nuptial Chamber. Moses seems to favour their Opinion, who impute Influences to the Sun and Moon, when he promises to Deuter. xxxiii. 14. Job ix. 7.Joseph the precious Fruits brought forth by the Sun, and the precious things put forth by the Moon. Job says, that the Lord commanded the Sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the Stars. And the Psalmist Psal. ciii. 19. Eccl. i. 5.says, that the Sun knows the Time and Place of his Setting. And Solomon says, The Sun also ariseth, and the Sun goeth down, and hasteth to his Place where he arose. This is not unlike that Expression of Ecclus. xlii. 16. Ecclus. xi. & iii. 2. Baruch v. 59.Ecclesiasticus; Sol illuminans per omnia respicit, & gloriâ Domini plenum est opus ejus. And again; Sol in aspectu annunciaus, in exitu vas admirabile, opus excelsi. Baruch says, that the Sun and the Moon, those shining Luminaries, are obedient to the Lord.

But all these Expressions, which are meerly popular, are not to be understood literally; for then we must say, that the Earth, the Trees, the Waters, are animated, since we find in Scriptures some Expressions that would insinuate as much. All the Creatures glorify God, bless the Lord, and obey him, each in its Way. If we allow any thing more to the Sun, the Moon, or the Stars, ‘tis because they are Creatures of greater Perfection, and by which the Glory and Magnificence of God shine forth in a more eminent and conspicuous manner.

Amos, speaking of the Idolatry of the Israelites in the Wilderness, informs us,⁴⁴ that they carry’d along with them the Star of their Gods. ‘Tis demanded, what this Star was, or this Constellation? For under the Name of Star, the Jews comprehended the Planets, and all the heavenly Bodies, exclusive of the Sun and Moon. Some⁴⁵ imagine it was a Representation of the Planet Saturn, and this Opinion is very common. Others think it was the Moon; but I know not whether she was ever comprehended under the Name of Star. The Septuagint have read, the Star of Remphan your God. For this, see the Article REMPHAN, that we may not repeat what is said elsewhere.

The Star foretold by Balaam in this Passage, There shall come a Star out of Jacob, Numbers xxiv. 17.and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the Corners of Moab, and destroy all the Children of Sheth. According to the modern Jews, this Star signifies King David, who conquer’d the Moabites, and reduced them under his Obedience. But the ancient Jews, as the Paraphrasts Onkelos and Jonathan, explain it of the Messiah, which is certainly the literal and natural Sense of this Passage. Some have

thought, a that in this Place Balaam foretold the Appearance of that real Star, which arose at the Time of our Saviour’s Birth, and which guided the Magi into Judea, to see the Person whose Birth was declared by that Star. But this Star did not come out of Jacob; and that cannot be apply’d to this Star, which is said there, which plainly points at a Ruler, a Conqueror, a great Prince, and, in a word, a Messiah. The Jews were so well convinced of this, at the Time of Jesus Christ, and some Time afterwards, that the famous Impostor Bar-caliba caus’d himself to be call’d Barcocheba, the Son of the Star, pretending to be the Messiah, and involved the Jews of Palestine in a Revolt, which compleated the Ruin of that unfortunate Nation.

The Star that appeared to the Magi, and conducted them to Bethlehem, where our Saviour was just born, has furnish’d Matter for many Conjectures. Some of the Antients thought,⁴⁶ that this was a new Star, purposely created to proclaim to Mankind the Coming of the Messiah. Others were of Opinion,⁴⁷ that it was a kind of Comet, which appear’d in the Air after an extraordinary manner. Others have pretended,⁴⁸ that it was an Angel cloathed with a luminous Body, in Form of a Star, which, by his Motion, directed towards Judea, excited in the Magi an Inclination to follow it, and to search out what it portended. Several of the Fathers have vindicated this Opinion, founded upon this; That this Star appear’d to be Rational and Intelligent, appearing and disappearing, stopping and going forward, in such manner as was necessary for the Conduct of the Magi to the proper Place. Lightfoot conjectures,⁴⁹ that it was the same Light as had appear’d to the Shepherds, who were feeding their Flocks near to Bethlehem; and which having been observed by the Magi, made them imagine, that in this Place the Messiah was born, who had been so long expected.

The Author of the Imperfect Commentary upon St. Matthew says, that this Star descended upon the Mountain where the Magi had expected it for several Ages; that it appear’d to them, having a little Child in the middle of it, and a Cross at top; that this Child spoke to them, and order’d them to take a Journey into Judea. Epiphanius⁵⁰ has follow’d the same Tradition, which is taken out of the Apocryphal Book of Seth. Some have advanced,⁵¹ that this Star was the Holy Ghost, which appear’d to the Magi under the Form of a Star, as it afterwards appear’d in the Likeness of a Dove, at the Baptism of Jesus Christ. St. Ignatius the Martyr says,⁵² that this Star cast a Brightness which exceeded that of all the Stars in the Heaven; that the Sun, Moon, and the other Stars, waited on it, and follow’d it, by way of Respect; that the whole World was in Admiration at the Sight of its Splendour. St. Austin⁵³ calls it, with Reason, the magnificent Tongue of Heaven, which spoke to the Magi, and instructed them, in some manner, concerning the Word being made Flesh, and reduced to Silence: Quid erat nisi magnifica lingua cœli?

It is not agreed, at what Time the Star appear’d to the Magi. Several think it appear’d to them two Years before the Birth of Christ, and that the Magi setting out from Home as soon as it appear’d, were two Years upon their Journey.⁵⁴ Others will have it, that it did not arise ‘till the Moment of our Saviour’s Birth: And these are yet divided; for some think that the Magi did not arrive at Bethlehem ‘till two Years after the Birth of our Saviour.⁵⁵ Others make them arrive there thirteen Days after this Birth; and that they might make the greater Haste, they assign them Dromedaries to ride upon. There are those that think, that the Star appear’d from the Moment of Christ’s Incarnation, or even from that of John the Baptist.

There are still some Difficulties started, whether this Star was seen by every Body, or only by the Magi. Some think that every Body saw it,⁵⁶ that all People were Witnesses of this Phenomenon; that some, not knowing the Mystery of it, contented themselves to wonder at it; and that it was to the Magi only that God revealed the Signification of it, and gave them an Inclination to follow it. Others, on the contrary,⁵⁷ believe that few People saw it; that the Magi themselves only saw it by fits, and from time to time, when it was necessary to them as a Guide, and to encourage them to persevere in their Resolution. Lastly: The Generality will have it,⁵⁸ that the Magi saw it for the greatest Part of their Journey, and that it disappear’d to them only when they arriv’d at Jerusalem; then they found themselves under a Necessity of Enquiry, where they might find the new-born King of the Jews.⁵⁹

STATER, a Piece of Money of the Value of one Shekel. Our Saviour sent St. Mat. xvii. 26. Exod. xxx. 13. 1 Sam. ix. 8, 16, 18. רבע שקל Jer. xxxii. 9. שבע שקלים septem Staters. Gen. xix. 26. ותהי נצב מלחPeter to fish in the Lake of Tiberias: This Apostle caught there a Fish with his Anglerod, which had a Stater in its Mouth. This served to pay for Christ and himself, what they ow’d to the Temple, which was half a Shekel apiece. In the First Book of Samuel, a quarter of a Shekel, is translated by quarta pars Sta-teris; and in Jeremy, St. Jerom translates Shekel by Stater. See also Ezek. iv. 10. & v. 1.

STATUE of Salt. The Scripture tells us, that Lot’s Wife was changed into a Statue of Salt. See LOT. Many Questions have been started about this Metamorphosis of Lot’s Wife into a Statue or Pillar of Salt; and many Hypotheses have been made, to explain the Words of Moses in a plain and literal manner. His Text only tells us, that Lot’s Wife look’d behind her, and became a Pillar of Salt. Some a explain it thus: She became without Motion, like a Statue of Salt. Others; She dy’d with Grief in the same Place, and there remain’d upright like a Statue. Salt is a Symbol of Hardness and Incorruptibility: Otherwise; She continued as a Statue in that Country of Salt, in the Land of Sodom, which was a Country of Nitre and Salt. But these Explications seem to be a little too violent.

The Antients were of Opinion, that Lot’s Wife thinking to walk very softly, was suddenly changed into a Statue of Metalline and solid Salt, such as are to be seen in some Mountains of Hungary, Poland, and Moscovy; that she still preserved the Shape of a Woman; and tho’ Travellers often carry’d away Pieces of her, to satisfy their Curiosity, yet the Statue did not diminish, nor did it lose any thing of its Bigness⁶⁰. Irenæus⁶¹ and Tertullian⁶² add, that she was still subject to such Infirmities as were incident to her Age.

Dicitur & vivens alio sub corpore sexûs, Munificos solito dispungere sanguine menses.

Josephus assures us,⁶³ that he had seen this Statue; and the Chaldee Paraphrasts of Jerusalem, and Jonathan the Son of Uziel, say, that she will continue there to the End of the World. Several Travellers tell us, that they have seen it; and it is a common and popular Opinion, that she still continues there near the Dead-sea.

Others pretend,⁶⁴ that the Text of Moses may be explain’d, by saying, that the Fire that fell upon Sodom, and which inflamed the whole Country round about, having, by its Activity, prepared Passages for the Particles of Salt, or Nitre, in the Parts of the Body of this Woman, consolidated it, and in some measure imparted their Essence to it, and render’d her like a Pillar of Salt. Such Changes are not without Example. Aventine⁶⁵, in the Annals of the Bavarians relates, that above fifty Peasants that were employ’d in milking their Cows, were infected by a poisonous Air at the Time of an Earthquake, and were changed into Statues which were like Salt. There are many Instances of such Changes⁶⁶.

In our Commentary upon Genesis we have proposed some Conjectures about the Manner in which this might be effected. We have observed, that the Places about the Dead-sea and Arabia Petræa, had a particular Quality of Petrification; that solid Bodies, that continued there for any Time, might easily be petrify’d; that the Egyptians had Bodies that were embalmed and made stiff as any Statues, which might have been call’d Statues of Salt, or salted Statues. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus make use of the Word Salting or Pickling, when they speak of the Embalment of those Bodies we call Mummies. Thus Moses might say, that Lot’s Wife having fall’n down upon the Ground, she there soon became like a salted or embalmed Statue. See the Commentary upon Genesis xix. 26.

Statue of Nebuchadnezzar; or rather, the Statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his Dream,⁶⁷ which was very large and terrible to look at: Its Head was of Gold, its Breast and its Arms of Silver, the Belly and Thighs of Brass, the Legs of Iron, and the Feet partly of Iron and partly of Clay. Daniel’s Explication was, that the Empire of Nebuchadnezzar, that is, of the Chaldeans, was represented by the Head of Gold; the Empire of the Persians, founded by Cyrus, was represented by the Breast and Arms of Silver; the Empire of the Grecians, founded by Alexander the Great, was insinuated by the Belly and Thighs of Brass: The Empire of the Romans was denoted by the Legs of Iron; or rather, this Empire being divided into two, is that of the Seleucidæ in Syria, and of the Lagidæ in Egypt. The Attempts that the Kings of Egypt and Syria made, to unite their Interests by Intermarriages, not succeeding, are represented by the Feet, being partly of Iron, and partly of Clay. The little Stone that comes from the Mountain, and which overturns the Statue, is the Empire of the Romans, under which appear’d that of the Messiah, which⁶⁸

saw the Fall of the Colossus, erected by the Arms of the Romans.

The same Nebuchadnezzar caus’d a Golden Statue to be set up, of sixty Cubits high, and six Cubits thick: He erected this in the Province of Dura in Babylon,⁶⁹ and publish’d a Decree to all his Subjects, that they should fall down before this Statue, when they should hear the Sound of the musical Instruments, under the Penalty of being thrown alive into a burning Furnace. Daniel and his Companions not obeying this Decree, were cast into the Furnace; but God deliver’d them from it by a Miracle. See DANIEL.

‘Tis enquired, what this Statue was, and what it represented? Some think it to be a Statue of Nebuchadnezzar himself; others, that of his Father, whom he had a mind to deify: But to us it seems most probable, that it was the Statue of the God Bel, to whom he would have a particular Worship paid, at the time of the playing of the Instruments: And, in effect, he did not complain of Daniel, for refusing to worship him, nor his Father, but his Gods: Vere ne Sidrach, Misael, & Abednago, Deos meos non colitis, & statuam auream non adoratis?

Some Difficulties are form’d about the Proportions of this Statue: Some think it to be a Pillar upon which a Statue was placed, and that Daniel sets down the Height of the Pillar and Statue together, making it to be sixty Cubits high, and six in Thickness. ‘Tis imagin’d the Statue might be forty Cubits high, and six thick; and that the Base might be twenty Cubits high, and thick in Proportion. They even Diodor. Sicul. Bibloth. l.2.go so far as to say, this Statue is the same as that described by Diodorus Siculus, which was forty Foot high, and stood in the Temple of Belus: It was of Gold, like that described by Daniel; it represented the chief Deity of the Babylonians; it was worship’d in the most august of all their Temples. The Proportion of a Statue of forty Cubits high, is six Cubits wide, or thick; for the general Stature of a Man, is four times and an half the Breadth from Shoulder to Shoulder. But four times and an half six Cubits make twenty-seven Cubits, or forty Feet and an half: And this falls in very near with the Measure of Diodorus Siculus.

STEPHANAS, the Name of one of the 1 Cor. i. 16.principal Christians of Corinth, whom St. Paul baptized, with all his Family, probably about the 52d Year of Christ, or of the Vulgar Era. St. Stephanas devoted himself to the Service of the Church; and in the Year of our Saviour 56 he came to St. Paul 1 Cor. xvi. 17. & vii. 1.at Ephesus, and, according to Saint Chrysostom, brought him Letters which the Chrysost. in 1 Cor. homil. 44. p. 486.Church of Corinth wrote to him, to consult him concerning Marriage, Continence, and perhaps other Subjects; which St. Paul treats of in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Apostle wrote it from Ephesus in the 56th Year, and it was sent by Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. We know of no other Particulars of the Life of St. Stephanas.

Epiphan. de Christo, c. 4. p. 50.STEPHEN; in Greek, Stephanos, which signifies a Crown. St. Stephen the first Martyr, was probably of the Number of those Hellenistical Jews that believed in Jesus Christ. Epiphanius thinks he was of the Number of the seventy-two Disciples of Jesus Christ; but this is not very certain. Jesus Christ appointed his seventy -two Disciples to teach and preach; but it seems that St. Stephen, and the six other first Deacons, had as yet no particular Designation, when they were chosen for the Service of the Tables. ‘Twas in the Year 53 of Jesus Christ that the seven Deacons were chosen. St. Stephen is always put at their Head, as the chief and most worthy. ‘Tis believed he had study’d at the Feet of Gamaliel. As he was full of the Holy Ghost and of Zeal,⁷⁰ he perform’d many wonderful Works and Miracles before the People; and some of the Synagogue of the Freed-men, of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and some others, entring into Dispute with him, could not withstand the Wisdom and the Spirit that spoke from his Mouth.

Then they suborned false Witness to testify, that they heard him blaspheme against Moses, and against God; and they stirr’d up the People by their Calumnies, so that they drew him before the Council of the Nation, or the Sanhedrim; and they produced false Witnesses against him, who deposed, that they had heard him speak against the Temple, and against the Law, and affirm’d, that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy the holy Place, and abolish the Observance of the Law of Moses. Stephen appear’d in the midst of the Assembly, having his Countenance shining like that of an Angel; and the High-priest asking him what he had to answer to these Accusations? he made his Defence, in Acts vii. 1, 2, 3, &c.which he shew’d he had not said any thing, either against Moses, or against the Temple, but that the Jews themselves had always opposed themselves to God and the Prophets: He upbraided them with the Hardness of their Hearts, and their Infidelity, with their putting the Prophets to Death, and, lastly, Jesus Christ himself.

At these Words they were in a Rage, and gnash’d their Teeth against him. But Stephen lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, saw the Glory of God, and Jesus Christ standing at the Right-hand of God. Upon which he said; I see the Heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the Right-hand of God. Then the Jews cry’d out against him with one Voice, and stop’d their Ears, as if they had heard some dreadful Blasphemy; and falling upon him, they drew him out of the City, and stoned him. The Witnesses laid down their Cloaths at the Feet of a young Man call’d Saul, who was then one of the most eager Persecutors of the Christians, and who was afterwards one of the most zealous Preachers of the Gospel. Stephen all the while call’d upon the Lord, and said; Lord, impute not this Sin to them. After which Words he fell asleep in the Lord, and some pious Persons took care to bury him, and to accompany his Funeral with great Mourning.

Acts viii. 2.This is what the Scripture informs us of St. Stephen and his Martyrdom. We are told of many Particulars of his Burial, and afterwards of the Discovery of his Body, in a Work printed at the End of the seventh Tome of the new Edition of Saint Austin, under the Name of Lucian the Priest. The Devotion pay’d to him is very antient and famous in the Church; and God has perform’d a great Number of Miracles by Means of his Reliques, the greatest Part of which are very well attested .

1 Chron. xxix. 2. Vulg. אבני פוךSTIBINUS LAPIS. This Word is found in the Chronicles, and signifies literally Stones of Antimony: But ‘tis thought the Text intends Stones of Alabaster. The Hebrew says, Stones of Phuc; but Phuc, in Hebrew, signifies the Colour with which 2 Kings ix. 40. Jerem. iv. 30. Isa. liv. 11.Women painted their Eye-brows, which was of a black Colour. We may see by Isaiah, that they also made Use of Stones of Phuc for Pavements. This should make one conclude, that it signifies Stones of Alabaster.

STIGMATA. Certain Marks and Incisions that the Heathen made upon their Flesh, in honour of some false Deity. These Marks were imprinted, either by a hot Iron, or with a Needle, with which they made several Punctures, which they afterwards fill’d with a fine Powder, either black, blue, or some other Colour, which incorporated with the Flesh, and remain’d printed in it for all their Lives after. The greatest Part of the Arabian Women have their Arms and Cheeks marked with these Stigmata. Lucian, in his Book of the Syrian Goddess, says, that all the Assyrians wore these printed Characters, some on their Hands, others on their Necks. Moses⁷¹ warns the Israelites from making any Figure, or any Mark upon their Bodies: Ye shall not make any Cuttings in your Flesh for the Dead, nor print any Marks upon you.

Ptolemy Philopater gave Orders,b that the Jews who had forsaken their Religion, and had embraced that of the Pagans, should be stigmatized with the Mark of an Ivy-leaf, which Tree is dedicated to Bacchus. St. Rev. xiii. 16, 17.John in his Revelation alludes to this Custom, when he says, That the Beast printed her Character upon her own, on their Right-hand, and on their Fore-head; and that she allows none to buy or to sell, but those that bore the Mark of the Beast, or her Name, or the Number of the Letters of her Name. Lastly, St. Paul declares, that he Gal. vi. 17.bore in his Body the Marks of the Lord Jesus; that is to say, that he bore the Scars of the Stripes that he had received for his Sake, and for his Service, and that he look’d upon them as so many Stigmata, or honourable Marks of his Consecration to his Service.

Philo, de Monarch. l. 14.Philo the Jew says, that there were Men, who printed Characters upon their Flesh with hot Irons, to devote themselves more solemnly and avowedly to the worship of their Idols, and to prove with greater Evidence this Engagement and Servitude. Procopius takes notice of an antient Custom Procop. in Isa. xliv.among Christians, who made Marks upon their Arms and Wrists, representing the Cross, or the Monogramm of Jesus Christ: A Custom which still continues among the Oriental Christians, and those that make a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Prudentius thus describes the manner in which the Pagans made their Stigmata, in honour to their Gods:

Prudent. Hymn. x.Quid cum sacrandus accipit sphragitidas? Acus minutas ingerunt fornacibus, His Membra pergunt urere; utque igniverint Quamcumque partem corporis fervens nota Stigmavit, hanc sic consecratam prædicant.

STOICKS, a sort of Heathen Philosophers, who took their Name from the Greek Word Stoa, signifying a Porch or Entry, because Zeno, the Head of the Stoicks, kept his School in a Porch of the City of Athens. Diogenes Laertius may be consulted, in his Life of Zeno, and others that have treated of the Sects of the Philosophers. Josephus says,⁷² that the Pharisees approach very near to the Sentiments of the Stoicks. They affected the same

Stiffness, Patience, Apathy, Austerity, and Insensibility. The Sect of the Stoicks was still considerable at Athens when St. Paul came thither, since he had Conferences with them. The Stoicks placed the supream Happiness of Man in living agreeably to Nature and Reason. They seem’d to look upon God as the Soul of the

STONES. We have already spoke, as World. often as Occasion has offer’d, of the several precious Stones, or Gems, of which mention is made in Scripture. All that can be found concerning this Matter in the Commentators, is very little to be rely’d on, since neither the Jews, nor even the antient Greek Interpreters, seem to have had a sufficient Knowledge of the proper Signification of the Original Terms. Louis de Dieu has very carefully treated of it, in his Commentary upon Exod. xxviii. 17, &c. and Braunius, De Vestitu Sacerdotum Hebræorum, l. 2. c. 8, 9, &c. See also Francis de la Rue, de Gemmis. These are the Names of the precious Stones that are spoke of in Exod. xxviii. 17, &c. and which were in the Highpriest’s Breast-plate. The Reader may see each of them under their particular Articles.

1. The Sardius or Sardonyx, in Hebrew, Odem.Odem. It was inscribed with the Name of Reuben.

2. The Topaz, in Hebrew, Pithera. The Pithera.Name of Simeon was engraved upon it.

3. The Emerald, in Hebrew, Barecheth. Bareketh. Nophech.The Tribe of Levi.

4. The Carbuncle, in Hebrew, Nophech. The Tribe of Judah.

5. The Sapphire, in Hebrew, Sapphir. Sapphir.The Tribe of Dan.

6. The Jasper, in Hebrew, Jahalom. Jahalom.The Tribe of Naphtali.

7. The Ligure, in Hebrew, Leshem. The Leshem.Tribe of Gad. Achlamah. 8. The Agate, in Hebrew, Shebo. The Shebo.Tribe of Asher. Tharshish. 9. The Amethyst, in Hebrew, Achlamah. The Tribe of Issachar.

8. The Chrysolyth, in Hebrew, Tharshish. The Tribe of Zebulun.

9. The Onyx, in Hebrew, Shohem. The Shohem.Tribe of Joseph.

10. The Beryl, in Hebrew, Jashpe. The Jashpe.Tribe of Benjamin.

Upon the two Shoulders of the High-priest were two Stones, call’d, in Hebrew, Shohem, in the Vulgate Onyx, in the Septuagint Emeralds. We think this to be the Exodus xxviii. 9.true Signification of the Hebrew Word Shohem.

St. John in his Revelation speaks of Rev. xxi. 19, 20, 21, &c.the New Jerusalem, the Spouse of the Lamb, the Foundations of which were precious Stones. The first Foundation was Jasper,

Acts xviii. 18. שש or שיש Shish.the second Sapphire, the third a Chalcedony, the fourth an Emerald, the fifth Sardonyx, the sixth Sardius, the seventh Chrysolite, the eighth Beryl, the ninth a Topaz, the tenth a Chrysoprasus, the eleventh a Jacinth, the twelfth an Amethyst. To these precious Stones may be added the Stone of Shish, Sis, Ses, or Sais, mention’d 1 Chron. xxix. 2. and Esth. i. 6. which is commonly translated by fine white Marble. See PARIUS LAPIS.

1 Chron. xxii. 2. 1 Chron. xxix. 2. Isa. liv. 11.The Stone Gazith. But I take this to be a common Marble, sawed and polished.

The Stone of Phuc. Phuc, in Hebrew, signifies Antimony, or Paint. We may see by Isaiah, that the Stone of Phuc was used for Pavements. The Stone of Stibium, or Antimony, is a Mineral of a black Colour, full of shining Veins, like polish’d Iron, and which has an intermediate Nature, between Metal and Stone.

Also in Scripture mention is made of several remarkable Rocks or Stones, that were noted for some memorable Events. Such were,

The Rock or Stone of the Desart. This was the City Petra: See its Article.

The Stone or Rock of Division. This is the Rock wherein David and his People were besieged by Saul, when it was told him, that the Philistines had made an Incursion into his Kingdom. This obliged 1 Sam. xxiii. 28. &c.him to quit his Undertaking, to go after the Enemy.

The Rock Etam. A Rock wherein Samson lay hid, while he made War against the Judg.xv.8. Judg. vii. 25.Philistines.

The Stone or Rock Oreb, where Gideon put to Death Oreb the Prince of Midian.

The Rock of Adullam, wherein was a Cave where David conceal’d himself. 1 Chron. xi. 15.

1 Sam. v. 1. 1 Sam. xx. 19. Psal. cxv. 21.The Stone of Ezel, or the Rock near which David was to expect the Answer of his Friend Jonathan.

The Stone of Succour. This is the Place where the Philistines took the Ark of the Lord.

The Corner-Stone, or the Head Stone of the Corner. This is that which is put at the Angle of a Building, whether at the Foundation, or at the Top of the Wall. Jesus Christ was that Corner-Stone which was rejected by the Jews, but is become the Corner-Stone of the Church,⁷³ and the Stone that binds and unites the Synagogue and the Gentiles in the Union of the same Faith, of the same Baptism, of the same Church.

1 Kings i. 9.The Stone of Zoheleth, as the Rabbins say, was a Stone that served for Exercise to the younger People, who try’d their Strength, either in lifting it, casting it, or

rolling it; for they are not intirely agreed as to its Use. See also Zech. xii. 3. A Stone of Proof.

The Stone of Bohan, or Aben-bohan, is mention’d Josh. xv. 6. xviii. 17.

Josh. x. 11.The Hebrews give sometimes the Name of Stone or Rock to Kings, to Princes, or to God himself. Joseph in Egypt became the Stone of Israel, Gen. xlix. 24. They also give the Name of Stones to the Weights Levit. xix. 36. Deut. xxv. 13.they use in Commerce. Just Weights shall ye have: The Hebrew says, just Stones. Thou shalt not have in thy Bag divers Weights, A great and a small. The Hebrew says, a Stone and a Stone. The Stone of the 2Sam. xiv. 26.King, is the King’s Weight. See also Prov. xvi. 11. xx. 10, 23. Mic. vi. 11. A Stone of Fraud, is a deceitful Weight.

They call a great Shower of Hail, Hailstones. See Isai. xxx. 30. Ezek. xiii. 12, 13. xxxviii. 22.

Jacob’s Stone. This is the Stone that he made use of for a Pillow, when he went to Mesopotamia, and upon which he poured Oil, Gen. xxvi. 18.by a kind of Consecration, because it was to be set up as an Altar to the Lord after his Return. And, in effect, he did come hither to pay his Vows, and to offer his Sacrifices, after he return’d out of that Country. ‘Twas from Gen. xxxv. 14.Jacob’s anointing of this Stone, that the Pagans took up the Practice of pouring Oil upon certain Stones which they worshipped. Clemens Alexandrinus assures us, that they Cle. Alex. Strom. l. 7. Arnob. cont. Gent. l. 1.pay’d a religious Worship to these kind of Stones. Arnobius acknowledges, that he himself had fall’n into this kind of Idolatry, before he embraced Christianity: Si quando conspexeram lubricatum lapidem, & ex olivi unguine lubricatum, tanquam inesset vis præsens, adulabar, affabar.

The antient Phenicians call’d by the Name of Bethulæa, such Stones as were Euseb. præpar. l. 1. c. 10. Apud Photium, cod. 242.consecrated to divine Worship. Sanchoniathon ascribes the Invention of them to the God Cœlus; he says, they are living and animated Stones. They were seen for a long Time about Mount Libanus. Asclepiades takes notice of ‘em near Heliopolis in Syria; and Damascius says, he has seen of ‘em in the Air, and in Motion. They ascribed Oracles to them, and the Presence of some Deity, or of some Genius that animated them. Some of these Bethulæa were consecrated to Saturn, others to the Sun, and others to other Deities. Hesychius says, that the Poets call the Stone, which Saturn devoured instead of his Son Jupiter, by the Name of Bethula. I doubt not but that the Word Bethula or Bethulæa, is derived from Bethel, where Jacob anointed a Stone in honour of the true God.

Job xxviii. 18.The Mahometans think,⁷⁴ that Jacob’s Stone was convey’d to the Temple of Jerusalem, and is still preserv’d in a Mosque there, in the Place where they think the Temple formerly stood. They call this Stone Alsakra, or the Stone of Unction. The Cadi Gemaleddin, Son of Vallel, writes, that passing through Jerusalem, in his Way to Egypt, he saw Christian Priests carrying glass Phials full of Wine over the Sakra, near which the Mussulmen had built their Temple, which, for this Reason, they call the Temple of the Stone. This Wine that the Christian Priests set upon the Stone, was, without doubt, design’d for the Celebration of Mass there.

Thunder-Stone. We think the Stone Gabish or Algabish, mention’d by Job and Ez. xiii. 11.Ezekiel, to be the Thunder-Stone.⁷⁵ The Antients had a Knowledge of the Stones call’d Ceraunia, or Thunder-Stones, and had them in much Esteem. Job reckons the Gabish among precious Stones; and Ezekiel says, that the Lord will overwhelm the Wicked by a violent Shower, and will break them to Pieces by the Stone Plin. lib. xxvii. c. 9.Gabish. As Pliny describes it, they were black or red Stones, having the Shape of a Wedge. Anselm de Boot⁷⁶ says, they are shewn in Collections of Rarities; have the Form of a Hatchet, of a Ploughshare, of a Hammer, of a Mallet, or of a Wedge. That their Substance is like that of Flint- Stones; their Colour not uniform; that they are generally perforated, and seem to have served for several Uses, either of War, or for Country Business.

Plin. l. 27. c. 9.These Observations would make one think, that these pretended Thunder- Stones are nothing else but some of those Stones which the Antients made use of instead of Iron, or Steel, to work with, for Arms to attack or to defend themselves with. We find Hatchets, Knives, and Ploughshares of this kind of Stone. The antient Hebrews made use of Stone- Knives for Circumcision. The Galli, or Herodot. l. 7. c. 69.Priests of Iris, also us’d them for cutting. Herodotus says, that the Ethiopians tipt the Ends of their Arrows with very hard Stones. The Hatchets that have been found under the Heads of some Barbarians that were dug up some Years ago,⁷⁷ in a Village near Eureux, were of Stone; and some of ‘em were of a very beautiful and precious green Stone. It is not therefore to be wonder’d at, that they set such a Value on them, and placed them in the Rank of precious Stones.

Even at this Day they ascribe extraordinary Effects to these Thunder-Stones. Pliny says, that the Persian Magians sought with great Care for a sort of Thunder-Stone

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