Taanach - (sandy), an ancient Canaanitish city whose king is enumerated among the thirty-one kings conquered by Joshua. (Joshua 12:21) It came into the half tribe of Manasseh, (Joshua 17:11; 21:25; 1 Chronicles 7:29) and was bestowed on the Kohathite Levites. (Joshua 21:25) Taanach is almost always named in company with Megiddo, and they were evidently the chief towns of that fine rich district which forms the western portion of the great plain of Esdraelon. (1 Kings 4:12) It is still called Ta'annuk, and) stands about four miles southeast of Lejjun and 13 miles southwest of Nazareth.

Taanathshiloh - (approach to Shiloh), a place named once only-- (Joshua 16:6)--as one of the landmarks of the boundary of Ephraim. Perhaps Taanath was the ancient Canaanite name of the place, and Shiloh the Hebrew name.

Tabbaoth - (rings). The children of Tabbaoth were a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:43; Nehemiah 7:46) (B. C. Before 536.)

Tabbath - (celebrated), a place mentioned only in (Judges 7:25) in describing the flight of the Midianite host after Gideon's night attack; (probably the present Tubukhat-Fahil, a very striking natural bank 600 feet high, with a long horizontal top, embanked against the western face of the mountains east of the Jordan, and descending with a steep front to the river. Robinson, Bib. Res.)

Tabeal - (God is good). The son of Tabeal was apparently an Ephraimite in the army of Pekah the son of Remaliah, or a Syrian in the army of Rezin, when they went up to besiege Jerusalem in the reign of Ahaz. (Isaiah 7:6) The Aramaic form of the name favors the latter supposition. (B. C. Before 738.)

Tabelel - (God is good), an officer of the Persian government in Samaria in the reign of Artaxerxes. (Ezra 4:7) His name appears to indicate that he was a Syrian. (B. C. 519.)

Taberah - the name of a place in the wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 11:3; 9:22) It has not been identified.

Tabering - an obsolete English word used in the Authorized Version of (Nahum 2:7) The Hebrew word connects itself with toph, "a timbrel. " The Authorized Version reproduces the original idea. The "tabour" or "tabor" was a musical instrument of the drum type which with the pipe formed the band of a country village. To "tabour," accordingly, is to beat with loud strokes, as men beat upon such an instrument.

Tabernacle - The tabernacle was the tent of Jehovah, called by the same name as the tents of the people in the midst of which it stood. It was also called the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the congregation. The first ordinance given to Moses, after the proclamation of the outline of the law from Sinai, related to the ordering of the tabernacle, its furniture and its service as the type which was to be followed when the people came to their own home and "found a place" for the abode of God. During the forty days of Moses' first retirement with God in Sinai, an exact pattern of the whole was shown him, and all was made according to it. (Exodus 25:9,40; 26:30; 39:32,42,43; Numbers 8:4; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5) The description of this plan is preceded by an account of the freewill offerings which the children of Israel were to be asked to make for its execution.

Tabernacles, The Feast Of - (Exodus 23:16) ("the feast of ingathering"), the third of the three great festivals: of the Hebrews, which lasted from the 15th till the 22d of Tisri.

Tabitha - (gazelle), also called Dorcas by St. Luke, a female disciple of Joppa, "full of good works" among which that of making clothes for the poor is specifically mentioned. While St. Peter was at the neighboring town of Lydda, Tabitha, died; upon which the disciples at Joppa sent an urgent message to the apostle begging him to come to them without delay. Upon his arrival Peter found the deceased already prepared for burial, and laid out in an upper chamber, where she was surrounded by the recipients and the tokens of her charity after the example of our Saviour in the house of Jairus, (Matthew 9:25; Mark 5:40) "Peter put them all forth," prayed for the divine assistance, and then commanded Tabitha to arise. Comp. (Mark 5:41; Luke 8:51) She opened-her eyes and sat up, and then, assisted by the apostle, rose from her couch. This great miracle, as we are further told produced an extraordinary effect in Joppa, and was the occasion of many conversions there. (Acts 9:38-42) The name "Tabitha" is an Aramaic word signifying a "female gazelle. " St. Luke gives "Dorcas" as the Greek equivalent of the name.

Tabor -

Tabor, The Plain Of - This is an incorrect translation, and should be THE Oak OF Tabor, Tabor. It is mentioned in (1 Samuel 10:3) only, as one of the points in the homeward journey of Saul after his anointing by Samuel.

Tabret - [Timbrel, Tabret]

Tabrimon - (properly Tabrimmon, i. E. Good is Rimmon, the Syrian god) the father of Ben-hadad I. , king of Syria in the reign of Asa. (1 Kings 15:18) (B. C. Before 928.)

Tache - The word thus rendered occurs only in the description of the structure of the tabernacle and its fittings, (Exodus 26:6,11,33; 35:11; 36:13; 39:33) and appears to indicate the small hooks by which a curtain is suspended to the rings from which it hangs, or connected vertically, as in the case of the veil of the holy of holies, with the loops of another curtain.

Tachmonite, The - "The Tachmonite that sat in the seat," chief among David's captains, (2 Samuel 23:8) Isa in 1Chr 11:11 Called "Jashobeam an Hachmonite," or, as the margin gives it, "son of Hachmoni. " Kennicott has shown that the words translated "he that sat in the seat" are a corruption of Jashobeam, and that "the Tachmonite" is a corruption of the "son of Hachmoni," which was the family or local name of Jashobeam. Therefore he concludes "Jashobeam the Hachmonite" to have been the true reading.

Tadmor - (city of palms), called "Tadmor in the wilderness," is the same as the city known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Palmyra. It lay between the Euphrates and Hamath, to the southeast of that city, in a fertile tract or oasis of the desert. Being situated at a convenient distance from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, it had great advantages for caravan traffic. It was built by Solomon after his conquest of Hamath-zobah. (1 Kings 9:18; 2 Chronicles 8:4) As the city is-nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, it would be out of place to enter into a detailed history of it. In the second century A. D. It seems to have been beautified by the emperor Hadrian. In the beginning of the third century--211-217 A. D. It became a Roman colony under Caracalla. Subsequently, in the reign of Gallienus, the Roman senate invested Odenathus, a senator of Palmyra, with the regal dignity, on account of his services in defeating Sapor, king of Persia. On the assassination of Odenathus, his wife, Zenobia, seems to have conceived the design of erecting Palmyra into an independent monarchy; and in prosecution of this object, she for a while successfully resisted the Roman arms. She was at length defeated and taken captive by the emperor Aurelian, A. D. 273, who left a Roman garrison in Palmyra. This garrison was massacred in a revolt; and Aurelian punished the city by the execution not only of those who were taken in arms, but likewise of common peasants, of old men, women and children. From this blow Palmyra never recovered, though there are proofs of its having continued to be inhabited until the downfall of the Roman empire. The grandeur and magnificence of the ruins of Palmyra cannot be exceeded, and attest its former greatness. Among the most remarkable are the Tombs, the Temple of the Sun and the Street of Columns.

Tahan - (camp), a descendant of Ephraim. (Numbers 26:35) In (1 Chronicles 7:25) he appears as the son of Telah.

Tahanites, The - (Numbers 26:35) [Tahan]

Tahath -

Tahpanhes, Tehaphnehe, Tahapanes - a city of Egypt, mentioned in the time of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The name is evidently Egyptian, and closely resembles that of the Egyptian queen Tahpenes. It was evidently a town of lower Egypt, near or on the eastern border. When Johanan and the other captains went into Egypt "they came to Tahpanhes. " (Jeremiah 43:7) The Jews in Jeremiah's time remained here. (Jeremiah 44:1) It was an important town, being twice mentioned by the latter prophet with Noph or Memphis. (Jeremiah 2:16; 46:14) Here stood a house of Pharaoh-hophra before which Jeremiah hid great stones. (Jeremiah 43:8-10)

Tahpenes - an Egyptian queen, was wife of the Pharaoh who received Hadad the Edomite, and who gave him her sister in marriage. (1 Kings 11:18-20) (B. C. About 1000.)

Tahrea - (cunning), son of Micah and grandson of Mephibosheth. (1 Chronicles 9:41) (B. C. After 1057.)

Tahtimhodshi - (lowlands of Hodshi?), The land of, one of the places visited by Joab during his census of the land of Israel. It occurs between Gilead and Dan-jaan. (2 Samuel 24:6) The name has puzzled all the interpreters, (Kitto says it was probably a section of the upper valley of the Jordan, now called Ard el-Huleh, lying deep down at the western base of Hermon. ED.)

Talent - [Weights and Measures]

Talitha Cumi - two Syriac words, (Mark 5:41) signifying damsel, arise.

Talmai - (bold).

Talmon - (oppressor), the head of a family of door-keepers in the temple, "the porters for the camps of the sons: of Levi. " (1 Chronicles 9:17; Nehemiah 11:19) (B. C. 1013.) Some of his descendants returned with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:43; Nehemiah 7:45) and were employed in their hereditary office in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. (Nehemiah 12:25)

Talmud - (i. E. Doctrine, from the Hebrew word "to learn") is a large collection of writings, containing a full account of the civil and religious laws of the Jews. It was a fundamental principle of the Pharisees, common to them with all orthodox modern Jews, that by the side of the written law, regarded as a summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people, there was an oral law, to complete and to explain the written law. It was an article of faith that in the Pentateuch there was no precept, and no regulation, ceremonial, doctrinal or legal, of which God had not given to Moses all explanations necessary for their application, with the order to transmit them by word of mouth. The classical subject is the following in the Mishna on this wing: "Moses received the (oral) law from Sinai, and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets and the prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue. " This oral law, with the numerous commentaries upon it, forms the Talmud. It consists of two parts, the Mishna and Gemara.

Tamah - (laughter). The children of Tamah or Thamah, (Ezra 2:53) were among the Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 7:55)

Tamar - (palm tree).

Tammuz - (sprout of life), properly "the Tammuz," the article indicating that at some time or other the word had been regarded as an appellative. (Ezekiel 8:14) Jerome identifies Tammuz with Adonis, of Grecian mythology, who was fabled to have lost his wife while hunting, by a wound from the tusk of a wild boar. He was greatly beloved by the goddess Venus, who was inconsolable at his loss. His blood according to Ovid produced the anemone, but according to others the adonium, while the anemone sprang from the tears of Venus. A festival in honor of Adonis was celebrated at Byblus in Phoenicia and in most of the Grecian cities, and even by the Jews when they degenerated into idolatry. It took place in July, and was accompanied by obscene rites.

Tanach - a slight variation of the name Taanach. (Joshua 21:26)

Tanhumeth - (consolation), the father of Seraiah in the time of Gedaliah. (2 Kings 25:23; Jeremiah 40:8) (B. C. Before 582.)

Taphath - (ornament), the daughter of Solomon, who was married to ben-Abinadab. (1 Kings 4:11) (B. C. About 1000.)

Taphon - one of the cities in Judea fortified by Bacchides. 1 Macc. 9:50. It is probably the Beth-tappuah of the Old Testament.

Tappush - (the apple-city).

Tarah - (delay), a desert-station of the Israelites between Tahath and Mithcah. (Numbers 33:27)

Taralah - (reeling), one of the towns in the allotment of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:27)

Tarea - the same as Tahreah, the son of Micah. (1 Chronicles 8:35)

Tares - There can be little doubt that the zizania of the parable, (Matthew 13:25) denotes the weed called "darnel" (Lolium temulentum). The darnel before it comes into ear is very similar in appearance to wheat; hence the command that the zizania should be left to the harvest, lest while men plucked up the tares "they should root up also the wheat with them. " Dr. Stanley, however, speaks of women and children picking up from the wheat in the cornfields of Samaria the tall green stalks, still called by the Arabs zuwan. "These stalks," he continues, "if sown designedly throughout the fields, would be inseparable from the wheat, from which, even when growing naturally and by chance, they are at first sight hardly distinguishable. " See also Thomson ("The Land and the Book" p. 420): "The grain is in just the proper stage to illustrate the parable. In those parts where the grain has headed out, the tares have done the same, and then a child cannot mistake them for wheat or barley; but where both are less developed, the closest scrutiny will often fail to detect them. Even the farmers, who in this country generally weed their fields, do not attempt to separate the one from the other. " The grains of the L. Temulentum, if eaten, produce convulsions, and even death.

Targum - [See Versions, Ancient, Of The Old And New Testaments, Versions, Authorized]

Tarpelites, The - A race of Assyrian colonists who were planted int he cites of Samaria after the captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel. (Ezra 4:9) They have not been identified with any certainty.

Tarshish - (established).

Tarsus - the chief town of Cilicia, "no mean city" in other respects, but illustrious to all time as the birthplace and early residence of the apostle Paul. (Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3) Even in the flourishing period of Greek history it was a city of some considerable consequence. In the civil wars of Rome it took Caesar's aide, sad on the occasion of a visit from him had its name changed to Juliopolis. Augustus made it a "free city. " It was renowned as a place of education under the early Roman emperors. Strabo compares it in this respect to Athens unto Alexandria. Tarsus also was a place of much commerce. It was situated in a wild and fertile plain on the banks of the Cydnus. No ruins of any importance remain.

Tartak - (prince of darkness), one of the gods of the Avite or Avvite colonists of Samaria. (2 Kings 17:31) According to rabbinical tradition, Tartak is said to have been worshipped under the form of an ass.

Tartan - which occurs only in (2 Kings 18:17) and Isai 20:1 Has been generally regarded as a proper name; like Rabsaris and Rabshakeh, it is more probably an official designation, and indicates the Assyrian commander-in-chief.

Tatnai - (gift), satrap of the province west of the Euphrates in the time of Darius Hystaspes. (Ezra 5:3,6; 6:6,13) (B. C. 520.) The name is thought to be Persian.

Taverns, The Three - [Three Taverns TAVERNS]

Taxes -

Taxing - The English word now conveys to us more distinctly the notion of a tax or tribute actually levied; but it appears to have been used in the sixteenth century for the simple assessment of a subsidy upon the property of a given county, or the registration of the people for the purpose of a poll-tax. Two distinct registrations, or taxings, are mentioned in the New Testament, both of them by St. Luke. The first is said to have been the result of an edict of the emperor Augustus, that "all the world (i. E. The Roman empire) should be taxed," (Luke 2:1) and is connected by the evangelist with the name of Cyrenius Quirinus. [Cyrenius] The second and more important, (Acts 6:37) is distinctly associated, in point of time, with the revolt of Judas of Galilee.

Tebah - (slaughter), eldest of the sons of Nahor by his concubine Reumah. (Genesis 22:24) (B. C. 1872.)

Tebaliah - (purified), third son of Hosah of the children of Merari. (1 Chronicles 26:11) (B. C. 1014.)

Tebeth - [Month]

Tehinnah - (supplication), the father or founder of Ir-nahash, the city of Nahash, and son of Eshton. (1 Chronicles 4:12) (B. C. About 1083.)

Teil Tree - [Oak]

Tekoa, Or Tekoah - (a stockade).

Tekoite, The - Ira ben-Ikkesh, one of David's warriors, is thus designated. (2 Samuel 23:26; 1 Chronicles 11:28; 27:8) The common people among the Tekoites displayed great activity in the repairs of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:6,27)

Telabib - (cornhill) was probably a city of Chaldaea or Babylonia, not of upper Mesopotamia as generally supposed. (Ezekiel 3:16) The whole scene of Ezekiel's preaching and visions seems to have been Chaldaea proper; and the river Chebar, as already observed, was not the Khabour, but a branch of the Euphrates.

Telah - (vigor), a descendant of Ephraim, and ancestor of Joshua. (1 Chronicles 7:25) (B. C. Before 1491.)

Telaim - (lambs), the place at which Saul collected and numbered his forces before his attack on Amalek, (1 Samuel 16:4) may be identical with Telem, which see.

Telasear - (Assyrian hill) is mentioned in (2 Kings 19:12) and in Isai 37:12 As a city inhabited by "the children of Eden,"--which had been conquered and was held in the time of Sennacherib, by the Assyrians. It must have been in western Mesopotamia, in the neighborhood of Harran and Orfa.

Telem - (oppression).

Telharsa, Or Telharesha - (hill of the artificer), one of the Babylonian towns or villages mentioned in (Ezra 2:59; Nehemiah 7:61) along with Tel-melah and Cherub, probably in the low country near the sea.

Telmelah - [TEL-HARSA]

Tema - (a desert), the ninth son of Ishmael, (Genesis 25:15; 1 Chronicles 1:30) whence the tribe called after him, mentioned in (Job 6:19; Jeremiah 25:23) and also the land occupied by this tribe. (Isaiah 21:13,14) (B. C. After 1850.) The name is identified with Teyma, a small town on the confines of Syria.

Teman - (the south).

Temani - [Teman]

Temanite - an inhabitant of Teman.

Temeni - son of Ashur the father of Tekoa, by his wife Naarah. (1 Chronicles 4:6) (B. C. About 1450.)

Temple - There is perhaps no building of the ancient world which has excited so much attention since the time of its destruction as the temple which Solomon built by Herod. Its spoils were considered worthy of forming the principal illustration of one of the most beautiful of Roman triumphal arches, and Justinian's highest architectural ambition was that he might surpass it. Throughout the middle ages it influenced to a considerable degree the forms of Christian churches, and its peculiarities were the watchwords and rallying-points of all associations of builders. When the French expedition to Egypt, int he first years of this century, had made the world familiar with the wonderful architectural remains of that country, every one jumped to the conclusion that Solomon's temple must have been designed after an Egyptian model. The discoveries in Assyria by Botta and Layard have within the last twenty years given an entirely new direction to the researches of the restorers. Unfortunately, however, no Assyrian temple has yet been exhumed of a nature to throw much light on this subject, and we are still forced to have recourse to the later buildings at Persepolis, or to general deductions from the style of the nearly contemporary secular buildings at Nineveh and elsewhere, for such illustrations as are available.

Ten Commandments - The popular name in this, as in so many instances,is not that of Scripture. There we have the "TEN WORDS," (Exodus 34:28; 4:13; 10:4) the "Covenant," Ex. , Deut. 11. Cc. ; (1 Kings 8:21; 2 Chronicles 6:11) etc. , or, very often as the solemn attestation of the divine will, the "TESTIMONY. " (Exodus 25:16,21; 31:18) etc. The circumstances in which the Ten great Words were first given to the people surrounded them with an awe which attached to no other precept. In the midst of the cloud and the darkness and the flashing lightning and the fiery smoke and the thunder like the voice of a trumpet, Moses was called to Mount Sinai to receive the law without which the people would cease to be a holy nation. (Exodus 19:20) Here, as elsewhere, Scripture unites two facts which men separate. God, and not man was speaking to the Israelites in those terrors, and yet, in the language of later inspired teachers, other instrumentality was not excluded. No other words were proclaimed in like manner. And the record was as exceptional as the original revelation. Of no other words could it be said that they were written as these were written, engraved on the Tables of Stone, not as originating in man's contrivance or sagacity, but by the power of the Eternal Spirit, by the "finger of God. " (Exodus 31:18; 32:16) The number Ten was, we can hardly doubt, itself significant to Moses and the Israelites. The received symbol, then and at all times, of completeness, it taught the people that the law of Jehovah was perfect. (Psalms 19:7) The term "Commandments" had come into use in the time of Christ. (Luke 18:20) Their division into two tables is not only expressly mentioned but the stress is upon the two leaves no doubt that the distinction was important, and that answered to that summary of the law which was made both by Moses and by Christ into two precepts; so that the first table contained Duties to God, and the second, Duties to our Neighbor. There are three principal divisions of the two tables:

Tent - Among the leading characteristics of the nomad races, those two have always been numbered whose origin has been ascribed to Jabal the son of Lameth, (Genesis 4:20) viz. , to be tent-dwellers and keepers of cattle. The same may be said of the forefathers of the Hebrew race; nor was it until the return into Canaan from Egypt that the Hebrews became inhabitants of cities. An Arab tent is called beit, "house;" its covering consists of stuff, about three quarters of a yard broad, made of black goat's-hair, (Song of Solomon 1:5) laid parallel with the tent's length. This is sufficient to resist the heaviest rain. The tent-poles or columns are usually nine in number, placed in three groups; but many tents have only one pole, others two or three. The ropes which hold the tent in its place are fastened, not to the tent-cover itself, but to loops consisting of a leathern thong tied to the ends of a stick, round which is twisted a piece of old cloth, which is itself sewed to the tent-cover. The ends of the tent-ropes are fastened to short sticks or pins, which are driven into the ground with a mallet. (Judges 4:21) Round the back and sides of the tent runs a piece of stuff removable at pleasure to admit air. The tent is divided into two apartments, separated by a carpet partition drawn across the middle of the tent and fastened to the three middle posts. When the pasture near an encampment is exhausted, the tents are taken down, packed on camels and removed. (Genesis 26:17,22,25; Isaiah 38:12) In choosing places for encampment, Arabs prefer the neighborhood of trees, for the sake of the shade and coolness which they afford. (Genesis 18:4,8)

Terah - (station), the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran, and through them the ancestor of the great families of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites, Moabites and Ammonites. (Genesis 11:24-32) The account given of him in the Old Testament narrative is very brief. We learn from it simply that he was an idolater, (Joshua 24:2) that he dwelt beyond the Euphrates in Ur of the Chaldees, (Genesis 11:28) and that in the southwesterly migration, which from some unexplained cause he undertook in his old age, he went with his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot, "to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. " (Genesis 11:31) And finally, "the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. " (Genesis 11:32) (B. C. 1921.)

Teraphim - This word occurs only in the plural, and denotes images connected with magical rites. The derivation of the name is obscure. In one case-- (1 Samuel 19:13,16)--a single statue seems to be intended by the plural. The teraphim, translated "images" in the Authorized Version, carried away from Laban by Rachel were regarded by Laban as gods, and it would therefore appear that they were used by those who added corrupt practices to the patriarchal religion. Teraphim again are included among Micah's images. (Judges 17:3-5; 18:17,18,20) Teraphim were consulted for oracular answers by the Israelites, (Zechariah 10:2) comp. Judg 18:5,6; 1Sam 15:22,23; 19:13,16, LXX. , and 2Kin 23:24 And by the Babylonians in the case of Nebuchadnezzar. (Ezekiel 21:19-22)

Teresh - (strictness), one of the two eunuchs whose plot to assassinate Ahasuerus was discovered by Mordecai. (Esther 2:21; 6:2) He was hanged. (B. C. 479.)

Tertius - (third), probably a Roman, was the amanuensis of Paul in writing the Epistle to the Romans. (Romans 16:22) (A. D. 55.)

Tertullus - (diminutive from Tertius), "a certain orator," (Acts 24:1) who was retained by the high priest and Sanhedrin to accuse the apostle Paul at Caesarea before the Roman procurator Antonius Felix. He evidently belonged to the class of professional orators. We may infer that Tertullus was of Roman, or at all events of Italian, origin. (A. D. 55.)

Testament, New - [NEW TESTAMENT; BIBLE] NEW TESTAMENT - 3186

Testament, Old - [OLD TESTAMENT; BIBLE] OLD TESTAMENT - 3249

Tetrarch - properly the sovereign or governor of the fourth part of a country. (Matthew 14:1; Luke 3:1; 9:7; Acts 13:1) The title was, however, often applied to any one who governed a Roman province, of whatever size. The title of king was sometimes assigned to a tetrarch. (Matthew 14:9; Mark 6:14,22)

Thaddeus - one of the twelve apostles. (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18) From a comparison with the catalogue of St. Luke, (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) it seems scarcely possible to doubt that the three names, of Judas, Lebbeus and Thaddeus were borne by one and the same person. [See Jude, Or Judas]

Thamah - (daughter). "The children of Thamah" were a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:53)

Thamar - Tamar, 1. (Matthew 1:3)

Thank Offering, Or Peace Offering - the properly eucharistic offering among the Jews, in its theory resembling the meat offering and therefore indicating that the offerer was already reconciled to and in covenant with God. Its ceremonial is described in (Leviticus 3:1). . . The peace offerings, unlike other sacrifices, were not ordained to be offered in fixed and regular course. The only constantly-recurring peace offering appears to have been that of the two firstling lambs at Pentecost. (Leviticus 23:19) The general principle of the peace offering seems to have been that it should be entirely spontaneous, offered as occasion should arise, from the feeling of the sacrificer himself. (Leviticus 19:5) On the first institution, (Leviticus 7:11-17) peace offerings are divided into "offerings of thanksgiving" and "vows or freewill offerings;" of which latter class the offering by a Nazarite on the completion of his vow is the most remarkable. (Numbers 6:14) We find accordingly peace offerings offered for the people on a great scale at periods of unusual solemnity or rejoicing. In two cases only-- (Judges 20:26; 2 Samuel 24:26)--peace offerings are mentioned se offered with burnt offerings at a time of national sorrow and fasting.

Thara - Terah the father of Abraham. (Luke 3:34)

Tharra - (Esther 12:1) a corrupt form of Teresh.

Tharshish -

Theatre - For the explanation of the biblical allusions, two or three points only require notice. The Greek term, like the corresponding English term, denotes the place where dramatic performances are exhibited, and also the scene itself or spectacle which is witnessed there. It occurs in the first or local sense in (Acts 19:29) The other sense of the term "theatre" occurs in (1 Corinthians 4:9)

Thebes - (Authorized Version No, the multitude of No. Populous No), a chief cite of ancient Egypt, long the capital of the upper country, and the seat of the Diospolitan dynasties, that ruled over all Egypt at the era of its highest splendor. It was situated on both sides of the Nile, 400 or 500 miles from its mouth. The sacred name of Thebes was P-amen "the abode of Amon," which the Greeks reproduced in their Diospolis, especially with the addition the Great. No-amon is the name of Thebes in the Hebrew Scriptures. (Jeremiah 46:25; Nahum 3:8) Ezekiel uses No simply to designate the Egyptian seat of Amon. (Ezekiel 30:14,16) [No-Amon] its origin and early allusions to it. �

Thebez - (conspicuous), a place memorable for the death of the brave Abimelech, (Judges 9:50) was known to Eusebius and Jerome, in whose time it was situated "in the district of Neapolis," 13 Roman miles therefrom, on the road to Scythopolis. There it still is, its name-- Tubas--hardly changed.

Thelasar - [TEL-ASSAR]

Theophilus - (friend of God) the person to whom St. Luke inscribes his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1) From the honorable epithet applied to him in (Luke 1:3) it has been argued with much probability that he was a person in high official position. All that can be conjectured with any degree of safety concerning him comes to this, that he was a Gentile of rank and consideration who came under the influence of St. Luke or under that of St. Paul at Rome, and was converted to the Christian faith.

Thessalonians, First Epistle To, The - was written by the apostle Paul at Corinth, a few months after he had founded the church at Thessalonica, at the close of the year A. D. 62 or the beginning of 53. The Epistles to the Thessalonians, then (for the second followed the first after no long interval), are the earliest of St. Paul's writings--perhaps the earliest written records of Christianity. It is interesting, therefore, to compare the Thessalonian epistles with the later letters, and to note the points of These differences are mainly

Thessalonians, Second Epistle To, The - appears to have been written from Corinth not very long after the first, for Silvanus and Timotheus were still with St. Paul. (2 Thessalonians 1:1) In the former letter we saw chiefly the outpouring of strong personal affection, occasioned by the renewal of the apostle's intercourse with the Thessalonians, and the doctrinal and hortatory portions are there subordinate. In the Second Epistle, on the other hand, his leading motive seems to have been the desire of correcting errors in the church of Thessalonica. We notice two points especially which call for his rebuke:-- First, it seems that the anxious expectation of the Lord's advent. Instead of subsiding, had gained ground since the writing of the First Epistle. Second, the apostle had also a personal ground of complaint. His authority was not denied by any, but it was tampered with, and an unauthorized use was made of his name. It will be seen that the teaching of the Second Epistle is corrective of or rather supplemental to that of the first, and therefore presupposes it. This epistle, in the range of subject as well as in style and general character closely resembles the first; and the remarks made on that epistle apply for the most part equally well to this. The structure is somewhat similar the main body of the epistle being divided into two parts in the same way, and each part closing with a prayer. Ch. (2 Corinthians 2:16,17; 3:16) The epistle ends with a special direction and benediction. Ch. (2 Corinthians 3:17,18) The external evidence in favor of the Second Epistle is somewhat more definite than that which can be brought in favor of the first. The internal character of the epistle too, as in the former case, bears the strongest testimony to its Pauline origin. Its genuineness, in fact, was never questioned until the beginning of the present century.

Thessalonica - The original name of this city was Therma; and that part of the Macedonian shore on which it was situated retained through the Roman period the designation of the Thermaic Gulf. Cassander the son of Antipater rebuilt and enlarged Therma, and named it after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. The name ever since, under various slight modifications, has been continuous, and the city itself has never ceased to be eminent. Saloniki is still the most important town of European Turkey, next after Constantinople. Strabo in the first century speaks of Thessalonica as the most populous city in Macedonia.

Theudas - (God-given), the name of an insurgent mentioned in Gamaliel's speech before the Jewish council, (Acts 6:35-39) at the time of the arraignment of the apostles. He appeared, according to Luke's account, at the head of about four hundred men. He was probably one of the insurrectionary chiefs or fanatics by whom the land was overrun in the last year of Herod's reign. Josephus speaks of a Theudas who played a similar part in the time of Claudius, about A. D. 44; but the Theudas mentioned by St. Luke must be a different person from the one spoken of by Josephus.

Thieves, The Two - The men who under this name appear in the history of the crucifixion were robbers rather than thieves, belonging to the lawless bands by which Palestine was at that time and afterward infested. Against these brigands every Roman procurator had to wage continual war. It was necessary to use an armed police to encounter them. (Luke 22:62) Of the previous history of the two who suffered on Golgotha we know nothing. They had been tried and condemned, and were waiting their execution before our Lord was accused. It is probable enough, as the death of Barabbas was clearly expected at the same time that they had taken part in his insurrection had expected to die with Jesus Barabbas. They find themselves with one who bore the same name, but who was described in the superscription on his cross as Jesus of Nazareth. They could hardly have failed to hear something of his fame as a prophet, of his triumphal entry as a king; They catch at first the prevailing tone of scorn. But over one of them there came a change. He looked back upon his past life, and saw an infinite evil. He looked to the man dying on the cross beside him, and saw an infinite compassion. There indeed was one unlike all other "kings of the Jews" whom the robber had ever known. Such a one must be all that he had claimed to be. To be forgotten by that king seems to him now the most terrible of all punishments; to take part in the triumph of his return, the most blessed of all hopes. The yearning prayer was answered, not in the letter, but in the spirit.

Thimnathah - a town in the allotment of Dan. (Joshua 19:43) only. It is named between Elon and Ekron. The name is the same as that of the residence of Samson's wife. [See Timna, Or Timnah, Timnah]

Thistle - [Thorns and THISTLES]

Thomas - (a twin), one of the apostles. According to Eusebius, his real name was Judas. This may have been a mere confusion with Thaddeus, who is mentioned in the extract. But it may also be that; Thomas was a surname. Out of this name has grown the tradition that he had a twin-sister, Lydia, or that he was a twin-brother of our Lord; which last, again, would confirm his identification with Judas. Comp. (Matthew 13:55) He is said to have been born at Antioch. In the catalogue of the apostles he is coupled with Matthew in (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15) and with Philip in (Acts 1:13) All that we know of him is derived from the Gospel of St. John; and this amounts to three traits, which, however, so exactly agree together that, slight as they are they place his character before us with a precision which belongs to no other of the twelve apostles except Peter, John and Judas Iscariot. This character is that of a man slow to believe, seeing all the difficulties of a case, subject to despondency, viewing things on the darker side, yet full of ardent love of his Master. The latter trait was shown in his speech when our Lord determined to face the dangers that awaited him in Judea on his journey to Bethany. Thomas said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him. " (John 11:16) His unbelief appeared in his question during the Last Supper: "Thomas saith unto him Lord we know not whither thou goest, and how can we: know the way?" (John 14:5) It was the prosaic, incredulous doubt as to moving a step in the unseen future, and yet an eager inquiry as to how this step was to be taken. The first-named trait was seen after the resurrection. He was absent--possibly by accident, perhaps characteristically--from the first assembly when Jesus had appeared. The others told him what they had seen. He broke forth into an exclamation, the terms of which convey to us at once the vehemence of his doubt, and at the same time the vivid picture that his mind retained of his Master's form as he had last seen him lifeless on the cross. (John 20:25) On the eighth day he was with them st their gathering, perhaps in expectation of a recurrence of the visit of the previous week; and Jesus stood among them. He uttered the same salutation, "Peace be unto you;" and then turning to Thomas, as if this had been the special object of his appearance, uttered the words which convey as strongly the sense of condemnation and tender reproof as those of Thomas had shown the sense of hesitation and doubt. The effect on him was immediate. The conviction produced by the removal of his doubt became deeper and stronger than that of any of the other apostles. The words in which he expressed his belief contain a far higher assertion of his Master's divine nature than is contained in any other expression used by apostolic lips--"My Lord and my God. " The answer of our Lord sums up the moral of the whole narrative: "Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen me, and yet have-believed. " (John 20:29) In the New Testament we hear of Thomas only twice again, once on the Sea of Galilee with the seven disciples, where he is ranked next after Peter, (John 21:2) and again in the assemblage of the apostles after the ascension. (Acts 1:13) The earlier traditions, as believed in the fourth century, represent him as preaching in Parthia or Persia, and as finally buried at Edessa. The later traditions carry him farther east, His martyrdom whether in Persia or India, is said to have been occasioned by a lance, and is commemorated by the Latin Church on December 21 the Greek Church on October 6, and by the Indians on July 1.

Thorns - and Thistles. There appear to be eighteen or twenty Hebrew words which point to different kinds of prickly or thorny shrubs. These words are variously rendered in the Authorized Version By "thorns," "briers," "thistles," etc. Palestine abounded in a great variety of such plants. ("Travellers call the holy land 'a land of thorns. ' Giant thistles, growing to the height of a man on horseback, frequently spread over regions once rich and fruitful, as they do on the pampas of South America; and many of the most interesting historic spats and ruins are rendered almost inaccessible by thickets of fiercely-armed buckthorns. Entire fields are covered with the troublesome creeping stems of the spinous ononis, while the bare hillsides are studded with the dangerous capsules of the puliuris and tribulus. Roses of the most prickly kinds abound on the lower slopes of Hermon; while the sub-tropical valleys of Judea are choked up in many places by the thorny lycium. "-- Biblical Things not generally Known.) Crown of thorns. The crown which was put in derision upon our Lord's head before his crucifixion, is by some supposed to have been the Rhamnus, or Spina Christi ; but although abundant in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, it cannot be the plant intended, because its thorns are so strong and large that it could not have been woven into a wreath. The large-leaved acanthus (bear's-foot) is totally unsuited for the purpose. Had the acacia been intended, as some suppose, the phrase would have been ex akanthes. Obviously some small, flexile, thorny shrub is meant; perhaps Cappares spinosae. Hasselquist ("Travels," p. 260) says that the thorn used was the Arabian nabk. "It was very suitable for their purpose, as it has many sharp thorns, which inflict painful wounds; and its flexible, pliant and round branches might easily be plaited in the form of a crown. " It also resembles the rich dark crown green of the triumphal ivy-wreath, which would give additional pungency to its ironical purpose.

Three Taverns - A station on the Appian Road, along which St. Paul travelled from Puteoli to Rome. (Acts 28:15) The distances, reckoning southward from Rome are given as follows in the Antonine Itinerary: "to Aricia, 16 miles; to Three Taverns, 17 miles; to Appii Forum, 10 miles;" and, comparing this with what is still observed along the line of road, we have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that "Three Taverns" was near the modern Cisterna. Just at this point a road came in from Antium on the coast. There is no doubt that "Three Taverns" was a frequent meeting-place of travellers.

Threshing - [Agriculture]

Threshold - Of the two words so rendered is the Authorized Version, one,miphthan,,seems to mean sometimes a projecting beam or corbel. (Ezekiel 9:3; 10:4,18)

Thresholds, The - This word, Asuppe, appears to be inaccurately rendered in (Nehemiah 12:25) though its real force has perhaps not yet been discovered. The "house of Asuppim," or simply "the Asuppim," is mentioned in (1 Chronicles 26:15,17) as a part, probably a gate of the enclosure of the "house of Jehovah," apparently at its southwest corner. The allusion in (Nehemiah 12:29) is undoubtedly to the same place. [Gate]

Throne - The Hebrew word so translated applies to any elevated seat occupied by a person in authority, whether a high priest, (1 Samuel 1:9) a judge, (Psalms 122:5) or a military chief (Jeremiah 1:16) The use of a chair in a country where the usual postures were squatting and reclining was at all times regarded as a symbol of dignity. (2 Kings 4:10; Proverbs 9:14) In order to specify a throne in our sense of the term, it was necessary to add to the word the notion of royalty; hence the frequent occurrence of such expressions as "throne of the kingdom. " (17:18; 1 Kings 1:46; 2 Chronicles 7:18) The characteristic feature in the royal throne was its elevation: Solomon's throne was approached by six steps, (1 Kings 10:19; 2 Chronicles 9:18) and Jehovah's throne is described as "high and lifted up. " (Isaiah 6:1) The materials and workmanship of Solomon's throne were costly. It was made of wood inlaid with ivory and then covered with gold except where the ivory showed. It was furnished with arms or "stays. " The steps were also lines with pairs of lions. As to the form of chair, we are only informed in (1 Kings 10:19) that "the top was round behind. " The king sat on his throne on state occasions. At such times he appeared in his royal robes. The throne was the symbol of supreme power and dignity. (Genesis 41:40) Similarly, "to sit upon the throne" implied the exercise of regal power. (17:18; 1 Kings 16:11)

Thuhash - (badger), son of Nahor by his concubine Reumah. (Genesis 22:24) (B. C. 1880.)

Thummim - [Urim and Thummim AND THUMMIM]

Thunder - is hardly ever heard in Palestine form the middle of April to the middle of September; hence it was selected by Samuel as a striking expression of the divine displeasure toward the Israelites. (1 Samuel 12:17) Rain in harvest was deemed as extraordinary as snow in summer, (Proverbs 26:1) and Jerome states that he had never witnessed it in the latter part of June or in July. Comm. On (Amos 4:7) In the imaginative philosophy of the Hebrews, thunder was regarded as the voice of Jehovah, (Job 37:2,4,5; 40:9; Psalms 18:13; 29:3-9; Isaiah 30:30,31) who dwelt behind the thunder-cloud. (Psalms 81:7) Thunder was, to the mind of the Jew, the symbol of divine power (Psalms 29:3) etc. , and vengeance. (1 Samuel 2:10; 2 Samuel 22:14)

Thyatira - a city on the Lycus, founded by Seleucus Nicator, lay to the left of the road from Pergamos to Sardis, 27 miles from the latter city, and on the very confines of Mysia and Ionia, so as to be sometimes reckoned within the one and sometimes within the other. Dyeing apparently formed an important part of the industrial activity of Thyatira, as it did of that of Colossae and Laodicea. It is first mentioned in connection with Lydia, "a seller of purple. " (Acts 16:14) One of the Seven Churches of Asia was established here. (Revelation 2:18-29) The principal deity of the city was Apollo; but there was another superstition, of an extremely curious nature which seems to have been brought thither by some of the corrupted Jews of the dispersed tribes. A fane stood outside the walls, dedicated to Sambatha--the name of the sibyl who is sometimes called Chaldean, sometimes Jewish, sometimes Persian-- in the midst of an enclosure designated "the Chaldaeans' court. " This seems to lend an illustration to the obscure passage in (Revelation 2:20,21) which some interpret of the wife of the bishop. Now there is evidence to show that in Thyatira there was a great amalgamation of races. If the sibyl Sambatha was in reality a Jewess, lending her aid to the amalgamation of different religions, and not discountenanced by the authorities of the Judeo-Christian Church at Thyatira, both the censure and its qualification become easy of explanation. (The present name of the city is ak-Hissar ("white castle"). It has a reputation for the manufacture of scarlet cloth. Its present population is 15,000 to 20,000. There are nine mosques. ED.)

Thyine Wood - occurs in (Revelation 18:12) where the margin has "sweet" (wood). There can be little doubt that the wood here spoken of is that of the Thuya articulata, Desfont the Callitris quadrivalvis of present botanists. It is a cone bearing tree and allied to the pine. This tree was much prized by Greeks and Romans on account of the beauty of its wood for various ornamental purposes. By the Romans the tree was called citrus, the wood citrum. It is a native of Barbary, and grows to the height of 15 to 25 feet.

Tiberias - a city in the time of Christ, on the Sea of Galilee; first mentioned in the New Testament, (John 6:1,23; 21:1) and then by Josephus, who states that it was built by Herod Antipas, and was named by him in honor of the emperor Tiberius. Tiberias was the capital of Galilee from the time of its origin until the reign of Herod Agrippa II. , who changed the seat of power back again to Sepphoris, where it had been before the founding of the new city. Many of the inhabitants were Greeks and Romans, and foreign customs prevailed there: to such an extent as to give offence to the stricter Jews. It is remarkable that the Gospels give us no information that the Saviour who spent so much of his public life in Galilee, ever visited Tiberias. The place is only mentioned in the New Testament in (John 6:23)

Tiberias, The Sea Of - (John 21:1) [Gennesaret, Sea Of, SEA OF]

Tiberius - (in full, Tiberius Claudius Nero), the second Roman emperor, successor of Augustus, who began to reign A. D. 14 and reigned until A. D. 37. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia, and hence a stepson of Augustus. He was born at Rome on the 18th of November, B. C. 45. He became emperor in his fifty-fifth year, after having distinguished himself as a commander in various wars, and having evinced talents of a high order as an orator and an administrator of civil affairs. He even gained the reputation of possessing the sterner virtues of the Roman character, and was regarded as entirely worthy of the imperial honors to which his birth and supposed personal merits at length opened the way. Yet, on being raised to the supreme power, he suddenly became, or showed himself to be a very different man. His subsequent life was one of inactivity, sloth and self- indulgence. He was despotic in his government, cruel and vindictive in his disposition. He died A. D. 37, at the age of 78, after a reign of twenty-three years. Our Saviour was put to death in the reign of Tiberius.

Tibhath - (extension), a city of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, (1 Chronicles 18:8) which in 2Sam 8:8 Is called Betah. Its exact Position is unknown.

Tibni - (intelligent). After Zimri had burnt himself in his palace, there was a division in the northern kingdom, half of the people following Tibni the son of Ginath, and half following Omri. (1 Kings 16:21,22) Omri was the choice of the army Tibni was probably put forward by the people of Tirzah, which was then besieged by Omri and his host. The struggle between the contending factions lasted four years (comp.) (1 Kings 16:16,23) (B. C. 926-922.), when-Tibni died.

Tidal - (great son) is mentioned only in (Genesis 14:1,9) (B. C. About 1900.) He is called "king of nations," from which we may conclude that he was a chief over various nomadic tribes who inhabited different portions of Mesopotamia at different seasons of the year, as do the Arabs at the present day.

Tiglathpileser - (In (1 Chronicles 5:26) and again in 2Chr 28:20 The name of this king is given as TIGLATH-PILNESER.) Tiglath-pileser is the second Assyrian king mentioned in Scripture as having come into contact with the Israelites. He attacked Samaria in the reign of Pekah, B. C. 756-736. Probably because Pekah withheld his tribute, and having entered his territories, he "took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah and Janoah and Kedesh, and Hazer, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. " (2 Kings 15:29) The date of this invasion cannot be fixed. After his first expedition a close league was formed between Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, having for its special object the humiliation of Judah. At first great successes were gained by Pekah and his confederate, (2 Kings 15:37; 2 Chronicles 28:6-8) but on their proceeding to attack Jerusalem itself, Ahaz applied to Assyria for assistance, and Tiglath-pileser, consenting to aid him, again appeared at the head of an army in these regions. He first marched, naturally, against Damascus. Which he took, (2 Kings 16:9) razing it to the ground, and killing Rezin, the Damascene monarch. After this, probably, he proceeded to chastise Pekah, whose country he entered on the northeast, where it bordered upon "Syria of Damascus. " Here he overran the whole district to the east of Jordan, carrying into captivity "the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh," (1 Chronicles 5:26) Before returning into his own land, Tiglath pileser had an interview with Ahaz at Damascus. (2 Kings 16:10) This is all that Scripture tells us of Tiglath-pileser. He reigned certainly from B. C. 747 to B. C. 730, and possibly a few years longer, being succeeded by Shalmaneser at least as early as B. C. 785, Tiglath- pileser's wars do not generally, appear to have been of much importance. No palace or great building can be ascribed to this king. His slabs, which are tolerably numerous show that he must have built or adorned a residence at Calah (Nimrud), where they were found.

Tigris - is used by the LXX. As the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Hiddekel, and occurs also in several of the apocryphal books, as in Tobit, ch. 6:1, Judith, ch. 1:6, and Ecclesiasticus, ch. 24:25. The Tigris, like the Euphrates, rises from two principal sources in the Armenian mountains, and flows into the Euphrates. Its length, exclusive of windings, is reckoned at 1146 miles. It receives, along its middle and lower course no fewer than five important tributaries. These are the river of Zakko or eastern Khabour, the Great Zab (Zab Ala), the Lesser Zab (Zab Asfal), the Adhem, and the Diyaleh or ancient Gyndes. All these rivers flow from the high range of Zagros. We find but little mention of the Tigris in Scripture. It appears, indeed, under the name of Hiddekel, among the rivers of Eden, (Genesis 2:14) and is there correctly described as "running eastward to Assyria;" but after this we hear no more of it, if we accept one doubtful allusion in Nahum (Nahum 2:6) until the captivity, when it becomes well known to the prophet Daniel. With him it is "the Great River. " The Tigris, in its upper course, anciently ran through Armenia and Assyria.

Tikvah - (hope).

Tikvath - (assemblage) (properly Tokehath or Tokhath), Tikvah the father of Shallum. (2 Chronicles 34:22)

Tilgathpilneser - a variation, and probably a corruption, of the name Tiglath-pileser. (1 Chronicles 5:6,26; 2 Chronicles 28:20)

Tilon - (gift), one of the four sons of Shimon, whose family is reckoned in the genealogies of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:20) (B. C. 1451.)

Timaeus - the father of the blind man, Bartimaus. (Mark 10:46)

Timbrel, Tabret - (Heb. Toph). In old English tabor was used for any drum. Tabouret and tambourine are diminutives of tabor, and denote the instrument now known as the tambourine. Tabret is a contraction of tabouret. The Hebrew toph is undoubtedly the instrument described by travellers as the duff or diff of the Arabs. It was played principally by women, (Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; 1 Samuel 18:6; Psalms 68:25) as an accompaniment to the song and dance. The diff of the Arabs is described by Russell as "a hoop (sometimes with pieces of brass fixed in it to make a jingling) over which a piece of parchment is stretched. It is beaten with the fingers, and is the true tympanum of the ancients. " In Barbary it is called tar.

Timna, Or Timnah - (restraint).

Timnah - (portion).

Timnath - [Timna, Or Timnah, Timnah]

Timnathah - the residence of Samson's wife. (Judges 14:1,2,5)

Timnathheres - (portion of the sun) the name under which the city and burial-place of Joshua, previously called Timnath-serah is mentioned in (Judges 2:9) [TIMNATH-GERAH]

Timnathserah - (portion of abundance), the name of the city which was presented to Joshua after the partition of the country, (Joshua 19:50) and in "the border" of which he was buried. (Joshua 24:30) It is specified as "in Mount Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaash. " In (Judges 2:9) the name is altered to TIMNATH-HERES. The latter form is that adopted by the Jewish writers. Accordingly, they identify the place with Kefar-cheres, which is said by Jewish travellers to be about five miles south of Shechem (Nablus). No place with that name appears on the maps. Another identification has, however been suggested by Dr. Eli Smith. In his journey from Jifna to Mejdel-Yaba, about six miles from the former he discovered the ruins of a considerable town. Opposite the town was a much higher hill, in the north side of which are several excavated sepulchres. The whole bears the name of Tibneh.

Timnite, The - Samson's father-in-law, a native of Timnathah. (Judges 15:6)

Timon - one of the seven, commonly called "deacons. " (Acts 6:1-6) He was probably a Hellenist. (A. D. 34.)

Timotheus -

Timothy - The disciple thus named was the son of one of those mixed marriages which, though condemned by stricter Jewish opinion were yet not uncommon in the later periods of Jewish history. The father's name is unknown; he was a Greek, i. E. A Gentile, by descent. (Acts 16:1,3) The absence of any personal allusion to the father in the Acts or Epistles suggests the inference that he must have died or disappeared during his son's infancy. The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice and her mother Lois. (2 Timothy 1:5) Under their training his education was emphatically Jewish. "From a child" he learned to "know the Holy Scriptures" daily. The language of the Acts leaves it uncertain whether Lystra or Derbe was the residence of the devout family. The arrival of Paul and Barnabas in Lycaonia, A. D. 44, (Acts 14:6) brought the message of glad tidings to Timothy and his mother, and they received it with "unfeigned faith. " (2 Timothy 1:5) During the interval of seven years between the apostle's first and second journeys the boy grew up to manhood. Those who had the deepest insight into character, and spoke with a prophetic utterance, pointed to him, (1 Timothy 1:18; 4:14) as others had pointed before to Paul and Barnabas, (Acts 13:2) as specially fit for the missionary work in which the apostle was engaged. Personal feeling led St. Paul to the same conclusion, (Acts 16:3) and he was solemnly set apart to do the work and possibly to bear the title of evangelist. (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6; 4:5) A great obstacle, however, presented itself. Timothy, though reckoned as one of the seed of Abraham, had been allowed to grow up to the age of manhood without the sign of circumcision. With a special view to the feelings of the Jews making no sacrifice of principle, the apostle, who had refused to permit the circumcision of Titus, "took and circumcised" Timothy. (Acts 16:3) Henceforth Timothy was one of his most constant companions. They and Silvanus, and probably Luke also, journeyed to Philippi, (Acts 16:12) and there the young evangelist was conspicuous at once for his filial devotion and his zeal. (Philemon 2:22) His name does not appear in the account of St. Paul's work at Thessalonica, and it is possible that he remained some time at Philippi. He appears, however, at Berea, and remains there when Paul and Silas are obliged to leave, (Acts 17:14) going afterward to join his master at Athens. (1 Thessalonians 3:2) From Athens he is sent back to Thessalonica, ibid. , as having special gifts for comforting and teaching. He returns from Thessalonica, not to Athens, but to Corinth, and his name appears united with St. Paul's in the opening words of both the letters written from that city to the Thessalonians, (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1) Of the next five years of his life we have no record. When we next meet with him, it is as being sent on in advance when the apostle was contemplating the long journey which was to include Macedonia, Achaia, Jerusalem and Rome. (Acts 19:22) It is probable that he returned by the same route and met St. Paul according to a previous arrangement, (1 Corinthians 16:11) and was thus with him when the Second Epistle was written to the church of Corinth. (2 Corinthians 1:1) He returns with the apostle to that city, and joins in messages of greeting to the disciples whom he had known personally at Corinth, and who had since found their way to Rome. (Romans 16:21) He forms one of the company of friends who go with St. Paul to Philippi, and then sail by themselves, waiting for his arrival by a different ship. (Acts 20:3-6) The absence of his name from (Acts 27:1). . . Leads to the conclusion that he did not share in the perilous voyage to Italy. He must have joined the apostle, however, apparently soon after his arrival at Rome, and was with him when the Epistles to the Philippians, to the Colossians and to Philemon were written. (Philemon 1:1; 2:19; Colossians 1:1) Phil. Ver. 1. All the indications of this period point to incessant missionary activity. From the two Epistles addressed to Timothy we are able to put together a few notices as to his later from (1 Timothy 1:3) that he and his master after the release of the latter from his imprisonment, A. D. 63, revisited proconsular Asia; that the apostle then continued his Journey to Macedonia, while the disciple remained, half reluctantly, even weeping at the separation, (2 Timothy 1:4) at Ephesus, to check, if possible, the outgrowth of heresy and licentiousness which had sprung up there. The position in which he found himself might well make him anxious. He used to rule presbyters most of whom were older than himself (1 Timothy 4:12) Leaders of rival sects were there. The name of his beloved teacher was no longer honored as it had been. We cannot wonder that the apostle, knowing these trials should be full of anxiety and fear for his disciple's steadfastness. In the Second Epistle to him, A. D. 67 or 68, this deep personal feeling utters itself yet more fully. The last recorded words of the apostle express the earnest hope, repented yet more earnestly, that he might see him once again. (2 Timothy 4:9,21) We may hazard the conjecture that he reached him in time, and that the last hours of the teacher were soothed by the presence of the disciple whom he loved so truly. Some writers have seen in (Hebrews 13:23) an indication that he even shared St. Paul's imprisonment, and was released from it by the death of Nero. Beyond this all is apocryphal and uncertain. He continued, according to the old traditions, to act as bishop of Ephesus, and died a martyr's death under Domitian or Nerva. A somewhat startling theory as to the intervening period of his life has found favor with some. If he continued, according to the received tradition, to be bishop of Ephesus, then he, and no other, must have been the "angel" of the church of Ephesus to whom the message of (Revelation 2:1-7) was addressed.

Timothy, Epistles Of Paul To - The Epistles to Timothy and Titus are called the Pastoral Epistles, because they are principally devoted to directions about the work of the pastor of a church. The First Epistle was probably written from Macedonia, A. D. 65, in the interval between St. Paul's first and second imprisonments at Rome. The absence of any local reference but that in (1 Timothy 1:3) suggests Macedonia or some neighboring district. In some MSS. And versions Laodicea is named in the inscription as the place from which it was sent. The Second Epistle appears to have been written A. D. 67 or 68, and in all probability at Rome. The following are the characteristic features of these epistles:

Tin - Among the various metals found in the spoils of the Midianites, tin is enumerated. (Numbers 31:22) It was known to the Hebrew metal-workers as an alloy of other metals. (Isaiah 1:25; Ezekiel 22:18,20) The markets of Tyre were supplied with it by the ships of Tarshish. (Ezekiel 27:12) It was used for plummets, (Zechariah 4:10) and was so plentiful as to furnish the writer of Ecclesiasticus, Ecclus. 47:18, with a figure by which to express the wealth of Solomon. Tin is not found in Palestine. Whence, then. Did the ancient Hebrews obtain their supply "Only three countries are known to contain any considerable quantity of it: Spain and Portugal, Cornwall and the adjacent parts of Devonshire, and the islands of Junk, Ceylon and Banca, in the Straits of Malacca. " (Kenrick, "Phoenicia," p. 212.) There call be little doubt that the mines of Britain were the chief source of supply to the ancient world, [See Tarshish] ("Tin ore has lately been found in Midian. "-- Schaff.)

Tiphsah - (ford) is mentioned in (1 Kings 4:24) as the limit of Solomon's empire toward the Euphrates and in (2 Kings 15:16) it is said to have been attacked by Menahemi. It was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Thapsacus, and was the point where it was usual to cross the Euphrates. Thapsacus has been generally placed at the modern Deir ; but the Euphrates expedition proved that there is no ford at Deir, and that the only ford in this part of the course of the Euphrates is at Suriyeh, 45 miles below Balis, and 165 above Deir. This, then, must have been the position of Thapsacus.

Tirathites, The - one of the three families of scribes residing at Jabez, (1 Chronicles 2:55) the others being the Shimeathites and Sucathites. The passage is hopelessly obscure.

Tire - an old English word for headdress. It was an ornamental headdress worn on festive occasions, (Ezekiel 24:17,23) and perhaps, as some suppose, also an ornament for the neck worn by both women, (Isaiah 3:18) and men, and even on the necks of camels. (Judges 8:21,26)

Tirhakah, Or Tirhakah - (exalted?) King of Ethiopia (Cush), the opponent of Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9) He may be identified with Tarkos or Tarakos, who was the third and last king of the twenty-fifth dynasty, which was of Ethiopians. His accession was probably about B. C. 695. Possibly Tirhakah ruled over Ethiopia before becoming king of Egypt.

Tirhanah - (favor), son of Caleb ben-Hezron by his concubine Maachah. (1 Chronicles 2:48) (B. C. About 1451.)

Tiria - (fear), son of Jehaleleel, of the tribe of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:16) (B. C. About 1451.)

Tirras - (desire), the youngest son of Japheth, (Genesis 10:2) usually identified with the Thracians, as presenting the closest verbal approximation to the name.

Tirshatha - (always written with the article), the title of the governor of Judea under the Persians, perhaps derived from a Persian root signifying stern, severe, is added as a title after the name of Nehemiah, (Nehemiah 8:9; 10:1) and occurs also in three other places. In the margin of the Authorized Version (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65; 10:1) it is rendered "governor. "

Tirzah -

Tishbite, The - the well-known designation of Elijah. (1 Kings 17:1; 21:17,28; 2 Kings 1:3,8; 9:36) The name naturally points to a place called Tishbeh, Tishbi, or rather perhaps Tesheb, as the residence of the prophet. Assuming that a town is alluded to as Elijah's native place, it is not necessary to infer that it was itself in Gilead, as many have imagined. The commentators and lexicographers, with few exceptions, adopt the name "Tishbite" as referring to the place Thisbe in Naphtali which is found in the Septuagint text of Tobit 1:2.

Tithe Or Tenth - the proportion of property devoted to religious uses from very early times. Instances of the use of tithes are found prior to the appointment of the Levitical tithes under the law. In biblical history the two prominent instances are:

Titus - Our materials for the biography of this companion of St. Paul must be drawn entirely from the notices of him in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Galatians, and to Titus himself, combined with the Second Epistle to Timothy. He is not mentioned in the Acts at all. Taking the passages in the epistles in the chronological order of the events referred to, we turn first to (Galatians 2:1,3) We conceive the journey mentioned here to be identical with that (recorded in Acts 15) in which Paul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Jerusalem to the conference which was to decide the question of the necessity of circumcision to the Gentiles. Here we see Titus in close association with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch. He goes with them to Jerusalem. His circumcision was either not insisted on at Jerusalem, or, if demanded, was firmly resisted. He is very emphatically spoken of as a Gentile by which is most probably meant that both his parents were Gentiles. Titus would seem on the occasion of the council to have been specially a representative of the church of the uncircumcision. It is to our purpose to remark that, in the passage cited above, Titus is so mentioned as apparently to imply that he had become personally known to the Galatian Christians. After leaving Galatia. , (Acts 18:23) and spending a long time at Ephesus, (Acts 19:1; 20:1) the apostle proceeded to Macedonia by way of Troas. Here he expected to meet Titus, (2 Corinthians 2:13) who had been sent on a mission to Corinth. In this hope he was disappointed, but in Macedonia Titus joined him. (2 Corinthians 7:6,7,13-15) The mission to Corinth had reference to the immoralities rebuked in the First Epistle, and to the collection at that time in progress, for the poor Christians of Judea. (2 Corinthians 8:6) Thus we are prepared for what the apostle now proceeds to do after his encouraging conversations with Titus regarding the Corinthian church. He sends him back from Macedonia to Corinth, in company with two other trustworthy Christians, bearing the Second Epistle, and with an earnest request, ibid. (2 Corinthians 8:6,17) that he would see to the completion of the collection. Ch. (2 Corinthians 8:6) A considerable interval now elapses before we come upon the next notices of this disciple. St. Paul's first imprisonment is concluded, and his last trial is impending. In the interval between the two, he and Titus were together in Crete. (Titus 1:5) We see Titus remaining in the island when St. Paul left it and receiving there a letter written to him by the apostle. From this letter we gather the following biographical details. In the first place we learn that he was originally converted through St. Paul's instrumentality. (Titus 1:4) Next we learn the various particulars of the responsible duties which he had to discharge. In Crete, he is to complete what St. Paul had been obliged to leave unfinished, ch. (Titus 1:5) and he is to organize the church throughout the island by appointing presbytery in every city. Next he is to control and bridle, ver. 11, the restless and mischievous Judaizers. He is also to look for the arrival in Crete of Artemas and Tychicus, ch. (Titus 3:12) and then is to hasten to join St. Paul at Nicopolis, where the apostle purposes to pass the winter. Zenas and Apollos are in Crete, or expected there; for Titus is to send them on their journey, and to supply them with whatever they need for it. Whether Titus did join the apostle at Nicopolis we cannot tell; but we naturally connect the mention of this place with what St. Paul wrote, at no great interval of time afterward, in the last of the Pastoral Epistles, (2 Timothy 4:10) for Dalmatia lay to the north of Nicopolis, at no great distance from it. From the form of the whole sentence, it seems probable that this disciple had been with St. Paul in Rome during his final imprisonment; but this cannot be asserted confidently. The traditional connection of Titus with Crete is much more specific and constant, though here again we cannot be certain of the facts. He said to have been permanent bishop in the island, and to have died there at an advanced age. The modern capital, Candia, appears to claim the honor of being his burial-place. In the fragment by the lawyer Zenas, Titus is called bishop of Gortyna. Lastly, the name of Titus was the watchword of the Cretans when they were invaded by the Venetians.

Titus Justus - The form given in the Revised Version, of the proselyte Justus, at whose house in Corinth Paul preached when driven from the synagogue. He is possibly the same as Titus the companion of Paul.

Titus, Epistle To - There are no specialties in this epistle which require any very elaborate treatment distinct from the other Pastoral Letters of St. Paul. It was written about the same time and under similar circumstances with the other two i. E. , from Ephesus, in the autumn of 67 in the interval between Paul's two Roman imprisonments.

Tizite, The - the designation of Joha, one of the heroes of David's army. (1 Chronicles 11:45) It occurs nowhere else, and nothing is known of the place or family which it denotes.

Toah - (lowly) a Kohathite Levite, ancestor of Samuel and Heman. (1 Chronicles 6:34{19}).

Tob - (good), The land of, a place in which Jephthah took refuge when expelled from home by his half-brother, (Judges 11:3) and where he remained, at the head of a band of freebooters, till he was brought back by the sheikhs of Gilead. Ver. 5. The narrative implies that the land of Tob was not far distant from Gilead; at the same time, from the nature of the case it must have lain out toward the eastern deserts. It is undoubtedly mentioned again in (2 Samuel 10:6,8) as Ishtob, i. E. Man of Tob, meaning, according to a common Hebrew idiom, the men of Tob. After a long interval it appears again, in the Maccabaean history, 1 Macc. 5:13, in the names Tobie and Tubieni. 2 Macc. 12:17. No identification of the ancient, district with any modern one has yet been attempted.

Tobadonijah - (Adonijah the good), one of the Levites sent by Jehoshaphat through the cities of Judah to teach the law to the people. (2 Chronicles 17:8) (B. C. 910.)

Tobiah - (goodness of Jehovah).

Tobijah - (goodness of Jehovah).

Tobit, Book Of - a book of the Apocryphal which exists at present in Greek, Latin, Syriac and Hebrew texts, but it was probably written originally in Greek. The scene of the book is placed in Assyria, whither Tobit, a Jew, had been carried as a captive by Shalmaneser. It is represented and completed shortly after the fall of Nineveh (B. C. 606), Tob. 14:15, and written, in the main, some time before. Tob. 12:20. But the whole tone of the narrative bespeaks a later age and above all, the doctrine of good and evil spirits is elaborated in a form which belongs to a period considerably posterior to the Babylonian captivity. Asmodeus iii. 8; vi. 14; viii. 3; Raphael xii. 15. It cannot be regarded as a true history. It is a didactic narrative and its point lies in the moral lessons which it conveys, and not in the incidents. In modern times the moral excellence of the book has been rated highly, except in the heat of controversy. Nowhere else is there preserved so complete and beautiful a picture of the domestic life of the Jews after the return. Almost every family relation is touched upon with natural grace and affection. A doctrinal feature of the book is the firm belief in a glorious restoration of the Jewish people. Tob. 14:5; 13:9-18. But the restoration contemplated is national, and not the work of a universal Saviour. In all there is not the slightest trace of the belief in a personal Messiah.

Tochen - (task), a place mentioned in (1 Chronicles 4:32) only, among the towns of Simeon.

Togarmah - a son of Gomer, of the family of Japheth, and brother of Ashkenaz and Riphath. (Genesis 10:3) His descendants became a people engaged in agriculture, breeding horses and mules to be sold in Tyre. (Ezekiel 27:14) They were also a military people, well skilled in the use of arms. Togarmah was probably the ancient name of Armenia.

Tohu - (lowly), an ancestor of Samuel the prophet, perhaps the same as Toah. (1 Samuel 1:1) comp. 1Chr 6:34

Toi - (erring), king of Hamath on the Orontes, who, after the defeat of his powerful enemy the Syrian king Hadadezer by the army of David, sent his son Joram or Hadoram to congratulate the victory and do him homage with presents of gold and silver and brass. (2 Samuel 8:9,10) (B. C. 1036.)

Tola -

Tolad - one of the towns of Simeon, (1 Chronicles 4:29) elsewhere called El-tolad.

Tolaites, The - the descendants of Tola the son of Issachar. (Numbers 26:23)

Tomb - From the burial of Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, (Genesis 23:19) to the funeral rites prepared for Dorcas, (Acts 9:37) there is no mention of any sarcophagus, or even coffin, in any Jewish burial. Still less were the rites of the Jews like those of the Pelasgi or Etruscans. They were marked with the same simplicity that characterized all their religious observances. This simplicity of rite led to what may be called the distinguishing characteristic of Jewish sepulchres--the deep loculus--which, so far as is now known, is universal in all purely Jewish rock-cut tombs, but hardly known elsewhere. Its form will be understood by referring to the following diagram, representing the forms of Jewish sepulture. In the apartment marked A there are twelve such loculi about two feet in width by three feet high. On the ground floor these generally open on the level of the door; when in the upper story, as at C, on a ledge or platform, on which the body might be laid to be anointed, and on which the stones might rest which closed the outer end of each loculus. The shallow loculus is shown in chamber B, but was apparently only used when sarcophagi were employed, and therefore, so far as we know, only during the Graeco-Roman period, when foreign customs came to be adopted. The shallow loculus would have been singularly inappropriate and inconvenient where an unembalmed body was laid out to decay, as there would evidently be no means of shutting it off from the rest of the catacomb. The deep loculus, on the other hand, was strictly conformable with Jewish customs, and could easily be closed by a stone fitted to the end and luted into the groove which usually exists there. This fact is especially interesting as it affords a key to much that is otherwise hard to be understood in certain passages in the New Testament; Thus in (John 11:59) Jesus says, "Take away the stone," and (ver. 40) "they took away the stone" without difficulty, apparently. And in ch. (John 20:1) the same expression is used "the stone is taken away. " There is one catacomb-- that known as the "tomb of the kings"--which is closed by a stone rolled across its entrance; but it is the only one, and the immense amount of contrivance and fitting which it has required is sufficient proof that such an arrangement was not applied to any other of the numerous rock tombs around Jerusalem nor could the traces of it have been obliterated had if anywhere existed. Although, therefore, the Jews were singularly free from the pomps and vanities of funereal magnificence, they were at all stages of their independent existence an eminently burying people.

Tongues, Confusion Of - The unity of the human race is most clearly implied, if not positively asserted, in the Mosaic writings. Unity of language is assumed by the sacred historian apparently as a corollary of the unity of race. (This statement is confirmed by philologists.) No explanation is given of the origin of speech, but its exercise is evidently regarded as coeval with the creation of man. The original unity of speech was restored in Noah. Disturbing causes were, however, early at work to dissolve this twofold union of community and speech. The human family endeavored b check the tendency to separation by the establishment of a great central edifice and a city which should serve as the metropolis of the whole world. The project was defeated by the interposition of Jehovah, who determined to "confound their language, so that they might not understand one another's speech. " Contemporaneously with, and perhaps as the result of, this confusion of tongues, the people were scattered abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and the memory of the great event was preserved in the name Babel. [Babel] Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar. In the Borsippa inscription of Nebuchadnezzar there is an allusion to the confusion of tongues. "We say for the other, that is, this edifice, the house of the Seven Lights of the Earth, the most ancient monument of Borsippa, a former king built it [they reckon forty-two ages], but he did not complete its head. Since a remote time people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words. Since that time the earthquake and the thunder had dispersed its sun-dried clay; the bricks of the casing had been split, and the earth of the interior had been scattered in heaps. " It is unnecessary to assume that the judgment inflicted on the builders of Babel amounted to a loss, or even a suspension of articulate speech. The desired object would be equally attained by a miraculous forestallment of those dialectical differences of language which are constantly in process of production. The elements of the one original language may have remained, but so disguised by variations of pronunciation and by the introduction of new combinations as to be practically obliterated. The confusion of tongues and the dispersion of nations are spoken of in the Bible as contemporaneous events. The divergence of the various families into distinct tribes and nations ran parallel with the divergence of speech into dialects and languages, and thus the tenth chapter of Genesis is posterior in historical sequence to the events recorded in the eleventh chapter.

Tongues, Gift Of -

Topaz - one of the gems used in the high priest's breastplate, (Exodus 28:17; 39:10; Ezekiel 28:13) one of the foundations also of the New Jerusalem, in St. John's description of the city. (Revelation 21:20) The topaz of the ancient Greeks and Romans is generally allowed to be our chrysolite, while their chrysolite is our topaz. Chrysolite is a silicate of magnesia and iron; it is so son as to lose its polish unless carefully used. It varies in color from a pale-green to a bottle-green. It is supposed that its name was derived from Topazos, an island in the Red Sea where these stones were procured.

Tophel - (mortar), (1:1) has been identified with Tufileh on a wady of the same name running north of Bozra toward the southeast corner of the Dead Sea.

Topheth - and once To'phet (place of burning), was in the southeast extremity of the "valley of the son of Hinnom," (Jeremiah 7:31) which is "by the entry of the east gate. " (Jeremiah 19:2) The locality of Hinnom is to have been elsewhere. [Hinnom] It seems also to have been part of the king's gardens, and watered by Siloam, perhaps a little to the south of the present Birket el-Hamra. The name Tophet occurs only in the Old Testament. (2 Kings 23:10; Isaiah 30:33; Jeremiah 7:31,32; 19:6,11,12,13,14) The New does not refer to it, nor the Apocrypha. Tophet has been variously translated. The most natural meaning seems that suggested by the occurrence of the word in two consecutive verses, in one of which it is a tabret and in the other Tophet. (Isaiah 30:32,37) The Hebrew words are nearly identical; and Tophet war probably the king's "music-grove" or garden, denoting originally nothing evil or hateful. Certainly there is no proof that it took its name from the beaten to drown the cries of the burning victims that passed through the fire to Molech. Afterward it was defiled by idols and polluted by the sacrifices of Baal and the fires of Molech. Then it became the place of abomination, the very gate or pit of hell. The pious kings defiled it and threw down its altars and high places, pouring into it all the filth of the city, till it became the "abhorrence" of Jerusalem.

Tormah - occurs only in the margin of (Judges 9:31) By a few commentators it has been conjectured that the word was originally the same with Arumah in ver. 41.

Tortoise - (Heb. Tsab). The tsab occurs only in (Leviticus 11:29) as the name of some unclean animal. The Hebrew word may be identified with the kindred Arabic dhab, "a large kind of lizard," which appears to be the Psommosaurus scincus of Cuvier.

Tou, Or Toi - king of Hamath. (1 Chronicles 18:9,10)

Tower Watch - towers or fortified posts in frontier or exposed situations are mentioned in Scripture, as the tower of Edar, etc. , (Genesis 35:21; Isaiah 21:5,8,11; Micah 4:8) etc. ; the tower of Lebanon. (2 Samuel 8:6) Besides these military structures, we read in Scripture of towers built in vineyards as an almost necessary appendage to them. (1 Samuel 5:2; Matthew 22:33; Mark 12:1) Such towers are still in use in Palestine in vineyards, especially near Hebron, and are used as lodges for the keepers of the vineyards.

Town Clerk - the title ascribed in our version to the magistrate at Ephesus who appeased the mob in the theatre at the time of the tumult excited by Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen. (Acts 19:35) The original service of this class of men was to record the laws and decrees of the state, and to read them in public.

Trachonitis - (a rugged region), (Luke 3:1) is in all probability the Greek equivalent for the Aramaic Argob, one of the five Roman provinces into which the country northeast of the Jordan was divided in New Testament times. [Argob]

Trance - (1) In the only passage-- (Numbers 24:4,16)--in which this word occurs in the English of the Old Testament italics show no corresponding word in Hebrew. In the New Testament we meet with the word three times-- (Acts 10:10; 11:6; 22:17) The ekstasis (i. E. Trance) is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition, being rapt in causes of this state are to be traced commonly to strong religious impressions. Whatever explanation may be given of it, it is true of many, if not of most, of those who have left the stamp of their own character on the religious history of mankind, that they have been liable to pass at times into this abnormal state. The union of intense feeling, strong volition, long-continued thought (the conditions of all wide and lasting influence, aided in many cases by the withdrawal from the lower life of the support which is needed to maintain a healthy equilibrium, appears to have been more than the "earthen vessel" will bear. The words which speak of "an ecstasy of adoration" are often literally true. As in other things, so also here, the phenomena are common to higher and lower, to true and false systems. We may not point to trances and ecstasies as proofs of a true revelation but still less may we think of them as at all inconsistent with it. Thus though we have not the word, we have the thing in the "deep sleep" the "horror of great darkness," that fell on Abraham. (Genesis 15:12) Balaam, as if overcome by the constraining power of a Spirit mightier than his own, "sees the vision of God, falling, but with opened eyes. " (Numbers 24:4) Saul, in like manner, when the wild chant of the prophets stirred the old depths of feeling, himself also "prophesied" and "fell down"--most, if not all, of his kingly clothing being thrown off in the ecstasy of the moment--"all that day and all that night. " (1 Samuel 19:24) Something there was in Jeremiah that made men say of him that he was as one that" is mad and maketh himself a prophet. " (Jeremiah 29:26) In Ezekiel the phenomena appear in more wonderful and awful forms. (Ezekiel 3:15) As other elements and forms of the prophetic work were revived in "the apostles and prophets" of the New Testament, so also was this. Though different in form, it belongs to the same class of phenomena as the gift of tongues, and is connected with "visions and revelations of the Lord" In some cases, indeed, it is the chosen channel for such revelations. (Acts 10:11; 22:17-21) Wisely for the most part did the apostle draw a veil over these more mysterious experiences. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4)

Transfiguration, The - (The event in the earthly life of Christ which marks the culminating point in his public ministry, and stands midway between the temptation in the wilderness and the agony in Gethsemane, (Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2 -13; Luke 9:28-36) Place. Though tradition locates the transfiguration on Mount Tabor there is little to confirm this view and modern critics favor Mount Hermon, the highest mountain-top in Gaulanitis, or one of the spurs of the Anti-Lebanus.

Treasurecities - The kings of Judah had keepers of their treasures both in city and country (1 Chronicles 27:25) and the places where these magazines were laid up were called treasure-cities. And the buildings treasure-houses. Pharaoh compelled the Hebrews to build him treasure-cities. (Exodus 1:11)--mcclintock and Strong. [Pithom]

Treasury - (Mark 12:41; Luke 21:1) a name given by the rabbins to thirteen chests in the temple, called trumpets from their shape. They stood in the court of the women. It would seem probable that this court was sometimes itself called "the treasury" because it contained these repositories.

Trespass Offering - [Sin Offering]

Trial - Information on the subject of trials under the Jewish law will be found in the articles on Judges and Sanhedrin, and also in Jesus Christ CHRIST.

Tribute - The chief biblical facts connected with the payment of tribute have been already given under Taxes. The tribute (money) mentioned in (Matthew 17:24,25) was the half shekel (worth from 25 to 27 cents) applied to defray the general expenses of the temple. After the destruction of the temple this was sequestrated by Vespasian and his successors and transferred to the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. This "tribute" of (Matthew 17:24) must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Roman emperor. (Matthew 22:17) The temple rate, though resting on an ancient precedent-- (Exodus 30:13)--was as above a fixed annual tribute of comparatively late origin.

Tribute Money - [Taxes; Tribute]

Troas - the city from which St. Paul first sailed, in consequence of a divine intimation, to carry the gospel from Asia to Europe. (Acts 16:8,11) It is mentioned on other occasions. (Acts 20:5,6; 2 Corinthians 2:12,13; 2 Timothy 4:13) Its full name was Alexandria Troas (Liv. Xxxv. 42), and sometimes it was called simply Alexandria sometimes simply Troas. It was first built by Antigonus under the name of Antigonea Troas, and peopled with the inhabitants of some neighboring cities. Afterward it was embellished by Lysimachus, and named Alexandria Troas. Its situation was on the coast of Mysia, opposite the southeast extremity of the island of Tenedos. Under the Romans it was one of the most important towns of the province of Asia. In the time of St. Paul it was a colonia with the Jus Italicum. The modern name is Eski-Stamboul, with considerable ruins. We can still trace the harbor in a basin about 400 feet long and 200 broad.

Trogyllium - is the rocky extremity of the ridge of Mycale, exactly opposite Samos. (Acts 20:15) A little to the east of the extreme point there is an anchorage, which is still called St. Paul's port. [Samos]

Troop, Band - These words are employed to represent the Hebrew word gedud, which has invariably the sense of an irregular force, gathered with the object of marauding and plunder.

Trophimus - (nutritious). Both Trophimus and Tychicus accompanied Paul from Macedonia as far as Asia, but Tychicus seems to have remained there, while Trophimus proceeded with the apostle to Jerusalem. (A. D. 54.) There he was the innocent cause of the tumult in which St. Paul was apprehended. (Acts 21:27-29) From this passage we learn two new facts, viz. That Trophimus was a Gentile, and that he was a native of Trophimus was probably one brethren who, with Titus, conveyed the second Epistle to the Corinthians. (2 Corinthians 8:16-24) [Tychicus]

Trumpet - [Cornet]

Trumpets, Feast Of - (Numbers 29:1; Leviticus 23:24) the feast of the new moon, which fell on the first of Tisri. It differed from the ordinary festivals of the new moon in several important particulars. It was one of the seven days of holy convocation. Instead of the mere blowing of the trumpets of the temple at the time of the offering of the sacrifices, it was "a day of blowing of trumpets. " In addition to the daily sacrifices and the eleven victims offered on the first of every month, there were offered a young bullock, a ram and seven lambs of the first year, with the accustomed meat offerings, and a kid for a sin offering. (Numbers 29:1-6) The regular monthly offering was thus repeated, with the exception of the young bullock. It has been conjectured that (Psalms 81:1). . . One of the songs of Asaph, was composed expressly for the Feast of Trumpets. The psalm is used in the service for the day by the modern Jews. Various meanings have been assigned to the Feast of Trumpets; but there seems to be no sufficient reason to call in question the common opinion of Jews and Christians, that if was the festival of the New Year's day of the civil year, the first of Tisri, the month which commenced the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee.

Tryphena - and Trypho'sa (luxurious), two Christian women at Rome, enumerated in the conclusion of St. Paul's letter. (Romans 16:12) (A. D. 55.) They may have been sisters, but it is more likely that they were fellow deaconesses. We know nothing more of these two sister workers of the apostolic time.

Tryphon - A usurper of the Syrian throne. His proper name was Diodotus, and the surname Tryphon was given to him or adopted by him after his secession to power. He was a native of Cariana. 1 Macc. 11:39, 12:39-50, etc. "Tryphon, by treason and successive wars, gained supreme power, killed Antiochus and assumed the throne. "The coins bear his head as Antiochus and Trypho. "

Tryphosa - [Tryphena]

Tubal - is reckoned with Javan and Meshech among the sons of Japheth. (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5) The three are again associated in the enumeration of the sources of the wealth of Tyre. (Ezekiel 27:13) Tubal and Javan, (Isaiah 68:19) Meshech and Tubal, (Ezekiel 32:26; 38:2,3; 39:1) are nations of the north. (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2) Josephus identified the descendants of Tubal with the Iberians, that is, the inhabitants of a tract of country between the Caspian and Euxine Seas, which nearly corresponded to the modern Georgia.

Tubalcain - the son of Lamech the Cainite by his wife Zillah, (Genesis 4:22) (B. C. About 3000.) He is called "a furbisher of every cutting instrument of copper and iron. "

Turpentine Tree - occurs only once, via. In the Apocrypha. Ecclus. 24:16. It is the Pistacia terebinthus, terebinth tree, common in Palestine and the East. The terebinth occasionally grows to a large size. It belongs to the natural order Anacurdiaceas, the plants of which order generally contain resinous secretions.

Turtle, Turtledove - Turtur auritus (Heb. Tor). The name is phonetic, evidently derived from the plaintive cooing of the bird. It is one of the smaller members of the group of birds which ornithologists usually call pigeons. The turtle-dove occurs first in Scripture in (Genesis 15:9) In the Levitical law a pair of turtle-doves or of young pigeons are constantly prescribed as a substitute for those who were too poor to provide a lamb or a kid. The offering of two young pigeons must have been one easily within the reach of the poorest. The admission of a pair of turtle-doves was perhaps a yet further concession to extreme poverty, for they were extremely numerous, and their young might easily be found and captured by those who did not possess pigeons. In the valley of the Jordan, an allied species, the palm-dove (so named because it builds its nest in the palm tree), or Egyptian turtle-- Turtur aegyptiacus, Temm. Is by no means uncommon. It is not improbable that the palm-dove may in some measure have supplied the sacrifice in the wilderness, for it is found in amazing numbers wherever the palm tree occurs, whether wild or cultivated. From its habit of pairing for life, and its fidelity to its mate, the turtle-dove was a symbol of purity and an appropriate offering. The regular migration of the turtle-dove and its return in the spring are alluded to in (Jeremiah 8:7) and Song 2:11,12 It is from its plaintive note doubtless that David in (Psalms 74:19) pouring forth his lament to God, compares himself to a turtle-dove.

Twin Brothers - This term is used in the Revised Version of (Acts 28:11) for Castor and Pollux AND Pollux, which see.

Tychicus - (fateful) and Troph'imus (nutritious), companions of St. Paul on some of his journeys, are mentioned as natives of Asia. (Acts 20:4; 21:29; 2 Timothy 4:20) (A. D. 54-64.) There is much probability in the conjecture that Tychicus and Trophimus were the two brethren who were associated with Titus. (2 Corinthians 8:16-24) in conducting the business of the collection for the poor Christians in Judea.

Tyrannus - (sovereign), the name of a man in whose school or place of audience Paul taught the gospel for two years, during his sojourn at Ephesus. See (Acts 19:9) (A. D. 52,53.) The presumption is that Tyrannus himself was a Greek, and a public teacher of philosophy or rhetoric.

Tyre - (a rock), a celebrated commercial city of Phoenicia, on the coast of the Mediterranean. Its Hebrew name, Tzor, signifies a rock; which well agrees with the site of Sur, the modern town, on a rocky peninsula, formerly an island. There is no doubt that, previous to the siege of the city by Alexander the Great, Tyre was situated on an island; but, according to the tradition of the inhabitants, there was a city on the mainland before there was a city on the island; and the tradition receives some color from the name of Palaetyrus, or Old Tyre, which was borne in Greek times by a city on the continent, thirty stadia to the south.

Tyrus - This form is employed in the Authorized Version of the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea (Joel has "Tyre"), Amos and Zechariah, as follows: (Jeremiah 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Ezekiel 26:2,3,4,7,15; 27:2,3,8,32; 28:2,12; 29:18; Hosea 9:13; Amos 1:9,10; Zechariah 9:2,3)