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Meekness – Merodach
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Meekness
In the eariier literature of revelation meekness is simply an excellent virtue. Moses is described as ‘very meek,’ above all the men which were upon the face of the’earth’ (), and his character illustrates the Hebfew ideal of meekness in those days. There was no weakness or cowardice about him. He was ‘a still, strong man,’ patient and pitiful. Subsequently the word acquired a peculiar significance. In the days of Israel’s conflict the men of pride and violence came to the front, while the godly were thrust into the background. contenmed and oppressed (cf. , ) Thus ‘rich’ and ‘wicked’ came to be synonymous () and corresponding to these there was a group of terms: • meek,’ ‘humble’ (or ‘lowly’), ‘poor,’ ‘needy.’ In our Lord’s time these terms denoted the godly remnant in Israel, those who, despised by the rulers, lived devout lives in obscure corners, nourishing their faith on the Scriptures, and ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’ (), the blessed Advent of the Messiah. And, just as the Psalmists and Prophets had sympathized with the Lord’s hidden ones and promised them deliverance (, lO’2-‘8 [cf. ) 72, ). so Jesus was their champion. He called them’ blessed’ (). and He took His place by their side. Himself ‘meek and lowly’ (). the homeless Son of Man, despised and rejected of men. He shared their humility that they might share His glory. David Smith.
Megiddo
(in Zee Megiddon). One of the most important of the fortress cities of ancient Canaan. It was captured by Thothmes iii in the 23rd year of his reign, the spoils being magnificent; and it is mentioned several times in the Tell el-Amarna correspondence. Though nominally belonging to Manasseh (, , ), the Canaanites remained in possession. Near the ‘waters of Megiddo’ the Canaanites under Sisera were defeated by Barak and Deborah (). Solomon restored its fortifications(1 K ). Here king Ahaziah () died; and the good king Josiah, interfering In a quarrel between Pharaoh-necho and the king of Assyria, and opposing the former’s progress in the dangerous passage of Megiddo, was also slain (, ), to the grief of all Israel (Zee ). Finally, it was at Armageddon (RV Har-Magedon, ‘the mountains of Megiddo’) that the mysterious conflict of was to take place.
The site of Megiddo may now be considered as proved to be Tell el-Mutesellim (‘Hill of the Governor’), a great mound about 4 miles N.W. of Tell Ta’ annak (Taanach; cf. , etc.). The importance of the site can be seen at a glance, for it guards the great pass from the Plain of Sharon to that of Esdraelon, which in all history, from Thothmes iii. to Napoleon i., has been a route of armies. The hill has recently been excavated by the German Palestine Society, and fortificationsgoing back bef ore b.c. 2000 have been uncovered, as well as the most extensive remains of successive cities which have occupied this site for many centuries. Here was found the seal of Shama’, ‘the servant of Jeroboam’ — probably Jeroboam ii. To the south of the tell is an abundant stream, and in Roman times a fortified post — the Legio of Eusebius, the modem eU Lejjun — was established there. The stream may have been the ‘waters of Megiddo’ of etc.; it is one of the most important of the tributaries of the Kishon. E. W. G. Masterman.
Megilloth
See Canon of OT, § 8.
Mehetabel
1. The grandfather of Shemaiah (). 2. The wife of Hadar or Hadad, king of Edom (, ).
Mehida
The eponym of a family of Nethinimwho returned with Zerub. ( ). called in 1 Es S32 Meedda.
Mehir
A Judahite ().
Meholathite
Meholathite (, ). Probably an inhabitant of Abel-mebolah (wh. see).
Mehujael
A Cainite () (j), corresponding to Mahalalel of P’s genealogy ( ff.).
Mehuman
One of the seven eunuchs in attendance upon king Ahasuerus ().
Me-jabkon
Me-jabkon (). The Heb. text seems to be in disorder. The LXX reading, ‘and from the sea, Jarkon and the boundary near Joppa,’ sufhciently attests the name Jarkon, a place in the territory of Dan; but the site is not yet recovered. W. Ewing.
mEKONAH (AV; RV needlessly changes toMeconah), — A town inhabited after the Captivity (). The site has not been identified.
Melatiah
A Gibeonite ().
Melchi
1. 2. Two ancestors of Jesus (, ).
Melchias
1. 1 Esdras 9:26 =Malchijah, . 2. 1 Esdras 9:32 =Malchijah, . 3. 1 Esdras 9:44 = Malchijah, .
Melchiel
The father of Charmis (Judith 6).
Melchizedek
Described as king of Salem and priest of God Most High (‘Bl ‘Elyon), who met Abraham on his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and his allies, refreshed him and his servants with bread and wine, blessed him, and received from him a tenth of the spoil he had taken (). Salem has been variously identified: (1) with the Shalem of (AV and RVm), a place a little to the E. of Mt. Gerizim and not far from Shechem; (2) with the Salim of in the Jordan Valley S. of Scythopolis; and (3) with Jerusalem, which is called Salem in . The last identification is much the most probable; for though it is implied in , , that Jerusalem was called Jebus so long as it was inhabited by the Jebusites (i.e. up to the time of David), the name Jerusalem really goes back to the 14th cent. B.C., since it appears in the Tell el- Amarna tablets as UrU’Salim. This view has the support of Josephus (Ant. i. x. 2), and further obtains some slight confirmation from the resemblance of the name cf Melchizedek to that of Adonizedek, who was king of Jerusalem in the time of Joshua (), the element zedek in each name being probably that of a Canaanite deity.
The historical character of the narrative in -which Melchizedek is mentioned has been questioned on the ground of certain improbabilities which it contains; but though the events related have received no corroboration from other sources, the names of two of the kings who fought against Abraham, viz . Amraphel and Arioch, have with some
tlausibility been identified with those of Hammurabi and Iriaku, contemporary kings of Babylon and Larsa about B.C. 2200; so that, if the identiiication is correct, it confirms the setting of the story, though not its incidente. For the name and personality of Melchizedek no independent confirmatory evidence has yet been obtained.
In , to the ideal king of Jewish hopes, the Messiah, there is promised an endless priesthood ‘after the order of Melchizedek.’ This ascription of priestly functions to a sovereign who was expected to be of the house of David and the tribe of Judah is evidently meant as an exceptional distinction, and implies that the writer lived at a time when priests in Israel were taken exclusively from the tribe of Levi, as was the case after the promulgation of the Deuteronomic law (probably in the 7th cent.). At an earlier date persons belonging to other tribes than that of Levi were sometimes priests: David’s sons () and Ira the Jairite (), -sfho belonged to Manasseh () but the author of 10, in seeking a type tor the combination in the same person of both the regal and priestly offices, had to go outside the limits of Israel, and found what he wanted in the priest-king of Salem, who was all the more adapted for the purpose by reason of the deference paid to him by so illustrious a personage as Abraham.
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, identifying Jesus with the Messiah, and asserting His high priesthood, cites the words of , and declares that He was ‘named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek’(He ). He then proceeds to show the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over that of the Jewish priests, the descendants of Aaron, and seeks to illustrate it by the superiority of Melchizedek over Abraham, as he gathers it from . He explains Melchizedek’a name to mean’ king of righteousness,’ and his title of ‘king of Salem’ to mean ‘king of peace’; and then. arguing from the silence of the record respecting his parentage, birth, and death, describes him as ‘without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,’ and affirms him to have been greater than Abraham, since he blessed him (‘for without any dispute the less is blessed of the better ‘) and received from him (and through him from his unborn descendants the Levitical priests) a tithe of his spoils (). In this passage much of the writer’s argument is fanciful, the narrative in Genesis being handled after a Rabbinic fashion, and the parallel drawn between our Lord and Melchizedek being largely based on the mere omission, in the OT record, of certain particulars about the latter, which, for the historian’s purpose, were obviously irrelevant. At the same time it may perhaps be said that, as contrasted with the Levitical priests who succeeded to their priestly offices by reason of their descent, an ancient priest-king is really typical of our Lord, inasmuch as it is likely that, in a primitive age, such a one would owe his position to his natural endowments and force of character. It was in virtue of His personality that our Lord made, and makes. His appeal to the world; and to the authoritativeness of His attitude in regard to the current teaching of the Jewish religious teachers of His day (, ) a distant analogy is, in fact, afforded by the superior position which in Genesis seems to be ascribed to Melchizedek in respect of Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish race. See also art. Priest (in NT). G. W. Wade.
Melea
An ancestor of Jesus (). MELECH.— 1. A grandson of Merib-baal (1 Ch 8» 9«‘). 2. See Molech.
Melita
An Island about sixty miles S. of Sicily, with an area of about ninety-five square miles. Its excellent position as a commercial station led to its early colonization by Phoenicians and Greeks. It became subject to Carthage, but was conquered by the Romans in b.c. 218, and became part of the province of Sicily. But the Carthaginian and Libyan element predominated, hence St. Luke’s use of the phrase ‘the barbarous people’ (). There can be no doubt that this Melita was the scene of St. Paul’s shipwreck. ■ The use of the name Adria () led to an attempt to identify it with Melita in the Adriatic, but the term ‘Adria’ was freely applied to the sea E. and S.E. of Sicily, and the wind ‘Euraquilo’ () would drive them from Crete to Malta if the captain, realizing that his chief danger was the Syrtis quicksands (). took the natural precaution of bearing up into the wind as much as the weather permitted. The description is precise. On the 14th night of their drifting, by sounding they found they were getting into shallower water, and cast out anchors; but when day dawned they saw before them a bay with a shelving beach, on which they determined to run the vessel. Therefore they hastily cast off the anchors, unfastened the rudders, which had been lashed during their drifting, and with the aid of these and the foresail tried to steer the ship to the beach. But before they reached it they ran on a shoal ‘where two seas met,’ and reached the shore only by swimming or floating on spars. Every detail of the narrative is satisfied by assuming that they landed on the W. side of St. Paul’s Bay, eight miles from Valetta, five miles from the old capital Citta-Vecchia. The tradition which gave this as the scene was already old when our earliest map of Malta (a Venetian one) was made about a.d. 1530. As it is scarcely likely that the spot was identified by special investigations in the Middle Ages, this is a remarkable instance of the permanence and correctness of some early traditions. Incidentally, it la also a proof of the remarkable impression made on the inhabitants by the three months St. Paul was compelled to spend in the island. St. Luke relates only two incidents. As they made a fire for the shipwrecked men, a snake, aroused from the wood by the heat, fastened on St. Paul’s hand, and, to the surprise of the onlookers, did him no harm. The word ‘venomous’ () is not properly in the text, and St. Luke does not state that it was a miraculous deliverance. But the natives thought it was, and therefore there probably were venomous snakes in Malta then. There are none now, but in an island with 2000 inhabitants to the square mile they would be likely to become extinct. The other incident was the curing of dysentery of the father of Publius (wh. see). Naturally there are local traditions of St. Paul’s residence, and the map referred to above has a church of St. Paul’s near the bay, but on its E. side. The first known bishop of Malta was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Malta has had a varied history since. Vandals, Normans, Turks all left their mark on it. In 1530, Charles v. gave it to the Knightsof St. John, whodefendedit three times against the desperate attacks of theTurks. In 1798, Napoleon seized it, but the English took it from him in 1800, and it has remamed m English hands since. But the population remains very mixed, — the race and the native language retaining much of the Arabic element. A. E. Hillaed.
MELONS Cabattlhlm, the same word as the Arab. batakh, which includes the water-melon {Citrullus mUgaris) as well as other kinds). — . Here the water-melon is specially referred to, as it was common in Egypt in ancient times. No fruit is more appreciated in the arid wilderness. Melons flourish in Palestine, especially on the sands S. of Jaffa, and are eaten all over the land, being carried to the towns all through the summer by long strings of camels.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Melzar
A proper name (AV), or official title (RV ‘steward’) in Dn !"• ",— in both cases with the article. It is generally agreed that the word is a loan-word from the Assyr. massaru, ‘guardian,’ and stands for one who was teacher and warden of the royal wards. Cheyne, however, is led by the LXX to conclude for Bashassar as the true reading, and to read in : ‘And Daniel said to Belshazzar, prince of the eunuchs,’ etc.
W. F. Cobb.
Mem
The thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and as such employed in the 119th Psalm to designate the 13th part, each verse of which begins with this letter.
Memeroth
Memeroth (1 Es 82)=Meraioth, an ancestor of Ezra () called Marimoth in 2 Esdras 1:2.
MEMMIUS, QtJINTUS.— Named along with Manius (wh. see) as a Roman legate (2 Maccabees 11:34).
Memphis
The famous ancient capital of Egypt, a few miles south of Cairo, the present capital. According to tradition, Memphis was built by Menes, who first united the two Idngdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. Kings and dynasties might make their principal residences in the cities from which they sprang, but until Alexandria was founded as the capital of the Greek dynasty, no Egyptian city, except Thebes, under the New Kingdom equalled Memphis in size and importance. The palaces of most of the early kings (Dyns. 3-12) were at or near Memphis, their positions being now marked by the pyramids in which the same kings were buried. The pyramid-field extends on the edge of the desert about 20 miles, from Dahshur on the south to Abu Roash on the north, the Great Pyramids of Gizeh lying 12 miles north of the central ruins of Memphis. The Egyptian name Menfl (in Hebrew Noph, . , , , ; once Moph, ). was apparently taken from that of the palace and pyramid of Pepy i. of the 6th Dynasty, which were built close to the city. At a later period, Tahrak (Tirhakah) ruled at Memphis; Necho, Hophra, and the other kings of the 26th Dynasty were buried at their ancestral city Sals, although their government was centred in Memphis. After the foundation of Alexandria the old capital fell to the second place. but it held a, vast population till after the Arab con- i It should be noticed that a double interpretation quest, when it rapidly declined. The growth of Postat is apparently given throughout, each of the words " having perhaps been read in two ways, and the meanings combined (see art. ‘Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin’ in Hastings’ DB for details). Another possible rendering and Cairo was accompanied by the destruction of all the stone buildings in Memphis for the sake of the materials, but the necropolis still bears witness to its former magniflcence. The bull Apis (Egyp. Hapi) (whose name is read in LXX at ‘Why did Apis flee from thee?’) was worshipped at Memphis as sacred to Ptah (Hephaestus), the principal god of the city.
F. Ll. Griffith. MEMtJCAIT. — One of the seven princes of Persia who had access to the royal presence (Est !"• "• ").
MENAHEM, one of the latest kings of Israel, was a usurper, like so many other monarchs in this period. He and Shallum planned to seize the throne about the same time ( f.). Shallum having possession of Samaria, while Menahem commanded the ancient fortress and former capital, Tirzah. War raged for a brief time with unusual ferocity, resulting in the defeat of Shallum. Menahem seems not to have felt secure on the throne, and to have purchased the help of Assyria by paying a heavy tribute to Tiglath-pileser (called Pul in ). Or we may suppose the Assyrians to have invaded the country because it was so weakened by civil war that it could no longer make effective resistance. The tribute was a thousand talents of silver, and it was raised by a direct tax on the holders of landed property. The assessment of sixty shekels each shows that there were sixty thousand proprietors in Israel at this time. From the Assyrian sources we learn that this tribute was paid in the year 738 b.o.
It is interesting to note^ that in the literature of Judaism Menahem (=‘Comforter’) is a title of the Messiah.
H. P. Smith.
mENE KENE TEKEL UFHABSDT.— The words of the handwriting on the wall, which, according to , . appeared mysteriously at Belshazzar’s feast, and was successfully deciphered by Daniel alone (vv.) In the words of the inscription (‘the writing . . . inscribed,’ RV) are given as above, but in the explanation (vv.) are quoted in a divergent form, and no account is taken of the repetition of the first word. This discrepancy can best be accounted for by assuming that the words of the inscription as given in already lay in their present form before the author, and are not the product of his free Invention; while are the result of ‘an attempt to extract from the words, in spite of grammar, a meaning suitable to the occasion.’
What, then, is the real significance of the mysterious words? As has been shown by M. Clermont-Ganneau in the Journal Asiaiique for 1886, they are really names of weights. Mene is the Aram, equivalent of the Heb. maneh (. ) and =mina; tekel = shekel; and pharsin is a plural, and probably represents a word (perds lit. ‘division’) which means half-mina. Thus the four words read consecutively: ‘A mina, a mina, a shekel, and half-minas.’ The enigmatic character of the combination apparently consisted partly in the manner in which the words were supposed to have been written — perhaps in some unfamiliar form of Aramaic cursive or with some curious inversion in arrangement — and partly in determining their import even when read. The appositeness of a list of three weights in such a connexion is not obvious. In deducing a meaning fitted to the occasion Daniel’s skill as an interpreter of riddles is strikingly set forth. Each of the mysterious words is invested with a meaning suggested by etymological affinities. The term for ‘mina’ is connected with a root meaning ‘to number’; hence it signifies ‘God hath numbered thy kingdom and brought it to an end’: ‘shekel’ is connected with a root meaning ‘to weigh,’ and hence — ‘thou hast been weighed in the balance and found wanting’: ‘half-mina’ (perOs) suggests a double play; ‘thy kingdom is divided (peris) and given to the Persians (Aram. pSros=‘Persian’).
He has counted, counted, weighed, and they assess’ (?a commercial formula). Possibly ‘an actual inscription found on the walls of the palace at Babylon, or, at any rate, found somewhere, was worked by the author of Daniel into this dramatic scene and arbitrarily explained’ (D. S. Margoliouth, ib.). G. H. Box.
Menelaus
Brother of Simon the Benjamite (2 Maccabees 3:4). or, according to Josephus (,Ant. xii. v. 1), a younger brother of Jason and Onias. He purchased the office of high priest from Antiochus Epiphanes for the sum of 660 talents (c. B.C. 172), thereby causing the deposition of Jason, who had obtained the office by similar corrupt means. Being unable, through lack of funds, to pay the required sura, he was cited to appear before the king, but, finding the latter absent on warfare, he plundered the Temple of sacred vessels and thereby found means to silence his enemies. Having secured the death of Onias in., who threatened to divulge the sacrilege (2 Mae 4:27–34). he became so unpopular that Jason marched against hira to recover the office he had lost (5:5–10). After this attempt of Jason, which ended in failure, Menelaus is lost to sight for some years, but finally suffered death at the hands of Antiochus Eupator (c. B.C. 163). T. A. Moxon.
Menestheus
Thefatherof Apollonius(2Mac42i).
Meni
A deity named with Gad in : ‘Ye that . . . prepare a table for Gad, and that fill up mingled wine for Menl.’ Gad is Fortune, and Meni Destiny. The name has been correlated with the Arab. Manat, and with a supposed Bab. god Manu. manah in Heb. means ‘to number,’ and so ‘to apportion.’ The name of this god of Destiny has been seen in Manasseh and in the name of one of the sons of Anak, Ahiman, in . See Gad. W. F. Cobb.
Menna
An ancestor of Jesus ().
Menuhah
Menuhah (). We should perhaps read Manahath (wh. see), or, better, ‘from Nohah.’ In Nohah is a clan of Benjamin.
Menuhoth
See Manahathites.
Meonenim, Oak of
A place mentioned only in as being near Shechem. It is agreed that the rendering should be ‘oak of the diviners,’ but the derivation of the word me’ Snenlm is uncertain. There is a cognate Arabic word, however, which is used of the hum of insects and the whispering of leaves, and it is tempting, therefore, to connect me’ dnenlm with such a phenomenon as the ‘sound of a marching in the tops of the balsams’ of . where the rusthng of the leaves is the sign of the presence of Jahweh, as the rustling of the leaves of the oaks of Dodona proclaimed the will of Zeus. w. F. Cobb.
Meonothai
Son of Othniel ().
Mephaath
A city of Reuben () assigned to the Levites (21", ) a Moabite city in . In the 4th cent. a.d. it is said to have been the station of a Roman garrison.
Mephibosheth
1. A son of Jonathan (). called also in Merib(b)aal, really the original form of the name ‘Baal contends’ or ‘Baal’s warrior.’
David, on succeeding to the throne, instead of destroying all the family of Saul, as was usual on such occasions, spared Mephibosheth out of regard for his father Jonathan(2 S ). Mephibosheth was five years old when Saul fell on Mt. Gilboa, and in the flight of the royal household after the battle he was so seriously injured by a fall as to become lame in both his feet (). In that warlike age such a bodily weakness prevented him from becoming a rival of David, and no doubt inclined the latter to mercy. David was informed of his place of concealment in Lo-debar, on the east of the Jordan, by Ziba, who had been steward of Saul ( ff.). The king restored to Mephibosheth all the estates of Saul, Ziba became his steward, and Mephibosheth himself was maintained as a permanent guest at David’s table ().
At the flight of David from Jerusalem after Absalom’s rebellion, Ziba met him on the Mount of Olives with provisions. He also stated that his master had remained in Jerusalem, in hope of obtaining the kingdom of Saul. Notwithstanding the doubtful nature of the story, David said, ‘Behold, thine is all that pertaineth to Mephibosheth’ (). On David’s return, Mephibosheth came out to meet him, and declared that Ziba had accused him falsely, taking advantage of his lameness. David seems to have doubted the truthfulness of Mephibosheth or did not wish to alienate Ziba, who had also been faithful, and divided the land of Saul between the two. Mephibosheth expressed his willingness that Ziba should have all, ‘forasmuch as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house.’
From we learn that Mephibosheth had a son Mica, who was regarded as the founder of a well-known family of warriors ( ).
2. One of the sons of Saul’s concubine Bjzpah, slain by the Gibeonites (). p, Botd.
Mbrab
The elder daughter of Saul, promised to the slayer of Goliath (). and then to David personally as a reward for prowess against the Philistines (). but given as wife to Adriel the Meholathite. In Michal, whose sons are said to have been given over to satisfy the Gibeonites, is probably a scribal error for Merab. W. F. Botd.
Meratah
The head of a priestly house ().
Meraioth
1. Son of Ahitub and father of Zadok (. ). 2. A Levite ( f.; ) called in 1 Esdras 8:2 Memeroth and in 2 Esdras 1:2 Marimoth. 3. A priestly house in the days of Joiakim ( = Meremoth of ).
Merari, Merarites
1. The third son of Levi, to whom a division of the Levites traced their descent (. , , , ). The title ‘Merarites’ is found only in ; elsewhere they are called ‘sons of Merari’ (. . , , , , , . 63. . . ). They were subdivided into two groups, the Mahlites and the Mushites ( ). each being traced to a ‘son’ of Merari (. . , , ). From these families fragments of genealogies remain, some branches being traced through the daughters of Mahli (see ).
Very little is related of the Merarites after the Exile. Certain Merarites are mentioned in , = as dwelling in Jerusalem immediately after the Return, and certain others as accompanying Ezra to the city in 454 B.C. ( f.). But P and the Chronicler introduce the family into the earlier history. (1) During the desert wanderings the Merarites were on the north side of the Tent () their duty was to carry the less sacred parts of it, the ‘boards’ (or rather frames), pegs, cords, etc. ( f. ), for which they were given four waggons and eight oxen () ; and they were superintended by Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron (). (2) After the settlement in Palestine, twelve cities were assigned to them (, = , ). (3) In David’s reign the Chronicler relates that the Temple music was superintended partly by Ethan, or Jeduthun, a Merarite, and his family ( f. , , 9. ". ". zit.; and see , ). David divided the Levites into courses ‘according to the sons of Levi’ (; Merarites, vv. ). and particiilar ofElces of certain Merarites are detailed in . (4) They took part in the cleansing of the Temple under Hezekiah (). Cf. also art. Kohath.
2. The father of Judith (Judith 8:1 16:7).
A. H. M’Neilb.
Merathahh
Merathahh (). The term is an enigmatical one, and adapted so as to recall to a Heb. ear either ‘double rebellion’ or ‘double bitterness.’
MERCHANDISE,MEROHANT.-SeeMAiiKET,TRADE, AND Commerce.
Merchantman
This Eng. word is now used only of a trading vessel. In AV it means ‘merchant, tradesman’; it occurs in , . . In each case the earliest editions of AV have two separate words.
Mercury
Mercury stands in the AV for the Gr. Hermes in . Hermes, as the spokesman of the gods, was regarded by the Greeks as the god of eloquence. Hence, when Paul and Barnabas healed the cripple at Lystra, the former was hailed as Hermes, ‘because he was the chief speaker.’ The identification of Hermes with Mercury was due to another attribute. As the messenger of the gods, Hermes was the god who brought good fortune to men. Mercury was the Roman god of commerce(cf. merx, mercari), and success in commerce was attributed to him. Hence the mythology of the two was confused. A. E. Hillabd.
Mercy, Merciful
Mercy (French merci) ia traced, through ecclesiastical Latin, to merces (reward); it seems to have got its meaning from the exclamation of the alma-receiver, ‘Merci I’ i.e. ‘Reward to you (in heaven)!’ ‘May God reward youl’ — the expression passing from the acknowledgment made to the bounty given, and then to the spirit prompting it. Thus mercy ia by derivation allied to merit, merchant, mercenary, amerce,
1. In the OT, noun and adjective render two quite different Hebrew terms. (1) meaning primarily bowels (see , ), then compassion or yearning, occurs as noun, adjective, or verb (‘have mercy,’ ‘show mercy’), with the tr. ‘mercy’ over 60 times (, , . are typical examples), — often ‘mercies’ or ■ tender mercies ‘for the noun, imitating the Hebrew plural. In 5 instances the EV translates by’ pity,’ ‘pitiful’ (see , ), in 17 by ‘compassion.’ In ‘merciful’ renders a synonym of the above, which appears elsewhere (. etc.) as ‘pity.’
(2) is a familiar OT word, occurring passim in the Psalms, denoting kindness or benignity, almost confined to the noun-form in this sense. It is rendered 43 times by kindness (often on the part of men), and 30 times by ‘loviugkindness’ (always of God, and mostly in Ps.), by mercy some 150 times in AV; other renderings — ‘goodness,’‘favour,’ and ‘pity ‘—are occasional RV frequently, the American Revisers uniformly, substitute ‘lovingkindness’ (wh. see) for ‘mercy’ where God is the subject. This attribute of J" Ues nearer to the ‘grace’ (wh. see) than the ‘mercy’ of the NT, without implying necessarily, like the former, iU-desert in the object. It is associated frequently with ‘truth’ (wh. see) in J" — ‘lovingkindness (mercy) and truth’ being the regnant qualities of His dealings with Israel — and with ‘covenant’ (. 1 K . . , . ). as well as with ‘goodness’ and ‘compassion’ (above); while it is contrasted with ‘anger,’ ‘judgment,’ and ‘sacrifice’ (. . ). The word describes what one may call the characteristic temper of J", His gracious disposition towards His chosen regarded in their dependence and necessities. His readiness to help, bless, relieve, forgive them — J"‘s’ leal love’ (G. A. Smith).
(3) A third root, the noun of which is translated ‘grace’ (wh. see) and its adjective ‘gracious,’ appears in the verb 16 times as ‘be gracious’ or the like, and 16 times as ‘have’ or ‘show mercy’ in AV (. etc.), thrice as ‘pity.’ This term seems to imply more of inclination, and (2) more of active disposition.
(4) The expression ‘be merciful’ in AV of is corrected by RV to ‘forgive’ and ‘make expiation.’
2. Mercy in NT plays a part subordinate to that of love (wh. see) . It represents a pair of Greek synonyms, both chiefly, but not exclusively, applied (in Scripture) to God. (a) As used in the LXX, the ordinary term (noun, adjective, and verb) in its noun^form reproduced commonly (2) of the Hebrew words above indicated; but in adjective and verb more often (3), less frequently (1). It denotes compassion as a temper and motive of action rather than a sentiment — eleSmosyne (alms) is one of its derivatives; like ‘mercy,’ the Greek eleos regards its objects as weak or suffering, and is therefore narrower in range than the Hebrew (2) above defined. Out of the 27 examples of this noun in NT, 9 occur in OT allusions, 7 in salutations or benedictions; other examples are . , , . . The verb is more frequent. (6) The second of the Greek synonyms — verb, noun, and adjective — ^is more pathetic, and corresponds to (1) of the OT terms; hence the Hebraizing combinations of . . (Hebraistic equivalents replace the regular Greek terms in . ). This tenderer significance ‘mercy’ bears in . . . . also in (RV, where AV reads ‘pity’), (c) ‘Of tender mercies’ in (AV; RV ‘merciful’) represents a Heoraistic compound nearly the same as that rendered ‘tender-hearted’ in and (KV; AV ‘pitiful’). Akin to these adjectives is the verb occurring 12 times in the Synoptic Gospels, which is rendered ‘moved with compassion’ (moved to mercy), describing the emotion stirred in the breast of Jesus — e.g. by the cry, ‘Have mercy on us,’ of .
G. G. FiNDLAY.
Mercy Seat
See Tabehnacle, § 7 6.
Mered
A Judahite ().
Meremoth
1. The head of the 7th course of priests (. , ) called in 1 Esdras 8:62 Marmoth. 2. See Carabasion. 3. See Meraioth, No. 3.
Meribah
See Massah and Meribah.
Meri
Meri (B)BAAL.— See Mephibosheth.
Meriboth-kadesh
See Massah and Mekibah.
Merodach
The name of the city-god of Babylon, worshipped, after the establishment of Babylon as capital of the Babylonian Empire, as chief god of Babylonia. The Babylonian name was Marduk, older form Maruduk. He gradually absorbed the attributes of other gods once supreme through the influence of their city seats of worship, particularly Ellil the old BSl, or lord supreme of Nippur. Hence he was in later times the Bel of Babylonia. Merodach is a Hebraized form occurring only in . but the Bel of the Apocryphal Bel and the Dragon (. ) is the same deity. Nebuchadnezzar was specially devoted to his worship, but the Assyrians reverenced him no less; and even Cyrus, on his conquest of Babylon, treated him with the deepest respect. The name occurs in many Babylonian proper names, and appears in the Bible in Merodach-baladan and Evil-merodach, and probably in Mordecai.
C. H. W. Johns.
MERODACH -BALADAN (; misspelt [in MT, but not in LXX] Berodach-b. in ). In Assyr. the name is written Marduk-bal-iddina, and means ‘Merodach has given a son.’ For his history see p. 66 f .
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.