PE

See 2 Cor. xii. 2. 4., where he states that he was caught up to the third heaven; and, again, that he was caught up to paradise. He was caught up to the third heaven that he might contemplate that scene of supreme felicity, which awaits the just after the resurrection; and he was caught up to paradise that his mind might be contented with a view of their nearer consolations. (Valpy's Gr. Test. on Luke xxiii. 43.)

PARAN, Desert of, notice of, 33, 34. PARASCHIOTH, or ancient divisions of the Pentateuch, read in the Synagogues, 104. Table of them, 105. PARCHMENT, notice of, 182.

PARENTS, crimes against, how punished. See p. 62. PARTHIANS are mentioned in Acts ii. 9. in conjunction with the Medes. The empire of Parthia subsisted four hundred years, and disputed for the dominion of the East with the Romans. The Parthians were celebrated for their veneration of their kings, and for their way of fighting by flight, and shooting their arrows backwards. They dwelt between Media and Mesopotamia; in all which trans-Euphratensian places, except some parts of Babylon, and of some other small prefectures, the Jews abounded, and some of them were at Jerusalem when the Holy Ghost fell on the apostles.

PASSOVER, feast of, how celebrated, 123–125. Its spiritual import, 125, 126. A proof of the credibility of the Old Testament, I. 66.

PATARA (Acts xxi. 1.), a sea-port town of Syria, anciently of considerable note. Extensive ruins mark its former magnificence and extent. Its port is now entirely choked up by encroaching sands. (Col. Leake's Tour in Asia Minor, pp. 182, 183.)

PATHROS, a city and district of Egypt, mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah (xliv. i. 15.), and Ezekiel (xxix. 14. and xxx. 14.) The inhabitants of this country are called Pathrusim in

Gen. x. 14.

PATMOS, an island in the Ægean Sea, whither the apostle and evangelist John was banished, A. n. 94, and where he had the revelations which he has recorded in the Apocalypse.

PATRIARCHAL government, nature of, 40.

PAUL, who was also called Saul, the distinguished apostle of the Gentiles. A Pharisee by profession, and a Roman citizen by birth, he was at first a furious persecutor of the Christians; but after his miraculous conversion, he became a zealous and faithful preacher of the faith which he had before laboured to destroy. See a copious account of the life and apostolic labours of Saint Paul in pp. 321-329.

PAY of Jewish soldiers, 87.

PEACE-OFFERINGS, notice of, 118.

PERAHIAH, the seventeenth king of Israel, succeeded his father Menahem, and followed the example of his predecessors in maintaining the idolatrous institutions of Jereboain I. After reigning about two years, he was assassinated at Samaria by PEKAH, an officer of his guards, who held the throne about twenty years. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." (2 Kings xv. 27, 28.) Towards the close of his reign, his dominions were overrun by Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, who carried his subjects into captivity; and Pekah himself was assassinated by Hoshea. (2 Kings xv. 29, 30.) PELETHITES, notice of, 46. 87.

PE

nion; the remainder are members of the Greek Church. They have each one church, but the other churches of Pergamos have been converted into mosques, and are profaned with the blasphemies of the pseudo-prophet Mohammed. There are also about 100 Jews, who have a synagogue. Pergamos, or Bergamo, as it is now called, lies about sixty-four miles north of Smyrna. Its present state is described by Mr. Arundell, in his visit to the Seven Asiatic Churches, pp. 281-290.

PERIZZITES, the ancient inhabitants of Palestine, mingled with the Canaanites. It is very probable that they were Canaanites, who had no fixed habitations, and lived sometimes in one country, sometimes in another, and were thence called Perizzites, which term signifies scattered or dispersed. The Perizzites did not inhabit any certain portion of the land of Canaan. In several places of Scripture the Canaanites and Perizzites are mentioned as the chief people of the country. Thus, we read that, in the time of Abraham and Lot, the Canaanite and Perizzite were in the land. (Gen. xiii. 7.) Solomon subdued the remains of the Canaanites and Perizzites, which the children of Israel had not rooted out, and made them tributary. (1 Kings ix. 20, 21. 2 Chron. viii. 7.) There is mention of the Perizzites by Ezra, after the return from Babylon; and several Israelites had married wives of that nation. (Ezra ix. 1.)

PERJURY, punishment of, among the Jews, 62.

PERSIA, a country of Asia, bounded on the west by Media and Susiana; on the south by the Persian Gulf; on the north by the great desert that lay between it and Parthia Proper; and on the east by another still greater, that lay between it and the river Indus. Until the time of Cyrus, and his succession to the Median empire, it was an inconsiderable country, always subject to the Assyrians, Babylonians, or Medes. Its capital city was Persepolis, now Chelminar: lat. 30 degrees. In the neighbourhood of which, to the south-east, was Passagardæ, where was the tomb of Cyrus.

The ruins of Persepolis are remarkable, among other things, for the figures, or symbols, to be seen on the walls and pillars of the temple. Sir John Chardin observed there rams' heads with horns, one higher, and the other lower, exactly corresponding to Daniel's vision of the Medo-Persian empire: the lower horn denoting the Medes, the higher, which came up last, the Persians. (Dan. viii. 3.) A winged lion, with a crown on his head; alluding, perhaps, to the symbolical representation of the Assyrian empire, by "a lion, with eagle's wings;" denoting their ferocious strength and cruelty, and the rapidity of their conquest. (Dan. vii. 4.)

Sketch of the History of the Persian Empire, illustrative of the Prophetic Writings.

CYRUS, who is deservedly called the Great, both on account of his extensive conquests, and also for his liberation of the captive Hebrews, was the son of Cambyses, a Persian grandee, and Mandane the daughter of Astyages king of the Medians. He was born A. M. 3405, в. c. 599. one year after his uncle Cyaxares the brother of Mandane. Weary of obeying the Medians, Cyrus engaged the Persians to revolt from them. He attacked and defeated Astyages his maternal grandfather, whose life he spared, and gave him the government of Hyrcania, satisfied with having liberated the Persians, and compelled the Medes to pay him tribute. Not long after, the latter rebelled against him; and

PEOR, OF BAAL-PEOR, notice of, 137, 138.
PEREA, district of, 18.

PERFUME boxes of the Hebrew women, 158.

PERGA, a city of Pamphylia (Acts xiii. 13.), memorable among the heathens for a temple of Diana built there; and among the Christians for the departure thence of John-Mark from Barnabas and Paul, to Jerusalem, which occasioned the rupture between them for a season. (Acts xv. 37. 40.)

64

PERGAMOS OF PERGAMUS was the ancient metropolis of Mysia, and the residence of the Attalian kings; it still preserves many vestiges of its ancient magnificence. Against the church at Pergamos, was adduced the charge of instability (Rev. ii. 14, 15.); but to its wavering faith was promised the all-powerful protection of God. The errors of Balaam and the Nicolaitanes have been purged away. Pergamos has been preserved from the destroyer; and three thousand Christians" (out of a population of about 15,000 inhabitants) "now cherish the rites of their religion in the same spot where it was planted by the hands of St. Paul." (Emerson's Letters from the Ægean, vol. i. p. 216.) Of these Christians, about 200 belonged to the Armenian commu

Medes, Cyrus directed his arms against the Babylonians, whose ally Croesus king of Lydia, having come to their assistance, was defeated and obliged to retire into his own country. Cyrus continued to prosecute the war against the Babylonians, and having settled every thing in that country, he followed Croesus into Lydia, whom he totally discomfited, and overran his territories. Thus far we have followed the narrative of Justin (lib. i. c. 7.): Herodotus relates events nearly in the same order (lib. i. c. 178.), but places the Babylonian war after the war with Croesus, and the entire reduction of Lydia. He says that Labynitus (the Belshazzar of Scripture) was at that time the king of Babylon, and that Cyrus, having subdued his other enemies, at length attacked and defeated the Babylonians, who withdrew into their city, which was both strongly fortified and amply stored with provisions. Cyrus finding that the siege would be protracted, diverted the course of the Euphrates, by causing great ditches to be dug on both sides of the city, above and below, that its waters might flow into them; the river being thus rendered passable, his soldiers entered the city through its channel. Babylon was taken, and the impious Belshazzar was put to death. (Dɛn. v. 30.) So extensive was that city, that the inlrabitants of each extremity

PH

were ignorant of its capture, though the enemy was in its very centre; and as a great festival had been celebrated on that day, the whole city was absorbed in pleasure and amusements. Cyrus constituted his uncle Cyaxares (or Darius the Mede) king of the Chaldæans. (Dan. v. 31.) Cyrus immediately restored the captive Jews to liberty (2 Chron. xxxvi. 22. Ezra i. 1.), and commanded pecuniary assistance to be given to those who stood in need of it. He died A. M. 3475, B. c. 529, in the seventieth year of his age, though historians are by no means agreed concerning the manner of his death.

Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, was one of the most cruel princes recorded in history. As soon as he was seated on the throne, he invaded and conquered Egypt, and reigned there three years. At the same time he detached part of his army against the Ethiopians, and commanded his generals to pillage the temple of Jupiter Ammon. Both these expeditions were unfortunate. The army which had been sent against the latter perished in the sands of the deserts; and that which he led against the former, for want of provisions, was compelled to return with great loss. Mortified at his disappointments, Cambyses now gave full vent to the cruelty of his disposition, He killed his sister Meröe, who was also his wife; he commanded his brother Smerdis to be put to death, and killed many of his principal officers; he treated the gods of the Egyptians with the utmost contempt, and committed every possible outrage against them. Hearing at length that his throne was filled by an usurper, who pretended to be his brother Smerdis, and reigned at Babylon, he set out on his return to his dominions, but died at Ecbatana, a town in Syria, situated at the foot of Mount Carmel.

A. M. 3482, B. c. 522. After the death of Cambyses, the Persian throne was usurped by seven Magi, who governed for some time, making the people believe that their sovereign was Smerdis the brother of Cambyses. The Samaritans, who were always jealous of the prosperity of the Jews, obtained an edict from the pseudo-Smerdis (called ARTAXERXES in the Scriptures), prohibiting them from rebuilding the temple and fortifications of Jerusalem. (Ezra iv. 7. 16.) This interruption continued until the second year of Darius the son of Hystaspes.

A. M. 3483, B. c. 521. The imposition of the Magi being at length discovered, DARIUS the son of Hystaspes was acknowledged king. Having been informed of the permission which Cyrus had granted to the Jews to rebuild their temple, he allowed them to resume the work (Ezra iv. 24. vi. 1.), which they had commenced by the exhortations and encouragement of the prophets Haggai (i. 1.) and Zechariah (i. 1. Ezra v. 1.) This Darius is the Ahasuerus who married Esther and granted various privileges to the Jews. (See the book of Esther, throughout.)

A. M. 3519, B. c. 485. Xerxes succeeded Darius in the Persian throne; but as no particulars are recorded of him as connected with the Jews, we pass on to the reign of his successor ARTAXERXES, who greatly favoured them, first sending Ezra into Judæa (Ezra vii. viii.), and afterwards Nehemiah, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. (Neh. ii. iii.) The Persian monarchy subsisted for many centuries after this event; but, as its history is not connected with that of the Jews, it would be foreign to the plan of this abstract to give the succession of its sovereigns. (Calmet, Histoire Prophane de l'Orient, § IV. Dissert. tom. ii. pp. 336 -341.)

PERSON, crimes against, how punished, 63, 64.
PESTILENCE OF PLAGUE, 38.

PESTILENTIAL BLAST or WIND, 40.

PETER, one of the apostles, formerly called Simon: he was of Bethsaida, and was the son of Jonas, a fisherman, which occupation he also followed. When he was called to the apostleship by our Saviour, he received the name of Herpes, which signifies a stone (John i. 43.), probably in reference to the boldness and firmness of his character, and his zeal and activity in promoting his Master's cause. See a further account of Peter and an analysis of the two epistles which bear his name, in pp. 362-364. PHARAOH, a common appellation of the ancient kings of Egypt, who after the age of Alexander were in like manner termed Ptolemy. Jablonski states, that PHOURO, in the common Egyptian dialect, and PHARRO, in the very ancient dialect, spoken in the Thebaid, respectively denote a king. (Opuscala, tom. i. p. 376.) Mr. Weston derives this name from PIOVRO, which signifies my king, and which the Greeks rendered. (Sunday Lessons on Gen. xii. 15.) The following are the principal sovereigns of this name, who are mentioned in the Old Testa

reent:

PH

1. PHARAOH, king of Egypt, and contemporary with Abraham. His officers having eulogized the beauty of Sarah, the patriarch's wife, Pharaoh sent for her to his harem, and conferred many presents on her husband, whom he imagined to be her brother. Pharaoh and his family being “plagued with great plagues" by the Almighty, he discovered his error, and restored Sarah to Abraham, whom he sent out of Egypt. (Gen. xii. 10—20.) 2. PHARAOH, the contemporary of Joseph; who, having interpreted his prophetic dreams, was rewarded with distinguished honours, and raised to the office of "ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Gen. xli.) Pharaoh participated in Joseph's joy, at his reconciliation with his brethren, and with noble generosity permitted him to invite his family into Egypt. On the arrival of Jacob and his sons, he gave them a hospitable reception, notwithstanding shepherds were held in abomination by the Egyptians, and assigned them a residence in the land of Goshen. And on Jacob's decease, he permitted Joseph to make a journey into Canaan, to bury him. (Gen. xlv. 16. xlvii. 1. 1.4.) This Pharaoh is the sovereign alluded to by Stephen in Ácts vii. 10. 13.

3. PHARAOH, a king of Egypt, gave one of his daughters in marriage to Mered, a descendant of Judah. (1 Chron. iv. 18.) This remarkable alliance must have taken place while the He brews were the guests and not the slaves of the Egyptians; and this prince must certainly have been one of the first successors of the master of Joseph.

4. PHAROAH, king of Egypt, the contemporary of Moses, reigned at the period when Jacob's descendants had already become a great people. The genealogical lists of that period, which are extant, in harmony with the sacred historians, show how rapidly the race of Israel had multiplied. (1 Chron. iv. 1—27.) This prince adopted the false policy of oppressing the Hebrews in the manner related in Exod. ii., little thinking that his own daughter would save from the waters of the Nile the future avenger and deliverer of the Israelites. The recent discoveries, which have thrown new light on Egyptian antiquities, and which harmonize more and more with the sacred history, enable us to recognise the Pharaohs, who are mentioned in the Bible subse quent to the time of Moses. The king, during whose reign Moses was born, can only be Rameses or Ramses IV. surnamed Mei-Amoun, the last sovereign but one of the eighteenth dynasty. The first oppression of the Israelites (Exod. i. 11. 14.) most probably commenced under Thoutmosis III. a predecessor of this prince. But the succeeding narrative of the proscription of all the male Hebrew children, and the birth of Moses, relates only to this Ramses-Mei-Amoun. (Compare Vol. I. p. 88.) 5. PHARAOH, the contemporary of Moses, had reigned about eighteen years, when Moses was commanded to return into Egypt, Ramses-Mei-Amoun and his personal enemies being dead. (Exod. iv. 19.) His history is contained in Exod. vi.—xii.: he perished with his army in the Red Sea. (xiv. 5-31.) This Pharoah is Amenophis or Ramses V. the last king of the eighteenth dynasty, and the father of Ramses VI. or Sesostris.

6. PHARAOH, the contemporary of David, received at his court, and honourably entertained Hadad, prince of Idumæa (to whom he gave his wife's sister in marriage), after the conquest of that country by the Hebrews. (1 Kings xi. 17-19.) He was one of the last kings of the twenty-first or Tanite dynasty, and most probably was a different person from the Pharaoh who is next to be noticed, because it is difficult to conceive how the protector of Hadad could be the father-in-law of Solomon.

7. PHARAOH, the contemporary of Solomon, gave the Hebrew king his daughter in marriage, with the city of Gezer as a portion. (1 Kings ix. 16.) This prince, the last sovereign of the twenty-first or Tanite dynasty, was probably dethroned and put to death by Shishak, who was contemporary with Rehoboam. M. Coquerel (to whom we are indebted for this account of the Pharaohs) thinks that Eccl. iv. 14. may allude to this event.

8. PHARAOH-NECHO, the contemporary of Josiah king of Judah, took up arms against the new empire of the Chaldeans, which was rapidly advancing and threatening Asia. He resolved to carry the war across the Euphrates into the very centre of the Chaldæan empire; but being opposed in his passage by Josiah, an ally of the Chaldæan monarch, to whom he in vain offered terms of peace, he totally discomfited the forces of the Jewish king near Megiddo. He then marched to Jerusalem, which city he entered by force or by capitulation; and, deposing Jehoahaz who had just succeeded his father upon the throne, he gave the crown of Judah to his elder brother Jehoiakim, and levied a heavy military contribution on the kingdom of Judah. Encouraged by

PH

these successes, Necho proceeded on his Asiatic expedition, taking with him Jehoahaz, whom he left prisoner at Riblah. He made himself master of Carchemish on the Euphrates; where, after three years' warfare with various success, he was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, and forced to return into Egypt with the wreck of his army. On his return, he took the captive Jehoahaz with him. (2 Kings xxiii. 29-34. xxiv. 7. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20-24. xxxvi. 1-4.) The Scripture account of the war carried on by Pharaoh-Necho against the Jews and Babylonians is confirmed by an ancient monument discovered in Egypt by the late enter prising traveller Belzoni. (See Vol. I. pp. 89, 90.) PharaohNecho, the son of Psammetichus, and the sixth king of the twenty-sixth dynasty, that of the Sa tes, is celebrated in profane history, for his project of digging a canal, to join the Nile to the Red Sea, and by the voyage of discovery which his vessels, manned by Phoenician sailors, made round Africa.

9. PHARAOH-HOPHRA, the Apries or Vaphres of profane historians, was the son of Psammis, and grandson of PharaohNecho. He was the eighth king of the twenty-sixth dynasty, and contemporary with Zedekiah king of Judah, with whom he formed an alliance against Nebuchadnezzar. During the last siege of Jerusalem, Hophra took arms, and advanced to succour his ally. This diversion was useful for a short time; but, agrecably to the predictions of Jeremiah, the Egyptians notwithstanding their brilliant promises, withdrew without fighting, or at least without making any resistance. After the destruction of Jerusalem, when, deaf to the counsels of Jeremiah, Azariah and Johanan took refuge in Egypt, the prophet predicted to them the deplorable end of Hophra. (Ezek. xvii. 15. Jer. xxxvii. 5. xliii. 9. xliv. 30. xlvi. 26.) The prophet Ezekiel (xxix.) reproaches Pharaoh with his base conduct towards the king of Judah, and foretells that Egypt should be reduced to a desert, and that the sword should cut off both man and beast. This prediction was afterwards accomplished, first in the person of Pharaoh-Hophra, who was deprived of his kingdom by Amasis who usurped his throne, and subsequently by the conquest of Egypt by the Persians.

PHARISEES, tenets of the sect of, 144, 145.
PHARPAR, river. See ABANA, p. 401.

PHILADELPHIA, a city of Asia Minor, derived its name from its founder, Attalus Philadelphus, and is situated about twentyseven miles to the south-east of Sardis. Not long before the date of the Apocalyptic Epistle, this city had suffered so much from earthquakes, that it had been in a great measure deserted by its inhabitants; which may in some degree account for the poverty of this church as described in this epistle. And its poverty may also in some degree account for its virtue, which is so highly commended. 66 Philadelphia appears to have resisted the attacks of the Turks in 1312 with more success than the other cities. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperor, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years, and at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans (Bajazet) in 1390. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect-a column in a scene of ruins!" (Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. xi. p. 438. 8vo. edit.) Whatever may be lost of the spirit of Christianity, there is still the form of a Christian church in this city, which is now called Allah-Shehr, or the city of God. It contains about 1000 Christians, chiefly Greeks, most of whom speak only the Turkish language. They have twentyfive places of public worship, five of which are large and regular churches, with a resident bishop and inferior clergy. The remains of antiquity here are not numerous. (Hartley's Visit to the Apocalyptic Churches, in Missionary Register, July, 1827, pp. 324–326. Arundell's Visit, pp. 167-174.)

PHILEMON, an opulent Christian at Colossæ; whose slave Onesimus having fled from him to Rome, where he was converted by Saint Paul, the apostle sent him back to his master with the admirable letter, which now forms the epistle to Philemon for an analysis of which, see pp. 347-349. PHILIP.

1. The son of Herod, misnamed the Great, by his wife Cleopatra; who, in the division of his father's kingdom, was made tetrarch of Batanæa, Trachonitis, and Ituræa. (Luke iii. 1.) He enlarged and embellished the city of Paneas, to which he gave his own name, and called it Cæsarea, in honour of the emperor Tiberius.

2. Another son of the same Herod by Mariamne, daughter of Simon the high-priest. He was the husband of Herodias, who was taken from him by his brother Herod Antipas. Having

PH

been disinherited by his father, he lived a private life. (Matt xiv. 3. Mark vi. 7. Luke iii. 19.) As Josephus calls this prince Herod, and the evangelist Philip, it is not improbable, that, after the custom of the Herodian family, he bore both those names. 3. One of the apostles of Jesus Christ, a native of Bethsaida. (Matt. x. 3. Mark iii. 18. Luke vi. 14. John i. 44-47. 49. vi. 5. xii. 21, 22. xiv. 8, 9.) He was with the rest of the apostles and disciples who assembled for prayer in an upper room at Jerusalem, after the ascension. (Acts i. 13, 14.) Of the subsequent history of this apostle, nothing certain is known. He is said to have preached the Gospel in Scythia and Phrygia, and was interred at Hierapolis in Phrygia Pacatiana, where he suffered martyrdom.

4. One of the seven deacons of the church at Jerusalem. (Acts vi. 5.) He preached the Gospel at Samaria, where he performed many miracles, and converted many to the faith o Christ. Afterwards he received a divine command to go towards the south, to the road leading from Gaza to Jerusalem: here he met an eunuch of Candace queen of Ethiopia, whom he likewise converted to the Christian faith. (Acts viii. 5-38.) After baptizing the eunuch, Philip stopped some time at Azotus; anu "passing through, he preached in all the cities until he came to Cæsarea," where he appears to have fixed his residence. He had four daughters; who, like Agabus, according to circumstances, received the gift of prophecy. (Acts viii. 40. xxi. 8, 9.) PHILIPPI was a city of Macedonia Prima, or the first of the four parts into which that province was divided. (See Vol. I. p. 90.) It was of moderate extent, and situated on the confines of Thrace. It was formerly called Crenides from its numerous springs, and afterwards Datus from the coal mines in its vicinity. The name of Philippi is received from Philip the father of Alexander, who fortified it, and made it a frontier town against the Thracians. Julius Cæsar planted a colony here, which was afterwards enlarged by Augustus, and hence its inhabitants were considered as freemen of Rome. Christianity was first planted at Philippi, by Saint Paul, A. D. 50, the particulars of which are related in Acts xvi. 9-40.

PHILISTINES, Land of, 15. Account of, ibid. Nature of the disease inflicted upon them, 196.

PHILOLOGUS, a Christian at Rome, whom St. Paul salutes in his epistle to the Romans. (xvi. 6.) M. Coquerel is of opinion that he was probably a slave who had been restored to liberty, and who received the name of Philologus, in consequence of his having been instructed in literature and the sciences.

PHINEAS, the son of Eleazar, and grandson of Aaron, was the third high-priest of the Jews. He is greatly commended for his zeal for the glory of God in the affair of Zimri and Cosbi (Num. xxv. 7.): for which God promised that the priesthood should be given to his posterity by a perpetual covenant; this condition being included (as interpreters observe), that his children should continue faithful and obedient. The time of his death is not known.

PHOEBE, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea, whom Saint Paul strongly recommends to the Christians at Rome in his epistle (xvi. 1, 2.), for her hospitality to himself. The deaconesses in the primitive church were sometimes married women, but most frequently widows advanced in years, and who had been the wife of one man; that is, one who had not parted with one husband and married another, a practice which at that time was usual both among the Jews and heathens. (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.) Their functions consisted in taking care of the sick and poor of their own sex, visiting the prisoners and martyrs, instructing catechumens, assisting at the baptism of women, and various other inferior offices. Phœbe is supposed to have been the bearer of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans.

PHOENICE, OF PHOENICIA, a province of Syria, which extended from the Gulf of Issus, where it bounded Cilicia on the north, along the coast southwards, to the termination of the ridges of Libanus and Antilibanus, near Tyre, where it met the border of Palestine. In breadth it only comprehended the narrow tract between the continuation of Mount Libanus and the sea. The country was exceedingly fertile; and as a commercial nation, the Phoenicians are the most celebrated people of antiquity. They planted many colonies, and, among others, Carthage. The principal cities of Phoenicia were PTOLEMAIS, SIDON, and TYRE, of which a notice is given in the subsequent part of this index. Idols worshipped by them, 138.

PO

the east, Pamphylia and Lycia on the south, Lydia and Mysia on the west. Its chief cities mentioned in Scripture (Col. ii. 1.) are Laodicea and Hierapolis; and of this St. Luke seems to speak in Acts ii. 10. because he joins it with Pamphylia below it. In Acts xvi. 6. he means Phrygia Minor. The inhabitants are said to have been a servile people, kept in their duty best by stripes, and made wise only by sufferings. In all these parts of Asia Minor, even to Bythinia and the Euxine Sea, the Jews anciently were very numerous.

PaUT, or PUT, the name of an African people. According to Josephus (Ant. Jud. l. i. c. 7.) they were the inhabitants of Mauritania, where there is a river called Phut. (Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. v. c. 1.) According to the Septuagint and Vulgate versions they were the Libyans. (Jer. xlvi. 9. Ezek. xxvii. 10. xxxviii. 5. Nah. iii. 9.) They are supposed to have been the descendants of Phut, the third son of Ham. (Gen. x. 6.) PHYLACTERIES described, 156.

PHYSICS, or Medicine, state of, 194-197. PHYSICS, or natural philosophy of the Jews, 186. PIHAHIROTH OF HIROTH, without the prefix, a place on the Red Sea, where the Israelites made their second encampment. (Exod. xiv. 2. 9. Num. xiii. 7.) As the Israelites were properly delivered at this place from their captivity, and fear of the Egyptians (Exod. xiv. 5.), Dr. Shaw thinks that derived its

name from that circumstance. (Travels, vol. ii. p. 98.)
PILATE, Pontius, notice of, 53.
PISGAH, Mount, 31.

PISIDIA (Acts xiv. 24.), a country in Asia Minor, having Pamphylia on the south, Galatia on the north, Isauria on the east, and Phrygia on the west. Its chief city was Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 14.), so called to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria.

PISON, one of the four great rivers which watered the garden of Eden. (Gen. ii. 11, 12.) The author of the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, speaking of a wise man, says, that "he filleth all things with his wisdom," or spreads it on every side, "as Phison and Tigris" spread their waters "in the time of the new fruits," that is, when they are swollen by the melting of the winter snows. Calmet, Reland, and others, suppose it to be the Phasis, a celebrated river of Colchis; Eusebius and Jerome, after Josephus, make it to be the Ganges, which passing into India falls into the ocean.

PITHOм, one of the cities built by the Israelites for Pharaoh. (Exod. i. 11.) Sir John Marsham imagines it to be Pelusium; but it is most probably the arcuμcs of Herodotus. (Hist. l. ii. c. 158.), by the Arabians in later times called Fijum or Faijum (pronounced Faioum), which is also applied to the province. PLAGUE, not unknown in Palestine, 38.

PLAINS of the Holy Land, account of, 33.

PLEADING, form of, among the Jews, in civil and criminal cases, 55, 56.

PLOUGHING, Jewish mode of, 177.

POETRY, cultivated by the Hebrews, 186.
POLITENESS, Jewish forms of, 168, 169.

POLITICAL Divisions of the Holy Land, 15-18. Political State of the Israelites and Jews from the patriarchal times to the destruction of their polity by the Romans, 40-48.

POLYGAMY, why tolerated among the Jews, 160. Abolished by Christianity, ibid.

POMEGRANATE trees of Palestine, 36.

PONTUS, a province of Asia Minor, having the Euxine Sea on the north, Cappadocia on the south, Paphlagonia and Galatia on the east, and the Lesser Armenia on the west. It is supposed that Saint Peter preached in Pontus, because he addresses his first Epistle to the believing Hebrews, who were scattered throughout this and the neighbouring provinces.

POOLS of Solomon, 29. Pool of Bethesda, 21. And of Siloam, ibid.

POOR, Jewish laws concerning, 83.

POPULATION of the Holy Land, 38. Of Jerusalem, 22.
PORCH of Solomon, 99.

POSSESSIONS, demoniacal, reality of, 197.

POTIPHAR, the captain of Pharaoh's body guard, who purchased Joseph of some Midianitish merchants, and made him superintendent of his house. Afterwards, however, listening to the false charges of his wife, who accused Joseph of attempting to seduce her, he threw Joseph into prison, where he was rigorously confined. It should seem that this rigour was not of very long continuance; and that he restored Joseph to all his confidence, and intrusted him with the management of the prison.

PU

(Gen. xxxvii. 36. xxxix. 19-23.) Potiphar is an Egyptian proper name, which has been explained by the Coptic INT OPPO father, that is, prime minister of PHARRO, or Pharaoh. Some expositors have made a distinction between the master of Joseph and the keeper of the prison into which he was thrown. Others, however, have conjectured, with more probability, that Potiphar, after having punished Joseph in a transport of wrath and jealousy, acknowledged his innocence; but that, in order to avoid disgracing his wife, instead of restoring Joseph to his former office, he confided to him the command of the stateprison.

POTIPHERAH, governor, or, more correctly, priest of On, is known only from the circumstance of his having given his daughter in marriage to Joseph. (Gen. xli. 45. xlvi. 20.) Jablonski supposed it to be the same as the Coptic ПнONTPH, priest of the sun; and the recent discoveries among the Egyptian monuments have shown that his conjecture was not altogether without foundation. PE-THEPH-RE signifies that which belongs to RE or the Sun: this name was peculiarly suitable for a priest of On or Heliopolis, the city of the sun. Undesigned coincidences like these strongly corroborate the antiquity and authenticity of the Mosaic narrative.

POTTER'S FIELD. See ACELDAMA. PRAYERS of the Jews, various appellations of, 131. Public prayers, ibid. Private prayers, ibid. How offered in the synagogues, 104. Attitudes in prayer, 131, 132. Forms of prayer in use among the Jews, 132. The nineteen prayers now used by them, 106, 107.

PREACHING, a part of the synagogue service, 106.
PRECIPITATION, a Jewish punishment, 68.

PREPARATION of the Passover, 123. Of the Sabbath, 122.
PRESENTS offered to superiors, 169.

PRIESTS, privileges and functions of, 112, 113.
PRINCES of tribes and families, 41.

PRAISCA OF PRISCILLA, the wife of Aquila, a converted Jew of Pontus. See AQUILA, p. 407.

PRISONERS (Roman), treatment of, 58-60. Oriental mode of treating prisoners, 66. Probable origin of one being released at the Passover, 123. Eyes of, put out, 66. PRISONS (Jewish), notice of, 65, 66. PRIVILEGES of the first-born, 163. PROCEEDINGS, judicial, forms of, 55—60.

PROCURATORS (Roman), powers of, 52, 53. State of the Jews under them, 53.

PRODUCTIONS of the Holy Land, 35-37.
PROMISE, land of, 13.

PROMULGATION of laws, 47, 48.

PROPERTY, crimes against, how punished, 62, 63. Disposal of property, 164.

PROPHETS, notice of, 47. 116. Punishment of false prophets, 62. Schools of the prophets, 184, 185. (See further the General Index of Matters, No. III. infra. article Prophets.) "The Prophets" an ancient division of the Old Testament, p. 213. of this volume. Table of the sections of the prophets, as read in the Jewish Synagogue, 105.

PROSELYTES, account of, 109.

PROSEUCHE or oratories of the Jews, 102, 103.
PSALTERY, a musical instrument, 184.

PTOLEMAIS, anciently called Accho (Judg. i. 31.), and now known by the name of ACRE, is a port and town situated on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, on the confines of Lower and Upper Galilee. Here Saint Paul rested for one day on his journey from Ephesus to Jerusalem. (Acts xxi. 7.) As this port must always have been of great importance in time of war, the town has, consequently, undergone great changes. During the croisades this city suffered exceedingly both from infidels and Christians, between whom it was the scene of many sanguinary conflicts: at length it fell under the dominion of the late Djezzar Pacha, under whose government and that of his successor it has revived, and is now one of the most considerable towns on the coast. has a beautiful appearance, when beheld from a short distance. This place is celebrated for the repulse there given to Napoleon Buonaparte, by the Turks under the command of Sir Sydney Smith, who, after a long and memorable siege, compelled the French to retire with great loss, and ultimately to abandon Syria. PUBLICANS, or collectors of the revenue, account of, 78, 79. Why odious to the Jews, 79.

Acre

PUBLIUS, an opulent governor of Malta, at the time of St. Paul's shipwreck, who miraculously healed his father of a dan gerous malady. The bay in which the vessel was wrecked was