Temple – Tile

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Temple

A building hallowed by the special presence of God, and consecrated to his worship. The distinctive idea of a temple, contrasted with all other buildings, is that it is the dwelling-place of a deity; and every heathen temple had its idol, but the true and living God dwelt "between the cherubim" in the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem. Hence, figuratively applied, a temple denotes the church of Christ, ; ; heaven, ; ; and the soul of the believer, in which the Holy Spirit dwells, ,; ; .

After the Lord had instructed David that Jerusalem was the place he had chosen in which to fix his dwelling, that pious prince began to realize his design of preparing a temple for the Lord that might be something appropriate to His divine majesty. But the honor was reserved for Solomon his son and successor, who was to be a peaceful prince, and like David, who had shed much blood in war. David, however, applied himself to collect great quantities of gold, silver, brass, iron, and other materials for this undertaking, ; ; .

The place chosen for erecting this magnificent structure was Mount Moriah, ,; , the summit of which originally was unequal, and its sides irregular; but it was a favorite object of the Jews to level and extend it. The plan and the whole model of this structure was laid by the same divine architect as that of the tabernacle, namely, God himself; and it was built much in the same form as the tabernacle, but was of much larger dimensions. The utensils for the sacred service were also the same as those used in the tabernacle, only several of them were larger, in proportion to the more spacious edifice to which they belonged. The foundations of this magnificent edifice were laid by Solomon, in the year B. C. 1011, about four hundred and eighty years after the exodus and the building of the tabernacle; and it was finished B. C. 1004, having occupied seven years and six months in the building. It was dedicated with peculiar solemnity to the worship of Jehovah, who condescended to make it the place for the special manifestation of his glory, :22. The front or entrance to the temple was on the eastern side, and consequently facing the Mount of Olives, which commanded a noble prospect of the building. The temple itself, strictly so called, which comprised the Porch, the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies, formed only a small part of the sacred precincts, being surrounded by spacious courts, chambers, and other apartments, which were much more extensive than the temple itself. It should be observed that the word temple does not always denote the central edifice itself, but in many passages some of the outer courts are intended.

From the descriptions which are handed down to us of the temple of Solomon, it is utterly impossible to obtain so accurate an idea of its relative parts and their respective proportions, as to furnish such an account as may be deemed satisfactory to the reader. Hence we find no two writers agreeing in their descriptions. The following account may give a general idea of the building.

The Temple itself was seventy cubits long; the Porch being ten cubits, , the Holy place forty cubits, , and the Most Holy place, twenty cubits, . The width of the Porch, Holy, and Most Holy places was thirty cubits, ; but the height of the porch was much greater, being no less than one hundred and twenty cubits, , or four times the height of the rest of the building. The Most Holy place was separated from the Sanctuary by an impervious veil, , and was perhaps wholly dark, , but for the glory of the Lord which filled it. To the north and south sides, and the west end of the Holy and Most Holy places, or all around the edifice, from the back of the porch on one side, to the back of the porch on the other side, certain buildings were attached. These were called side chambers, and consisted of three stories, each five cubits high, , and joined to the wall of the temple without. Thus the three stories of side chambers, when taken together, were fifteen cubits high, and consequently reached exactly to half the height of the side walls and end of the temple; so that there was abundance of space above these for the windows which gave light to the temple, .

Solomon’s temple appears to have been surrounded by two main courts: the inner court, that "of the Priests," ; ; and the outer court, that "of Israel;" these were separated by a "middle wall of partition," with lodges for priests and Levites, for wood, oil, etc., . The ensuing description is applicable to the temple courts in the time of our Lord.

The "court of the Gentiles" was so called because it might be entered by persons of all nations. The chief entrance to it was by the east or Shushan gate, which was the principal gate of the temple. It was the exterior court, and by far the largest of all the courts belonging to the temple, and is said to have covered a space of more than fourteen acres. It entirely surrounded the other courts and the temple itself; and in going up to the temple from its east or outer gate, one would cross first this court, then the court of the Women, then that of Israel, and lastly that of the Priests. This outmost court was separated from the court of the women by a wall three cubits high of lattice work, and having inscriptions on its pillars forbidding Gentiles and unclean persons to pass beyond it, on pain of death, ; ,. From this court of the Gentiles our Savior drove the persons who had established a cattle-market in it, for the purpose of supplying those with sacrifices who came from a distance, . We must not overlook the beautiful pavement of variegated marble, and the "porches" or covered walks, with columns supported magnificent galleries, with which this court was surrounded. Those on the east, west, and north sides were of the same dimensions; but that on the south was much larger. The porch called Solomon’s ; , was on the east side or front of this court, and was so called because it was built by this prince, upon a high wall rising from the alley of Kidron.

The "court of the Women," called in Scripture the "new court," , and the "outer court," , separated the court of the Gentiles from the court of Israel, extending along the east side only of the latter. It was called the court of the women because it was their appointed place of worship, beyond which they might not go, unless when they brought a sacrifice, in which case they went forward to the court of Israel. The gate which led into this court from that of the Gentiles, was "the Beautiful gate" of the temple, mentioned in ,; so called, because the folding doors, lintel, and side-posts were all overlaid with Corinthian brass. The worshipper ascended to its level by a broad flight of steps. It was in this court of the women, called the "treasury," that our Savior delivered his striking discourse to the Jews, related in . It was into this court also that the Pharisee and the publican went to pray, , and hither the lame man followed Peter and John, after he was cured- the court of the women being the ordinary place of worship for those who brought no sacrifice, . From thence, after prayers, he went back with them, through the "Beautiful gate" of the temple, where he had been lying, and through the sacred fence, into the court of the Gentiles, where, under the eastern piazza, or Solomon’s porch, Peter preached Christ crucified. It was in the same court of the women that the Jews laid hold of Paul, when they judged him a violator of the temple by taking Gentiles within the sacred fence, .

The "court of Israel" was separated from the court of the women by a wall thirty-two and a half cubits high on the outside, but on the inside only twenty-five. The reason of which difference was, that as the rock on which the temple stood became higher on advancing westward, the several courts naturally became elevated in proportion. The ascent into this court from the east was by a flight of fifteen steps, of a semicircular form, and the magnificent gate Nicanor. On these steps the Levites stood in singing the "songs of degrees." The whole length of the court from east to west was one hundred and eighty-seven cubits, and the breadth from north to south, one hundred and thirty-five cubits. In this court, and the piazza which surrounded it, the Israelites stood in solemn and reverent silence while their sacrifices were burning in the inner court, and while the services of the sanctuary were performed, ,,.

Within this court, and surrounded by it, was the "court of the Priests;" one hundred and sixty-five cubits long and one hundred and nineteen cubits wide, and raised two and a half cubits above the surrounding court, from which it was separated by pillars and a railing. Within this court stood the brazen altar on which the sacrifices were consumed, the molten sea in which the priests washed, and the ten brazen lavers for washing the sacrifices; also the various utensils and instruments for sacrificing, which are enumerated in . It is necessary to observe here, that although the court of the Priests was not accessible to all Israelites, as that of Israel was to all the priests, yet they might enter it for three several purposes: to lay their hands on the animals which they offered, or to kill them, or to wave some part of them.

From the court of the Priests, the ascent to the temple was by a flight of twelve steps, each half a cubit in height, which led into the sacred porch. Of the dimensions of this in Solomon’s temple, as also of the Sanctuary and Holy of Holies, we have already spoken. It was within the door of the porch, and in the sight of those who stood in the courts immediately before it, that the two pillars, Jachiin and Boaz, were placed, ; .

The temple of Solomon retained its pristine splendor but thirtythree years, when it was plundered by Shishak king of Egypt, ,; . After this period it underwent sundry profanities and pillages from Hazael, Tiglath-pileser, Sennacherib, etc., ; ; ; and was at length utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, B. C. 588, after having stood according to Usher, four hundred and twenty-four years, three months, and eight days.

After lying in ruins for fifty-two years, the foundations of the second temple were laid by Zerubbabel, and the Jews who had availed themselves of the privilege granted by Cyrus and returned to Jerusalem, ; ; . After various hindrances, it was finished and dedicated twenty-one years after it was begun, B. C. 515, . The dimensions of this temple in breadth and height were double those of Solomon’s. The weeping of the people at the laying of the foundation, therefore, , and the disparaging manner in which they spoke of it, when compared with he first one, , were occasioned by its inferiority not in size, but in glory. It wanted the five principal things which could invest it with this: namely, the ark and mercy seat, the divine presence or visible glory, the holy fire on the altar, the urim and thummin, and the Spirit of prophecy. In the year B. C. 163, this temple was plundered and profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, who ordered the discontinuance of the daily sacrifice, offered swine’s flesh upon the altar, and completely suspended the worship of Jehovah. Thus it continued for three years, when it was repaired and purified by Judas Maccabaeus, who restored the divine worship, and dedicated it anew.

Herod, having slain all the Sanhedrim, except two, in the first year of his reign, B. C. 37, resolved to atone for it by rebuilding and beautifying the temple. This he was the more inclined to do, both from the peace which he enjoyed, and the decayed state of the edifice. After employing two years in preparing the materials for the work, the temple of Zerubbabel was pulled down, B. C. 17, and fortysix years before the first Passover of Christ’s ministry. Although this temple was fit for divine service in nine years and a half, yet a great number of laborers and artificers were still employed in carrying on the outbuildings all the time of our Savior’s abode on earth. His presence fulfilled the predictions in ; . The temple of Herod was considerably larger than that of Zerubbabel, as that of Zerubbabel was larger than Solomon’s. For whereas the second temple was seventy cubits long, sixty broad, and sixty high, this was one hundred cubits long, seventy broad, and one hundred high. The porch was raised to the height of one hundred cubits, and was extended fifteen cubits beyond each side of the rest of the building. All the Jewish writers praise this temple exceedingly for its beauty and the costliness of its workmanship. It was built of white marble, exquisitely wrought, and with stones of large dimensions, some of them twenty-five cubits long, eight cubits high, and twelve cubits thick. To these there is no doubt a reference in ; : "And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones, and what buildings are here!" Luke says, "goodly stones." See a description of the ornaments of one of its gates under VINE.

This splendid building, which rose like a mount of gold and of snow, and was once the admiration and envy of the world, has forever passed away. According to our blessed Lord’s prediction, that "there should not be left one stone upon another that should not be thrown down," , the whole structure above ground was completely demolished by the Roman soldiers, under Titus, A. D. 70. The temple area is now occupied by two Turkish mosques, into which, until recently, neither Jew nor Christian was permitted to enter. Beneath the vast area of El-Haram still exist immense arched ways and vaults of unknown date; also a large and deep well, and other indications that the temple always possessed a copious and perennial supply of water, derived perhaps in part from Gihon by Hezekiah’s aqueduct, and in part from Solomon’s pools, and flowing off through the fountain of the Virgin and the pool of Siloam. In the outer walls of the present area are seen at several places stones of vast size, evidently belonging to the ancient walls. Near the southwest corner certain huge stones mark the beginning of an arch, a part of the stately bridge which anciently connected the temple are with Mount Zion; and a little north of this spot is the celebrated wailing-place of the Jews. See WALL.

In the time of the kings, a regular guard of Levites was always on duty at the temple, ; . During the supremacy of the Romans there was a Roman garrison in the strong tower of Antonia, which, with its various courts and fortifications, adjoined the temple area on the north, and was connected with it by passages both above and under ground, ; ; ; .

The utmost veneration and love were always cherished towards the temple by pious Jews, . All the people also, from various motives, gloried in it, many with a bigoted and idolatrous regard. Hence the charge of blaspheming the temple, which was found the most effectual means of enraging the populace against Christ and his followers, ; ; ,; ; .

Tempt

To make trial of, , and usually to present inducements to sin. Satan is the great tempter, seeking thus most effectually to destroy men’s souls, ; :13; ; . Men are also led into sin by their own evil inclinations and by other men, . God, being holy and desirous of men’s holiness, does not thus tempt them, ; but he makes trial of them, to prove, exercise, and establish their graces, ; . Christ stands ready to support his people under any possible temptation, ; ; ; . Yet they are not to rush into temptation unbidden, . Men tempt God by presumptuously experimenting on his providence or his grace, or by distrusting him, ,; ; ; ; . Sore afflictions are often called temptations or trials, as they are frequently the occasion of sin, ; ; ; ; ,.

Christ, at the outset of his public ministry, was violently assailed by the tempter, who thus displayed his effrontery and his blindness, hoping perhaps that the human soul of the Redeemer would be left unaided by his divinity, . The temptations are to be understood as real transactions, and not as visions. The tempter was baffled, and left him for a season, to meet a like rebuff on every future assault, ; ; . The Savior triumphed, and paradise was regained.

Tent

Dwelling in tents was very general in ancient times among Eastern nations, ; their way of life being pastoral, locomotion became necessary for pasturage, and dwellings adapted for such a life became indispensable, . The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in tents, ; ; and on the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, throughout their peregrinations until they obtained the promised land, and to some extent afterwards, they adopted the same kind of habitation. See BOOTHS. Hence the expression. "Every man to his tents, O Israel," etc.,

; ; . Indeed, the people of the East, men, women, and children, lived very much in the open air, as is obvious from the New Testament narratives. And the same is true of them at the present day. The Midianites, the Philistines, the Syrains, the descendants of Ham, the Hagarites, and the Cushanites are mentioned in Scripture as living in tents. But the people most remarkable for this unsettled and wandering mode of life are the Arabs, who from the time of Ishmael to the present have continued the custom of dwelling in tents. Amid the revolutions which have transferred kingdoms from one possessor to another, these wandering tribes still dwell in tents, unsubdued and wild as was their progenitor. This kind of dwelling is not, however, confined to the Arabs, but is used throughout the continent of Asia. The word tent is formed from the Latin, "to stretch;" tents being usually made of canvas stretched out, and sustained by poles with cords secured to pegs driven into the ground. The "nail of the tent" with which Jael pierced the head of Sisera was such a tent-pin, . See also ; ; . The house of God, and heaven, are spoken of in Scripture as the tent or tabernacle of Jehovah, ; ; ; ; ; and the body as the tabernacle of the soul, taken down by death, ; . Says Lord Lindsay, "There is something very melancholy in our morning flitting. The tentpins are plucked up, and in a few minutes a dozen holes, a heap or two of ashes, and the marks of the camels’ knees in the sand, soon to be obliterated, are the only traces left of what has been for a while our home." "Often," says M’Cheyne, "we found ourselves shelterless before being fully dressed. What a type of the tent of our body! Ah, how often is it taken down before the soul is made meet for the inheritance of he saints in light." A tent is also put for its inmates, ; .

Tents are of various colors; black, as tents of Kedar, ; ; red, as of scarlet cloth; yellow, as of gold shining brilliantly; white, as of canvas. They are also of various shapes; some circular, others of an oblong figure, not unlike the bottom of a ship turned upside down. In Syria, the tents are generally made of cloth of goats’ hair, woven by women, . Those of the Arabs are of black goats’ hair. Some other nations adopt the same kind, but it is not common. The Egyptian and Moorish inhabitants of Askalon are said to use white tents; and D’Arvieux mentions that the tent of an Arab emir he visited was distinguished from the rest by its being of white cloth. An Arab sheikh will have a number of tents, of himself, his family, servants, and visitors; as in patriarchal times Jacob had separate tents for himself, for Leah, Rachel, and their maids, ; . Usually, however, one tent suffices for a family; being divided, if large, into several apartments by curtains.

Tenth-Deal

That is, tenth part, corresponding to the Hebrew assaron, or the tenth part of an ephah. It may therefore be the same as the omer, about five pints, .

Terah

The son of Nahor, and father of Nahor, Haran, and Abraham, , begot Abraham at the age of seventy-two years, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Upon Abraham’s first call to remove into the land of promise, Terah and all his family went with him as far as Haran, in Mesopotamia, about B. C. 1918, . He died there the same year, aged two hundred and seventy-five years. Scripture intimates plainly that Terah had fallen into idolatry, or had for a time mingled some idolatrous practices with the worship of the true God, ,; and some think that Abraham himself at fist did the same thing; but that afterwards God, being gracious to him, convinced him of the vanity of this worship, and that he undeceived his father Terah.

Teraphim

Small idols or superstitious figures, from the possession, adoration, and consultation of which extraordinary benefits were expected. See margin ; . The Eastern people are still much addicted to this superstition of talismans. The ancient teraphim appear to have been household gods, and their worship was sometimes blended with that of Jehovah, .

They seem in one case to have resembled the human form in shape and size, ,. The images of Rachel, ,, were teraphim. So ; , 20 .

Terebinth

See OAK.

Tertius

A Christian whom Paul employed as his amanuensis in writing the epistle to the Romans, .

Tertullus

A Roman orator or advocate, whom the Jews employed to bring forward their accusation against Paul, before the Roman procurator at Caesarea, probably because they were themselves unacquainted with the modes of proceeding in the Roman courts, .

Testament

In Scripture, usually signifies covenant, and not a man’s last will, . Both meanings are blended, however, in . Paul speaks of the New Testament, or covenant, in the blood of the Redeemer; and calls the law the old covenant, and the gospel the new covenant, :24; 11:25; ,; ; ; . See BIBLE, and COVENANT.

Testimony

The whole revelation of God, testifying to man what he is to believe, do, and hope, ; ,; ; . The two stone tables of the law were a visible "testimony" or witness of God’s covenant with his people; and hence the ark of the covenant was called sometimes the testimony, or the ark of the testimony, ; . See ARK.

Tetrarch

Is strictly the ruler of the fourth part of a state or province; but in the New Testament it is a general title applied to those who governed any part of a kingdom or province, with an authority subject only to that of the Roman emperor. Thus Herod the Great and his brother were at one time, in early life, constituted tetrarchs of Judea by Antony. At the death of Herod the Great, he left half his kingdom to Archelaus, with the title of ethnarch; while the other half was divided between two of his other sons. Herod Antipas and Philip, with the title of tetrarchs. See HEROD 1 and 2.

In the same manner Lysanias is also said to have been tetrarch of Abilene, . It is Herod Antipsas who is called the tetrarch in ; ; ; . As the authority of the tetrarch was similar to that of the king, so the general term king is also applied to Herod, ; .

Thaddeus

A surname of the apostle Jude. See JUDAS 2.

Thammuz

See TAMMUZ.

Thebes

See AMMON, or No-Ammon, or No.

Thebez

An Ephraimite town near Sheshem, at the siege of which Abimelech was killed, ; .

Theft

; , under the Mosaic law, was punished by exacting a double or a quadruple restitution, which was secured if necessary by the sale of the goods or services of the thief to the requisite amount, ,; ; ,; . A night-robber might lawfully be slain in the act; and a man-stealer was to be punished by death, ; .

Theophilus

Friend of God, an honorable person to whom the evangelist Luke addressed his gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles, ; . We can only say of him, in general, that most probably he was a man of some note, who lived out of Palestine, and had abjured paganism in order to embrace Christianity.

Thessalonians, Epistle To The 1 And 2

These were the earliest of Paul’s epistles, and were written from Corinth, in A. D. 52 and 53. In the first epistle, Paul rejoices over Timothy’s good report of the faith of Christians at Thessalonica; and confirms them against the persecutions and temptations they would meet, by discussing the miraculous testimony of God to the truth of the gospel, ; the character of its preachers, ; the holiness of its precepts, ; and the resurrection of Christ and his people, :11. The remainder of the epistle consists of practical exhortations.

In the second epistle, he corrects certain errors into which they were falling, particularly respecting the second coming of Christ. This, he shows, must be preceded by the career of "the man of sin," "the son of peredition," "whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders;" who usurps divine authority over the church, and "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God." The exact fulfillment in the Romish church of these predictions, at first so contrary to human anticipation, proves that the apostle wrote by inspiration.

Thessalonica

A city and seaport of the second part of Macedonia, at the head of the Thermaic gulf. When Emilius Paulus, after his conquest of Macedonia, divided the country into four districts, this city as made the capital of the second division, and was the station of a Roman governor and questor. It was anciently called Therma. It was inhabited by Greeks, Romans, and Jews, from among whom the apostle Paul gathered a numerous church. There was a large number of Jews resident in their city, where they had a synagogue, in which Paul, A. D. 52, preached to them on three successive Sabbaths. Some of the Jews determined to maltreat the apostle, and surrounded the house in which they believed he was lodging. The brethren, however, secretly led Paul and Silas out of the city, towards Berea, and they escaped from their enemies, . Thessalonica, now called Saloniki, is at present a wretched town, but has a population of about 70,000 persons, one-third of whom are Jews.

When Paul left Macedonia for Athens and Corinth, he left behind him Timothy and Silas, at Thessalonica, that they might confirm those in the faith who had been converted under his ministry. He afterwards wrote to the church of the Thessalonians two epistles. See PAUL.

Theudas

An insurgent, Jew, mentioned by Gamaliel, A. D. 33, as of the preceding generation, , and therefore not to be confounded with a Theudas of A. D. 44, mentioned by Josephus. The period following the death of Herod the Great was full of revolts. Theudas was also a common name, answering to the Hebrew Matthew, under which name Josephus speaks of an unsuccessful reformer who was burnt in the latter part of Herod’s reign.

Thigh

The mode of taking an oath, alluded to in ; , was significant of the swearer’s obligation to obedience. Jacob’s thigh was disabled by the Angel, to show the patriarch that his prevalence was through his faith and prayer, not through force, . Smiting the thigh was a gesture of self-condemnation and grief, ; . Warriors wore their swords upon the left thigh, unless left-handed in readiness for use, ; ; ; so too they may have borne their names and titles, not only on their shields, but on their swords, or on the rove or mailed coat covering the thigh, . "Hip and thigh," , seems to mean utterly and irrecoverably.

Thistles And Thorns

Under these terms, together with brambles, briers, and nettles, are included numerous troublesome plants, many of them with thorns, well fitted to try the husbandman’s patience, . Plants of this class were a symbol of desolation, , and were often used as fuel, ; ; . They also served for hedges, . A petty village on the plain of Jericho is now protected against Arab horsemen by a hedge of thorny Nubk branches.

Dr. Eli Smith, visiting the plain where Gideon once threatened to tear the flesh of the princes of Succoth with thorns and briers, noticed such plants there of remarkable size, some of the thistles rising above his head on horseback, . Few of the Hebrew terms can now be affixed with certainty to particular varieties among the many found in Syria. The plant of which the thorny crown of the Savior was made, with the design to mock rather than to torture him, is supposed to have been the Zizyphus Spina Christi, a common tree with dark and glossy leaves, having many small and sharp spines on its round and pliant branches, ; . Paul’s "thorn in the flesh," , may have been some bodily infirmity, unfavorable to the success of his public ministrations. Compare ; .

Thomas

The apostle, , called in Greek Didymus, that is, a twin, , was probably a Galilean, as well as the other apostles; but the place of his birth, and the circumstances of his calling, are unknown, . He appears to have been of an impulsive character, sincerely devoted to Christ, ready to act upon his convictions, and perhaps slow to be convinced, as he at first doubted our Lord’s resurrection, ; ; . Several of the fathers inform us that he preached in the Indies; and others say that he preached in Cush, or Ethiopia, near the Caspian sea.

There are nominal Christians in the East Indies, who bear the name of St. Thomas, because they report that this apostle preached the gospel there. They dwell in a peninsula of the Indus, on this side the gulf.

Thorns

See THISTLES.

Three

The phrase "three days and three nights," , was equivalent in Hebrew to the English "three days;" the Jews employing the expression "a day and a night" to denote our "day" of twentyfour hours. Nor did "three days," , literally "this third day," according to their usage, necessarily include the whole of three days, but a part of three days, a continuous period including one whole day of twenty-four hours, and a portion of the day preceding it and the day following it. Compare ,; .

Threshing

Was anciently and is still performed in the East, sometimes with a flail,

; ; sometimes by treading out the grain with unmuzzled oxen, , but more generally by means of oxen dragging an uncouth instrument over the sheaves of grain. See CORN.

The instrument most used in Palestine at this time is simply two short planks fastened side by side and turned up in front, like our common stone-sledge, having sharp stones or irons projecting from the under side, ; ; . The Egyptian mode is thus described by Niebuhr: "They use oxen, as the ancients did, to beat out their corn, by trampling upon the sheaves, and dragging after them a clumsy machine. This machine is not, as in Arabia, a stone cylinder, nor a plank with sharp stones, as in Syria, but a sort of sledge, consisting of three rollers fitted with irons, which turn upon axles. A farmer chooses out a level spot in his fields, and has his corn carried thither in sheaves, upon asses or dromedaries. Two oxen are then yoked in a sledge; a driver gets upon it, and drives them backward and forward upon the sheaves; and fresh oxen succeed in the yoke from time to time." By this operation, the straw is gradually chopped fine and the grain released. Meanwhile the whole is repeatedly turned over by wooden pitchforks with three or more prongs, and in due time thrown into a heap in the center of the floor. The machine thus described is called a moreg, and answers to the Hebrew morag mentioned in ; .

When the grain is well loosened from the straw by the treading of oxen, with or without one of the instruments above mentioned, the whole heap is next thrown with forks several yards against the wind, which blowing away the chaff, the grain falls into a heap by itself, ; and if necessary, the process is repeated. For this purpose the threshing-floors are in the open air, , and often on high ground, like that of Araunah on Mount Moriah, , that the wind may aid more effectually in winnowing the grain, , which is afterwards sometimes passed through a sieve for farther cleansing. The ground is prepared for use as a threshing-floor by being smoothed off, and beaten down hard. While the wheat was carefully garnered, the straw and chaff were gathered up for fuel; a most instructive illustration of the day of judgment, .

Throne

An established emblem of kingly dignity and power, used by sovereigns on all stale occasions. That of Solomon was of ivory, overlaid with gold; having six broad steps, every one guarded by a golden lion at each end, . Heaven is called God’s throne, and the earth his footstool, . His throne is also sublimely described as everlasting, and as built upon justice and equity, ; . See also ; . Christ is on the throne forever, as the King of heaven, ; ; ; and his faithful disciples will partake of his kingly glory, ; ; . He forbade men lightly to swear by heaven or its throne, as they were thus irreverent to God, ; .

Thummim

See URIM.

Thunder

And lightning are significant manifestations of the power of God, and emblems of his presence, ; ; ; . Thunder is poetically called "the voice of the Lord" in the sublime description of a thunder-storm in ;

"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;

The God of glory thundereth;

The Lord is upon many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars;

Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon," etc.

Thyatira

A city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, a Macedonian colony, anciently called Pelopia and Euhippia, now Ak-hisar. It was situated on the confines of Lydia and Mysia, near the river Lycus, between Sardis and Pergamos. It was the seat of one of "the seven churches," ; ,. The art of dyeing purple was particularly cultivated at Thyatira, as appears from an inscription recently found there; and it still sends to Smyrna, sixty miles southwest, large quantities of scarlet cloth, . Ak-hissar is a poor town, with six thousand inhabitants, chiefly Turks.

Thyine-Wood

, the wood of the Thyia or Thuja Articulata of Linnaeus, an aromatic evergreen tree, resembling the cedar, and found in Libya, near Mount Atlas. The wood was used in burning incense, and under the name of citron-wood was highly prized by the Romans for ornamental wood-work. It yields the sanderach resin of commerce.

Tiberias

A city of Galilee, founded by Herod Antipas, and namely by him in honor of the emperor Tiberius. A more ancient and greater city, perhaps Chinneroth, seems previously to have flourished and gone to ruin near the same site, on the south. Tiberias was situated on the western shore of the lake of Gennesareth, about two hours’ ride from the place where the Jordan issues from the lake. In the vicinity of the city were hot springs, which were much celebrated. The lake is also sometimes, called from the city, the sea of Tiberias, ,; . See SEA 4.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Tiberias was celebrated as the seat of a flourishing school of Jewish learning. The crusaders held it for a time, and erected a church, in which the Arabs have since housed their cattle. Modern Tubariyeh lies on a narrow undulating plain between the high table-land and the sea. It was half destroyed by an earthquake in 1837, and has a population of only twenty-five hundred souls, nearly one-third of whom are Jews. The walls are little more than heaps of ruins, the castle is much shattered, and the place has an aspect of extreme wretchedness and filth. As the Arabs say, "The king of the fleas holds his court at Tubariyeh." South of the town are numerous remains of the ancient city or cities extending for a mile and a half, nearly to the hot springs. The waters of these springs are nauseous and salt, and too hot for immediate use, 136 degrees to 144 degrees; but the baths are much resorted to for the cure of rheumatic diseases, etc.

Tiberius

Claudius Drusus Nero, the second emperor of Rome, was the son of Livia, and stepson of Augustus; and being adopted by that emperor, he succeeded to his throne, A. D. 14. He was at first moderate and just, but soon became infamous for his vices and crimes, and died A. D. 37, after a cruel reign of twenty-two and a half years. It was in the fifteenth year of his reign that John the Baptist commenced his ministry; and the crucifixion of Jesus took place in the third or fourth year after, . This emperor is several times casually mentioned under the title of Caesar, ; ; . His subjects were commanded to pay divine worship to his images.

Tibni

An unsuccessful competitor with Omri the general, for the throne of Israel, during three years after the death of Elah, .

Tidal

Apparently the chief of several allied tribes, with whom he joined Chedorlaomer in the invasion of the vale of Siddim, Mount Seir, etc., and was defeated by Abraham, .

Tiglath-Pileser

King of Assyria, was invited by Ahaz king of Judah to aid him against the kings of Syria and Israel, . This he did, but exacted also a heavy tribute from Ahaz, so as to distress him without helping him, . From the kingdom of Israel, also, he carried off the inhabitants of many cities captive, and placed them in various parts of his kingdom, B. C. 740, ; , thus fulfilling unconsciously the predictions of Isaiah, ; . He is supposed to be meant by Jareb, the pleader, in ; . He reigned nineteen years at Nineveh, and was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser.

Tile

A broad and thin brick, usually made of fine clay, and hardened in the fire. Such tiles were very common in the region of the Euphrates and Tigris, (See BABYLON,) and offered to the exiled prophet Ezekiel the most natural and obvious means of depicting the siege of Jerusalem, . Great numbers of similar rude sketches of places, as well as of animals and men, are found on the tiles recently exhumed from the ancient mounds of Assyria, interspersed among the wedge-shaped inscriptions with which one side of the tile is usually crowded. At Nineveh Layard found a large chamber stored full of such inscribed tiles, like a collection of historical archives, . They are usually about a foot square, and three inches thick.

William W. Rand (ed.), A Dictionary of the Holy Bible, for General Use in the Study of the Scriptures (American Tract Society, 1859). Public domain. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.