ON

and rased the city about B. c. 606. (For a copious description of ancient Nineveh, see Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. i. pp. 448-450.) Of this once celebrated city there are literally no remains. Four mounds, the largest running north and south, and the most southerly called after the prophet Jonah, whose tomb it is supposed to contain, exhibit all that can now be traced of the metropolis of Asia. (See a description of them in Mr. Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. ii. 49-51. 60.)

NISROCH, a Babylonish idol, notice of, 139.

No, No-AMON, or No-AMUN, the Thebes of ancient geographers, was the metropolis of Upper Egypt. It is mentioned in Jer. xlvi. 25. Ezek. xxx. 14-16. and Nahum iii. 8. In the Septuagint version of Ezekiel No is rendered as, the city of Jupiter; in Nahum No Amon is rendered Maps Appar. The latter appears to be an etymological explanation of the word after the Coptic. In that language NOH signifies a cord, or measuring line, hence a portion measured out; and No-Amon portio, bossessio Amonis, that is, the seat of the god Amon, or the place where he was principally worshipped. (Jablonskii Opuscula, tom. i. pp. 163-168. Gibbs's Hebr. Lex. p. 406.)

NOAH, the son of Lamech, and the father of the post-diluvian world, was born A. M. 1056. Being the only righteous man of his time, he was preserved together with his family in the ark during the deluge. (For a refutation of skeptical objections to which, see Vol. I. pp. 75, 76.) Noah lived 350 years after that catastrophe, dying at the age of 950 years, A. M. 2006. He left three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, by whom the whole earth was overspread or peopled. (Gen. ix. 18, 19. x. 32.) The seven precepts of Noah, see p. 109. note 2.

NOPH, or MEMPHIS, a very celebrated city, the same as Thebes and the capital of Egypt, until the Ptolemies removed the seat of government to Alexandria. By the modern Copts it is called MENO, MENOTO, and Nore: whence we may explain both the Hebrew forms (NOPH) and ŋ (мEMPH), and also the Greek name Meμok. Plutarch (de Isid. et Osirid. p. 639 ed. Stephani) interprets the name 'por ȧywv, from the Coptic meh, full, and nouphi, good; or rapov Oripidis, from the Coptic mhau, a grave, and onphi, eveyers, a benefactor, as Osiris is called. (Jablonskii, Opusc. tom. i. pp. 137. 150. 179. tom. ii. p. 131. Gibbs's Hebr. Lex. p. 381.) The prophets often mention this city; and predict the calamities which it was to suffer from the kings of Chaldæa and Persia, &c. (See Isa. xix. 13. Jer. xliv. 1. Hos. ix. 6. Ezek. xxx. 13. 16.) Its ruins are very splendid. Jeremiah had foretold, ages before, that Noph should "be waste and desolate, without an inhabitant" (xlvi. 19.), and not a family or cottage is said to remain.

NOSE-JEWELS of the Jewish women, notice of, 158.
NUPTIAL CEREMONIES of the Jews, 161, 162.
NURTURE of children, 163, 164.

OAKS, forest of, 36.

OATHS of the Hebrews, how taken, 81, 82. OBADIAH, the fourth of the minor prophets: he probably was contemporary with Jeremiah. See pp. 281, 282. OBLATIONS, different kinds of, 119. Ordinary, ibid. Voluntary, ibid. Prescribed, 120, 121.

OFFICERS (military) of the Jews, 85. And of the 92, 93..

OFFICERS of the Palace, notice of, 47.
OFFICERS of the Synagogue, 104.

Romans,

OLIVES, Mount of, 19. Culture of Olives, 36. 179, 180. OLYMPIC GAMES, allusions to, in the New Testament, 191194. Qualifications and previous discipline of the candidates, 192. Foot-race, ibid. Rewards to the victors, ibid. Games in imitation of them instituted among the Jews, 190.

OMRI, general of the army of Elah, king of Israel, who was assassinated by Zimri at the siege of Gibbethon, and was succeeded by Omri. (1 Kings xvi.) He was a wicked prince, whose crimes surpassed those of his predecessors: he died at Samaria, B. c. 914, and was succeeded on the throne by his son Ahab. ON.

1. A pleasant valley in Syria of Damascus, now called Un, and used proverbially for a pleasant vale. 2. ON, AUN, or HELIOPOLIS, a city of Egypt. The father-inlaw of Joseph was high-priest of On (Gen. xli. 45.); there rendered Heliopolis, by the Septuagint version, and noticed also by Herodotus; who says that "the Heliopolitans were reckoned the wisest of the Egyptians." This was the city of Moses, ac

PA

cording to Berosus: and well accounts for his scriptural charac ter, that "he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." (Acts vii. 22.) Heliopolis was the Greek translation of Bethshemesh, "the house or city of the Sun," as it was called by Jeremiah, "Beth-shemesh, in the land of Egypt" (xliii. 13.), to distinguish it from another Beth-shemesh, in the land of Canaan. It was called Beth Aven, "the house of vanity," or idolatry, by the Jews. (Ezek. xxx. 17.)

ONESIMUS, a Phrygian by birth, and the slave of Philemon, from whom he fled; but being converted to Christianity through the preaching of St. Paul, he was the occasion of the apostle's writing the admirable Epistle to Philemon. (Col. iv. 9. Philem. 10.)

ОPHIR, a country whither Solomon sent a fleet, aided by the subjects of Hiram king of Tyre, and from which they brought back gold (1 Kings ix. 27, 28. 2 Chron. viii. 17, 18.), and also almug trees and precious stones. (1 Kings x. 11.) Not fewer than fiften or sixteen countries have been assigned, by various commentators and critics, as the site of Ophir, but the most probable is that of M. Huet, bishop of Avranches, who is of opinion that it was on the eastern coast of Africa, by the Arabians termed Zanguebar; that the name of Ophir was more particularly given to the small country of Sofala on the same coast; and that Solomon's fleet went out from the Red Sea, and from the port of Ezion-geber entered the Mediterranean by a canal of communication; and doubling Cape Guardafui, coasted along Africa to Sofala, where was found in abundance whatever was brought to the Hebrew monarch by this voyage. The opinion of Huet is adopted by Mr. Bruce, who has confirmed it by various additional considerations.

ORATORIES of the Jews described, 102, 103.
ORATORY cultivated by the Jews, 186.

OTHNIEL, the son of Kenaz of the tribe of Judah, and a relation of Caleb, who gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage, on his taking Debir, otherwise called Kiriath-sepher, from the Canaanites. (Josh. xv. 16-19.) After the Israelites had been oppressed for eight years by Chushan-rishathcum, king of Mesopotamia, Othniel was excited to levy an army against him. He overcame the Mesopotamians, and delivered his countrymen, who acknowledged him as regent or judge. During the forty years of his administration the Israelites remained faithful to their God and king, and consequently prospered. (Judg. iii. 8—11.) OVENS of the Jews, 154.

PALMYRA. See TADMOR.

PALSY, variety of diseases so termed, 197.

PAMPHYLIA, a province of Asia Minor, having to the south the Pamphylian Sea, mentioned Acts xxvii. 5., Cilicia to the east, and Pisidia to the north (whence we find Saint Paul passing through Pisidia to Pamphylia, Acts xiv. 24.), and from Pamphylia to Pisidia (Acts xiii. 14.), and Lycia to the west. The cities mentioned in the Scriptures as belonging to it are Perga and Attalia. (Acts xiii. 13.) Here numerous Jews dwelt, and hence those of Pamphylia are mentioned among those who appeared at Jerusalem at the day of Pentecost. (Acts ii. 10.)

PAPHOS, the metropolis of the island of Cyprus (Acts xiii. 4. 6.), and the residence of the pro-consul. It was memorable for the impure worship paid to Venus, the tutelar deity of the island. Here Saint Paul struck blind Elymas the sorcerer, and converted Sergius the pro-consul. The Jews dwelt here in great numbers. (ver. 6.) Twenty-five or thirty miserable huts are all that remain of this once most distinguished city of Cyprus. See CYPRUS.

PARADISE, a word of Persian original, signifying a park, garden, or inclosure, full of all the valuable productions of the earth. The word passed into the Hebrew form 2 (PaRnes), which occurs in Sol. Song iv. 13. Neh. ii. 8. Eccles. ii. 5.; and in those passages it is rendered Пapadags in the Septuagint version, and denotes a garden of trees of various kinds, a pleasure park, a delightful grove. In the New Testament paradise is applied to the state of faithful souls between death and the resurrection; where, like Adam in Eden, they are admitted to immediate com. munion with God in Christ, or to a participation of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Luke xxiii. 43. Rev. ii. 7.) Of this blessed state St. Paul had a foretaste.

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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. D. 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.

PEKAHIAH, the seventeenth king of Israel, succeeded his father Menahem, and followed the example of his predecessors in maintaining the idolatrous institutions of Jereboam 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.

PENTECOST, feast of, how celebrated, 126. A proof of credibility of the Old Testament, I. 66.

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

the

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.)

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 Egean, vol. i. p. 216.) Of these Christians, about 200 belonged to the Armenian commuVOL. II.

3 K

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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 Passagard, 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, B. 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 involved Cyrus in a protracted war. Having again reduced the Medes, Cyrus directed his arms against the Babylonians, whose ally Croesus king of Lylia, 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 Creesus, 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. (Dan. v. 30.) So extensive was that city, that the inhabitants 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 Merüe, 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 or 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 Пerpes, 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 РHOURO, 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 paw. (Sunday Lessons on Gen. xii. 15.) The following are the principal sovereigns of this name, who are mentioned in the Old Testa

ment:

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 Hebrews 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 subsequent 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 ail 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

РО

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.

Paur, or PUT, the name of an African people. According to Josephus (Ant. Jud. I. 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. Parsics, 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 it 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.

Pisox, 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 marcuμes 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.

Poon, 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 ПINT OPPO father, that is, prime minister of PHanno, 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 ПнONTOPH, 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 l'assover, 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