Eagle – Elihu

Eagle

Job 39:27-30, a large and very powerful bird of prey, hence called the King of birds. There are several species of eagle described by naturalists, and it is probable that this word in the Bible comprehends more than one of these. The noble eastern species, called by Mr. Bruce "the golden eagle," measures eight feet four inches from wing to wing; and from the tip of his tail to the point of his beak, when dead, four feet seven inches. Of all known birds, the eagle flies not only the highest, Pr 23:5; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:4, but also with the greatest rapidity. To this circumstance there are several striking allusions in the sacred volume, 2Sa 1:23; Job 9:26; La 4:19. Among the evils threatened to the Israelites in case of their disobedience, the prophet names one in the following terms: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth," De 28:49. The march of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, is predicted in similar terms: "Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles," Jer 4:13; 48:40; 49:22; Ho 8:1. This bird was a national emblem on Persian and Roman standards, as it now is on United States’ coins.

The eagle, it is said, lives to a great age; and like other birds of prey, sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring, after which his old age assumes the appearance of youth. To this David alludes, when gratefully reviewing the mercies of Jehovah: "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like eagle’s," Ps 103:5; Isa 40:31. The careful pains of the eagle in teaching its young to fly, beautifully illustrate God’s providential care over Israel, Ex 19:4; De 32:11,12.

The eagle is remarkable for its keen sight and scent. Its flesh, like that of all birds of prey, was unclean to the Jews; and is never eaten by any body, unless in cases of necessity, Mt 24:28; Lu 17:37.

Earing

An old agricultural term for ploughing. Thus, in Isa 30:24, it is said, "The oxen also, and the young asses which ear," that is, "plough, the ground." So also in Ge 45:6; Ex 34:21; De 21:4; 1Sa 8:12.

Earnest

A pledge of the performance of a promise; or part of a debt, paid in assurance of the payment of the whole; or part of the price, paid down to confirm a bargain; or part of a servant’s wages, paid at the time of hiring, to ratify the engagement. In the New Testament it describes the gifts of God to his people here, as the assurance and commencement of the far superior blessings of the life to come, 2Co 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:13,14.

Earrings

See RINGS.

Earth

In both Hebrew and Greek the same word is used to denote the earth as a whole, and a particular land. Only the context can enable us to decide in which of these senses it is to be taken in a given passage.

Thus in Mt 27:45 we might, so far as the original word is concerned, render either "there was darkness over all the land," or over all the earth. The expression "all the earth" is sometimes used hyperbolically for a large portion of it, Ezr 1:2. The word is used of the whole world, etc. In a moral sense, earthly is opposed to what is heavenly, spiritual and holy, Joh 3:31; 1Co 15:47; Col 3:2; Jas 3:15. "The lower parts of the earth," means the unseen world of the dead, Ps 63:9; Isa 44:23; Eph 4:9.

Earthquake

A convulsion of the earth common in volcanic regions, and well known in all parts of the world; probably occasioned by the action of internal heat or fire. Scripture speaks of several earthquakes, Nu 16:1-50; 1Ki 19:11,12. One occurred in the twenty-seventh year of Uzziah king of Judah, and is mentioned in Am 1:1; Zec 14:5. A very memorable earthquake was that at our Savior’s death, Mt 27:51, which some suppose extended throughout the world. Palestine has been often visited by earthquakes. So late as 1837 one occurred in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, by which about a third part of Tiberias was destroyed, and thousands of people perished there and in the towns near by. Earthquakes were among the calamities foretold as connected with the destruction of Jerusalem, Mt 24:7; and history proves the truth of the prediction.

The word earthquake is also used figuratively to denote God’s power and wrath, as in Ps 18:7; 46:2; 104:32, etc.; and as an emblem of a great civil or national catastrophe, Mt 24:7,29; Re 16:18,19.

East

The Hebrews, in speaking of the different quarters of the heaven, always suppose the face to be turned towards the east. Hence "before," or "forwards," means the east; "behind" is the west; the right-hand is south, and the left hand, north. Besides the ordinary meanings of the word east, Jos 4:19; Ps 103:12, the Jews often used it to designate a large region lying northeast and southeast of Palestine, including Syria and Arabia near at hand, and Babylonia, Assyria, Armenia, etc., with the whole region from the Caspian sea to the Arabian gulf, Ge 29:1; Nu 23:7; Judg 6:3; 7:12; 8:10. The wise men who visited the infant Savior dwelt somewhere in this region; and being "in the east," saw his star-not east of them, but in the direction to guide them to Jerusalem, Mt 2:1,2.

East Wind

See WIND.

Easter

Is improperly put for PASSOVER, Ac 12:4; Passover being the name of the ancient Jewish festival here referred to; while Easter, from the Saxon goddess Eostre, is the modern name of a Christian festival, in commemoration of the events of Passover-week, and fixed at the same period of the year.

Eating

The Jews would have considered themselves polluted by eating with people of another religion, or with any who were ceremonially unclean or disreputable-as with Samaritans, Joh 4:9, publicans, Mt 9:11, or Gentiles, Ac 10:28; Ga 2:12. Eating together was an established token of mutual confidence and friendship, a pledge of friendly relations between families, which their children were expected to perpetuate. The rites of hospitality were held sacred; and to this day, among the Arabs, a fugitive is safe for the time, if he gains the shelter of even an enemy’s tent. The abuse of hospitality was a great crime, Ps 41:9.

To "eat" a book, is to make its precepts, promises, and spirit one’s own, Jer 15:16; Eze 3:1; Joh 4:14; Re 10:9. So to eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood, is to receive him as a Savior, and by a living faith to be imbued with his truth, his Spirit, and his heavenly life, Joh 6:32-58.

Eating, Mode Of

The Hebrews anciently sat at their meals, Ge 43:33; 1Sa 9:22; 20:25; Ps 128:3; but afterwards adopted the practice of reclining on table-beds or divans, like the Persians, Chaldeans, Romans, etc., Am 6:4. The accompanying engraving of a Roman triclinium, three beds, will illustrate several points obscure to the modern reader of the Bible. It will be seen that three low tables are so placed as to form three sides of a hollow square accessible to the waiters. Around these tables are placed, not seats, but couches, or beds, on to each table, formed of mattresses stuffed, and often highly ornamented, Es 1:6; 7:1,8. The guests reclined with their heads to the table, each one leaning on his left elbow, and therefore using principally his right hand in taking food. Observe also that the feet of the person reclining being towards the external edge of the bed, they were much more readily reached by any one passing than any other part of the person than any other part of the person so reclining, Lu 7:36- 50 Joh 12:3.

This mode of reclining at table rendered it easy for our Lord to wash the feet of his disciples at the last supper, Joh 13:5-12, and "wiped them with the towel wherewith he was girded." It also explains the position of John at the same supper; for if he reclined next in front of the Savior, he lay as it were in his bosom, Joh 13:23,25, and might readily lean back his head upon the Savior’s breast.

It is unknown, however, how far or how long this custom displaced the primitive eastern mode still prevalent in Palestine and vicinity. The ordinary table was no more than a circular skin or carpet spread upon the floor, or on rugs or cushions. Sometimes there was a small table in the center, raising the principal dish a little above the floor.

The meals of the Jews were generally two, loosely distinguished as dinner and supper, Lu 14:12; Joh 21:12. The first meal was usually light, consisting of milk, cheese, bread, or fruits, and eaten at various hours from early morning to the middle of the forenoon. In the early history of the Hebrews, the principal meal, corresponding with our dinner, was eaten about noon, Ge 43:25; 1Ki 20:16. At a later period, at least on festive occasions, it was taken after the heat of the day was over. This was the "supper." The Jews were wont to wash their hands before eating, a custom rendered necessary by their mode of eating, but made by the Pharisees a test of piety, Mr 7:2,3; Lu 11:38. Devout Jews, not only in their sacred feasts, but in their daily enjoyments at the family meal, recognized the Giver of all good, and implored his blessing on their food, 1Sa 9:13; Mt 14:19; 15:36; 26:26; Lu 9:16; Joh 6:11; 1Ti 4:3. Some families repeated the twenty-third Psalm as they seated themselves at meals. The food consisted of flesh, fish, or fowls, butter, honey, bread, and fruits. See FOOD. Animal food was often cut into small pieces, or stewed, and served up in one large dish with melted butter, vegetables, etc. Knives, forks, and spoons were unknown as table-furniture; and the food was conveyed to the mouth by the right hand, Pr 19:24. Each person took a portion from the dish either with his thumb and fingers, or with the help of a small piece of thin bread. Several hands were occasionally plunged into the same dish at once, Joh 13:26. The head of the family was wont to send a double portion of food to a stranger, as an honor, and to furnish him a greater variety, Ge 43:31; 1Sa 1:4; 9:22-24; and often would select the choicest morsels and present them to his guest with his own fingers. Compare Ru 2:14, and Joh 13:26. This is still customary in the East. After eating, the hands were again cleansed by pouring water upon them, 2Ki 3:11. See FEAST, WASHING.

The following description of a dinner at Hebron is from Dr. Robinson. "They were dining in the true oriental style. A very large circular tray of tinned copper, placed upon a coarse wooden stool about a foot high, served as the table. In the center of this stood a large dish with a mountain of pillaw, composed of rice boiled and buttered, with small pieces of meat strewed through and upon it. This was the chief dish, although there were also other smaller dishes, both of meat and vegetables. Around this table ten persons, including the three governors-of Gaza, Hebron, and Jerusalem-were seated, or rather, squatted on their feet. Each had before him a plate of tinned copper and a wooden spoon. Some used the spoon without the plate; but the most preferred to eat with the fingers of the left hand, without either spoon or plate. When any one had finished, he immediately rose, and went and washed his hands by having water poured over them in an adjoining room. The vacant place at table was immediately filled by a new comer."

Ebal

De 27:1-28:68; a mountain in Ephraim, over against mount Gerizim, from which it is separated by a valley about five hundred yards wide and three miles long, in which stands the town of Shechem. Both mountains are much alike in length, height, and form, and their altitude is stated not to exceed seven hundred and fifty or eight hundred feet from the level of the valley. As you journey from Jerusalem, and turn to pass through the valley west-northwest to Shechem, mount Ebal is on the right hand and mount Gerizim on the left. Some have described the count of cursing as sterile and desolate, and Gerizim as smiling and fertile. But at present there is little difference between their opposing fronts, which are alike, steep and barren. Mount Gerizim, however, is said to have a more fertile background, and to be a little higher than mount Ebal. The base of the latter is full of sepulchral excavations. See GERIZIM, SHECHEM.

Ebed-Melech

An Ethiopian servant of king Zedekiah, who was instrumental in saving the prophet Jeremiah from famishing in a filthy dungeon, and was therefore preserved when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuzaradan, Jer 38:7-13; 39:15-18. The Lord knoweth them that are his.

Ebenezer

Stone of help, the place where Samuel erected a monument, in grateful remembrance of the divine help, given in answer to prayer, in a great battle with the Philistines. The same place had before witnessed the defeat of Israel and the capture of the ark, 1Sa 4:1; 5:1; 7:5-12.

Eber

See HEBER.

Ebony

The wood of a tree of no great size, growing in India and Africa; it is black, hard, heavy, and fine-grained, and receives a beautiful polish. It was anciently highly prized, Eze 27:15, and is still much used for musical instruments and fancy articles.

Ecclesiastes

The preacher, the name of a book of the Old Testament, usually ascribed to Solomon. Compare 1Ki 3:12 and Ec 1:16; 1Ki 10:21,27 and Ec 2:4-9; 1Ki 11:3,4 and Ex 7:25,25. It appears to have been written by Solomon in his old age, when freed from the entanglements of idolatry, luxury, and lust, B. C. 977. It is a discourse upon the true wisdom; with many isolated precepts, illustrated from his own unexampled experience and from the most sagacious observation of the course of life; the whole demonstrating the vanity of all earthly good, and showing that there is a better life to come, and that the only true wisdom is to "fear God and keep his commandments." This, he says, is the conclusion of the whole matter, Ec 12:13. In reading this book, care should be taken not to deduce opinions from detached sentiments, but from the general scope and combined force of the whole.

Eden

A province in Asia, in which was Paradise. "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed," Ge 2:8. The topography of Eden is thus described: "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison," etc.

This obscure passage has received many different explanations and applications, none of which are fully satisfactory; and now it is impossible to say with certainty where Eden lay. Most writers have sought for it in some elevated and central region, the heights of which would give rise to various rivers flowing off in different directions through lower grounds to their outlets. Such a region exists in the high lands of Armenia, west of Mount Ararat and 5,000 feet above the sea. Here, within a circle but a few miles in diameter, four large rivers rise: the Euphrates, and Tigris, or Hiddekel, flowing south into the Persian Gulf; the Araxes, flowing northeast into the Caspian Sea; and the Phasis, or the Halys, flowing northwest into the Black Sea. This fourth river may have been the Pishon of Eden; and the Araxes may well be the Gihon, since both words mean the same, and describe its dart-like swiftness. This elevated country, still beautiful and fertile, may have been the land of Eden; and in its choicest portion, towards the east, the garden may once have smiled.

Another location of Eden is now preferred by many interpreters-near the spot where the Euphrates and Tigris from a junction after their long wanderings, a hundred and twenty miles north of the Persian gulf, and where the river Ulai flows in from the northeast. This region may have been greatly changed by the lapse of many thousand years, and may now bear little resemblance to the luxuriant and beautiful plain of primeval times. Yet long after the flood the plain of Shinar in the same region attracted the admiration of the sons of Cush, Ge 10:8-10; 11:2. As two of the rivers of Eden bear the familiar names of the Euphrates and Tigris, it seems probable that it was in one or the other of the regions above named. Wherever it was, it is there no more since the fall and the curse. The first chapters of the Bible show Paradise withdrawn from man’s view, and no pilgrimage can discover it upon earth. The last chapters of the Bible restore to our view a more glorious and enduring Paradise: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life."

Edom

Red, a name of Esau, Isaac’s eldest son, appropriate on account of his natural complexion, but given, it would seem, from the current name of food for which he sold his birthright-"that same red," Ge 25:25,30. See ESAU and IDUMEA.

Edrei

One of the capitals of Bashan, near which Og and his forces were destroyed, Nu 21:33-35; De 1:4; 3:1-3. It afterwards fell within the limits of Manasseh, Jos 13:31. Its ruins cover a large space; it was a place of some note in the early ages of Christianity and in the era of the crusades. It is now called Draa, and lies about thirty-five miles east of the outlet of the Sea of Galilee.

Eglon

A king of Moab, who, with the help of Ammon and Amalek, subdued the southern and eastern tribes of the Jews. He made Jericho his seat of government, and held his power eighteen years, but was then slain by Ehud, and his people expelled, Judg 3:12-31.

Egypt

A celebrated country in the north of Africa, at the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The Hebrews called it Mizraim, Ge 10:6, and hence it is now called by the Arabs, Mizr. The Greeks and Romans called it Aegyptus, whence Egypt; but the origin of this name is unknown.

The habitable land of Egypt is for the most part a great valley, through which the river Nile pours its waters, extending in a straight line from north to south, and skirted on the east and west by ranges of mountains, which approach and recede from the river more or less in different parts. Where this valley terminates, towards the north, the Nile divides itself, about forty or fifty miles from the seacoast, into several arms, which inclose the so-called Delta. The ancients numbered seven arms and mouths; the eastern was that of Pelusium, now that of Tineh; and the western that of Canopus, now that of Aboukir. As these branches all separate from one point or channel, that is, from the main stream, and spread themselves more and more as they approach the coast, they form with the latter a triangle, the base of which is the seacoast; and having thus the form of the Greek letter, delta, this part of Egypt received the name of the Delta, which it has ever since retained. The prophet Ezekiel describes Egypt as extending from Migdol, that is, Magdolum, not far from the mouth of the Pelusian arm, to Syene, now Essuan, namely, to the border of Ethiopia, Eze 29:10; 30:6. Essuan is also assigned by Greek and Arabian writers as the southern limit of Egypt. Here the Nile issues from the granite rocks of the cataracts, and enters Egypt proper. The length of the country, therefore, in a direct line, is about four hundred and fifty miles, and its area about eleven thousand square miles. The breadth of the valley, between Essuan and the Delta, is very unequal; in some places the inundations of the river extend to the foot of the mountains; in other parts there remains a strip of a mile or two in breadth which the water never covers, and which is therefore always dry and barren. Originally the name Egypt designated only the valley and the Delta; but at a later period it came to include also the region between this and the Red Sea.

The country around Syene and the cataracts is highly picturesque; the other parts of Egypt, and especially the Delta, are uniform and monotonous. The prospect, however, is extremely different, according to the season of the year. From the middle of spring, when the harvest is over, one sees nothing but a gray and dusty soil, so full of cracks and chasms that he can hardly pass along. At the time of the autumnal equinox, the country presents nothing but an immeasurable surface of reddish or yellowish water, out of which rise date-trees, villages, and narrow dams, which serve as a means of communication. After the waters have retreated, and they usually remain only a short time at this height, you see, till the end of autumn, only a black and slimy mud. But in winter, nature puts on all her splendor. In this season, the freshness and power of the new vegetation, the variety and abundance of vegetable productions, exceed every thing that is known in the most celebrated parts of the European continent; and Egypt is then, from one end of the country to the other, like a beautiful garden, a verdant meadow, a field sown with flowers, or a waving ocean of grain in the ear. This fertility, as is well known, depends upon the annual and regular inundations of the Nile. Hence Egypt was called by Herodotus, "the gift of the Nile." See NILE.

The sky is not less uniform and monotonous than the earth; it is constantly a pure unclouded arch, of a color and light more white than azure. The atmosphere has a splendor which the eye can scarcely bear, and a burning sun, whose glow is tempered by no shade, scorches through the whole day these vast and unprotected plains. It is almost a peculiar trait in the Egyptian landscape, that although not without trees, it is yet almost without shade. The only tree is the date-tree, which is frequent; but with its tall, slender stem, and bunch of foliage on the top, this tree does very little to keep off the light, and casts upon the earth only a pale an uncertain shade. Egypt, according, has a very hot climate; the thermometer in summer

standing usually at eighty or ninety degrees of Fahrenheit; and in Upper Egypt still higher. The burning wind of the desert, Simoom, or Camsin, is also experienced, usually about the time of the early equinox. The country is not unfrequently visited by swarms of locusts. See LOCUSTS.

In the very earliest times, Egypt appears to have been regarded under three principal divisions; and writers spoke of Upper Egypt or Thebais; Middle Egypt, Heptanomis or Heptapolis; and Lower Egypt or the Delta, including the districts lying east and west of the river. The provinces and cities of Egypt mentioned in the Bible may, in like manner, be arranged under these three great divisions:

1. LOWER EGYPT The northeastern point of this was "the river of Egypt," on the border of Palestine. The desert between this point, the Red Sea, and the ancient Pelusium, seems to have been the desert of Shur, Ge 20:1, now El-Djefer. Sin, "the strength [key] of Egypt," Eze 30:15, was probably Pelusium. The land of GOSHEN appears to have lain between Pelusium, its branch of the Nile, and the Red sea, having been skirted on the northeast by the desert of Shur; constituting perhaps a part of the province Rameses, Ge 47:11. In this district, or adjacent to it, are mentioned also the cities Pithom, Raamses, Pi-Beseth, and On or Helipolis. In the proper Delta itself, lay Tahapanes, that is, Taphne or Daphne; Zoan, the Tanis of the Greeks; Leontopolis, alluded to perhaps in Isa 19:18. West of the Delta was Alexandria.

2. MIDDLE EGYPT Here are mentioned Moph or Memphis, and Hanes, the Heracleopolis of the Greeks.

3. UPPER EGYPT The southern part of Egypt, the Hebrews appear to have called Pathros, Jer 44:1,15. The Bible mentions here only two cities, namely, No, or more fully No-Ammon, for which the Seventy put Diospolis, the Greek name for Thebes, the most ancient capital of Egypt, (see AMMON, or No-Ammon, or No;) and Syene, the southern city and limit of Egypt.

The chief agricultural productions of Egypt are wheat, durrah, or small maize, Turkish or Indian corn or maize, rice, barley, beans, cucumbers, watermelons, leeks, and onions; also flax and cotton. The date-tree and vine are frequent. The papyrus is still found in small quantity, chiefly near Damietta; it is a reed about nine feet high, as thick as a man’s thumb, with a tuft of down on the top. See BOOK, BULRUSH. The animals of Egypt, besides the usual kinds of tame cattle, are the wild ox or buffalo in great numbers, the ass and camel, dogs in multitudes without masters, the ichneumon, the crocodile, and the hippopotamus.

The inhabitants of Egypt may be considered as including three divisions: 1. The Copts, or descendants of the ancient Egyptians. 2. The Fellahs, or husbandmen, who are supposed to represent the people in Scripture, called Phul. 3. The Arabs, or conquerors of the country, include the Turks, etc. The Copts are nominal Christians, and the clerks and accountants of the country. They have seen so many revolutions in the governing powers, that they concern themselves very little about the successes or misfortunes of those who aspire to dominion. The Fellahs suffer so much oppression, and are so despised by the Bedaween or wandering Arabs, and by their despotic rulers, that they seldom acquire property, and very rarely enjoy it in security; yet they are an interesting race, and devotedly attached to their native country and the Nile. The Arabs hate the Turks; yet the Turks enjoy most offices of government, though they hold their superiority by no very certain tenure.

The most extraordinary monuments of Egyptian power and industry were the pyramids, which still subsist, to excite the wonder and admiration of the world. No work of man now extant is so ancient or so vast as these mysterious structures. The largest of them covers a square area of thirteen acres, and is still four hundred and seventy-four feet high. They have by some been supposed to have been erected by the Israelites during their bondage in Egypt. But the tenor of ancient history in general, as well as the results of modern researches, is against this supposition. It is generally believed that they were erected more than two thousand years before Christ, as the sepulchres of kings.

But besides these imperishable monuments of kings long forgotten, Egypt abounds in other structures hardly less wonderful; on the beautiful islands above the cataracts, near Syene, and at other places in Upper Egypt; and especially in the whole valley of the Nile near Thebes, including Carnac, Luxor, etc. The temples, statues, obelisks, and sphinxes that cover the ground astonish and awe the beholder with their colossal height, their massive grandeur, and their vast extent; while the dwellings of the dead, tombs in the rock occupied by myriads of mummies, extend far into the adjacent mountains. The huge columns of these temples, their vast walls, and many of the tombs, are covered with sculptures and paintings which are exceedingly valuable as illustrating the public and the domestic life of the ancient Egyptians. See SHISHAK. With these are mingled many hieroglyphic records, which have begun to yield their long-concealed meaning to the inquisitions of modern science. Some of these are mere symbols, comparatively easy to understand. But a large portion of them are now found to be written with a sort of pictorial alphabet-each symbol representing the sound with which its own name commences. Thus OSIR, the name of the Egyptian god Soiris, would be represented by the picture of a reed, a child, and a mouth; because the initial sounds of the Coptic words for these three objects, namely, Ike, Si, and Ro, make up the name OSIR. There is, however, great ambiguity in the interpretation of these records; and in many cases the words, when apparently made out, are as yet unintelligible, and seem to be part of a priestly dialect understood only by the learned.

The early history of ancient Egypt is involved in great obscurity. All accounts, however, and the results of all modern researches, seem to concur in representing culture and civilization as having been introduced and spread in Egypt from the south, and especially from Meroe; and that the country in the earliest times was possessed by several contemporary kings or states, which at length were all united into one great kingdom. The common name of the Egyptian kings was Pharaoh, which signified sovereign power. History has preserved the names of several of these kings, and a succession of their dynasties. But the inclination of the Egyptian historians to magnify the great antiquity of their nation has destroyed their credibility. See PHARAOH.

This ancient and remarkable land is often mentioned in Scripture. A grandson of Noah seems to have given it his name, Ge 10:6. In the day of Abraham it was the granary of the world, and the patruarch himself resorted thither in a famine, Ge 12:10. His wife had an Egyptian handmaid, Hagar the mother of Ishmael, who also sought a wife in Egypt, Ge 21:9,21. Another famine, in the days of Isaac, nearly drove him to Egypt, Ge 26:2; and Jacob and all his household ended their days there, Ge 39:1-50:26. After the escape of Israel from their weary bondage in Egypt, we read of little intercourse between the two nations for many years. In the time of David and Solomon, mention is again made of Egypt. Solomon married an Egyptian princess, 1Ki 3:7; 9:1-28; 11:43. But in the fifth year of his son Rehoboam, Judah was humbled at the feet of Shishak, king of Egypt, 2Ch 12:1-16; and for many generations afterwards the Jews were alternately in alliance and at war with that nation, until both were subjugated to the Assyrian empire, 2Ki 17:1-41; 18:21; 23:29; 24:1-20; Jer 25:1-38; 37:5; 44:1-30; 46:1-28.

Egypt was conquered by Cambyses, and became a province of the Persian empire about 525 B. C. Thus it continued until conquered by Alesander, 350 B. C., after whose death it formed, along with Syria, Palestine, Lybia, etc., the kingdom of the Ptolemies. After the battle of Actium, 30 B. C., it became a Roman province. In the time of Christ, great numbers of Jews were residents of Alexandria, Leontopolis, and other parts of Egypt; and our Savior himself found an asylum there in his infancy, Mt 2:13. Since that time it has ceased to be an independent state, and its history is incorporated with that of its different conquerors and possessors. In A. D. 640, it was conquered by the Arabs; and in later periods has passed from the hands of the caliphs under the power of Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Mamelukes; and since 1517, has been governed as a province of the Turkish empire. Thus have been fulfilled the ancient predictions recorded in God’s word, Eze 29:14,15; 30:7,12,13; 32:15. Its present population is about two millions.

The religion of Egypt consisted in the worship of the heavenly bodies and the powers of nature; the priests cultivated at the same time astronomy and astrology, and to these belong probably the wise men, sorcerers, and magicians mentioned in Ex 7:11,22. They were the most honored and powerful of the castes into which the people were divided. It was probably this wisdom, in which Moses also was learned, Ac 7:22. But the Egyptian religion had this peculiarity, that it adopted living animals as symbols of the real objects of worship. The Egyptians not only esteemed many species of animals as sacred, which might not be killed without the punishment of death, but individual animals were kept in temples and worshipped with sacrifices, as gods.

"The river of Egypt," Nu 34:5; Jos 15:4,47; 1Ki 8:65; 2Ki 24:7; Isa 27:12; Eze 47:19; 48:28, (and, according to some, Ge 15:18, although in this passage a different word is used signifying a permanent stream,) designates the brook El-Arish, emptying into the southeast corner of the Mediterranean at Rhinocolura.

Ehud

A Benjamite, who delivered Israel from the Moabites, by first slaying Eglon their king, and then raising an army and defeating his people. He judged Israel with honor for many years, Judg 3:12-31; 4:1.

Ekron

The most northern city of the Philistines, allotted to Judah by Jos 15:45, but afterwards given to Da 12:13, though it does not appear that the Jews ever peaceably possessed it. It is memorable for its connection with the captivity of the ark and its restoration to the Jews, 1Sa 5:10; 6:1-18. The fly-god was worshipped here, 2Ki 1:2. Its ruin was foretold, Am 1:8; Zep 2:4; Zec 9:5,7. Robinson found its site at the Moslem village Akir, some ten miles northeast of Ashdod. There are no ruins.

El

Strength, one of the names of God, especially in poetry,

Ge 33:18-20. It is very often found in proper names, as Bethel, Daniel, Elijah, etc. Eloi, like Eli, means, My God.

Elah

1. A valley in which David slew Goliath, 1Sa 17:2,3,19. It was probably about eleven miles southwest from Jerusalem.

2. Son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel, B. C. 926. After reigning two years, he was slain while intoxicated, by Zimri, one of his officers, who succeeded him as king. Zimri destroyed all the family of Baasha, according to the prediction of Jehu, 1Ki 16:6- 10.

Elam

1. The region afterwards called Persia, Ge 14:1. It was called Elam after a son of Shem, Ge 10:22. It corresponded to the Elymais of Greek and Roman writers, which comprehended a part of Susiana, now Khusistan or more probably included the whole of Susiana. The city Susa, or Shushan, was in it, Da 8:2. See also Ac 2:9.

Elath

Or ELOTH, a city of Idumea, situated at the northern extremity of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, which was anciently called the Elantic gulf, and now the gulf of Akaba. Ezion-Gaber was also situated here, and very near Elath, De 2:8; 1Ki 9:26. This gulf, although known to the ancients, has been almost unknown to modern geographers until the time of Burckhardt. This enterprising traveler explored it, and gave the first full amount of it. The great sand valley called El-Arabah, and towards the north El-Ghor, runs from this gulf to the Dead Sea. Elath was annexed to Judah by David, who established there an extensive commerce, 2Sa 8:14. Solomon also built ships there, 2Ch 8:17,18. In the reign of Joram the Edomites recovered it, but lost it again to Uzziah, 2Ki 8:20; 14:22; and he to Rezin, 2Ki 16:6. Under the rule of the Romans it was a flourishing commercial town with the ordinances of Christianity. In 630 A. D. it fell under the power of Mohammed, and is now in ruins. The fortress of Akaba, near by, now often visited by travelers from Mount Sinai to Palestine, is only important for the protection of pilgrims to Mecca.

Eldad

And MEDAD, Two of the seventy elders appointed to aid Moses in governing the people. The spirit of prophecy coming upon them, they prophesied in the camp at a distance from Moses. Joshua censured them for this as an irregularity, but they were nobly vindicated by Moses, Nu 11:24-29.

Elders Of Israel

The heads of tribes, who, before the settlement of the Hebrew commonwealth, had a government and authority over their own families and the people. Moses and Aaron treated the elders as representatives of the nation, Ex 3:16; 4:29; 12:21. When the law was given, God directed Moses to take the seventy elders, as well as Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu his sons, that they might be witnesses, Ex 24:1,9. Ever afterwards we find this number of seventy, or rather, seventy-two, elders; six from each tribe.

In allusion to the Jewish elders, the ordinary governors and teachers of the Christian church are called elders, or presbyters, Ac 20:17,28; Tit 1:5,7; 1Pe 5:1; 2Jo 1:1.

Elealeh

A town of the Amorites, near Heshbon their capital, assigned to the tribe of Reuben, Nu 32:3,37, and long afterwards threatened as a city of Moab, Isa 15:4; 16:9; Jer 48:34. Its ruins, now El- Aal, are a mile or more northeast of Heshban.

Eleazar

1. The third son of Aaron, and high priest after him, Ex 6:23; Nu 20:25-28. The high priesthood continued in his family through seven generations; till the time of Eli, when we find it transferred to the line of Ithamar. In the reigns of Saul and David, it was restored to the line of Eleazar, and so continued till after the captivity.

2. A son of Abinadab, honored with the charge of the ark while it was in his father’s house, 1Sa 7:1.

3. One of David’s champions, 2Sa 23:9; 1Ch 11:11-18.

Eli

A high priest of the Jews, the first in the line of Ithamar, 1Sa 2:27. He was also a judge of Israel forty years, and was eminent for piety and usefulness, but criminally negligent of family discipline. For this the judgments of God fell upon his house, 1Sa 3:11-18. In battle with the Philistines his two sons were slain, and Israel defeated; but it was the capture of the ark of God that broke his heart, 1Sa 4:1-22. The divine threatening was fully performed in the day of Abiathar, which see.

Eliab

The oldest brother of David, towards whom his conduct was passionate and jealous, thus confirming the judgment of Him who looks not on the appearance, but the heart, 1Sa 16:6,7; 17:28.

Eliakim

1. A king of Judah, 2Ki 23:24. See JEHOIAKIM.

2. An officer of king Hezekiah’s court, appointed with others to treat with Rabshakeh, general of the Assyrian forces them besieging Jerusalem, 2Ki 18:1-19:37; Isa 36:22. See SENNACHERIB.

Elias

See ELIJAH.

Eliashib

A high priest in the days of Nehemiah, who took part in rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, Ne 3:1. The same person probably was afterwards censured for profaning the temple, by giving the use of one of its chambers to a heathen and an Ammonite, his relative, De 23:3,4; Ne 12:10; 13:1-9.

Eliezer

1. Of Damascus, the lawful heir of Abraham, should he die childless, Ge 15:2. He is generally assumed to be the "eldest servant," who was sent, sixty-five years afterwards, to obtain a wife for Isaac, Ge 24:1-67. But as the name of the latter is not given; as Abraham had near relatives, Lot and others; and as there is no evidence that he ever lived in Damascus, some think Eliezer must have been a near relative of Abraham residing at Damascus; and that "steward of my house" and "born in my house"-literally son of my house, Ge 15:2,3-mean the same thing, the lawful family heir.

2. Several others of this name are mentioned, Ex 18:4; 1Ch 15:24; 27:16; 2Ch 20:37; Lu 3:29.

Elihu

A native of Buz, Ge 22:21, which was probably a city of Edom, Jer 25:23, perhaps Bozrah, Jer 49:7,8,13. He came to condole with Job in his calamities. Young, ardent, sagacious, and devout, he listened attentively to the discourses of Job and his three friends; and at length broke in, with profuse apologies, to set them all right, Job 32:1-22. His address to Job he blames for condemning him as a hypocrite, in their ignorance of the wonders of God’s providence. In several sentences he beautifully expresses his faith in the pardoning and restoring grace of God towards sinners, Job 33:23,24,27-30, passages in probably the oldest book of the Bible in the very spirit of the parable of the prodigal son.