di'-za-hab, diz'-a-hab di-za-habh; Septuagint Katachrusea, literally, "abounding in gold"): The name occurs in a list apparently intended to fix definitely the situation of the camp of Israel in the plains of Moab (Dt 1:1). No place in the region has been found with a name suggesting this; and there is no other clue to its identification. Some names in the list are like those of stations earlier in the wanderings. Thinking that one of these may be intended Burckhardt suggested Mina edh-Dhahab, a boat harbor between Ras Mohammad and `Aqaba. Cheyne gets over the difficulty by accepting a suggestion of Sayee that Di-zahab corresponds to Me-zahab (Gen 36:39); this latter he then transforms into Mitzraim, and identifies it with the North Arabian Mucri (Encyclopedia Biblica, under the word). The changes, however, seem greater than can be justified.
W. Ewing
di'-a-dem: There are seven Bible references to the diadem, four in the Old Testament and three in the New Testament. The Hebrew words do not mark any clear distinctions.
(1) tsaniph, tsanoph, tsaniphah (all from tsanaph, primarily "to wrap," "dress," "roll") mean a headdress in the nature of a turban or piece of cloth wrapped or twisted about the head. The word is also rendered "hood," "mitre." Job 29:14: "My justice was as a robe and a diadem" (RVm, "turban"); Isa 62:3: "a royal diadem in the hand of thy God."
(2) tsephirah, means "a crown," "diadem," i.e. something round about the head; Isa 28:5 "a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people."
(3) mitsnepheth, means an official turban or tiara of priest or king, translated also "mitre." Ezek 21:26: "Remove the mitre, and take off the crown."
(4) diadema, the Greek word in the New Testament for "diadem," means "something bound about the head." Found 3 t, all in Rev 12:3: "a great red dragon .... and upon his heads seven diadems" (the King James Version "crowns"); Rev 13:1: "a beast .... and on his horns ten diadems"; 19:11,12: "a white horse .... and upon his head are many diadems."
See CROWN .
William Edward Raffety
di'-al, a'-haz:
1. Hezekiah's Sickness and the Sign
2. The Sign a Real Miracle
3. The "Dial" a Staircase
4. Time of Day of the Miracle
5. Hezekiah's Choice of the Sign
6. Meaning of the Sign
7. The Fifteen "Songs of Degrees"
1. Hezekiah's Sickness and the Sign:
One of the most striking instances recorded in Holy Scripture of the interruption, or rather reversal, of the working of a natural law is the going back of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz at the time of Hezekiah's recovery from his illness. The record of the incident is as follows. Isaiah was sent to Hezekiah in his sickness, to say:
"Thus saith Yahweh, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of Yahweh. .... And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of Yahweh the third day? And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz" (2 Ki 20:5-11). And in Isa 38:8, it is said, "Behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down."
The first and essential point to be noted is that this was no ordinary astronomical phenomenon, nor was it the result of ordinary astronomical laws then unknown. It was peculiar to that particular place, and to that particular time; otherwise we should not read of "the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent .... to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Ch 32:31). It is impossible, therefore, to accept the suggestion that the dial of Ahaz may have been improperly constructed, so as to produce a reversal of the motion of the shadow at certain times. For such a maladjustment would have occasioned the repetition of the phenomenon every time the sun returned to the same position with respect to the dial. The narrative, in fact, informs us that the occurrence was not due to any natural law, known or unknown, since Hezekiah was given the choice and exercised it of his own free will, as to whether a shadow should move in a particular direction or in the opposite. But there are no alternative results in the working of a natural law. "If a state of things is repeated in every detail, it must lead to exactly the same consequences." The same natural law cannot indifferently produce one result, or its opposite. The movement of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz was, therefore, a miracle in the strict sense of the term. It cannot be explained by the working of any astronomical law, known or unknown. We have no information as to the astronomical conditions at the time; we can only inquire into the setting of the miracle.
It is unfortunate that one important word in the narrative has been rendered in both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) by a term which describes a recognized astronomical instrument. The word "dial" (ma'aloth) is usually translated "degrees," "steps," or "stairs," and indeed is thus rendered in the same verse. There is no evidence that the structure referred to had been designed to serve as a dial or was anything other than a staircase, "the staircase of Ahaz." It was probably connected with that "covered way for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without," which Ahaz turned "round the house of Yahweh, because of the king of Assyria" (2 Ki 16:18 the Revised Version, margin). This staircase, called after Ahaz because the alteration was due to him, may have been substituted for David's "causeway that goeth up," which was "westward, by the gate of Shallecheth" (1 Ch 26:16), or more probably for Solomon's "ascent by which he went up unto the house of Yahweh" which so impressed the queen of Sheba (2 Ch 9:4).
4. Time of Day of the Miracle:
At certain times of the day the shadow of some object fell upon this staircase, and we learn from both 2 Ki and Isa that this shadow had already gone down ten steps, while from Isa we learn in addition that the sun also was going down. The miracle therefore took place in the afternoon, when the sun moves on its downward course, and when all shadows are thrown in an easterly direction. We are not told what was the object that cast the shadow, but it must have stood to the west of the staircase, and the top of the staircase must have passed into the shadow first, and the foot of the staircase have remained longest in the light. The royal palace is understood to have been placed southeast of the Temple, and it is therefore probable that it was some part of the Temple buildings that had cast its shadow down the stairway in full view of the dying king, as he lay in his chamber. If the afternoon were well advanced the sun would be moving rapidly in altitude, and but little in azimuth; or, in other words, the shadow would be advancing down the steps at its quickest rate, but be moving only slowly toward the left of those who were mounting them. It may well have been the case, therefore, that the time had come when the priests from Ophel, and the officials and courtiers from the palace, were going up the ascent into the house of the Lord to be present at the evening sacrifice; passing from the bright sunshine at the foot of the stairs into the shadow that had already fallen upon the upper steps. The sun would be going straight down behind the buildings and the steps already in shadow would sink into deeper shadow, not to emerge again into the light until a new day's sun had arisen upon the earth.
5. Hezekiah's Choice of the Sign:
We can therefore understand the nature of the choice of the sign that was offered by the prophet to the dying king. Would he choose that ten more steps should be straight-way engulfed in the shadow, or that ten steps already shadowed should be brought back into the light? Either might serve as a sign that he should arise on the third day and go up in renewed life to the house of the Lord; but the one sign would be in accordance with the natural progress of events, and the other would be directly opposed to it. It would be a light thing, as Hezekiah said, for the shadow to go forward ten steps; a bank of cloud rising behind the Temple would effect that change. But no disposition of cloud could bring the shadow back from that part of the staircase which had already passed into it, and restore it to the sunshine. The first change was, in human estimation, easily possible, "a light thing"; the second change seemed impossible. Hezekiah chose the seemingly impossible, and the Lord gave the sign and answered his prayer. We need not ask Whether the king showed more or less faith in choosing the "impossible" rather than the "possible" sign. His father Ahaz had shown his want of faith by refusing to put the Lord to the test, by refusing to ask a sign, whether in the heaven above or in the earth beneath. The faith of Hezekiah was shown in asking a sign, which was at once in the heaven above and in the earth beneath, in accepting the choice offered to him, and so putting the Lord to the test. And the sign chosen was most fitting, Hezekiah lay dying, whether of plague or of cancer we do not know, but his disease was mortal and beyond cure; he was already entering into the shadow of death. The word of the Lord was sure to him; on "the third day" he would rise and go up in new life to the house of God.
But what of the sign? Should the shadow of death swallow him up; should his life be swiftly cut off in darkness, and be hidden until a new day should dawn, and the light of a new life, a life of resurrection, arise? (Compare Jn 11:24.) Or should the shadow be drawn back swiftly, and new years be added to his life before death could come upon him? Swift death was in the natural progress of events; restoration to health was of the impossible. He chose the restoration to health, and the Lord answered his faith and his prayer.
We are not able to go further into particulars. The first temple, the royal palace, and the staircase of Ahaz were all destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and we have no means of ascertaining the exact position of the staircase with respect to Temple or palace, or the number of the steps that it contained, or the time of the day, or the season of the year when the sign was given. It is possible that if we knew any or all of these, a yet greater significance, both spiritual and astronomical, might attach to the narrative.
7. The Fifteen "Songs of Degrees":
Fifteen years were added to the life of Hezekiah. In the restoration of the second temple by Herod fifteen steps led from the Court of the Women to the Court of Israel, and on these steps the Levites during the Feast of Tabernacles were accustomed to stand in order to sing the fifteen "songs of degrees" (Pss 120 through 134). At the head of these same steps in the gateway, lepers who had been cleansed from their disease presented themselves to the priests. It has been suggested that Hezekiah himself was the compiler of these fifteen "songs of the steps," in thankfulness for his fifteen years of added life. Five of them are ascribed to David or as written for Solomon, but the remaining ten bear no author's name. Their subjects are, however, most appropriate to the great crises and desires of Hezekiah's life. His great Passover, to which all the tribes were invited, and so many Israelites came; the blasphemy of Rabshakeh and of Sennacherib's threatening letter; the danger of the Assyrian invasion and the deliverance from it; Hezekiah's sickness unto death and his miraculous restoration to health; and the fact that at that time he would seem to have had no son to follow him on the throne--all these subjects seem to find fitting expression in the fifteen Psalms of the Steps.
E. W. Maunder
di'-a-mund.
di-an'-a (Artemis "prompt," "safe"): A deity of Asiatic origin, the mother goddess of the earth, whose seat of worship was the temple in Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Diana is but the Latinized form of the Greek word Artemis, yet the Artemis of Ephesus should not be confused with the Greek goddess of that name.
She may, however, be identified with the Cybele of the Phrygians whose name she also bore, and with several other deities who were worshipped under different names in various parts of the Orient. In Cappadocia she was known as Ma; to the Syrians as Atargatis or Mylitta; among the Phoenicians as Astarte, a name which appears among the Assyrians as Ishtar; the modern name Esther is derived from it. The same goddess seems to have been worshipped by the Hittites, for a female deity is sculptured on the rocks at Yazili Kaya, near the Hittite city of Boghazkeui. It may be shown ultimately that the various goddesses of Syria and Asia Minor all owe their origin to the earlier Assyrian or Babylonian Ishtar, the goddess of love, whose chief attributes they possessed. The several forms and names under which she appears axe due to the varying developments in different regions.
Tradition says that Diana was born in the woods near Ephesus, where her temple was built, when her image of wood (possibly ebony; Pliny, NH, xvi. 40; Acts 19:35) fell from the sky (see also ASTRONOMY , sec. I, 8 (2)). Also according to tradition the city which was later called Ephesus was founded by the Amazons, and Diana or Cybele was the deity of those half-mythical people. Later when Ephesus fell into the possession of the Greeks, Greek civilization partly supplanted the Asiatic, and in that city the two civilizations were blended together. The Greek name of Artemis was given to the Asiatic goddess, and many of the Greek colonists represented her on their coins as Greek. Her images and forms of worship remained more Asiatic than Greek Her earliest statues were figures crudely carved in wood. Later when she was represented in stone and metals, she bore upon her head a mural headdress, representing a fortitled city wall; from it, drapery hung upon each side of her face to her shoulders. The upper part of her body was completely covered with rows of breasts to signify that she was the mother of all life. The lower arms were extended. The lower part of the body resembled a rough block, as if her legs had been wrapped up in cloth like those of an Egyptian mummy. In later times her Greek followers represented her with stags or lions standing at her sides. The most renowned of her statues stood on the platform before the entrance to her temple in Ephesus. As the statues indicate, she impersonated the reproductive powers of men and of animals and of all other life.
At the head of her cult was a chief priest, originally a eunuch who bore the name and later the title Megabyzos. Under him were priests known as Essenes, appointed. perhaps from the city officials, for but a single year; it was their duty to offer the sacrifices to the goddess in behalf of the city. Other subordinate classes of priests known as Kouretes, Krobatai and Hilroi performed duties which are now obscure. The priestesses were even more numerous, and, probably from their great numbers, they were called Melissai or bees; the Ephesian symbol therefore which appears commonly upon the coins struck in the city, is a bee. The Melissai, which in the early times were all virgins, were of three classes; it is no longer known just what the special duties of each class were. The ritual of the temple services consisted of sacrifices and of ceremonial prostitution, a practice which was common to many of the religions of the ancient Orient, and which still exists among some of the obscure tribes of Asia Minor.
The temple of Diana was not properly the home of the goddess; it was but a shrine, the chief one, devoted to her service. She lived in Nature; she was everywhere wherever there was life, the mother of all living things; all offerings of every possible nature were therefore acceptable to her; hence, the vast wealth which poured into her temple. Not only was she worshipped in her temple, but in the minute shrines or naoi which were sometimes modeled after the temple. More frequently the shrines were exceedingly crude objects, either of silver or stone or wood or clay. They were made at Ephesus by dependents of the temple, and carried by the pilgrims throughout the world. Before them Diana might also be worshipped anywhere, just as now from the soil of the sacred Mesopotamian city of Kerbela, where the sons of Ali were martyred, little blocks are formed and are carried away by the Shiah Moslems that they may pray upon sacred ground wherever they may be. The makers of the shrines of Diana formed an exceedingly large class among whom, in Paul's time, was Demetrius (Acts 19:24). None of the silver shrines have been discovered, but those of marble and of clay have appeared among the ruins of Ephesus. They are exceedingly crude; in a little shell-like bit of clay, a crude clay female figure sits, sometimes with a tambourine in one hand and a cup in the other, or with a lion at her side or beneath her foot. Though the shrines were sold as sacred dwelling-places of the goddess, that the pilgrims who carried them to their distant homes, or buried them in the graves with their dead, might be assured of her constant presence, their real purpose was to increase the temple revenues by their sale at a price which was many times their cost. With the shrines of Diana may be compared the household gods of clay found in abundance among the ruins of the earlier Babylonian cities, especially those cities in which temples to the goddess Ishtar stood.
E. J. Banks
di-as'-po-ra.
See DISPERSION .
dib'-la (dibhlah, "circle"; Deblatha): The name occurs only in Ezek 6:14 (the King James Version "Diblath"), and the place has not been identified. If the reading is correct it may possibly be represented by Dibl, a village in Upper Galilee, South of Tibnin. But more likely it is a scribal error for Riblah.
dib'-la-im, dib-la'-im (dibhlayim, "two cakes"): A native of Northern Israel and father of Gomer, the wife of Hosea (Hos 1:3).
dib'-lath.
See DIBLAH .
dib-la-tha'-im.
See ALMON-DIBLATHAIM .
di'-bon (dibhon, "washing"; Daibon):
(1) A city of Moab captured by the Amorites (Nu 21:30), and held by them at the invasion by Israel. It was taken and given to the tribe of Gad, whence it is called Dibon-gad (Nu 32:34; 33:45). In Josh 13:17 it is reckoned to Reuben. Along with other cities in the territory North of the Arnon, Dibon changed hands several times between Moab and Israel. Mesha claims it (MS), and in Jer 48:18,22 it is named among the cities of Moab. The form of the name, Dimon, in Isa 15:9, may have been given to make it resemble the Hebrew dam, "blood," to support the play upon words in the verse (HDB, under the word). It is represented by the modern Dhiban, about 4 miles North of Aroer (`Ara`ir), on the line of the old Roman road. The ruins that spread over two adjacent knolls are of no importance: walls, a tower, cistern, etc. Near Dibon the famous Moabite Stone was found.
(2) A town in Judah, occupied after the exile (Neh 11:25). It may be the same as Dimonah (Josh 15:22); unidentified.
W. Ewing
dib'-ri (dibhri, "eloquent" (?)): A Danite, whose daughter Shelomith married an Egyptian. Their son was "cut off" (stoned) for blasphemy (Lev 24:11).
See GAMES .
dik'-shun-a-riz: A dictionary is a word-book or a list of words arranged in some fixed order, generally alphabetical, for ready reference, and usually with definitions or longer treatises. The vocabulary or glossary is a mere list of words, often without definitions; the Lexicon or dictionary of language (words or concepts) has bare definitions, and the alphabetical encyclopedia or dictionary of knowledge or information (objects, things, subjects, topics, etc.) has longer treatises, but they are all dictionaries: the alphabetical order being the main essential in modern use. There is, however, historically no good reason why the dictionary should not be logical or chronological. The earliest use of the word as quoted by Murray's Dictionary (Joh. de Garlandia, circa 1225) was of a collection of words classified and not alphabetical. So, too, almost the earliest use in English (J. Withal's Dictionarie, 1556) was of a book of words classified by subjects. A book like Roget's Thesaurus, which is a list of classified words without definition, or a systematic encyclopedia of treatises like Coleridge's unfortunate experiment, the Encyclopedia Metropolitana, is a dictionary in the historic sense. The earliest books usually quoted in the lists of Biblical dictionaries were also in fact classified or chronological, and not alphabetical (Eusebius' Onomasticon; Jerome's De viris illustribus). Classified word lists, syllabaries, etc., of pre-alphabetic times, as well as in Chinese and other non-alphabetic languages of today, are of course also non-alphabetic, but strictly dictionaries.
In pre-alphabetic times the dictionaries include, besides the syllabaries of which there were many examples in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Cyprus, etc., and the word lists proper, chronological lists of kings and various classified lists of tribute, and of astronomical or other objects. They include, in short, all the many lists where the material is grouped round a series of catchwords.
The alphabetical dictionary began with the alphabet itself, for this is a list of names of objects. The earlier alphabetical dictionaries were sometimes called alphabets. In a sense the alphabetical acrostics are dictionaries rather than acrostics, and Ps 119, where considerable material is grouped under each letter of the alphabet, comes rather close to the dictionary idea.
So long as the quantity of literary material remained small, there was very little need for the development of the alphabetical dictionary, and the examples are rather few, the Lexicon of Suidas being perhaps the most noteworthy. With the immense increase in literary material there was a rapidly growing appreciation of the advantage of alphabetical arrangement, over the chronological or the systematic, in all cases where the object is to refer to a specific topic, rather than to read a book through or survey many topics with reference to their relation to one another. The number of alphabetical dictionaries of knowledge increased rapidly with the growth of learning from the 13th century; now it has become legion and there are few subjects so narrow that they cannot boast their dictionary of information.
The earliest Bible dictionary is usually counted the Eusebius, Onomasticon of Eusebius, a geographical encyclopedia; then came Jerome's De nominibus hebraicis, and his De viris illustribus (chronological). The more noteworthy steps in the history of Bible dictionaries are represented by the names of Alsted, Calmet, Winer, Kitto, William Smith, Fairbairn, Schenkel. The best recent dictionaries among the larger works are the Encyclopedia Biblica, standing for the extreme higher critical wing; Hastings, representing the slightly less radical; and this present International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, which represents a growing distrust of the extreme positions of the 19th century higher critics. All of these are on a large scale and stand for the latest and best scholarship, and the same quality is reflected in at least two of the recent single-volume dictionaries, A Standard Bible Dictionary (M. W. Jacobus), and the single-volume Hastings' dictionary. Both of these in tendency stand between Cheyne's Encyclopedia Biblica and this dictionary, Hastings facing rather toward Cheyne, and Jacobus toward this present work.
The John Crerar Library list of encyclopedias forms an excellent guide to the literature of general encyclopedias within its scope, which includes chiefly technology and physical and social sciences, but includes among its reference books very admirably chosen first-reference dictionaries to language, history, fine arts, and even philosophy and religion.
Kroeger, Alice B. Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books, 2nd edition, Boston, 1908, is an admirable introduction. Its select lists and bibliographical references supplemented by the John Crerar and other reference library lists will give complete orientation.
Following is a list of previous dictionaries:
BIBLICAL DICTIONARIES
Ayre, J. Treasury of Bible Knowledge. London, 1866.
Barnum, Samuel W. A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible. New York: Appleton, 1867.
Barr, John. A Complete Index and Concise Dictionary of the Holy Bible. New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1852.
Bastow, J. A. Biblical Dictionary. London, 1848, 3 volumes; condensed edition, London, 1859; 4th edition, 1877.
Beck, J. C. Vollstand. bibl. Worterbuch. Basel, 1770, 2 volumes.
Besser, H. Bibl. Worterbuch. Gotha, 1866.
Bible Cyclopaedia, The. London: Parker, 1841.
Bost, J. A. Dictionnaire de la Bible. Paris, 1865.
Bourazan, F. A. Sacred Dictionary. London: Nisbet, 1890.
Brown, John. A Dictionary of the Holy Bible. Edinburgh, 1768, 4th edition; London: Murray, 1797; American edition, from the 12th Edinburgh edition, New York: Harper, 1846.
Calmet, A. Dict. historique, critique, chronologique, geographique et litteral de la Bible. Paris, 1719.
Calmet, Augustine. Dictionary of the Holy Bible. 5th edition, revised and enlarged, 5 volumes, London: Holdsworth, 1829; new edition, London: Bohn, 1847; abridged by Buckley, new edition, London: Routledge, 1862.
Cassell's Bible Dictionary. Illustrated with nearly 600 engravings; London and New York, 2 volumes: Cassell, 1866; new edition, 1869.
Cheyne, T. K. and Black, J.S. Encyclopedia Biblica. London, 1899-1903, 4 volumes.
Conder, F. R. and C. R. A Handbook to the Bible. London: Longmans, 1879; 2nd edition, 1880, New York: Randolph, no date (1880).
Dalmasius, J. A. Dictionarium manuale biblicum. Aug. Vind., 1776, 2 volumes.
Davis, J. D. Dictionary of the Bible. Philadelphia, 1898; new edition, 1903.
Eadie, John. A Biblical Cyclopaedia. London: Rel. Tr. Soc., 1848; 14th edition, London: Griffin, 1873.
Easton, M. G. Illustrated Bible Dictionary. London: Nelson; New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1893.
Fairbairn, Patrick. The Imperial Bible Dictionary. London: Blackie, 1866, 2 volumes.
Farrar, John. A Biblical and Theological Dictionary. London: Mason, 1852; new edition, London: Wesl. Conf. Off., 1889.
Faussett, A. R. The Englishman's Bible Encyclopedia. London: Hodder, 1878. Republished with title. Bible Cyclopaedia, Critical and Expository. New York: Funk, 1891.
Gardner, J. Christian Encyclopedia. Edinburgh, no date
Gebhardt, G.L. Biblisches Worterb. Lemgo, 1793-96, 3 volumes.
Goodhue, W. and Taylor, W. C. Pictorial Dictionary of the Holy Bible. London, 1843, 2 volumes.
Granbery, John C. Bible Dictionary. Nashville: So. Meth. Pub. Soc., 1883.
Green, S. Biblical and Theol. Dictionary. London, 1840, 1860.
Guthe, H. Kurzes Bibelworterbuch. 1903.
Hagen. Lexicon biblicum. Paris, 1905-, 4 volumes (Roman Catholic).
Hamburger. Realencyklopadie fur Bibel und Talmud. New edition 1896-97; 2 volumes and 4 supplementary volumes (Jewish point of view).
Hamburger, J. Biblisch-talmudisches Worterbuch. Strelitz, 1866.
Hastings. Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh and New York, 1898-1902, 4 volumes and supplementary vol, 1904. 1-vol edition, 1909.
Hastings, James, and others. Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. New York: Scribner; Edinburgh: Clark, 1906-8, 2 volumes.
Haupt, C. G. Bibl. Real-Encyklopadie. Quedlinb., 1820-27, 3 volumes.
Hezel, W. F. Biblisches Real-Lexikon. Leipzig, 1783-85, 3 volumes.
Hoffmann, A. C. Allgem. Volks-Bibellexikon. Leipzig, 1842.
Hunter, R. Concise Bible Dict. London: Cassell, 1894.
Inglis, James. Bible Text Cyclopaedia. London: Houlston, 1861; new edition, Rel. Tr. Soc., 1865, Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1877.
Jacobus, M. W. A Standard Bible Dictionary. New York: Funk, 1909.
Jones, William. The Biblical Cyclopaedia; or Dictionary of the Holy Scriptures. London: Wightman, 1840; new edition, Tegg, 1847; revised, 1873.
Kitto, John. Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. 3rd ed., edition Alexander, Edinburgh, 1862-65, 3 volumes (best edition of Kitto), and after.
Krehl. Neutestamentl. Handworterbuch. Gottingen, 1857.
Lawson, J. P. Bible Cyclopaedia. London, 1849, 3 volumes.
Leun, F. G. Bibl. Encyklopadie. Gotha, 1793-98, 4 volumes.
Macbean, A. Dictionary of the Bible. London, 1779.
Macpherson, John. The Universal Bible Dictionary. London: Hodder, 1892.
Malcom, Howard. New Bible Dictionary. Boston: Gould; New York: Sheldon, 1852.
Malcom, H. Dictionary of the Bible. London, 1854.
Oetinger, F. C. Biblisches Worterb. Stuttgart, 1849.
Oliver, P. Scripture Lexicon. Birmingham, 1784; London, 1843.
Otho, J. H. Lex. Rabbinico-philologicum. Geneva, 1675.
Rand, W. W. A Dictionary of the Holy Bible. New York: Am. Tr. Soc., no date (1859); rev. edition, 1886.
Ravanel, P. Bibliotheca Sacra. Geneva, 1660.
Rawson, A. L. The Bible Handbook, for Sunday Schools. 4th edition, New York: Thompson, 1870.
Rechenbergius, A. Hierolexicon reale collectum. Leipzig und Frankfort, 1714, 2 volumes.
Rice, Edwin W. People's Dictionary of the Bible. Philadelphia: Am. S.S. U., 1893.
Riehm and Bathgen. Handworterbuch des biblischen Altertums. Bielefeld, 1893-94, 2 volumes.
Roberts, Francis. Clavis Bibliorum. 1675.
Robinson, E. Dictionary of the Bible. New York: Worthington, 1879.
Schaff, Philip. A Dictionary of the Bible. Philadelphia: Am. S.S. U., 1880; 5th edition, 1890.
Schenkel. Bibel Lexikon. 1869-75, 5 volumes.
Schneider, M. C. F. Worterb. ub. d. Bibel. Leipzig, 1795-1817, 4 volumes.
Simon, Richard. Grand dictionnaire de la Bible. Lyons, 1693.
Smith, W. Dictionary of the Bible. London, 1860-63, 3 volumes; 2nd edition, Smith and Fuller, 1893.
Smith, W. Dictionary of the Bible. Boston, no date, 4 volumes.
Smith, W. Bible Dictionary. Acme edition, New York: Alden, 1885.
Vigouroux. Dictionnaire de la Bible contenant tous les noms de personnes, de lieux .... mentionnes dans les s. Ecritures. Paris, 1895-.
Vollbeding, J. C. Bibl. Worterb. Berlin, 1800-1805, 3 volumes.
Watson, R. Biblical and Theol. Dictionary. London, 1831; New York, also Nashville.
Wahl, C. A. Bibl. Handworterb. Leipzig, 1828, 2 volumes.
Walbrecht, C. L. Biblisch. Worterbuch. Gottingen, 1837.
Westcott, A., and Watt, J. Concise Bible Dictionary. London: Isbister, 1893.
Wilson, T. Complete Christian Dictionary. London, 1661.
Winer, G. B. Biblisches Realworterb. 3rd edition, 1847-48, 2 volumes (still useful).
Zeller, H. Biblisches Worterb. Stuttgart, 1855-58, 2 volumes.
Other recent one-volume dictionaries are: Angus (1907), Bevis (1900); Gamble (1906), Ewing (1910), Hyamson (1907), Piercy (1908).
3. General Religious Encyclopedias:
Next in importance for Bible students to the Bible dictionaries are the general dictionaries of religious knowledge. Many of the more recent of these, such as the Hauck edition of RE, the new Sch-Herz, Jew Encyclopedia, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and in general all the larger and some of the smaller recent ones have articles of real importance for Bible study, often better than some of the specific Bible dictionaries.
GENERAL THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARIES
Abbott, Lyman. A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge. New York: Harper, 1875.
Addis, William E. A Catholic Dictionary. New York: Cath. Pub. Soc. Co., 1884; 4th edition, revised, London: Paul, 1893.
Aschbach. Kirchenlexikon. n.p. 1846-51, 4 volumes.
Benham, William. Dictionary of Religion. London and New York: Cassell, 1887.
Buchberger. Kirchliches Handlexikon. Munchen, 1907 (short but comprehensive).
Buck, Charles. A Theological Dictionary. Enlarged by Dr. Henderson. London: Tegg, 1847; American edition, revised and enlarged by George Bush; Philadelphia: Desliver, no date
Ceccaroni, A. Dizionaro ecclesiastico illustrato. Milano.
Dwight, H. O., Tupper, H. O., Jr. and Bliss, E. M. The Encyclopedia of Missions. New York, 1904.
Eadie, J. The Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia. London: Griffin, 1847; new edition, 1875.
Eden, Robert. The Churchman's Theological Dictionary. 2nd edition, London: Parker, 1846; new edition, 1859.
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, The; or, Dictionary of the Bible. Rev. edition, Philadelphia: Claxton, 1870.
Farrar, John. An Ecclesiastical Dictionary. London: Mason, 1853, revised, 1871.
Gardner, James. The Christian Encyclopedia. London: Groombridge, 1854; new edition, 1858.
Glaire, J. B. Dictionnaire universel des sciences eccl~esiastiques. Paris, 1868, 2 volumes.
Herbermann, Pace, Pellen, Shahan and Wynne. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1906-, 15 volumes.
Herzog. Realencyclopadie fur protestantische Theologie u. Kirche. 1853-68, 21 volumes; 3rd ed., edition Hauck, 1896-1908, 21 volumes, translation New York, 1908-(best of all the ecclesiastical dictionaries).
Herzog, J. J. A Protestant, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia. Vols I and II. Philadelphia: Lindsay, 1858-60.
Holtzmann and Zopffel. Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirchenwesen. 2nd edition, Brunswick, 1888 (Prot).
Jackson, Samuel Macauley. Concise Dictionary of Religious Knowledge and Gazetteer. New York: Christian Lit. Co., 1890, 1891; 3rd edition, New York: Maynard, 1893.
Jackson, S. M. The New Schaff-Herzog. New York: Funk, 1908, sq. (good and modern).
Jewish Encyclopedia. New York, 1901-6, 12 volumes (most scholarly).
Lichtenberger, F. Dict. des sci. eccl. Paris, 1877-82, 15 volumes (French Protestant).
McClintock, John and Strong, James. Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. 10 volumes. New York: Earper, 1867-81. With supplements in 2 volumes, 1890.
Marsden, J. B. A Dictionary of Christian Churches and Sects. London: Bentley, 1857.
Migne. Encycl. theologique. Paris, 1844-75 (over 100 special lexicons).
Moroni. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica. Venice, 1840-79, 103 volumes, and Index, 6 volumes.
Among the older ones the huge encyclopedia of Migne, which is a classified series of alphabetical dictionaries, and the Moroni, with its 109 volumes, are still of great usefulness to the scholar on out-of-the-way topics, not so much for Biblical topics but at least for Biblical related matters.
Perthes. Handlexikon fur evangelische Theol. Gotha, 1890-1901, 3 volumes.
Robinson, John. Theological, Biblical and Ecclesiastical Dictionary. London: Whittaker, 1815; 4th edition, 1835.
Schaff, Philip and Jackson, Samuel Macauley. A Religious Encyclopedia. New York: Christian Lit. Co., 1882; 3rd edition, New York: Funk, 1891. Together with an Encyclopedia of Living Divines, etc.
Schaffer. Handlexikon der kath. Theologie. Ratisbon, 1881-91, 3 volumes.
Schiele. Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Tubingen, 1909-, 5 volumes.
Shipley, Orby. A Glossary of Ecclesiastical Forms. London: Rivingtons, 1871.
Staunton, William. An Ecclesiastical Dictionary, New York: Prot. Ep. S.S. U., 1861.
Vacant and Mangenot. Dictionnaire de theologie catholique. Paris, 1903-.
Wetzer and Welte. Kirchenlexicon. Freiburg, 1847-60; 2nd edition, 1880-91, 13 volumes, and index, 1903 (Roman Catholic scientific best).
4. Dictionaries of Comparative Religion:
The monumental dictionary in this class superseding all others is Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, but Forlong has served a useful purpose and some of the special dictionaries like Roscher are quite in the same class with Hastings.
COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Balfour, E. Cyclopaedia of India, and of East and South Asia. 3rd edition, London, 1885, 3 volumes.
Beale, Th. W. Oriental Biographical Dictionary. Calcutta, 1881; London, 1894.
Brewer, E. C. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London, 1905.
Encyclopedia of Islam. London: Luzac.
Forlong, J. G. R. Faiths of Man; a Cyclopaedia of Religions. London, 1906, 3 volumes.
Hastings, James. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Edinburgh, Clark; New York, Scribner, 1908-.
Hazlitt, W. C. Faiths and Folklore; a Dictionary of National Beliefs. London, 1905.
Hughes, T. P. Dictionary of Islam. London, 1885.
5. Denominational Dictionaries:
The admirable Jewish and Catholic encyclopedias mentioned above, like the Methodist M'Clintock and Strong, belong rather to general than denominational encyclopedias, but the Catholic dictionaries of Addis and of Thien are denominational in the same sense as those of the Episcopal, Lutheran, etc., churches, mentioned below, among which perhaps the best executed example is the Lutheran Encyclopedia of Jacobs.
DICTIONARIES OF DENOMINATIONS
Addis, W. E. A Catholic Dictionary, 3rd edition, New York, 1884.
Benton, A. A. The Church Cyclopaedia. Philadelphia, 1884.
Burgess, G. A. Free Baptist Cyclopaedia. Chicago: Free Bapt. Cyclop. Co., 1889.
Cathcart, Wm. The Baptist Encyclopedia. Philadelphia, 1881, 2 volumes.
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1907 and following. See General Religious Encyclopedias.
Hook, Walter F. A Church Dictionary. Philadelphia: Butler, 1853; 7th edition, Tibbals, 1875.
Jacobs, H. E. and Haas, J. A. W. The Lutheran Cyclopedia. New York, 1905.
Jewish Encyclopedia. See General Theological Encyclopedias.
Nevin, A. Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Philadelphia, 1884.
Simpson, M. Cyclopaedia of Methodism. Philadelphia, 1878.
Thein, J. Ecclesiastical Dictionary. New York, 1900 (Roman Catholic).
SPECIAL DICTIONARIES: ANCIENT AND MEDIAEVAL HISTORY
Blunt, J. H. Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, etc. London, 1892.
Blunt, J. H. Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical Theology. Philadelphia, 1870.
Brewer, E. C. A Dictionary of Miracles. Philadelphia, 1884.
Brodrick, M. Concise Dictionary of Egyptian Archaeol. London, 1902.
Cabrol. Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et de liturgie. Paris, 1907-.
Chevalier, Ul. Repertoire des sources hist. du moyen-age. Bio-bibliog. Paris, 1905-7.
------Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen-age. Topo-bibliog. Montbeliard, 1894-1903, 2 volumes.
Fabricius, J. A. Bibliotheca latina mediae et infimae aetatis. Patavii, 1754, 6 volumes in 3.
Julian, J. edition A Dictionary of Hymnology. New York, 1892.
Kraus. Real-Encyklopadie der christlichen Alterthumer. Freiburg i. Br., 1882-86, 2 volumes.
Lee, F. G. A Glossary of Liturgical and Ecclesiastical Terms. London, 1877.
Martigny. Dictionnaire des antiquites chretiennes. 2nd edition, Paris, 1877.
Pauly. Realencyk. der klass. Altertumswissenschaft. Stuttgart, 1842-66, 6 volumes; edition Wissowa, 1894 and later.
Roscher, W. H. Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie. Leipzig, 1884-1902, 5 volumes.
Smith, Wm. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Boston, 1849, 3 volumes.
Smith, Wm. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Boston, 1854-57, 2 volumes.
Smith, Sir William, Wayte, William, and Marindin, G. E. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 3rd edition, enlarged London: Murray; Boston: Little, 1890-91, 2 volumes.
Smith, W. and Cheetham, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. Boston, 1875-1880, 2 volumes.
Smith, W. and Wace, H. A Dictionary of Christian Biography. Boston, 1877-87, 4 volumes; abridged edition by Wace and Piercy, 1911.
Stadler and Helm. Heiligenlexikon. 1858-82, 5 volumes.
Wolcott, Mackenzie E. C. Sacred Archaeology. London: Reeve, 1868.
What has been said of general religious encyclopedias applies almost equally to Biblical articles in the good general encyclopedias. Among these the Encyclopedia Britannica, of which a new edition appeared in 1911, is easily first, and has maintained through its many editions a high standard. The previous edition was edited by Professor Robertson Smith, who gave a peculiarly high quality of scholarship to its Biblical articles, while at the same time rather tingeing them with extreme views. Among the British encyclopedias, Chambers' is still kept up to a high standard. The recent American editions include the New International, the Nelson, and the Americana, the former, perhaps, contributing most on Bible matters. The annual supplement to the International gives a useful resume of the progress of Biblical archaeology during each year.
UNIVERSAL ENCYCLOPAEDIAS
America and England
Adams, Charles Kendall. Universal Cyclopaedia and Atlas. New York: Appleton, 1905, 12 volumes.
American Cyclopaedia. New York, 1858-63, 16 volumes; new edition, 1873-76 ("Appleton's encyclopedia").
Chambers, Ephraim. Cyclopaedia. London, 1728.
Chambers' Encyclopedia. London, 1860-68, 10 volumes; new edition, 1901.
Colby, Frank Moore. Nelson's Encyclopedia. (circa 1905-6), 12 volumes.
Encyclopedia Americana. New York: The Americana Co. (circa 1903-4), 16 volumes.
Encyclopedia Britannica. 1771; 9th edition, 1875-89, 29 volumes and Index, sup., 11 volumes, Index and atlas, 1902-3; 11th edition, Cambridge, England, 1910-11, 28 volumes.
Gilman, D. C. New International Encyclopedia. New York: Dodd, 1907 (circa 1902-7), 20 volumes.
Hunter. Encyclopaedic Dictionary. London, New York, 1879-88, 7 volumes.
Johnson's New Universal Encyc. New York, 1874-78, 4 volumes; new edition, 1893-95, 8 volumes.
Knight. English Cyclopedia. London, 1854-73, 27 volumes, and 4 supplementary volumes.
New International Year Book. New York: Dodd, 1908-.
Rees. New Encyclopedia. London, 1802-20. 45 volumes.
Schem. Deutsch-amerikanisches Konversations-Lex. New York, 1870-74.
Smedley (Coleridge?). Encyclopedia Metropolitana. 1818-45, 30 volumes (classed with some alphabetical sections).
France
Bayle. Dict. historique et critique. Rotterdam, 1695-97 (very widely circulated).
Berthelot, Derenbourg and others. La grande encyclopedie. See below.
Corneille, Thomas. (Dict.) Paris, 1694.
Dictionnaire de la conversation et de la lecture. 1851-58, 16 volumes.
Diderot and D'Alembert. Encyclopedic. Paris, 1751-52, 28 volumes; 5 sup. volumes, Amsterdam, 1776-77; 2 volumes Index, Paris, 1780. (Also Voltaire, Rousseau, etc. This is in the history of dictionary encyclopedias "the encyclopedia" paragraph excellence and epoch-making in the history of "free thought." Many editions; 1st edition, 30,000 copies.)
Encyclopedie des gens du monde. 1833-45, 22 volumes.
Encyclopedie du XIXe siecle. 1837-59, 75 volumes; 3rd edition, 1867-72. Continues as Annuaire encyc.
Encyclopedie moderne. 1846-51; new edition, 1856-72, 30 volumes, 12 sup. volumes, atlas, 2 volumes.
Furetiere. (Dict.) Rotterdam, 1690.
Grande encyclopedic. Paris: Lamirault, 1885-1903, 31 volumes (known as Lamirault's).
Larousse. Diet. univ., 1865-90; 17 volumes; new edition, 1895.
------. Dict. complet illustre. 129th edition, 1903.
Moerin. Grand dict. historique. Lyons, 1674.
Nouveau Larousse illustre. Paris, 1898-1904, 8 volumes.
Panckoucke and Agasse. Encyclopedie methodique. Paris, 1782-1832, 166 volumes, text, 51 volumes, illus. (classed -alphabetic method like Migne).
Germany
Allgemeine Realencyklopadie fur das katholische Deutschland. 1846-49, 13 volumes; 4th edition, 1880-90.
Brockhaas. Konversationslexikon. 14th edition, 1901 (B. and Meyer are the standard German encyclopedias).
Ersch and Gruber. Allgemeine encyklopadie. 1813-90, 99 plus 43 plus 25 volumes (scholarly and exhaustive; many articles are complete treatises).
Herder. Konversationslexikon. Freiburg, 1853-57, 5 volumes; 3rd edition, 1901-8, 8 volumes (Roman Catholic; high grade).
Hubner. Reales-, Staats-, Zeitungs-und Konversations-Lexikon; 31st edition, Leipzig, 1824-28.
Jablonski. Lexikon .... Leipzig, 1721.
Koster and Roos. (Encyc.) Frankfort, 1778-1804, 23 volumes (stops at "Kinol").
Krunitz (and others). Oekonomisch-technolog. Encykl. Berlin, 1773-1858, 242 volumes.
Ludewig, Y. J. von. Grosses, vollstandiges, Universal-Lexikon. Leipzig, 1731-54, 68 volumes ("Zedler," which was publisher's name; most admirable and still useful; on account of the vast number of topics it often serves when all other sources fail).
Meyer. Konversations-lexikon. Leipzig, 1840-52, 37 volumes; 6th edition, 1902, 20 volumes; 7th edition, abridged, 1907, 6 volumes (Meyer and Brockhaus are the standard German encyclopedias).
Pierer. Universallexikon. 7th edition, 1888-93, 12 volumes.
Spamer. Illustriertes Konversationslexikon. 1869-79, 8 volumes, supplementary volumes, 1879-82; 2nd edition, 1884-91.
Zedler. Universal-Lexikon. See Ludewig above.
Italy
Berri. Enciclopedia popolare economica. Milan, 1871. Coronelli. Biblioteca universale. Venice, 1701, 7 volumes (incomplete).
Lessona and Valle. Dizionario universale. Milan, 1874-83.
Nuova encic. popolare italiana. Turin, 1841-51, 14 volumes; 6th edition, 1875-89, 25 volumes, sup., 1889-99.
Piccola enciclopedia Hoepli. Milan, 1891.
Netherlands
De algemeene Nederlandsche Encyclopedic. Zutphen, 1865-68, 15 volumes.
Lobel. (Encyc.) Amsterdam, 1796-1810 ("first enc according to modern ideas").
Mollerup. Nordisk Konversationsleksikon. 3rd edition, Copenhagen, 1883-94.
Nieuwenhuis Woordenboek. Leyden, 1851-68.
Sijthoff. Woordenboek voor Kennis en Kunst. Leyden, 1891.
Winkler Prins. Geillustreerde Encyclopedie. Amsterdam, 1905, sq. 3rd edition
Russia and Poland
Meijer. Konversationsleksikon. 1889-94.
Brockhaus and Efron. Entciklopedicheskij Slovai. Petersburg, 1890-1902, 35 volumes.
Jushakow. Boljsaja Enciklopedija. Petersburg, 1899.
Sikoroski, Warsaw, 1890.
Orgelbrand. Encjklopedya Powszechna. Warsaw, 1859-68, 28 volumes.
Scandinavia
Blangstrup. Store Illustererede Konversationsleksikon. Copenhagen, 1891-1901, 12 volumes.
Johnsen, Norsk Haandbog. 1879-88.
Nordisk Familjsbok; Konversationslexikon. Stockholm, 1876-99, 20 volumes.
Salmonsen. Store Illustrerede Konversationsleksikon. Kjobenhavn, 1893-1907, 18 volumes.
Spain and Portugal
Diccionario Popular Hist. Geogr. Mytholog. Biograph. Lisbon, 1876-90, 16 volumes.
Enciclopedia Universal Illustrada Europeo-Americana. Barcelona, 1907-(Catholic).
Costa. Diccionario Universal Portuguez.
Lemos. Enciclopedia Portugueza Illustrada. 254 numbers to 1903.
Mellados. Enciclopedia moderna. Madrid, 1848-51, 34 volumes; 3 volumes of charts.
Montaner y Simon. Diccionario Encic Hispano-Americano. Barcelona, 1887-99, 25 volumes.
Other
Arabian Encyc. Discontinued when it reached the 9th vol, Beirut, 1876-87.
Enciclop. Romana. Herrmannstadt, 1896-1903, 3 volumes (Rumanian).
Kober. Slovnik Nancny. Prague, 1860-87, 12 volumes.
Otto. Ottuv Slovnik Nancny. Prague, 1888-1901, 17 volumes.
Pallas Nagy Lexikona. Budapest, 1893-97, 16 volumes; sup. 1900.
7. Dictionaries of Philosophy:
The dictionaries of philosophy often bear on Bible study almost as much as the religious dictionaries. Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, which is the most comprehensive work, is also very full in its bibliographical reference, and has in volumes III and IV a colossal bibliography of philosophy continued and kept up to date in the Psychological Index. The dictionary of Eisler is on the historical principle and of very great importance in interpreting the doctrines of Biblical theology.
DICTIONARIES OF PHILOSOPHY
Baldwin, J. M. Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, New York, 1901 and following.
Eisler, R. Philosophisches Worterbuch. Berlin, 1904, 2 volumes; new edition, 3 volumes.
Frank. Dictionnaire des sciences philosophiques. 3rd edition, 1885.
8. Dictionaries of Art and Music:
The dictionaries of architecture often treat of Egyptian Babylonian, and sometimes Palestinian matters. The dictionaries of painting, engraving, music, etc., have less direct matter but are important and necessary in view of the fact that so large a part of the best work is on Biblical themes.
ART
Architectural Publication Society. Dictionary of Architecture. London, 1852-92, 6 volumes.
Bryan, Michael. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. New edition London: Bell, 1903-5, 5 volumes.
Champlin, John Denison, Jr. Cyclopedia of Painters and Painting. New York: Scribner, 1892 (circa 1885-87), 4 volumes.
Clement, Mrs. Clara Erskine Handbook of Christian Symbols.
Gwilt, Joseph. Encyclopedia of Architecture. New edition London: Longmans, 1888.
James, Ralph N. Painters and Their Works. London, 1896.
Muller, Hermann Alexander. Allgemeines Kunstlerlexicon. 3rd edition Frankfurt a. M., 1895-1901, 5 volumes.
Nagler, G. K. Neues allgemeines Kunstlerlexikon. 2. Aufl. Linz., 1904-7, volumes 1-10.
Seubert. Allgemeines Kunstlerlex. Frankfurt, 1879, 3 volumes.
Sturgis, Russell. Dictionary of Architecture and Building. New York: Macmillan, 1901, 3 volumes.
Thieme, Ulrich, and Becker, Felix. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler. Leipzig, 1907.
Viollet-le-Duc, Eugene Emmanuel. Dictionnaire raisonne de l'architecture. Paris, 1868, 10 volumes.
MUSIC
Baker, Theodore. Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. New York: Schirmer, 1900.
Champlin, John Denison, Jr. Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. New York: Scribner, 1893.
Eitner, R. Biog-bibliog. Lexikon d. Musiker. Leipzig, 1900-4, 10 volumes.
Fetis, Frantsois Joseph. Biographie universelle des musiciens. 2nd edition Paris, 1860-66, 8 volumes; 2nd sup. 1875-81.
Grove, George. Dictionary of Music. London: 1878-89, 4 volumes and supplements, 2nd edition by J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1905.
Kornmuller. Lexikon der kirchlichen Tonkunst. 2nd edition Ratisbon, 1891-95, 2 volumes.
Mendel and Reissmann. Musikalisches Konversations-lexikon. Berlin, 1870-83, 12 volumes and supplements.
Riemann, Hugo. Musik-Lexikon. 4th edition, 1894.
------. Dictionary of Music. London (1899).
Many of these bear occasionally or indirectly on Biblical topics.
9. Dictionaries of Social Science:
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Birkmeyer. Encykl. der Rechtswissenschaft. Berlin, 1901.
Bliss, William Dwight Porter. New Encyclopedia of Social Reform. New York: Funk, 1908.
Bluntschli. Deutsches Staatsworterbuch. 1857-70, 2 volumes; new edition, 1869-74, 3 volumes.
Bruder. Staats-Lexikon of the Gorres Society. Freiburg i. Br., 1889-97, 5 volumes; 4th ed., edition Bachem, 1908-(Roman Catholic).
Buisson, F. Dictionnaire de pedagogie. Paris, 1882, 4 volumes.
Conrad, J. Handworterbuch der Staatswissenschaften. Jena, 1898 sq. 3rd edition to Vol XVIII (1911).
Conrad, Elster, Lexis and Loening. Handworterbuch der Staatswissenschaften. 1889-98, 6 volumes; 2 sup. volumes.
Cyclopaedia of Temperance and Prohibition. New York: Funk, 1891.
Elster. Worterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, 1808, 2 volumes; 2nd edition, 1907-.
Fay and Chailley. Nouveau dict. d'economie politique. Paris: 1891-92, 2 volumes.
Holtzendorff, F. von. Encyk. der Rechtswissenschaft. 6th edition, 1903-.
Lalor, J. J. Cyclopaedia of Political Science. New York, 1889-90, 3 volumes.
Palgrave, R. H. I. Dictionary of Political Economy. London, 1894-96, 3 volumes.
Reichesberg. Handworterbuch der schweizer. Volkswirtschaft. 1901.
Rotteck and Welcker. Staatslex. Altona, 1835-44, 15 volumes; 3rd edition, 1856-66, 14 volumes.
Schmid, K. A. Encyclopadie d. Erziehungswesens. Gotha.
Sonnenschein, W. S. Cyclopaedia of Education, arr. and edition by A. W. Fletcher, Syracuse, 1899.
Wagener, H. Staats-und Gesellschafts-Lex. Berlin, 1859-68, 26 volumes.
10. Dictionaries of Geography:
The modern gazetteers are indispensable for identifications.
MODERN GAZETTEERS
Chisholm, George Goudie. Longmans' Gazetteer of the World. London, 1902.
Hunter, W. W. Imperial Gazetteer of India. London, 1881, 9 volumes.
Lippincott's New Gazetteer. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1906.
Ritter's geographisch-statistisches Lexikon. 9. umgearb. Aufl. Leipzig, 1905-6. 2 volumes.
Vivien de Saint Martin, Louis. Nouveau dictionnaire de geographie universelle. Paris, 1879-95, 7 volumes.
11. Biographical Dictionaries:
The great modern biographical dictionaries, although of little use for Scripture names, are of much value to the Biblical student for the writings on Biblical subjects, and in the case of ancient biography, of much value for contemporary persons in other lands.
MODERN BIOGRAPHY
Aa, Anton Jacobus van der. Biographisch Woorden-boek der Nederlander. Haarlem, 1876-78, 21 volumes.
Academie royale de Belgique. Biographie nationale. Bruxelles. 1866-1907, volumes 1-19.
Allgemeine deutsche Biographie. Leipzig: 1875-1906, 52 volumes.
Allgemeine deutsche Biographie. Leipzig: Duncker, 1875-1900, 45 volumes.
Allibone, S. A. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature. Philadelphia, 1870-72, 3 volumes; 1891, 2 volumes.
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, edition by J. G. Wilson. New York: Appleton, 1888-1900, 7 volumes.
Biografiskt Lexikon ofver namnkunnige svenske Man. Stockholm, 1874, 23 volumes.
Biographisches Jahrbuch und deutscher Nekrolog. Berlin, 1897-1906, 9 volumes.
Bricka, Carl Frederik. Dansk biografisk Lexikon. 1887-1905, 19 volumes.
Century Cyclopedia of Names, edition by B. E. Smith. New York: Century Co. (circa 1894).
Dictionary of National Biography, edition by Leslie Stephen. London: Smith; New York: Macmillan, 1885-1900, 63 volumes.
Feller, F. X. de. Biographie universelle ou dictionnaire historique. Paris, 1847-50, 8 volumes in 4.
Giles, Herbert Allen. A Chinese Biographical Dictionary. London: Quaritch, 1898.
Glasius, B. Godeleerd Nederland. 1851-56, 3 volumes.
Hoefor, Ferdinand. Nouvelle biographie universelle. Paris: Didot, 1852-66, 46 volumes.
Hofberg, Herman. Svenskt biografiskt Handlexikon. Stockholm, 1906, volumes 1-2.
Joecher, C. G. Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexikon. Leipzig, 1750-51.
Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Boston, 1900-1903, 7 volumes.
Michaud, Joseph Frantsois. Biographie universelle. Paris, 1842-65, 45 volumes.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. New York: White, 1892-1906, 13 volumes.
Schaff and Jackson. Encyclopedia of Living Divines and Christian Workers. New York, 1887.
Vapereau, L. G. Dictionnaire universel des litterateurs. Paris, 1876.
Vapereau. Dictionnaire des contemporains. Paris, 1858; 6th edition, 1893; supplements, 1895.
------. Dictionnaire des litterateurs. 1876; 2nd edition, 1884.
Wurzbach, C. von. Biographisches Lexikon Oesterreichs. 1856-91, 60 volumes.
------. Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreichs. Wien: Zamarski, 1856-91, 60 volumes.
The lexicons of the Biblical languages and versions are treated under the head of the respective languages. The chief dictionaries in English are the great Murray and the encyclopaedic Century. The best one-vol dictionaries are perhaps the Standard and the last edition of Webster.
DICTIONARIES OF LANGUAGE
Brown, F., Driver, S. R., Briggs, C. A. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Boston, 1906.
Thayer, J. H. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. New York, 1887; corrected edition, 1889.
Century-Dictionary, an Encyclopedic Lexicon. New York: Century Co. (circa 1889-1901), 6 volumes.
Murray, James Augustus Henry. New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888-.
Standard Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Funk.
Stormonth's Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Scribner, 1899.
Webster, Noah. International Dictionary of the English Language. Springfield (Mass.), 1891 (circa 1864-90); new edition, 1909.
Worcester, Joseph Emerson. Dictionary of the English Language. New edition, enlarged Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1891.
The article, "Dictionary" in the new Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition) (11th edition) covers the whole matter of dictionaries of language with extraordinary fullness.
E. C. Richardson
did'-a-ke.
See LITERATURE ,SUB-APOSTOLIC .
di-drak'-ma: Two drachmas.
did'-i-mus (Didumos, i.e. "twin"): The surname of THOMAS (which see).
(muth, gawa`; apothnesko, teleutao): "To die," etc., is of very frequent occurrence, and in the Old Testament is generally the translation of muth, meaning perhaps originally, "to be stretched out" or "prostrate." "To die," should be the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:17; compare 20:7; 2 Ki 1:4,6). "Die" is commonly used of natural death (Gen 5:8; 25:8). It is used also of violent death (Gen 26:9,11; Ex 21:20); punitive (Ex 19:12; 21:12,14; 28:43; Nu 4:15; Ezek 3:1:8 ff); as the result of willfulness or indifference (Prov 10:21; 15:10; 19:16). To die "the death of the righteous" is something to be desired (Nu 23:10).
In the New Testament the word for "to die," etc., is generally apothnesko, "to die off or away," used of dying in all forms: of natural death (Mt 22:24); of violent death (Jn 11:50,51; 19:7; Acts 25:11); of the death of Christ (Jn 12:33); of death as the consequence of sin (Jn 8:21,24; Rom 8:13); teleutao, "to end (life)," also occurs several times (Mt 15:4); thnesko, "to die," occurs once (Jn 11:21), and apollumi, "to destroy" (Jn 18:14); in Acts 25:16 (Textus Receptus) we have eis apoleian, "to destruction."
Figurative Use:
The figurative use of "to die" is not frequent, if indeed it ever occurs. In 1 Sam 25:37 it may be equivalent to "faint," "His heart died within him, and he became as a stone," but this may be meant literally. In Am 2:2 it is said that Moab "shall die," i.e. perish as a nation. Paul describes the condition of the apostles of Christ as "dying, and behold, we live" (2 Cor 6:9), and says, "I die daily" (1 Cor 15:31), but the references may be to exposure to death. When in Rom 7:9 he says, "When the commandment came .... I died," he may mean that it rendered him liable to death. In Rom 6:2 we have "we who died to sin," i.e. in Christ, and in our acceptance of His death as representing ours; similarly we read in 2 Cor 5:14, "One died for all, therefore all died" (Revised Version (British and American)), i.e. representatively, and in Col 2:20 "if ye died with Christ"; 3:3, "for ye died," the Revised Version (British and American) (in Christ). Compare 2 Tim 2:11; 1 Pet 2:24.
Of the changes in the Revised Version (British and American) may be mentioned "abode" for "died" (Gen 25:18, margin "or settled, Hebrew fell"); "he that is to die" for "worthy of death" (Dt 17:6); "died" for "are dead" (Jn 6:49,58, and the American Standard Revised Version 8:52,53); "though he die" for "were dead" (Jn 11:25); "many died" for "were dead" (Rom 5:15); "died for nought" for "in vain" (Gal 2:21); "when his end was nigh" for "died" (Heb 11:22). Of special importance are the changes from "be, are, were, dead" in Rom 6:2,7,8; 2 Cor 5:14; Col 2:20; 3:3; 2 Tim 2:11, and "having died" for "being dead" in 1 Pet 2:24, as bringing out the truth that in the sight of God all men died in Christ.
See also DEATH .
W. L. Walker
di'-et ('aruchah, "prescribed"): A daily allowance or portion of food, as that given by King Evil-merodach to Jehoiachin, king of Judah (Jer 52:34 the King James Version; compare 2 Ki 25:30).
(qur, "to dig", chathar; diorusso, "to dig through"): "I have digged (dug) and drunk strange waters" (2 Ki 19:24). In his campaigns on foreign soil, where the enemy had stopped up the watersprings, Sennacherib would at once dig fresh wells for his armies. "They dig through houses" (Job 24:16; Mt 6:19,20 margin). Walls of eastern houses are often made of mud or clay, and frequently have no windows; and as the threshold of a Syrian house is sacred, the thief breaks in through the wall (see Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant).
M. O. Evans
dig'-ni-tiz, dig'-ni-ti (Hebrew marom, se'eth, gedhullah): Rank or position, not nobility or austerity of personal character or bearing, is denoted by this word in its Old Testament occurrences (Gen 49:3; Est 6:3; Eccl 10:6; Hab 1:7). In 2 Pet 2:10; Jude 1:8, "dignities" (doxai) are angels, lofty spiritual beings, possible objects of blasphemy; compare the context in both passages.
di'-ke (dike, "justice"): The avenging justice of God personified as a goddess (Acts 28:4).
See JUSTICE .
dik'-la (diqlah, "place of palms"): One of the "sons" of Joktan (Gen 10:27; 1 Ch 1:21). Perhaps a south-Arabian tribal or place-name connected with a palm-bearing district.
dil'-e-an (dil`an, "cucumber"): A town in the Shephelah of Judah named with Migdal-gad and Mizpeh (Josh 15:38, the English Revised Version "Dilan"), which lay probably on the North of Lachish and Eglon. It has not been identified.
DILIGENCE; DILIGENT; DILIGENTLY
dil'-i-jens, dil'-i-jent-li: This word is used in various senses in our English Bibles.
In Ezr 5:8, "with diligence" means "with care"; in Ezr 6:12; 7:17, "with speed," "speedily"; in Prov 4:23 "watchfulness"; in Dt 4:9; 6:17; 19:18; Ps 77:6; Prov 27:23; Isa 55:2; Mic 7:3, "with care," "scrupulously," "earnestly." Sometimes it means "early" "with haste" (Job 8:5; Prov 8:17). It may mean "industrious," "exacting" (Prov 10:4; 12:27; 22:29).
The American revisers have rendered "diligence" for various words in the King James Version, e.g. for "business" in Rom 12:11; "giving diligence" for "endeavoring" (Eph 4:3); "give diligence" for "study" (2 Tim 2:15,), for "labor" (Heb 4:11); "diligently" for "carefully" (Phil 2:28; Heb 12:17); "be diligent in" for "meditate upon" (1 Tim 4:15). It is well also to remember that the Old English meaning of diligence is "with love," from diligo, "to love."
G. H. Geberding
See ANISE .
di-min'-ish: the Revised Version (British and American) has retained nearly all passages of the King James Version where "to diminish" is used. Some of these uses have become obsolete: Dt 4:2, "neither shall ye diminish from it." "Diminish" generally means "to reduce," "to lessen." In this sense it is employed in Ezek 5:11 from the Hebrew gara`, literally, "to shear." The picture of shearing the beard, expressing degradation and loss of manhood, may underlie this passage.
dim'-na (dimnah, "dung"; Damna): A city of the Merarite Levites in the territory of Zebulun (Josh 21:35). The name is probably a clerical error for Rimmon.
di'-mon, di-mo'-na.
See DIBON .
di'-na (dinah, "justice"): The daughter of Jacob and Leah, whose violation by Shechem, son of Hamor, caused her brothers, especially Simeon and Levi, to slay the inhabitants of Shechem, although they had induced the Shechemites to believe, if they would submit to circumcision, Shechem, the most honored of all the house of his father, would be permitted to have the maiden to whom his soul clave for wife (Gen 34:1-31). The political elements of the story (compare Gen 34:21-23 and 30) suggest a tribal rather than a personal significance for the narrative.
Nathan Isaacs
di'-na-its (dinaye'): A people mentioned in Ezr 4:9, as settled in the city of Samaria by Osnappar (Assurbanipal). The identification is uncertain.
din'-ha-ba, din-ha'-ba (dinhabhah): The royal city of Bela, son of Beor; king of Edom (Gen 36:32; 1 Ch 1:43). There may be a resemblance in the name of Hodbat et-Teneib. about 8 miles East of Heshbon; but this is in the land of Moab, and probably much too far to the North. No satisfactory identification has been proposed.
din'-er (ariston; Mt 22:4; Lk 11:38 (the Revised Version, margin "breakfast"); 14:12; compare Ruth 2:14; Jn 21:13): In oriental as in classical lands it was customary, in ancient times, as now, to have but two meals in the day, and the evidence, including that of Josephus, goes to show that the second or evening meal was the principal one. The "morning morsel," as the Talmud calls it, was in no sense a "meal." The peasant or artisan, before beginning work, might "break (his) fast" (Jn 21:12,15) by taking a bit of barley bread with some simple relish, but to "eat (a full meal) in the morning" was a reproach (Eccl 10:16). The full meal was not to be taken until a little before or after sunset, when the laborers had come in from their work (Lk 17:7; compare the "supper time" of 14:17). The noon meal, taken at an hour when climatic conditions called for rest from exertion (the ariston of the Greeks, rendered "dinner" in English Versions of the Bible, Mt 22:4; Lk 11:38, the Revised Version, margin "breakfast"), was generally very simple, of bread soaked in light wine with a handful of parched corn (Ruth 2:14), or of "pottage and bread broken into a bowl" (Bel and the Dragon 33), or of bread and broiled fish (Jn 21:13). Many, when on journey especi content with one meal a day, taken after sunset. In general, eating at other times is casual and informal; evening is the time for the formal meal, or feast.
See MEALS .
George B. Eager
di-o-nish'-i-a (Dionusia, "festivals of Dionysus" (Bacchus)): The rural (vintage) Dionysia were celebrated in the month of Poseideon (19th day), which is roughly our December. The celebration consisted of feasts, processions, songs and (sometimes) scenic performances. The Ascolia formed one of the most prominent features. After sacrificing a goat to the god, they filled the wine-skin with wine, made it slippery on the outside with oil, and then tried to hop on it with one leg. Whoever fell down furnished great sport for the spectators, but if anyone succeeded in maintaining an upright position to the end, he was declared victor. The demarch conducted the festival, the expenses of which were paid by the deme.
The Lenea were celebrated on the 12th of Gamelion (January) in Athens, and later in Ionia in Asia Minor. At this festival also the new wine was tasted. A procession was formed and they marched through the city, indulging in all sorts of jesting and buffoonery, to attend the pantomimic performances.
The Anthesteria (Flower-Feast) came in the month of Anthesterion (February), when the first flowers appeared. This festival resembled somewhat our Christmas. On the first day (11th of the month) the wine-cask was opened; on the second was the feast of pitchers. Wine was drunk, and contests in trumpet-playing were held. At the drinking contest everybody was permitted to make as much merriment as he pleased. There was also a mystic marriage of the king archon's wife to Dionysus (compare the marriage of the Doges of Venice to the sea). On the third day they offered pots filled with vegetables to Hermes, Conductor of the Dead. This day was sacred to the gods of the nether world and to the spirits of the departed (All Souls' Day); and the people celebrated Persephone's resurrection and reunion with the god.
The Greater, or City Dionysia, were held in Elaphebolion (March) as a spring festival. This is the most important of all the Dionysia (for us), since practically all the great tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were performed in conjunction with this festival. All the demes took part. They accompanied the ancient image of Dionysus Eleutherios (from Eleutherae in Boeotia, one of the first places in which the worship of the god was established in Greece), as it was carried in solemn procession from the Lenaeon (the original center of his cult in Athens) to a small temple in the Ceramicus in the northwestern part of the city, while choruses of men and boys sang the dithurambos (the ancient hymn to Dionysus). Crowned with the vine and dressed in unusual costumes, they greeted the god with loud shouts of joy.
The festival was revived with great pomp by the Pisistratidae. In theater of Dionysus all the people beheld an imposing rehearsal of their great achievements. Even the poorest and humblest were given an opportunity to see and hear the contests between the professional rhapsodists, who recited Homer, between choruses specially trained to sing the dithyrambs, and between poets, whose great dramatic productions were presented for the first time. The state set aside a special fund for the purchase of tickets for those who were too poor to buy for themselves. Comedies, tragedies and satyr dramas were presented after elaborate preparation and at a great expenditure of money. The prize, a bronze tripod, was erected with an appropriate inscription on the Street of Tripods. The awarding of prizes to the victors concluded the festival.
The quinquennial festival at Brauron in Attica was also celebrated with extraordinary license and merriment. The city of Athens sent delegates regularly to attend the festival.
There were also Dionysiac clubs in Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian War. These had peculiar doctrines and observances. They had their foundation in Orphic mysticism. The members refrained from eating the flesh of animals. They possessed holy scriptures and had peculiar propitiatory rites. The Dionysiac religious observance continued as a state cult down to 366 AD.
See BACCHUS .
J. E. Harry
di-o-nish'-i-us (Dionusios, surnamed "the Areopagite"): One of the few Athenians converted by Paul (Acts 17:34). We know nothing further about him (See AREOPAGUS ). According to one account he was the first bishop of the church at Athens; according to another he suffered martyrdom in that city under Domitian. We are even told that he migrated to Rome and was sent to Paris, where he was beheaded on Montmartre (Mount of the Martyr). The patron saint of France is Denys; compare the French "Denys d'Halicarnasse" (Dionysius of Halicarnassus). The mystical writings which were circulated in the Middle Ages and are still extant, are pronounced by the best authorities to be forgeries, and date from a period not earlier than the 5th century.
J. E. Harry
di-o-ni'-sus (Dionusos): The youngest of the Greek gods. In Homer he is not associated with the vine. In later Greek legend he is represented as coming from India, as traversing Asia in a triumphal march, accompanied by woodland beings, with pointed ears, snub noses and goat-tails. These creatures were called satyrs. The vine was cultivated among European-Aryans first in Thrace, and here Dionysus is said to have established his worship first in Europe. Then the cult of Dionysus passed down through the Balkan peninsula to Thebes; and in the localized form of the myth the deity was born here--son of Zeus and Semele.
"Offspring of Zeus on high
..........................
Thou that carest for all
Who on Bacchus in Italy call
And in Deo's sheltered plain
Of Eleusis lord dost reign,
Whither worshippers repair!
O Bacchus that dwellest in Thebes,
On whose broad and fertile glebes
Fierce warriors from the dragon's teeth rose,
Where Ismenus softly flows,
The city that Semele bare!"
--Sophocles, Antigone.
Among all the Greek deities none appealed more vividly to the imagination than Dionysus. Greek tragedy is a form of worship, the ritual cult of the god of wine, who makes the initiate wise and the ungodly mad. Dionysus speaks most strongly to the sense and to the spirit at the same time. There is nothing monotonous in the Dionysiac legend; it is replete with both joy and sorrow--in some aspects it is a "passion" in others a triumph. All the passion plays of the world (even the Oberammergau Schauspiel) are in the ancient spirit. One Dionysus after another has been substituted, but from the first there has been a desire on the part of the devotee to realize his god vividly with thrilling nearness, to partake of his joys and sorrows and triumphs in his manifold adventures. In the early myths Dionysus was one of the lesser gods; he is mentioned only twice in the Iliad and twice in the Odyssey; but he is always represented as being more nearly akin to man than the great august deities of Olympus. He is a man-god, or god-man. To the inhabitants of the vine-clad slopes of Attica, to which his cult had been brought from Phrygia through Thracian Boeotia, he was particularly dear. At their vintage feasts last year's cask of wine was opened; and when the new year brought life again to the vines, the bountiful god was greeted with songs of joyful praise. The burial of the wine in the dark tomb of the jars through the winter, and the opening of these jars at the spring festival symbolized the great awakening of man himself, the resurrection of the god's worshippers to a fuller and more joyous life. The vine was not the only manifestation of the god--oil and wheat were also his; he was the god of ecstasy, the giver of physical joy and excitement, the god of life, the god of certain laws of Nature, germination and extinction, the external coming into being and the dying away of all things that are, fructification in its widest aspect whether in the bursting of the seed-grain that lies intreasured in the earth, or in the generation of living creatures. Hence, the prominence given to the phallus in the solemn processions in honor of the god.
Nicanor (2 Macc 14:33) and Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Macc 6:7) thought that the cult of Dionysus would not be objectionable to the Jews. Ptolemy Philopator branded the Jews with an ivy-leaf (3 Macc 2:29), which was sacred to Dionysus.
See also BACCHUS .
J. E. Harry
di-os-ko-rin'-thi-us: A certain (unidentified) month (2 Macc 11:21).
di-os'-ku-ri (Dioscouroi; in Acts 28:11, the King James Version Castor and Pollux, the Revised Version (British and American) THE TWIN BROTHERS; in margin, "Dioscuri"): The sign of the ship on which Paul sailed from Melita to Syracuse and Rhegium. The Dioscuri (i.e. sons of Zeus), Castor and Pollux, are the two chief stars in the constellation of the Twins. Some 4,000 years BC they served as pointers to mark the beginning of the new year by setting together with the first new moon of springtime. The constellation of the Twins was supposed to be especially favorable to sailors, hence, ships were often placed under the protection of the twin gods.
E. W. Maunder
di-ot'-re-fez (Diotrephes): A person mentioned in 3 Jn 1:9,10 as contentiously resisting the writer's authority and forbidding others from exercising the Christian hospitality which he himself refused to show. The words "who loveth to have the preeminence, among them" may indicate that he was a church official, abusing his position.chief stars in the constellation of the Twins. Some 4,000 years BC they served as pointers to mark the beginning of the new year by setting together with the first new moon of springtime. The constellation of the Twins was supposed to be especially favorable to sailors, hence, ships were often placed under the protection of the twin gods.
Priests when offering a sin offering were required to dip a finger into the blood of the sacrificed bullock and "to sprinkle of the blood seven times before Yahweh" (compare Lev 4:6, et al.). See also the law referring to the cleansing of infected houses (Lev 14:51) and the cleansing of a leper (Lev 14:16). In all such cases "to dip" is "to moisten," "to besprinkle," "to dip in," the Hebrew Tabhal, or the Greek bapto. See also ASHER . In Ps 68:23 "dipping" is not translated from the Hebrew, but merely employed for a better understanding of the passage: "Thou mayest crush them, dipping thy foot in blood" (the King James Version "that thy foot may be dipped in the blood"). Rev 19:13 is a very doubtful passage. the King James Version reads: "a vesture dipped in blood" (from bapto, "to dip"); the Revised Version (British and American) following another reading (either rhaino, or rhantizo, both "to sprinkle"), translates "a garment sprinkled with blood." the Revised Version, margin gives "dipped in."
See also SOP .
A. L. Breslich
di'-fath (diphath): A son of Gomer, son of Japheth, son of Noah (1 Ch 1:6), called RIPHATH (which see) in the corresponding genealogy in Gen 10:3.
dis-a-lou': "To disallow" as used in the Scriptures means either "to oppose," "not permit" (Hebrew no', Nu 30:5,8,11), or "to reject" (Greek apodokimazo, literally, "to consider useless," 1 Pet 2:4,7 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "rejected").
dis-a-nul'.
See ANNUL .
dis-a-point': "To disappoint" may be used transitively or intransitively. In the former case it naturally has a more forceful meaning. Therefore the Revised Version (British and American) changes the translation of the King James Version wherever "disappoint" is used with an object: Job 5:12, "frustrateth"; Ps 17:13, "confront him," the Revised Version, margin "forestall"; Judith 16:6, "brought them to nought"; but the Revised Version (British and American) retains "disappoint" where the person wh disappoints is not expressed. Compare Prov 15:22.
di-zurn': Five Hebrew words are thus translated: bin, yadha`, nakhar, ra'ah and shama`. It may simply mean "observe" (bin), "I discerned among the youths" (Prov 7:7); or discriminating knowlege, "A wise man's heart discerneth time and judgment" (Eccl 8:5, yadha`); "He discerned him not, because his hands," etc. (Gen 27:23, nakhar); "Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked" (Mal 3:18, ra'ah); "So is my lord the king to discern good," etc. (2 Sam 14:17, shama`). In the New Testament the words anakrino, diakrino and dokimazo are thus translated, expressing close and distinct acquaintance with or a critical knowledge of things. Used in 1 Cor 2:14 the King James Version of "the things of the spirit of God"; in 1 Cor 11:29 of "the (Lord's) body" in the sacrament; in Mt 16:3 of "the face of the heaven"; in Heb 5:14 of a clear knowledge of good and evil as the prerogative of a full-grown man. See also next article.
Henry E. Dosker
di-zurn'-inz, (diakriseis pneumaton, "judicial estimation," "through judgment or separation"): Occurs in 1 Cor 12:10 as being one of the gifts of the Spirit. The Greek word occurs in Heb 5:14; and Rom 14:1: "But him that is weak in faith receive ye, yet not for decision of scruples." This translation scarcely expresses the meaning, which Thayer has freely rendered, "not for the purpose of passing judgment on opinions, as to which one is to be preferred as the more correct." Taking these three passages together it is evident that the Greek term which is rendered "discerning" means a distinguishing or discriminating between things that are under consideration; hence, the one who possessed the gift of "discernings of spirits" was able to make distinction between the one who spoke by the Spirit of God and the one who was moved by a false spirit. This gift seems to have been exercised chiefly upon those who assumed the role of teachers, and it was especially important in those days, because there were many false teachers abroad (See 2 Jn 1:7; Acts 20:29,30).
See also SPIRITUAL GIFTS .
A. W. Fortune
di-si'-p'-l:
(1) Usually a substantive (mathetes, "a learner," from manthano, "to learn"; Latin discipulus, "a scholar"): The word is found in the Bible only in the Gospels and Acts. But it is good Greek, in use from Herodotus down, and always means the pupil of someone, in contrast to the master or teacher (didaskalos). See Mt 10:24; Lk 6:40. In all cases it implies that the person not only accepts the views of the teacher, but that he is also in practice an adherent. The word has several applications. In the widest sense it refers to those who accept the teachings of anyone, not only in belief but in life. Thus the disciples of John the Baptist (Mt 9:14; Lk 7:18; Jn 3:25); also of the Pharisees (Mt 22:16; Mk 2:18; Lk 5:33); of Moses (Jn 9:28). But its most common use is to designate the adherents of Jesus. (a) In the widest sense (Mt 10:42; Lk 6:17; Jn 6:66, and often). It is the only name for Christ's followers in the Gospels. But (b) especially the Twelve Apostles, even when they are called simply the disciples (Mt 10:1; 11:1; 12:1, et al.). In the Acts, after the death and ascension of Jesus, disciples are those who confess Him as the Messiah, Christians (Acts 6:1,2,7; 9:36 (feminine, mathetria); Acts 11:26, "The disciples were called Christians"). Even half-instructed be-lievers who had been baptized only with the baptism of John are disciples (Acts 19:1-4).
(2) We have also the verb, matheteuo, "Jesus' disciple" (literally, "was discipled to Jesus," Mt 27:57); "Make disciples of all the nations" (the King James Version "teach," Mt 28:19); "had made many disciples" (the King James Version "taught many," Acts 14:21); "every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven" (the King James Version "instructed," Mt 13:52). The disciple of Christ today may be described in the words of Farrar, as "one who believes His doctrines, rests upon His sacrifice, imbibes His spirit, and imitates His example."
The Old Testament has neither the term nor the exact idea, though there is a difference between teacher and scholar among David's singers (1 Ch 25:8), and among the prophetic guilds the distinction between the rank and file and the leader (1 Sam 19:20; 2 Ki 6:5).
G. H. Trever
dis'-i-plin (mucar): In the King James Version only in Job 36:10, where it refers to moral discipline, the strenuous cultivation of the righteous life; the Revised Version (British and American) "instruction." the Revised Version (British and American) in 2 Tim 1:7 has "discipline" for a Greek word (sophronismos) meaning "sobering"; in 2 Tim 3:16 margin, for Greek paideia, "instruction." In classic Greek paideia means "education," mental culture. Through the influence of the Septuagint, which translates the Hebrew mucar by paideia, the meaning of "chastisement" accompanies paideia in the New Testament. Compare Heb 12:5,7,8,11.
See CHASTISEMENT ; and for ecclesiastical discipline seeCHURCH .
dis-kum'-fit, dis-kum'-fi-tur (hum, mehumah): These words are now obsolete or at least obsolescent and are confined in Biblical literature wholly to the Old Testament. The meaning in general is "to annoy," "harass," "confuse," "rout" and "destroy." The most common usage is that based upon the root meaning, "to trouble" or "annoy," sometimes to the point of destruction (Josh 10:10; Jdg 4:15; 1 Sam 7:10; 2 Sam 22:15).
The King James Version errs in the translation in Isa 31:8, where the meaning is obviously "to become subject to task work" or "to place a burden upon one." There seems also to be an unwarranted use of the word in Nu 14:45, where it means rather "to bruise" or "strike." The purest use is perhaps in 1 Sam 14:20, where the statement is made that "every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture."
Walter G. Clippinger
dis-kors': In the Revised Version (British and American) of Acts 20:7,9, the translation of Greek dialegomai (the King James Version "preach"), elsewhere rendered, according to the implications of the context, "reason" or "dispute," as Acts 17:2; 19:9 (the King James Version "disputing," the Revised Version (British and American) "reasoning"); Jude 1:9.
dis-kuv'-er: In modern usage the word "discover" signifies "to get first sight or knowledge of," "to ascertain," or "to explore." Such usage appears in 1 Sam 22:6 of the discovery of David's hiding-place, where the Hebrew uses yadha`. In the King James Version the word "discover" often occurs in a sense now archaic or even obsolete. (Note in the cases cited below the Hebrew word is galah, except Jer 13:26 (chashaph, "to make bare") and Hab 3:13 (`arar, "to make naked").) (1) "To exhibit," "uncover" (or "betray"), in which examples the English Revised Version also reads with the King James Version "discover"; the American Standard Revised Version "uncover" (Ex 20:26; Job 12:22; Isa 57:8 ("discovered thyself" the King James Version and the English Revised Version); Jer 13:26; Lam 2:14; Hos 7:1; Nah 3:5). (2) "To cause to be no longer a covering," "to lay bare" (2 Sam 22:16 the King James Version). (3) "To bring to light," "disclose" (1 Sam 14:8,11 (the English Revised Version with the King James Version "discover")). (4) "To unmask" or "reveal oneself" (Prov 18:2 the King James Version). (5) "To take away the covering of" (Isa 22:8 the King James Version). (6) "To lay bare" (Hab 3:13). In Ps 29:9, the King James Version reads: "The voice of the Lord .... discovereth the forests," where the Revised Version (British and American) reads, "strippeth the forests bare," i.e. "strippeth the forests of their leaves" (Perowne, The Psalms, I, 248); "strippeth bare the forests" (Briggs, Psalms, I, 251, 253).
In the New Testament (the King James Version), the word "discover" occurs as a translation of the Greek anaphanantes in Acts 21:3, and for katenooun in Acts 27:39, where the Revised Version (British and American) reads in the first instance "had come in sight of," and in the latter case "perceived."
W. N. Stearns
dis-krep'-an-siz, bib'-li-kal:
By this term should be understood substantial disagreements in the statements of Biblical writers. Such disagreements might subsist between the, statements of different writers or between the several statements of a single writer. Contradictions of Biblical views from extra-Biblical sources as history, natural science, philosophy, do not fall within the scope of our subject.
2. Criticism versus Doctrine of Inerrancy:
Observant Bible readers in every age have noted, with various degrees of insight, that the Scriptures exhibit manifold interior differences and contrasts. Differences of literary form and method have ever seemed, except to those who maintained a mechanical theory of inspiration, wholly natural and fitting. Moreover, that there was progress in the Biblical revelation, especially that the New Testament of Jesus Christ signifies a vastly richer revelation of God than the Old Testament, has been universally recognized. In fulfilling the law and the prophets Christ put a marked distance between Himself and them, yet He certainly affirmed rather than denied them. The Christian church has ever held to the essential unity of the Divine library of the Holy Scriptures. Moreover, the evangelical churches have recognized the Bible as "the only and sufficient rule of both faith and practice." Indeed, in the generation following the Reformation, the strictest and most literal theory of inspiration and inerrancy found general acceptance. Over against such a body of presuppositions, criticism, some generations later, began to allege certain errors and discrepancies in the Bible. Of course the orthodox sought to repel all these claims; for they felt that the Bible, whatever the appearances might seem to indicate, must be free from error, else it could not be the word of God. So there came with criticism a long period of sturdy defense of the strictest doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. Criticism, however, kept on its way. It has forced the church to find a deeper and surer ground of confidence in the authority of the Bible as the witness to God's self-revelation to man. In our day the church has for the most part overcome the notion that the certainty of the saving grace of God in Christ stands or falls with the absolute inerrancy of each several statement contained in the Bible. Still there remains, and doubtless ever must remain, a need of a clear understanding of the issue involved in the allegation--along with other "human limitations"--of Biblical discrepancies.
Alleged discrepancies pertain (1) to statements of specific, concrete facts, and (2) to the utterance of principles and doctrines. Under the first head fall disagreements respecting numbers, dates, the form and order of historical events, records of spoken words, geography, natural history, etc. Under the second head fall disagreements respecting moral and religious truths, the "superhistorical" realities and values. Our inquiry resolves itself into three parts: (1) to determine whether there be discrepancies, of either or both sorts, in the Bible; (2) to obtain at least a general understanding of the conditions and causes that may have given rise to the discrepancies, real or apparent; (3) to determine their significance for faith.
4. Alleged Discrepancies Pertaining to Facts:
As to the first point, it should be observed that apparent inconsistencies may not be real ones; as so often in the past, so again it may come about that the discovery of further data may resolve many an apparent contradiction. On the other hand, the affirmation a priori that there can be and are no real discrepancies in the Bible is not only an outrage upon the human understanding, but it stands also in contradiction to the spirit of freedom that is of faith. Besides, it should not be overlooked that the discoveries of modern historical and archaeological research, which have tended to confirm so many Biblical statements, seem just as surely to reveal error in others. In any event we must bow to reality, and we may do this with fearless confidence in "the God of things as they are." But are there real discrepancies in the Bible? It is no part of the present plan to attempt the impossible and at all events useless task of exhibiting definite statistics of all the alleged discrepancies, or even of all the principal ones. Passing by the childish folly that would find a "discrepancy" in mere rhetorical antitheses, such as that in Prov 26:4,5 ("Answer not a fool," and "Answer a fool according to his folly"), or instances of merely formal contrariety of expression, where the things intended are manifestly congruous (e.g. Mt 12:30; Lk 11:23 contrasted with Mk 9:40; Lk 9:50: "He that is not with me is against me," "He that is not against us is for us"), it will serve our purpose to notice a few representative examples of real or apparent discrepancy. The chronologies of Kings and Chronicles are inconsistent (compare CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ). The genealogies in Gen 46; Nu 26; 1 Ch 2:7 show considerable variations. The two lists of exiles who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2; Neh 7:6 ff) show many discrepancies, including a marked difference in the enumeration. The accounts of the creation in Gen 1 and 2 (compare CREATION )--to take an example dependent upon the results of modern criticism--are mutually independent and in important particulars diverse. But the center of interest in our inquiry is the gospel history. Since Tatian and his Diatessaron in the 2nd century, the variations and contrasts in the Gospels have not only been noted and felt, but many have striven to "harmonize" them. After all, however, there remain some irreducible differences. The Gospels, generally speaking, do not give us ipsissima verba of Jesus; in reporting His discourses they show many variations. In so far as the essential meaning is the same in all, no one speaks of discrepancies; but where the variation clearly involves a difference of meaning (e.g. Mt 12:39,40 and Lk 11:29,30), one may say that at least a technical discrepancy exists. In recording sayings or events the evangelists manifestly do not always observe the same chronological order; Lk, e.g. records in wholly different connections sayings which Mt includes as parts of the Sermon on the Mount (e.g. the Lord's Prayer, Mt 6:9 ff; Lk 11:1-4; compare JESUS CHRIST ;CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ). We have two distinct genealogies of Jesus (Mt 1:1-16; Lk 3:23 ff; compare GENEALOGY ). We may even note that Pilate's superscription over the cross of Jesus is given in four distinct forms. Here, however, the discrepancy is not real except in the most technical sense, and is worth mentioning only to show that the evangelists' interest does not lie in a mere objective accuracy. That a perfect agreement as to the significance of an event exists where there are undeniable discrepancies in external details may be illustrated by the two accounts of the healing of the centurion's servant (Mt 8:5 ff; Lk 7:1 ff). Of enormously greater interest are the various accounts of the appearances of the risen Christ. If a complete certainty as to the form and order of these events is necessary to faith, the case is not a happy one, for the harmonists have been unable to render a perfect account of these matters (compare JESUS CHRIST ;RESURRECTION ). Turning from the Gospels to apostolic history, we meet some real problems, e.g. how to relate Paul's autobiographical notes in Gal 1 with the accounts in Acts.
5. Alleged Discrepancies Pertaining to Doctrine:
The discrepancies thus far noted pertain to historical matters, and not one of them involves the contradiction of a fact in which faith is interested. But are there also real or apparent discrepancies in matters of doctrine? Many scholars maintain, for instance, that the ideal of the prophets and that of the priestly class stand in a relative (not absolute) opposition to each other (compare, e.g. Isa 1:11; Mic 6:8 with the ritualism of Lev and Dt). Or, to turn to the New Testament, some would assert--among them Luther--that James stands in opposition to Paul in respect to faith and works (compare Jas 2:17 ff in contrast with Gal 2:16 and many other passages in Paul). But particular interest attaches to the problem of Christ's attitude toward the Old Testament law. His "but I say unto you" (Mt 5:22 and passim) has been interpreted by many as a distinct contradiction of the Old Testament. Another question of acute interest is the agreement of the Johannine picture of Jesus with that of the Synoptists.
It can scarcely require proof that some of these alleged discrepancies are not such at all. For example, Jesus' attitude toward the Old Testament was one of profound reverence and affirmation. He was perfectly conscious that the Old Testament law represented a stage in the Divine education of mankind. His "but I say unto you" was not a denying of the degree of advancement represented by the Old Testament law, but a carrying out of the principle of the law to its full expression (compare LAW ;FULFIL ). Of course, the Divine education of Israel did not mean the mere inculcation of the truth in a fallow and hitherto unoccupied soil. There was much superstition and error to be overcome. If then one should insist that the errors, which revelation was destined to overcome, still manifest themselves here and there in the Old Testament, it may be replied that at all events the one grand tendency of Divine revelation is unmistakably clear. An idea is not "Scriptural" simply by virtue of its having been incidentally expressed by a Biblical writer, but because it essentially and inseparably belongs to the organic whole of the Biblical testimony. In the case of James versus Paul the antithesis is one of emphasis, not of contradiction of a first principle. And as for the variations in the gospel history, these do not deserve to be called real discrepancies so long as the Gospels unite in giving one harmonious picture and testimony concerning the personal life and the work and teaching of Jesus. Even from this point of view, John, though so much more theological, preaches the same Christ as the Synoptists.
As to the conditions under which discrepancies may arise, it may suffice, first, to call attention to the general law that God in revealing Himself to men and in moving men by His Spirit to speak or write, never lifts them out of the normal relations of human intelligence, so far as matters of history or science are concerned. It is their witness to Himself and His will which is the result of revelation and inspiration. Their references to history and Nature are not therefore in any sense super-human; accordingly they have no direct authority for faith (compare REVELATION ;INSPIRATION ). On this basis the divergences of human traditions or documents as exhibited in different genealogies, chronologies and the like are natural in the best sense and wholly fitting. As for the rest, errors of copyists have played a part.
7. Their Significance for Faith:
Faith, however, has no interest in explaining away the human limitations in God's chosen witnesses. It is God's way to place the heavenly "treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor 4:7). It seems that God has purposely led the church to see, through the necessity of recognizing the human limitations of the Bible, just where her faith is grounded. God has made Himself known through His Son. The Scriptures of the New Testament, and of the Old Testament in preparation for Him, give us a clear and sufficient testimony to the Christ of God. The clearness and persuasive power of that testimony make all questions of verbal and other formal agreement essentially irrelevant. The certainty that God has spoken unto us in His Son and that we have this knowledge through the Scripture testimony lifts us above all anxious concern for the possible errors of the witnesses in matters evidently nonessential.
LITERATURE.
Besides the literature noted under REVELATION and INSPIRATION, see J. W. Haley, An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, Andover, 1873; M. S. Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics, New York, 1883; Kahler, Zur Bibelf rage, Leipzig, 1907.
J. R. Van Pelt
dis'-kus (diskos, "the summons of the discus," 2 Macc 4:14 margin, "to the game of the discus," the King James Version "the game of discus"): The discus was a round stone slab or metal plate of considerable weight (a kind of quoit), the contest of throwing which to the greatest distance was one of the exercises in the Greek gymnasia, being included in the pentathlon. It was introduced into Jerusalem by Jason the high priest in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, 175-164 BC, in the Palaestra he had formed there in imitation of the Greek games. His conduct led to his being described in 2 Macc 4:13,14 as that "ungodly man" through whom even the priests forsook their duties to play at the discus. A statue of a discobolos (discus-thrower) is in the British Museum. From discus we have the words "disc," "dish," "desk."
See GAMES .
W. L. Walker
di-zez', di-zez'-iz (chalah, choli; nosos): Palestine, from its position and physical conditions, ought to be a healthy country. That it is not so depends on the unsanitary conditions in which the people live and the absence of any attempts to check the introduction or development of zymotic diseases. The number of marshes or pools is fairly small, and the use of active measures to destroy the larvae of mosquitos might easily diminish or abolish the malarial fevers which now prevail all over the country. The freeing of Ismailieh and Port Said from these pests is an object-lesson in sanitation. When one examines the conditions of life in towns and villages all over the country, the evidences of the ravages of these fevers and their sequelae appear on every hand as they affect all ages from infancy to middle age, and one meets but few individuals of extreme old age. The absence of any adequate system of drainage and the pollution of the water supplies are also factors of great importance in preserving this unhealthiness.
In ancient times it was regarded as healthier than Egypt, as it well might be, hence, the diseases of Egypt are referred to as being worse than those of Palestine (Dt 7:15; 28:60; Am 4:10). The sanitary regulations and restrictions of the Priestly Code would doubtless have raised the standard of public health, but it is unlikely that these were ever observed over any large area.
The types of disease which are referred to in the Bible are those that still prevail. Fevers of several kinds, dysentery, leprosy, intestinal worms, plague, nervous diseases such as paralysis and epilepsy, insanity, ophthalmia and skin diseases are among the commonest and will be described under their several names. Methods of treatment are described under MEDICINE; PHYSICIAN. The word "disease" or "diseases" in the King James Version is changed to "sickness" in the Revised Version (British and American) in 2 Ki 1:2; 8:8; Mt 9:35, and left out in Jn 5:4; while in Mt 8:17 "sicknesses" is replaced by "diseases." the Revised Version (British and American) also changes "infirmity" in Lk 7:21 to "diseases," and in Ps 38:7 "a loathsome disease" is changed to "burning."
Alex. Macalister
See EYES ,DISEASES OF THE .
The rendering in English Versions of the Bible in some connections of three Hebrew and one Greek word. The qe`arah of Ex 25:29; 37:16; Nu 4:7 was apparently a kind of salver, in this case of gold, for holding the loaves of the "presence bread." The same word represents the silver "platters" (Nu 7:13 ff) brought by the princes as a dedication gift. The cephel of Jdg 5:25 was a large bowl, so translated in Jdg 6:38. "Lordly dish" is literally, "bowl of (fit for) nobles." The tsallachath of 2 Ki 21:13; Prov 19:24; 26:15 (last two the King James Version "bosom" after the Septuagint) refers probably to the wide, deep dish in which the principal part of the meal was served. Of somewhat similar form may have been the trublion Septuagint for qe`arah) mentioned in connection with the Passover meal (Mt 26:23; Mk 14:20).
Benjamin Reno Downer
di'-shan, di'-shon (dishan, dishon, "antelope," "pygarg"): A Horite clan, mentioned as the youngest "son" and elsewhere as the "grandson" of Seir. The form Dishon occurs several times in the list of Horite clans, together with many other totem names (Gen 36 passim; 1 Ch 1:38,41). See Gray, HPN , 89.
dis-on'-es-ti: Only in 2 Cor 4:2, the King James Version rendering of Greek aischune; the King James Version elsewhere and the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly, "shame."
dis-o-be'-di-ens, (marah; apeitheo, parakouo): The word used chiefly in the New Testament has the general meaning of a lack of regard for authority or rulership. The stronger meaning of actual stubbornness or violence is perhaps conveyed in the Old Testament (1 Ki 13:26; Neh 9:26; compare 1 Ki 13:21).
In the New Testament there seem to be two rather clearly defined uses of the word, one objective and practical, the other ethical and psychological. The first refers more to conduct, the second to belief and one's mental attitude toward the object of disobedience. To the first belong such passages as refer to the overt act of disobedience to one's parents (Rom 1:30; 2 Tim 3:2). Illustrating this more fully, the translation according to the King James Version of 1 Tim 1:9 is given as "unruly" in the Revised Version (British and American). By far the greater emphasis, however, is placed upon the distinctly ethical quality in which disobedience is really an attitude of the mind and finds its essence in a heart of unbelief and unfaithfulness (1 Pet 2:7,8; Eph 2:2; 5:6; Col 3:6). In the latter three references "children (sons) of disobedience" are mentioned, as if one should become the very offspring of such an unhappy and unholy state of mind. The classic phrase of New Testament literature (Acts 26:19) contains both the practical and the ethical aspects. Paul's convictions were changed by the vision and his conduct was made to conform immediately to it.
Walter G. Clippinger
dis-or'-der-li (ataktos): The word is found four times in the Epistles to the Thess (1 Thess 5:14; 2 Thess 3:6,7,11), "Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly."; "We behaved not ourselves disorderly."; "We hear of some that walk among you disorderly." The word is a military term and has reference to the soldier who does not keep the ranks (inordinatus, Liv). Then it refers to people who refuse to obey the civil laws, and thus it gets its meaning, "disorderly." It points to members in the early church, who, by their lives, became a reproach to the gospel of Christ (compare 1 Thess 4:11,12).
Henry E. Dosker
dis-pach': Occurs Tobit 7:8 in the sense of dispatch of business, "Let this business be dispatched" (the Revised Version (British and American) "finished"); 2 Macc 12:18, "before he had dispatched anything" (the Revised Version (British and American) "without accomplishing"); The Wisdom of Solomon 11:19 (20) in the sense of finishing, destroying, "dispatch them at once" (the Revised Version (British and American) "consume"); 2 Macc 9:4 "dispatch the journey" (katanuein), which may mean "finish it q Revised Version (British and American) spells "despatch."
dis-pen-sa'-shun: The Greek word (oikonomia) so translated signifies primarily, a stewardship, the management or disposition of affairs entrusted to one. Thus 1 Cor 9:17, the King James Version "A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me," the Revised Version (British and American) "I have stewardship entrusted to me." The idea is similar in Eph 3:2 parallel Col 1:25 (the Revised Version, margin "stewardship"). In Eph 1:10 God's own working is spoken of as "dispensation."
See BABEL ;DISPERSION ;TABLE OF NATIONS .
dis-pur'-shun, (diaspora):
1. Golah and Dispersion
2. Purpose of Dispersion
3. Causes of Dispersion
4. Extent of Dispersion
5. The Eastern Dispersion
6. The Egyptian Dispersion
7. Testimony of Aramaic Papyri
8. Jewish Temple at Syene
9. Theories of the Syene Settlement
10. Importance of the Discovery
11. A New Chapter of Old Testament History
12. Alexandrian Judaism
13. The Jews and Hellenism
14. The Septuagint
15. Early Evidence of a Jewish Community
16. The Dispersion in Syria
17. In Arabia
18. In Asia Minor
19. Among Greeks Proper
20. The Roman Dispersion
21. Jews and Pompey
22. Jews and the First Caesars
23. Influence of Jews in the Early Roman Empire
24. Jews in Italy, Gaul, Spain and North Africa.
25. The Numbers of the Dispersion
26. Jewish Proselytism
27. Internal Organization
28. Unity of the Jewish People
29. Dispersion Influenced by Greek Thought
30. The Dispersion a Preparation for the Advent of Christ
31. The Dispersion an Auxiliary to the Spread of the Gospel
The Dispersion is the comprehensive designation applied to Jews living outside of Palestine and maintaining their religious observances and customs among the Gentiles. They were known as the Golah (Aramaic Galutha'), the captivity--an expression describing them in relation to their own land; and the Diaspora, the Dispersion, an expression describing them in relation to the nations among whom they were scattered. On a notable occasion Jesus said, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come. The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?" (Jn 7:34,35).
In 2 Maccabees certain priests of Jerusalem are represented as praying to God: "Gather together our Dispersion, set at liberty them that are in bondage among the heathen" (2 Macc 1:27; compare 2 Esdras 2:7; Jas 1:1; 1 Pet 1:1). The thought of such a Dispersion as a punishment for the disobedience of the people finds frequent expression in the Prophets: Hosea (9:3), Jeremiah (8:3; 16:15, etc.), Ezekiel (4:13), and Zechariah (10:9). And it appears also in the Deuteronomic Law (Dt 28:25; 30:1). That the Dispersion of the Jews was for the benefit of the Gentiles is a conception to which expression is given in utterances of psalmists and prophets (Ps 67; Mic 5:7, etc.). It is found also in the Apocrypha Baruch, a work belonging to the 1st century AD: "I will scatter this people among the Gentiles, that they may do good to the Gentiles" (1:7).
The causes of the Dispersion most obvious to the student of Old Testament history were the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, when the king of Assyria carried Israel away into his own land and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Ki 17:5 ff); and when in the reign of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, Judah was carried away into Babylonia (2 Ki 24:14). See CAPTIVITY . But there were other captivities which helped to scatter the children of Abraham. Ptolemy I of Egypt (322-285 BC) by his expeditions to Palestine and his capture of Jerusalem added largely to the Jewish population of Alexandria. Antiochus the Great of Syria (223-187 BC) removed from the Jewish communities in Mesopotamia and Babylon 2,000 families and settled them in Phrygia and Lydia (Josephus, Ant, XII, iii, 4). Pompey after his capture of Jerusalem in 63 BC carried off hundreds of Jews to Rome, where they were sold as slaves, but, afterward, many of them obtained their freedom and civic rights.
There wa