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Smith's Bible Dictionary
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Sabachthani, Or Sabachthani
(why hast thou forsaken me?), part of Christ's fourth cry on
the cross. (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) This, with the other
words uttered with it, as given in Mark, is Aramaic
(Syro-Chaldaic), the common dialect of the people of palestine
in Christ's time and the whole is a translation of the Hebrew
(given in Matthew) of the first words of the 22d Psalm.--ED.
Sabaoth, The Lord Of
occurs in (Romans 9:29; James 5:4) but is more familiar through
its occurrence in the Sanctus of Te Deum--"Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth." Sabaoth is the Greek form of the Hebrew
word tsebaoth "armies," and is translated in the Authorized
Version of the Old Testament by "Lord of hosts," "Lord God of
hosts." In the mouth and the mind of an ancient Hebrew,
Jehovah-tsebaoth was the leader and commander of the armies of
the nation, who "went forth with them" (Psalms 44:9) and led
them to certain victory over the worshippers of Baal Chemosh.
Molech, Ashtaroth and other false gods.
Sabbath
(shabbath), "a day of rest," from shabath "to cease to do to,"
"to rest"). The name is applied to divers great festivals, but
principally and usually to the seventh day of the week, the
strict observance of which is enforced not merely in the
general Mosaic code, but in the Decalogue itself. The
consecration of the Sabbath was coeval with the creation. The
first scriptural notice of it, though it is not mentioned by
name, is to be found in (Genesis 2:3) at the close of the
record of the six-days creation. There are not wanting indirect
evidences of its observance, as the intervals between Noah's
sending forth the birds out of the ark, an act naturally
associated with the weekly service, (Genesis 8:7-12) and in the
week of a wedding celebration, (Genesis 29:27,28) but when a
special occasion arises, in connection with the prohibition
against gathering manna on the Sabbath, the institution is
mentioned as one already known. (Exodus 16:22-30) And that this
(All this is confirmed by the great antiquity of the division
of time into weeks, and the naming the days after the sun, moon
and planets.) was especially one of the institutions adopted by
Moses from the ancient patriarchal usage is implied in the very
words of the law "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
But even if such evidence were wanting, the reason of the
institution would be a sufficient proof. It was to be a joyful
celebration of God's completion of his creation. It has indeed
been said that Moses gives quite a different reason for the
institution of the Sabbath, as a memorial of the deliverance
front Egyptian bondage. (5:15) The words added in Deuteronomy
are a special motive for the joy with which the Sabbath should
be celebrated and for the kindness which extended its blessings
to the slave and the beast of burden as well as to the master:
"that thy man servant and thy maidservant may rest as well as
thought. (5:14) These attempts to limit the ordinance proceed
from an entire misconception of its spirit, as if it were a
season of stern privation rather than of special privilege. But
in truth, the prohibition of work is only subsidiary to the
positive idea of joyful rest and recreation in communion with
Jehovah, who himself "rested and was refreshed." (Exodus 31:17)
comp. (Exodus 23:12) It is in (Exodus 16:23-29) that we find
the first incontrovertible institution of the day, as one given
to and to be kept by the children of Israel. Shortly afterward
it was re-enacted in the Fourth Commandment. This beneficent
character of the Fourth Commandment is very apparent in the
version of it which we find in Deuteronomy. (5:12-15) The law
and the Sabbath are placed upon the same ground, and to give
rights to classes that would otherwise have been without
such--to the bondman and bondmaid may, to the beast of the
field-is viewed here as their main end. "The stranger," too is
comprehended in the benefit. But the original proclamation of
it in Exodus places it on a ground which, closely connected no
doubt with these others is yet higher and more comprehensive.
The divine method of working and rest is there propose to work
and to rest. Time then to man as the model after which
presented a perfect whole it is most important to remember that
the Fourth Commandment is not limited to a mere enactment
respecting one day, but prescribes the due distribution of a
week, and enforces the six days' work as much as the seventh
day's rest. This higher ground of observance was felt to invest
the Sabbath with a theological character, and rendered if the
great witness for faith in a personal and creating God. It was
to be a sacred pause in the ordinary labor which man earns his
bread the curse the fall was to be suspended for one and,
having spent that day in joyful remembrance of God's mercies,
man had a fresh start in his course of labor. A great snare,
too, has always been hidden in the word work, as if the
commandment forbade occupation and imposed idleness. The terms
in the commandment show plainly enough the sort of work which
is contemplated-servile work and business. The Pentateuch
presents us with but three applications of the general
principle-- (Exodus 16:29; 35:3; Numbers 15:32-36) The
reference of Isaiah to the Sabbath gives us no details. The
references in Jeremiah and Nehemiah show that carrying goods
for sale, and buying such, were equally profanations of the
day. A consideration of the spirit of the law and of Christ's
comments on it will show that it is work for worldly gain that
was to be suspended; and hence the restrictive clause is
prefaced with the restrictive command. "Six days shalt thou
labor, and do all thy work;" for so only could the sabbatic
rest be fairly earned. Hence, too, the stress constantly laid
on permitting the servant and beast of burden to share the rest
which selfishness would grudge to them. Thus the spirit of the
Sabbath was joy, refreshment and mercy, arising from
remembrance of God's goodness as Creator and as the Deliverer
from bondage. The Sabbath was a perpetual sign and covenant,
and the holiness of the day is collected with the holiness of
the people; "that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth
sanctify you." (Exodus 31:12-17; Ezekiel 20:12) Joy was the
key-note Of their service. Nehemiah commanded the people, on a
day holy to Jehovah "Mourn not, nor weep: eat the fat, and
drink: the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is
prepared." (Nehemiah 8:9-13) The Sabbath is named as a day of
special worship in the sanctuary. (Leviticus 19:30; 26:2) It
was proclaimed as a holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:3) In later
times the worship of the sanctuary was enlivened by sacred
music. (Psalms 68:25-27; 150:1)... etc. On this day the people
were accustomed to consult their prophets, (2 Kings 4:23) and
to give to their children that instruction in the truths
recalled to memory by the day which is so repeatedly enjoined
as the duty of parents; it was "the Sabbath of Jehovah" not
only in the sanctuary, but "in all their dwellings." (Leviticus
23:3) When we come to the New Testament we find the most marked
stress laid on the Sabbath. In whatever ways the Jew might err
respecting it, he had altogether ceased to neglect it. On the
contrary wherever he went its observance became the most
visible badge of his nationality. Our Lord's mode of observing
the Sabbath was one of the main features of his life, which his
Pharisaic adversaries meet eagerly watched and criticized. They
had invented many prohibitions respecting the Sabbath of which
we find nothing in the original institution. Some of these
prohibitions were fantastic and arbitrary, in the number of
those "heavy burdens and grievous to be borne" while the latter
expounders of the law "laid on men's shoulders." Comp. (Matthew
12:1-13; John 5:10) That this perversion of the Sabbath had
become very general in our Saviour's time is apparent both from
the recorded objections to acts of his on that day and from his
marked conduct on occasions to which those objections were sure
to be urged. (Matthew 12:1-16; Mark 3:2; Luke 6:1-5; 13:10-17;
John 6:2-18; 7:23; 9:1-34) Christ's words do not remit the duty
of keeping the Sabbath, but only deliver it from the false
methods of keeping which prevented it from bestowing upon men
the spiritual blessings it was ordained to confer.
Sabbathdays Journey
(Acts 1:12) The law as regards travel on the Sabbath is found
in (Exodus 16:29) As some departure from a man's own place was
unavoidable, it was thought necessary to determine the
allowable amount, which was fixed at 2000 paces, or about six
furlongs from the wall of the city. The permitted distance
seems to have been grounded on the space to he kept between the
ark and the people, (Joshua 3:4) in the wilderness, which
tradition said was that between the ark and the tents. We find
the same distance given as the circumference outside the walls
of the Levitical cities to be counted as their suburbs.
(Numbers 33:5) The terminus a quo was thus not a man's own
house, but the wall of the city where he dwelt.
Sabbatical Year
Each seventh year, by the Mosaic code, was to be kept holy.
(Exodus 23:10,11) The commandment is to sow and reap for six
years, and to let the land rest on the seventh, "that the poor
of thy people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the
held shall eat. It is added in (15:1) ... that the seventh Year
should also be one of release to debtors. (15:1-11) Neither
tillage nor cultivation of any sort was to be practiced. The
sabbatical year opened in the sabbatical month, and the whole
law was to be read every such year, during the feast of
Tabernacles, to the assembled people. At the completion of a
week of sabbatical years, the sabbatical scale received its
completion in the year of jubilee. [[1031]Jubilee, The Year Of]
The constant neglect of this law from the very first was one of
the national sins that were punished by the Babylonian
captivity. Of the observance of the sabbatical year after the
captivity we have a proof in 1 Macc. 6:49.
Sabeans
[[1032]Sheba]
Sabtah
(striking), (Genesis 10:7) or Sab'ta, (1 Chronicles 1:9) the
third in order of the sons of Cush. (B.C. 2218.)
Sabtecha, Or Sabtechah
(striking), (Genesis 10:7; 1 Chronicles 1:9) the fifth in order
of the sons of Cush. (B.C. 2218.)
Sacar
(wages).
+ A Hararite, father of Ahiam. (1 Chronicles 11:35)
+ The fourth son of Obed-edom. (1 Chronicles 26:4)
Sackbut
(Daniel 3:5,7,10,15) the rendering in the Authorized Version of
the Chaldee sacbbeca . If this music instrument be the same as
the Greek and Latin sabbeca, the English translation is
entirely wrong. The sackbut was a wind instrument [see
[1033]Music]; the sambuca was a triangular instrument, with
strings, and played with the hand.
Sackcloth
cloth used in making sacks or bags, a coarse fabric, of a dark
color, made of goat's hair, (Isaiah 50:3; Revelation 6:12) end
resembling the eilicium of the Romans. It, was used also for
making the rough garments used by mourners, which were in
extreme cases worn next the skin. (1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 6:30;
Job 16:15; Isaiah 32:11)
Sacrifice
The peculiar features of each kind of sacrifice are referred to
under their respective heads. I. (A) ORIGIN OF SACRIFICE.--The
universal prevalence of sacrifice shows it to have been
primeval, and deeply rooted in the instincts of humanity.
Whether it was first enjoined by an external command, or
whether it was based on that sense of sin and lost communion
with God which is stamped by his hand on the heart of man, is a
historical question which cannot be determined. (B) ANTE-MOSAIC
HISTORY OF SACRIFICE.--In examining the various sacrifices
recorded in Scripture before the establishment of the law, we
find that the words specially denoting expiatory sacrifice are
not applied to them. This fact does not at all show that they
were not actually expiatory, but it justified the inference
that this idea was not then the prominent one in the doctrine
of sacrifice. The sacrifices of Cain and Abel are called
minehah, tend appear to have been eucharistic. Noah's, (Genesis
8:20) and Jacob's at Mizpah, were at the institution of a
covenant; and may be called federative. In the burnt offerings
of Job for his children (Job 1:5) and for his three friends ch.
(Job 42:8) we for the first time find the expression of the
desire of expiation for sin. The same is the case in the words
of Moses to Pharaoh. (Exodus 10:26) Here the main idea is at
least deprecatory. (C) THE SACRIFICES OF THE MOSAIC
PERIOD.--These are inaugurated by the offering of the Passover
and the sacrifice of (Exodus 24:1) ... The Passover indeed is
unique in its character but it is clear that the idea of
salvation from death by means of sacrifice is brought out in it
with a distinctness before unknown. The law of Leviticus now
unfolds distinctly the various forms of sacrifice: (a) The
burnt offering : Self-dedicatory. (b) The meat offering :
(unbloody): Eucharistic. (c) The sin offering ; the trespass
offering: Expiatory. To these may be added, (d) The incense
offered after sacrifice in the holy place and (on the Day of
Atonement) in the holy of holies, the symbol of the
intercession of the priest (as a type of the great High Priest)
accompanying and making efficacious the prayer of the people.
In the consecration of Aaron and his sons, (Leviticus 8:1) ...
we find these offered in what became ever afterward their
appointed order. First came the sin offering, to prepare access
to God; next the burnt offering, to mark their dedication to
his service; and third the meat offering of thanksgiving.
Henceforth the sacrificial system was fixed in all its parts
until he should come whom it typified. (D) POST-MOSAIC
SACRIFICES.--It will not be necessary to pursue, in detail the
history of the Poet Mosaic sacrifice, for its main principles
were now fixed forever. The regular sacrifices in the temple
service were-- (a) Burnt offerings. 1, The daily burnt
offerings, (Exodus 29:38-42) 2, The double burnt offerings on
the Sabbath, (Numbers 28:9,10) 3, The burnt offerings at the
great festivals; (Numbers 26:11; Numbers 29:39) (b) Meat
offerings . 1, The daily meat offerings accompanying the daily
burnt offerings, (Exodus 29:40,41) 2, The shewbread, renewed
every Sabbath, (Leviticus 24:6,9) 3, The special meat offerings
at the Sabbath and the great festivals, (Numbers 28:1; Numbers
29:1) ... 4, The first-fruits, at the Passover, (Leviticus
23:10-14) at Pentecost, (Leviticus 23:17-20) the firstfruits of
the dough and threshing-floor at the harvest time. (Numbers
15:20,21; 26:1-11) (c) Sin offerings . 1, Sin offering each new
moon (Numbers 28:15) 2, Sin offerings at the passover,
Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets and Tabernacles, (Numbers
28:22,30; 29:5,16,19,22,25,28,31,34,38) 3, The offering of the
two goats for the people and of the bullock for the priest
himself, on the Great Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 16:1) ...
(d) Incense . 1, The morning and evening incense (Exodus
30:7,8) 2, The incense on the Great Day of Atonement.
(Leviticus 16:12) Besides these public sacrifices, there were
offerings of the people for themselves individually. II. By the
order of sacrifice in its perfect form, as in (Leviticus 8:1)
... it is clear that the sin offering occupies the most
important: place; the burnt offering comes next, and the meat
offering or peace offering last of all. The second could only
be offered after the first had been accepted; the third was
only a subsidiary part of the second. Yet, in actual order of
time it has been seen that the patriarchal sacrifices partook
much more of the nature of the peace offering and burnt
offering, and that under the raw, by which was "the knowledge
of sin," (Romans 3:20) the sin offering was for the first time
explicitly set forth. This is but natural that the deepest
ideas should be the last in order of development. The essential
difference between heathen views of sacrifice and the
scriptural doctrine of the Old. Testament is not to be found in
its denial of any of these views. In fact, it brings out
clearly and distinctly the ideas which in heathenism were
uncertain, vague and perverted. But the essential points of
distinction are two. First, that whereas the heathen conceived
of their gods as alienated in jealousy or anger, to be sought
after and to be appeased by the unaided action of man,
Scripture represents God himself as approaching man, as
pointing out and sanctioning the way by which the broken
covenant should be restored. The second mark of distinction is
closely connected with this, inasmuch as it shows sacrifice to
he a scheme proceeding from God, and in his foreknowledge,
connected with the one central fact of all human history. From
the prophets and the Epistle to the Hebrews we learn that the
sin offering represented that covenant as broken by man, and as
knit together again, by God's appointment through the shedding
of the blood, the symbol of life, signified that the death of
the offender was deserved for sin, but that the death of the
victim was accepted for his death by the ordinance of God's
mercy. Beyond all doubt the sin offering distinctly witnessed
that sin existed in man. that the "wages of that sin was
death," and that God had provided an atonement by the vicarious
suffering of an appointed victim. The ceremonial and meaning of
the burnt offering were very different. The idea of expiation
seems not to have been absent from it, for the blood was
sprinkled round about the altar of sacrifice; but the main idea
is the offering of the whole victim to God, representing as the
laying of the hand on its head shows, the devotion of the
sacrificer, body and soul. to him. (Romans 12:1) The death of
the victim was, so to speak, an incidental feature. The meat
offering, the peace or thank offering, the firstfruits, etc.,
were simply offerings to God of his own best gifts, as a sign
of thankful homage, and as a means of maintaining his service
and his servants. The characteristic ceremony in the peace
offering was the eating of the flesh by the sacrificer. It
betokened the enjoyment of communion with God. It is clear from
this that the idea of sacrifice is a complex idea, involving
the propitiatory, the dedicatory and the eucharistic elements.
Any one of these, taken by itself, would lead to error and
superstition. All three probably were more or less implied in
each sacrifice. each element predominating in its turn. The
Epistle to the Hebrews contains the key of the whole
sacrificial doctrine. The object of the epistle is to show the
typical and probationary character of sacrifices, and to assert
that in virtue of it alone they had a spiritual meaning. Our
Lord is declared (see) (1 Peter 1:20) "to have been
foreordained" as a sacrifice "before the foundation of the
world," or as it is more strikingly expressed in (Revelation
13:8) "slain from the foundation of the world." The material
sacrifices represented this great atonement as already made and
accepted in God's foreknowledge; and to those who grasped the
ideas of sin, pardon and self-dedication symbolized in them,
they were means of entering into the blessings which the one
true sacrifice alone procured. They could convey nothing in
themselves yet as types they might, if accepted by a true
though necessarily imperfect faith be means of conveying in
some degree the blessings of the antitype. It is clear that the
atonement in the Epistle to the Hebrews as in the New Testament
generally, is viewed in a twofold light. On the one hand it is
set forth distinctly as a vicarious sacrifice, which was
rendered necessary by the sin of man and in which the Lord
"bare the sins of many." It is its essential characteristic
that in it he stands absolutely alone offering his sacrifice
without any reference to the faith or the conversion of men. In
it he stands out alone as the mediator between God and man; and
his sacrifice is offered once for all, never to be imitated or
repeated. Now, this view of the atonement is set forth in the
epistle as typified by the sin offering. On the other hand the
sacrifice of Christ is set forth to us as the completion of
that perfect obedience to the will of the Father which is the
natural duty of sinless man. The main idea of this view of the
atonement is representative rather than vicarious. It is
typified by the burnt offering. As without the sin offering of
the cross this our burnt offering would be impossible, so also
without the burnt offering the sin offering will to us be
unavailing. With these views of our Lord's sacrifice oil earth,
as typified in the Levitical sacrifices on the outer alter, is
also to be connected the offering of his intercession for us in
heaven, which was represented by the incense. The typical sense
of the meat offering or peace offering is less connected the
sacrifice of Christ himself than with those sacrifices of
praise, thanksgiving, charity and devotion which we, as
Christians, offer to God, and "with which he is well pleased,"
(Hebrews 13:15,16) as with an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable to God." (Philemon 4:28)
Sadducees
(followers of Zadok), (Matthew 3:7; 16:1,6,11,12; 22:23,31;
Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:6,7,8) a religious
party or school among the Jews at the time of Christ, who
denied that the oral law was a revelation of God to the
Israelites. and who deemed the written law alone to be
obligatory on the nation, as of divine authority. Except on one
occasion. (Matthew 16:1,4,6) Christ never assailed the
Sadducees with the same bitter denunciations which he uttered
against the Pharisees. The origin of their name is involved in
great difficulties, but the most satisfactory conjecture is
that the Sadducees or Zadokites were originally identical with
the sons of Zadok, and constituted what may be termed a kind of
sacerdotal aristocracy, this Zadok being the priest who
declared in favor of Solomon when Abiathar took the part of
Adonijah. (1 Kings 1:32-45) To these sons of Zadok were
afterward attached all who for any reason reckoned themselves
as belonging to the aristocrats; such, for example, as the
families of the high priest, who had obtained consideration
under the dynasty of Herod. These were for the most part
judges, and individuals of the official and governing class.
This explanation elucidates at once (Acts 5:17) The leading
tenet of the Sadducees was the negation of the leading tenet of
their opponents. As the Pharisees asserted so the Sadducees
denied, that the Israelites were in possession of an oral law
transmitted to them by Moses, [[1034]Pharisees] In opposition
to the Pharisees, they maintained that the written law alone
was obligatory on the nation, as of divine authority. The
second distinguishing doctrine of the Sadducees was the denial
of man's resurrection after death . In connection with the
disbelief of a resurrection by the Sadducees, they likewise
denied there was "angel or spirit," (Acts 23:8) and also the
doctrines of future punishment and future rewards. Josephus
states that the Sadducees believed in the freedom of the will,
which the Pharisees denied. They pushed this doctrine so far as
almost to exclude God from the government of the world. Some of
the early Christian writers attribute to the Sadducees the
rejection of all the sacred Scriptures except the Pentateuch ;
a statement, however, that is now generally admitted to have
been founded on a misconception of the truth, and it seems to
have arisen from a confusion of the Sadducees with the
Samaritans. An important fact in the history of the Sadducees
is their rapid disappearance from history after the first
century, and the subsequent predominance among the Jews of the
opinions of the Pharisees. Two circumstances contributed,
indirectly but powerfully, to produce this result: 1st. The
state of the Jews after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus; and
2d. The growth of the Christian religion. As to the first
point, it is difficult to overestimate the consternation and
dismay which the destruction of Jerusalem occasioned in the
minds of sincerely-religious Jews. In their hour of darkness
and anguish they naturally turned to the consolations and hopes
of a future state; and the doctrine of the Sadducees, that
there was nothing beyond the present life, would have appeared
to them cold, heartless and hateful. Again, while they were
sunk in the lowest depths of depression, a new religion, which
they despised as a heresy and a superstition, was gradually
making its way among the subjects of their detested conquerors,
the Romans. One of the causes of its success was undoubtedly
the vivid belief in the resurrection of Jesus and a consequent
resurrection of all mankind, which was accepted by its heathen
converts with a passionate earnestness of which those who at
the present day are familiar from infancy with the doctrine of
the resurrection of the dead call form only a faint idea. To
attempt to chock the progress of this new religion among the
Jews by an appeal to the temporary rewards and punishments of
the Pentateuch would have been as idle as an endeavor to check
an explosive power by ordinary mechanical restraints.
Consciously, therefore, or unconsciously, many circumstances
combined to induce the Jews who were not Pharisees, but who
resisted the new heresy, to rally round the standard of the
oral law, and to assert that their holy legislator, Moses, had
transmitted to his faithful people by word of mouth, although
not in writing, the revelation of a future state of rewards and
punishments.
Sadoc
(Greek form of Zadok, just).
+ Zadok the ancestor of Ezra. 2 Esd. 1:1; comp. (Ezra 7:2)
+ A descendant of Zerubbabel in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
(Matthew 1:14) (B.C. about 280.)
Saffron
(yellow). (Song of Solomon 4:14) Saffron has front the earliest
times been in high esteem as a perfume. "It was used," says
Rosenmuller, "for the same purposes as the modern pot-pourri."
The word saffron is derived from the Arabic zafran, "yellow."
(The saffron (Crocus sativus) is a kind of crocus of the iris
family. It is used its a medicine, as a flavoring and as a
yellow dye. Homer, Virgil and Milton refer to its beauty in the
landscape. It abounds in Palestine name saffron is usually
applied only to the stigmas and part of the style, which are
plucked out and dried.--ED.)
Sala, Or Salah
(sprout), the son of Arphaxad, and father of Eber. (Genesis
10:24; 11:18-14; Luke 3:35) (B.C. 2307.)
Salamis
(suit), a city at the east end of the island of Cyprus, and the
first place visited by Paul and Barnabas, on the first
missionary journey, after leaving the mainland at Seleucia.
Here alone, among all the Greek cities visited by St. Paul, we
read expressly of "synagogues" in the plural, (Acts 13:5) hence
we conclude that there were many Jews in Cyprus. And this is in
harmony with what we read elsewhere. Salamis was not far from
the modern Famagousta, it was situated near a river called the
Pediaeus, on low ground, which is in fact a continuation of the
plain running up into the interior toward the place where
Nicosia, the present capital of Cyprus, stands.
Salathiel
(I have asked of God). (1 Chronicles 3:17) The Authorized
Version has Salathiel in (1 Chronicles 3:17) but everywhere
else in the Old Testament Shealtiel.
Salcah, Or Salchah
(migration), a city named in the early records of Israel as the
extreme limit of Bashan, (3:10; Joshua 13:11) and of the tribe
of Gad. (1 Chronicles 5:71) On another occasion the name seems
to denote a district rather than a town. (Joshua 12:5) It is
identical with the town of Sulkhad (56 miles east of the
Jordan, at the southern extremity of the Hauran range of
mountains. The place is nearly deserted, though it contains 800
stone houses, many of them in a good state of
preservation.-ED.)
Salem
(peace).
+ The place of which Melchizedek was king. (Genesis 14:18;
Hebrews 7:1,2) No satisfactory identification of it is
perhaps possible. Two main opinions have been current from
the earliest ages of interpretation: (1). That of the Jewish
commentators, who affirm that Salem is Jerusalem, on the
ground that Jerusalem is so called in (Psalms 76:2) Nearly
all Jewish commentators hold this opinion. (2). Jerome,
however, states that the Salem of Melchizedek was not
Jerusalem, but a town eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis,
and gives its then name as Salumias, and identifies it with
Salem, where John baptized.
+ (Psalms 76:2) it is agreed on all hands that Salem is here
employed for Jerusalem.
Salim
(peace), a place named (John 3:23) to denote the situation of
AEnon, the scene of St. John's last baptisms; Salim being the
well-known town, and AEnon a place of fountains or other waters
near it. [[1035]Salem] The name of Salim has been discovered by
Mr. Van Deuteronomy Velde in a position exactly in accordance
with the notice of Eusebius, viz., six English miles south of
Beisan (Scythopolis), end two miles west of the Jordan. Near
here is an abundant supply of water.
Salma, Or Salmon
(garment), (Ruth 4:20,21; 1 Chronicles 2:11,51,54; Matthew
1:4,5; Luke 3:32) son of Nahshon. the prince of the children of
Judah, and father of Boat, the husband of Ruth. (B.C. 1296.)
Bethlehem-ephratah, which was Salmon's inheritance, was part of
the territory of Caleb, the grandson of Ephratah; and this
caused him to be reckoned among the sons of Caleb.
Salmon
the father of Boar. [[1036]Salma, Or Salmon]
a hill near Shechem, on which Abimelech and his followers cut
down the boughs with which they set the tower of Shechem on
fire. (Judges 9:48) Its exact position is not known. Referred
to in (Psalms 68:14)
Salmone
(clothed), the east point of the island of Crete. (Acts 27:7)
It is a bold promontory, and is visible for a long distance.
Salome
(peaceful).
+ The wife of Zebedee, (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40) and probably
sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, to whom reference is made
in (John 19:25) The only events recorded of Salome are that
she preferred a request on behalf of her two sons for seats
of honor in the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 20:20) that she
attended at the crucifixion of Jesus, (Mark 15:40) and that
she visited his sepulchre. (Mark 16:1) She is mentioned by
name on only the two latter occasions.
+ The daughter of Herodias by her first husband, Herod Philip.
(Matthew 14:6) She married in the first the tetrarch of
Trachonitis her paternal uncle, sad secondly Aristobulus, the
king of Chalcis.
Salt
Indispensable as salt is to ourselves, it was even more so to
the Hebrews, being to them not only an appetizing condiment in
the food both of man, (Job 11:6) and beset, (Isaiah 30:24) see
margin, and a valuable antidote to the effects of the heat of
the climate on animal food, but also entering largely into the
religious services of the Jews as an accompaniment to the
various offerings presented on the altar. (Leviticus 2:13) They
possessed an inexhaustible and ready supply of it on the
southern shores of the Dead Sea. [[1037]Sea, The Salt, THE
SALT] There is one mountain here called Jebel Usdum, seven
miles long and several hundred feet high, which is composed
almost entirely of salt. The Jews appear to have distinguished
between rock-salt and that which was gained by evaporation as
the Talmudists particularize one species (probably the latter)
as the "salt of Sodom." The salt-pits formed an important
source of revenue to the rulers of the country, and Antiochus
conferred a valuable boon on Jerusalem by presenting the city
with 375 bushels of salt for the temple service. As one of the
most essential articles of diet, salt symbolized hospitality;
as an antiseptic, durability, fidelity and purity. Hence the
expression "covenant of salt," (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19;
2 Chronicles 13:5) as betokening an indissoluble alliance
between friends; and again the expression "salted with the salt
of the palace." (Ezra 4:14) not necessarily meaning that they
had "maintenance from the palace," as Authorized Version has
it, but that they were bound by sacred obligations fidelity to
the king. So in the present day, "to eat bread and salt
together" is an expression for a league of mutual amity. It was
probably with a view to keep this idea prominently before the
minds of the Jews that the use of salt was enjoined on the
Israelites in their offerings to God.
Salt Sea, Or Dead Sea
[[1038]Sea, The Salt, THE SALT]
Salt, City Of
the fifth of the six cities of Judah which lay in the
"wilderness." (Joshua 15:62) Mr. Robinson expresses his belief
that it lay somewhere near the plain at the south end of the
Salt Sea.
Salt, Valley Of
a valley in which occurred two memorable victories of the
Israelite arms:
+ That of David over the Edomites. (2 Samuel 8:13; 1 Chronicles
18:12)
+ That of Amaziah. (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11) It is
perhaps the broad open plain which lies at the lower end of
the Dead Sea, and intervenes between the lake itself and the
range of heights which crosses the valley at six or eight
miles to the south. This same view is taken by Dr. Robinson.
Others suggest that it is nearer to Petra. What little can be
inferred from the narrative as to its situation favors the
latter theory.
Salu
(weighed), the father of Zimri the prince of the Simeonites who
was slain by Phinehas. (Numbers 25:14) Called also Salom.
(B.C.1452.)
Salutation
Salutations may be classed under the two heads of
conversational and epistolary. The salutation at meeting
consisted in early times of various expressions of blessing,
such as "God be gracious unto thee," (Genesis 43:29) "The Lord
be with you;" "The Lord bless thee." (Ruth 2:4) Hence the term
"bless" received the secondary sense of "salute." The
salutation at parting consisted originally of a simple
blessing, (Genesis 24:60) but in later times the form "Go in
peace," or rather "Farewell" (1 Samuel 1:17) was common. In
modern times the ordinary mode of address current in the East
resembles the Hebrew Es-selam aleykum, "Peace be on you," and
the term "salam," peace, has been introduced into our own
language to describe the Oriental salutation. In epistolary
salutations the writer placed-his own name first, and then that
of the person whom he sainted. A form of prayer for spiritual
mercies was also used. The concluding salutation consisted
generally of the term "I salute," accompanied by a prayer for
peace or grace.
Samaria
(watch mountain). This city is situated 30 miles north of
Jerusalem and about six miles to the northwest of Shechem, in a
wide basin-shaped valley, six miles in diameter, encircled with
high hills, almost on the edge of the great plain which borders
upon the Mediterranean. In the centre of this basin, which is
on a lower level than the valley of Shechem, rises a less
elevated hill, with steep yet accessible sides and a long fiat
top. This hill was chosen by Omri as the site of the capital of
the kingdom of Israel. He "bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer
for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called
the name of the city which he built, after the name of the
owner of the hill, Samaria." (1 Kings 16:23,24) From the that
of Omri's purchase, B.C. 925, Samaria retained its dignity as
the capital of the ten tribes, and the name is given to the
northern kingdom as well as to the city. Ahab built a temple to
Baal there. (1 Kings 16:32,33) It was twice besieged by the
Syrians, in B.C. 901, (1 Kings 20:1) and in B.C. 892, (2 Kings
6:24-7; 2 Kings 6:20) but on both occasions the siege was
ineffectual. The possessor of Samaria was considered
Deuteronomy facto king of Israel. (2 Kings 15:13,14) In B.C.
721 Samaria was taken, after a siege of three years, by
Shalmaneser king of Assyria, (2 Kings 18:9,10) and the kingdom
of the ten tribes was put an end to. Some years afterward the
district of which Samaria was the centre was repeopled by
Esarhaddon. Alexander the Great took the city, killed a large
portion of the inhabitants, and suffered the remainder to set
it at Shechem. He replaced them by a colony of Syro-Macedonians
who occupied the city until the time of John Hyrcanus, who took
it after a year's siege, and did his best to demolish it
entirely. (B.C. 109.) It was rebuilt and greatly embellished by
Herod the Great. He called it Sebaste=Augusta, after the name
of his patron, Augustus Caesar. The wall around it was 2 1/2
miles long, and in the centre of the city was a park 900 feet
square containing a magnificent temple dedicated to Caesar. In
the New Testament the city itself does not appear to be
mentioned; but rather a portion of the district to which, even
in older times it had extended its name. (Matthew 10:5; John
4:4,5) At this clay the city is represented by a small village
retaining few vestiges of the past except its name, Sebustiyeh,
an Arabic corruption of Sebaste. Some architectural remains it
has, partly of Christian construction or adaptation, as the
ruined church of St. John the Baptist, partly, perhaps, traces
of Idumaean magnificence, St. Jerome, whose acquaintance with
Palestine imparts a sort of probability to the tradition which
prevailed so strongly in later days, asserts that Sebaste,
which he invariably identifies with Samaria was the place in
which St. John the Baptist was imprisoned and suffered death.
He also makes it the burial-place of the prophets Elisha and
Obadiah.
Samaria, Country Of
Samaria at first included all the tribes over which Jeroboam
made himself king, whether east or west of the river Jordan. (1
Kings 13:32) But whatever extent the word might have acquired,
it necessarily be came contracted as the limits of the kingdom
of Israel became contracted. In all probability the territory
of Simeon and that of Dan were very early absorbed in the
kingdom of Judah. It is evident from an occurrence in
Hezekiah's reign that just before the deposition and death of
Hoshea, the last king of Israel, the authority of the king of
Judah, or at least his influence, was recognized by portions of
Asher, Issachar and Zebulun and even of Ephraim and Manasseh.
(2 Chronicles 30:1-26) Men came from all those tribes to the
Passover at Jerusalem. This was about B.C. 728. Samaria (the
city) and a few adjacent cities or villages only represented
that dominion which had once extended from Bethel to Dan
northward, and from the Mediterranean to the borders of Syria
and Ammon eastward. In New Testament times Sa maria was bounded
northward by the range of hills which commences at Mount Carmel
on the west, and, after making a bend to the southwest, runs
almost due east to the valley of the Jordan, forming the
southern border of the plain of Esdraelon. It touched toward
the south, is nearly as possible, the northern limits of
Benjamin. Thus it comprehended the ancient territory of Ephraim
and that of Manasseh west of Jordan. The Cuthaean Samaritans,
however, possessed only a few towns and villages of this large
area, and these lay almost together in the centre of the
district. At Nablus the Samaritans have still a settlement,
consisting of about 200 persons. [[1039]Shechem]
Samaritan Pentateuch
a recension of the commonly received Hebrew text of the Mosaic
law, in use among the Samaritans, and written in the ancient
Hebrew or so-called Samaritan character. The origin of the
Samaritan Pentateuch has given rise to much controversy, into
which we cannot here enter. The two most usual opinions are--
+ That it came into the hands of the Samaritans as an
inheritance from the ten tribes whom they succeeded.
+ That it was introduced by Manasseh at the time of the
foundation of the Samaritan sanctuary on Mount Gerizim. It
differs in several important points from the Hebrew text.
Among these may be mentioned--
+ Emendations of passages and words of the Hebrew text which
contain something objectionable in the eyes of the
Samaritans, On account either of historical probability or
apparent want of dignity in the terms applied to the Creator.
Thus in the Samaritan Pentateuch no one in the antediluvian
times begets his first son after he has lived 150 years; but
one hundred years are, where necessary, subtracted before,
and added after, the birth of the first son. An exceedingly
important and often-discussed emendation of this class is the
passage in (Exodus 12:40) which in our text reads, "Now the
sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was
four hundred and thirty years." The Samaritan has "The
sojourning of the children of Israel [and their fathers who
dwelt in the Land of Cannaan and in the land of Egypt ] was
four hundred and thirty years;" an interpolation of very late
date indeed. Again, in (Genesis 2:2) "And God [?] had
finished on the seventh day," is altered into "the sixth "
lest God's rest on the Sabbath day might seem incomplete.
+ Alterations made in favor of or on behalf of Samaritan
theology, hermeneutics and domestic worship.
Samaritans
Strictly speaking, a Samaritan would be an inhabitant of the
city of Samaria, but the term was applied to all the people of
the kingdom of Israel. After the captivity of Israel, B.C. 721,
and in our Lord's time, the name was applied to a peculiar
people whose origin was in this wise. At the final captivity of
Israel by Shalmaneser, we may conclude that the cities of
Samaria were not merely partially but wholly depopulated of
their inhabitants in B.C. 721, and that they remained in this
desolated state until, in the words of (2 Kings 17:24) "the
king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and front Cuthah, and
from Av. (Ivah,) (2 Kings 18:34) and from Hamath, and front
Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of
the children of Israel and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in
the cities thereof." Thus the new Samaritans were Assyrians by
birth or subjugation. These strangers, whom we will now assume
to hare been placed in "the cities of Samaria" by Esar-haddon,
were of course idolaters, and worshipped a strange medley of
divinities. God's displeasure was kindled, and they were
annoyed by beasts of prey, which had probably increased to a
great extent before their entrance upon the land. On their
explaining their miserable condition to the king of Assyria, he
despatched one of the captive priests to teach them "how they
should fear the Lord." The priest came accordingly, and
henceforth, in the language of the sacred historian, they
"Feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their
children and their children's children: as did their fathers,
so do the unto this day." (2 Kings 17:41) A gap occurs in their
history until Judah has returned from captivity. They then
desire to be allowed to participate in the rebuilding of the
temple at Jerusalem; but on being refused, the Samaritans throw
off the mask, and become open enemies, frustrate the operations
of the Jews through the reigns of two Persian kings, and are
only effectually silenced in the reign of Darius Hystaspes,
B.C. 519. The feud thus unhappily begun grew year by year more
inveterate. Matters at length came to a climax. About B.C. 409,
a certain Manasseh, a man of priestly lineage, on being
expelled from Jerusalem by nehemiah for an unlawful marriage,
obtained permission from the Persian king of his day, Darius
Nothus, to build a temple on Mount Gerizim for the Samaritans,
with whom he had found refuge. The animosity of the Samaritans
became more intense than ever. They are sid to have done
everything in their power to annoy the Jews. Their own temple
on Gerizim they considered to be much superior to that at
Jerusalem. There they sacrificed a passover. Toward the
mountain, even after the temple on it had fallen, wherever they
were they directed their worship. To their copy of the law they
arrogated an antiquity and authority greater than attached to
any copy in the possession of the Jews. The law (i.e. the five
books of Moses) was their sole code; for they rejected every
other book in the Jewish canon. The Jews, on the other hand,
were not more conciliatory in their treatment of the
Samaritans. Certain other Jewish renegades had from time to
time taken refuge with the Samaritans; hence by degrees the
Samaritans claimed to partake of jewish blood, especially if
doing so happened to suit their interest. Very far were the
Jews from admitting this claim to consanguinity on the part of
these people. The traditional hatred in which the jew held the
Samaritan is expressed in Ecclus. 50:25,26. Such were the
Samaritans of our Lord's day; a people distinct from the jews,
though lying in the very midst of the Jews; a people preserving
their identity, though seven centuries had rolled away since
they had been brought from Assyria by Esar-haddon, and though
they had abandoned their polytheism for a sort of ultra
Mosaicism; a people who, though their limits had gradually
contracted and the rallying-place of their religion on Mount
Gerizim had been destroyed one hundred and sixty years before
by John Hyrcanus (B.C. 130), and though Samaria (the city) had
been again and again destroyed, still preserved their
nationality still worshipped from Shechem and their
impoverished settlements toward their sacred hill, still
retained their peculiar religion, and could not coalesce with
the Jews.
Samgarnebo
(sword of Nebo), one of the princes or generals of the king of
Babylon. (Jeremiah 39:3)
Samlah
(garment), (Genesis 36:36,37; 1 Chronicles 1:47,48) one of the
kings of Edom, successor to Hadad or Hadar.
Samos
a Greek island off that part of Asia Minor where Ionia touches
Caria. Samos comes before our notice in the detailed account of
St. Paul's return from his third missionary journey. (Acts
20:15)
Samothrace
In the Revised Version for Samothracia.
Samothracia
Mention is made of this island in the account of St. Paul's
first voyage to Europe. (Acts 16:11; 20:6) Being very lofty and
conspicuous, it is an excellent landmark for sailors, and must
have been full in view, if the weather was clear throughout
that voyage from Troas to Neapolis.
Samson
(like the sun), son of Manoah, a man of the town of Zorah in
the tribe of Dan, on the border of Judah. (Joshua 15:33; 19:41)
(B.C. 1161). The miraculous circumstances of his birth are
recorded in Judges 13; and the three following chapters are
devoted to the history of his life and exploits. Samson takes
his place in Scripture, (1) as a judge--an office which he
filled for twenty years, (Judges 15:20; 16:31) (2) as a
Nazarite, (Judges 13:5; 16:17) and (3) as one endowed with
supernatural power by the Spirit of the Lord. (Judges 13:25;
14:6,19; 15:14) As a judge his authority seems to have been
limited to the district bordering upon the country of the
Philistines. The divine inspiration which Samson shared with
Othniel, Gideon and Jephthah assumed in him the unique form of
vast personal strength, inseparably connected with the
observance of his vow as a Nazarite: "his strength was in his
hair." He married a Philistine woman whom he had seen at
Timnath. One day, on his way to that city, he was attacked by a
lion, which he killed; and again passing that way he saw a
swarm of bees in the carcass of the lion, and he ate of the
honey, but still he told no one. He availed himself of this
circumstance, and of the custom of proposing riddles at
marriage feasts, to lay a snare for the Philistines. But Samson
told the riddle to his wife and she told it to the men of the
city, whereupon Samson slew thirty men of the city. Returning
to his own house, he found his wife married to another, and was
refused permission to see her. Samson revenged himself by
taking 300 foxes (or rather jackals) and tying them together
two by two by the tails, with a firebrand between every pair of
tails, and so he let them loose into the standing corn of the
Philistines, which was ready for harvest, The Philistines took
vengeance by burning Samson's wife and her father; but he fell
hip upon them in return, and smote them with a great
slaughter," after which he took refuge on the top of the rock
of Etam, in the territory of Judah. The Philistines gathered an
army to revenge themselves when the men of Judah hastened to
make peace by giving up Samson, who was hound with cords,
these, however, he broke like burnt flax and finding a jawbone
of an ass at hand, he slew with it a thousand of the
Philistines. The supernatural character of this exploit was
confirmed by the miraculous bursting out of a spring of water
to revive the champion as he was ready to die of thirst. This
achievement raised Samson to the position of a judge, which he
held for twenty years. After a time he began to fall into the
temptations which addressed themselves to his strong animal
nature; but he broke through every snare in which he was caught
so long as he kept his Nazarite vow. While he was visiting a
harlot in Gaza, the Philistines shut the gates of the city,
intending to kill him in the morning; but at midnight he went
out and tore away the gates, with the posts and bar and carried
them to the top of a hill looking toward Hebron. Next he formed
his fatal connection with Delilah, a woman who lived in the
valley of Sorek. Thrice he suffered himself to be bound with
green withes, with new ropes, but released himself until
finally, wearied out with her importunity, he "told her all his
heart," and while he was asleep she had him shaven of his seven
locks of hair. His enemies put out his eyes, and led him down
to Gaza, bound in brazen fetters, and made him grind in the
prison. Then they held a great festival in the temple of Dagon,
to celebrate their victory over Samson. They brought forth the
blind champion to make sport for them, end placed him between
the two chief pillars which supported the roof that surrounded
the court. Samson asked the lad who guided him to let him feel
the pillars, to lean upon them. Then, with a fervent prayer
that God would strengthen him only this once, to be avenged on
the Philistines, he bore with all his might upon the two
pillars; they yielded, and the house fell upon the lords and
all the people. So the dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life." In (Hebrews 11:32)
his name is enrolled among the worthies of the Jewish Church.
Samuel
was the son of Elkanah and Hannah, and was born at
Ramathaim-zophim, among the hills of Ephraim. [[1040]Ramah No.
2] (B.C. 1171.) Before his birth he was dedicated by his mother
to the office of a Nazarite and when a young child, 12 years
old according to Josephus he was placed in the temple, and
ministered unto the Lord before Eli." It was while here that he
received his first prophetic call. (1 Samuel 3:1-18) He next
appears, probably twenty years afterward, suddenly among the
people, warning them against their idolatrous practices. (1
Samuel 7:3,4) Then followed Samuel's first and, as far as we
know, only military achievement, ch. (1 Samuel 7:5-12) but it
was apparently this which raised him to the office of "judge."
He visited, in the discharge of his duties as ruler, the three
chief sanctuaries on the west of Jordan--Bethel, Gilgal and
Mizpeh. ch. (1 Samuel 7:16) His own residence was still native
city, Ramah, where he married, and two sons grew up to repeat
under his eyes the same perversion of high office that he had
himself witnessed in his childhood in the case of the two sons
of Eli. In his old age he shared his power with them, (1 Samuel
8:1-4) but the people dissatisfied, demanded a king, and
finally anointed under God's direction, and Samuel surrendered
to him his authority, (1 Samuel 12:1) ... though still
remaining judge. ch. (1 Samuel 7:15) He was consulted far and
near on the small affairs of life. (1 Samuel 9:7,8) From this
fact, combined with his office of ruler, an awful reverence
grew up around him. No sacrificial feast was thought complete
without his blessing. Ibid. (1 Samuel 9:13) A peculiar virtue
was believed to reside in his intercession. After Saul was
rejected by God, Samuel anointed David in his place and Samuel
became the spiritual father of the psalmist-king. The death of
Samuel is described as taking place in the year of the close of
David's wanderings. It is said with peculiar emphasis, as if to
mark the loss, that "all the Israelites were gathered together"
from all parts of this hitherto-divided country, and "lamented
him," and "buried him" within his own house, thus in a manner
consecrated by being turned into his tomb. (1 Samuel 25:1)
Samuel represents the independence of the moral law, of the
divine will, as distinct from legal or sacerdotal enactments,
which is so remarkable a characteristic of all the later
prophets. He is also the founder of the first regular
institutions of religious instructions and communities for the
purposes of education.
Samuel, Books Of
are not separated from each other in the Hebrew MSS., and, from
a critical point of view, must be regarded as one book. The
present, division was first made in the Septuagint translation,
and was adopted in the Vulgate from the Septuagint. The book
was called by the Hebrews: "Samuel," probably because the birth
and life of Samuel were the subjects treated of in the
beginning of the work. The books of Samuel commence with the
history of Eli and Samuel, and contain all account of the
establishment of the Hebrew monarchy and of the reigns of Saul
and David, with the exception of the last days of the latter
monarch which are related in the beginning of the books of
Kings, of which those of Samuel form the previous portion.
[[1041]Kings, First And Second Books Of, B00KS OF] Authorship
and date of the book,--
+ As to the authorship. In common with all the historical books
of the Old Testament, except the beginning of Nehemiah, the
book of Samuel contains no mention in the text of the name of
its author. It is indisputable that the title "Samuel" does
not imply that the prophet was the author of the book of
Samuel as a whole; for the death of Samuel is recorded in the
beginning of the 25th chapter. In our own time the most
prevalent idea in the Anglican Church seems to have been that
the first twenty-four chapters of the book of Samuel were
written by the prophet himself, and the rest of the chapters
by the prophets Nathan and Gad. This, however, is doubtful.
+ But although the authorship cannot be ascertained with
certainty, it appears clear that, in its present form it must
have been composed subsequent to the secession of the ten
tribes, B.C. 975. This results from the passage in (1 Samuel
27:6) wherein it is said of David, "Then Achish gave him
Ziklag that day wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of
Judah to this day:" for neither Saul, David nor Solomon is in
a single instance called king of Judah simply. On the other
hand, it could hardly have been written later than the
reformation of Josiah, since it seems to have been composed
at a time when the Pentateuch was not acted on as the rule of
religious observances, which received a special impetus at
the finding of the Book of the Law at the reformation of
Josiah. All, therefore, that can be asserted with any
certainty is that the book, as a whole, can scarcely have
been composed later than the reformation of Josiah, and that
it could not have existed in its present form earlier than
the reign of Rehoboam. The book of Samuel is one of the best
specimens of Hebrew prose in the golden age of Hebrew
literature. In prose it holds the same place which Joel and
the undisputed prophecies of Isaiah hold in poetical or
prophetical language.
Sanballat
(strength), a Moabite of Horonaim. (Nehemiah 2:10,13; 13:28) He
held apparently some command in Samaria at the time Nehemiah
was preparing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, B.C. 445,
(Nehemiah 4:2) and from the moment of Nehemiah's arrival in
Judea he set himself to oppose every measure for the welfare of
Jerusalem. The only other incident in his life is his alliance
with the high priest's family by the marriage of his daughter
with one of the grandsons of Eliashib; but the expulsion from
the priesthood of the guilty son of Joiada by Nehemiah promptly
followed. Here the scriptural narrative ends.
Sandal
was the article ordinarily used by the Hebrews for protecting
the feet. It consisted simply of a sole attached to the foot by
thongs. We have express notice of the thong (Authorized Version
"shoe latchet") in several passages, notably (Genesis 14:23;
Isaiah 5:27; Mark 1:7) Sandals were worn by all classes of
society in Palestine, even by the very poor; and both the
sandal and the thong or shoe-latchet were so cheap and common
that they passed into a proverb for the most insignificant
thing. (Genesis 14:23) Ecclus. 46;13, They were dispensed with
in-doors, and were only put on by persons about to undertake
some business away from their homes. During mealtimes the feet
were uncovered. (Luke 7:38; John 13:5,6) It was a mark of
reverence to cast off the shoes in approaching a place or
person of eminent sanctity. (Exodus 3:5; Joshua 5:15) It was
also an indication of violent emotion, or of mourning, if a
person appeared barefoot in public. (2 Samuel 15:30) To carry
or to unloose a person's sandal was a menial office, betokening
great inferiority on the part of the person performing it.
(Matthew 3:11)
Sanhedrin
(from the Greek sunedrion, "a council-chamber" commonly but in
correctly Sanhedrim), the supreme council of the Jewish people
in the time of Christ and earlier.
+ The origin of this assembly is traced in the Mishna to the
seventy elders whom Moses was directed, (Numbers 11:16,17) to
associate with him in the government of the Israelites; but
this tribunal was probably temporary, and did not continue to
exist after the Israelites had entered Palestine. In the lack
of definite historical information as to the establishment of
the Sanhedrin, it can only be said in general that the Greek
etymology of the name seems to point to a period subsequent
to the Macedonian supremacy in Palestine. From the few
incidental notices in the New Testament, we gather that it
consisted of chief priests, or the heads of the twenty-four
classes into which the priests were divided, elders, men of
age and experience, and scribes, lawyers, or those learned in
the Jewish law. (Matthew 26:57,59; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66;
Acts 5:21)
+ The number of members is usually given as 71. The president
of this body was styled nasi, and was chosen in account of
his eminence in worth and wisdom. Often, if not generally,
this pre-eminence was accorded to the high priest. The
vice-president, called in the Talmud "father of the house of
judgment," sat at the right hand of the president. Some
writers speak of a second vice-president, but this is not
sufficiently confirmed. While in session the Sanhedrin sat in
the form of half-circle.
+ The place in which the sessions of the Sanhedrin were
ordinarily held was, according to the Talmad, a hall called
Gazzith, supposed by Lightfoot to have been situated in the
southeast corner of one of the courts near the temple
building. In special exigencies, however, it seems to have
met in the residence of the high priest. (Matthew 26:3) Forty
years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and consequently
while the Saviour was teaching in Palestine, the sessions of
the Sanhedrin were removed from the hall Gazzith to a
somewhat greater distance from the temple building, although
still on Mount Moriah. After several other changes, its seat
was finally established at tiberias, where it became extinct
A.D. 425. As a judicial body the Sanhedrin constituted a
supreme court, to which belonged in the first instance the
trial of false prophets, of the high priest and other
priests, and also of a tribe fallen into idolatry. As an
administrative council, it determined other important
matters. Jesus was arraigned before this body as a false
prophet, (John 11:47) and Peter, John, Stephen and Paul as
teachers of error and deceivers of the people. From (Acts
9:2) it appears that the Sanhedrin exercised a degree of
authority beyond the limits of Palestine. According to the
Jerusalem Gemara the power of inflicting capital punishment
was taken away from this tribunal forty years before the
destruction of Jerusalem. With this agrees the answer of the
Jews to Pilate. (John 19:31) The Talmud also mentions a
lesser Sanhedrin of twenty-three members in every city in
Palestine in which were not less than 120 householders.
Sansannah
(palm branch), one of the towns in the south district of Judah,
named in (Joshua 15:31) only.
Saph
(tall), one of the sons of the giant slain by Sibbechai the
Hushathite. (2 Samuel 21:18) In (1 Chronicles 20:4) he is
called [1042]Sippai. (B.C. about 1050.)
Saphir
(fair), one of the villages addressed by the prophet Micha,
(Micah 1:11) is described by Eusebius and jerome as "in the
mountain district between Eleutheropolis and Ascalon," perhaps
represented by the village es-Sawafir, seven or eight miles to
the northeast of Ascalon.
Sapphira
[[1043]Ananias]
Sapphire
(Heb. sappir), a precious stone, apparently of a bright-blue
color, set: (Exodus 24:10) the second stone in the second row
of the high priest's breastplate, (Exodus 28:18) extremely
precious, (Job 28:16) it was one of the precious stones that
ornamented the king of Tyre. (Ezekiel 28:13) The sapphire of
the ancients was not our gem of that name, viz. the azure or
indigo-blue, crystalline variety of corundum, but our lapis
lazuli (ultra-marine).
Sara
Greek form of Sarah.
Sarah
(princess).
+ The wife and half-sister, (Genesis 20:12) of Abraham, and
mother of Isaac. Her name is first introduced in (Genesis
11:29) as Sarai. The change of her name from Sarai, my
princess (i.e. Abraham's), to Sarah, princess (for all the
race), was made at the same time that Abram's name was
changed to Abraham,--on the establishment of the covenant of
circumcision between him and God. Sarah's history is of
course that of Abraham. [[1044]Abraham] She died at Hebron at
the age of 127 years, 28 years before her husband and was
buried by him in the cave of (B.C. 1860.) She is referred to
in the New Testament as a type of conjugal obedience in (1
Peter 3:6) and as one of the types of faith in (Hebrews
11:11)
+ Sarah, the daughter of Asher. (Numbers 26:46)
Sarai
(my princess) the original name of Sarah wife of Abraham.
Saraph
(burning) mentioned in (1 Chronicles 4:22) among the
descendants of Judah.
Sardine, Sardius
(red) (Heb. odem) the stone which occupied the first place in
the first row of the high priest's breastplate. (Exodus 28:27)
The sard, which is probably the stone denoted by odem, is a
superior variety of agate, sometimes called camelian, and has
long been a favorite stone for the engraver's art. Sardis
differ in color: there is a bright-red variety, and perhaps the
Hebrew odem from a root means "to be red," points to this kind.
Sardis
a city of Asia Minor and capital of Lydia, situated about two
miles to the south of the river Hermus, just below the range of
Tmolus, on a spur of which its acropolis was built. It was 60
miles northeast of Smyrna. It was the ancient residence of the
kings of Lydia, among them Croesus, proverbial for his immense
wealth. Cyrus is said to have taken,000,000 worth of treasure
form the city when he captured it, B.C. 548. Sardis was in very
early times, both from the extremely fertile character of the
neighboring region and from its convenient position, a
commercial mart of importance. The art of dyeing wool is said
to have been invented there. In the year 214 B.C. it was taken
and sacked by the army of Antiochus the Great. Afterward it
passed under the dominion of the kings of Pergamos. Its
productive soil must always have continued a source of wealth;
but its importance as a central mart appears to have diminished
from the time of the invasion of Asia by Alexander. The massive
temple of Cybele still bears witness in its fragmentary remains
to the wealth and architectural skill of the people that raised
it. On the north side of the acropolis, overlooking the valley
of the Hermus, is a theatre near 400 feet in diameter, attached
to a stadium of about 1000. There are still considerable
remains of the ancient city at Sert-Kalessi . Travellers
describe the appearance of the locality as that of complete
solitude. The only passage in which it is mentioned in the
Bible is (Revelation 3:1-6)
Sardites, The
descendants of Sered the son of Zebulun. (Numbers 26:26) (In
the Revised Version of (Revelation 4:3) for sardine stone. The
name is derived from Sardis, where the stone was first found.)
Sardonyx
a name compounded of sard and onyx, two precious stones,
varieties of chalcedony or agate. The sardonyx combines the
qualities of both, whence its name. It is mentioned only in
(Revelation 21:20) The sardonyx consists of "a white opaque
layer, superimposed upon a red transparent stratum of the true
red sard." It is, like the sard, merely a variety of agate, and
is frequently employed by engravers for signet-rings.
Sarepta
[[1045]Zarephath]
Sargon
(prince of the sea), one of the greatest of the Assyrian kings,
is mentioned by name but once in Scripture-- (Isaiah 20:1) He
was the successor of Shalmaneser, and was Sennacherib's father
and his reigned from B.C. 721 to 702, and seems to have been a
usurper. He was undoubtedly a great and successful warrior. In
his annals, which cover a space of fifteen years, from B.C. 721
to 706, he gives an account of his warlike expeditions against
Babylonia and Susiana on the south, Media on the east, Armenia
and Cappadocia toward the north, Syria, Palestine, Arabia and
Egypt toward the west and southwest. In B.C. 712 he took
Ashdod, by one of his generals, which is the event which causes
the mention of his name in Scripture. It is not as a warrior
only that Sargon deserves special mention among the Assyrian
kings. He was also the builder of useful works, and of one of
the most magnificent of the Assyrian palaces.
Sarid
(survivor), a chief landmark of the territory of Zebulun.
(Joshua 19:10,12) All that can be gathered of its position is
that it lay to the west of Chislothtabor.
Saron
the district in which Lydda stood, (Acts 9:35) only; the Sharon
of the Old Testament. [[1046]Sharon]
Sarothie
are among the sons of the servants of Solomon who returned with
Zerubbabel. 1 Esd. 6:34.
Sarsechim
(prince of the eunuchs), one of the generals of
Nebuchadnezzar's army at the taking of Jerusalem. (Jeremiah
39:3) (B.C. 588.)
Saruch
(Luke 3:25) Serug the son of Reu.
Satan
The word itself, the Hebrew satan, is simply an "adversary,"
and is so used in (1 Samuel 29:4; 2 Samuel 19:22; 1 Kings 6:4;
11:14,23,25; Numbers 22:22,33; Psalms 109:6) This original
sense is still found in our Lord's application of the name to
St. Peter in (Matthew 16:23) It is used as a proper name or
title only four times in the Old Testament, vis. (with the
article) in (Job 1:6; 12; 2:1; Zechariah 2:1) and without the
article in (1 Chronicles 21:1) It is with the scriptural
revelation on the subject that we are here concerned; and it is
clear, from this simple enumeration of passages, that it is to
be sought in the New rather than in the Old Testament. I. The
personal existence of a spirit of evil is clearly revealed in
Scripture; but the revelation is made gradually, in accordance
with the progressiveness of God's method. In the first entrance
of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the
serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a
distinct mention of "Satan" the "adversary" of Job. But it is
important to remark the emphatic stress laid on his subordinate
position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all
terror and all grandeur in his character. It is especially
remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a
power over outward circumstances, is attributed to him. The
captivity brought the Israelites face to face with the great
dualism of the Persian mythology, the conflict of Ormuzd with
Ahriman, the co-ordinate spirit of evil; but it is confessed by
all that the Satan of Scripture bears no resemblance to the
Persian Ahriman. His subordination and inferiority are as
strongly marked as ever. The New Testament brings plainly
forward the power and the influence of Satan, From the
beginning of the Gospel, when he appears as the personal
tempter of our Lord through all the Gospels, Epistles, and
Apocalypse, it is asserted or implied, again and again, as a
familiar and important truth. II. Of the nature and original
state of Satan, little is revealed in Scripture. He is spoken
of as a "spirit" in (Ephesians 2:2) as the prince or ruler of
the "demons" in (Matthew 12:24-26) and as having "angels"
subject to him in (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7,9) The whole
description of his power implies spiritual nature and spiritual
influence. We conclude therefore that he was of angelic nature,
a rational and spiritual creature, superhuman in power, wisdom
and energy; and not only so, but an archangel, one of the
"princes" of heaven. We cannot, of course, conceive that
anything essentially and originally evil was created by God. We
can only conjecture, therefore, that Satan is a fallen angel,
who once had a time of probation, but whose condemnation is now
irrevocably fixed. As to the time cause and manner of his fall
Scripture tells us scarcely anything; but it describes to us
distinctly the moral nature of the evil one. The ideal of
goodness is made up of the three great moral attributes of
God--love, truth, and purity or holiness; combined with that
spirit which is the natural temper of the finite and dependent
we find creature, the spirit of faith. We find, accordingly,
opposites of qualities are dwelt upon as the characteristics of
the devil. III. The power of Satan over the soul is represented
as exercised either directly or by his instruments. His direct
influence over the soul is simply that of a powerful and evil
nature on those in whom lurks the germ of the same evil.
Besides this direct influence, we learn from Scripture that
Satan is the leader of a host of evil spirits or angels who
share his evil work, and for whom the "everlasting fire is
prepared." (Matthew 25:41) Of their origin and fall we know no
more than of his. But one passage (Matthew
12:24-26)--identifies them distinctly with the "demons"
(Authorized Version "devils") who had power to possess the
souls of men. They are mostly spoken of in Scripture in
reference to possession; but in (Ephesians 6:12) find them
sharing the enmity to God and are ascribed in various lights.
We find them sharing the enmity to God and man implied in the
name and nature of Satan; but their power and action are little
dwelt upon in comparison with his. But the evil one is not
merely the "prince of the demons;" he is called also the
"prince of this world" in (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) and even
the. "god of this world" in (2 Corinthians 4:4) the two
expressions being united in (Ephesians 6:12) This power he
claimed for himself, as the delegated authority, in the
temptation of our Lord, (Luke 4:6) and the temptation would
have been unreal had he spoken altogether falsely. The indirect
action of Satan is best discerned by an examination of the
title by which he is designated in Scripture. He is called
emphatically ho diabolos, "the devil." The derivation of the
word in itself implies only the endeavor to break the bonds
between others and "set them at variance;" but common usage
adds to this general sense the special idea of "setting at
variance by slander." In the application of the title to Satan,
both the general and special senses should be kept in view. His
general object is to break the bonds of communion between God
and man, and the bonds of truth and love which bind men to each
other. The slander of God to man is best seen in the words of
(Genesis 3:4,5) They attribute selfishness and jealousy to the
Giver of all good. The slander of man to God is illustrated by
the book of Job. (Job 1:9-11; 2:4,5) IV. The method of satanic
action upon the heart itself. It may be summed up in two
words--temptation and possession. The subject of temptation is
illustrated, not only by abstract statements, but also by the
record of the temptations of Adam and of our Lord. It is
expressly laid down, as in (James 1:2-4) that "temptation,"
properly so called, i.e. "trial," is essential to man, and is
accordingly ordained for him and sent to him by God, as in
(Genesis 22:1) It is this tentability of man, even in his
original nature, which is represented in Scripture as giving
scope to the evil action of Satan. But in the temptation of a
fallen nature Satan has a greater power. Every sin committed
makes a man the "servant of sin" for the future, (John 8:34;
Romans 6:16) it therefore creates in the spirit of man a
positive tendency to evil which sympathizes with, and aids, the
temptation of the evil one. On the subject of possession, see
[1047]Demoniacs.
Satyr
(sa'tyr or sat'yr), a sylvan deity or demigod of Greek
mythology, represented as a monster, part man and part goat.
(Isaiah 13:21; 34:14) The Hebrew word signifies "hairy" or
"rough," and is frequently applied to "he-goats." In the
passages cited it probably refers to demons of woods and desert
places. Comp. (Leviticus 17:7; 2 Chronicles 11:15)
Saul
(desired), more accurately Shaul.
+ One of the early kings of Edom, and successor of Samlah.
(Genesis 36:37,38; 1 Chronicles 1:48) (B.C. after 1450.)
+ The first king of Israel, the son of Kish, and of the tribe
of Benjamin. (B.C, 1095-1055.) His character is in part
illustrated by the fierce, wayward, fitful nature of the
tribe and in part accounted for by the struggle between the
old and new systems in which he found himself involved. To
this we must add a taint of madness. which broke out in
violent frenzy at times leaving him with long lucid
intervals. He was remarkable for his strength and activity,
(2 Samuel 1:25) and, like the Homeric heroes, of gigantic
stature, taller by head and shoulders than the rest of the
people, and of that kind of beauty denoted by the Hebrew word
"good," (1 Samuel 9:2) and which caused him to be compared to
the gazelle, "the gazelle of Israel." His birthplace is not
expressly mentioned; but, as Zelah in Benjamin was the place
of Kish's sepulchre. (2 Samuel 21:14) it was probable; his
native village. His father, Kish, was a powerful and wealthy
chief though the family to which he belonged was of little
importance. (1 Samuel 9:1,21) A portion of his property
consisted of a drove of asses. In search of these asses, gone
astray on the mountains, he sent his son Saul It was while
prosecuting this adventure that Saul met with Samuel for the
first time at his home in Ramah, five miles north of
Jerusalem. A divine intimation had made known to him the
approach of Saul, whom he treated with special favor, and the
next morning descending with him to the skirts of the town,
Samuel poured over Saul's head the consecrated oil, and with
a kiss of salutation announced to him that he was to be the
ruler of the nation. (1 Samuel 9:25; 1 Samuel 10:1) Returning
homeward his call was confirmed by the incidents which
according to Samuel's prediction, awaited him. (1 Samuel
10:9,10) What may be named the public call occurred at
Mizpeh, when lots were cast to find the tribe and family
which was to produce the king, and Saul, by a divine
intimation was found hid in the circle of baggage which
surrounded the encampment. (1 Samuel 10:17-24) Returning to
Gibeah, apparently to private life, he heard the threat
issued by Nahash king of Ammon against Jabesh-gilead. He
speedily collected an army, and Jabesh was rescued. The
effect was instantaneous on the people, and the monarchy was
inaugurated anew at Gilgal. (1 Samuel 11:1-15) It should be,
however, observed that according to (1 Samuel 12:12) the
affair of Nahash preceded and occasioned the election of
Saul. Although king of Israel, his rule was at first limited;
but in the second year of his reign he began to organize an
attempt to shake off the Philistine yoke, and an army was
formed. In this crisis, Saul, now on the very confines of his
kingdom at Gilgal, impatient at Samuel's delay, whom he had
directed to be present, offered sacrifice himself. Samuel,
arriving later, pronounced the first curse, on his impetuous
zeal. (1 Samuel 13:5-14) After the Philistines were driven
back to their own country occurred the first appearance of
Saul's madness in the rash vow which all but cost the life of
his soil. (1 Samuel 14:24; 44) The expulsion of the
Philistines, although not entirely completed, ch. (1 Samuel
14:52) at once placed Saul in a position higher than that of
any previous ruler of Israel, and he made war upon the
neighboring tribes. In the war with Amalek, ch. (1 Samuel
14:48; 15:1-9) he disobeyed the prophetical command of
Samuel, which called down the second curse, and the first
distinct intimation of the transference of the kingdom to a
rival. The rest of Saul's life is one long tragedy. The
frenzy which had given indications of itself before now at
times took almost entire possession of him. In this crisis
David was recommended to him. From this time forward their
lives are blended together. [[1048]David] In Saul's better
moments he never lost the strong affection which he had
contracted for David. Occasionally, too his prophetical gift
returned, blended with his madness. (2 Samuel 19:24) But his
acts of fierce, wild zeal increased. At last the monarchy
itself broke down under the weakness of his head. The
Philistines re-entered the country, and just before giving
them battle Saul's courage failed and he consulted one of the
necromancers, the "Witch of Endor," who had escaped his
persecution. At this distance of time it is impossible to
determine the relative amount of fraud or of reality in the
scene which follows, though the obvious meaning of the
narrative itself tends to the hypothesis of some kind of
apparition. ch. (2 Samuel 19:28) On hearing the denunciation
which the apparition conveyed, Saul fell the whole length of
his gigantic stature on the ground, and remained motionless
till the woman and his servants forced him to eat. The next
day the battle came on. The Israelites were driven up the
side of Gilboa. The three sons of Saul were slain. Saul was
wounded. According to one account, he fell upon his own
sword, (1 Samuel 31:4) and died. The body on being found by
the Philistines was stripped slid decapitated, and the
headless trunk hung over the city walls, with those of his
three sons. ch. (1 Samuel 31:9,10) The head was deposited
(probably at Ashdod) in the temple of Dagon (1 Chronicles
10:10) The corpse was buried at Jabesh-gilead. (1 Samuel
31:13)
+ The Jewish name of St. Paul.
Saw
Egyptian saws, so far as has yet been discovered, are
single-handed. As is the case in modern Oriental saws, the
teeth usually incline toward the handle, instead of away from
it like ours. They have, in most cases, bronze blades,
apparently attached to the handles by leathern thongs. No
evidence exists of the use of the saw applied to stone in
Egypt, but we read of sawn stones used in the temple. (1 Kings
7:9) The saws "under" or "in" which David is said to have
placed his captives were of iron. The expression in (2 Samuel
12:31) does not necessarily imply torture, but the word "cut"
in (1 Chronicles 20:3) can hardly be understood otherwise.
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Table of Contents
Scapegoat
[[1049]Atonement, The Day Of, [1050]Day OF]
Scarlet
[[1051]Colors]
Sceptre
This word originally meant a rod or staff . It was thence
specifically applied to the shepherd's crook, (Leviticus 27:32;
Micah 7:14) and to the wand or sceptre of a ruler. The
allusions to it are all of a metaphorical character, and
describe it simply as one of the insignia of supreme power.
(Genesis 49:10) We are consequently unable to describe the
article from any biblical notice we may infer that it was
probably made of wood. The sceptre of the Persian monarch is
described as "golden" i.e. probably of massive gold. (Esther
4:11)
Sceva
a Jew residing at Ephesus at the time of St. Paul's second
visit to that town. (Acts 19:14-16) (A.D. 52.)
Schools
(In the early ages most of the instruction of young children
was by the parents. The leisure hours of the Sabbaths and
festival days brought the parents in constant contact with the
children. After the captivity schools came more into use, and
at the time of Christ were very abundant. The schools were in
connection with the synagogues, which were found in every
village of the city and land. Their idea of the value of
schools may be gained from such sayings from the Talmud as "The
world is preserved by the breath of the children in the
schools;" "A town in which there are no schools must perish;"
"Jerusalem was destroyed because the education of children was
neglected." Josephus says, "Our principal care is to educate
our children." The Talmud states that in Bechar there were 400
schools, having each 400 teachers, with 400 children each and
that there were 4000 pupils in the house of Rabban Simeon
Ben-Gamaliel. Maimonides thus describes a school: "The teacher
sat at the head, and the pupils surrounded him as the crown the
head so that every one could see the teacher and hear his
words. The teacher did not sit in a chair while the pupils sat
on the ground but all either sat on chairs or on the ground."
The children read aloud to acquire fluency. The number of
school-hours was limited, and during the heat of the summer was
only four hours. The punishment employed was beating with a
strap, never with a rod. The chief studies were their own
language and literature the chief school-book the Holy
Scriptures; and there were special efforts to impress lessons
of morality and chastity. Besides these they studied
mathematics, astronomy and the natural sciences. Beyond the
schools for popular education there were higher schools or
colleges scattered throughout the cities where the Jews
abounded.--ED.)
Scorpion
(Heb. 'akrab), a well known venomous insect of hot climates,
shaped much like a lobster. It is usually not more than two or
three inches long, but in tropical climates is sometimes six
inches in length. The wilderness of Sinai is especially alluded
to as being inhabited by scorpions at the time of the exodus,
and to this day these animals are common in the same district,
as well as in some parts of Palestine. Scorpions are generally
found in dry and in dark places, under stones and in ruins.
They are carnivorous in the habits, and move along in a
threatening attitude, with the tail elevated. The sting, which
is situated at the end of the tail, has at its base a gland
that secretes a poisonous fluid, which is discharged into the
wound by two minute orifices at its extremity. In hot climates
the sting often occasions much suffering, and sometimes
alarming symptoms. The "scorpions" of (1 Kings 12:1,14; 2
Chronicles 10:11,14) have clearly no allusion whatever to the
animal, but to some instrument of scourging--unless indeed the
expression is a mere figure.
Scourging
The punishment of scourging was common among the Jews. The
instrument of punishment in ancient Egypt, as it is also in
modern times generally in the East, was usually the stick,
applied to the soles of the feet--bastinado. Under the Roman
method the culprit was stripped, stretched with cords or thongs
on a frame and beaten with rods. (Another form of the scourge
consisted of a handle with three lashes or thongs of leather or
cord, sometimes with pieces of metal fastened to them. Roman
citizens were exempt by their law from scourging.)
Scribes
(Heb.sopherim), I. Name .-- (1) Three meanings are connected
with the verb saphar, the root of sopherim-- (a) to write, (b)
to set in order, (c) to count. The explanation of the word has
been referred to each of these. The sopherim were so called
because they wrote out the law, or because they classified and
arranged its precepts, or because they counted with scrupulous
minuteness every elapse and letter It contained. (2) The name
of Kirjath-sepher, (Joshua 15:15; Judges 1:12) may possibly
connect itself with some early use of the title, and appears to
point to military functions of some kind. (Judges 5:14) The men
are mentioned as filling the office of scribe under David and
Solomon. (2 Samuel 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:3) We may think of
them as the king's secretaries, writing his letters, drawing up
his decrees, managing his finances. Comp (2 Kings 12:10) In
Hezekiah's time transcribed old records, and became a class of
students and interpreters of the law, boasting of their wisdom.
(Jeremiah 8:8) After the captivity the office became more
prominent, as the exiles would be anxious above all things to
preserve the sacred books, the laws, the hymns, the prophecies
of the past. II. Development of doctrine .--Of the scribes of
this period, with the exception of Ezra and Zadok, (Nehemiah
13:13) we have no record. A later age honored them collectively
as the men of the Great Synagogue. Never perhaps, was so
important a work done so silently. They devoted themselves to
the careful study of the text, and laid down rules for
transcribing it with the most scrupulous precision. As time
passed on the "words of the scribes" were honored above the
law. It was a greater crime to offend against them than against
the law. The first step was taken toward annulling the
commandments of God for the sake of their own traditions. (Mark
7:13) The casuistry became at once subtle and prurient, evading
the plainest duties, tampering with conscience. (Matthew
15:1-6; 23:16-23) We can therefore understand why they were
constantly denounced by our Lord along with the Pharisees.
While the scribes repeated the traditions of the elders, he
"spake as one having authority," "not as the scribes." (Matthew
7:29) While they confined their teachings to the class of
scholars, he "had compassion on the multitudes." (Matthew 9:36)
While they were to be found only in the council or in their
schools, he journeyed through the cities and villages. (Matthew
4:23; 9:35) etc. While they spoke of the kingdom of God
vaguely, as a thing far off, he proclaimed that it had already
come nigh to men. (Matthew 4:17) In our Lord's time there were
two chief parties:
+ the disciples of Shammai, conspicuous for their fierceness,
appealing to popular passions, using the sword to decide
their controversies. Out of this party grew the Zealots.
+ The disciples of Hillel, born B.C. 112, and who may have been
one of the doctors before whom the boy Jesus came in the
temple, for he lived to be 120 years old. Hillel was a
"liberal conservative, of genial character and broad range of
thought, with some approximations to a higher teaching." In
most of the points at issue between the two parties, Jesus
must have appeared in direct antagonism to the school of
Shammai, in sympathy with that of Hillel. So far, on the
other hand, as the temper of the Hillel school was one of
mere adaptation to the feeling of the people, cleaving to
tradition, wanting in the intuition of a higher life, the
teaching of Christ must have been felt as unsparingly
condemning it. III. Education and life.--The special training
for a scribe's office began, probably, about the age of
thirteen. The boy who was destined by his parents to the
calling of a scribe went to Jerusalem and applied for
admission in the school of some famous rabbi. After a
sufficient period of training, probably at the age of thirty
the probationer was solemnly admitted to his office. After
his admission there was a choice of a variety of functions,
the chances of failure and success. He might give himself to
any one of the branches of study, or combine two or more of
them. He might rise to high places, become a doctor of the
law, an arbitrator in family litigations, (Luke 12:14) the
head of a school, a member of the Sanhedrin. He might have to
content himself with the humbler work of a transcriber,
copying the law and the prophets for the use of synagogues,
or a notary, writing out contracts of sale, covenants of
espousals, bills of repudiation. The position of the more
fortunate was of course attractive enough. In our Lord's time
the passion for distinction was insatiable. The ascending
scale of rab, rabbi, rabban, presented so many steps on the
ladder of ambition. Other forms of worldliness were not far
off. The salutations in the market-place, (Matthew 23:7) the
reverential kiss offered by the scholars to their master or
by rabbis to each other the greeting of Abba, father (Matthew
23:9) the long robes with the broad blue fringe, (Matthew
23:5)--all these go to make up the picture of a scribe's
life. Drawing to themselves, as they did, nearly all the
energy and thought of Judaism, the close hereditary caste of
the priesthood was powerless to compete with them. Unless the
Priest became a scribe also, he remained in obscurity. The
order, as such, became contemptible and base. For the scribes
there were the best places at feasts, the chief seats in
synagogues. (Matthew 23:6; Luke 14:7)
Scrip
The Hebrew word thus translated appears in (1 Samuel 17:40) as
a synonym for the bag in which the shepherds of Palestine
carried their food or other necessities. The scrip of the
Galilean peasants was of leather, used especially to carry
their food on a journey, and slung over their shoulders.
(Matthew 10:10; Mark 6:8; Luke 9:3; 22:35) The English word
"scrip" is probably connected with scrape, scrap, and was used
in like manner for articles of food.
Scripture
[See [1052]Bible]
Scythian
occurs in (Colossians 3:11) as a generalized term for rude,
ignorant, degraded. The name often included all the nomadic
tribes, who dwelt mostly on the north of the Black and the
Caspian Sea, stretching thence indefinitely into inner Asia,
and were regarded by the ancients as standing extremely low In
point of intelligence and civilization.
Scythopolis
[BETH-SHEAN]
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Table of Contents
Sea
The sea, yam, is used in Scripture to denote--
+ "The gathering of the waters," "the Ocean." (Genesis 1:2,10;
30:13) etc.
+ Some portion of this, as the Mediterranean Sea, called the
"hinder," the "western" and the "utmost" sea, (11:24; 34:2;
Joel 2:20) "sea of the Philistines," (Exodus 23:31) "the
great sea," (Numbers 36:6,7; Joshua 15:47) "the sea."
Genesis49:13; Psal 80:11 Also frequently of the Red Sea.
(Exodus 15:4) [[1053]Red Sea SEA]
+ Inland lakes termed seas, as the Salt or Dead Sea. [See the
special article]
+ Any great collection of waters, as the river Nile (Isaiah
19:5) and the Euphrates. (Jeremiah 51:36)
Sea, Molten
In the place of the laver of the tabernacle Solomon caused a
laver to be cast for a similar purpose, which from its size was
called a sea. It was made partly or wholly of the brass, or
rather copper, which was captured by David from "Tibhath and
Chun, cities of Hadarezer king of Zobah." (1 Kings 7:23-26; 1
Chronicles 18:8) It is said to have been 15 feet in diameter
and 7 1/2 feet deep, and to have been capable of containing
2000, or according to (2 Chronicles 4:5) 3000 Baths (16,000 to
24,000 gallons). The lever stood on twelve oxen three toward
each quarter of the heavens, and all looking outward. It was
mutilated by Ahaz by being removed from its basis of oxen and
placed on a stone base, and was finally broken up by the
Assyrians. (2 Kings 16:14,17; 25:13)
Sea, The Salt
the usual and perhaps the most ancient name for the remarkable
lake which to the western world is now generally known as the
Dead Sea. I. Names.-- (1) The Salt Sea, (Genesis 14:3) (2) Sea
of the Arabah (Authorized Version "sea of the plain," which is
found in (4:49)); (3) The East Sea (Joel 2:20) (4) The sea,
(Ezekiel 47:8) (5) Sodomitish Sea, 2 Esdras; (6) Sea of Salt
and Sea of Sodom, in the Talmud; (7) The Asphaltic Lake, in
Josephus; (8) The name "Dead Sea" appears to have been first
used in Greek by Pausanias and Galen, and in Latin (mare
mortuum) by Justin xxxvi. 3,6, or rather by the older historian
Trogus Pompeius (cir. B.C. 10), whose work he epitomized. (9)
The Arabic name is Bahr Lut, the "Sea of Lot." II Description
.--The so-called Dead Sea is the final receptacle of the river
Jordan, the lowest and largest of the three lakes which
interrupt the rush of its downward course. It is the deepest
portion of that very deep natural fissure which runs like a
furrow from the Gulf of Akabah to the range of Lebanon, and
from the range of Lebanon to the extreme north of Syria. Viewed
on the map, the lake is of an oblong form, of tolerably regular
contour, interrupted only by a large and long peninsula which
projects from the eastern shore near its southern end, and
virtually divides the expanse of the water into two portions,
connected by a long, narrow and somewhat devious passage. Its
surface is from north to south as nearly as possible 40
geographical or 46 English miles long. Its greatest width is
about 9 geographical or 10 1/2 English miles. Its area is about
250 geographical square miles. At its northern end the lake
receives the stream of the Jordan; on its eastern side the
Zurka Ma'in (the ancient Callirrhoe, and possibly the more
ancient en-Eglaim), the Mojib (the Arnon of the Bible), and the
Beni-Hemad ; on the south the Kurahy or el-Ahsy ; and on the
west that of Ain Jidy . The depression of its surface, and the
depth which it attains below that surface, combined with the
absence of any outlet, render it one of the most remarkable
spots on the globe. The surface of the lake in May, 1848, was
1316.7 feet below the level of the Mediterranean at Jaffa. Its
depth, at about one third of its length from the north end, is
1308 feet. The water of the lake is not less remarkable than
its other features. Its most obvious peculiarity is its great
weight. Its specific gravity has been found to be as much as
12.28; that is to say, a gallon of it would weigh over 12 1/4
lbs., instead of 10 lbs., the weight of distilled water. Water
so heavy must not only be extremely buoyant, but must possess
great inertia. Its buoyancy is a common theme of remark by the
travellers who have been upon it or in it. Dr. Robinson "could
never swim before, either in fresh or salt water," yet here he
"could sit, stand, lie or swim without difficulty."
(B.R.i.506.) The remarkable weight of the water is due to the
very large quantity of mineral salts which it holds in
solution. Each gallon of the water, weighing 12 1/4 lbs.,
contains nearly 3 1/3 lbs. of matter in solution--an immense
quantity when we recollect that seawater, weighing 10 1/4 lbs.
per gallon, contains less than 1/2 a lb. Of this 3 1/2 lbs.
nearly 1 lb. is common salt (chloride of sodium), about 2 lbs.
chloride of magnesium, and less than 3 a lb. chloride of
calcium (or muriate of lime). The most usual ingredient is
bromide of magnesium, which exists in truly extraordinary
quantity. It has been long supposed that no life whatever
existed in the lake; but recent facts show that some inferior
organizations do find a home even in these salt and acrid
waters. The statements of ancient travellers and geographers to
the effect that no living creature could exist on the shores of
the lake, or bird fly across its surface, are amply disproved
by later travellers. The springs on the margin of the lake
harbor snipe, partridges, ducks, nightingales and other birds
as well as frogs; and hawks, doves and hares are found along
the shore. The appearance of the lake does not fulfill the idea
conveyed by its popular name. "The Dead Sea," says a recent
traveller, "did not strike me with that sense of desolation and
dreariness which I suppose it ought. I thought it a pretty,
smiling lake--a nice ripple on its surface." The truth lies, as
usual, somewhere between these two extremes. On the one hand,
the lake certainly is not a gloomy, deadly, smoking gulf. In
this respect it does not at all fulfill the promise of its
name. At sunrise and sunset the scene must be astonishingly
beautiful. But on the other hand, there is something in the
prevalent sterility and the dry, burnt look of the shores, the
overpowering heat, the occasional smell of sulphur, the dreary
salt marsh at the southern end, and the fringe of dead
driftwood round the margin, which must go far to excuse the
title which so many ages have attached to the lake, and which
we may be sure it will never lose. The connection between this
singular lake and the biblical history is very slight. In the
topographical records of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua
it forms one among the landmarks of the boundaries of the whole
country, as well as of the inferior divisions of Judah and
Benjamin. As a landmark it is once named in what to be a
quotation from a lost work of the prophet Jonah, (2 Kings
14:25) itself apparently a reminiscence of the old Mosaic
statement. (Numbers 34:8,12) Besides this the name occurs once
twice in the imagery of the prophets the New Testament there is
not even an allusion to it. There is however, one passage in
which the "Salt Sea" is mentioned in a manner different from
any of those already quoted viz. as having been in the time of
Abraham the vale of Siddim. (Genesis 14:3) In consequence of
this passage it has been believed that the present lake covered
a district which in historic times had been permanently
habitable dry land. But it must not he overlooked that the
passage in question is the only one in the whole Bible to
countenance the notion that the cities of the plain were
submerged; a notion which does not date earlier than the
Christian era. [[1054]Sodom; [1055]Zoar] The belief which
prompted the idea of some modern writers that the Dead Sea was
formed by the catastrophe which overthrew the "cities of the
plain" is a mere assumption. It is not only unsupported by
Scripture, but is directly in the teeth of the evidence of the
ground itself of the situation of those cities, we only know
that, being in the "plain of the Jordan, they must have been to
the north of the lake. Of the catastrophe which destroyed them
we only know that it is described as a shower of ignited
sulphur descending from the skies. Its date is uncertain, but
we shall be safe in placing it within the Limit of 2000 years
before Christ. (It is supposed that only the southern bay of
the Dead Sea was formed by the submergence of the cities of the
plain, and is still probable. If Hugh Miller's theory of the
flood in correct--and it is the most reasonable theory yet
propounded--then the Dead Sea was formed by the depression of
that part of the valley through which the Jordan once flowed to
the Red Sea. But this great depression caused all the waters of
the Jordan to remain without outlet, and the size of the Dead
Sea must be such that the evaporation from its surface just
balances the amount of water which flows in through the river.
This accounts in part for the amount of matter held in solution
by the Dead Sea waters; for the evaporation is of pure water
only, while the inflow contains more or less of salts and other
matter in solution. This theory also renders it probable that
the lake was at first considerably larger than at present, for
in earlier times the Jordan had probably a larger flow of
water.--ED.) The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah may have
been by volcanic action, but it may be safely asserted that no
traces of it have yet been discovered, and that, whatever it
was, it can have had no connection with that far vaster and far
more ancient event which opened the great valley of the Jordan
and the Dead Sea, and at some subsequent time cut it off from
communication with the Red Sea by forcing up between them the
tract of the Wady Arabah .
Seal
The importance attached to seals in the East is so great that
without one no document is regarded as authentic. Among the
methods of sealing used in Egypt at a very early period were
engraved stones, graved stones, pierced through their length
and hung by a string or chain from the arm or neck, or set in
rings for the finger. The most ancient form used for this
purpose was the scarabaeus, formed of precious or common stone,
or even of blue pottery or porcelain, on the flat side of which
the inscription or device was engraved. In many cases the seal
consisted of a lump of clay, impressed with the seal and
attached to the document, whether of papyrus or other material,
by strings. In other cases wax was used. In sealing a sepulchre
or box, the fastening was covered with clay or wax, and the
impression from a seal of one in authority was stamped upon it,
so that it could not be broken open without discovery. The
signet-ring was an ordinary part of a man's equipment. (Genesis
38:18) The ring or the seal as an emblem of authority in Egypt,
Persia and elsewhere is mentioned in (Genesis 41:42; 1 Kings
21:8; Esther 3:10,12; 8:2; Daniel 6:17) and as an evidence of a
covenant, in (Jeremiah 32:10,44; Nehemiah 9:38; 10:1; Haggai
2:23) Engraved signets were in use among the Hebrews in early
times. (Exodus 28:11,36; 39:6)
Seba
(pl. Sebaim ; in Authorized Version incorrectly rendered
Sabeans) heads the list of the sons of Cush. Besides the
mention of Seba in the lists of the pens of Cush, (Genesis
10:7; 1 Chronicles 1:9) there are but three notices of the
nation-- (Psalms 72:10; Isaiah 43:3; 45:14) These passages seem
to show that Seba was a nation of Africa bordering on or
included in Cush, and in Solomon's time independent and of
political importance. It may perhaps be identified with the
island of Meroe. Josephus says that Saba was the ancient name
of the Ethiopian island and city of Meroe, but he writes Seba,
in the notice of the Noachian settlements, Sabas. The island of
Meroe lay between the Astaboras, the Atbara, the most northern
tributary of the Nile, and the Astapus, the Bahr el-Azrak,
"Blue River," the eastern of its two great confluents.
Sebat
(a rod). [[1056]Month]
Secacah, Or Secacah
(thicket), one of the six cities of Judah which were situated
in the Midbar ("wilderness"), that is, the tract bordering on
the Dead Sea. (Joshua 15:61) Its portion is not known.
Sechu
(the watch-tower), a place mentioned once only-- (1 Samuel
19:22)--apparently as lying on the route between Saul's
residence, Gibeah, and Ramah (Ramathaim-zophim), that of
Samuel. It was notorious for "the great well" (or rather
cistern) which it contained. Assuming that Saul started from
Gibeah (Tuleil el-Ful), and that Neby Samwil is Ramah, then Bir
Nebolla (the well of Neballa) just south of Beeroth, alleged by
modern traveller to contain a large pit would be in a suitable
position for the great well of Sechu.
Secundus
(fortunate), a Thessalonian Christian. (Acts 20:4) (A.D. 55.)
Seer, [[1057]Prophet]
Segub
(elevated).
+ The youngest son of Hiel the Hethelite who rebuilt Jericho.
(1 Kings 18:34) (B.C. about 910.)
+ Son of Hezron. (1 Chronicles 2:21,28) (B.C. about 1682.)
Seir
(hairy, Shaggy),
+ We have both "land of Seir," (Genesis 32:3; 36:50) and "Mount
Seir." (Genesis 14:6) It is the original name of the mountain
range extending along the east side of the valley of Arabah,
from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic, Golf. The Horites appear
to have been the chief of the aboriginal inhabitants,
(Genesis 36:20) but it was ever afterward the possession of
the Edomites, the descendants of Esau. The Mount Seir of the:
Bible extended much farther south than the modern province,
as is shown by the words of (2:1-8) It had the Arabah on the
west, vs. 1 and 8; it extended as far south as the head of
the Gulf of Akabah, ver. 8; its eastern border ran along the
base of the mountain range where the plateau of Arabia
begins. Its northern, order is not so accurately determined.
There is a line of "naked" white hills or cliffs which run
across the great valley about eight miles south of the Dead
Sea, the highest eminence being Mount Hor, which is 4800 feet
high.
+ Mount Seir, an entirely different place from the foregoing;
one of the landmarks on the north boundary of the territory
of Judah. (Joshua 15:10) only. It lay westward of
Kirjath-jearim, and between it and Beth-shemesh. If Kuriel
el-Enab be the former and Ain-shems the latter of these two,
then Mount Seir cannot fail to be the ridge which lies
between the Wady Aly and the Wady Ghurab . In a pass of this
ridge is the modern village of Seir.
Seirath
(the shaggy), the place to which Ehud fled after his murder of
Eglon. (Judges 3:26,27) It was in "Mount Ephraim," ver. 27, a
continuation, perhaps, of the same wooded, shaggy hills which
stretched even so far south as to enter the territory of Judah,
(Joshua 15:10) (It is probably the same place as [1058]Mount,
[1059]Mount, Mountain [1060]Seir, 2.)
Sela, Or Selah
(the rock), (2 Kings 14:7; Isaiah 16:1) so rendered in the
Authorized Version in Judges city later (2 Chronicles 25:12)
probably known as Petra, the ruins of which are found about two
days journey north of the top of the Gulf of Akabah and three
or four south from Jericho and about halfway between the
southern end of the Dead Sea and the northern end of the Gulf
of Akabah. It was in the midst of Mount Seir, in the
neighborhood of Mount Hor, and therefore Edomite territory,
taken by Amaziah, and called Joktheel. In the end of the fourth
century B.C. it appears as the headquarters of the Nabatheans,
who successfully resisted the attacks of Antigonus. About 70
B.C. Petra appears as the residence of the Arab princes named
Aretas. It was by Trajan reduced to subjection to the Roman
empire. The city Petra lay, though at a high level, in a hollow
three quarters of a mile long and from 800 to 1500 feet wide,
shut in by mountain cliffs, and approached only by a narrow
ravine, through which, and across the city's site, the river
winds. There are extensive ruins at Petra of Roman date, which
have been frequently described by modern travellers.
Selah
This word, which is found only in the poetical books of the Old
Testament, occurs seventy-one times in the Psalms and three
times in Habakkuk. It is probably a term which had a meaning in
the musical nomenclature of the Hebrews, though what that
meaning may have been is now a matter of pure conjecture.
(Gesenius and Ewald and others think it has much the same
meaning as our interlude,--a pause in the voices singing, while
the instruments perform alone.)
Selahammahlekoth
(the cliff of escapes or of divisions), a rock or cliff in the
wilderness of Maon, southeast of Hebron, the scene of one of
those remarkable escapes which are so frequent in the history
of Saul's pursuit of David. (1 Samuel 23:28)
Seled
(exultation), one of the sons of Nadab, a descendant of
Jerahmeel: (1 Chronicles 2:30) (B.C. after 1450.)
Seleucia, Or Seleucia
(named after its founder, Seleucus), near the mouth of the
Orontes, was practically the seaport of Antioch. The distance
between the two towns was about 16 miles. St. Paul, with
Barnabas, sailed from Seleucia at the beginning of his first
missionary circuit. (Acts 13:4) This strong fortress and
convenient seaport was constructed by the first Seleucus, and
here he was buried. It retained its importance in Roman times
and in St. Paul's day it had the privileges of a free city. The
remains are numerous.
Seleucus
the name of five kings of the Greek dominion of Syria who are
hence called Seleucidae . Only one--the fourth--is mentioned in
the Apocrypha.
Seleucus Iv
(Philopator), son of Antiochus the Great, whom he succeeded
B.C. 187 "king of Asia," 2 Macc. 3:3, that is, of the provinces
included in the Syrian monarchy, according to the title claimed
by the Seleucidae, even when they had lost their footing in
Asia Minor. He took part in the disastrous battle of Magnesia,
B.C. 190, and three years afterward, on the death of his
father, ascended the throne. He was murdered B.C. 17