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Kohath, Kohathites – Kab Arias
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Kohath, Kohathites
Although the origin of the name Levi is doubtful, and scholars are still uncertain whether or not it was the name of a tribe before ‘Levite’ was a descriptive term denoting one who was trained in priestly duties, there is no doubt that the term ‘Levite’ had this meaning as early as the period of the Judges (see , , ) And in process of time every member of the Le vitical or priestly ‘caste’ traced his descent through one line or another to Levi. These genealogies must have been in the making before the Exile, but were afterwards stereotyped and reduced to system by the priestly school. The name Kohath is found nowhere except in P and Chronicles. The three main divisions of Levites bore the names of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and these are accordingly given as the names of the ‘sons’ of Levi (, , , , ). The second division is described either as ‘the Kohathites’ ( iQn , Jos , , , , ) or ‘the sons of Kohath’ (, , , jgg , , f. , , a- 66- ‘0 ). These were subdivided into four groups, the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites (), each being traced to a son of Kohath (, , , ). From these families fragments of genealogies remain. Amram is of peculiar importance, because his children were Aaron and Moses (, ) ; and Korah, a son of Izhar, was notorious in priestly tradition (). See Nohah, Dathan, Abiram.
The importance of these families after the Exile was small, with the exception of the priests who traced their descent from Aaron. Some Kohathites are named as appointed to humble oflSces (; , ). But the tendency of the period to idealize ancient history led the Priestly writers, including the Chronicler, to construct narratives in which the eponymous ancestors of the Levitical families played a prominent part; see . (1) During the desert wanderings the Kohathites were on the south side of the Tent (). and they carried the screen of the sanctuary and its furniture, after it had been prepared for travel by the greatest of all the descendants of Kohath— Aaron and his sons ( i*-" ) they were privileged to carry their burden upon their shoulders (). instead of in waggons, as the Gershonites and Merarites; they were superintended by Eleazar, Aaron’s son (). (2) After the settlement in Palestine, 23 cities were assigned to them ( = •7-II1). (3) In David’s reign the Chronicler relates that the Temple music was managed partly by Heman, a Kohathite, and his family ( f. 16. 18. 20. 22f. 26-31; and scc , "• "). David divided the Levites into courses ‘according to the sons of Levi’ (; Kohathites vv-i^-™ ) and particular offices of Kohathites are stated in , I7-1S. 23-si. (4) Under Jehoshaphat they led the song of praise at the battle of En-gedi (2 Ch ). (5) Under Hezeklah they took part in the cleansing of the Temple (, ). A. H. M’ Neile.
Koheleth
See EccLiisiASTEa.
Kolaiah
1. The father of the false prophet Ahab (). 2. The name of a Benjamite family which settled in Jerusalem after the Captivity ().
EON.ffi (Judith 4:4). — An unknown town of Palestine (AV, following a different reading, ‘the villages’).
Korah, Korahites
1. Korah is the name of a ‘duke,’ son of Esau and Aholibamah, named in Gn 3g6. 14. 18^ and therefore an Edomite. 2. A Korah also appears in as a ‘son’ of Hebron and descendant of Caleb, the Kenizzite, i.e. Edomite. 3. In 1 Ch , we hear of a ben-Korah and of a Korahite, the Korahites being further designated as door-keepers. Combining the various notes, we gather that the sons of Korah were of Edomite extraction, were incorporated among the Levites, and formed a Temple-guild. Moreover, Pss 42-49 and 84. 85. 87. 88 bear the superscription’ to the sons of Korah.’ They share, therefore, with the sons of Asaph the honour of forming the Temple-choir. But whether they rose (or fell) from being door-keepers to being singers, or vice versa, it is, in our ignorance of most of the details of the worship of the first Temple, impossible to say. Nor can we say how it was that the guilds of Asaph and Korah came to be transformed into the guilds of Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. See also next article. W. F. Cobb.
Korah, Dathan, Abiram
The story of the rebellion of Korah, as contained in . 17, is now combined with what was originally an entirely different narrative — that of theresistanceof Dathan andAbiiam, who were laymen, to the civil authority of Moses. Refusing to obey Moses’ summons to appear before him, Dathan and Abiram, along with their households, were swallowed up by the earth (. 12-16. 26I. 27b-34 [JE]). The story of Korah proper contains two strata, the work of Priestly writers of different ages. The first of these (. is-m. 27.. 32b. 35. «-5o ch. 17) describes a revolt of Korah, at the head of 250 princes of the congregation, against Moses and Aaron, in the interests of the people at large as against the tribe of Levi. The matter is decided by the test of the censers, the rebels being consumed by fire from the Lord. The s.equel is found in ch. 17 — the blossoming of Aaron’s rod. ■The latest narrative ( represents Korah at the head of 250 Levites, opposing, in the interests of the tribe of Levi, the monopoly of the priestshood claimed by Aaron. These last two narratives are memorials of the struggles that took place, and the various stages that were passed through, before the prerogatives of Levi were admitted by the other tribes, and those of the house of Aaron by the other Levitical families. [In Sirach 45:18 and Jude " AV has Core for Korah].
Kore
1. The eponym of a Korahite guild of doorkeepers(1 Ch 9"). 2. Son of Imnah, a Levite in the time of Hezeklah ().
Kushaiah
See Kism.
Kining and Metals
Though Palestine proper is deficient in mineral resources, yet these were present to some extent on its borders, and were not only abundantlyfound, but even largely developed, in other parts of the ancient East. The Scripture references to mining, accordingly, though not very numerous, are sufficiently definite. Such a passage as (cf. SS^s), though inapphcable to Palestine proper, may hold good of the Lebanon district or (as has been suggested by some) of the Sinaitic region. The classical description of the miner’s life in is evidently based on observation. It depicts the adventurous and toilsome character of the quest, the shafts sun]£ and the galleries tunnelled in the roclc, the darkness, the waters that have to be drained away, the hidden treasures of precious stones and metals that reward the effort and the Ingenuity of man.
The list of metals in includes all those that are mentioned in Scripture, viz. gold, silver, ‘brass,’ iron, tin, and lead. All these are again enumerated in as articles of Tyrian commerce.
Brass. — This English word, as late as 1611, denoted copper or bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) rather than the modern brass (an alloy of copper and zinc). Hence, where ‘brass’ occurs in EV, copper or bronze is to be understood (see RVra on Gn and art. Brass).
Copper occurs once in AV (. RV ‘bright brass’). But see on ‘Brass’ above and ‘Steel’ below.
Gold is a metal the use of which can be traced back to the earliest times of civilization. As a medium of currency it was reckoned by weight, in shekels and talents, coinage being unknown among the Jews before the Exile. While it figured in the history of Israel from the beginning (see the spoils of Egypt [), Midian [, jg gai]^ and Jericho [)). it became specially plentiful in Palestine in the time of Solomon (, ). f)he main sources of it being Ophir ( lO’i), Tarshish (). and Sheba (1 K I I2, ). Another gold-producing country was Havilah (). Of these localities Havilah and Sheba were Arabian. Ophir (wh. see) may have been the same, though its situation has also been sought in India and S. Africa. For goldsmiths see , is 40 41 46. also (RV) , . The products of their art comprised beaten work ( , , 37. f.; f.). plating (, , ), and wire or thread for embroidery ().
Iron appears to have come into use later than copper or bronze. Its ores are found in the Lebanon district, in the region of Sinai, and sparsely in Egypt. The most famous ancient seat of its manufacture was among the Chalybes in the Highlands of Assyria. Mining for the ore is mentioned in ; the ‘iron furnace’ in . . ; and the forge in . In modern times iron is separated from its ores as cast iron, from which wrought iron and steel are subsequently prepared. But in ancient times the temperature necessary to melt iron was unavailable, and it must have been produced as wrought iron, which is still obtained by primitive smelting processes in various parts of the world. The uses of iron alluded to in Scripture are very varied, but call for no special comment. In and possibly in ‘iron’ means black
Lead is mentioned in , in connexion with the smelting of silver (see ‘Silver’ below). Its weight is referred to in . The ‘ephah’ in Zee , has a leaden covering. Rock-cut inscriptions were made more durable by having the chiselled letters filled up with lead ().
Silver, like gold, was a very early medium of exchange (, ). The Heb. and Gr. words for silver are often rendered ‘money’ in EV. There are frequent references in OT to the use of this metal for vessels and ornamental work. In NT there is special mention of the guild of silversmiths at Ephesus, and of the ‘shrines’ or models of the temple of Diana which were their most profitable article of trade (). Among the sources of the metal, Arabia () and Tarshish (. . ) are named. The commonest ore of silver is argentiferous galena, which contains a large quantity of lead, and in which other metals may also be present. In the course of smelting the lead combines with the other impurities to form a heavy ‘slag,’ which separates by its weight from the molten silver, leaving the latter pure. This process is referred to, usually in a figurative moral sense, in (cf. ). . Zee . Mai . and especially in and . In the last two passages lead is the most prominent impurity, the others being ‘brass,’ iron, and tin. The mixture of these was the refuse or ‘dross’ of silver (see also , ).
Steel (. . . ) is a mistaken translation in AV of the words elsewhere rendered ‘brass.’ RV has ‘brass’ in these passages, and copper or bronze is to be understood. Only in (RV) is ‘steel’ possibly a correct rendering. Steel is a form of iron containing more carbon than wrought iron. It is capable not only of being welded but also cast, and tempered to various degrees of hardness and elasticity.
Tin derived its importance from its use as a constituent of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin). It is mentioned as an article of Tyrian commerce in . and as an impurity in silver in (cf. . RVm ‘alloy’). Its earliest sources are uncertain, but it appears to have come to the East from the West. It is known that the Phoenicians obtained it from the Scilly Isles and Cornwall.
Flint is a form of silica, and occurs abundantly, in the form of nodules, in many of the limestone rocks of Palestine. It is exceedingly hard, and its property of sparking when struck on steel or on another flint provided a very ancient and common means of obtaining fire (2 Maccabees 10:3). Flint has a sharp edge when broken or chipped, and was used tor primitive weapons and instruments of many kinds — arrow-heads, knives. etc. For the latter see RV, , RV. In other Scripture references to flint its hardness is chiefiy in view (. RV, . ).
Marble is limestone (carbonate of lime), hard and close-grained enough to be polished. The purest forms are white, but many coloured varieties are highly valued. Marble was among the materials prepared by David for the Temple (). Josephus (.Ant. vm. iii. 2, 9) says that Solomon’s Temple was built of white stone from Lebanon, but the stones exposed in the Jews’ Wailing Place appear to be from the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, probably from the quarries under Bezetha. Marble supplies a simile in . and is mentioned among the merchandise of ‘Babylon’ in . James Patrick.
Keoladah
A city reckoned to Judah in . and to Simeon in . . It is in no way related to Tell el-Milh, ‘hill of salt,’ with which Robinson and others have identified it. Probably it lay near Beersheba, but the site has not been recovered.
W. EWING.
Kab Arias
Kab arias (1 Esdras 9:44) =, Hashbaddanah.
James Hastings (ed.), with John A. Selbie and John C. Lambert, Dictionary of the Bible (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909). Public domain. Scan of Cornell University Library’s copy from the Internet Archive; text from its OCR, with the Bible references read again from the page images.