RE been equally important as a military station or a depôt for supplies, and as a magazine for the collection of such articles of commerce as were exported from the coast. In its present state the town of Ramah is about the size of Jaffa, in the extent actually occupied. The dwellings of the last, however, are crowded together around the sides of a hill, while those of Ramah are scattered widely over the face of the level plain on which it stands. The style of building here is that of high square houses, with flattened domes covering them: and some of the old terraced roofs are fenced around with raised walls, in which are seen pyramids of hollow earthenware pipes, as if to give air and light, without destroying the strength of the wall itself. The inhabitants are estimated at little more than five thousand persons, of whom about one third are Christians of the Greek and Catholic communion, and the remaining two-thirds Mohammedans, chiefly Arabs; the men of power and the military being Turks, and no Jews residing there. The principal occupation of the people is husbandry, for which the surrounding country is highly favourable; and the staple commodities produced by them are corn, olives, oil, and cotton, with some soap and coarse cloth made in the town. There are still remains of some noble subterranean cisterns at Ramah, not inferior either in extent or execution to many of those at Alexandria: they were intended for the same purpose, namely, to serve in time of war as reservoirs of water." (Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 168.) RAMOTH, a famous city in the mountains of Gilead, often called Ramoth-gilead, sometimes Ramoth, and sometimes Ramothmizpeh, or the Watch-tower. (Josh. xiii. 26.) This city belonged to the tribe of Gad. It was assigned to the Levites, and was one of the cities of refuge beyond Jordan. (Deut. iv. 43. Josh. xx. 8. xxi, 38.) It became celebrated during the reigns of the later kings of Ísrael, and was the occasion of several wars between these princes and the kings of Damascus, who had conquered it, and from whom the kings of Israel endeavoured to regain it. (1 Kings xxii. 3-36. 2 Kings viii. 28, 29. 2 Chron. xxii. 5.) Jehoram, king of Judah, was dangerously wounded at the siege of this place; and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, was here anointed king of Israel by a young prophet sent by Elisha. (2 Kings ix. 1-10.) Ahab, king of Israel, was killed in battle with the Syrians before this place. (2 Chron. xviii. 3, 4, 5. et seq.) It is now called Ramza. READING, oriental mode of, 183. REAPING, notice of, 177. REBELS' BEATING, What, 67. RECEPTION of visiters, 169, 170. RECREATIONS of the Jews, 189, 190. RED SEA, that branch of the southern sea which interposes itself between Egypt on the west, Arabia Felix and some part of Arabia Petræa on the east, while its northern extremities touch on the coast of Edom. Edom, it is well known, in the Hebrew tongue signifies Red, and was the name given to Esau for selling his birthright for a mess of pottage. Both the country which was possessed by his posterity (Gen. xxv. 30. xxxvi. 31—40.), and the sea which was contiguous to it, were called after his name; but the Greeks, not understanding the reason of the appellation, translated it into their tongue, and called it Oaxaca Epubpz, whence the Latins termed it Mare Rubrum, and we the Red Sea. It is also called Yam Suph, “the weedy sea,” in several passages (Num. xxxiii. 10. Psal. cvi. 9., &c.) which are improperly rendered "the Red Sea." Some learned authors have supposed that it was so named from the quantity of weeds in it. But Mr. Bruce, who had seen and examined the whole extent of it, states that he never saw a weed of any sort in it; and remarks that a narrow gulf, under the immediate influence of monsoons blowing from contrary points six months each year, would have too much agitation to produce such vegetables, seldom found but in stagnant water, and seldomer, if ever, found in salt water. He is of opinion that the sea derives its name from the large trees, or plants, of white coral, perfectly in imitation of plants on land. One of these, which he from a root nearly central, threw out ramifications measuring twenty-six feet in diameter every way. (Travels, vol. ii. p. 138.) This seems to be the most probable solution that has been hitherto proposed of the name. The tides in this sea are but moderate. At Suez, the difference between high and low water did not exceed from three to four feet, according to Niebuhr's observations on the tides in that gulf, during the years 1762 and 1763. (Voyage en Arabie, p. 363.) saw, RE Every one knows the celebrated mi acle of the passage over the Red Sea, when God opened this sea, dried it up, and made the Israelites pass through it, dry shod, to the number of 600,000, without reckoning old men, women, or children. The rabbins, and many of the ancient fathers, relying on Psal. cxxxvi. 13. (to him which divided the Red Sea into parts), have maintained that the Red Sea was so divided as to make twelve passages; that each of the twelve tribes passed through a different passage. But other authors have advanced that, Moses having lived long near the Red Sea, in the country of Midian, had observed that it kept its regular ebbing and flowing like the ocean; so that, taking the advantage of the time of the ebb, he led the Hebrews over; but the Egyptians not knowing the nature of the sea, and rashly entering it just before the return of the tide, were all swallowed up and drowned, as Moses relates. Thus the priests of Memphis explained it, and their opinion has been adopted by a great number of moderns, particularly by the learned critic and philologer, John David Michaelis, who in the queries which he sent to the Danish traveller M. Niebuhr, while in Egypt, proposed to him to inquire upon the spot, "Whether there were not some ridges of rocks where the water was shallow, so that an army, at particular times, may pass over? Secondly, Whether the Etesian winds, which blow strongly all summer from the north-west, could not blow so violently against the sea as to keep it back on a heap; so that the Israelites might have passed without a miracle?" and a copy of these queries was left also for Mr. Bruce, to join his inquiries likewise, his observations on which are excellent. “I must confess," says he, however learned the gentlemen were who proposed these doubts, I did not think they merited any attention to solve them. This passage is told us by Scripture to be a miraculous one; and, if so, we have nothing to do with natural causes. 66 If we do not believe Moses, we need not believe the transaction at all, seeing that it is from his authority alone we derive it. If we believe in God, that he made the sea, we must believe he could divide it when he sees proper reason; and of that he must be the only judge. It is no greater miracle to divide the Red Sea than to divide the river Jordan. If the Etesian winds, blowing from the north-west in summer, could keep up the sea as a wall on the right, or to the south, of fifty feet high, still the difficulty would remain of building the wall on the left hand or to the north. Besides, water standing in that position for a day must have lost the nature of fiuid. Whence came that cohesion of particles which hindered that wall to escape at the sides? This is as great a miracle as that of Moses. If the Etesian winds had done this once, they must have repeated it many a time before and since, from the same causes. Yet Diodorus Siculus (lib. iii. p. 122.) says the Troglodytes, the indigenous inhabitants of that very spot, had a tradition from father to son, from their very earliest ages, that once this division of the sea did happen there; and that, after leaving its bottom some time dry, the sea again came back, and covered it with great fury.' The words of this author are of the most remarkable kind: we cannot think this heathen is writing in favour of revelation: he knew not Moses, nor says a word about Pharaoh and his host; but records the miracle of the division of the sea in words nearly as strong as those of Moses, from the mouths of unbiassed, undesigning pagans. Were all these difficulties surmounted, what could we do with the pillar of fire? The answer is, We should not believe it. Why, then, believe the passage at all? We have no authority for the one but what is for the other: it is altogether contrary to the ordinary nature of things; and, if not a miracle, it must be a fable." (Vol. ii. pp. 135—137.) Still, such skeptical queries have their use; they lead to a stricter investigation of facts, and thereby tend strongly to confirm the veracity of the history they meant to impeach. Thus it appears, from the accurate observations of Niebuhr and Bruce, that there is no ledge of rocks running across the gulf any where to afford a shallow passage. And the second query, about the Etesian or northerly wind, is refuted by the express mention of a strong easterly wind blowing across, and scooping out a dry passage, not that it was necessary for Omnipotence to employ it there as an instrument, any more than at Jordan; but it seems to be introduced in the sacred history by way of anticipation, to exclude the natural agency that might in after times be employed for solving miracles; and it is remarkable that the monsoon in the Red Sea blows the summer half of the year from the north, the winter half from the south, neither of which could produce however, that "the ground was bare to the very bottom of the gulf” is 1 Diodorus attributes this to an "extraordinary high tide." The fact, admitted by this curious tradition. RH RE the miracle in question. Wishing to diminish, though not to REGION round about Jordan, notice of, 33. deny the miracle, Niebuhr adopts the opinion of those who con- REHOBOAM, the son and successor of Solomon. In his reign tend for a higher passage, near Suez. "For," says he, "the the kingdom of David was divided, the tribes of Judah and Benmiracle would be less if they crossed the sea there, than near jamin retaining their allegiance to Rehoboam, while the other Bedea. But whosoever should suppose that the multitude of ten tribes became subject to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Rehothe Israelites could be able to cross it here, without a prodigy, boam died after reigning 17 years, and was succeeded on the would deceive himself; for even in our days no caravan passes throne of Judah by his son ABIJAH OF ABIJAM, B. c. 954. that way to go from Cairo to Mount Sinai, although it would RELIGION, Corruptions of, among the Jews, 135–143. Parshorten the journey considerably. The passage would have been ticularly in the time of Christ, 148--150. naturally more difficult for the Israelites some thousands of years REMPHAN, a Coptic name of Saturn, who was also worshipback, when the gulf was probably larger, deeper, and more ex-ped under the name of MOLOCH. (Acts vii. 43. Compare tended towards the north; for in all appearance the water has retired, and the ground near this end has been raised by the sands of the neighbouring desert." (p. 354.) But it sufficiently appears, even from Niebuhr's own statement, that the passage of the Israelites could not have taken place near Suez: for, 1. He evidently confounded the town of Kolsum, the ruins of which he places near Suez, and where he supposed the passage to be made with the bay of Kolsum, which began about forty-five miles lower down; as Mr. Bryant has satisfactorily proved from the astronomical observations of Ptolemy and Ulug Beigh, made at Heroum, the ancient head of the gulf. (See his treatise on the Plagues of Egypt, pp. 371, 372.) 2. Instead of crossing the sea at or near Ethan, their second station, the Israelites "turned" southwards along the western shore; and their third station at Pihahiroth, or Bedea, was at least a full day's journey below Ethan, as Mr. Bryant has satisfactorily proved from Scripture. (Exod. xiv. 2.) And it was this unexpected change in the direction of their march, which intimated an intention in the Israelites to quit Egypt; and the apparently disadvantageous situation in which they were then placed, " entangled in the land, and shut in by the wilderness," with a deep sea in front, the mountains of Attaka on the sides, and the enemy in their rear, that tempted the Egyptians to pursue them through the valley of Bedea, by the direct road from Cairo; who "overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, opposite to Baalzephon." (Exod. xiv. 2—9.) Niebuhr wonders how the Israelites could suffer themselves to be brought into such a disadvantageous situation, or be led blindfold by Moses to their apparent destruction: "one need only travel with a caravan," says he "which meets with the least obstacle, viz. a small torrent, to be convinced that the Orientals do not let themselves be led, like fools, by their Caravan Baschi," or leader of the caravan. (p. 350.) But the Israelites went out of Egypt with "a high hand," though led by Moses, yet under the visible guidance and protection of "THE LORD GOD of the Hebrews," who went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; and who, for their encouragement to enter the passage of the sea miraculously prepared for them, removed the cloud which went before the camp of Israel hitherto, and placed it behind them. (Exod. xiv. 8—20.) “And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to the one, but gave light by night to the other; so that the one came not near the other all the night." (Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. i. pp. 388-391.) The preceding elaborate view of this subject furnishes a most clear and satisfactory answer to the cavils of modern infidels. Various ancient traditions among the heathen historians attest the reality of the miraculous passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites to which we may add that it is manifest from the text of Moses and other sacred authors, who have mentioned this miraculous passage, that no other account is supportable but that which supposes the Hebrews to cross over the sea from shore to shore, in a vast space of dry ground which was left void by the waters at their retiring. (Exod. xiv. 16, 17, &c.) To omit the numerous allusions in the book of Psalms, Isaiah says (lxiii. 11, &c.) that the Lord divided the waves before his people, that he conducted them through the bottom of the abyss, as a horse is led through the midst of a field. Habakkuk says (iii. 15.), that the Lord made himself a road to drive his chariot and horses across the sea, across the mud of great waters. Lastly, in the apochryphal book of Wisdom we read (xix. 7, 8. x. 17, 18.), that the dry land appeared all on a sudden in a place where water was before; that a free passage was opened in a moment through the midst of the Red Sea ; and that a green field was seen in the midst of the abyss. REFUGE, cities of, 16. p. 137.) RENDING of garments, a sign of mourning, 159. REPHAIM OF RAPHAIM, the sons of Rapha (2 Sam. xxi. 16. 18. Heb. and marginal rendering), a Canaanitish race of giants that dwelt beyond the Jordan (Gen. xiv. 5. xv. 20. Josh. xvii. 15.), from whom the gigantic Og king of Bashan was descended. (Deut. iii. 11.) In a wider sense, this word seems to have included all the giant tribes of Canaan. (Deut. ii. 11. 20.) In subsequent times, the sons of Rapha appear to have been men of extraordinary strength among the Philistines. (2 Sam. xxi. 16. 18. marg. rend.) The VALLEY OF THE REPHAIM (for an account of which see pp. 31, 32.) derives its name from this tribe. REPHIDIM, a station or encampment of the Israelites in the desert (Exod. xvii. 1.), where the Israelites were miraculously supplied with water out of the rock of MERIBAH. It is an insulated rock, at the foot of Mount Sinai, about six yards square, according to Dr. Shaw, but Mr. Carne says that it is about five yards long, five in height, and four yards wide. This rock, which is of granite, is in Deut. viii. 15. rightly called a rock of flint, in consequence of its hardness: it lies, tottering, as it were, and loose, near the middle of the valley, and seems formerly to have been a part or cliff of Mount Sinai. The waters which gushed out, and the stream which flowed withal (Psal. vii. 8. 21.), have hollowed across one corner of this rock a channel about two inches deep, and twenty inches wide. There are also four or five fissures, one above the other, on the face of the rock, each of them about a foot and a half long, and a few inches deep, "the lively and demonstrative evidence of their having been formerly so many fountains." A remarkable circumstance is, that they run along the breadth of the rock, and are not sent downwards: they are more than a foot asunder. Neither art nor chance could be concerned, says Dr. Shaw, in the contrivance: inasmuch as every circumstance points out to us a miracle; and, in the same manner with the rent in the rock of Calvary at Jerusalem, never fails to produce the greatest seriousness and devotion in all who see it. (Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 109, 110. Carne's Letters, pp. 198, 199.) RESTITUTION, in what cases enjoined, 65. REUEEN, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah, gave his name to one of the twelve tribes of Israel; for the canton assigned to which, see p. 16. REVENUES of the kings of Israel and Judah, 46. Of the Levites, 112. And of the priests, 113. REVERENCE of the Jews for their temple, 100, 101. Of inferiors to superiors, 169. REZIN, king of Syria, an able prince who knew how to avail himself of the divisions of his neighbours, in order to aggrandize himself. He formed an alliance with Pekah king of Israel against Ahaz king of Judah, whose dominions he invaded; and, after obtaining considerable advantages, he took a great number of prisoners, whom he sent to Damascus, and then proceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem, in which he failed. (2 Kings xv. 37. xvi. 5. 2 Chron. xxxviii. 5.) This check, which had been foretold by Isaiah (vii. 1—8.), frustrated the project formed by the allied princes for overthrowing the dynasty of David. Rezin was more successful in Idumæa, where he made himself master of the port of Elath on the Red Sea; an important conquest which gave him the command of the neighbouring country and sea (2 Kings xvi. 6.) His successes were of short duration; in the following year, agreeably to the predictions of Isaiah (viii. 4. ix. 10.), Damascus was taken by Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, who carried its inhabitants into bondage, and put to death Rezin, with whom the kingdom of Syria terminated. REGIUM, a maritime city, near the south-western extremity of Italy, opposite to Messina in Sicily. Here St. Paul stayed one REGAL GOVERNMENT of the Israelites and Jews, 42-46. Its day, on his first voyage to Rome. (Acts xxviii. 13.) It is now duration. 49. called Rheggio. SA RHODES, an island and city in the Levant, which is said to have derived its name from the abundance of roses which grew there. When St. Paul went to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, he went from Miletus to Coos, from Coos to Rhodes, and thence to Patara in Lycia. (Acts xxi. 1.) RIBLAH, a city of Syria, in the country of Hamath, which, according to Jerome, was the same with what was afterwards called ANTIOCH in Syria. It was very pleasantly situated; and here Pharaoh-Necho stopped, on his return from the battle of Megiddo. (2 Kings xxiii. 33.) RIMMON signifies a pomegranate tree. 1. An idol of the Syrians, supposed to be the Jupiter of the ancients, or, according to some writers, the sun. (2 Kings v. 8.) 2. A city in the tribe of Simeon, on the southern boundary of Palestine. (Josh. xv. 32. xix. 7. Zech. xiv. 10.) 3. A rock not far from Gibeah, whither the children of Benjamin retreated after their defeat. (Judg. xx. 45. 47. xxi. 13.) Hither also Saul and his men went. (1 Sam. xiv. 2.) 4. RIMMON-METHOAR (a round pomegranate), a city in the tribe of Zebulon (Josh. xix. 13), which is supposed to be the same as RIMMONO, which is mentioned in 1 Chron. vi. 62. 5. RIMMON-PAREZ (split pomegranate), the sixteenth encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness. (Num. xxxiii. 19.) RINGS worn by the Jews, 157, 158. RIVERS of the Holy Land, 25, 26. ROGEL OF EN-ROGEL, fountain of, 28. ROME, the metropolis of the world during the period comprised in the New Testament history. According to the chronology of Archbishop Usher, this city was founded by Remus and Romulus, A. M. 3966 of the Julian period, in A. M. 3256, B. c. 748, towards the close of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. This city is so well known, that it is needless to give any account of it here. The later sacred authors of the Old Testament have not mentioned it; but it frequently occurs in the books of the Maccabees and in the New Testament. Saint Peter (1 Ep. v. 13.) has denoted it by the figurative name of Babylon. The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you. Saint John, in his Revelation (xiv. 8. xvi. 19. xvii. 5. xviii. 2. 10. 21.), points it out by the same name, and describes it in such a manner as can only agree to Rome: 1. By its command over all nations; 2. By its cruelty towards the saints; and, 3. By its situation upon seven hills. (Rev. xvii. 9.) St. Paul came twice to Rome: first, A. D. 61, when he appealed to Cæsar; and, secondly, A. D. 65, a year before his martyrdom, which happened in a. D. 66. Account of the judicature of the Romans, 57-59. Roman tribunals, 60. Powers of the Roman procurators, 52. Roman mode of computing time, 72, 73. Discipline and military triumphs, 93-95. Tribute reluctantly paid to the Romans by the Jews, 60. ROOFS of houses, 153. RUDDER-BANDS, nature of, 188. SA the south-east side of the island, and was afterwards called Constantia. SALEM. 1. A name of the city of JERUSALEM. (Psal. lxxvi. 2.) 2. Or SALIM, a place on the banks of the Jordan, where John baptized. (John iii. 23.) Its situation cannot now be ascertained. SALMONE, a maritime city and promontory, which forms the eastern extremity of the island of Crete. (Acts xxvii. 7.) SALOME, the wife of Zebedee, and the mother of the apostles James and John. She was one of those who attended Jesus Christ on his journeys, and ministered to him. (Mark xv. 40. xvi. 1. Matt. xx. 20. xxvii. 56.) SALT, Covenant of, 81. SALT SEA, account of, 27, 28. SAMARIA, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Israel, is very frequently mentioned in the Old Testament: it was situated on a hill which derived its name from Semer or Shemer, of whom it was purchased by Omri king of Israel, B. c. 921, who made it the seat of his government, and called it Samaria (Heb. Shom eron), from its former owner. By his successors it was greatly improved and fortified; and, after resisting the repeated attacks of the kings of Assyria, it was destroyed by Shalmaneser, B. C. 717, who reduced it to a heap of stones. (Micah i. 6. 2 Kings xvii. 6.) Samaria seems to have arisen again from its ruins during the reign of Alexander, B. c. 549, after whose death it was subject to the Egyptian and Syrian kings, until it was besieged, taken, and rased to the ground by the high-priest Hyr canus, B. c. 129 or 130. It was afterwards wholly rebuilt, and considerably enlarged by Herod, surnamed the Great, who gave it the name of Sebaste, and erected a temple there in honour of the emperor Augustus (Sebastos) Cæsar. The situation is extremely beautiful and strong by nature. It stands on a fine, large, insulated hill, surrounded by a broad deep valley; whi h is environed by four hills, one on each side, that are cultivated with terraces up to the top, sown with grain, and (as the valley also is) planted with fig and olive trees. The hill of Samaria likewise rises in terraces to a height equal to any of the adjoining mountains. The population of Samaria, in 1819, was computed by Mr. Rae Wilson at nearly 10,000 souls, composed of Turks, Arabs, and Greeks, and a few Jews of the Samaritan sect. (Travels, vol. i. p. 377. Third edition.) For a notice of the idols worshipped in Samaria during the captivity, see p. And for an account of the tenets, &c. of the Samaritans, see pp. 147, 148. SAMARIA, Mountains of, p. 29. Region of, 18. 139. SAMOS, an island of the Archipelago on the coast of Asia Minor. The Romans wrote to the governor of Samos in favour of the Jews, in the time of Simon Maccabæus, a. m. 3685, B. c. 139. (1 Macc. xv. 23.) St. Paul went ashore on the same RUKAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY of the Jews, 174-180. RUTH, a Moabitish woman, who returned with her mother-in-island, as he was going to Jerusalem, A. D. 58. (Acts xx. 15.) law Naomi to the land of Israel, and became the wife of Boaz. (Matt. i. 5.) See an analysis of the Book of Ruth, p. 218. SABBATH of the Jews, how observed, 121, 122. SABTECHAH, a people or country of the Cushites; most probably Sabatha or Sabota, a considerable city of Arabia Felix, according to Pliny (Nat. Hist. l. vi. c. 28. § 32.), the principal city of the Atramites, a tribe of Sabæans, on the Red Sea. SACKBUT, an ancient musical instrument, used in Chaldæa, supposed to consist of four strings, and to emit a shrill sound. SACRAMENT of the Lord's Supper, points of resemblance between and the Jewish Passover, 125. SACRED OBLIGATIONS and DUTIES of the Jews, 129-134. SACRED TIMES and SEASONS, account of, 121-129. SALAMIS, the chief city of the island of Cyprus, where the Gospel was early preached. (Acts xiii. 5.) It was situated on SAMOTHRACIA, an island of the Ægean Sea. St. Paul depart ing from Troas for Macedonia, arrived first at Samothracia, and then landed in Macedonia. (Acts xvi. 11.) It was anciently called Dardana and Leucania, and afterwards Samos; and in order to distinguish it from the other Samos, the epithet Thracian was added, which passed into the name Samothrace. Manoah, of the tribe of Dan. Before his birth he was conse SAMSON OF SAMPSON, the thirteenth judge of Israel, the son of crated to be a Nazarite, and was chosen to deliver the Israelites physical strength, and for the bravery and success with which he from the yoke of the Philistines. He was celebrated for his vast defended his country against its enemies. (Judg. xiii.-xvi.) He judged the Israelites twenty years. SAMUEL, a celebrated Hebrew prophet, the son of Elkanah and Hannah, of the tribe of Levi. Having been consecrated to God from his birth, he received divine communications even in his childhood: he was the fifteenth and last judge of the Israel ites. By divine direction, he converted the Hebrew commonwealth into a kingdom; and anointed Saul as the first king, and afterwards David. He is supposed to have been the first insti tutor of schools for the education of the sons of the prophets. He died at the age of ninety-eight years, about two years before the death of Saul. For an analysis of the two books of Samuel, see pp. 218-220.; and on the appearance of Samuel to Saul at Endor, see Vol. I. p. 95. SANCTUARY of the temple described, 100 SANDALS of the Hebrews, notice of, 157. SE SANHEDRIN, or great council of the Hebrews, powers and functions of, 54, 55. SAPPHIRA, the wife of Ananias, who, together with him, was struck with instant death, for attempting to deceive God the Holy Spirit. (Acts v. 1. 3. 9, 10.) SARAH, the wife of Abraham, and the mother of Isaac, whom she bore at an age when she could little expect such a blessing. (Gen. xxi.) She died at the advanced age of 127 years, at jath-arba, afterwards called Hebron. (Gen. xxiii. 1. 9.) SH 2. A mountain upon the frontiers of the tribes of Judah and Dan. SEIRATH, the place where Ehud stopped after the death of Eglon king of Moab. It is supposed to have been near Bethel. (Judg. iii. 26.) SELAH, the capital of the Edomites, which Amaziah captured, and changed its name into Joktheel. It is supposed to have deKir-rived its name (which signifies a rock) from its rocky situation, and to have been the city afterwards called Petra in Arabia. (2 Kings xiv. 7.) SARDIS, the metropolis of the region of Lydia, in Asia Minor, was situated at the foot of Mount Tmolus, which commands an extensive view over the surrounding country. It was celebrated for the great opulence and for the voluptuous and debauched manners of its inhabitants. Considerable ruins still attest the ancient splendour of this once celebrated capital of Croesus and the Lydian kings, which is now reduced to a wretched village called Sart, consisting of a few mud huts occupied by Turkish herdsmen. "A great portion of the ground once occupied by the imperial city is now a smooth grassy plain, browsed over by the sheep of the peasants, or trodden by the camels of the caravan; and all that remains to point out the site of its glory are a few disjointed pillars, and the crumbling rock of the Acropolis." No Christians reside on the spot: two Greek servants of a Turkish miller, in 1826, were the only representatives of the church at Sardis, the present state of which affords a most striking illustration of the accomplishment of the prophetic denunciations against the church in that city. (Emerson's Letters from the Egean, vol. i. pp. 201. 216-218; Hartley's Visit, Miss. Register, 1827, p. 326.; Arundell's Visit, pp. 176-182.) SAREPTA, OF ZAREPHATH (Luke iv. 26.), was a city in the territory of Sidon, between that city and Tyre. It was the place where the widow dwelt to whom the prophet Elijah was sent, and was preserved by her cruise of oil and barrel of meal that wasted not. (1 Kings xvii. 9.) It is now a small village called Zarfa. SARGON (Isa. xx. 1.), a king of Assyria, whom some critics and expositors have supposed to have been the predecessor of Sennacherib; while others have conceived him to have been Sennacherib himself. SARON OF SHARON, a town adjoining to Lydda, which gave name to the spacious and fruitful valley between Cæsarea and Joppa. Peter's miraculous healing of the paralytic Eneas at Lydda was the means of bringing the inhabitants of Saron to the knowledge of the Gospel. (Acts ix. 35.) SAUL. 1. The son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and the first king of Israel. In consequence of his disregarding the divine commands, he was rejected by God, and David the son of Jesse anointed to be sovereign in his stead. Saul, after persecuting David for many years, was slain, together with his two sons, on Mount Gilboa, fighting against the Philistines. (2 Sam. i.) On the nature of his malady, see p. 196. 2. The Jewish name of the apostle PAUL. SCAPE-GOAT, typical reference of, 127. SCEPTRE of the kings of Israel, 44. SCEVA, a Jew, one of the chief priests, whose seven sons went from city to city, as many Jews did, to exorcise those who were possessed by demons. At Ephesus pretending to invoke the name of Jesus over the possessed, they were so severely treated by these spirits for their presumption, that they were forced to flee out of the house naked and wounded. (Acts xix. 14-17.) SCHOOLS of the Jews, particularly of the prophets, 184, 185. Military schools, 87. SCIENCES cultivated by the Jews, account of, 184-187. SCOURGING, punishment of, how inflicted among the Jews, 64, and among the Romans, ibid. Could not be inflicted on a Roman citizen, 58, 59. SCRIBES, account of, in the time of Moses, 42; and in the time of Christ, 146. Royal scribes, 47. SCRIPTURES, reading of, in the Synagogues, 104, 105. SELEUCIA, a fortified city of Syria, situated on the sea-coast, a little north of the mouth of the river Orontes: it derived its name from Seleucus Nicator, and was sometimes called Seleucia ad mare, to distinguish it from seven or eight other cities in Syria of the same name. (Acts xiii. 4.) SELEUCIDE, area of, 77, and note 4. SENATE of Seventy in the wilderness, notice of, 42. SENNACHERIB, a king of Assyria, who invaded the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Hezekiah. See ASSYRIA, p. 410. col. 2. SENTENCES (Judicial), how performed among the Jews, 57. SEPHARAD, a country or place where some of the Jewish captives dwelt. In the Latin Vulgate, it is rendered Bosphorus ; in the Syriac and Chaldee versions, and by modern Hebrew commentators, it is rendered Spain. Both these explanations, says Gesenius, are undoubtedly false; but nothing more certain can be substituted in their place. SEPHARVIM, a city under the government of the Assyrians, probably situated in Mesopotamia; whence colonists were sent into the country of Samaria. (2 Kings xvii. 24.) SEPULCHRES of the Jews, account of, 200, 201. SEPULTURE, rights of, 199, 200. SERAB, nature of, 35, and note 3. SERGIUS PAULUS, the Roman proconsul or governor of Cyprus, who was led by the preaching of Paul and Barnabas to embrace the Christian faith. (Acts xiii. 7.) SERPENT, Brazen, worshipped by the Jews, 136, 137. SERVANTS, different kinds of, mentioned in the Scriptures, 168. How hired and paid in Judæa, 167. SETH, the son of Adam and Eve, and father of Enos, was born after the death of Abel. He lived 912 years. His posterity, who were distinguished from the descendants of Cain by the appellation of the sons of God, preserved the patriarchal religion in its purity until the time of the deluge, after which it was transmitted by the race of Shem. (1 Chron. i. 1. Luke iii. 1. Gen. iv. 25. v. 3, vi. 2.) SHADOW OF DEATH, Valley of, notice of, 34. note 3. SHALMANESER or SALMANESER king of Assyria. See AsSYRIA, 410. col. 1. SHARON, Vale of, notice of, 32. SHEEP-HUSBANDRY of the Jews, 175, 176. SHEM OF SEM, the second son of Noah. (Gen. v. 32.) According to the genealogical table in Gen. x. the nations in southwestern Asia, as the Persians, Assyrians, Syrians, Hebrews, and part of the Arabians, were descended from him. SHEMER, the name of the possessor of the mountain on which the city of SAMARIA was erected by Omri king of Israel, to whom he sold that territory for two talents of silver. From the circumstance of that city being called after his name, as well as from the very small sum given by way of purchase money, it has been conjectured that Shemer made it one of the conditions of sale that his name should be given to the new city. As the law of Moses prohibited the irredeemable cession of estates, and as Shemer's name is mentioned without any notice of his genealogy, it is not improbable that he was descended from the Canaanites, whom the Israelites had not been able to expel. SHEMONEH ESRAH, or Jewish Prayers, 107, 108. SHENIR, Mount, 30. SHEPHERDS, duties of, 176. SHESHACH, another name for Babylon. (Jer. xxv. 26. li. 41.j SEAS mentioned in the Scriptures. See pp. 26-28; and RED This is evident from the connection; but the derivation of the SI (1 Sam. iv. 3.) It was situated on a high mountain to the north of Bethel. SHINAR, the territory of Babylon. (Gen. x. 10. xi. 2. xiv. 1. Isa. xi. 11. Dan. i. 2. Zech. v. 11.) The boundaries of this country are defined in Gen. x. 10., and depend on the interpretation given to the names of cities mentioned in that verse. SHIPS, of the ancients, notice of, 188, 189. SHISHAK, a king of Egypt who was contemporary with Solomon and Rehoboam. He first gave an asylum to the malcontent Jeroboam (1 Kings xi. 40.); and afterwards, as soon as he saw that Rehoboam's power was weakened by the revolt of the ten tribes, he invaded Judæa and advanced against Jerusalem with an immense army, composed of Egyptians, Ethiopians, Lybians, and Sukkim or Troglodytes. But, satisfied with the submission of the Jewish monarch and with the spoils of his capital, including the treasures of the temple, he left him his throne, and drew off his forces. (1 Kings xiv. 25, 26. 2 Chron. xii. 2-9.) Shishak is the Sesonchis of profane historians, and the head of the Bubastite or twenty-second dynasty of the Egyptian kings. His name has been discovered on the recently explained Egyptian monuments (compare Vol. I. p. 88, 89.); and he is supposed to have been an Ethiopian, who, supported by the military caste, dethroned the Pharaoh who was Solomon's father-in-law. SHOES, or Sandals of the Hebrews, 157. SHUNEM, a city in the tribe of Issachar. (Josh. xix. 18. 2 Sam. xxviii. 4.) Here the prophet Elisha was hospitably entertained by a benevolent woman; whose son dying, he miraculously restored him to life. (2 Kings iv.) According to Eusebius, there was a place called Sulem (by a commutation of and n) five Roman miles south of Mount Tabor. SHUR, Wilderness of, notice of, 33. MA 8vo.) has given a minute and very interesting account of the SICK, healing of, why deemed unlawful by the Jews, on the SIDON, OF ZIDON, a celebrated city of Palestine, reputed to have been founded by Sidon the eldest son of Canaan, from whom, according to Josephus, it derives its name; but other authorities derive the name Sidon from the Hebrew or Syrian word 3 (тsineн), which signifies fishing. If the primitive founder was a fisherman, the two accounts may be easily reconciled. Joshua (xi. 8.) calls it Sidon the Great, by way of eminence; whence some have taken occasion to say, that in his time there were two Sidons, a greater and a lesser: but no geographer has mentioned any other Sidon than Sidon the Great. Joshua assigned Sidon to the tribe of Asher (Josh. xix. 28.), but this tribe could never get possession of it. (Judg. i. 31.) It is situated on the Mediterranean, one day's journey from Paneas, or from the fountains of Jordan, in a fine level tract of land, the remarkably simple air of which suits with that touching portion of the Gospel, which records the interview of Jesus Christ on this very spot,-the coasts of Tyre and Sidon,— with the Syro-Phoenician woman. (Matt. xv. 21-28. Mark vii. 24-30.) Abulfeda places it sixty-six miles from Damascus. This city has been always famous for its great trade and navigation. Its inhabitants were the first remarkable merchants in the world, and were very early celebrated on account of their luxury; for, in the days of the judges of Israel, the inhabitants of Laish are said to have dwelt careless and secure after the manner of the Zidonians. (Judg. xviii. 7.) The men of Sidon being great shipwrights, were particularly eminent above all other nations, for hewing and polishing timber, there being none SHUSHAN, the capital of Susiana, a province of Elam or Persia, who were skilled how to hew timber like the Sidonians. (1 Kings which Daniel terms the palace (viii. 2.), because the Chaldæan v. 6.) This place is now called Seide or Saide: its port is monarchs had here a royal palace. After Cyrus, the kings of small, and nearly filled up with the accumulation of mud. (Irby's Persia were accustomed to pass the winter there, and the sum- and Mangles' Travels, p. 201.) The city, as it exists at present, mer at Ecbatana. The winter was very moderate at Shushan, rises immediately from the strand; and, when seen from a slight but the heat of the summer was so great, that the very lizards distance, presents a rather imposing appearance. The interior, and serpents, if surprised by it in the streets, are said to have however, is most wretched and gloomy. "About half-way bebeen burned up by the solar rays. This city stands on the river tween Saide (or Sidon) and Sour (or Tyre) are very extensive Ulai, or Choaspes. In this city, and on this river, Daniel had ruins of towns which once connected these two cities; but of the vision of the ram with two horns, and the goat with one these ruins there is now scarcely one stone left upon another. horn, &c. in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar (Dan. They consist chiefly of lines which show, rased even with the viii. 1—3, &c.), A. M. 3447, в. c. 557. In this city of Shushan, soil, the foundation of houses-many stones irregularly scattered the transactions took place which are related in the book of -a few cisterns with half-defaced sculpture on them; and, at a Esther. Here Ahasuerus, or Darius the son of Hystaspes, gene- considerable distance from the path, there are at one spot several rally resided and reigned. (Esth. i. 1, 2. 5, &c.) He rebuilt, low columns either mutilated or considerably sunk in the earth. enlarged, and adorned it. Nehemiah was also at Shushan, when These relics show, what it needed indeed no such evidence to he obtained from king Artaxerxes permission to return into prove, that in peaceable and flourishing times, on this road beJudæa, and to repair the walls of Jerusalem. (Neh. i. 1.) Ben- tween two such considerable cities as Tyre and Sidon, there jamin of Tudela, and Abulfaragius, place the tomb of Daniel at must have been many smaller towns for business, pleasure, and Chuzestan, which is the ancient city of Shushan, and a tomb is agriculture, delightfully situated by the seaside; but peaceful sestill shown to travellers, as the tomb of the prophet. Dr. Light-curity has long been a blessing unknown to these regions; and foot says, that the outward gate of the eastern wall of the temple we may apply to them the language of Judges v. 7.—The villages was called the gate of Shushan; and that upon this gate was ceased; they ceased in Israel." (Jowett's Christ. Researches in carved the figure (more probably the arms or insignia) of Shu- Syria, pp. 129, 130. shan, in acknowledgment of the decree there granted by Darius son of Hystaspes, which permitted the rebuilding of the temple. The site of this once noble metropolis of the ancient sovereigns of Persia is now a mere wilderness; no human being residing there excepting one poor dervise, who keeps watch over the supposed tomb of the prophet Daniel. See an account of the ruins and the present state of Shushan, in Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c. vol. ii. pp. 411–418. SICARII, or assassins mentioned in the New Testament, notice of, 148. SICHEM, SYCHAR or SHECHEM, a city of Samaria, about forty miles distant from Jerusalem, which became the metropolis of the Samaritans after the destruction of Samaria by Hyrcanus. In the vicinity of this place is Jacob's well (John iv. 6), memorable for our Saviour's conversation with the Samaritan woman. It stands in a delightful situation, and is at present called Napolose. The remains of the sect of the Samaritans, now reduced to about forty persons, chiefly reside here. Contiguous to this place lies a valley, which opens into a plain watered by a fruitful stream, that rises near the town. This is universally allowed to be the parcel of a field mentioned by Saint John (iv. 5.) which Jacob bought at the hund of the children of Hamor. (Gen. xxxiii. 19.) Dr. Clarke (Travels, vol. iv. pp. 260-280. SIEGES, how conducted, 89. SIHON, a king of the Amorites, who refused a passage through his territories to the Hebrews; and, coming to attack them, was himself slain. (Num. xxi. 21.) SIHOR, River, 26. SILAS OF SILVANUS (the former name being a contraction of the latter), an eminent Christian teacher, who was Saint Paul's companion in his journeys through Asia Minor and Greece. SILOAM, Fountain or Pool of, 21. 28. Just over against this pool, near the bottom of the valley, through which its waters flow with an almost imperceptible current, and on the slope of a lofty mountain on the opposite side, is a village called Siloa: it has a miserable aspect, many of the habitations being no better than excavations from the rock, and the rest very meanly built houses and dilapidated stone huts; though it once could boast the palace of Pharaoh's daughter and Solomon's queen. The population is said not to exceed two hundred persons. (Jowett's Researches in Syria, p. 262. Three Weeks in Palestine, p. 45.) SIMEON, the son of Jacob and Leah: he was the head of one of the twelve tribes; for the limits of whose allotment, see p. 17. SIMON OF SIMEON, the name of several persons mentioned in |