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Smith's Bible Dictionary
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Naam
(pleasantness), one of the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
(1 Chronicles 4:15) (B.C. about 1451-1420.)
Naamah
one of the towns of Judah in the district of the lowland or
Shefelah. (Joshua 15:41) Capt. Warren, in Report of Palestine
Exploration Fund, 1871, locates it at Naameh, six miles
northeast of Yebna.
(loveliness).
+ One of the four women whose names are preserved in the
records of the world before the flood; all except Eve being
Cainites. Site was daughter of Lamech by his wife Zillah, and
sister, as is expressly mentioned to Tubal-cain (Genesis
4:22) only. (B.C. about 3550.)
+ Mother of King Rehoboam. (1 Kings 14:21,31; 2 Chronicles
12:13) In each of these passages she is distinguished by the
title "the (not 'an,' as in Authorized Version) Ammonite."
She was therefore one of the foreign women whom Solomon took
into his establishment. (1 Kings 11:1) (B.C. 1015-975.)
Naaman
(pleasantness).
+ "Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:27) Naaman was
commander-in-chief of the army of Syria, and was nearest to
the person of the king, Ben-hadad II., whom he accompanied
officially and supported when he went to worship in the
temple of Rimmon, (2 Kings 5:18) at Damascus, the capital.
(B.C. 885.) A Jewish tradition at least as old as the time of
Josephus, and which may very well be a genuine one identifies
him with the archer whose arrow, whether at random or not,
struck Ahab with his mortal wound, and thus "gave deliverance
to Syria." The expression in (2 Kings 5:1) is
remarkable--"because that by him Jehovah had given
deliverance to Syria." The most natural explanation perhaps
is that Naaman in delivering his country, had killed one who
was the enemy of Jehovah not less than he was of Syria.
Whatever the particular exploit referred to was, it had given
Naaman a great position at the court of Ben-hadad. Naaman was
afflicted with a leprosy of the white kind which had hitherto
defied cure. A little Israelitish captive maiden tells him of
the fame and skill of Elisha, and he is cured by him by
following his simple directions to bathe in the Jordan seven
times. See (2 Kings 5:14) His first business after his cure
is to thank his benefactor and gratefully acknowledge the
power of the God of Israel, and promise "henceforth to offer
neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but
unto the Lord." How long Naaman lived to continue a
worshipper of Jehovah while assisting officially at the
worship of Rimmon we are not told; ("but his memory is
perpetuated by a leper hospital which occupies the
traditional site of his house in Damascus, on the banks of
the Abana."--Schaff.)
+ One of the family of Benjamin who came down to Egypt with
Jacob as read in (Genesis 46:21) He was the son of Bela, and
head of the family of the Naamites. (Numbers 26:40; 1
Chronicles 8:3,4) (B.C. 1706.)
Naamathite
the Gentile name of one of Job's friends, Zophar the
Naamathite. (Job 2:11; 11:1; 20:1; 42:9) There is no other
trace of this name in the Bible, and the town whence it is
derived is unknown. (But as Uz was in Arabia, probably the
Naamah where he lived was on the Arabian borders of Syria.)
Naamites, The
the family descended from Naaman, the grandson of Benjamin.
(Numbers 28:40) only.
Naarah
(a maiden), the second wife of Ashur; a descendant of Judah. (1
Chronicles 4:5,6)
Naarai
(handmaid), one of the valiant men of David's armies. (1
Chronicles 11:37) In 1 Chron. he is called the son of Ezbai,
but in (2 Samuel 23:35) he appears as "Paarai the Arbite."
Kennicott decides that the former is correct. (B.C. about
1015.)
Naaran
(juvenile), a city of Ephraim, which in a very ancient record,
(1 Chronicles 7:28) is mentioned as the eastern limit of the
tribe. It is very probably identical with Naarath, or more
accurately Naarah.
Naarath
(juvenile) (the Hebrew is equivalent to Naarah, which is
therefore the real form of the name), a place named (Joshua
16:7) only as one of the landmarks on the southern boundary of
Ephraim. It appears to have lain between Ataroth and Jericho,
in the Jordan valley: Eusebius and Jerome speak of it as if
well known to them--"Naorath, a small village of the Jews, five
miles from Jericho."
Naashon
[[890]Nahshon, Or Naashon]
Naasson
(enchanter), the Greek form of the name [891]Nahshon, Or
Naashon. (Matthew 1:4; Luke 3:32) only.
Nabal
(fool) was a sheepmaster on the confines of Judea and the
desert, in that part of the country which bore from its great
conqueror the name of Caleb. (1 Samuel 25:3; 30:14) (B.C. about
1055.) His residence was on the southern Carmel, in the pasture
lands of Maon. His wealth, as might be expected from his abode,
consisted chiefly of sheep and goats. It was the custom of the
shepherds to drive them into the wild downs on the slopes of
Carmel; and it was whilst they were on one of these pastoral
excursions that they met a band of outlaws, who showed them
unexpected kindness, protecting them by day and night, and
never themselves committing any depredations. (1 Samuel
25:7,15,18) Once a year there was a grand banquet on Carmel,
"like the feast of a king." ch. (1 Samuel 25:2,4; 36) It was on
one of these occasions that ten youths from the chief of the
freebooters approached Nabal, enumerated the services of their
master, and ended by claiming, with a mixture of courtesy and
defiance characteristic of the East, "whatsoever cometh into
thy hand for thy servants and for thy son David." The great
sheepmaster peremptorily refused. The moment that the
messengers were gone, the shepherds that stood by perceived the
danger that their master and themselves would incur. To Nabal
himself they durst not speak. ch. (1 Samuel 25:17) To his wife,
as to the good angel of the household, one of the shepherds
told the state of affairs. She, with the offerings usual on
such occasions, with her attendants running before her, rode
down the hill toward David's encampment. David had already made
the fatal vow of extermination. ch. (1 Samuel 26:22) At this
moment, as it would seem, Abigail appeared, threw herself on
her face before him, and poured forth her petition in language
which in both form and expression almost assumes the tone of
poetry. She returned with the news of David's recantation of
his vow. Nabal was then at the height of his orgies and his
wife dared not communicate to him either his danger or his
escape. ch. (1 Samuel 28:36) At break of day she told him both.
The stupid reveller was suddenly roused to a sense of that
which impended over him. "His heart died within him, and he be
came as a stone." It was as if a stroke of apoplexy or
paralysis had fallen upon him. Ten days he lingered "and the
Lord smote Nabal, and he died." ch. (1 Samuel 25:37,38)
Naboth
(fruits), the victim of Ahab and Jezebel, was the owner of a
small vineyard at Jezreel, close to the royal palace of Shab.
(1 Kings 21:1,2) (B.C. 897.) It thus became an object of desire
to the king, who offered an equivalent in money or another
vineyard. In exchange for this Naboth, in the independent
spirit of a Jewish landholder, refused: "The Lord forbid it me
that I should give the inheritance of my father unto thee."
Ahab was cowed by this reply; but the proud spirit of Jezebel
was aroused. She took the matter into her own hands. A fast was
proclaimed, as on the announcement of some impending calamity.
Naboth was "set on high" in the public place of Samaria; two
men of worthless character accused him of having "cursed God
and the king." He and his children, (2 Kings 9:26) were dragged
out of the city and despatched; the same night. The place of
execution there was by the large tank or reservoir which still
remains an the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately
outside the walls. The usual punishment for blasphemy was
enforced: Naboth and his sons were stoned; and the blood from
their wounds ran down into the waters of the tank below. For
the signal retribution taken on this judicial murder--a
remarkable proof of the high regard paid in the old
dispensation to the claims of justice and independence--see
[892]Ahab; [893]Jehu; [894]Jezebel.
Nabuchodonosor
[[895]Nebuchadnezzar, Or Nebuchadrezzar]
Nachons
(prepared) threshing floor, the place at which the ark had
arrived in its progress from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, when
Uzzah lost his life in his too-hasty zeal for its safety. (2
Samuel 6:6) (B.C. 1042.)
Nachor
[[896]Nahor]
Nadab
(liberal).
+ The eldest son of Aaron and Elisheba. Exod 8 13 Numb 3:2.
(B.C. 1490.) He, his father and brother, and seventy old men
of Israel were led out from the midst of the assembled
people, (Exodus 24:1) and were commended to stay and worship
God "afar off," below the lofty summit of Sinai, where Moses
alone was to come near to the Lord. Subsequently, (Leviticus
10:1) Nadab and his brother were struck dead before the
sanctuary by fire from the Lord. Their offence was kindling
the incense in their censers with "strange" fire, i.e. not
taken from that which burned perpetually, (Leviticus 6:13) on
the altar.
+ King Jeroboam's son, who succeeded to the throne of Israel
B.C. 954, and reigned two years. (1 Kings 15:25-31) At the
siege of Gibbethon a conspiracy broke out in the midst of the
army, and the king was slain by Baasha, a man of Issachar.
+ A son of Shammai (1 Chronicles 2:28) of the tribe of Judah.
+ A son of Gibeon, (1 Chronicles 8:30; 9:36) of the tribe of
Benjamin.
Naggai
(illuminating), the true form of [897]Nagge, (Luke 3:25) and so
given in the Revised Version.
Nagge
one of the ancestors of Christ. (Luke 3:25) See [[898]Naggai]
Nahalal, Or Nahalal
(pasture), one of the cities of Zebulun, given with its
"suburbs" to the Merarite Levites. (Joshua 21:35) It is the
same which in (Joshua 19:15) is inaccurately given in the
Authorized Version as Nahallal, the Hebrew being in both cases
identical. Elsewhere it is called [899]Nahalol. (Judges 1:30)
It is identified with the modern Malul, a village in the plain
of Esdraelon.
Nahaliel
(torrents of God), one of the halting-places of Israel in the
latter part of their progress to Canaan. (Numbers 21:19) It lay
"beyond," that is, north of, the Amen, ver. (Numbers 21:13) and
between Mattanah and Bamoth, the next after Bamoth being
Pisgah.
Nahalol
[[900]Nahalal, Or Nahalal]
Naham
(consolation), the brother of Modiah or Jehudiah, wife of Ezra.
(1 Chronicles 4:19)
Nahamaai
(merciful), a chief man among those who returned from Babylon
with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. (Nehemiah 7:7) (B.C. 536.)
Naharai
(snorter) the armor-bearer of Joab, called [901]Nahari in the
Authorized Version of (2 Samuel 23:37) He was a native of
Beeroth. (1 Chronicles 11:39) (B.C. 1013.)
Nahari
The same as [902]Naharai. (2 Samuel 23:37) In the Authorized
Version of 1611 the name is printed "Naharai the Berothite."
Nahash
(serpent).
+ King of the Ammonites who dictated to the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead that cruel alternative of the loss of their
right eyes or slavery which roused the swift wrath of Saul,
and caused the destruction of the Ammonite force. (1 Samuel
11:2-11) (B.C. 1092.) "Nahaph" would seem to have been the
title of the king of the Ammonites rather than the name of an
individual. Nahash the father of Hanun had rendered David
some special and valuable service, which David was anxious
for an opportunity of requiting. (2 Samuel 10:2)
+ A person mentioned once only-- (2 Samuel 17:25)--in stating
the parentage of Amasa, the commander-in-chief of Absalom's
army. Amasa is there said to have been the son of a certain
Ithra by Abigail, "daughter of Nahash and sister to Zeruiah."
(B.C. before 1023.)
Nahath
(rest).
+ One of the "dukes" of Edom, eldest son of Reuel the son of
Esau. (Genesis 36:13,17; 1 Chronicles 1:37) (B.C. 1700.)
+ A Kohathite Levite, son of Zophai. (1 Chronicles 6:26)
+ A Levite in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:13) (B.C.
725.)
Nahbi
(hidden), the son of Vophsi, a Naphtalite, and one of the
twelve spies. (Numbers 13:14)
Nahor
(snorting), the name of two persons in the family of Abraham.
+ His grandfather; the son of Serug and father of Terah.
(Genesis 11:22-25) (B.C. 2174.)
+ Grandson of the preceding son of Terah and brother of Abraham
and Haran. (Genesis 11:26,27) (B.C. 2000.) The order of the
ages of the family of Terah is not improbably inverted in the
narrative; in which case Nahor instead of being younger than
Abraham, was really older. He married Milcah, the daughter of
his brother Haran; and when Abraham and Lot migrated to
Canaan, Nahor remained behind in the land of his birth, on
the eastern side of the Euphrates.
Nahshon, Or Naashon
(enchanter) son of Amminadab, and prince of the children of
Judah (as he is styled in the genealogy of Judah,) (1
Chronicles 2:10) at the time of the first numbering in the
wilderness. (Exodus 6:23; Numbers 1:7) etc. His sister,
Elisheba, was wife to Aaron, and his son, Salmon, was husband
to Rahab after the taking of Jericho. He died in the
wilderness, according to (Numbers 26:64,65) (B.C. before 1451.)
Nahum
(consolation). Nahum, called "the Elkoshite," is the seventh in
order of the minor prophets. His personal history is quite
unknown. The site of Elkosh, his native place, is disputed,
some placing it in Galilee, others in Assyria. Those who
maintain the latter view assume that the prophet's parents were
carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser and that the prophet
was born at the village of Alkush, on the east bank of the
Tigris, two miles north of Mosul. On the other hand, the
imagery of his prophecy is such lie would be natural to an
inhabitant of Palestine, (Nahum 1:4) to whom the rich pastures
of Bashan the vineyards of Carmel and the blossoms of Lebanon
were emblems of all that was luxuriant and fertile. The
language employed in ch. (Nahum 1:15; 2:2) is appropriate to
one who wrote for his countrymen in their native land.
(McClintock and Strong come to the conclusion that Nahum was a
native of Galilee that at the captivity of the ten tribes he
escaped into Judah, and prophesied in the reign of Hezekiah,
726-698.--ED.) Prophecy of Nahum .--The date of Nahum a
prophecy can be determined with as little precision as his
birthplace. It is, however, certain that the prophecy was
written before the final downfall of Nineveh and its capture by
the Medes and Chaldeans, cir. B.C. 625. The allusions to the
Assyrian power imply that it was still unbroken. ch. (Nahum
1:12; 2:8,13; 3:16-17) It is most probable that Nahum
flourished in the latter half of the return of Hezekiah, and
wrote his prophecy either in Jerusalem or its neighborhood. The
subject of the prophecy is, in accordance with the
superscription, "the burden of Nineveh," the destruction of
which he predicts. As a poet Nahum occupies a high place in the
first rank of Hebrew literature. His style is clear and
uninvolved, though pregnant and forcible; his diction sonorous
and rhythmical, the words re-echoing to the sense. Comp. (Nahum
2:4; 3:3)
Nail
+ Of finger. (a) A nail or claw of man or animal. (b) A point
or style e.g. for writing; see (Jeremiah 17:1)
+ (a) A nail, (Isaiah 11:7) a stake, (Isaiah 33:20) also a
tent-peg. Tent-pegs were usually of wood and of large size;
but some times, as was the case with those used to fasten the
curtains of the tabernacle of metal. (Exodus 27:19; 38:20)
(b) A nail, primarily a point. We are told that David
prepared iron for the nails to be used in the temple; and as
the holy of holies was plated with gold, the nails for
fastening the plates were probably of gold.
Nain
(beauty), a village of Galilee, the gate of which is made
illustrious by the raising of the widow's son. (Luke 7:12) The
modern Nein is situated on the northwestern edge of the "Little
Hermon," or Jebel-ed-Duhy, where the ground falls into the
plain of Esdraelon. The entrance to the place, where our
Saviour met the funeral, must probably always have seen up the
steep ascent from the plain; and here on the west side of the
village, the rock is full of sepulchral caves.
Naioth
(habitations), or more fully, "Naioth in Ramah," a place of
Mount Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel and Saul, and in which
Samuel and David took refuge together after the latter had made
his escape from the jealous fury of Saul. (1 Samuel
19:18,19,22,23; 20:1) It is evident from ver. (1 Samuel 20:18)
that Naioth was not actually in Ramah, Samuel's habitual
residence. In its corrected from the name signifies
"habitations," and probably means the huts or dwellings of a
school or college of prophets over which Samuel presided as
Elisha did over those at Gilgal and Jericho.
Names
+ Names of places .--These may be divided into two general
classes--descriptive and historical. The former are such as
mark some peculiarity of the locality, usually a natural one,
e.g. Sharon, "plain" Gibeah, "hill;" Pisgah. "height." Of the
second class of local names, some were given in honor of
individual men, e.g. the city Enoch (Genesis 4:17) etc. More
commonly, however, such names were given to perpetuate that
memory of some important historic occurrence. Bethel
perpetuated through all Jewish history the early revelations
of God to Jacob. (Genesis 28:19; 35:15) So Jehovah-jireh,
(Genesis 22:14) Mahanaim, (Genesis 32:2) Peniel etc. In
forming compounds to serve as names of towns or other
localities, some of the most common terms employed were Kir,
a "wall" or "fortress;" Kirjath, "city;" En, "fountain;"
Beer, "a well," etc. The names of countries were almost
universally derived from the name of the first settlers or
earliest historic population.
+ Names of persons.--Among the Hebrews each person received hut
a single name. In the case of boys this was conferred upon
the eighth day, in connection with the rite of circumcision.
(Luke 1:59) comp. Genesis17:5-14 To distinguish an individual
from others of the same name it was customary to add to his
own proper name that of his father or ancestors. Sometimes
the mother's was used instead. Simple names in Hebrew, as in
all languages, were largely borrowed from nature; e.g.
Deborah, "bee;" Tamar, "a palm tree;" Jonah, "dove." Many
names of women were derived from those of men by change of
termination; e.g. Hammelech. "the king;" Harnmoleketh, "the
queen." The majority of compound names have special religious
or social significance being compounded either (1) with terms
denoting relationship, as Abi or Ab father, as Abihud,
"father of praise," Abimelech "father of the king;" Ben son,
as Benoni, "son of my sorrow," Benjamin, "son of the right
hand;" or (2) nouns denoting natural life, as am, "people,"
melech "king;" or (3) with names of God and Jah or Ja,
shortened from "Jehovah." As outside the circle of
Revelation, particularly among the Oriental nations, it is
customary to mark one's entrance into a new relation by a new
name, in which case the acceptance of the new name involves
the acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the name giver, so
the importance and new sphere assigned to the organs of
Revelation in God's kingdom are frequently indicated by a
change of name. Examples of this are Abraham, (Genesis 17:5)
Sarah, (Genesis 17:15) Israel, as the designation of the
spiritual character in place of Jacob, which designated the
natural character. (Genesis 32:28)
Naomi
or Nao'mi (my delight), the wife of Elimelech and mother-in-law
of Ruth. (Ruth 1:2) etc.; Ruth 2:1 etc.; Ruth 3:1; 4:3 etc.
(B.C. 1363.) The name is derived from a root signifying
sweetness or pleasantness. Naomi left Judea with her husband
and two sons, in a time of famine and went to the land of Moab.
Here her husband and sons died; and on her return to Bethlehem
she wished to be known as Mara, bitterness, instead of Naomi,
sweetness.
Naphish
(refreshment), the last but one of the sons of Ishmael.
(Genesis 25:15; 1 Chronicles 1:31)
Naphtali
(wrestling), the fifth son of Jacob; the second child name to
him by Bilhah, Rachel's slave. His birth and the bestowal of
his name are recorded in (Genesis 30:8) When the census was
taken at Mount Sinai the tribe of Naphtali numbered no less
than 53,400 fighting men, (Numbers 1:43; 2:50) but when the
borders of the promised land were reached, its numbers were
reduced to, 45,400. (Numbers 26:48-50) During the march through
the wilderness Naphtali occupied a position on the north of the
sacred tent with Dan and Asher. (Numbers 2:25-31) In the
apportionment of the land, the lot of Naphtali was enclosed on
three sides by those of other tribes. On the west lay Asher, on
the south Zebulun, and on the east the transjordanic Manasseh.
(In the division of the kingdom Naphtali belonged to the
kingdom of Israel, and later was a part of Galilee, bordering
on the northwestern pert of the Sea of Galilee, and including
Capernaum and Bethsaida.--Ed.)
Naphtali, Mount
the mountainous district which formed the main part of the
inheritance of Naphtali, (Joshua 20:7) answering to "Mount
Ephraim" in the centre and "Mount Judah" in the south of
Palestine.
Naphtuhim
(border-people), a Mizraite (Egyptian) nation or tribe
mentioned only in the account of the descendants of Noah.
(Genesis 10:13; 1 Chronicles 1:11) If we may judge from their
position in the list Of the Mizraites, the Naphtuhim were
possibly settled, at first, either in Egypt or immediately to
the west of it.
Narcissus
(stupidity), a dweller at Rome, (Romans 16:11) some members of
whose household were known us Christians to St. Paul. Some have
assumed the identity of this Narcissus with the secretary of
the emperor Claudius; but this is quite uncertain.
Nard
[[903]Spikenard]
Nathan
(a giver).
+ An eminent Hebrew prophet in the reigns of David and Solomon.
(B.C. 1015.) He first appears in the consultation with David
about the building of the temple. (2 Samuel 7:2,3,17) He next
comes forward as the reprover of David for the sin with
Bathsheba; and his famous apologue on the rich man and the
ewe lamb, which is the only direct example of his prophetic
power, shows it to have been of a very high order. (2 Samuel
12:1-12)
+ A son of David; one of the four who were borne to him by
Bathsheba. (1 Chronicles 3:5) comp, 1Chr 14:4 and 2Sam 5:14
+ Son or brother of one of the members of David's guard. (2
Samuel 23:36; 1 Chronicles 11:38)
+ One of the head men who returned from Babylon with Ezra on
his second expedition. (Ezra 8:16) 1 Esdr. 8:44. It is not
impossible that he may be the same with the "son of Bani."
(Ezra 10:39)
Nathanael
(gift of God), a disciple of Jesus Christ, concerning whom,
under that name at least, we learn from Scripture little more
than his birthplace, Cana of Galilee, (John 21:2) and his
simple, truthful character. (John 1:47) The name does not occur
in the first three Gospels; but it is commonly believed that
Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. The evidence for
that belief is as follows: St, John who twice mentions
Nathanael, never introduces the name of Bartholomew at all. St.
Matthew, (Matthew 10:3) St. Mark, (Mark 3:18) and St. Luke,
(Luke 8:14) all speak of Bartholomew but never of Nathanael. If
was Philip who first brought Nathanael to Jesus, just as Andrew
had brought his brother Simon.
Nathanmelech
(the gift of the king), a eunuch (Authorized Version
"chamberlain") in the court of Josiah. (2 Kings 23:11) (B.C.
628.)
Naum
(consolation), son of Esli, and father of Amos, in the
genealogy of Christ, (Luke 3:25) about contemporary with the
high priesthood of Jason all the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.
(B.C.175.)
Nave
(Heb. gao), anything convex or arched, as the boss of a shield,
(Job 15:26) the eyebrows, (Leviticus 14:9) an eminent place.
(Ezekiel 16:31) It is rendered once only in the plural,
"naves," (1 Kings 7:33) meaning the centres of the wheels in
which the spokes are inserted i.e. the hubs. In (Ezekiel 1:18)
it is rendered twice "rings," and margin "strakes," an old word
apparently used for the nave (hub) of a wheel and also more
probably for the felloe or the tire, as making the streak or
stroke upon the ground.
Nazarene
an inhabitant of Nazareth. This appellative is applied to,Jesus
in many passages in the New Testament. This name, made striking
in so many ways, and which, if first given in scorn, was
adopted and gloried in by the disciples, we are told in
(Matthew 2:23) possesses a prophetic significance. Its
application to Jesus, in consequence of the providential
arrangements by which his Parents were led to take up their
abode in Nazareth, was the filling out of the predictions in
which the promised Messiah is described as a netser i.e. a
shoot, sprout, of Jesse, a humble and despised descendant of
the decayed royal family. Once, (Acts 24:5) the term Nazarenes
is applied to the followers of Jesus by way of contempt. The
name still exists in Arabic as the ordinary designation of
Christians.
Nazareth
(the guarded one) the ordinary residence of our Saviour, is not
mentioned in the Old Testament, but occurs first in (Matthew
2:23) It derives its celebrity from its connection with the
history of Christ, and in that respect has a hold on the
imagination and feelings of men which it shares only with
Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is situated among the hills which
constitute the south ridges of Lebanon,just before they sink
down into the plain of Esdraelon, (Mr. Merrill, in "Galilee in
the Time of Christ" (1881), represents Nazareth in Christ's
time as a city (so always called in the New Testament) of
15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, of some importance and
considerable antiquity, and not so insignificant and mean as
has been represented.--ED.) Of the identification of the
ancient site there can be no doubt. The name of the present
village is en-Nazirah the same, therefore, as of old it is
formed on a hill or mountain, (Luke 4:29) it is within the
limits of the province of Galilee, (Mark 1:9) it is near Cana,
according to the implication in (John 2:1,2,11) a precipice
exists in the neighborhood. (Luke 4:29) The modern Nazareth
belongs to the better class of eastern villages. It has a
population of 3000 or 4000; a few are Mohammadans, the rest
Latin and Greek Christians. (Near this town Napoleon once
encamped (1799), after the battle of Mount Tabor.) The origin
of the disrepute in which Nazareth stood, (John 1:47) is not
certainly known. All the inhabitants of Galilee were looked
upon with contempt by the people of Judea because they spoke a
ruder dialect, were less cultivated and were more exposed by
their position to contact with the heathen. But Nazareth
labored under a special opprobrium, for it was a Galilean and
not a southern Jew who asked the reproachful question whether
"any good thing" could come from that source. Above the town
are several rocky ledges, over which a person could not be
thrown without almost certain destruction. There is one very
remarkable precipice, almost perpendicular and forty or fifty
near the Maronite church, which may well be supposed to be the
identical one over which his infuriated fellow townsmen
attempted to hurl Jesus.
Nazarite
more properly Naz'irite (one separated), one of either sex who
was bound by a vow of a peculiar kind to be set apart from
others for the service of God. The obligation was either for
life or for a defined time. There is no notice in the
Pentateuch of Nazarites for life; but the regulations for the
vow of a Nazarite of days are given. (Numbers 6:1-21) The
Nazarite, during-the term of has consecration, was bound to
abstain from wine grapes, with every production of the vine and
from every kind of intoxicating drink. He was forbidden to cut
the hair of his head, or to approach any dead body, even that
of his nearest relation. When the period of his vow was
fulfilled he was brought to the door of the tabernacle, and was
required to offer a he lamb for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb
for a sin offering, and a ram for a peace offering, with the
usual accompaniments of peace offerings, (Leviticus 7:12,13)
and of the offering made at the consecration of priests.
(Exodus 29:2; Numbers 6:15) He brought also a meat offering and
a drink offering, which appear to have been presented by
themselves as a distinct act of service. ver. (Numbers 6:17) He
was to cut off the hair of "the head of his separation "(that
is, the hair which had grown during the period of his
consecration) at the door of the tabernacle, and to put it into
the fire under the sacrifice on the altar. Of the Nazarites for
life three are mentioned in the Scriptures--Samson, Samuel and
St. John the Baptist. The only one of these actually called a
Nazarite is Samson. We do not know whether the vow for life was
ever voluntarily taken by the individual. In all the cases
mentioned in the sacred history, it was made by the parents
before the birth of the Nazarite himself. The consecration of
the Nazarite bore a striking resemblance to that of the nigh
priest. (Leviticus 21:10-12) The meaning of the Nazarite vow
has been regarded in different lights. It may be regarded as an
act of self-sacrifice, That it was essentially a sacrifice of
the person to the Lord is obviously in accordance with the
terms of the law. (Numbers 6:2) As the Nazarite was a witness
for the straitness of the law, as distinguished from the
freedom of the gospel, his sacrifice of himself was a
submission to the letter of the rule. Its outward
manifestations were restraints and eccentricities. The man was
separated from his brethren that he might be peculiarly devoted
to the Lord. This was consistent with the purpose of divine
wisdom for the time for which it was ordained.
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Table of Contents
Neah
(shaking) a place which was one of the landmarks on the
boundary of Zebulun. (Joshua 19:13) only. It has not yet been
certainly identified.
Neapolis
(new city) is the place in northern Greece where Paul and his
associates first landed in Europe. (Acts 16:11) where, no
doubt, he landed also on his second visit to Macedonia, (Acts
20:1) and whence certainly he embarked on his last journey
through that province to Troas and Jerusalem. (Acts 20:6)
Philippi being an inland town, Neapolis was evidently the port,
and is represented by the present Kavalla . (Kavalla is a city
of 5000 or 6000 inhabitants, Greeks and Turks. Neapolis was
situated within the bounds of Thrace, ten miles from Philippi,
on a high rocky promontory jutting out into the AEgean Sea,
while a temple of Diana crowned the hill-top.--ED.)
Neariah
(servant of Jehovah).
+ One of the six sons of Shemaiah in the line of the royal
family of Judah after the captivity. (1 Chronicles 3:22,23)
(B.C. about 350.)
+ A son of Ishi, and one of the captains of the 500 Simeonites
who in the days of Hezekiah, drove out the Amalekites from
Mount Seir. (1 Chronicles 4:42) (B.C. 715.)
Nebai
(fruitful), a family of the heads of the people who signed the
covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:19)
Nebaioth, Nebajoth
(heights), the "first-born of Ishmael," (Genesis 25:13; 1
Chronicles 1:29) (B.C. about 1850), and father of a pastoral
tribe named after him, the "rams Of Nebaioth" being mentioned
by the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 60:7) with the; flocks of Kedar.
From the days of Jerome: this people had been identified with
the Nabathaeans of Greek and Roman history Petra was their
capital. (They first settled in the country southeast of
Palestine, and wandered gradually in search of pasturage till
they came to Kedar, of which Isaiah speaks. Probably the
Nebaioth of Arabia Petrea were, as M. Quatremere argues the
same people as the Nebat of Chaldea.--McClintock and Strong's
Cyclopedia.)
Neballat
(hidden folly), town of Benjamin, one of those which the
Benjamites reoccupied after the captivity. (Nehemiah 11:34)
Nebat
(aspect), the father of Jeroboam, (1 Kings 11:26; 12:2,15)
etc., is described as an Ephrathite or Ephraimite of Zereda.
(B.C. about 1000.)
Nebo
+ A town of Reuben on the east side of Jordan. (Numbers
32:3,38) In the remarkable prophecy adopted by Isaiah,
(Isaiah 15:2) and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 48:1,26) concerning
Moab, Nebo is mentioned in the same connection as before, but
in the hands of Moab. Eusebius and Jerome identify it with
Nobah or Kerrath, and place it eight miles South of Heshbon,
where the ruins of el-Habis appear to stand at present.
(Prof. Paine identifies it with some ruins on Mount Nebo, a
mile south of its summit, and Dr. Robinson seems to agree
with this.--ED.)
+ The children of Nebo returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel.
(Ezra 2:29; 10:43; Nehemiah 7:33) The name occurs between
Bethel and Ai and Lydda, which implies that it was situated
in the territory of Benjamin to the northwest of Jerusalem.
This is possibly the modern Beit-Nubah, about 12 miles
northwest by west of Jerusalem, 8 from Lydda.
+ Nebo, which occurs both in Isaiah, (Isaiah 46:11) and
Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 45:1) as the name of a Chaldean god, is a
well known deity of the Babylonians and Assyrians. He was the
god who presided over learning and letters. His general
character corresponds to that of the Egyptian Thoth the Greek
Hermes and the Latin Mercury. Astronomically he is identified
with the planet nearest the sun. In Babylonia Nebo held a
prominent place from an early time. The ancient town of
Borsippa was especially under his protection, and the great
temple here, the modern Birs-Nimrud, was dedicated to him
from a very remote age. He was the tutelar god of the most
important Babylonian kings, in whose names the word Nabu or
Nebo appears as an element.
(prophet), Mount, the mountain from which Moses took his first
and last view of the promised land. (32:41; 34:1) It is
described as in the land of Moab, facing Jericho; the head or
summit of a mountain called Pisgah, which again seems to have
formed a portion of the general range of Abarim.
(Notwithstanding the minuteness of this description, it is only
recently that any one has succeeded in pointing out any spot
which answers to Nebo. Tristram identifies it with a peak
(Jebel Nebbah) of the Abarim or Moab mountains, about three
miles southwest of Heshban (Heshbon) and about a mile and a
half due west of Baal-meon. "It overlooks the mouth of the
Jordan, over against Jericho," (34:1) and the gentle slopes of
its sides may well answer to the "field of Zophim." (Numbers
23:14) Jebel Nebbah is 2683 feet high. It is not an isolated
peak but one of a succession of bare turf-clad eminences, so
linked together that the depressions between them were mere
hollows rather than valleys. It commands a wide prospect. Prof.
Paine, of the American Exploration Society, contends that Jebel
Nebbah, the highest point of the range, is Mount Nebo, that
Jebel Siaghah, the extreme headland of the hill, is Mount
Pisgah, and that "the mountains of Abarim "are the cliffs west
of these points, and descending toward the Dead Sea. Probably
the whole mountain or range was called sometimes by the name of
one peak and sometimes by that of another as is frequently the
case with mountains now.--ED.)
Nebuchadnezzar, Or Nebuchadrezzar
(may Nebo protect the crown), was the greatest and most
powerful of the Babylonian kings. His name is explained to mean
"Nebo is the protector against misfortune." He was the son and
successor of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Babylonian
empire. In the lifetime of his father Nebuchadnezzar led an
army against Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, defeated him at
Carchemish, B.C. 605, in a great battle (Jeremiah 46:2-12)
recovered Coele-Syria, Phoenicia and Palestine, took Jerusalem,
(Daniel 1:1,2) pressed forward to Egypt, and was engaged in
that country or upon its borders when intelligence arrived
which recalled him hastily to Babylon. Nabopolassar, after
reigning twenty-one years, had died and the throne was vacant.
In alarm about the succession Nebuchadnezzar returned to the
capital, accompanied only by his light troops; and crossing the
desert, probably by way of Tadmor or Palmyra, reached Babylon
before any disturbance had arisen and entered peaceably on his
kingdom, B.C. 604. Within three years of Nebuchadnezzar's first
expedition into Syria and Palestine, disaffection again showed
itself in those countries. Jehoiakim, who, although threatened
at first with captivity, (2 Chronicles 36:6) had been finally
maintained on the throne as a Babylonian vassal, after three
years of service "turned and rebelled" against his suzerain,
probably trusting, to be supported by Egypt. (2 Kings 24:1) Not
long afterward Phoenicia seems to have broken into revolt, and
the Chaldean monarch once more took the field in person, and
marched first of all against Tyre. Having invested that city
and left a portion of his army there to continue the siege, he
proceeded against Jerusalem, which submitted without a
struggle. According to Josephus, who is here our chief
authority, Nebuchadnezzar punished Jehoiakim with death, comp.
(Jeremiah 23:18,19) and Jere 36:30 But placed his son
Jehoiachin upon the throne. Jehoiachin reigned only three
months; for, on his showing symptoms of disaffection,
Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem for the third time,
deposed the son's prince whom he carried to Babylon, together
with a large portion of the population of the city and the
chief of the temple treasures), and made his uncle, Zedekiah,
king in his room. Tyre still held out; and it was not till the
thirteenth year from the time of its first investment that the
city of merchants fell, B.C. 585. Ere this happened, Jerusalem
had been totally destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar had commenced the
final siege of Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zedekiah--his own
seventeenth year (B.C. 588)--and took it two years later, B.C.
586. Zedekiah escaped from the city, but was captured near
Jericho, (Jeremiah 39:5) and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at
Riblah in the territory of Hamath, where his eyes were put out
by the king's order while his sons and his chief nobles were
slain. Nebuchadnezzar then returned to Babylon with Zedekiah,
whom he imprisoned for the remainder of his life. The military
successes of Nebuchadnezzar cannot be traced minutely beyond
this point. It may be gathered from the prophetical Scriptures
and from Josephus that the conquest of Jerusalem was rapidly
followed by the fall of Tyre and the complete submission of
Phoenicia, Ezek 26-28 after which the Babylonians carried their
arms into Egypt, and inflicted severe injuries on that fertile
country. (Jeremiah 46:13-26; Ezekiel 23:2-20) We are told that
the first care of Nebuchadnezzar, on obtaining quiet possession
of his kingdom after the first Syrian expedition, was to
rebuild the temple of Bel (Bel-Merodach) at Babylon out of the
spoils of the Syrian war. The next proceeded to strengthen and
beautify the city, which he renovated throughout and surrounded
with several lines of fortifications, himself adding one
entirely new quarter. Having finished the walls and adorned the
gates magnificently, he constructed a new palace. In the
grounds of this palace he formed the celebrated "hanging
garden," which the Greeks placed among the seven wonders of the
world. But he did not confine his efforts to the ornamentation
and improvement of his capital. Throughout the empire at
Borsippa, Sippara, Cutha, Chilmad, Duraba, Teredon, and a
multitude of other places, he built or rebuilt cities, repaired
temples, constructed quays, reservoirs, canals and aqueducts,
on a scale of grandeur and magnificence surpassing everything
of the kind recorded in history unless it be the constructions
of one or two of the greatest Egyptian monarchs. The wealth
greatness and general prosperity of Nebuchadnezzar are
strikingly placed before us in the book of Daniel. Toward the
close of his reign the glory of Nebuchadnezzar suffered a
temporary eclipse. As a punishment for his pride and vanity,
that strange form of madness was sent upon him which the Greeks
called Lycanthropy, wherein the sufferer imagines himself a
beast, and, quitting the haunts of men, insists on leading the
life of a beast. (Daniel 4:33) (This strange malady is thought
by some to receive illustration from an inscription; and
historians place at this period the reign of a queen to whom
are ascribed the works which by others are declared to be
Nebuchadnezzar's. Probably his favorite wife was practically at
the head of affairs during the malady of her husband. Other
historians, Eusebius and Berosus also confirm the account. See
Rawlinson's "Historical Illustrations."--ED.) After an interval
of four or perhaps seven years, (Daniel 4:16) Nebuchadnezzar's
malady left him. We are told that "his reason returned, and for
the glory of his kingdom his honor and brightness returned;"
and he "was established in his kingdom, and excellent majesty
was added to him." (Daniel 4:36) He died in the year B.C. 561,
at an advanced age (eighty-three or eighty-four), having
reigned forty-three years. A son, Evilmerodach, succeeded him.
Nebushasban
(Nebo saves me), one of the officers of Nebuchadnezzar at the
time of the capture of Jerusalem. He was Rab-saris, i.e. a
chief of the eunuchs. (Jeremiah 39:13) Nebushasban's office and
title were the same as those of Ashpenaz, (Daniel 1:3) whom he
probably succeeded.
Nebuzaradan
(chief whom Nebo favors), the Rab-tabbachim i.e. chief of the
slaughterers (Authorized Version "captain of the guard"), a
high officer in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. On the capture of
Jerusalem he was left by Nebuchadnezzar in charge of the city.
Comp. (Jeremiah 39:11) He seems to have quitted Judea when he
took down the chief people of Jerusalem to his master at
Riblah. (2 Kings 25:18-20) In four years he again appeared.
(Jeremiah 52:30) Nebuchadnezzar in his twenty-third year made a
descent on the regions east of Jordan, including the Ammonites
and Moabites, who escaped when Jerusalem was destroyed. Thence
he proceeded to Egypt, and, either on the way thither or on the
return, Nebuzaradan again passed through the country and
carried off more captives. (Jeremiah 52:30)
Necho
(lame). (2 Chronicles 35:20,22; 36:4) [PHARAOH-NECHO]
Nedabiah
(whom Jehovah impels) apparently one of the sons of Jeconiah or
Jehoiachin, king of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:18)
Neginah
(stringed instruments), the singular of Neginoth. If occurs in
the title of (Psalms 61:1) It is the general term by which all
stringed instruments are described. "The chief musician on
Neginoth " was therefore the conductor of that portion of the
temple-choir who played upon the stringed instruments, and who
are mentioned in (Psalms 68:25)
Neginoth
[[904]Neginah]
Nehelamite, The
the designation of a man named Shemaiah, a false prophet, who
went with the captivity to Babylon. (Jeremiah 29:24,31,32) The
name is no doubt formed from that either of Shemaiah's native
place or the progenitor of his family which of the two is
uncertain.
Nehemiah
(consolation of the Lord).
+ Son of Hachaliah, and apparently of the tribe of Judah. All
that we know certainly concerning him is contained in the
book which bears his name. We first find him at Shushan, the
winter residence of the kings of Persia, in high office as
the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes Longimanus. In the twentieth
year of the king's reign, i.e. B.C. 445, certain Jews arrived
from Judea, and gave Nehemiah a deplorable account of the
state of Jerusalem. He immediately conceived the idea of
going to Jerusalem to endeavor to better their state, and
obtained the king's consent to his mission. Having received
his appointment as governor of Judea, he started upon his
journey, being under promise to return to Persia within a
given time. Nehemiah's great work was rebuilding, for the
first time since their destruction by Nebuzar-adan, the walls
of Jerusalem, and restoring that city to its former state and
dignity as a fortified town. To this great object therefore
Nehemiah directed his whole energies without an hour's
unnecessary delay. In a wonderfully short time the walls
seemed to emerge from the heaps of burnt rubbish, end to
encircle the city as in the days of old. It soon became
apparent how wisely Nehemiah had acted in hastening on the
work. On his very first arrival, as governor, Sanballat and
Tobiah had given unequivocal proof of their mortification at
his appointment; but when the restoration was seen to be
rapidly progressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They
made a great conspiracy to fall upon the builders with an
armed force and put a stop to the undertaking. The project
was defeated by the vigilance and prudence of Nehemiah.
Various stratagems were then resorted to get Nehemiah away
from Jerusalem and if possible to take his life; but that
which most nearly succeeded was the attempt to bring him into
suspicion with the king of Persia, as if he intended to set
himself up as an independent king as soon as the walls were
completed. The artful letter of Sanballat so-far wrought upon
Artaxerxes that he issued a decree stopping the work till
further orders. If is probable that at the same time he
recalled Nehemiah, or perhaps his leave of absence had
previously expired. But after a delay, perhaps of several
years he was permitted to return to Jerusalem land to crown
his work by repairing the temple and dedicating the walls.
During his government Nehemiah firmly repressed the exactions
of the nobles and the usury of the rich, and rescued the poor
Jews from spoliation and slavery. He refused to receive his
lawful allowance as governor from the people, in
consideration of their poverty, during the whole twelve years
that he was in office but kept at his own charge a table for
150 Jews, at which any who returned from captivity were
welcome. He made most careful provision for the maintenance
of the ministering priests and Levites and for the due and
constant celebration of divine worship. He insisted upon the
sanctity of the precincts of the temple being preserved
inviolable, and peremptorily ejected the powerful Tobiah from
one of the chambers which Eliashib had assigned to him. With
no less firmness and impartiality he expelled from all sacred
functions those of the high priest's family who had
contracted heathen marriages, and rebuked and punished those
of the common people who had likewise intermarried with
foreigners; and lastly, he provided for keeping holy the
Sabbath day, which was shamefully profaned by many both Jews
and foreign merchants, and by his resolute conduct succeeded
in repressing the lawless traffic on the day of rest. Beyond
the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, to which Nehemiah's own
narrative leads us, we have no account of him whatever.
+ One of the leaders of the first expedition from Babylon to
Jerusalem under Zerabbabel. (Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7)
+ Son of Azbuk and ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, who
helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 3:18)
Nehemiah, The Book Of
like the preceding one of Ezra, is clearly and certainly not
all by the same hand. [[905]Ezra, Book Of, BOOK OF] By far the
most important portion, indeed is the work of Nehemiah but
other portions are either extracts from various chronicles and
registers or supplementary narratives and reflections, some
apparently by Ezra, others, perhaps the work of the same person
who inserted the latest, genealogical extracts from the public
chronicles. The main history contained in the book of Nehemiah
covers about twelve years, viz., from the twentieth to the
thirty-second year of Artaxerxes Langimanus i.e. from B.C. 445
to 433. The whole narrative gives us a graphic and interesting
account of the state of Jerusalem and the returned captives in
the writer's times, and, incidentally, of the nature of the
Persian government and the condition of its remote provinces,
The book of Nehemiah has always had an undisputed place in the
Canon, being included by the Hebrews under the general head of
the book of Ezra, and, as Jerome tells us in the Prolog. Gal.,
by the Greeks and Latins under the name of the second book of
Ezra.
Nehiloth
The title of (Psalms 5:1) in the Authorized Version is rendered
"To the chief musician upon Nehiloth ." It is most likely that
nehiloth is the general term for perforated wind-instruments of
all kinds, as neginoth denotes all manner of stringed
instruments.
Nehum
(consolation), one of those who returned from Babylon with
Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:7)
Nehushta
(brass), the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem, wife of
Jehoiakim and mother of Jehoiachin, kings of Judah. (2 Kings
24:8) (B.C. 616.)
Nehushtan
(a thing of brass), the name by which the brazen serpent made
by Moses in the wilderness, (Numbers 21:9) was worshipped in
the time of Hezekiah. (2 Kings 18:4) It is evident that our
translators by their rendering "and he called it Nehushtan"
understood that the subject of the sentence is Hezekiah and
that when he destroyed the brazen serpent he gave it the name
Nehushtan "a brazen thing" in token of his utter contempt. But
it is better to understand the Hebrew as referring to the name
by which the serpent was generally known, the subject of the
verb being indefinite-- "and one called it 'Nehushtan.'"
Neiel
(moved by God), a place which formed one of the landmarks of
the boundary of the tribe of Asher. (Joshua 19:27) only. It
occurs between Jiphthahel and Cabul. If the former of these be
identified with Jefat, and the latter with Kabul, eight or nine
miles east-southeast of Akka, then Neiel may possibly be
represented by Mi'ar, a village conspicuously placed on a lofty
mountain brow, just halfway between the two.
Nekeb
(cavern), one of the towns on the boundary of Naphtali. (Joshua
19:3) It lay between Adami and Jabneel. A great number of
commentators have taken this name as being connected with the
preceding.
Nekoda
(distinguished).
+ The descendants of Nekoda returned among the Nethinim after
the captivity. (Ezra 2:48; Nehemiah 7:50)
+ The sons of Nekoda were among those who went up after the
captivity from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, and other places, but
were unable to prove their descent from Israel. (Ezra 2:60;
Nehemiah 7:62)
Nemuel
(day of God).
+ A Reubenite, son of Eliab and eldest brother of Dathan and
Abiram. (Numbers 26:9)
+ The eldest son of Simeon, (Numbers 26:12; 1 Chronicles 4:24)
from whom were descended the family of the Nemuelites. In
(Genesis 46:10) he is called JERIUEL.
Nepheg
(sprout).
+ One of the sons of Izhar the son of Kohath. (Esther 6:21)
+ One of David's sons born to him in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:15;
1 Chronicles 3:7; 14:6)
Nephish
(refreshed), an inaccurate variation (found in (1 Chronicles
1:19) only) of the name Nephish.
Nephishesim
(expansions). The children of Nephishesim were among the
Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:62)
Nephthalim
A form of the name Naphtali. (Job 7:3; Matthew 4:13,15;
Revelation 7:6)
Nephtoah, Or Nephtoah
(opening), The water of. The spring or source of the water or
(inaccurately) waters of Nephtoah was one of the landmarks in
the boundary line which separated Judah from Benjamin. (Joshua
15:9; 18:15) It lay northwest of Jerusalem in which direction,
it seems to have been satisfactorily identified in Ain Lifta, a
spring situated a little distance above the village of the same
name.
Nephusim
(expansions), the same as Nephishesim, of which name according
to Gesenius it is the proper form. (Ezra 2:50)
Ner
(a light or lamp), son of Jehiel, according to (1 Chronicles
8:33) father of Abner, and grandfather of King Saul. (B.C.
1140.) Abner was, therefore, uncle to Saul, as is expressly
stated in (1 Samuel 14:50)
Nereus
(lamp), a Christian at Rome, saluted by St. Paul. (Romans
16:15) According to tradition he was beheaded at Terracina,
probably in the reign of Nerva.
Nergal
(hero), one of the chief Assyrian and Babylonian deities, seems
to have corresponded closely to the classical Mars. (2 Kings
17:30) It is conjectured that he may represent the deified
Nimrod.
Nergalsharezer
(prince of fire) occurs only in (Jeremiah 39:3) and Jere 39:13
There appear to have been two persons in the name among the
"princes of the king of Babylon" who accompanied Nebuchadnezzar
on his last expedition against Jerusalem. One of these is not
marked by any additional title; but the other has the honorable
distinction of Rab-mag, probably meaning chief of the Magi [see
RAB-MAG], and it is to him alone that any particular interest
attaches. In sacred Scripture he appears among the persons who,
by command of Nebuchadnezzar, released Jeremiah from prison.
Profane history gives us reason to believe that he was a
personage of great importance, who not long afterward mounted
the Babylonian throne. He is the same as the monarch called
Neriglissar or Neriglissor, who murdered Evil-merodach, the son
of Nebuchadnezzar and succeeded him upon the throne. His reign
lasted from B.C. 559, to B.C. 556.
Neri
short form for [906]Neriah (Jehovah is my lamp) son of Melchi
and father of Salathiel, in the genealogy of Christ.
Neriah
(lamp of Jehovah), the son of Maaseiah and father of Baruch and
Seraiah.
Net
[See FISHING]
Nethaneel
(given of God).
+ The son of Zuar and prince of the tribe of Issachar at the
time of the exodus. (Numbers 1:8; 2:5; 7:18) (B.C. 1491.)
+ The fourth son of Jesse and brother of David. (1 Chronicles
2:14)
+ A priest in the reign of David who blew the trumpet before
the ark when it was brought from the house of Obededom. (1
Chronicles 15:24) (B.C. 1055.)
+ A Levite, father of Shemaiah the scribe, in the reign of
David. (1 Chronicles 24:6)
+ A son of Obed-edom. (1 Chronicles 26:4)
+ One of the princes of Judah whom Jehoshaphat sent to teach in
the cities of his kingdom. (2 Chronicles 17:7) (B.C. 912.)
+ A chief of the Levites in the reign of Josiah. (2 Chronicles
35:9) (B.C. 628.)
+ A priest of the family of Pashur, in the time of Ezra, who
married a foreign wife. (B.C. 458.)
+ The representative of the priestly family of Jedaiah in the
time of Joiakim. (Nehemiah 12:21) (B.C. 446.)
+ A Levite, of the sons of Asaph, who with his brethren played
upon the musical instruments of David at the dedication of
the wall of Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah. (Nehemiah
12:36) (B.C. 446.)
Nethaniah
(given of Jehovah).
+ The son of Elishama, and father of Ishmael who murdered
Gedaliah. (2 Kings 25:23,25) He was of the royal family of
Judah. (B.C. 620.)
+ One of the four sons of Asaph the minstrel. (1 Chronicles
25:12) (B.C. 1015.)
+ A Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:8)
(B.C. 912.)
+ The father of Jehudi. (Jeremiah 36:14) (B.C. 638.)
Nethinim
(given, dedicated), As applied specifically to a distinct body
of men connected with the services of the temple, this name
first meets us in the later books of the Old Testament-- in 1
Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, The word and the ideas embodied
in it may, however, be traced to a much earlier period. As
derived from the verb nathan, i.e. give, set apart, dedicate,
it was applied to those who were pointed to the liturgical
offices of the tabernacle. We must not forget that the Levites
were given to Aaron and his sons, i.e. to the priests as an
order, and were accordingly the first Nethinim. (Numbers 3:9;
8:19) At first they were the only attendants, and their work
must have been laborious enough. The first conquests, however,
brought them their share of the captive slaves of the
Midianites and 320 were given to them as having charge of the
tabernacle, (Numbers 31:47) while 32 only were assigned
specially to the priests. This disposition to devolve the more
laborious offices of their ritual upon slaves of another race
showed itself again in the treatment of the Gibeonites. No
addition to the number thus employed pears to have been mad
ring the period of the judges, and they continued to be known
by their own name as the Gibeonites. Either the massacre at Nob
had involved the Gibeonites as well as the priests, (1 Samuel
22:19) or else they had fallen victims to some other outburst
of Saul's fury; and though there were survivors, (2 Samuel
21:2) the number was likely to be quite inadequate for the
greater stateliness of the new worship at Jerusalem. It is to
this period accordingly that the origin of the class bearing
this name may be traced. The Nethinim were those "whom David
and the princes appointed (Heb. gave) for the service of the
Levites." (Ezra 8:20) At this time the Nethinim probably lived
within the precincts of the temple, doing its rougher work and
so enabling the Levites to take a higher position as the
religious representatives and instructors of the people. The
example set by David was followed by his successor.
Netophah
(distillation), a town the name of which occurs only in the
catalogue of those who returned with Zerubbabel from the
captivity. (Ezra 2:22; Nehemiah 7:26) 1 Esdr. 5:18. But, though
not directly mentioned till so late a period, Netophah was
really a much older place. Two of David's guard, (1 Chronicles
17:13,15) were Netophathites. The "villages of the
Neophathites" were the residence of the Levites. (1 Chronicles
9:16) From another notice we learn that the particular Levites
who inhabited these villages were singers. (Nehemiah 12:28) To
judge from (Nehemiah 7:26) the town was in the neighborhood of,
or closely connected with, Bethlehem.
Netophathite
an inhabitant of Neophah.
Nettle
a well-known plant covered with minute sharp hairs; containing
a poison that produces a painful, stifling sensation. It grows
on neglected ground. A different Hebrew word in (Job 30:7;
Proverbs 24:31; Zephaniah 2:9) seems to indicate a different
species.
New Moon
The first day of the lunar month was observed as a holy day. In
addition to the daily sacrifice there were offered two young
bullocks, a ram and seven lambs of the first year as a burnt
offering, with the proper meat offerings and drink offerings,
and a kid as a sin offering. (Numbers 28:11-15) As on the
Sabbath, trade and handicraft work were stopped, (Amos 8:5) and
the temple was opened for public worship. (Isaiah 66:23;
Ezekiel 46:3) The trumpets were blown at the offering of the
special sacrifices for the day, as on the solemn festivals.
(Numbers 10:10; Psalms 81:3) It was an occasion for state
banquets. (1 Samuel 20:5-24) In later, if not in earlier, times
fasting was intermitted at the new moons. Judith 8:6. The new
moons are generally mentioned so as to show that they were
regarded as a peculiar class of holy days, distinguished from
the solemn feasts and the Sabbaths. (1 Chronicles 113:31; 2
Chronicles 2:4; 8:13; 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Nehemiah 10:33; Ezekiel
45:17) The seventh new moon of the religious year, being that
of Tisri, commenced the civil year, and had a significance and
rites of its own. It was a day of holy convocation. The
religious observance of the day of the new moon may plainly be
regarded as the consecration of a natural division of time.
New Testament
It is proposed in this article to consider the text of the New
Testament. The subject naturally divides itself into-- I. The
history of the written text; II. The history of the printed
text. I. THE HISTORY OF THE WRITTEN TEXT.--
+ The early history of the apostolic writings externally, as
far as it can be traced, is the same as that of other
contemporary books. St. Paul, like Cicero or Pliny often
employed the services of an amanuensis, to whom he dictated
his letters, affixing the salutation "with his own hand." (1
Corinthians 16:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; Colossians 4:18) The
original copies seem to have soon perished.
+ In the natural course of things the apostolic autographs
would be likely to perish soon. The material which was
commonly used for letters the papyrus paper, to which St.
John incidentally alludes. (2 John 1:12) comp. 3Joh 1:13 Was
singularly fragile, and even the stouter kinds, likely to be
used for the historical books, were not fitted to bear
constant use. The papyrus fragments which have come down to
the present time have been preserved under peculiar
circumstances as at Herculaneum or in the Egyptian tombs.
+ In the time of the Diocletian persecution, A.D. 303, copies
of the Christian Scriptures were sufficiently numerous to
furnish a special object for persecutors. Partly, perhaps,
owing to the destruction thus caused, but still more from the
natural effects of time. no MS. of the New Testament of the
first three centuries remains but though no fragment of the
New Testament of the first century still remains, the Italian
and Egyptian papyri, which are of that date give a clear
notion of the caligraphy of the period. In these the text is
written in columns, rudely divided, in somewhat awkward
capital letters (uncials), without any punctuation or
division of words; and there is no trace of accents or
breathings.
+ In addition to the later MSS. the earliest versions and
patristic quotations give very important testimony to the
character and history of the ante-Nicene text; but till the
last quarter of the second century this source of information
fails us. Only are the remains of Christian literature up to
that time extremely scanty, but the practice of verbal
quotation from the New Testament was not yet prevalent. As
soon as definite controversies arose among Christians, the
text of the New Testament assumed its true importance.
+ Several very important conclusions follow from this earliest
appearance of textual criticism. It is in the first place
evident that various readings existed in the books of the New
Testament at a time prior to all extant authorities. History
affords a trace of the pure apostolic originals. Again, from
the preservation of the first variations noticed, which are
often extremely minute, in one or more of the primary
documents still left, we may be certain that no important
changes have been made in the sacred text which we cannot now
detect.
+ Passing from these isolated quotations, we find the first
great witnesses to the apostolic text in the early Syriac and
Latin versions and in the rich quotations of Clement of
Alexandria (cir. A.D. 220) and Origen (A.D. 1842-4). From the
extant works of Origen alone no inconsiderable portion of the
whole New Testament might be transcribed; and his writings
are an almost inexhaustible store house for the history of
the text. There can be no doubt that in Origen's time the
variations in the New Testament MSS. were beginning to lead
to the formation of specific groups of copies.
+ The most ancient MSS. and versions now extant exhibit the
characteristic differences which have been found to exist in
different parts of the works of Origen. These cannot have had
their source later than the beginning of the third century,
and probably were much earlier. Bengel was the first (1734)
who pointed out the affinity of certain groups of MSS., which
as he remarks, must have arisen before the first versions
were made. The honor of carefully determining the relations
of critical authorities for the New Testament text belongs to
Griesbach. According to him two distinct recensions of the
Gospels existed at the beginning of the third century-the
Alexandrine and the Western .
+ From the consideration of the earliest history of the New
Testament text we now pass to the era of MSS. The quotations
of Dionsius Alex. (A.D. 264), Petrus Alex. (cir. A.D. 312),
Methodius (A.D. 311) and Eusebius (A.D. 340) confirm the
prevalence of the ancient type of tent; but the public
establishment of Christianity in the Roman empire necessarily
led to important changes. The nominal or real adherence of
the higher ranks to the Christian faith must have largely
increased the demand for costly MSS. As a natural consequence
the rude Hellenistic forms gave way before the current Greek,
and at the same time it is reasonable to believe that
smoother and fuller constructions were substituted for the
rougher turns of the apostolic language. In this way the
foundation of the Byzantine text was laid. Meanwhile the
multiplication of copies in Africa and Syria was checked by
Mohammedan conquests.
+ The appearance of the oldest MSS. have been already
described. The MSS. of the fourth century, of which Codex
Vaticanus may be taken as a type present a close resemblance
to these. The writing is in elegant continuous uncials
(capitals), in three columns, without initial letters or iota
subscript or adscript . A small interval serves as a simple
punctuation; and there are no accents or breathings by the
hand of the first writer, though these have been added
subsequently. Uncial writing continued in general use till
the middle of the tenth century. From the eleventh century
downward cursive writing prevailed. The earliest cursive
biblical MS, is dated 964 A.D. The MSS. of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries abound in the contractions which
afterward passed into the early printed books. The oldest
MSS. are written on the thinnest and finest vellum; in later
copies the parchment is thick and coarse. Papprus was very
rarely used after the ninth century. In the tenth century
cotton paper was generally employed in Europe; and one
example at least occurs of its use in the ninth century. In
the twelfth century the common linen or rag paper came into
use. One other kind of material requires notice--re-dressed
parchment, called palimpsests. Even at a very early period
the original text of a parchment MS. was often erased, that
the material might be used afresh. In lapse of time the
original writing frequently reappeared in faint lines below
the later text, and in this way many precious fragments of
biblical MSS. which had been once obliterated for the
transcription of other works, have been recovered.
+ The division of the Gospels into "chapters" must have come
into general use some time before the fifth century. The
division of the Acts and Epistles into chapters came into use
at a later time. It is commonly referred to Euthalius, who,
however, says that he borrowed the divisions of the Pauline
Epistles from an earlier father and there is reason to
believe that the division of the Acts and Catholic Epistles
which he published was originally the work of Pamphilus the
martyr. The Apocalypse was divided into sections by Andreas
of Caesarea about A.D. 500. The titles of the sacred books
are from their nature additions to the original text. The
distinct names of the Gospels imply a collection, and the
titles of the Epistles are notes by the possessors, and not
addresses by the writers.
+ Very few MSS. certain the whole New Testament--twenty-seven
in all out of the vast mass of extant documents. Besides the
MSS. of the New Testament, or of parts of it, there are also
lectionaries, which contain extracts arranged for the church
services.
+ The number of uncial MSS. remaining. though great when
compared with the ancient MSS. extent of other writings, is
inconsiderable. Tischendorf reckons forty in the Gospels. In
these must be added Cod. Sinait ., which is entire; a new MS.
of Tischendorf, which is nearly entire; and Cod. Zacynth.,
Which contains considerable fragments of St. Luke. In the
Acts there are nine: in the Catholic Epistles five; in the
Pauline Epistles fourteen; in the Apocalypse three.
+ A complete description these MSS. is given In the great
critical editions of the New Testament. Here those only can
be briefly noticed which are of primary importance, the first
place being given to the latest-discovered and most complete
Codex Sinaiticus--the Cod. Frid. Aug. of LXX. at St.
Petersburg, obtained by Tischendorf from the convent of St.
Catherine, Mount Sinai, in 1859. The New Testament is entire,
and the Epistle of Bamabas and parts of the Shepherd of
Hermas are added. It is probably the oldest of the MSS. of
the New Testament and of the fourth century. Codex
Alexandrinus (Brit. Mus.), a MS. of the entire Greek Bible,
with the Epistles of Clement added. It was given-by Cyril
Lucar, patriarch of Constantinople, to Charles I. in 1628,
and is now in the British Museum. It contains the whole of
the New Testament, with some chasms. It was probably written
in the first half of the fifth century. Codex Vaticanus
(1209) a MS. of the entire Greek Bible which seems to have
been in the Vatican Library almost from its commencement
(cir. A.D. 1450). It contains the New Testament entire to
(Hebrews 9:14) katha : the rest of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, the Pastoral Epistles and the Apocalypse were added
in the fifteenth century. The MS. is assigned to the fourth
century. Codex Ephraemi rescriptus (Paris, Bibl, Imp. 9), a
palimpsest MS. which contains fragments of the LXX. and of
every part of the New Testament. In the twelfth century the
original writing was effaced and some Greek writings of
Ephraem Syrus were written over it. The MS was brought to
Florence from the East at the beginning of the sixteenth
century, and came thence to Paris with Catherine Deuteronomy
Medici. The only entire books which have perished are 2
Thess. and 2 John.
+ The number of the cursive MSS. (minuscules) in existence
cannot be accurately calculated. Tischendorf catalogues about
500 of the Gospels, 200 of the Acts and Catholic Epistles,
250 of the Pauline Epistles, and a little less than 100 of
the Apocalypse (exclusive of lectionaries); but this
enumeration can only be accepted as a rough approximation,
+ Having surveyed in outline the history of the transmission of
the written text and the chief characteristics of the MSS. in
which it is preserved, we are in a position to consider the
extent and nature of the variations which exist in different
copies. It is impossible to estimate the number of these
exactly, but they cannot be less than 120,000 in all, though
of these a very large proportion consists of differences of
spelling and isolated aberrations of scribes and of the
remainder comparatively few alterations are sufficiently well
supported to create reasonable doubt as to the final
judgment. Probably there are not more than 1600-2000 places
in which the true reading is a matter of uncertainty.
+ Various causes: readings are due to some arose from
accidental, others from intentional alterations of the
original text.
+ Other variations are due to errors of sight. Others may be
described as errors of impression or memory . The copyist,
after reading a sentence from the text before him, often
failed to reproduce it exactly. Variations of order are the
most frequent and very commonly the most puzzling questions
of textual criticism. Examples occur in every page, almost in
every verse, of the New Testament.
+ Of intentional changes some affect the expression, others the
substance of the passage.
+ The number of readings which seem to have been altered for
distinctly dogmatic reasons is extremely small. In spite of
the great revolutions in thought, feeling and practice
through which the Christian Church passed In fifteen
centuries, the copyists of the New Testament faithfully
preserved, according to their ability, the sacred trust
committed to them. There is not any trace of intentional
revision designed to give support to current opinions.
(Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29; 1 Corinthians 7:5) need scarcely
be noticed.
+ The great mass of various readings are simply variations in
form. There are, however, one or two greater variations of a
different character. The most important of these are (Mark
16:9) and John 7:53 ... 8:12; Roma 16:25-27 The first stands
quite by itself and there seems to be little doubt that it
contains an authentic narrative but not by the hand of St.
John. The two others taken in connection with the last
chapter of St. John's Gospel, suggest the possibility that
the apostolic writings may have undergone in some cases
authoritative revision.
+ Manuscripts, it must be remembered, are but one of the three
sources of textual criticism. The versions and patristic
quotations are scarcely less important in doubtful cases. II.
THE HISTORY OF THE PRINTED TEXT.--The history of the printed
text of the New Testament may be these divided into three
periods. The extends from the labors of the Complutensian
errors to those of Mill; the second from Mill to Scholz; the
third from Lachmann to the present time. The criticism of the
first period was necessarily tentative and partial: the
materials available for the construction of the text were few
and imperfectly known. The second period made a great
progress: the evidence of MSS. of versions, of the fathers,
was collected with the greatest diligence and success;
authorities were compared and classified; principles of
observation and judgment were laid down. But the influence of
the former period still lingered. The third period was
introduced by the declaration of a new and sounder law. It
was laid down that no right of possession could be pleaded
against evidence, The "received" text, as such, was allowed
no weight whatever. Its authority, on this view, must depend
solely on critical worth. From first to last, in minute
details of order and orthography, as well as in graver
questions of substantial alteration, the text must be formed
by a free and unfettered judgment. The following are the
earliest editions:
+ The Complutensian Polyglot .-The glory of printing the first
Greek Testament is due to the princely Cardinal Ximenes. This
great prelate as early as 1502 engaged the services of a
number of scholars to superintend an edition of the whole
Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek, with the addition of
the Chaldee Targum of Onkelos, the LXX. version and the
Vulgate. The volume containing the New Testament was Printed
first, and was completed on January 10, 1524. The whole work
was not finished till July 10, 1517. (It was called
Complutensian because it was printed at Complutum, in
Spain.--ED.)
+ The edition of Erasmus .--The edition of Erasmus was the
first published edition of the New Testament. Erasmus had
paid considerable attention to the study of the New
Testament, when he received an application from Froben, a
Printer of Basle with whom he was acquainted, to prepare a
Greek text for the press. The request was made on April 17,
1515 and the whole work was finished in February, 1516.
+ The edition of Stephens .--The scene of our history now
changes from Basle to Paris. In 1543, Simon Deuteronomy
Colines: (Colinaeus) published a Greek text of the New
Testament, corrected in about 150 places on fresh MS.
authority. Not long after it appeared, R. Estienne
(Stephanus) published his first edition (1546), which was
based on a collation of MSS, in the Royal Library with the
Complutensian text.
+ The editions of Beta and Elzevir .--The Greek text of Beta
(dedicated to Queen Elizabeth) was printed by H. Stephens in
1565 and a second edition in 1576; but the chief edition was
the third, printed in 1582, which contained readings from
Codez Bezae and Codex Clarontontanus . The literal sense of
the apostolic, writings must be gained in the same way as the
literal sense of any other writings-by the fullest use of
every appliance of scholarship, and the most complete
confidence in the necessary and absolute connection of words
and thoughts. No variation of phrase, no peculiarity of
idiom, no change of tense, no change of order, can be
neglected. The truth lies in the whole expression, and no one
can presume to set aside any part as trivial or indifferent.
The importance of investigating most patiently and most
faithfully the literal meaning of the sacred text must be
felt with tenfold force when it is remembered that the
literal sense is the outward embodiment of a spiritual sense,
which lies beneath and quickens every part of Holy Scripture,
[907]Bible]
New Year
[[908]Trumpets, Feast Of FEAST OF]
Neziah
(pre-eminent). The descendants of Neziah were among the
Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:54; Nehemiah
7:56) (B.C.536.)
Nezib
(garrison, pillar), a city of Judah, (Joshua 15:43) only, in
the district of the Shefelah or lowland, one of the same group
with Keilah and Mareshah. To Eusebius and Jerome it was
evidently known. They place it on the road between
Eleutheropolis and Hebron, seven or nine miles from the former,
and there it still stands under the almost identical name of
Beit Nusib or Chirbeh Nasib .
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Table of Contents
Nibhaz
(the barker), a deity of the Avites, introduced by them into
Samaria in the time of Shalmaneser. (2 Kings 17:31) The rabbins
derived the name from a Hebrew root nabach, "to bark," and
hence assigned to it the figure of a dog, or a dog-headed man.
The Egyptians worshipped the dog. Some indications of this
worship have been found in Syria, a colossal figure of a dog
having formerly stood at a point between Berytus and Tripolis.
Nibshan
(soft soil) one of the six cities of Judah, (Joshua 15:62)
which were in the district of the Midbar (Authorized Version
"wilderness").
Nicanor
(conqueror).
+ Son of Patroclus, 2 Macc. 8:9, a general who was engaged in
the Jewish wars under Antiochus Epiphanes and Demetrius I. 1
Macc. 3:38; 4; 7:26,49. (B.C. 160.)
+ One of the first seven deacons. Acts 6:5.
Nicodemus
(conqueror of the people), a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews and
a teacher of Israel, (John 3:1,10) whose secret visit to our
Lord was the occasion of the discourse recorded only by St.
John. In Nicodemus a noble candor and a simple love of truth
shine out in the midst of hesitation and fear of man. He
finally became a follower of Christ, and came with Joseph of
Arimathaea to take down and embalm the body of Jesus.
Nicolaitans
(followers of Nicolas), a sect mentioned in (Revelation 2:6,15)
whose deeds were strongly condemned. They may have been
identical with those who held the doctrine of Balaam. They seem
to have held that it was lawful to eat things sacrificed to
idols, and to commit fornication, in opposition to the decree
of the Church rendered in (Acts 15:20,29) The teachers of the
Church branded them with a name which expressed their true
character. The men who did and taught such things were
followers of Balaam. (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11) They, like the
false prophet of Pethor, united brave words with evil deeds. In
a time of persecution, when the eating or not eating of things
sacrificed to idols was more than ever a crucial test of
faithfulness, they persuaded men more than ever that was a
thing indifferent. (Revelation 2:13,14) This was bad enough,
but there was a yet worse evil. Mingling themselves in the
orgies of idolatrous feasts, they brought the impurities of
those feasts into the meetings of the Christian Church. And all
this was done, it must be remembered not simply as an
indulgence of appetite: but as a part of a system, supported by
a "doctrine," accompanied by the boast of a prophetic
illumination, (2 Peter 2:1) It confirms the view which has been
taken of their character to find that stress is laid in the
first instance on the "deeds" of the Nicolaitans. To hate those
deeds is a sign of life in a Church that otherwise is weak and
faithless. (Revelation 2:6) To tolerate them is well nigh to
forfeit the glory of having been faithful under persecution.
(Revelation 2:14,15)
Nicolas
(victor of the people), (Acts 6:5) a native of Antioch and a
proselyte to the Jewish faith. When the church was still
confined to Jerusalem, he became a convert and being a man of
honest report full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, he was
chosen by the whole multitude of the disciples to be one of the
first seven deacons, and was ordained by the apostles. There is
no reason except the simplicity of name for identifying Nicolas
with the sect of Nicolaitans which our Lord denounces, for the
traditions on the subject are of no value.
Nicopolis
(city of victory) is mentioned in (Titus 3:12) as the place
where St. Paul was intending to pass the coming winter. Nothing
is to be found in the epistle itself to determine which
Nicopolis is here intended. One Nicopolis was in Thrace, near
the borders of Macedonia. The subscription (which, however, is
of no authority) fixes on this place, calling it the Macedonian
Nicopolis. But there is little doubt that Jerome's view is
correct, and that the Pauline Nicopolis was the celebrated city
of Epirus. This city (the "city of victory") was built by
Augustus in memory the battle of Actium. It was on a peninsula,
to the west of the bay of Actium.
Niger
(black) is the additional or distinctive name given to the
Simeon who was one of the teachers and prophets in the church
at Antioch. (Acts 13:1)
Night
[[909]Day]
Nighthawk
The Hebrew word so translated, (Leviticus 11:10; 14:15)
probably denotes some kind of owl.
Nile
(blue, dark), the great river of Egypt. The word Nile nowhere
occurs in the Authorized Version but it is spoken of under the
names of Sihor [[910]Sihor] and the "river of Egypt." (Genesis
15:18) We cannot as yet determine the length of the Nile,
although recent discoveries have narrowed the question. There
is scarcely a doubt that its largest confluent is fed by the
great lakes on and south of the equator. It has been traced
upward for about 2700 miles, measured by its course, not in a
direct line, and its extent is probably over 1000 miles more.
(The course of the river has been traced for 3300 miles. For
the first 1800 miles (McClintock and Strong say 2300) from its
mouth it receives no tributary; but at Kartoom, the capital of
Nubia, is the junction of the two great branches, the White
Nile and the Blue Nile, so called from the color of the clay
which tinges their waters. The Blue Nile rises in the mountains
of Abyssinia and is the chief source of the deposit which the
Nile brings to Egypt. The White Nile is the larger branch. Late
travellers have found its source in Lake Victoria Nyanza, three
degrees south of the equator. From this lake to the mouth of
the Nile the distance is 2300 miles in a straight line--one
eleventh the circumference of the globe. From the First
Cataract, at Syene, the river flows smoothly at the rate of two
or three miles an hour with a width of half a mile. to Cairo. A
little north of Cairo it divides into two branches, one flowing
to Rosetta and the other to Damietta, from which place the
mouths are named. See Bartlett's "Egypt and Palestine," 1879.
The great peculiarity of the river is its annual overflow,
caused by the periodical tropical rains. "With wonderful
clock-like regularity the river begins to swell about the end
of June, rises 24 feet at Cairo between the 20th and 30th of
September and falls as much by the middle of May. Six feet
higher than this is devastation; six feet lower is
destitution."--Bartlett . So that the Nile increases one
hundred days and decreases one hundred days, and the
culmination scarcely varies three days from September 25 the
autumnal equinox. Thus "Egypt is the gift of the Nile." As to
the cause of the years of plenty and of famine in the time of
Joseph, Mr. Osburn, in his "Monumental History of Egypt,"
thinks that the cause of the seven years of plenty was the
bursting of the barriers (and gradually wearing them away) of
"the great lake of Ethiopia," which once existed on the upper
Nile, thus bringing more water and more sediment to lower Egypt
for those years. And he shows how this same destruction of this
immense sea would cause the absorption of the waters of the
Nile over its dry bed for several years after thus causing the
famine. There is another instance of a seven-years famine-A.D.
1064-1071.--ED.) The great difference between the Nile of Egypt
in the present day and in ancient times is caused by the
failure of some of its branches and the ceasing of some of its
chief vegetable products; and the chief change in the aspect of
the cultivable land, as dependent on the Nile, is the result of
the ruin of the fish-pools and their conduits and the
consequent decline of the fisheries. The river was famous for
its seven branches, and under the Roman dominion eleven were
counted, of which, however, there were but seven principal
ones. The monuments and the narratives of ancient writers show
us in the Nile of Egypt in old times a stream bordered By flags
and reeds, the covert of abundant wild fowl, and bearing on its
waters the fragrant flowers of the various-colored lotus. Now
in Egypt scarcely any reeds or waterplants--the famous papyrus
being nearly, if not quite extinct, and the lotus almost
unknown--are to he seen, excepting in the marshes near the
Mediterranean. Of old the great river must have shown a more
fair and busy scene than now. Boats of many kinds were ever
passing along it, by the painted walls of temples and the
gardens that extended around the light summer pavilions, from
the pleasure,valley, with one great square sail in pattern and
many oars, to the little papyrus skiff dancing on the water and
carrying the seekers of pleasure where they could shoot with
arrows or knock down with the throw-stick the wild fowl that
abounded among the reeds, or engage in the dangerous chase of
the hippopotamus or the crocodile. The Nile is constantly
before us in the history of Israel in Egypt.
Nimrah
(limpid, pure), a place mentioned by this name in (Numbers
32:3) only. If it is the same as BETU-NIMRAH, ver. 36, it
belonged to the tribe of Gad. It was ten miles north of the
Dead Sea and three miles east of the Jordan, in the hill of
Nimrim.
Nimrim
(limpid, pure), The waters of, a stream or brook within the
country of Moab, which is mentioned in the denunciations of
that nation by Isaiah. (Isaiah 15:6) and Jeremiah. (Jeremiah
48:34) We should perhaps look for the site of Nimrim in Moab
proper, i.e. on the southeastern shoulder of the Dead Sea.
Nimrod
(rebellion; or the valiant), a son of Cush and grandson of Ham.
The events of his life are recorded in (Genesis 10:8) ff., from
which we learn (1) that he was a Cushite; (2) that he
established an empire in Shinar (the classical Babylonia) the
chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh; and (3) that
he extended this empire northward along the course of the
Tigris over Assyria, where he founded a second group of
capitals, Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah and Resen.
Nimshi
(rescued), the grandfather of Jehu, who is generally called
"the son of Nimshi." (1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 9:2; 14:20; 2
Chronicles 22:7)
Nineveh
(abode of Ninus), the capital of the ancient kingdom and empire
of Assyria. The name appears to be compounded from that of an
Assyrian deity "Nin," corresponding, it is conjectured, with
the Greek Hercules, and occurring in the names of several
Assyrian kings, as in "Ninus," the mythic founder, according to
Greek tradition of the city. Nineveh is situated on the eastern
bank of the river Tigris, 50 miles from its mouth and 250 miles
north of Babylon. It is first mentioned in the Old Testament in
connection with the primitive dispersement and migrations of
the human race. Asshur, or according to the marginal reading,
which is generally preferred, Nimrod is there described,
(Genesis 10:11) as extending his kingdom from the land of
Shinar or Babylonia, in the south, to Assyria in the north and
founding four cities, of which the most famous was Nineveh.
Hence Assyria was subsequently known to the Jews as "the land
of Nimrod," cf. (Micah 5:6) and was believed to have been first
peopled by a colony from Babylon. The kingdom of Assyria and of
the Assyrians is referred to in the Old Testament as connected
with the Jews at a very early period, as in (Numbers 24:22,24)
and Psal 83:8 But after the notice of the foundation of Nineveh
in Genesis no further mention is made of the city until the
time of the book of Jonah, or the eighth century B.C. In this
book no mention is made of Assyria or the Assyrians, the king
to whom the prophet was sent being termed the "king of
Nineveh," and his subjects "the people of Nineveh." Assyria is
first called a kingdom in the time of Menahem, about B.C. 770.
Nahum (? B.C. 645) directs his prophecies against Nineveh; only
once against the king of Assyria. ch. (Nahum 3:18) In (2 Kings
19:36) and Isai 37:37 The city is first distinctly mentioned as
the residence of the monarch. Sennacherib was slain there when
worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god. Zephaniah, about
B.C. 630, couples the capital and the kingdom together,
(Zephaniah 2:13) and this is the last mention of Nineveh as an
existing city. The destruction of Nineveh occurred B.C. 606.
The city was then laid waste, its monuments destroyed and its
inhabitants scattered or carried away into captivity. It never
rose again from its ruins. This total disappearance of Nineveh
is fully confirmed by the records of profane history. The
political history of Nineveh is that of Assyria, of which a
sketch has already been given. [[911]Assyria, Asshur] Previous
to recent excavations and researches, the ruins which occupied
the presumed site of Nineveh seemed to consist of mere
shapeless heaps or mounds of earth and rubbish. Unlike the vast
masses of brick masonry which mark the site of Babylon, they
showed externally no signs of artificial construction, except
perhaps here and there the traces of a rude wall of sun-dried
bricks. Some of these mounds were of enormous dimensions,
looking in the distance rather like natural elevations than the
work of men's hands. They differ greatly in form, size and
height. Some are mere conical heaps, varying from 50 to 150
feet high; others have a broad flat summit, and very
precipitous cliff-like sites furrowed by deep ravines worn by
the winter rains. The principal ruins are-- (1) The group
immediately opposite Mosul, including the great mounds of
Kouyunjik and Nebbi Yunus ; (2) that near the junction of the
Tigris and Zab comprising the mounds of Nimroud and Athur ; (3)
Khorsabad, about ten miles to the east of the former river; (4)
Shereef Khan, about 5 1/2 miles to the north Kouyunjik; and (5)
Selamiyah, three miles to the north of Nimroud.
Discoveries.--The first traveller who carefully examined the
supposed site of Nineveh was Mr. Rich formerly political agent
for the East India Company at Bagdad; but his investigations
were almost entirely confined to Kouyunjik and the surrounding
mounds of which he made a survey in 1820. In 1843 M. Botta, the
French consul at Mosul, fully explored the ruins. M. Botta's
discoveries at Khorsabad were followed by those of Mr. Layard
at Nimroud and Kouyunjik, made between the years 1846 and 1850.
(Since then very many and important discoveries have been made
at Nineveh, more especially those by George Smith, of the
British Museum. He has discovered not only the buildings, but
the remains of fin ancient library written on stone tablets.
These leaves or tablets were from an inch to 1 foot square,
made of terra-cotta clay, on which when soft the inscriptions
were written; the tablets were then hardened and placed upon
the walls of the library rooms, so as to cover the walls. This
royal library contained over 10,000 tablets. It was begun by
Shalmaneser B.C. 860; his successors added to it, and
Sardanapalus (B.C. 673) almost doubled it. Stories or subjects
were begun on tablets, and continued on tablets of the same
size sometimes to the number of one hundred. Some of the most
interesting of these give accounts of the creation and of the
deluge and all agree with or confirm the Bible.--ED.)
Description of remains .--The Assyrian edifices were so nearly
alike in general plan, construction an decoration that one
description will suffice for all, They were built upon
artificial mounds or platforms, varying in height, but
generally from 30 to 50 feet above the level of the surrounding
country, and solidly constructed of regular layers of sun-dried
bricks, as at Nimroud, or consisting merely of earth and
rubbish heaped up, as at Kouyunjik. This platform was probably
faced with stone masonry, remains probable which were
discovered at Nimroud, and broad flights of steps or inclined
ways led up to its summit. Although only the general plan of
the ground-floor can now be traced, it is evident that the
palaces had several stories built of wood and sun-dried bricks,
which, when the building was deserted and allowed to fall to
decay, gradually buried the lower chambers with their ruins,
and protected the sculptured slabs from the effects of the
weather. The depth of soil and rubbish above the alabaster
slabs varied from a few inches to about 20 feet. It is to this
accumulation of rubbish above them that the bas-reliefs owe
their extraordinary preservation. The portions of the edifices
still remaining consist of halls, chambers and galleries,
opening for the most part into large uncovered courts. The wall
above the wainscoting of alabaster was plastered, and painted
with figures and ornaments. The sculptured, with the exception
of the human headed lions and bulls, were for the most part in
low relief, The colossal figures usually represent the king,
his attendants and the gods; the smaller sculptures, which
either cover the whole face of the slab or are divided into two
compartments by bands of inscriptions, represent battles
sieges, the chase single combats with wild beasts, religious
ceremonies, etc., etc. All refer to public or national events;
the hunting-scenes evidently recording the prowess and personal
valor of the king as the head of the people-- "the mighty
hunter before the Lord." The sculptures appear to have been
painted, remains of color having been found on most of them.
Thus decorated without and within, the Assyrian palaces must
have displayed a barbaric magnificence, not, however, devoid of
a certain grandeur and beauty which probably no ancient or
modern edifice has exceeded. These great edifices, the
depositories of the national records, appear to have been at
the same time the abode of the king and the temple of the gods.
Prophecies relating to Nineveh, and illustrations of the Old
Testament . These are exclusively contained in the books of
Nahum and Zephaniah. Nahum threatens the entire destruction of
the city, so that it shall not rise again from its ruins. The
city was to be partly destroyed by fire. (Nahum 3:13,16) The
gateway in the northern wall of the Kouyunjik enclosure had
been destroyed by fire as well as the palaces. The population
was to be surprised when unprepared: "while they are drunk as
drunkards they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry " (Nahum
1:10) Diodorus states that the last and fatal assault was made
when they were overcome with wine. The captivity of the
inhabitants and their removal to distant provinces are
predicted. (Nahum 3:18) The fullest and the most vivid and
poetical picture of Nineveh's ruined and deserted condition is
that given by Zephaniah, who probably lived to see its fall.
(Zephaniah 2:13-15) Site of the city .--much diversity of
opinion exists as to the identification of the ruins which may
be properly included within the site of ancient Nineveh.
According to Sir H. Rawlinson and those who concur in his
interpretation of the cuneiform characters, each group of
mounds already mentioned represents a separate and distinct
city. On the other hand it has been conjectured, with much
probability, that these groups of mounds are not ruins of
separate cities, but of fortified royal residences, each
combining palaces, temples, propylaea, gardens and parks, and
having its peculiar name; and that they all formed part of one
great city built and added to at different periods, sad
consisting of distinct quarters scattered over a very large and
frequently very distant one from the other. Thus the city would
be, as Layard says, in the form of a parallelogram 18 to 20
miles long by 12 to 14 wide; or, as Diodorus Siculus says, 55
miles in circumference. Writing and language .--The ruins of
Nineveh have furnished a vast collection of inscriptions partly
carved on marble or stone slabs and partly impressed upon
bricks anti upon clay cylinders, or sixsided and eight-sided
prisms, barrels and tablets, which, used for the purpose when
still moist, were afterward baked in a furnace or kilo. Comp.
(Ezekiel 4:4) The character employed was the arrow-headed or
cuneiform--so called from each letter being formed by marks or
elements resembling an arrow-head or a wedge. These inscribed
bricks are of the greatest value in restoring the royal
dynasties. The most important inscription hitherto discovered
in connection with biblical history is that upon a pair of
colossal human-headed bulls from Kouyunjik, now in the British
Museum, containing the records of Sennacherib, and describing,
among other events, his wars with Hezekiah. It is accompanied
by a series of bas-reliefs believed to represent the siege and
capture of Lachish. A list of nineteen or twenty kings can
already be compiled, and the annals of the greater number of
them will probably be restored to the lost history of one of
the most powerful empires of the ancient world. and of one
which appears to have exercised perhaps greater influence than
any other upon the subsequent condition and development of
civilized man. The people of Nineveh spoke a Shemitic dialect,
connected with the Hebrew and with the so called Chaldee of the
books of Daniel and Ezra. This agrees with the testimony of the
Old Testament.
Ninevites
the inhabitants of Nineveh. (Luke 11:30)
Nisan
[[912]Month]
Nisroch
(the great eagle) an idol of Nineveh, in whose temple
Sennacherib was worshipping when assassinated by his sons,
Adrammelech and Shizrezer. (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38) This
idol is identified with the eagle-headed human figure, which is
one of the most prominent on the earliest Assyrian monuments,
and is always represented as contending with and conquering the
lion or the bull.
Nitre
Mention of this substance is made in (Proverbs 25:20)--"and as
vinegar upon nitre"--and in (Jeremiah 2:26) The article denoted
is not that which we now understand by the term nitre i.e.
nitrate of Potassa--"saltpetre"--but the nitrum of the Latins
and the natron or native carbonate of soda of modern chemistry.
Natron was and still is used by the Egyptians for washing
linen. The value of soda in this respect is well known. This
explains the passage in Jeremiah. Natron is found In great
abundance in the well-known soda lakes of Egypt.
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No
[[913]No-Amon]
No-Adiah
(whom Jehovah meets).
+ A Levite, son of Binnui who with Meremoth, Eleazar and
Jozabad weighed the vessels of gold and silver belonging to
the temple which were brought back from Babylon. (Ezra 8:33)
(B.C. 459.)
+ The prophetess Noadiah joined Sanballet and Tobiah in their
attempt to intimidate Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 6:14) (B.C. 445.)
No-Amon
(temple of Amon) (Nahum 3:8) No, (Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel
30:14,16) a city of Egypt, better known under the name of
Thebes or Diospolis Magna, the ancient and splendid metropolis
of upper Egypt The second part of the first form as the name of
Amen, the chief divinity of Thebes, mentioned or alluded to in
connection with this place in Jeremiah. There is a difficulty
as to the meaning of No. It seems most reasonable to suppose
that No is a Shemitic name and that Amen is added in Nahum
(l.c.) to distinguish Thebes from some other place bearing the
same name or on account of the connection of Amen with that
city. The description of No-amon as "situated among the rivers,
the waters round about it" (Nah. l.c.), remarkably
characterizes Thebes. (It lay on both sides of the Nile, and
was celebrated for its hundred gates, for its temples,
obelisks, statues. etc. It was emphatically the city of
temples, in the ruins of which many monuments of ancient Egypt
are preserved, The plan of the city was a parallelogram, two
miles from north to south and four from east to west, but none
suppose that in its glory if really extended 33 miles along
both aides of the Nile. Thebes was destroyed by Ptolemy, B.C.
81, and since then its population has dwelt in villages
only.--ED.)
Noah
(motion), one of the five daughters of Zelophehad. (Numbers
26:33; 27:1; 36:11; Joshua 17:3) (B.C. 1450.)
(rest), the tenth in descent from Adam, in the line of Seth was
the son of Lamech and grandson of Methuselah. (B.C. 2948-1998.)
We hear nothing of Noah till he is 500 years old when It is
said he begat three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. In consequence
of the grievous and hopeless wickedness of the world at this
time, God resolved to destroy it. Of Noah's life during this
age of almost universal apostasy we are told but little. It is
merely said that he was a righteous man and perfect in his
generations (i.e. among his contemporaries), and that he, like
Enoch, walked with God. St. Peter calls him "a preacher of
righteousness." (2 Peter 2:5) Besides this we are merely told
that he had three: sons each of whom had married a wife; that
he built the ark in accordance with divine direction; end that
he was 600 years old when the flood came. (Genesis 6:7) The ark
.--The precise meaning of the Hebrew word (tebah) is uncertain.
The word occurs only in Genesis and in (Exodus 2:3) In all
probability it is to the old Egyptian that we are to look for
its original form. Bunsen, in his vocabulary gives tba, "a
chest," tpt, "a boat," and in the Coptic version of (Exodus
2:3,5) thebi is the rendering of tebah . This "chest" or "boat"
was to be made of gopher (i.e. cypress) wood, a kind of timber
which both for its lightness and its durability was employed by
the Phoenicians for building their vessels. The planks of the
ark, after being put together were to be protected by a coating
of pitch, or rather bitumen, both inside and outside, to make
it water-tight, and perhaps also as a protection against the
attacks of marine animals. The ark was to consist of a number
of "nests" or small compartments, with a view, no doubt, to the
convenient distribution of the different animals and their
food. These were to be arranged in three tiers, one above
another; "with lower, second and third (stories) shalt thou
make it." Means were also to be provided for letting light into
the ark. There was to be a door this was to be placed in the
side of the ark. Of the shape of the ark nothing is said, but
its dimensions are given. It was to be 300 cubits in length, 50
in breadth and 30 in height. Taking 21 inches for the cubit,
the ark would be 525 feet in length, 87 feet 6 inches in
breadth and 52 feet 6 inches in height. This is very
considerably larger than the largest British man-of-war, but
not as large as some modern ships. It should be remembered that
this huge structure was only intended to float on the water,
and was not in the proper sense of the word a ship. It had
neither mast, sail nor rudder it was in fact nothing but an
enormous floating house, or rather oblong box. The inmates of
the ark were Noah and his wife and his three sons with their
wives. Noah was directed to take also animals of all kinds into
the ark with him, that they might be preserved alive. (The
method of speaking of the animals that were taken into the ark
"clean" and "unclean," implies that only those which were
useful to man were preserved, and that no wild animals were
taken into the ark; so that there is no difficulty from the
great number of different species of animal life existing in
the word.--ED.) The flood .--The ark was finished, and all its
living freight was gathered into it as a place of safety.
Jehovah shut him in, says the chronicler, speaking of Noah; and
then there ensued a solemn pause of seven days before the
threatened destruction was let loose. At last the before the
threatened destruction was flood came; the waters were upon the
earth. A very simple but very powerful and impressive
description is given of the appalling catastrophe. The waters
of the flood increased for a period of 190 days (40+150,
comparing) (Genesis 7:12) and Genesis7:24 And then "God
remembered Noah" and made a wind to pass over the earth, so
that the waters were assuaged. The ark rested on the
seventeenth day of the seventh month on the mountains of
Ararat. After this the waters gradually decreased till the
first day of the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains
were seen but Noah and his family did not disembark till they
had been in the ark a year and a month and twenty days. Whether
the flood was universal or partial has given rise to much
controversy; but there can be no doubt that it was universal,
so far as man was concerned: we mean that it extended to all
the then known world . The literal truth of the narrative
obliges us to believe that the whole human race, except eight
persons, perished by the flood. The language of the book of
Genesis does not compel us to suppose that the whole surface of
the globe was actually covered with water, if the evidence of
geology requires us to adopt the hypothesis of a partial
deluge. It is natural to suppose it that the writer, when he
speaks of "all flesh," "all in whose nostrils was the breath of
life" refers only to his own locality. This sort of language is
common enough in the Bible when only a small part of the globe
is intended. Thus, for instance, it is said that "all countries
came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn and that" a decree went
out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed."
The truth of the biblical narrative is confirmed by the
numerous traditions of other nations, which have preserved the
memory of a great and destructive flood, from which but a small
part of mankind escaped. They seem to point back to a common
centre whence they were carried by the different families of
man as they wandered east and west. The traditions which come
nearest to the biblical account are those of the nations of
western Asia. Foremost among these is the Chaldean. Other
notices of a flood may be found in the Phoenician mythology.
There is a medal of Apamea in Phrygia, struck as late as the
time of Septimius Severus, in which the Phrygian deluge is
commemorated. This medal represents a kind of a square vessel
floating in the water. Through an opening in it are seen two
persons, a man and a woman. Upon the top of this chest or ark
is perched a bird, whilst another flies toward it carrying a
branch between its feet. Before the vessel are represented the
same pair as having just, quitted it and got upon the dry land.
Singularly enough, too, on some specimens of this medal the
letters NO or NOE have been found on the vessel, as in the cut
on p. 454. (Tayler Lewis deduces the partial extent of the
flood from the very face of the Hebrew text." "Earth," where if
speaks of "all the earth," often is, and here should be,
translated "land," the home of the race, from which there
appears to have been little inclination to wander. Even after
the flood God had to compel them to disperse. "Under the whole
heavens" simply includes the horizon reaching around "all the
land" the visible horizon. We still use the words in the same
sense and so does the Bible. Nearly all commentators now agree
on the partial extent of the deluge. If is probable also that
the crimes and violence of the previous age had greatly
diminished the population, and that they would have utterly
exterminated the race had not God in this way saved out some
good seed from their destruction. So that the flood, by
appearing to destroy the race, really saved the world from
destruction .--ED.) (The scene of the deluge--Hugh Miller, in
his "Testimony of the Rocks," argues that there is a remarkable
po