Solomon’s Song – Syene

Solomon’s Song

Called also CANTICLES, and Song of Songs, B. C. 1012. This highly figurative and beautiful poem has always held a place in the canonical Scriptures, and of course was a part of the Bible in the time of Christ; it was so regarded by the early Christians, and appears in the ancient catalogues, manuscripts, and versions. Numerous and very different opinions have been held as to the subject and plan of this poem; but that its design is to set forth the spiritual love and mutual communion between Christ and his people, is evident from its harmony, when so understood, with the large class of Scripture passages which represent God and particularly Christ as the husband of the church, and employ the marriage relation in its various aspects to illustrate the relation between the Savior and his people. Thus Ps 45:1-17 is a Messianic nuptial song. See also Isa 54:5; 62:5; Jer 3:1-25; Eze 16:1-63; Ho 1:1-3:5; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:23-32; Re 19:7-9; 21:2-9.

In the exposition of this beautiful poem we must remember the difference between eastern and western nations. Modern conventional rules and notions. Modern conventional rules and notions are not the standard to which its plan, its images, or its phraseology should be brought. The veiling of spiritual fervor and enjoyment under the symbol of love is common among oriental nations, and commentators have quoted portions of eastern allegorical songs, which bear no small resemblance to this inspired allegory. Many Christians, deeply imbued with the spirit of the gospel, have found great delight and benefit in reading it. Jonathan Edwards says, "I found an inward sweetness that would carry me away in my contemplations. This I know not how to express otherwise than by a calm, delightful abstraction of the soul from all concerns of the world; and sometimes a kind of vision of fixed ideas and imaginations of being alone in the mountains or some solitary wilderness, far from mankind, sweetly conversing with Christ, and rapt and swallowed up in God. The sense I had of divine things would often of a sudden kindle up an ardor in my soul that I knew not how to express. While thus engaged, it always seemed natural to me to sing or chant forth my mediations, or to speak my thoughts in soliloquies with a singing voice."

Dr. John Brown of Haddington, in the introduction to his admirable paraphrase of this book, says, "If understood of the marriage and fellowship between Christ and his people, it will appear most exalted, instructive, and heart-warming. Its majestic style, its power on men’s conscience to promote holiness and purity the harmony of its language with that of Christ’s parables and the books of Revelation, the sincerity of the bride in acknowledging her faults, and its general reception by the Jewish and Christian church, sufficiently prove it inspired of God. To such as read it with a carnal and especially with a wanton mind, it is the savor of death unto death, as the mind and conscience of such are defiled; but to such as have experienced much fellowship with Christ, and read it with a heavenly and spiritual temper of mind, it will be the savor of life unto life. The speakers in it are, Christ, Believers, and the Daughters of Jerusalem," or companions and friends of believers.

Son

Sometimes denotes a grandson, or any remote descendant, Ge 29:5; 2Sa 19:24. At other times a son by adoption is meant, Ge 48:5; or by law, Ru 4:17; or by education, 1Sa 3:6; 20:35; or by conversion, as Titus was Paul’s "son father the common faith," Tit 1:4. And again it denotes a mental or moral resemblance, etc., Judg 19:22; Ps 89:6; Isa 57:3; Ac 13:10. In a similar sense men are sometimes called sons of God, Lu 3:38; Ro 8:14.

Son Of God

A peculiar appellation of Christ, expressing his eternal relationship to the Father, Ps 2:7; Da 3:25; Lu 1:35; Joh 1:18,34. Christ always claimed to be the only-begotten Son of the Father, Mt 4:3; 8:29; 27:54; Joh 3:16-18; and the Jews rightly understood him as thus making himself equal with God, Joh 5:18; 10:30-33.

Son Of Man

a title of Christ, assumed by himself in his humiliation, Joh 1:51.

It was understood as a designation of the Messiah, according to Old Testament predictions, Ps 80:17; Da 7:13,14; but appears to indicate especially his true humanity or oneness with the human race. It is applies to him more than eighty times in the New Testament.

Soothsayer

See SORCERER.

Sop

Joh 13:26, a small portion of bread, dipped in sauce, wine, or some other liquid at table, Ru 2:14. Modern table utensils were unknown or little used by the ancients. The food was conveyed to the mouth of the thumb and fingers, and a choice morsel was often thus bestowed on a favored guest.

Similar customs still prevail in Palestine. Jowett says, "There are set on the table in the evening two or three messes of stewed meat, vegetables, and sour milk. To me the privilege of a knife, spoon, and plate was granted; but the rest helped themselves immediately from the dish, in which five Arab fingers might be seen at once. Their bread, which is extremely thin, tearing and folding up like a sheet of paper, is used for rolling together a large mouthful, or sopping up the fluid and vegetables. When the master of the house found in the dish any dainty morsel, he took it out with his fingers, and put it to my mouth."

Sopater

A Berean Christian, and one of those who attended Paul from Greece into Asia Minor, Ac 20:4. He is supposed to have been the kinsman of Paul called Sosipater in Ro 16:21.

Sorcerer

One who practised sorcery; nearly synonymous with magician, soothsayer, or wizard. This was a class of persons who dealt in incantations and divinations, and boasted of a power, in consequence of their deep science and by means of certain rites, to evoke the spirits of the dead from their gloomy abodes, and compel them to disclose information on subjects beyond the reach of human powers.

They pretended also that, by means of certain herbs and information on subjects beyond the reach of human powers. They pretended also that, by means of certain herbs and incantations, they were able to expel demons, Ac 13:6,8. Those persons also who devoted themselves to the general studies above mentioned, often abused their knowledge and deceived the common people, by pretending to foretell the destinies of men from the motions and appearances of the planets and stars, and to cure diseases by repeating certain phrases, etc. Of this class appears to have been Simon the sorcerer, mentioned in Ac 8:9,11. Females who practised such arts were called sorceresses and witches, Mal 3:5; Re 22:15. See DIVINATION, ENCHANTMENTS, and MAGIC.

Sorek

A valley in which Delilah resided, not far from Zorah, and Eshtaol, Judg 16:4. In winter and spring it was the channel of a brook, flowing northwest from Judah, by the region of Dan and the Philistines, into the Mediterranean. Jerome mentions a village of Sorek in that vicinity. The same Hebrew word, translated "choice" and "noble" in Ge 49:11; Isa 5:2; Jer 2:21, its the name of a vine bearing small grapes, but very sweet and almost without seeds. This vine may have given the valley its name.

Sosipater

See SOPATER.

Sosthenes

The chief of the synagogue at Corinth, who was beaten by the Gentiles when the Jews carried Paul before Gallio the proconsul, Ac 18:17. He appears to have been the leader of the Jews in this attempt to destroy Paul. Whether he was converted, and is identical with the "Sosthenes our brother" in 1Co 1:1, is unknown.

Soul

The ancients supposed the soul, or rather the animating principle of life, to reside in the breath, that it departed from the body with the breath. Hence the Hebrew and Greek words which, when they refer to man, in our Bibles are translated "soul," are usually rendered "life" or "breath" when they refer to animals, Ge 2:7; 7:15; Nu 16:22; Job 12:10; 34:14,15; Ps 104:29; Ec 12:7; Ac 17:25.

But together with this principle of life, which is common to men and brutes, and which in brutes perishes with the body, there is in man a spiritual, reasonable, and immortal soul, the seat of our thoughts, affections, and reasonings, which distinguishes us from the brute creation, and in which chiefly consists our resemblance to God, Ge 1:26. This must be spiritual, because it thinks; it must be immortal, because it is spiritual. Scripture ascribes to man alone understanding, conscience, the knowledge of God, wisdom, immortality, and the hope of future everlasting happiness. It threatens men only with punishment in another life, and with the pains of hell. In some places the Bible seems to distinguish soul from spirit, 1Th 5:23; Heb 4:12: the organ of our sensations, appetites, and passions, allied to the body, form the nobler portion of our nature which most allies man to God. Yet we are to conceive of them as one indivisible and spiritual being, called also the mind and the heart, spoken of variously as living, feeling, understanding, reasoning, willing, etc. Its usual designation is the soul.

The immortality of the soul is a fundamental doctrine of revealed religion. The ancient patriarchs lived and died persuaded of this truth; and it was in the hope of another life that they received the promises. Compare Ge 50:22; Nu 23:10; 1Sa 28:13-15; 2Sa 12:23; Job 19:25,26; Ec 12:7; Heb 11:13-16. In the gospel "life and immortality," and the worth of immortal souls, are fully brought to light, Mt 16:26; 1Co 15:45-57; 2Ti 1:10. To save the souls of men, Christ freely devoted himself to death; and how does it become us to labor and toil and strive, in our respective spheres, to promote the great work for which He bled and died!

Spain

Comprehended, in ancient usage, the modern kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, that is, the whole Spanish peninsula. In the time of Paul, it was subject to the Romans, and was frequented by many Jews. For the supposed origin of its name, see CONEY. In Ro 15:24,28, Paul expresses his intention of visiting Spain; and many conjecture that he did so between his first and second imprisonments at Rome, about A. D. 64-66.

Span

La 2:20, the distance from the extremity of the thumb to that of the little finger, when stretched apart; some nine inches.

Sparrow

A small bird, the Passer Domesticus of naturalists, with quill and tail feathers brown, and its body gray and black, resembling the small "chirping-bird" of America. It is a general inhabitant of Europe, Asia, and Africa; is bold and familiar in its habits, and frequents populous places. It builds under the eaves of houses, an in similar situations; feeds on seeds, fruits, and insects; and lays five or six eggs of a pale ash color, with brow spots. The Hebrew name Tzippor includes also other small chirping birds, feeding on grain and insects, and classed as clean, Le 14:4; among others the thrush, which may be alluded to in Ps 102:7, a bird remarkable throughout the East for sitting solitary on the habitations of men and warbling in sweet and plaintive strains. A sparrow is of course of comparatively little value; and it is therefore a striking exemplification of God’s providence to say that he watches even over the sparrow’s fall, Mt 10:29.

These birds are still very numerous, troublesome, and cheap in Jerusalem, Lu 12:6, and flit in great numbers around the mosque of Omar, on the site of the ancient temple, within the precincts of which they built their favored nest of old, Ps 84:3.

Spider

A well-known insect, remarkable for the thread which it spins, and with which it forms a web of curious texture, but so frail that it is exposed to be broken and destroyed by the slightest accident. To the slenderness of this filmy workmanship Job compares the hope of the wicked, Job 8:14. So also in Isa 59:5, it is shown that the works of sinners are utterly inadequate to cover or protect them. In Pr 30:28, it is said in our version that "the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces;" but the Hebrew employs here a different word, which signifies, according to the best interpreters, a species of lizard frequent in Palestine.

Spikenard

Song 1:12; 4:13,14, a highly perfumed ointment prepared from a plant in India growing in short spikes. It was highly prized by the ancients, and was a favorite perfume at their baths and banquets. Horace represents a small box of it as equivalent to a large vessel of wine, and as a handsome quota for a guest to contribute to an entertainment. It was kept closely sealed, sometimes in alabaster boxes; and to unseal and open it was called breaking the box, Mr 14:3. The evangelists speak of it as diffusing a rich perfume; and as "precious," and "very costly," a pound of it being worth more than three hundred denarii, or over forty dollars, Joh 12:3-5. See ALABASTER and PENNY.

Spirit

A word employed in various senses in Scripture.

1. For THE HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the prophets, animates good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts to us life and comfort; and in whose name we are baptized and blessed, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. When the adjective Holy is applied to the term Spirit, we should always understand it as here explained; but there are many places whether it must be taken in this sense, although the term Holy is omitted. See HOLY, HOLINESS SPIRIT.

2. BREATH, respiration; or the principle of animal life, common to men and animal: this God has given, and this he recalls when he takes away life, Ec 3:21. See SOUL.

3. The RATIONAL SOUL which animates us, and preserves its being after the death of the body. That spiritual, reasoning, and choosing substance, which is capable of eternal happiness. See SOUL.

The "spirits in prison," 1Pe 3:19, it is generally thought, are the souls of antediluvian sinners now reserved unto the judgment-day, but unto whom the Spirit preached by the agency of Noah, etc., 2Pe 2:5, when they were in the flesh. Thus Christ "preached" to the Ephesians, whom he never visited in person, Eph 2:17.

4. An ANGEL, good or bad; a soul separate from the body, Mr 14:26. It is said, Ac 23:8, that the Sadducees denied the existence of angels and spirits. Christ, appearing to his disciples, said to them, Lu 24:39, "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

5. The DISPOSITION of the mind or intellect. Thus we read of a spirit of jealously, a spirit of fornication, a spirit of prayer, a spirit of infirmity, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of fear of the Lord, Ho 4:12; Zec 12:10; Lu 13:11; Isa 11:2.

6. The RENEWED NATURE of true believers, which is produced by the Holy Spirit, and conforms the soul to his likeness. Spirit is thus the opposite of flesh, Joh 3:6. This spirit is virally united with, an in some passages can hardly be distinguished from the "Spirit of Christ," which animates true Christians, the children of God, and distinguishes them from the children of darkness, who are animated by the spirit of the world, Ro 8:1-16. This indwelling Spirit is the gift of grace, of adoption-the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts-which emboldens us to call God "Abba, my Father." Those who are influenced by this Spirit "have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts," Ga 5:16-25.

"Distinguishing or discerning of spirits" consisted in discerning whether a man were really inspired by the Spirit of God, or was a false prophet, an impostor, who only followed the impulse of his own spirit or of Satan. Paul speaks, 1Co 12:10 of the discerning of spirits as being among the miraculous gifts granted by God to the faithful at the first settlement of Christianity.

To "quench the Spirit," 1Th 5:19, is a metaphorical expression easily understood. The Spirit may be quenched by forcing, as it were, that divine Agent to withdraw from us, by irregularity of life, frivolity, avarice, negligence, or other sins contrary to charity, truth, peace, and his other gifts and qualifications.

We "grieve" the Spirit of God by withstanding his holy inspirations, the impulses of his grace; or by living in a lukewarm and incautious manner; by despising his gifts, or neglecting them; by abusing his favors, either out of vanity, curiosity, or indifference. In a contrary sense, 2Ti 1:6, we "stir up" the Spirit of God which is in us, by the practice of virtue, by compliance with his inspirations, by fervor in his service, by renewing our gratitude, and by diligently serving Christ and doing the works of the Spirit.

Spoil

Booty taken in war, in which all the soldiers were permitted by David to share, whether actually engaged in battle or not, 1Sa 30:21-25. A portion of what was thus gained was devoted to the Lord of hosts as early as the time of Abraham, Ge 14:20; and under the Mosaic legislation a definite rule for this purpose was established, Nu 31:26-47; 1Ch 26:27.

Christ "spoiled" principalities and powers when by his atoning work he triumphed over Satan and his hosts, and deprived them of their power to injure his people, Col 2:15. Paul warns Christians not to permit human philosophy, tradition, etc., to "spoil" them, that is, to rob them of Scripture truths and spiritual blessings, Col 2:8. See PHILOSOPHY.

Stachys

A disciple of Paul, by whom he is honorably mentioned, Ro 16:9. From his name it would seem that he was a Greek, though residing at Rome.

Stacte

One of the four ingredients composing the sacred perfume, Ex 30:34,35. Some think the gum called storax is intended; but it is generally understood to be the purest king of myrrh; and as the Hebrew properly signifies a drop, it would seem to refer to myrrh as distilling, dropping form the tree of its own accord, without incision. So Pliny, speaking of the trees whence myrrh is produced, says, "Before any incision is made, they exude of their own accord what is called Stacte, to which no kind of myrrh is preferable."

Star

Under the name of stars, the Hebrew comprehended all the constellations, planets, and heavenly luminaries, except the sun and moon. The psalmist, to exalt the power and omniscience of God, says, "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names," Ps 147:4; God being described as a king taking a review of his army, and knowing the name of every one of his soldiers. Christ is called "the Morning Star," which is the brightest of the heavenly train, and ushers in the day, Re 22:16. Compare Nu 24:17. To express increase and multiplication, Scripture uses the similitude of the stars of heaven, or of the sands of the sea, Ge 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Ex 32:13. In times of disgrace and public calamity, it is said the stars withhold their light; they fall from heaven, and disappear. These figurative and emphatic expressions, which refer to the governing powers of nations, are only weakened and enervated by being explained.

In the pure atmosphere of Judea and the East the stars shine with peculiar brilliancy, and seem as if hanging midway in the heavenly canopy, while the eye penetrates the ether far beyond them. The beauty and splendor that men observed in the stars; the great advantages they derived from them; the wonderful order apparent in their return, in the production and preservation of animals, fruits, plants, and minerals, have induced almost all heathen nations to impute to them life, knowledge, power, and to pay them a sovereign worship and adoration. The Israelites also needed to be warned against this sin. "Learn not the way of the heathen," says God, "and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them," Jer 10:2. See IDOLATRY.

Star In The East

It is a fact of great interest, that when the Savior appeared, not only were the Jews eagerly expecting the Messiah, but many in various heathen lands were cherishing similar hopes: in part through the diffusion of the Hebrew prophecies; in part through the felt need of a Savior; and in part perhaps through direct divine intimations.

The eastern magi apparently were not only apprized of the coming birth of a royal and divine being in Judea, but were miraculously guided to Bethlehem by a meteoric light, appearing in the right direction for their course, Mt 2:9. The fanciful theory of the distinguished astronomer Kepler, that the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn six years before the common Christian era may have constituted the "star in the east," does not appear to meet the terms of the inspired narrative. See MAGI.

Stephanas

A Christian of Corinth, whose family Paul baptized, the first convert to the gospel in Achaia, probably about A. D. 52, 1Co 1:16. He was forward in the service of the church, and came to Paul at Ephesus, 1Co 16:15,17.

Stephen

One of the seven deacons first chosen by the church at Jerusalem, and distinguished among them as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." He seems from his name to have been a Hellenistic Jew, (see GRECIANS,) and to have been chosen in part as being familiar with the language, opinions, and customs of the Greeks, Ac 6:1-6. His mighty works and unanswerable argument roused the bitterest hostility against him, and he was brought before the Sanhedrin for trial, on the charge of blasphemy and heresy. His speech in his own defense, probably recorded only in part, shows historically that the opponents of Christianity were but the children and imitators of those who had always opposed true religion. His enraged hearers hurried him to death, a judicial tribunal becoming a riotous mob for the occasion. Compare Joh 18:31. With Christ-like magnanimity he forgave his murderers, and "fell asleep" amid their stones, with his eyes upon the Savior "standing at the right hand of God," as if rising from his throne to protect and receive the first martyr of his church, Ac 7:1-60.

The results of Stephen’s death illustrates the saying of Tertrullian, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," Ac 8:1,4; 11:19-21. Augustine observes that the church owes the conversion and ministry of Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Paul, himself a Cilician, Ac 6:9; 22:3, had undoubtedly felt the force of his arguments in the discussions which preceded his arrest; and long afterwards alluded to his own presence at the martyr’s death, Ac 22:19,20—that triumph of Christian faith and love which has taught so many martyrs and Christians how to die. Yet nothing he heard or witnessed availed for his conversion, till he saw the Savior himself, Ac 9:1-43. The scene of Stephen’s martyrdom is placed by modern tradition on the east side of Jerusalem, near the gate called after his name. Earlier traditions located it more to the north.

Stock

The trunk of a tree, Job 14:8, or a reproachful name for the idols carved out of it, Jer 2:27; Ho 4:12. The stocks in which Paul and Silas were fastened, Ac 16:24, were an instrument well known in Europe and America until recent times; consisting of two beams, the upper one movable, with grooves between them large enough to receive the ankles of the prisoner. The arms also were sometimes confined. Stocks were frequently erected in market places, that the insults of the populace might be added to the pain of confinement, Job 13:27; Jer 20:2.

Stoics

A set of fatalistic heathen philosophers so named from the Greek word signifying porch, or portico, because Zeno its founder, more than three centuries before Christ, held his school in a porch of the city of Athens. They placed the supreme happiness of man in living agreeably to nature and reason; affecting the same stiffness, patience, apathy, austerity, and insensibility as the Pharisee, whom they much resembled. They were in great repute at Athens when Paul visited that city, Ac 17:18.

Stone

The allusion in Re 2:17 may be to the practice at the Olympic games of giving the successful competitor a white stone, inscribed with his name and the value of his prize; or to the mode of balloting with black and white stones on the question of the acquittal of an accused person, or his admission to certain privileges; if the stones deposited in the urn by the judges were all white, the decision was favorable. In early ages, flint-stone knives were in common use, instead of steel, Ex 4:25; Jos 5:2.

It was also customary to raise a heap or mound of stones in commemoration of any remarkable event, Ge 31:46; Jos 4:5-7; 7:26; 8:29; 2Sa 18:17. The same custom still prevails in Syria, and passing travellers are wont to add each one a stone to the heap. See CORNER STONE.

Stoning

Was a punishment much in use among the Hebrews, and the rabbins reckon all crimes as being subject to it, which the law condemns to death without expressing the particular mode. They say that when a man was condemned to death, he was led out of the city to the place of execution, and there exhorted to acknowledge and confess his fault.

He was then stoned in one of two ways; either stones were thrown upon him till he died, or he was thrown headlong down a steep place, and a large stone rolled upon his body. The former was the usual mode; and the witnesses were required to cast the first stones, De 17:5-7; for which purpose they sometimes threw off their outer garments, Ac 7:58. To the latter mode it is supposed there is a reference in Mt 21:44. So also in Lu 4:29, where compare NAZARETH.

Stork

Its Hebrew name signifies kindness or mercy, and its Greek name natural affection, probably because of the tenderness which it is said to manifest towards its parents-never, as is reported, forsaking them, but feeding and defending them in their decrepitude. In modern times, parent storks are known to have perished in the effort to rescue their young from flames; and it has been a popular, but perhaps ill-founded opinion, that in their migratory flights, the leader of the flock when fatigued is partially supported by others as he falls into the rear. In Jer 8:7, allusion is made to the unerring instinct of the stork as a bird of passage, and perhaps to its lofty flight: "the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times." Moses places it among unclean birds, Le 11:19; De 14:18. The psalmist says, "As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house," Ps 104:17. In the climate of Europe, she commonly builds her nest on some high tower or ruin, or on the top of a house; but in Palestine, where the coverings of the houses are flat, she builds in high trees.

The stork has the beak and legs long and red; it feeds on field mice, lizards, snakes, frogs, and insects. Its plumage would be wholly white, but that the extremities of its wings, and some small part of its head and thighs, are black. It sits for the space of thirty days, and lays but four eggs. Storks migrate to southern countries in August, and return in the spring. They are still the objects of much veneration among the common people in some parts of Europe and Asia.

Strait

Narrow, and difficult to pass, Mt 7:13,14. This word should not be confounded with straight. To be "in a strait," is to have one’s way beset with doubts or difficulties, to be at a loss, 1Sa 13:6; 2Sa 24:14; Php 1:23.

Stranger

Is sometimes used in a special sense, easily understood from the context. It usually denotes a foreigner, who is not a native of the land in which he resides, Ge 23:4. The Mosaic Law enjoined a generous hospitality towards foreign residents, saying, "Thou shalt love him as thyself," Le 19:33,34; De 10:18,19; 24:17; 27:19. They were subject to the law, Ex 20:10; Le 16:20, and were admitted to many of the privileges of the chosen people of God, Nu 9:14; 15:14.

The strangers whom David collected to aid in building the temple, 1Ch 22:2, probably comprised many of the remnants of the Canaanite tribes, 1Ki 9:20,21. Hospitality to strangers, including all travellers, was the duty of all good citizens, Job 31:32; Heb 13:2.

Streets

In the towns and cities of Palestine, are supposed to have been comparatively narrow and ill graded, on account of the unevenness of their sites, and the little use of wheel-carriages. They were wider, however, than in many modern cities, Lu 14:21, and terminated in large public areas around the gates, Ne 8:1. Josephus says that those of Jerusalem were paved. They were named, like our own streets, Ac 9:11, and often resembled the bazaars of modern eastern cities, the shops of the same kind being in the same street and giving it its name, as the bakers’ street, Ne 3:31,32; Jer 37:21, and the valley of the cheesemongers. Here, and especially at the prominent points and corners, men loved, as the Turks do now, to spread their piece of carpet and sit, 1Sa 4:13; Job 29:7; and here at the hours of prayer they performed their devotions, Mt 6:5.

Strong Drink

See WINE.

Succoth

Booths,

1. A spot in the valley of the Jordan and near the Jabbok, where Jacob set up his tents on his return from Mesopotamia, Ge 33:17. Joshua assigned the city subsequently built here to the tribe of Gad, Jos 13:27. Gideon tore the flesh of the principal men of Succoth with thorn and briars, because they returned him a haughty answer when pursuing the Midianites, Judg 8:5. It seems to have lain on the east side of the Jordan; but may possibly have been on the west side, at the place now called Sakut. Compare 1Ki 7:46; Ps 60:6.

2. The first encampment of the Israelites, on their way out of Egypt, Ex 12:37.

Succoth Bennoth

Tents of the daughters, 2Ki 17:30, an object of idolatrous worship among the Babylonians: an idol; or as some think tents, or booths, in which the Babylonian females prostituted themselves of Mylitta, the Assyrian Venus.

Sukkiim

Allies of Shishak in his invasion of Judah, 2Ch 12:3; probably from region southeast of Egypt.

Summer

See CANAAN.

Sun

The great luminary of day, which furnishes so many similitudes to the Hebrew poets, as well as those of all nations, Judg 5:31; Ps 84:11; Pr 4:18; Lu 1:78,79; Joh 8:12. For the idolatrous worship of the sun, see BAAL.

Superstition And Superstitious

Ac 17:22; 19:25, are not to be understood offensively. Paul found the Athenians "much addicted to devotion," such as it was: perhaps "religion" and "religiously inclined" may better express the sense of the original.

Supper

See EATING, and LORD’S SUPPER. For the suppers, or love feasts, which used to accompany the celebration of the Lord’s supper, see FEASTS.

Surety

One who makes himself personally responsible for the safe appearing of another, Ge 43:9; 44:32, or for the full payment of his debts, etc., Pr 22:26. Christ is the "surety of a better testament;" that is, in the glorious and complete covenant of grace he engages to meet all the claims of the divine law against his people, that they may be absolved, and enriched with all covenant blessing, Heb 7:22. Hence his obedience unto death, Isa 53:5,12.

Swallow

The well-known bird of passage, which is so common both in our country, in Europe, and in the East, Ps 84:3; Isa 38:14; Jer 8:7. See CRANE, and SPARROW.

Swan

This bird is mentioned only in Le 11:18; De 14:16; and it is there quite doubtful whether the Hebrew word means a swan. The Septuagint calls it the ibis, and the purple hen, a waterfowl.

Swearing

See OATH.

Swine

A well-known animal, forbidden as food to the Hebrews, who held its flesh in such destination that they would not so much as pronounce its name, Le 11:7; De 14:8. The eating of swine’s flesh was among the most odious of the idolatrous abominations charged upon some of the Jews, Isa 65:4; 66:3,17. The herd of swine destroyed by evil spirits in the Sea of Gennesaret, Mt 8:32, are supposed to have been kept by Jews for sale to the Gentiles around them, in defiance of the law. The beautiful and affecting parable of the prodigal son shows that the tending of swine was considered to be an employment of the most despicable character; it was the last resource of that depraved and unhappy being who had squandered his patrimony in riotous living, Lu 15:14-16. The irreclaimably filthy habits of this animal illustrate the insufficiency of reformation without regeneration, 2Pe 2:22; as its treading in the mire any precious thing which it cannot eat, illustrates the treatment which some profligates the treatment which some profligates give to the gospel, Mt 7:6.

Sycamore Or Sycamine

Lu 17:6, a curious tree, which seems to partake of the nature of both the mulberry and the fig, the former in its leaf, and the latter in its fruit. Hence its name in Greek, meaning the mulberryfig. The sycamore is thus described by Norden: "I shall remark that they have in Egypt divers sorts of figs; but if there is any difference between them, a particular kind differs still more. I mean that, which the sycamore bears, that they name in Arabic giomez. It was upon a tree of this sort that Zaccheus got up, to see our Savior pass through Jericho, Lu 19:4. This sycamore is of the height of a beech, and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from other trees. It has them on the trunk itself, which shoots out little sprigs in form of a grape-stalk, at the end of which grows the fruit, close to one another, much like bunches of grapes. The tree is always green, and bears fruit several times in the year, for I have seen some sycamores which had fruit has the figure and smell of real figs, but is inferior to them in the taste, having a disgustful sweetness. (Compare Am 7:17) Its color is a yellow, inclining to an ochre, shadowed by a flesh color; in the inside, it resembles the common fig, excepting that it has a blackish coloring, with yellow spots. This sort of tree is pretty common in Egypt. The people, for the greater part, live on its fruit."

The sycamore has a very large trunk, which breaks up onto five or six stout branches not many feet above the ground; it is planted by the roadside, and often where two ways meet; and sends its enormous roots deeply into the ground in every direction, so that few trees can compare with it in steadfast firmness. The power that could say to it, "Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea," and it should obey, must be of God, Lu 17:6. From 1Ki 10:27; 1Ch 27:28; 2Ch 1:15, it is evident that this tree was quite common it Palestine, as well as in Egypt; and from its being joined with the vines in Ps 78:47, as well as from the circumstance of David’s appointing a particular officer to superintend the plantations of them, it seems to have been as much valued in ancient as in modern times. From Isa 9:10, we find that the timber of the sycamore was used in the construction of buildings; and notwithstanding its porous and spongy appearance, it was of extreme durability.

Describing the catacombs and mummies of Egypt, Dr. Shaw states that he found the mummy chests, and that little square boxes containing various figures, which are placed at the feet of each mummy, to be both made of sycamore and uncorrupted for at least three thousand years.

Sychar Or Sychem

See SHECHEM.

Syene

A city on the southern frontiers of Egypt, towards Ethiopia, between Thebes and the cataracts of the Nile, and now called Assouan. Pliny says it stands in a peninsula on the eastern shore of the Nile; that is was mile in circumference, and had a Rome garrison. "From Migdol," the tower, "unto Syene," denotes the whole length of Egypt from north to south, Eze 29:10; 30:6. Few remains of the ancient city are now extant. In its vicinity are quarries of the Egyptian granite called Syenite, which furnished the material for numerous obelisks and colossal statues.