Laban – Leviathan

Laban

A rich herdsman of Mesopotamia, son of Bethuel, and grandson of Mahor, Abraham’s brother, Ge 24:28-31. His character is shown in the gladness with which he gave his sister Rebekah in marriage to the only son of his rich uncle, Abraham, Ge 24:30,50; and in his deceitful and exacting treatment of Jacob his nephew and son-inlaw, against which Jacob defended himself by cunning as well as fidelity. When the prosperity of the one family and the jealousy of the other rendered peace impossible, Jacob, at the command of God, secretly departed, to go to Canaan. Laban pursued him; but being warned by God to do him no harm, returned home after making a treaty of peace. He seems to have known and worshipped God, Ge 24:50; 30:27; 31:53; but the "gods" or teraphim which Rachel stole from her father, Ge 31:30,34, show that he was not without the taint of idolatry.

Lachish

A city in the southwest part of Judah, Jos 10:3,5,31; fortified by Rehoboam, 2Ch 11:9, and strong enough to resist for a time the whole army of Sennacherib, 2Ki 18:17; 19:8; 2Ch 32:1,9,21; Mic 1:13. It was here that king Amaziah was slain, 2Ki 14:19. For a wonderful confirmation of the truth of Scripture, see SENNACHERIB.

Ladder

Ge 28:12-17. The comforting vision of the heavenly ladder shown to the fugitive Jacob, assured him of the omnipresent providence of God, and of his communication of all needed good to his people in the desert of this world, Heb 1:14. It was also an assurance that there was a way open from earth to heaven, as well as from heaven to earth; and we may see in it an illustration of the nature of Christ, in which heaven and earth meet; and of his work, which brings man home to God.

Laish

See DAN.

Lake

See MEROM and SEA. That most terrible description of hell, as a lake burning with fire and brimstone, Re 19:20; 21:8, recalls the fire and sea in which Sodom was consumed and swallowed up.

Lamb

The young of the sheep, and also the kid of the goat, Ex 12:5, Christ is the Lamb of God, Joh 1:29, as being the accepted sacrifice for human sin. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were an ordained and perpetual foreshadowing not only of his spotless holiness and his unresisting meekness, Isa 53:4-9. He is described in Re 5:6; 12:11, as wearing the form of a sacrificial lamb in heaven itself. See PASSOVER and SACRIFICES.

Lamech

1. Ge 4:18-24, a descendant of Cain, in the fifth generation, and ancestor of numerous posterity distinguished for a skill in agriculture, music, and several mechanic arts. He is the first polygamist on record. His address to his two wives is the oldest specimen of poetry extant, and is a good illustration of Hebrew parallelism.

"Adah and Zillah,

Hear my voice;

Ye wives of Lamech,

Hearken unto my speech.

I have slain a man

To my wounding,

And [or even] a young man

To my hurt.

If Cain shall be avenged

Seven-fold,

Truly Lamech

Seventy and seven fold."

Many explanations of this abrupt fragment have been suggested. The

most satisfactory, perhaps, is that Lamech had accidentally or in

self-defense killed a man, and was exposed to the vengeance of "the

avenger of blood;" but quiets the fears of his wives by saying of

Cain under heavy penalties, Ge 4:15, much more would he guard

the life of Lamech who was comparatively innocent.

2. The son of Methuselah, and father of Noah; he lived seven hundred

and seventy-seven years, and died only five years before the flood,

Ge 5:25-31.

Lamentations Of Jeremiah

An elegiac poem, composed by the prophet on occasion of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The first two chapters principally describe the calamities of a the sieges of Jerusalem; the third deplores the persecution which Jeremiah himself had suffered; and fourth adverts to the ruin and desolation of the city and temple, and the misfortune of Zedekiah; and the fifth is a kind of form of prayer for the Jews in their captivity. At the close, the prophet speaks of the cruelty of the Edomites, who had insulted Jerusalem in her misery, and threatens them with the wrath of God, B. C. 586.

The first four chapters of the Lamentations are in the acrostic form; every verse beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in regular order. The first, second, and fourth chapters contain twentytwo verses each, according to the letters of the alphabet; the third chapter has three successive verses beginning with the same letter, making sixty-six in all. Moreover, all the verses in each chapter are nearly of the same length. The fifth chapter is not acrostic. See LETTERS. The style of Jeremiah’s Lamentations is lively, tender, pathetic, and affecting. It was the talent of this prophet to write melancholy and moving elegies, 2Ch 35:25; and never was a subject more worthy of tears, nor treated with more tender and affecting sentiments. One would think, as it has often been said, that every letter was written with a tear, and every word was the sob of a broken heart. Yet he does not forget that a covenant God still reigns.

Lamp

The lamps of the ancients, sometimes called "candles" in our Bible, were cups and vessels of many convenient and graceful shapes; and might be carried in the hand, or set upon a stand. See CANDLESTICK. The lamp was fed with vegetable oils, tallow, wax, etc., and was kept burning all night. The poorest families, in some parts of the East, still regard this as essential to health and comfort. A darkened house therefore forcibly told of the extinction of its former occupants, Job 18:5,6; Pr 13:9; 20:20; Jer 25:10,11; while a constant light was significant of prosperity and perpetuity, 2Sa 21:17; 1Ki 11:36; Ps 132:17. Lamps to be carried in the streets presented a large surface of wicking to the air, and needed to be frequently replenished from a vessel of oil borne in the other hand, Mt 25:3,4. Torches and lanterns, Joh 18:3, were very necessary in ancient cities, the streets of which were never lighted.

Landmark

Fences and walls seem to have been little used in Judea, Mr 2:23, though gardens were sometimes inclosed. The ancient and permanent limits, therefore, of individual property in the open field, Ru 2:3, were marked by trees or heaps of stones at the corners; and as it was easy, by removing these, to encroach on a neighbor’s ground, a peculiar form of dishonesty arose, requiring a severe punishment, De 19:14; Pr 22:28; Ho 5:10.

Language

One of the distinguishing gifts of God to man, essential to all high enjoyment and improvement in social life, and to be prized and used in a manner worthy of its priceless value for the glory of God and the benefit of mankind. The original language was not the growth of a mere faculty of speech in man, but a creation of gift of God. Adam and Eve when created knew how to converse with each other and with the Creator. For some two thousand years, "the whole earth was of one language and of one speech," Ge 11:1. But about one hundred years after the flood, according to the common chronology, and later according to others, God miraculously "confounded the language" of the Cushite rebels at Babel; and peopling the earth by these scattered families of diverse tongues, He frustrated the designs and promoted his own. There are now several hundreds of languages and dialects spoken on the earth, and infidels have hence taken occasion to discredit the Bible doctrine of the unity of the human race. It is found, however, that these languages are distributed in several great classes, which have striking affinities with each other; and as comparative philology extends its researches, it finds increasing evidence of the substantial oneness of the human race and of the truth of Scripture.

The miracle performed at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost was the reverse of that at Babel, Ac 2:1-18, and beautifully illustrated the tendency of the gospel to introduce peace and harmony where sin has brought discord, and to reunite all the tribes of mankind in one great brotherhood.

To the student of the Bible, one of the most important subjects is the character and history of the original languages in which that holy book was written. In respect to the original Greek of the New Testament, some remarks have been made under the article GREECE. The Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament was written, is but one of the cluster of cognate languages, as belonging particularly to the descendants of Shem. A proper knowledge of the Hebrew, therefore, implies also an acquaintance with these of the kindred dialects.

The Shemitic languages may be divided into three principal dialects, namely, the Aramaean, the Hebrew, and the Arabic. 1. The Aramaean, spoken in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia, is subdivided into the Syriac and Chaldee dialects sometimes called also the West and East Aramaean. 2. The Hebrew or Canaanites dialect, Isa 19:18, was spoken in Palestine, and probably with little variation in Phoenicia and the Phoenician colonies, as for instance, at Carthage and other places. The remains of the Phoenician and Punic dialects are too few and too much disfigured to enable us to judge with certainty how extensively these languages were the same as the dialect of Palestine. 3. The Arabic, to which the Ethiopic bears a special resemblance, comprises, in modern times, a great variety of dialects as a spoken language, and is spread over a vast extent of country; but so far as we are acquainted with its former state, it appears more anciently to have been limited principally to Arabia and Ethiopia.

These languages are distinguished from European tongues by several marked peculiarities: they are all, except the Ethiopic, written from right to left, and their books begin at what we should call the end; the alphabet, with the exception of the Ethiopic which is syllabic, consists of consonants only, above or below which the vowel-points are written; they have several guttural consonants very difficult of pronunciation to Europeans; the roots of the language are, in general, verbs of three letters, and pronounced, according to the various dialects, with one or more vowels; the verbs have but two tenses, the past and the future; and the pronouns in the oblique cases are generally untied in the same word with the noun or verb to which they have a relation. These various dialects form substantially one language, of which the original home was Western Asia. That they have all diverged from one parent stock is manifest, but to determine which of them has undergone the fewest changes would be a difficult question. The language of Noah and his son Shem was substantially that of Adam and all the antediluvians. Shem and Heber were contemporary with Abraham, and transmitted, as we have good reason to believe, their common tongue to the race of Israel; for it is not to be assumed that at the confusion of Babel no branch of the human family retained the primitive language. It does not appear that the descendants of Shem were among the builders of Babel, Ge 10:8-10.

The oldest records that are known to exist are composed in the Hebrew language. It flourished in its purest form in Palestine, among the Phoenicians and Hebrews, until the period of the Babylonish exile; soon after which it declined, and finally was succeeded by a kind of Hebraeo-Aramaean dialect, such as was spoken in the time of our Savior among the Jews. The West Aramaean had flourished before this for a long time in the east and north of Palestine; but it now advanced farther west, and during the period that the Christian churches of Syria flourished, it was widely extended. It is at present almost a dead language, and has been so for several centuries. The Hebrew may be regarded as having been a dead language, except among a small circle of literati, for about the space of two thousand years. Our knowledge of Arabic literature extends back very little beyond the time of Mohammed. But the followers of this pretended prophet have spread the dialect of the Koran over vast portions of the world. Arabic is now the vernacular language of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and in a great measure of Palestine and all the northern coast of Africa; while it is read and understood wherever the Koran has gone, in Turkey, Persia, India, and Tartary.

The remains of the ancient Hebrew tongue are contained in the Old Testament and in the few Phoenician and Punic words and inscriptions that have been here and there discovered. The remains of the Aramaean are extant in a variety of books. In Chaldee, we have a part of the books of Daniel and Ezra, Da 2:4-7:28; Ezr 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26, which are the most ancient of any specimens of this dialect. The Targum of Onkelos, that is, the translation of the Pentateuch into Chaldee, affords the next and purest specimen of that language. The oldest specimen of this language that we have is contained in the Peshito, or Syriac version of the Old and New Testament, made perhaps within a century after the time of Christ. A multitude of writers in this dialect have flourished, many of whose writings are probably still extant, although but few have been printed in Europe. In Arabic, there exists a great variety of manuscripts and books, historical, scientific, and literary. A familiar knowledge of this and its kindred dialects throws much valuable light on the Old Testament Scriptures.

Laodicea

A large and opulent city of Asia Minor, the metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana. It was situated on the river Lycus, not far above its junction with the Meander, and in the vicinity of Colosse and Hierapolis. Its earlier name was Diopolis; but after being enlarged by Antiochus II, it was called Laodicea, from his wife Lodice. About A. D. 65 or 66, this city, together with Hieropolis and Colosse, was destroyed by an earthquake, but was quickly rebuilt by Marcus Aurelius. It is now in ruins, and the place is called Eskihissar, or the old castle. A Christian church was early gathered here. It was addressed by Paul in his letter to Colosse, and in another now lost, Col 2:1; 4:13-16, though some think the "Epistle to the Ephesians" is the one alluded to. The church at Laodicea was probably visited by Paul, A. D. 63, and is one of the seven which received special messages from Christ after his ascension, Re 1:11; 3:14-22. We know little of its after-history, except that an important council was held there near the middle of the fourth century, and that some form of Christianity lingered there until the time of the Turks.

Lapwing

Supposed to mean the hoopoe, a beautiful migratory bird of filthy habits and a loud, hoarse voice; pronounced unclean by Moses, Le 11:19. It is about the size of a thrush; its beak is long, black, thin and a little hooked; its legs gray and short. On its head is a tuft of feathers of different colors, which it raises or lowers as it pleases. Its neck and breast are somewhat reddish, and its wings and tail black, with white streaks.

Lasea

A city near Fair-Havens, on the south side of Crete. Paul passed it on his voyage to Rome, Ac 27:8.

Lattice

See HOUSE.

Laud

To extol, by words of praise or in song, Ro 15:11.

Laver

A large circular vessel, cast from the polished brass mirrors contributed by the Hebrew women, and placed between the door of the tabernacle and the altar of burnt-offering, with water for the necessary sacred ablutions, Ex 30:18-21; 28:8; 40:7; 30:1; 32:35.

For the temple of Solomon, besides the vast brazen sea for the use of the priests, (see SEA,) ten lavers were made for cleansing the sacrifices, 2Ch 4:6. Each laver contained about three hundred gallons, and was supported above a highly elaborate and beautiful base, 1Ki 7:27-39. They were stationed within the court of the priests, in front of the temple, five on each side. See TEMPLE.

Law

In the Bible, signifies sometimes the whole word of God, Ps 19:7-11; 119:1-176; Isa 8:20; sometimes the Old Testament, Joh 10:34; 15:25, and sometimes the five books of Moses, which formed the first of the three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures, Lu 24:44; Ac 13:15. The Pentateuch was probably "the law," a copy of which every king was to transcribe for himself and study, and which was to be made known to young and old, in public and in private, De 6:7; 17:18,19; 31:9-19,26. In other places the Mosaic institutions as a whole are intend by "the law," in distinction from the gospel, Joh 1:17; Ac 25:8.

When the word refers to the Law of Moses, careful attention to the context is sometimes requisite to judge whether the civil, the ceremonial, or the moral law is meant. The ceremonial or ritual laws, concerning the forms of worship, sacrifices, priests, purifications, etc., were designed to distinguish the Jewish nation from the heathen, and to foreshadow the gospel dispensation. They were annulled after Christ’s ascension, Ge 3:24; Eph 2:15; Heb 9:1-28; 10:1-22. The civil laws, Ac 23:2; 24:6, were for the government of the Jews as a nation, and included the Ten Commandments. The whole code was adapted with consummated wisdom to the condition of the Jews, and has greatly influenced all wise legislation in later years. Its pious, humane, and just spirit should characterize every code of human laws. The moral law, De 5:22; Mt 5:17,18; Lu 10:26,27, is more important than the others, from its bearings on human salvation. It was written by the Creator on the conscience of man, and sin has never fully erased it, Ro 1:19; 2:12-15. It was more fully taught to the Hebrews, especially at Mount Sinai, in the Ten Commandments, and is summed up by Christ in loving God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, Mt 22:37-40. It was the offspring of love to man, Ro 7:10,12; required perfect obedience, Ga 3:10; Jas 2:10; and is of universal and perpetual obligation. Christ confirmed and enforced it, Mt 5:17-20, showing its demands of holiness in the heart, applying it to a variety of cases, and supplying new motives to obedience, by revealing heaven and hell more clearly, and the gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some have argued from certain passages of Scripture that this law is no longer binding upon Christians; that they "are not under the law, but under grace," Ro 6:14,15; 7:4,6; Ga 3:13,25; 5:18; and the perversion of these passages leads men to sin and perish because grace abounds. Rightly understood, they harmonize with the declarations of the Savior, Mt 5:17. To the soul that is in Christ, the law is no longer the arbiter of doom; yet is still comes to him as the divinely appointed teacher of that will of God in which he now delights, Ps 119:97; Mt 5:48; 11:30.

The word "law" sometimes means an inward guiding and controlling power. The "law in the mind" and the "law in the members," mean the holy impulses of a regenerated should and the perverse inclinations of the natural heart, Ro 7:21-23. Compare also Ro 8:2; 9:31; Jas 1:25; 2:12.

Lawyers

Men who devoted themselves to the study and explanation of the Jewish law, particularly of the traditionary or oral law. They belonged mostly to the sect of the Pharisees, and fell under the reproof of our Savior for having taken from the people the key of knowledge. They were as the blind leading the blind, Mt 28:20; Lu 10:25; 11:52. See SCRIBES.

Lazarus

1. A friend and disciple of Christ, brother of Martha and Mary, with whom he resided at Bethany near Jerusalem. Our Savior had a high regard for the family, and often visited them; and when Lazarus was dangerously ill, word was sent to Christ, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." The Savior reached Bethany after he had lain four days in his grave, and restored him to life by a word, "Lazarus, come forth." This public and stupendous miracle drew so many to Christ, that his enemies sought to put both him and Lazarus to death, Joh 11:1-57; 12:1-11. The narrative displays Christ as a tender and compassionate friend, weeping for and with those he loved, and at the same time as the Prince of life, beginning his triumph over death and the grave. Happy are they who, in view of their own death, or that of friends, can know that they are safe in Him who says, "I am the resurrection and the life;" and, "because I live, ye shall live also."

2. The helpless beggar who lay at the rich man’s gate in one of Christ’s most solemn and instructive parables. The one, though poor and sorely afflicted, was a child of God. The other described as selfindulgent rather than vicious or criminal was living without God in the enjoyment of every earthly luxury. Their state in this life was greatly in contrast with their real character before God, which was revealed in the amazing changes of their condition at death, Lu 16:19-31. See ABRAHAM’S BOSOM. Our Savior plainly teaches us, in this parable, that both the friends and the foes of God know and begin to experience their doom immediately after death, and that it is in both cases unchangeable and eternal.

Lead

There are early allusions to this well-known metal in Scripture. The Egyptians "sank as lead" in the Red Sea, Ex 15:10; Nu 31:22; Eze 27:12. Job refers to its use in preserving a permanent record of events, by being melted and poured into letters deeply cut in a rock, Job 19:24. Leaden tablets also were used by the ancients for similar records. This metal was employed, before the use of quicksilver was known, in purifying silver; and the process by which these metals are purged from their dross, illustrates God’s discipline of his people, Jer 6:29,30; Eze 22:17-22.

Leah

The elder daughter of Laban, and the first wife of Jacob, though less beloved than her sister Rachel. She had, through life, the remembrance of the deceit by which her father had imposed her upon Jacob. She was the mother of seven children, among whom were Reuben- Jacob’s firstborn-and Judah, the ancestor of the leading tribe among the Jews, of the royal line, and of our Lord, Ge 29:16-35; 30:1- 21. She is supposed to have died before the removal of the family into Egypt, Ge 49:31.

Leasing

Falsehood, Ps 4:2; 5:6.

Leaven

Sourdough which is kept over from one baking to another, in order to raise the new dough. Leaven was forbidden in the Hebrews during the seven days of the Passover, in memory of what their ancestors did when they went out of Egypt, they being then obliged to carry unleavened meal with them, and to make bread in haste, the Egyptians pressing them to be gone, Ex 12:15,19. They were very careful in cleansing their houses from it before this feast began, 1Co 5:6. God forbade either leaven or honey to be offered to him in his temple, Le 2:11. The pervading and transforming effect of leaven is used in illustration of the like influence on society, exerted by the purifying principles of the gospel, or by false doctrines and corrupt men, Mt 12:23; 16:6-12; 1Co 5:6-8.

Lebanon

White, a long chain of mountains on the north of Palestine, so named from the whitish limestone of which they are composed and in part perhaps from their snowy whiteness in winter. It consists of two main ridges running northeast and southwest, nearly parallel with each other and with the coast of the Mediterranean. See view in SIDON. The western ridge was called Libanus by the Greeks, and the eastern AntiLibanus. Between them lies a long valley called Coele-Syria, that is, Hollow Syria, and the "valley of Lebanon," Jos 11:17, at present Bukkah. It opens towards the north, but is exceedingly narrow towards the south, where the river Litany, anciently Orontes, issues form the valley and flows west to the sea, north of Tyre. The western ridge is generally higher than the eastern, and several of its peaks are thought to be towards, 10,000 feet high. One summit, however, in the eastern range, namely, Mount Hermon, now called Jebel-esh-Sheikh, is higher still, and rises nearly into the region of perpetual ice. See HERMON. An Arab poet says of the highest peak of Lebanon, "The Sannin bears winter on his head, spring upon his shoulders, and autumn in his bosom, while summer lies sleeping at his feet."

The Hebrew writers often allude to this sublime mountain range, Isa 10:34; 35:2, rising like a vast barrier on their north, Isa 37:24. They speak of its sea of foliage agitated by the gales, Ps 72:16; of its noble cedars and other trees, Isa 60:13; Jer 22:23; of its innumerable herds, the whole of which, however, could not atone for one sin, Isa 40:16; its snow-cold streams, Jer 18:14, and its balsamic perfume, Ho 14:5. Moses longed to enter the Holy Land, that he might "see that goodly mountain and Lebanon," De 3:24,25; and Solomon says of the Beloved, the type of Christ, "his countenance is as Lebanon," Song 5:15. "The tower of Lebanon which looketh towards Damascus," Song 7:4, is brought to recollection by the accounts given by modern travelers of the ruins of ancient temples, built of stones of vast size. Many such ruinous temples have been discovered in different parts of Lebanon, several of them on conspicuous points, high up in the mountains, where the labor of erecting them must have been stupendous.

At present, Lebanon is inhabited by a hardy and turbulent race of mountaineers. Its vast wilderness of mountains forms almost a world by itself. Its western slopes particularly, rising by a succession of terraces from the plain of the coast, are covered with vines, olives, mulberries, and figs; and occupied, as well as the valleys among the mountains, by numberless villages. Anti-Lebanon are Drues and Maronites; the former Mohammedan mystics, and the latter bigoted Romanists. Among them are interspersed many Greeks and Armenians.

For "cedar of Lebanon," see CEDAR.

Lebbeus

See JUDAS 2.

Lebonah

Judg 21:19, a town of Ephraim, near Shiloh, between Bethel and Shechem. Its name and site are preserved in the present village of Lubban.

Leek

A bulbous vegetable resembling the onion. The Hebrews complained in the wilderness, that manna grew insipid to them; they longed for the leeks and onions of Egypt, Nu 11:5. Hassel-quist says the karrat, or leek, is surely one of those after which the Israelites pined; for is has been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial. The Hebrew word is usually translated "grass" in the English Bible. Its original meaning is supposed to be greens or grass.

Lees

Or dregs, the refuse and sediment of wine. Wines that have been allowed to stand a long time on the lees, thereby acquire a superior color and flavor. Hence such wines are used as a symbol of gospel blessings, Isa 25:6; also of a nation or community that, from long quiet and prosperity, has become rich and luxurious, and has settled down in carnal security, Jer 48:11; Zep 1:12. To drink the dregs of the cup of God’s wrath, Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, is to drink it to exhaustion; that is, to suffer God’s wrath without mitigation or end.

Legion

The number in a Roman legion varied at different periods, from three thousand to more than twice that number. In the time of Christ a legion contained six thousand, besides the cavalry. There were ten cohorts in each legion; which were divided each into three maniples or bands, and these into two centuries containing one hundred men each. In the Bible a legion means a number indefinitely large. The Savior cured a demoniac who called himself "Legion" as if possessed my myriads of demons, Mr 5:9. The expression, "twelve legions of angels," Mt 26:53, illustrate the immensity of the heavenly host, and their zealous devotion to Christ.

Lehabim

See LIBYA.

Lehi

Jawbone, a place in Judah, where Samson was enabled to slay one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, and where, in answer to his petition, a fountain sprung up to relieve his thirst, Judg 15:9-19. Probably the Hebrew word Lehi in, should be left untranslated, "God clave a hollow place that was in Lehi, and there came water thereout." This spring he called En-hakkore, the fountain of him that prayed. It continued to flow, and may even to this day be testifying that God hears the cry of his people, and can turn a dry land into springs of water for their use, Ge 21:19; Nu 20:11.

Lemuel

The author of Pr 31:1-31. Some suppose it to be an enigmatical name for Solomon.

Lentile

A species of pulse or bean. We find Esau longing for a mess of pottage made of lentils, Ge 25:34. Augustine says, "Lentils are used as food in Egypt, for this plant grows abundantly in that country, which renders the lentils of Alexandria so valuable that they are brought from thence to us, as if none were grown among us." In Barbary, Dr. Shaw says "Lentils are dressed in the same manner as beans, dissolving easily into a mass, and marking a pottage of a chocolate color." See 2Sa 17:28; 23:11.

Leopard

A fierce wild beast of the feline genus, beautifully spotted with a diversity of colors; it has small eyes, wide jaws, sharp teeth, round ears, a large tail; five claws on the fore feet, and four on those behind. It is swift, craft, and cruel; dangerous to all domestic cattle, and even to man, Jer 5:6; 13:23; Da 10:6; Ho 13:7; Hab 1:8. Its name, leopard, implies that it has something of the lion and of the panther in its nature. It seems from Scripture that the leopard could not be rare in Palestine. Its Hebrew name occurs significantly in several names of places; as Beth-nimrah, the haunt of leopards, Nu 32:36. So in Nimrah, Nimrim, and perhaps Nimrod the mighty hunter. Isaiah, describing the happy reign of the Messiah, says, Isa 11:6, "The leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together." The spouse in the Canticles speaks of the mountains of the leopards, Song 4:8; that is to say, such as Lebanon and Hermon, where wild beasts dwelt.

Leper

A person afflicted with leprosy. As it now exists, leprosy is a scaly disease of the skin, occurring in several distinct forms and with many degrees of severity; beginning with slight reddish eruptions, followed by scales of a greyish white color, sometimes in circles an inch or two in diameter, and at other times much larger; in many cases attacking only the knees and elbows, in others the whole body; usually not affecting the general health, but considered impossible of cure. It is said not to be infectious; but is communicated from father to son for several generations, gradually becoming less noticeable. It corresponds in the main with the disease the symptoms and treatment of which are so fully described in Le 13:14. There is little doubt, however, that the ancient leprosy, in its more aggravated form, is to be regarded as a plague or judgment from God, De 24:8. It was peculiarly dreaded among the Jews as unclean and infectious; and also as being a special infliction from Jehovah, as we know it to have been in the cases of Miriam, Nu 12:10, Gehazi, 2Ki 5:27, and Uzziah, 2Ch 26:16-23. No remedies were effectual. The suffered was commended to the priest, not to the physician; and was separated from many of the privileges of society. We find that lepers associated chiefly with each other, 2Ki 7:8; Lu 17:12. The term, "the plague of leprosy," is applied not only to this disease in men, but to a similar infection sometimes sent into houses and garments, Le 14:1-57. The exact nature of this latter cannot be ascertained; but it bears the marks of a special aggravation, as a judgment from God, of some evil not unknown in that climate. It illustrates the awful result of moral corruption in society, uncounteracted by the grace of God. The disease in all its forms is a lively emblem of sin. This malady of the soul is also all pervading, unclean, contagious, and incurable; it separates its victim from God and heaven; it proves its existence by its increasing sway and its fatal termination. But the Savior has shown his power to heal the worst maladies of the soul by curing the leprosy with a word, Lu 17:12-19, and to admit the restored soul to all the privileges of the sons of God.

ELEPHANTIASIS, supposed by some to have been the disease of Job, and the "botch" or ulcer of Egypt, De 28:27,35, is a tuberculous malady somewhat akin to the leprosy, but more dreadful. Its name is derived from the dark, hard, and rough appearance of the skin; and from the form of the feet, swollen, and despoiled of the toes. This horrid malady infects the whole system; ulcers and dark scales cover the body; and the hair, beard, fingers, and all the extremities drop off. It is still met with in tropical countries, and was introduced into Europe by the crusaders; but after occasioning dreadful navoc, and the building of thousands of "hospitals for lepers," it disappeared or changed its form.

Lesbos

See MITYLENE.

Let

Sometimes used in the Bible in the old English sense, that is, to hinder, Isa 43:13; Ro 1:13.

Letters

Lu 23:38 The Hebrews have certain acrostic poems which begin with the letters of the alphabet, ranged in order. The most considerable of these is Ps 119:1-176, which contains twentytwo stanzas of eight verses each, all acrostic; that is, the first eight begin with Aleph, the next eight with Beth, and so on. Ps 25:1-22; 34:1-22, have but twenty-two verses each, beginning with the twentytwo letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Others, as Ps 111:1-112:10, have one-half of the verse beginning with one letter, and the other half with the next. Thus, Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord,

Who delighteth greatly in his commandments.

The first half of the verse begins in the Hebrew with Aleph; the second with Beth. Ps 37:1-40; 145:21 are acrostic. La 1:1-5:22 are also in acrostic verse, as well as Pr 31:8-31. In Joh 7:15, the word "letters" means learning; the Jews said of Christ, Whence this man’s qualifications to teach us the Scriptures, since he has not learned of the doctors of the law?

Paul speaks of "the letter" in distinction from "the spirit," Ro 2:27,29; 7:6; 2Co 3:6; contrasting the mere word of the law and its outward observance, with its spiritual meaning, and cordial obedience to it through the Spirit of Christ.

Epistolary correspondence seems to have been little practiced among the ancient Hebrews. Some few letters are mentioned in the Old Testament, 2Sa 11:14; Ezr 4:8. They were conveyed to their destination by friends or travelers, Jer 29:3; or by royal couriers, 2Ch 30:6; Es 8:10. The letter was usually in the form of a roll, the last fold being pasted down. They were sealed, 1Ki 21:8, and sometimes wrapped in an envelope, or in a bag of costly materials and highly ornamented. To send an open letter was expressive of contempt, Ne 6:5. In the New Testament we have numerous examples of letters, from the pens of the apostles.

Levi

1. The third son of Jacob and Leah, born in Mesopotamia; and father of three sons, and of Jochebed the mother of Moses, Ge 29:34; Ex 6:16-20. For his share in the treacherous massacre of the Shechemites, Ge 34:1-31, his father at death foreboded evil to his posterity, Ge 49:5-7; but as they afterwards stood forth on the Lord’s side, Moses was charged to bless them, Ex 32:26-29; De 33:8-11. The tribe of Levi was, according to Jacob’s prediction, scattered over all Israel, having no share in the cities in the portions of other tribes. All the tithes, first fruits, and offerings, presented at the temple, as well as several parts of all the victims that were offered belonged to the tribe of Levi. See LEVITES.

2. The apostle Matthew was also called Levi. See MATTHEW.

Leviathan

Ps 74:14; 104:26, an aquatic monster described in the book of Job, Job 41:1-34. Probably the animal denoted is the crocodile, the terror of the Nile; as BEHEMOTH, in Job 40:1-24, is the hippopotamus of the same river.

The crocodile is a native of the Nile, and other Asiatis and African rivers; in some instances even thirty feet in length; of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness in swimming; attacks mankind and the largest animals, with most daring impetuosity; when taken by means of a powerful net, will often overturn the boats that surround it; has proportionally the largest mouth of all monsters whatever; moves both its jaws alike, the upper of which has not less than thirty-six, and the lower thirty sharp, but strong and massy teeth; and is furnished with a coat of mail so scaly and callous as to resist the force of a musket-ball in every part, except under the belly. The general character of the LEVIATHAN in fact seems so well to apply to this animal, in modern as well as in ancient times the terror of all the coasts and countries about the Nile, that it is unnecessary to seek further. In several passages in the Bible, the king of Egypt appears to be addressed as leviathan, Isa 27:1; Eze 29:3.

The following extract of a letter from an American gentleman in Manila gives a graphic view of the strength and size of the crocodile: "My last operation in the sporting line, was no less than killing a crocodile, which for a year or two before had infested a village on the borders of the lake, taking off horses and cows, and sometimes a man. Having understood that he had killed a horse a day or two before, and had taken him into a small river, I proceeded to the spot, accompanied by my host, closed the mouth of the river with strong nets, and attacked the huge brute with guns and spears. After something of a desperate battle, we succeeded in driving him against the nets, where, being considerably exhausted by the wounds he had received from balls and lances, he got entangled, was dragged on shore, and the coup de grace given to him. He measured twenty feet in length, and from eleven to thirteen feet in circumference, the smallest part being eleven and the largest thirteen. The head alone weighed two hundred and seventy-five pounds. He had nearly the whole of the horse in him, and the legs, with the hoofs, were taken out entire."