Naphtali – Nebuchadnezzar

Naphtali

The second son of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, and the sixth son of Jacob (Genesis 30:7 f. [J]). The tradition connects the story in a vague way with the word ‘twist, wrestle’: NaphtuU ‘elShlm niphtalti — Wrestlings of God (or mighty wrestlings)—‘! have wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed,’ Rachel exclaimed when Naphtali was born, ‘and she called his name Naphtall.’

The information which we have of Naphtall is very meagre. P ascribes to him four sons when Jacob and his family entered Egypt (Genesis 46:24). These four have developed into ‘families’ at the time of the Exodus, and their number is given as 53,400 in the Sinai census (Numbers 1:42). At Moab, however, they had decreased to 45,000 (26:48). None of these clan-names given here, except Guni, appears again outside of the genealogy repeated in 1 Chronicles 7. In the march through the desert Naphtali formed with Dan and Asher the ‘Camp of Dan,’ which constituted a total of 157,000 men of war.

While the genealogical lists cannot be relied on, there is no apparent reason for linking together Dan and Naphtali. But that they are both traced to Bilhah indicates that they were tribes of minor importance, inferior in strength, and of less consequence in the national development at the time when these relationships were created, than the tribes which sprang from Rachel.

Naphtali was the sixth in order to receive its lot (Joshua 19:32–39). It is somewhat more definitely defined than the others, though few of the places mentioned can be identified. No fewer than nineteen cities are said to Ue vrithin its territory, the most of which are not found again in the OT, doubtless because the history of Israel was wrought out mainly in the regions to the south. The territory reached on the north almost to the Lebanon. Southward It extended along the Jordan until it reached the point below the Sea of Galilee where the Wady el-Bireh joins the Jordan. The greater part lay to the north-west of the Sea, and in this direction (N. and W.) its boundaries appear to have been shifting. ‘Ancient and modern writers’ (writes Driver, Deut. 413) ‘vie with one another in praising the soil and climate of the territory owned by Naphtali: it was abundantly irrigated; and its productions rich and varied. Lower Galilee was, however, yet more fertile and beautiful than Upper Galilee. The vegetation in the neighbourhood of the lake is semi-tropical.’ Modern writers Join with Josephus in praising it, and Neubauer (Oeog. du Talm. p. 180) quotes a saying from the Talmud: ‘It is easier to raise a legion of olives in Galilee than to bring up a child in Palestine.’ No wonder .that Naphtali was ‘like a hind let loose’ (Genesis 49:21, if this be the correct translation; see the Comm.). Besides these advantages, it was fortunate in location in times of peace. Roads ran in every direction, connecting it with the outer world.

The heroism and warlike daring of the tribe is sung in Judges 5. In that decisive struggle with the Canaanites the tribe wrote its name high on the roll of Israelitish fame. But this was in the days of its pristine vigour. At a later period it performed nothing worthy of record. The Blessings of Jacob (Genesis 49:21) and of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:23, ‘Satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of Jahweh’) dwell only upon its productivity. The captain to whom the honour of leading the Israelites to victory over the hosts of Sisera is ascribed in the prose narrative, Judges 4, was Barak of Kedesn-naphtali. This is probable in view of the readiness with which Naphtali and Zebulun its neighbour responded to his call, though Judges 5:15 points rather to a connexion with Issachar. According to 1 Kings 7:14. Hiram, the worker in metals, etc., whom Solomon brought from Tyre to work on the house of Jahweh, was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali [2 Ch 2:14, it is true, says she was of Dan. The shifting of boundaries may be the cause of the divergence]. Few names of prominence, however, from members of this tribe appear in connexion with the national life.

According to the Chronicler (1 Chronicles 12:34) 37,000 warriors with 1000 captains went to the support of David at Hebron. Under the Syrian king Bir-idri (Benhadad), ‘all the land of Naphtali,’ together with certain cities of Israel, were smitten with the sword (1 Kings 15:20). When the Syrian kingdom tell before the Assyrian armies, northern Israel was exposed, as never before, to the relentless legions of the East; and ‘in the days of Pekah, king of Israel, came Tiglath-pileser [iii. b.c.734], king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Haxor, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and he carried them captive to Assyria’ (2 Kings 15:29). See also Tribes.

James A. Craig.

Naphtuhim

Fourth son of Mizralm (Genesis 10:13. 1 Chronicles 1:11). Many suggestions have been made to account for the name, which does not appear exactly in Egyptian or Assyrian inscriptions, but in Ashurbanipal’s Annals (col. !"■ °‘) a district Nathu, probably in Lower Egypt, occurs, which may be the same. An Egyptian n-idkw, ‘the marshes,’ used in contrast to Pathros, may be intended; but the discovery of Caphtor, so long a puzzle, may warn us to wait for further evidence. C. H. W. Johns.

Napkin

(soudarion). The cloth in which the unprofitable servant wrapped the money of his lord (Lk 192»); used to bind the face of the dead (John 11:44 20:7) carried, possibly as indicated by the name (Lat. sudarium), to wipe off perspiration (Acts 19:12). The Arabic renders mandil, which may be either ‘towel,’ ‘napkin,’ ‘veil,’ or ‘head-baud.’ See also Dress, §§ 6 (a), 8.

W. EWING.

Narcissus

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (ch. 16") salutes, among others, ‘them that be of the household of Narcissus that are in the Lord.’ The name was not uncommon, but many have identified the person mentioned here with the secretary of the Emperor Claudius, who was put to death by Agrippina in the first year of Nero’s reign, about three years before this Epistle was written. According to the custom of those times, the household of the freedman of Claudius would pass into the possession of Nero, retaining the name of their deceased owner. It will be noted that the salutation is not addressed to Narcissus himself, but to the members of his household. Morley Stevenson.

Nasbas

Apparently the nephew of Achiacharus, who was the nephew of Tobit (Tobit 11:18). He came with Achiacharus to the wedding of Tobias. About his identity there is some little uncertainty. The Vulgate speaks of him as brother of Achiacharus, while others have regarded the two as identical. It has been suggested also that he is the same as Aman or Nadan, the ward of Achiacharus (Tobit 14:10). jn which case the uncle adopted the nephew and brought him up as his son. T. A. MoxoN.

Nasi

Nasi (1 Esdras 5:32) =Neziah, Ezra 2:54, Nehemiah 7:56.

Nathan

1. Third son of David by Bath-sheba (2 Samuel 5:14. but note 2 Samuel 12:24). In Zee 12:12 the Nathan who is recognized as head of a house is probably David’s son. In Luke 3:31 the genealogy of Jesus is traced through Nathan to David. 2. The prophet, a confidential adviser of David. Thf king desired to build the Temple, and Nathan at first agreed, but later received a revelation forbidding the enterprise (2 Samuel 7). The next appearance of Nathan is in connexion with the parable of the ewe lamb, by which David was self-convicted of his sin with Bath-sheba (2 Samuel 12:1–15). Later, in token that an atonement has been made, he adds to Solomon’s name the significant title Jedidiah (‘beloved of Jah’). The third service was rendered alike to Da vid and to Solomon. Adonijah had planned a coup by which to grasp the sceptre, now falling from the hands of his aged father. It was Nathan’s watchfulness that discovered the plot, and his ingenuity that saved the kingdom for Solomon (1 Kings 1). It was fitting that a Life of David should come from this friendly hand (1 Chronicles 29:29). His service to Solomon was recognized by the king, who appointed his sons, Azariah and Zabud, to important offices (1 Kings 4:5). 3. Father of Igal, one of David’s heroes (2 Samuel 23:36). The text of 1 Chronicles 11:38 reads, ‘Joel brother of Nathan.’ 4. One of the chief men who returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:16, 1 Esdras 8:44). 6. One of the Bani family, who had taken strange wives (Ezra 10:39) called in 1 Esdras 9:34 Nathanias. 6. A Judahite (1 Chronicles 2). J. H. STEVENSo^f.

Nathanael

1. 1 Esdras 1:9 =2 Ch 35:9 Nethanol. 2. 1 Esdras 9:22 -Ezr 10:22 Nethanel. 3. An ancestor of Judith (Judith 8:1). 4. Nathanael of Cana in Galilee (John 21:2) appears twice in the Fourth Gospel. (1) When told by Philip, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,’ Nathanael hesitated. ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ he asked. Philip thereupon conducted him to meet Jesus, and, when he looked on that wondrous face, his doubt vanished, and he hailed Him as the Messiah, ‘the Son of God, the King of Israel.’ See John 1:43–51. (2) Nathanael was one of the seven to whom the risen Lord manifested Himself at the Lake of Galilee (John 21:2). . Hig name occurs only in jn. but the following are reasons for believing that he was identical with Bartholo - mew, who is never mentioned by St. John, and by the other Evangelists only in their catalogues of the Apostles (Matthew 10:3 - Mk 3 6:14). (o) Bartholomew is not a name, but a patronymic— Bar Talmai, ‘the son of Talmai.’ (6) Nathanael appears in St. John’s narrative as a friend of Philip, and Bartholomew is coupled with Phihp in the lists of the Apostles, (c) Since the others of the seven at the Lake whose names are indicated by St. John were Apostles, it is probable that Nathanael also was an Apostle. His title would thus be Nathanael bar Talmai.

David Smith.

Nathanias

Nathanias (1 Esdras 9:34) =Nathan, Ezra 10:39.

Nathan-melech

An official in the reign of Josiah, whose name is used to designate one of the halls or chambers of the Temple (2 Kings 23:11).

Nations

In many places where in the AV we have ‘Gentiles’ and ‘heathen’ the RV has rightly substituted ‘nations,’ and it might with advantage have carried out the change consistently.

The Heb. (sot) and Greek (ethnos) words denote invariably a nation or a people, never a person. Where in the AV (only NT) we find ‘Gentile’ in the singular (Romans 2:9 f. 1 the RV has ‘Greek,’ following the original. In nearly every example the singular ‘nation’ stands for ‘Israel,’ though we have a few exceptions, as in Ex ioi Egypt), Pr 14*" (general), and Matthew 21:43. It is often applied to Israel and Judah when there is an inaplication of disobedience to God, sinfulness and the like: see Deuteronomy 32:28. Judges 2. Isaiah 1:4 etc. This shade of meaning became very common in the later writings of the OT. Quite early in Israelitish history the singular as a term for Israel was discarded for the word translated ‘people ‘(‘am) , so that’ am (‘people’ )and ffoiC nation ‘) came to be almost antithetic terms =’ Israelites and ‘non-Israelites,’ as in Rabbinical Hebrew. For the reason of the change in the use of goi (‘nation’), see below.

In the AV ‘Gentiles’ often corresponds to Greeks m the original, as in John 7:35. Romans 3:9 etc. In the RV the word ‘Greeks’ is rightly substituted, though the sense is the same, for to the Jews of the time Greek culture and rehgion stood for the culture and religion of the non -Jewish world.

The two words (Heb. and Greek) translated ‘nation’ have their original and literal sense in many parts of the OT and NT, as in Genesis 10:5, 10 etc.. Isaiah 2:4 (=Mic 4:2 f.), Job 12:23 34:20. Acts 17:26, Galatians 3:14. In other passages this general meaning is narrowed so as to embrace the descendants of Abraham, e.g. in Genesis 12:2 IS’s IT- =■ But it is the plural that occurs by far the most frequently, standing almost invariably for non-Israelltish nations, generally with the added notion of their being idolatrous and immoral: see Exodus 9:24 34:10, Leviticus 25:44 ff.; Numbers 14:15, Deuteronomy 15:6, 1 Kings 4:31, Isaiah 11:10, 12, and often. These are contrasted with Israel ‘the people of Jahweh’ in 2 Samuel 7:22, 1 Chronicles 17:21 etc.

This contrast between Israel (united or divided into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah) as Jahweh’s people, and all the rest of the human race designated ‘nations,’ runs right through the OT. Such a conception could have arisen only after the Israelites had developed the consciousness of national unity. At first, even among the Israelites, each nation was thought to be justified in worshipping its deity (see Deuteronomy 3:24 10:17, 1 Kings 8:23, Is 19:1 etc.). As long as this idea prevailed there could be no necessary antagonism between Israehtes and foreign nations, except that which was national, for the nation’s god was identified with the national interests. But when the behef in Jahweh’s absolute and exclusive claims possessed the mind of Israel, as it began to do in the time of the earliest literary prophets (see Amos 9; Micah 7:18 etc.), the nations came to be regarded as worshippers of idols (Leviticus 18:20), and in Psalms 9 (cf . Ezekiel 7:21) ‘nations’ and ‘wicked people’ are, as being identical, put in parallelism. It will be gathered from what has been said, that the hostile feelings with which Israehtes regarded other peoples varied at various times. At all periods it would be modified by the laws of hospitality (see art. Stranger), by pohtical aUlanees (cf. Isaiah 7:1 ff.; and 2 Kings 16:5 ff.; Ahaz and Assyria against Israel and Syria), and by the needs of commerce (see Ezekiel 27:11 [Tyre], 1 Kings 9:28 10:11 22:28 etc.).

The reforms instituted by king Josiah in the Southern Kingdom (2 Kings 22:1 ff.), based upon the Deuteronomic law newly found in the Temple, aimed at stamping out all syncretism in rehgion and establishing the pure religion of Jahweh. This reformation, as also the Rechabite movement (Jeremiah 35), had a profound infiuence upon the thoughts and feelings of Jews, widening the gulf between them and alien nations. The teaching of the oldest prophets looked in the same direction (see Amos 2:11 3:15 5:11, 25 6:8 8:5, Hosea 2:19 8:14 9:10 10 12:7 ff. 14:4, Isaiah 2:6 IQi 17:10, Zephaniah 1:8, 11, Jeremiah 35:1 ff. 37:6 f. etc.).

But the Deuteronomic law (about b.c. 620) made legally obligatory what earher teachers had inculcated. Israelites were not to marry non-Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:3), or to have any except unavoidable dealings with them.

The feeling of national exclusiveness and antipathy was intensified by the jjaptivity in Babylon, when the prophetic and priestly instructors of the exiled Jews taught them that their calamities came upon them on account of their disloyalty to Jahweh and the ordinances of His religion, and because they compromised with Idolatrous practices and heathen nations. It was in Babylon that Ezekiel drew up the programme of worship and organization for the nation after the Return, laying stress on the doctrine that Israel was to be a holy people, separated from other nations (see Ezk 40-48). Some time after the Return, Ezra and Nehemiah had to contend with the laxity to which Jews who had remained in the home land and others had jdelded; but they were uncompromising, and won the battle for nationalism in religion.

Judaism was in even greater danger of being lost in the world-currents of speculation and religion soon after the time of Alexander the Great. Indeed, but for the brave Maccabsean rising in the earlier half of the 2nd cent. B.C., both the religion and the language of the Jew might, humanly speaking, have perished.

The Apocrypha speaks of the ‘nations’ just as do the later writings of the OT. They are ‘uncircumcised,’ ‘having sold themselves to do evil’ (1 Maccabees 1:15) they break the Sabbath, offer no sacrifice to Jahweh, eat unclean food and such as has been offered to idols (2 Mac gs. 3. 15:1 f. etc. etc.).

The NT reveals the same attitude towards foreign nations on the part of the Jews (see Acts 10:45 et passim). In Rabbinical writings Jewish exclusiveuess manifested itself even more decisively (see Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, vol. i., esp. ch. xvi.). But, as in the OT a broader spirit shows itself constantly, culminating fn the universalism of Christianity, so enlightened and broadminded Jews in all ages have deprecated the fanatical race-hatred which many of their compatriots have displayed. T. Witton Davies.

Natural

The contrast between ‘natural’ (Gr. psyckikos) and ‘spiritual’ {pneutnatikos) is drawn out by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:44–46. The natural body is derived f^om the first Adam, and is our body in so far as it is accommodated to, and limited by, the needs of the animal side of the human nature. In such a sense it is especially true that ‘the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God’ (1 Corinthians 2:14). Man derives his spiritual life from union with Christ (‘the last Adam’), but his present body is not adapted to the needs of this spiritual existence; hence the distinction made by St. Paul between the natural body (called the ‘body of death,’ Romans 7:24) and the spiritual body of the resurrection. ‘The transference from the one to the other begins in this life, and the two beings are identical in so far as continuity creates an identity, but otherwise, owing to the operation of the union with Christ, distinct.

T. A. MoxoN.

Nature

The terra ‘nature’ is not used in the OT. nor was the conception current in Hebrew thought, as God alone is seen in all, through all, and over all. The idea came from the word physis from Hellenism. Swine’s flesh is commended for food as a gift of nature in 4 Maccabees 5:7. In the NT the term is used in various senses: (1) the forces, laws, and order of the world, including man (Romans 1 ha- M, Galatians 4:8) (2) the inborn sense of propriety or morality (1 Corinthians 11:14, Romans 2:14) (3) birth or physical origin (Galatians 2:15. Romans 2:27) ; (4) the sum of characteristics of a species or person, human (James 3:7). or Divine (221) ; (5) a condition acquired or inherited (Ephesians 2:3. ‘by nature children of wrath ‘). What is contrary to nature is condemned. While the terra is not found or the conception raade explicit in the OT, Schultz {OT Theol. ii. 74) finds in the Law’ the general rule that nothing is to be permitted contrary to the delicate sense of the inviolable proprieties of nature,’ and gives a number of instances (Exodus 23:19 34, Leviticus 22:28 19:19, Deuteronomy 22:9–11. Leviticus 10:9 19:28 21:5 22:24. Deuteronomy 14:1 23:2). The beauty and the order of the world are recognized as evidences of Divine wisdom and power (Psalms 8:1 19:1 33:6, 7 90:2 104. 136:6 ff. 147, Pr 8. Job 38. 39); but the sum of created things is not hypostatized and personified apart from God, as in much current modern thinking. God is Creator, Preserver, and Ruler: He makes all (Isaiah 44:24, Amos 4:13), and is in all (Psalms 139). His immanence is by His Spirit (Genesis 1:2). Jesus recognizes God’s bounty and care in the flowers of the fleld and the birds of the air (Matthew 6) He uses natural processes to illustrate spiritual, in salt (5:13). seed and soil (13:3–9), and leaven (13:33). The growth of the seed is also used as an illustration by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:37, 38). There is in the Bible no interest in nature apart from God, and the problem of the relation of God to nature has not yet risen on the horizon of the thought of the writers. Alphed E. Gaevie.

Naught

‘Naught’ is ‘nothing’ (from A.S. na ‘not,’ and wiht ‘a whit or a thing’). Sometimes the spelling became ‘nought’ (perhaps under the influence of ‘ought’). In the earliest editions of AV there is no difference between ‘naught’ and ‘nought’; but in the ed. of 1638 a difference was introduced, ‘naught’ being used in 2 Kings 2:19. Proverbs 20:14. because there the meaning is ‘bad’ ; ‘nought’ everywhere else, but with the meaning ‘worthlessness.’ This distinction was preserved by Scrivener, in his Cambr. Par. Bible, and is found in most modern English Bibles.

‘Naughty,’ however, is simply ‘worthless,’ as Jeremiah 24:2 ‘very naughty flgs.’ But ‘naughtiness’ always means ‘wickedness,’ as Proverbs 11:6 ‘transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.’

Nave

The form in which (possibly by a primitive error In transcription of the Greek) the Heb. name Nun appears in AV of Sirach 46:1.

Navy

See Ships and Boats, p. 849.

Nazarene

A title applied to Christ in Matthew 2:23. apparently as a quotation from a phrophecy . Its signification is a matter of controversy. Apart from the primary meaning of the word, ‘an inhabitant of Nazareth,’ there may have been, as is often the case in prophetic quotations, a secondary meaning in allusion to the Heb. word netser, ‘a branch,’ in which case the reference may have been to the Messianic passage Isaiah 11:1; or possibly the reference may have been to the word nSisar, ‘to save.’ The epithet, applied often in scorn (cf. John 1:46). was used of Christ by demoniacs (Mark 1:24. Luke 4:34). by the people generally (Mark 10:47. Luke 18:37). by the soldiers ( John 18). by the servants (Matthew 26:71. Mark 14:67), by Pilate (John 19:19). as well as by His own followers on various occasions (Luke 24:19 etc.). The attempt to connect the word with ‘Nazirite’ is etymologically impossible, and has no meaning as applied to Jesus Christ.

T. A. MoxoN.

Nazareth

(mod. en-Nasira). A town in the north border of the Plain of Esdraelon. It was a place of no history (being entirely unmentioned in the OT, Josephus, or the Talmud), no importance, and, possibly, of bad reputation (John 1:46). Here, however, lived Mary and Joseph. Hither, before their marriage, was the angel Gabriel sent to announce the coming birth of Christ (Lk l!»-38)_ and hither the Holy Family retired after the flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:23). The obscure years of Christ ‘s boyhood were spent here, and in its synagogue He preached the sermon for which Hebrews 3 by His fellow-townsmen (Matthew 13:54, Luke 4:29). After this, save as a centre of pilgrimage, Nazareth sank into obscurity. The Crusaders made it a bishopric; it is now the seat of a Turlcish lieutenant-governor. Many traditional sites are pointed out to pilgrims and tourists, for not one of which, with the possible exception of the’ Virgin’s Well ‘(which, being the only spring known in the neighbourhood, was not improbably that used by the Holy Family), is there any justiflcation.

R. A. S. Macalisteh.

Nazirite

(AV Nazarite). The primary meaning of the Heb. verb naear is to separate. Hence the nasir is ‘the separated,’ ‘consecrated,’ ‘devoted.’ Joseph is ‘the Nazirite,’ i.e., the consecrated prince, among his brethren (Genesis 49:26) the nobles of Jerusalem bear the same title (Lamentations 4:7) the untrimmed vine, whose branches recall the long hair of the Nazirite proper, is called ‘thy Nazirite’ (Leviticus 25:5, 11). But, above all, the name belongs to a class of persons devoted by a special vow to Jahweh (Amos 2:11 f.: Judges 13:5, 7 16:17. Numbers 6, Sirach 46:13. 1 Maccabees 3:49–53). According to Judges 13 and Numbers 6, the details of outward observance covered by the vow were: (1) abstinence from the fruit of the vine, (2) leaving the hair uncut, (3) avoidance of contact with the dead, and (4) of all unclean food.

Opinions differ as to whether the abstinence from wine or the untrimmed hair was the more important. Amos 2:11 f. mentions only the former. 1 Samuel 1:11. on the other hand, refers only to the latter (the LXX ‘and he shall drink no wine or strong drink’ being an interpolation). If we look outside the OT, we see that among the ancients generally the hair was regarded as so important an outcome of the physical life as to be a fit offering to the deity, and a means of initiating or restoring communion with Him. There is evidence for this from Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and, in recent times, even among the Maoris. This, then, seems to have been the original observance. If Amos 2:11 f. does not mention it, the reason is that the most attractive temptation was found in the wine. Judges 13:7 states that Samson’s mother was bidden to abstain, but the same is not affirmed of Samson himself; all the stress, in his case, is laid on the hair being untouched (Judges 16:17). Numbers 6:3, 4 puts the abstinence first, but even here the significance of the other point appears in the directions for the ceremonial shaving and oblation of the hair (Numbers 6:18). The vine stood for the culture and civilization of Canaan, and was specially associated with the worship of the nature-gods. Hence it was a point of honour with the zealots of Jahweh to turn away from it utterly. The luxury and immorality connected with a more advanced civilization threatened the simplicity of Israel’s life and faith. Martial devotion coalesced with the ascetic spirit to produce such men as Jonadab, son of Rechab, who resembled the Nazirites very closely (2 Kings 10:15. Jeremiah 35).

The Nazirite vow was originally a life-long obligation. Young and enthusiastic men were moved by the Spirit of God to take it up, as others were inspired to be prophets, and it was an offence against Him to tempt them to break it (Amos 2:11 f.). Women were divinely bidden to devote their promised offspring (Judges 13:7). Others prayed for children and promised that they should then be consecrated to this service (1 Samuel 1:11; it is noteworthy that in the Heb. and Syr. of Sirach 46:13, Samuel is expressly called a Nazirite). In course of time, however, a great change came over the purpose and spirit of the institution. The vow was now taken to gain some personal end — protection on a journey, deliverance from sickness, etc. Women, too, became Nazirites. And the restrictions were only for a certain period. Numbers 6 represents this stage, but the information which it gives needs supplementing. For instance, it fails to prescribe the manner in which the voW should be entered on. The Talmud asserts that this was done in private, and was binding if one simply said, ‘Behold, I am a Nazirite,’ or repeated after another, ‘I also become one’ (Nazir, i. 3, iii. 1, iv. 1). Numbers 6 does not determine the length of these temporary vows. Here, again, a rule had to be made, and it was decided that the person himself might fix the period; otherwise, it should be thirty days (Nazir, i. 3, iii. 1; Jos. BJ ii. XV. 1). In case of accidental defilement, the Nazirite had to undergo seven days’ purification, cut oft his hair on the seventh day and have it buried (Temura, vi. 4), on the eighth day bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, one for a sin-, one for a burnt-offering, as well as a lamb for a guilt-offering, and thus begin the course of his vow afresh (cf. Nazir, iii. 6; Jos. Ant. xx. ii. 5). At the expiration of the time ne was brought to the door of the sanctuary, with a he-lamb for a burnt-offering, a ewe-lamb for a sin-offering, a ram for a peace-offering, ten unleavened cakes and ten unleavened wafers anointed with oil, a meat-offering, and a drink-offering. When the sacrifices had been offered his hair was shaved and he put it in the fire which was under the peace-offering, or under the caldron in which the latter was boiled (Nazir, vi. 8).’ Then a wave-offering was made, consisting of the sodden shoulder of the ram, a cake, and a wafer. The fat was then salted and burned on the altar, and the breast and the foreleg were eaten by the priests, who also ate the waved cake and the boiled shoulder; the rest of the bread and meat belonged to the offerer (Maimonides, HUchoih Maase ha-Corbanoth, ix. 9-11). A free-will offering followed (Numbers 6:21). In the second Temple there was a chamber in the S.E. corner of the women’s court, where the Nazirites boiled their peace-offerings, cut off their hair and cast it into the caldron.

The following historical notices are of some interest: (1) 1 Maccabees 3:49–53 enables us to realize the importance which came to be attached to the punctilious performance of every one of the ceremonies. Just before the battle of Emmaus, the Nazirites, being shut out of Jerusalem, could not offer the concluding sacrifices there. Evidently this was regarded as a serious public calamity. (2) The important tractate of the Talmud entitled Berakhoth tells a story of slightly later date than the above, which illustrates the ingenuity which the Rabbis displayed in finding reasons for releasing from their vows persons who had rashly undertaken them (vii. 2). (3) John the Baptist has been claimed as a Nazirite, but this is doubtful; we read nothing about his hair being untouched. (4) A custom grew up for wealthy people to provide the requisite sacrifices for their poorer brethren. Thus, when Agrippa came from Rome to Jerusalem to enter on his kingdom, ‘he offered many sacrifices of thanksgiving; wherefore also he ordered that many of the Nazirites should have their heads shaven’ (Jos. Ant. xix. vi. 1). This throws light on Acts 21:23–26. (5) Eusebius {HE ii. 23) appears to represent James the Just as a lifelong Nazirite: ‘Hebrews 8 holy from his mother’s womb. Wine and strong drink he drank not, neither did he eat fiesh. A razor passed not over his head.’ But the further statement that he alone was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies is so improbable as to lessen our confidence in the narrator.

John Tatloh. NEAH. — Named only in Joshua 19:13. The name has not been recovered. It is prob. identical with Neiel of v. 27..

Neapolis

The harbour of Philippi, at which St. Paul landed (Acts 16:11) after sailing from Troas. It lay on the coast of Macedonia opposite Thasos, being situated on s, promontory with a harbour on each side. It was about 10 miles from Phihppi. The Via Egnatia froin Dyrrhachium, after passing throughThessalonica, Amphipolis, and Phihppi, reached the coast again at Neapolis, and the regular course of travellers to Asia was not to continue farther by land, but to cross by ship to Troas. The modern name of Neapolis is Kavalla.

A. E. HlLLAED.

Neariah

1. A descendant of David (1 Chronicles 3:22 f.). 2. A Simeonite (1 Chronicles 4:42).

Nebaioth

An important tribe of North Arabians. In Genesis 25:13 ( = 1 Chronicles 1:29) Nebaioth is the eldest son of Ishmael ; also the representative of the Ishmaehte tribes in Genesis 28:9 36:3. The people of Nebaioth have an important place among the Arabian tribes subdued by Ashurbanlpal of Assyria, named by him along with the people of Kedar (wh. see), just as in the genealogy of Genesis. It is about this date (b.c. 650) that they come into prominence among the competing tribes of the peninsula^a position which they retained for centuries. Their exact location cannot be definitely determined, but the inscriptions tell us that they were very remote from Assyria, and their place at the head of the tribes of Ishmael, as well as their affiliation with the Edomites (Genesis 28 and 36), makes it probable that they were well known to the Hebrews. Hence they are to be sought for not far from the south-eastern borders of Palestine. The time when they flourished agrees with the fact that in the Bible they are mentioned only in the late Priestly Code and by the ‘Third Isaiah’ (Isaiah 60:7). They are usually, but wrongly, identified with the Nabatseans (the Nabatheeans of 1 Maccabees 5:25 9:35). J. F. M’Curdy.

Neballat

A town inhabited by Benjamites (Nehemiah 11:34) prob. the modern Beit NebiUa, 3i miles N.E. of Lydda.

Nebat

Father of Jeroboam i. (1 Kings 11 and onwards). The constant designation of Jeroboam i. as ‘ben-Nebat’ is probably the usage of a writer later than Jeroboam ben-Joash. It is intended, doubtless, to distinguish the two kings.

Nebo

(Assyr. Nabu, ‘Announcer’). A Bab. deity who presided over literature and science. The cuneiform system of writing was credited to his invention. He was the son and messenger of Bel-Marduk; whose will to mortals he Interpreted. The planet Mercury was sacred to Nebo. The chief centre of his worship was the temple of E-Zida in Borsippa, between which and the temple of Marduk in Babylon took place the great annual processions of which we find a reminiscence in Isaiah 46:1 f. The name Nebo appears as an element in many Babylonian names — Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan, Abed-nego (properly Abed-nebo), etc.

W. M. Nesbit.

Nebo

The name of a Moabite town, a mountain in Moab, and (according to the Hebrew text) of a city of Judah. It is probable, though not quite certain, that these places were named after the Babylonian deity Nebo (see preced. art.), and thus point to the influence of the Babylonian cult at a remote period both E. and W. of the Jordan.

1. Nebo, a city of Judah (Ezra 2:29 10 [1 Esdras 9:35 Noomiasj, Nehemiah 7:29). identified by some with Beit Nuba, 12 miles N.W. of Jerusalem. This Nebo is the Nobai (.a signatory to the covenant) of Nehemiah 10:20. Whether either form exactly corresponds to the original name is uncertain.

2. The Moabite town called Nebo is mentioned in Numbers 32 33:47. Isaiah 15:2. jer 48:1, 22. 1 Chronicles 5:8. and also in the inscription of Mesha, who says; ‘And Chemosh said unto me. Go take Nebo against Israel.’ The exact site is unknown, but the town probably lay on, or near, Mt. Nebo.

3. Mount Nebo is the traditional site of Moses’ view of Canaan (Deuteronomy 34:1 f.) and of his death (Deuteronomy 32:50). It is described as being ‘in the land of Moab over against Jericho’ and as reached from the ‘steppes of Moab’ (Deuteronomy 34:1). There can be no question that this description implies some point on the edge of the great plateau of Moab, which drops steeply some 4000 feet to the Jordan Valley or the Dead Sea. Two related problems call for solution: Which point in particular on this edge of the plateau is Mt. Nebo? How does the actual view thence agree with the terms of Deuteronomy 34:1 f. There appears to be most reason for identifying Mt. Nebo with the point now called Neba, and theidentificationmight be regarded as certain if we could feel sure that Neba is really an ancient name, and not merely (as it may be) the name attached to the summit after tradition had claimed it as the Nebo of the Bible. Neba Ues about 12 miles almost due E. of the Jordan at the point where the river enters the Dead Sea, and is one of the summits most easily ascended from the steppes of Moab. In this respect it satisfies the description better than the other sites which have been proposed, (1) the somewhat loftier Mt. Attarus 10 miles farther south, and (2) Mt. Osha some 20 miles north of Mt. Neba and a finer point of view, but outside Moab. The view from each of these great points and from several others along the great mountain wall which encloses the Jordan Valley on the E. is extensive and impressive; but its limitations in some directions are also sharply defined. Northward (or, strictly, between N. and N.N.W.) the view extends far; from Mt. Neba, for example, it is possible to see Mt. Tabor, 70 miles away. Westwards, on the other hand, it is blocked at from 30 to 40 miles by the great wall formed by the sharp declivity of the Judiean plateau to the Jordan Valley. This western mountain wall is of approximately the same height as the Moabite wall on the E. Consequently from no point in Moab is it possible to see the ‘hinder sea,’ i.e. the Mediterranean; nor is it possible to see more than about one-third of the country between Jordan and the Mediterranean. It follows that the description in Deuteronomy 34:1 f. is inaccurate not only in mentioning specific features (the Mediterranean, Dan, probably Zoar) which are out of sight, but in giving the general impression that the view commanded the whole of Western Palestine, whereas it actually commands but a third. The difficulty could be in part overcome by considering Deuteronomy 34 (together with the words ‘of Gilead unto Dan’ in v. 1) an editor’s note explaining the phrase ‘all the land.’ It is significant that this detailed description is absent from the Samaritan text, which has, instead, a shorter description which defines the land of Israel but not the view. For a further discussion of the view from Neba, see Expositor, Nov. 1904, pp. 321-341. See also art. P18GAH. G. B. Ghay.

Nebuchadnezzar

See next article.