ARAB
ambush, a city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:52), now Er-Rabiyeh.......
ARABAH
plain, in the Revised Version of 2-Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16;8:14; 2-Sam 2:29;4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has "plain"); Amos 6:14 (A.V. "wilderness"). This word is found in the Authorized Version only in Josh. 18:18. It denotes the hollow depression through which the Jordan flows from the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor. But the Ghor is sometimes spoken......
ARABIA
arid, an extensive region in the south-west of Asia. It is bounded on the west by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the east by the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates. It extends far into the north in barren deserts, meeting those of Syria and Mesopotamia. It is one of the few countries of the world from which the original inhabitants have never been expelle......
ARAD
(1.) Now Tell Arad, a Canaanite city, about 20 miles south of Hebron. The king of Arad "fought against Israel and took of them prisoners" when they were retreating from the confines of Edom (Num. 21:1;33:40; Judg. 1:16). It was finally subdued by Joshua (12:14). (2.) One of the sons of Beriah (1-Chr 8:15).......
ARAM
the son of Shem (Gen. 10:22); according to Gen. 22:21, Gen. 22: a grandson of Nahor. In Matt. 1:3, Matt. 1: 4, and Luke 3:33, Luke 3: this word is the Greek form of Ram, the father of Amminadab (1-Chr 2:10). The word means high, or highlands, and as the name of a country denotes that elevated region extending from the northeast of Palestine to the Euphrates. It corresponded generally with the Sy......
ARAM-NAHARAIM
Aram of the two rivers, is Mesopotamia (as it is rendered in Gen. 24:10), the country enclosed between the Tigris on the east and the Euphrates on the west (Ps. 60, title); called also the "field of Aram" (Hos. 12:12, Hos. 12: R.V.) i.e., the open country of Aram; in the Authorized Version, "country of Syria." Padan-aram (q.v.) was a portion of this country.......
ARAM-ZOBAH
(Ps. 60, title), probably the region between the Euphrates and the Orontes.......
ARAN
wild goat, a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen. 36:28).......
ARARAT
sacred land or high land, the name of a country on one of the mountains of which the ark rested after the Flood subsided (Gen. 8:4). The "mountains" mentioned were probably the Kurdish range of South Armenia. In 2-Kings 19:37, 2-Kings 19: Isa. 37:38, Isa. 37: the word is rendered "Armenia" in the Authorized Version, but in the Revised Version, "Land of Ararat." In Jer. 51:27, Jer. 51: the name den......
ARAUNAH
agile; also called Ornan 1-Chr 21:15, 1-Chr 21: a Jebusite who dwelt in Jerusalem before it was taken by the Israelites. The destroying angel, sent to punish David for his vanity in taking a census of the people, was stayed in his work of destruction near a threshing-floor belonging to Araunah which was situated on Mount Moriah. Araunah offered it to David as a free gift, together with the oxen an......
BARABBAS
i.e., son of Abba or of a father, a notorious robber whom Pilate proposed to condemn to death instead of Jesus, whom he wished to release, in accordance with the Roman custom (John 18:40; Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). But the Jews were so bent on the death of Jesus that they demanded that Barabbas should be pardoned (Matt. 27:16; Acts 3:14). This Pilate did.......
BARACHEL
whom God has blessed, a Buzite, the father of Elihu, one of Job's friends (Job 32:2, Job 32: 6).......
BARACHIAS, BERECHIAH
4 (q.v.), whom Jehovah hath blessed, father of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 1:1, Zech. 1:7; Matt. 23:35).......
BARAK
lightning, the son of Abinoam (Judg. 4:6). At the summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin. She accompanied him into the battle, and gave the signal for the little army to make the attack; in which the host of Jabin was completely routed. The battle was fought (Judg. 4:16) in the plain of Jezreel (q.v.). This deliverance of Israel is commemorated in Judg. 5. Barak's faith is commended (Heb. 11......
BETH-ARABAH
house of the desert, one of the six cities of Judah, situated in the sunk valley of the Jordan and Dead Sea (Josh. 18:22). In Josh. 15:61 it is said to have been "in the wilderness." It was afterwards included in the towns of Benjamin. It is called Arabah (Josh. 18:18).......
BETH-ARAM
house of the height; i.e., "mountain-house", one of the towns of Gad, 3 miles east of Jordan, opposite Jericho (Josh. 13:27). Probably the same as Beth-haran in Num. 32:36. It was called by king Herod, Julias, or Livias, after Livia, the wife of Augustus. It is now called Beit-haran.......
BETH-BARAH
house of crossing, a place south of the scene of Gideon's victory (Judg. 7:24). It was probably the chief ford of the Jordan in that district, and may have been that by which Jacob crossed when he returned from Mesopotamia, near the Jabbok (Gen. 32:22), and at which Jephthah slew the Ephraimites (Judg. 12:4). Nothing, however, is certainly known of it. (See BETHABARA.) ......
BETHABARA
house of the ford, a place on the east bank of the Jordan, where John was baptizing (John 1:28). It may be identical with Bethbarah, the ancient ford of Jordan of which the men of Ephraim took possession (Judg. 7:24). The Revised Version reads "Bethany beyond Jordan." It was the great ford, and still bears the name of "the ford," Makhadhet 'Abarah, "the ford of crossing over," about 25 miles from ......
CAESARA PHILIPPI
a city on the northeast of the marshy plain of el-Huleh, 120 miles north of Jerusalem, and 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, at the "upper source" of the Jordan, and near the base of Mount Hermon. It is mentioned in Matt. 16:13 and Mark 8:27 as the northern limit of our Lord's public ministry. According to some its original name was Baal-Gad (Josh. 11:17), or Baal-Hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1-Chr 5:23......
CHARASHIM
craftsmen, a valley named in 1-Chr 4:14. In Neh. 11:35 the Hebrew word is rendered "valley of craftsmen" (R.V. marg., Geha-rashim). Nothing is known of it. ......
ELPARAN
oak of Paran, a place on the edge of the wilderness bordering the territory of the Horites (Gen. 14:6). This was the farthest point to which Chedorlaomer's expedition extended. It is identified with the modern desert of et-Tih. (See PARAN.)......
GADARA
the capital of the Roman province of Peraea. It stood on the summit of a mountain about 6 miles south-east of the Sea of Galilee. Mark (5:1) and Luke (8:26) describe the miracle of the healing of the demoniac (Matthew [8:28] says two demoniacs) as having been wrought "in the country of the Gadarenes," thus describing the scene generally. The miracle could not have been wrought at Gadara itself, fo......
GIBEAH-HAARALOTH
(Josh. 5:3, Josh. 5: marg.), hill of the foreskins, a place at Gilgal where those who had been born in the wilderness were circumcised. All the others, i.e., those who were under twenty years old at the time of the sentence at Kadesh, had already been circumcised. ......
HARA
mountainous land, a province of Assyria (1-Chr 5:26), between the Tigris and the Euphrates, along the banks of the Khabur, to which some of the Israelite captives were carried. It has not been identified. Some think the word a variation of Haran.......
HARADAH
fright; fear, the twenty-fifth station of the Israelites in their wanderings (Num. 33:24).......
HARAN
(1.) Heb. haran; i.e., "mountaineer." The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Gen. 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees. (2.) Heb. haran, i.e., "parched;" or probably from the Accadian charana, meaning "a road." A celebrated city of Western Asia, now Harran, where Abram remained, after he left Ur of the Chaldees, till his f......
KIR-HARASETH
built fortress, a city and fortress of Moab, the modern Kerak, a small town on the brow of a steep hill about 6 miles from Rabbath-Moab and 10 miles from the Dead Sea; called also Kir-haresh, Kir-hareseth, Kir-heres (Isa. 16:7, Isa. 16: 11; Jer. 48:31, Jer. 48: 36). After the death of Ahab, Mesha, king of Moab (see MOABITE+STONE), threw off allegiance to the king of Israel, and fought successfully......
MAARATH
desolation, a place in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:59), probably the modern village Beit Ummar, 6 miles north of Hebron. ......
MARA
bitter; sad, a symbolical name which Naomi gave to herself because of her misfortunes (Ruth 1:20). ......
MARAH
bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Exo 15:23, Exo 15: 24; Num. 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. On this account they murmured against Moses, who, under divine direction, cast into the fountain "a certain tree" which took away its bitterness, so that the people drank of it. This was probably the 'Ain Hawarah, where there are still several......
MARALAH
trembling, a place on the southern boundary of Zebulun (Josh. 19:11). It has been identified with the modern M'alul, about 4 miles south-west of Nazareth. ......
MARANATHA
(1-Cor 16:22) consists of two Aramean words, Maran'athah, meaning, "our Lord comes," or is "coming." If the latter interpretation is adopted, the meaning of the phrase is, "Our Lord is coming, and he will judge those who have set him at nought." (Comp. Phil. 4:5; James 5:8, James 5: 9.) ......
MEARAH
a cave, a place in the northern boundary of Palestine (Josh. 13:4). This may be the cave of Jezzin in Lebanon, 10 miles east of Sidon, on the Damascus road; or probably, as others think, Mogheirizeh, north-east of Sidon. ......
NAARAH
a girl, the second of Ashur's two wives, of the tribe of Judah (1-Chr 4:5, 1-Chr 4: 6). ......
NAARAI
youthful, a military chief in David's army (1-Chr 11:37), called also Paarai (2-Sam 23:35). ......
NAARAN
boyish, juvenile, a town in Ephraim between Bethel and Jericho (1-Chr 7:28). ......
NAARATH
girl, a town on the boundary between Ephraim and Benjamin (Josh. 16:7), not far probably from Jericho, to the north (1-Chr 7:28). ......
NAHARAI
snorer, a Berothite, one of David's heroes, and armour-bearer of Joab (1-Chr 11:39).......
NEBUZARADAN
"the captain of the guard," in rank next to the king, who appears prominent in directing affairs at the capture of Jerusalem (2-Kings 25:8; Jer. 39:11;40:2). He showed kindness toward Jeremiah, as commanded by Nebuchadnezzar (0:1). Five years after this he again came to Jerusalem and carried captive seven hundred and forty-five more Jews.......
PAARAI
opening of the Lord, "the Arbite," one of David's heroes (2-Sam 23:35); called also Naarai, 1-Chr 11:37.......
PADAN-ARAM
the plain of Aram, or the plain of the highlands, (Gen. 25:20;28:2, 28: 5-7;31:18, 31: etc.), commonly regarded as the district of Mesopotamia (q.v.) lying around Haran.......
PARABLE
(Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1-Sam 10:12;24:13; 2-Chr 7:20), (2) a prophetic utterance (Num. 23:7; Ezek. 20:49), (3) an enigmatic saying (Psa 78:2; Prov. 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a proverb (Mark 7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Heb. 9:9;11:19), (3) a similitude o......
PARADISE
a Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a "pleasure-ground" or "park" or "king's garden." (See EDEN.) It came in course of time to be used as a name for the world of happiness and rest hereafter (Luke 23:43; 2-Cor 12:4; Rev. 2:7). For "garden" in Gen. 2:8 the LXX. has "paradise."......
PARAH
the heifer, a town in Benjamin (Josh. 18:23), supposed to be identical with the ruins called Far'ah, about 6 miles north-east of Jerusalem, in the Wady Far'ah, which is a branch of the Wady Kelt.......
PARAN
abounding in foliage, or abounding in caverns, (Gen. 21:21), a desert tract forming the north-eastern division of the peninsula of Sinai, lying between the 'Arabah on the east and the wilderness of Shur on the west. It is intersected in a north-western direction by the Wady el-'Arish. It bears the modern name of Badiet et-Tih, i.e., "the desert of the wanderings." This district, through which the ......
PARAN, MOUNT
probably the hilly region or upland wilderness on the north of the desert of Paran forming the southern boundary of the Promised Land (Deut. 33:2; Hab. 3:3).......
PATARA
a city on the south-west coast of Lycia at which Paul landed on his return from his third missionary journey (Acts 21:1, Acts 21: 2). Here he found a larger vessel, which was about to sail across the open sea to the coast of Phoenicia. In this vessel he set forth, and reached the city of Tyre in perhaps two or three days.......
PHARAOH
the official title borne by the Egyptian kings down to the time when that country was conquered by the Greeks. (See EGYPT.) The name is a compound, as some think, of the words Ra, the "sun" or "sun-god," and the article phe, "the," prefixed; hence phera, "the sun," or "the sun-god." But others, perhaps more correctly, think the name derived from Perao, "the great house" = his majesty = in Turkish,......
PHARAOH'S DAUGHTERS
Three princesses are thus mentioned in Scripture: (1.) The princess who adopted the infant Moses (q.v.), Exo 2:10. She is twice mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 7:21: Heb. 11:24). It would seem that she was alive and in some position of influence about the court when Moses was compelled to flee from Egypt, and thus for forty years he had in some way been under her influence. She was in all pro......
QUARANTANIA
a mountain some 1,200 feet high, about 7 miles north-west of Jericho, the traditional scene of our Lord's temptation (Matt. 4:8).......
SARAH
princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Gen. 11:29;20:12). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child. Her story is from her marriage identified with that of the patriarch till the time of her death. Her death, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years (the only instance in Scripture......
SARAI
my princess, the name originally borne by Sarah (Gen. 11:31;17:15). ......
SEPHARAD
(Obad. 1:20), some locality unknown. The modern Jews think that Spain is meant, and hence they designate the Spanish Jews "Sephardim," as they do the German Jews by the name "Ashkenazim," because the rabbis call Germany Ashkenaz. Others identify it with Sardis, the capital of Lydia. The Latin father Jerome regarded it as an Assyrian word, meaning "boundary," and interpreted the sentence, "which is......
SHAARAIM
two gates. (1.) A city in the plain of Judah (1-Sam 17:52); called also Sharaim (Josh. 15:36). (2.) A town in Simeon (1-Chr 4:31). ......
SHARAIM
two gates (Josh. 15:36), more correctly Shaaraim (1-Sam 17:52), probably Tell Zakariya and Kefr Zakariya, in the valley of Elah, 3 1/2 miles north-west of Socoh.......
TARAH
stopping; station, an encampment of the Hebrews in the wilderness (Num. 33:27, Num. 33: 28). ......
WATER OF SEPARATION
used along with the ashes of a red heifer for the ceremonial cleansing of persons defiled by contact with a dead body (Num. 19). ......
ZEMARAIM
(1.) A town of Benjamin (Josh. 18:22); now the ruin, rather two ruins, es-Sumrah, 4 miles north of Jericho. (2.) A mount in the highlands of Ephraim, to the north of Jerusalem (2-Chr 13:4). Here the armies of Abijah and Jeroboam engaged in a bloody battle, which issued in the total defeat of the king of Israel, who never "recovered strength again," and soon after died.......
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