Nebuchadrezzar – Nethaniah

Nebuchadrezzar

The iVa!)ffi-i:u(i«r-«ZMr of the Babylonians, for which ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ (the familiar form often retained in the present work) is an error, was son and successor of Nabopolassar, founder of the New Bab. empire (b.c. 604-561). The tall of Nineveh gave Egypt a chance to reclaim Syria, and Pharaoh- Necho made an attempt to regain it. Josiah fell in a vain effort to repel him (2 Kings 23:29). but Nebuchadrezzar defeated him at Carchemish (b.c. 605). He then recovered the whole of the West, and seems to have been threatening Egypt when recalled to Babylon by news of his father’s death. At this time he first captured Jerusalem (Daniel 1:1, 2). We know little of his wars from his own inscriptions, which deal almost entirely with his buildings and pious acts at home. According to classical historians, he made Babylon one of the wonders of the world. He fortified it with a triple line of walls and a moat; he restored temples and cities throughout his kingdom. A fragment of his annals records that in his 37th year he. fought against Amasis in Egypt (cf. Jeremiah 46:13–26, Ezekiel 29:2–20). For his relations with Judah, see Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah, Gedaliah. He certainly was the greatest king of Babylon since Hammurabi. For his madness, see Medicine, p. 599". C. H. W. Johns.

Nebushazban

Nebushazban (Jeremiah 39:13). The Bab. NabH^shezibanni, ‘Nabu save me,’ was Rab-saris (wh. see) at the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar.

C. H. W. Johns.

Nebuzaradan

The Bab. Nabn-zer-iddin, ‘Naba has given seed,’ ‘the chief of the bodyguard’ to Nebuchadrezzar(2 K 25»-M, Jeremiah 52:30). Hebrews 8 with the pacification of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem.

C. H. W. Johns.

Nec

Nec (H)0.— 2 Kings 23:29, 33, 2 Chronicles 35:20, Jeremiah 46:2. Egyp. Neko or Nekoou, son of Psammetichus i. and second king of the 26th Dyn. (b.c. 610-594). Continuing the development of Egypt that had gone on in his father’s long reign, Necho commenced a canal joining the Nile and the Red Sea, but abandoned it unfinished. Early in his reign he also endeavoured to revive the dominion of Egypt in Syria, seizing the opportunity afforded by the collapse of Assyria; his army reached the Euphrates, having brushed aside the force with which Josiah endeavoured to oppose him at Uegiddo, and slain that king. Eeturning, he deposed Jehoahaz, the son and successor of Josiah, at Riblah, substituted for him his elder brother Eliakim, whose name he changed to Jehoiakim, and exacted tribute from the new king at the expense of the people. But Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, was now secure enough in the east to send his son Nebuchadrezzar to dispute the prize with the Egyptian king. Nebuchadrezzar routed Necho’s forces at Carchemish (in b.c. 605), and took from him all his Syrian possessions, from ‘the brook of Egypt unto the liver Euphrates.’ F. Ll. Griffith.

Neck

The most usual words are ‘Breph and tsamar in Heb., and trachelos in Greek. Chains upon the neck were a common ornament (Proverbs 1:9 etc., Ezekiel 16:11). To fall upon one another’s neck has from old time been an affectionate form of greeting in the East (Genesis 33:4 etc.). The neck under yoke meant subjection and servitude (Deuteronomy 28:48 etc.); breaking of the yoke meant deliverance (Genesis 27:40. Jeremiah 30:8). Stiff or hard of neck (Deuteronomy 31:27 etc.) signified one difficult to guide, like a hard-necked bullock in the furrow. To put the foot upon the neck of a foe, meant his utter overthrow (Joshua 10:24 etc.). To put the neck to work (Nehemiah 3:5) was a phrase equivalent to our own’ put a hand to.’ W. Ewing.

Necklace

See Ornaments, § 3. NECROMANCY.— See Magic Divination and

SORCEBT.

Nedabiah

A descendant of David (1 Chronicles 3). NEEDLE’S EYE.— See Camel, ad fin. NEEDLEWORK.— See Embboidekt.

Neesing

The vb. ‘to neese’ (mod. ‘sneeze’) occurs in the 1611 ed. of AV at 2 Kings 4:35. ‘the child neesed seven times.’ But the ‘neesing’ (Job 41:18) of leviathan (the crocodile) means hard breathing, snorting, and does not come from the same A.S. verb as ‘neese’ meaning ‘to sneeze.’

NEGEB, originally meaning ‘the dry land,’ is in most passages in the OT the name of a definite geographical area (Deuteronomy 1:7 34:3, Joshua 10:40 12:8 etc.); the word is, however, used also in the sense of ‘South’ (Genesis 13:14). The Negeb was often the scene of Abraham’s wanderings (Genesis 12:9 13:1, 3 20:1)) ; here Hagar was succoured by the angel (Genesis 16:7, 14) Isaac (Genesis 24:62) and Jacob (Genesis 37:1 46:5) both dwelt there; through this district passed the spies (Numbers 13:17, 22). in Numbers 13:29 the Negeb is described as belonging to the Amalekites. Later the land was allotted to Simeon, and its cities are enumerated (Jos. 19:1–9) ; later they reverted to Judah (Jos 15:21–32). David was stationed by Achish at Ziklag on the borders of the Negeb (I S 27:6). At this time the Negeb is described as of several parts, the Negeb of Judah, of the Jerahmeelites, and of the Kenites (1 Samuel 27:10) while in 1 S 30:14 we read of the Negeb of the Cherethites and of Caleb. Jeremiah (13:19) prophesied trouble as coming on the cities of this region, but on the return from captivity they too were to participate in the blessings (32 33).

The district in question was an ill-defined tract of country lying S. of Hebron, and extending some 70 miles to the Tik or desert. It was bounded on the E. by the Dead Sea and the ‘Arabah, while W. it faded away into the Maritime Plain. It was a pastoral region, wedged between the cultivated lands on the N. and the wilderness, and formed a most efficient barrier to the land of Israel towards the South. Attacks of large armed forces could not come from this direction, but only by the ‘Arabah to the S.E. (Genesis 14), via Gaza on S.W., or by the E. of the Jordan. The Israelites themselves were compelled to take the last route. The country consists of a series of mountainous ridges running in a general direction E. and W., with open wadys in which a certain amount of water collects even now; in ancient days dams were constructed in places to collect and store the rainfall, which to-day soon runs off. Though now little better than a wilderness, the numerous ruins of towns and broken terraces witness to days of large population and good cultivation; the OT, too, in the stories of Saul’s and David’s captures from the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:9 27:9). witnesses to a great wealth of cattle. In Byzantine times the land attained its highest prosperity. Under neglect it has become again little better than a desert: the Bedouin of these parts are known in Palestine for their skill in making rough cisterns on the hillsides to catch the surface water, and have in recent years been employed to construct many such in the’ wilderness of Judsea.’ Beersheba and the district around have recently been greatly improved: a rough carriage road has been made from there to Gaza. E. W. G. Masterman.

Neginah, Neginoth

See Psalms, p. 772«.

Nehelaiuite

An epithet applied to Shemaiah, a false prophet who opposed Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:24, 31, 3). According to analogy the word should mean ‘an inhabitant of Nehelam,’ but there is no place of that name mentioned in the Bible.

Nehemiah

1. One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community (Ezra 2:2 = Nehemiah 7:7). 1 Es 5’ Nehemias. 2 . One of those who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:16). 3. See the following article. "

Nehemiah

Son of Hacaliah and cupbearer to king Artaxerxes. Our sole source of information regarding this great Jewish patriot is the book that bears his name. According to this, in the 20th year of Artaxerxes {i.e., as usually understood, of Artaxerxes i. Longimanus, 464-424), B.C. 445-444, Nehemiah is at Susa, the chief city of Elam and the winter residence of the Persian court. Here, in consequence of a report that reaches him regarding the ruined condition of Jerusalem and its people, Nehemiah is, on his own initiative, appointed governor (pechah) of the province of Judaea by the king. He is granted a limited leave of absence by the latter, furnished with royal letters and an escort to assure his safe passage; and also ^ith a royal rescript to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forests, commanding that he shall be furnished with sufficient supplies of timber. On arriving at Jerusalem, having satisfied himself as to the ruinous condition of the city walls, he energetically begins the task of rebuilding them, and, in spite of much opposition from without (from Sanballat and others), he, with the aid of the entire Jewish population drawn from the outlying villages, successfully accomplishes his undertaking within two months (Neh 1-7). All this, according to the usually accepted chronology, happened in the year 444. The wall was ‘finished’ on the 2Sth day of the 6th month (6’°), and on the first day of the following month the events of the religious reform described in chs. 8-10 apparently began. The Book of the Law was read by Ezra in the presence of Nehemiah before the people in solemn assembly; the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated (8’°-‘°); national confession of sin was made (ch. 9) ; and the’ covenant ‘was sealed, the people pledging themselves to observe its obligations (ch. 10). In 12"-" a description of the solemn dedication of the completed walls is given. If 2 Maccabees 1:18 can be relied on as preserving a true tradition, the dedication took place on the 25th of Chislev (December), i.e. three months after the completion, and two months after the reading of the Law and the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The exact sequence of these events is uncertain. Some would place the reading of the Law, etc., subsequent to the Dedication, in the following year. Rawlineon proposed to place the Dedication 12 years later, in Nehemiah s second governorship. But this view is improbable.

Shortly after these events, it would seem, Nehemiah returned to the Persian court, and was absent from Jerusalem for some years.

How long exactly Nehemiah’s first governorship lasted, and for how great an interval he was absent from Jerusalem, are uncertain. In 5:14 it seems to be stated definitely that he was governor in the first instance for 12 years. But in 13 Nehemiah says: ‘But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the two-and-thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went unto the king, and, after certain days, asked I leave of the king.’ On the whole it seems probable that 5:14 means that during the twelve years Nehemiah, though absent on court duty, was actually governor, ruling by deputies; and that in the 32nd year of the king’s reign he again secured leave of absence, and came to Jerusalem (B.C. 433). The evils he found on hia return miist have taken some considerable time to develop.

On his return to Jerusalem in 433 Nehemiah found various abuses and internal disorders rampant in the community. EUashib ‘the priest’ had provided Tobiah with quarters in one of the Temple-chambers (13:4 f.), the Levites had not received their dues, the Sabbath was openly desecrated in and around Jerusalem (13:15 f.), and, In spite of Ezra’s great puritanical movement, mixed marriages were still common, and the children of such marriages spoke ‘half’ in their mothers’ foreign speech (13:23 f.). Possibly information as to these developments had impelled Nehemiah to return. At any rate, on his arrival he asserted himself with characteristic vigour, and inaugurated drastic measures of reform. One characteristic sentence vividly illustrates this relentless zeal: ‘And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of EUashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me’ (13:28). ‘Thus cleansed I them’ — he proceeds — ‘from every thing strange, and appointed wards for the priests and for the Levites, every one to his work: and for the wood offering at times appointed, and for the first-fruits’ (13).

The Book of Nehemiah (see next article) is composite in character, and the narrative is in part fragmentary. Hence the actual course of events is by no means always clear and certain. Some scholars are of opinion that the Artaxerxes referred to is Artaxerxes ii. Mnemon (reigned B.C. 4()4-358) , and suppose that Nehemiah was governor for the 12 years 384-372, and again at a later period. Josephus places Nehemiah in the time of Xerxes.

The personality of Nehemiah, as revealed in his memoirs, is in many respects strangely attractive. He appears as a gifted and accomplished man of action, well versed in the ways of the world, and well equipped to meet difficult situations. The combination of strength and gracefulness, the generosity, fervent patriotism, and religious zeal of the man contributed to form a personahty of striking force and power. He is a unique figure in the OT, and rendered services of incalculable value to the cause of Judaism. Even his limitations reveal a certain strength ie.g. his naive prayer: ‘Remember unto me, O my God, for good all that I have done for this people’). Like all great men, he has become the subject of legend (cf. 2 Maccabees 1:18 f.). But he deserves in every respect the eulogium pronounced upon him by ben-Sira (Sirach 49:13) and by Josephus, who {Ant. XI. V. 8) says of him: ‘He was a man of good and righteous character, and very ambitious to make his own nation happy; and he hath left the walls of Jerusalem as an eternal monument of himself.’

G. H. Box.

Nehemiah, Book of

The two4ooks, separated in our Bible and appearing there as Ezra and Nehemiah, originally formed a single book (as appears from the Talmud, the LXX, and from internal evidence), which was the sequel to Chronicles. In fact Eitra verbally continues the narrative of 2 Chronicles 36 (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23 with Ezr !’■ ‘), and the whole work — 1 and 2 Chron., Ezra, and Nehemiah — ^forms a single continuous narrative from Adam to Nehemiah’s second visit to Jerusalem, and was probably compiled by the Chronicler. That part of this voluminous work which now bears the title Nehemiah is so called because it deals largely with the career of the Jewish patriot whose name it carries, and embodies excerpts of considerable extent from his personal memoirs.

1 . Extracts from the memoirs embodiedin Nehemiah . — (a) l’-7’. At the outset we meet with a long section where the first person sing, is used throughout, viz. l’-7’. These chapters are indubitably authentic extracts from Nehemiah’s personal memoirs. They are distinguished by individual characteristics which help us to form a distinct idea of the writer’s personahty. Enthusiasm for a great idea, and unstinting and unselfish devotion to its realization, are marked features. From 5:14 it is clear that the narrative can not have been put into its present form till some years after the events recounted. Doubts have been raised as to the authenticity of 6:15 (the walls finished in 52 days), but the objection is not a fatal one. It should be noted, however, that according to Josephus (Ant. xi. v. 8) the building of the walls lasted 2 years and 8 months. On what authority Josephus bases this assertion is not known. (3, a list of persons who helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, has also been the subject of doubt.)

(6) 7«-Js». This section contains a fist of the exiles who returned with Zerubbabel, which Nehemiah (7:5) says he ‘found’: it also appears in Ezra’s memoirs (Ezra 2), with slight differences. It forms a natural and easy continuation to 7:5, and probably from the very first stood as a constituent element in Nehemiah’s memoirs.

(c) Ch. 11. This chapter, which contains a list of persons who drew lots to reside at Jerusalem, and other details regarding the settlement of the capital, probably also stood in the original memoirs. The hst — which partly recurs in 1 Chronicles 9:3–17 — ^is to be regarded as the Immediate continuation of ch. 7 (with Ewald), and refers to measures taken by Zerubbabel. Doubtless it was followed in the memoirs by an account of what Nehemiah did to resume and complete these measures (cf. 7:4, 5), but this has, unfortunately, not been preserved to us.

((f) l2"-«. Account of the dedication of the walls. Notice the resumption of the 1st pers. sing, (vv. 31, 38 ">). This passage is an excerpt from the memoirs, but has been abridged and revised by the compiler.

(e) 13. Another extract from the memoirs, giving details of a time some 12 or more years later than that referred to in the earlier extracts. It deals with Nehemiah’s second visit.

2. Passages in Nehemiah not derived from the memoirs. — (a) 7 (39). This long section breaks the connexion which It is generally agreed exists between 7"» and ch. 11. In its present form it is doubtless due to the compiler; but it contains so many details of an apparently authentic character, its representation is often so vivid, that it is probable that the work of an eye-witness has been used and worked up by the compiler in producing the present narrative. Probably Q’-IO*" has been taken over directly from the memoirs of Ezra (the LXX ascribes the prayer beginning in 9:6 to Ezra: ‘And Ezra said’). The whole section, therefore, can be regarded as of first-rate authority.

(6) 12. A list of priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel. Notice how the priestly genealogy is carried tar down below Nehemiah’s time, as tar, in fact, as the reign of Darius the Persian (.v.^), i.e. Darius iii. Codomannus (reigned B.C. 335-331). The high priest Jaddua mentioned in v. 11 is known from Josephus to have been a contemporary of Alexander the Great.

3. Historical value of the Book. — On the whole, recent criticism has been favourable to the older view as to the essential trustworthiness of the narrative of events given in Ezra-Nehemiah. Reference has already been made in the previous article to the view that the Artaxerxes mentioned is the second of that name. If this is accepted, Ezra’s visit and work of reform fall in the year 398. Kosters goes much further than this.

‘According to him, a return of exiles in the second year of Cyrus did not take place at all; the building of the Temple and the walls was rather the work of the population that had remained behind in the land "(2 K 25:12). of whom Zembbabel and Nehemiah were govemora; Ezra’s visit and work of reform fall in the second governorship of Nehemiah, after the events narrated in Nehemiah 13:4–31. Ezra arrived for the first time after 433; first of all the community was reconstituted by the dissolution of the mixed marriages, and then solemnly bound to the observance of the Law which had been brought with him by Ezra : the first returnjourney under Zerubbabel, with all those who joined themselves with him, has been invented by the Chronicler, who reversed the order of events. Finally, according to Torrey, the "I " passages, with the exception of Nehemiah 1 . 2 (mainly) and 3 (mainly), have been fabricated by the Chronicler, who in them created his masterpiece; and Nehemiah also belongs to the reign of Artaxerxes n.’ (ComiU).

Kosters’ theory has been energetically opposed by Wellhausen, and since Ed. Meyer’s demonstration of, the essential authenticity of the documents embodied in Ezra 4-7, the extreme form of the critical theory may be regarded as having lost most of its plausibility.

G. H. Box.

NEHEMIAS,— 1. 1 Esdras 5:8 =Nehemiah, Ezra 2:2 Nehemiah 7:7. 2. 1 Esdras 5:40, Nehemiah the contemporary of Ezra.

Nehiloth

See Psalms, p. 772".

Nehudi

One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community (Nehemiah 7:7) ; prob. a scribal error for Rehum of Ezra 2:2; called in 1 Esdras 5:8 Roimus.

Nehushta

Wife of king Jehoiakim and mother of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:8). She was taken a prisoner to Babylon with her son in 597 (2 Kings 24:12).

Nehushtan

See Serpent (Bbazen). NEIEL.— See Neah.

Nekoda

1. Eponym of a family of Nethinim (Ezra 2:48 =Neh 7)) called in 1 Esdras 5:31 Noeba. 2. Name of a family which returned from the Exile, but were unable to prove their Israelitlsh descent (Ezra 2:60 7) called in 1 Esdras 5:37 Nekodan.

Nekodan

Nekodan (1 Esdras 5:37) =Nekoda, Ezra 2:60, Nehemiah 7:62.

Nemuel

1. See Jemuel. The patronymic Nemuelites occurs in Numbers 26:12. 2. A Reubenite (Numbers 26:9)

Nepheg

1. Son of Izhar and brother of Korah (Exodus 6:21). 2. One of David’s sons (2 Samuel 5:15 = l Ch 3:7 14).

Nephew

In AV ‘nephew’ means ‘grandson.’ It occurs in Judges 12:14. Job 18:19, Isaiah 4, 1 Timothy 5:4.

Nephilim

A Heb. word, of uncertain etymology> retained by RV in the only two places where it occurs in OT(AV ‘giants’). In Genesis 6:4 we read: • The Nephilira were in the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and they bare to them; these are the heroes which were of old, the men of renown.’ The verse has the appearance of an explanatory gloss to the obscure mythological fragment which precedes, and is very difficult to understand. But we can hardly be wrong in supposing that it bears witness to a current belief (to which there are many heathen parallels) in a race .of heroes or demi-gods, produced by the union of divine beings (‘sons of Go3 ‘) with mortal women. The other notice Is Numbers 13. where the name Is applied to men of gigantic stature seen by the spies among the natives of Canaan. That these giants were popularly identified with the demi-gods of Genesis 6:4, there is no reason to doubt. See also art. Giant. J. Skinner.

Nephishesim, Nephisim

See Naphish.

Nephthai

See Nephthar.

Nephthar

The name given by Nehemiah to a ‘thick substance’ which was found in a dry pit after the return from Babylon (2 Maccabees 1). The legend relates how certain priests, before the Captivity, took the sacred fire and hid it. On the Return, when a search was made, there was found in its place this highly inflammable substance, which seems not to have differed much from the naphtha of commerce. Some of it was poured over the sacrifice, and was ignited by the great heat of the sun and burned with a bright flame. The name nephthar or nephthal [v.^] has not been satisfactorily explained, although it is said by the writer to mean ‘cleansing.’

T. A. MoxoN.

Nephtoah

A town on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 15:9 18:15), usually identified with Lifta, about 2 miles N.W. of Jerusalem (so Tobler, Baedeker-Socin, Guthe, etc.). The Talmud identifies Nephtoah with Etam, the modern ‘Ain ‘Atam, at what are popularly called the Pools of Solomon, S. of Bethlehem (Neubauer, Giog. du Talm. p. 146). This latter is favoured by Conder, who would place Eleph at Lifta. The phrase’ the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah’ would lead us to expect abundant supplies of water. In this respect the claim of ‘Ain ‘Ata-m is certainly stronger than that of Lifta. W. Ewing.

Nephushes

Nephushes m, NEPHUSni.— See Naphisi.

Ner

The father of Abner (1 Samuel 14 26:5, 14 etc.).

Nereus

A Roman Christian, to whom, along with his sister, St. Paul sends greeting in Romans 16:15. The expression ‘and all the saints that are with them’ seems to point to some community of Christians accustomed to meet together. Mobley Stevenson.

Nergal

The god of the city of Cutha in Babylonia, hence worshipped by the captive Cuthffians who were transplanted to Samaria by Sargon (2 Kings 17:30). In the Bab.-Assyr. pantheon he was a god of war and pestilence, and of hunting, and the planet Mars was sacred to him.

The name Nergal is probably of Sumerian origin, namely, Ner~nal — ‘great warrior.’ The god is sometimes in the non-Semitic texts called Ner-unu-gal, ‘hero of the lower world,’ evidently indicating his connexion with death and destruction. W. M. Nesbit.

Nergal-sharezer

The Bab. Nergal-shar-uzur ‘Nergal preserve the king,’ the Rab-mag (wh. see), who, with Nebuzaradan and Nebushazban, released Jeremiah from prison (Jeremiah 39:3, 13). It is tempting to suppose that he was the Nergal-shar-uzur who married a daughter of Nebuchadrezzar, and later came to the throne of Babylon, and is known from classical writers as Neriglissar (b.c. 559-556). C. H. W. Johns.

Nebi

An ancestor of Jesus (Luke 3:27).

Neriah

The father of Baruch (Jeremiah 32:12, 16 36:4, 8, 32 433- 8 451 515’). In Baruch 1:1 the Greek form of the name, Nerias, is retained.

Nerias

See Neriah.

Nero

Nero is not mentioned by name in the NT, but his connexion with St. Paul’s trial (Ac 25-28, where ‘Caesar’ is Nero), the mention of his household (Philippians 4:22). and the general consensus of opinion that the number of the Beast 666 (Revelation 13:18) is a cypher indicating Nero Kesar (the Gr. way of pronouncing the Emperor’s name), are sufficient reasons for including him here. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 (died 40) a.d.) and lulia Agrippina, daughter of Germanicus (the adopted son of the Emperor Tiberius), who became wife of the Emperor Claudius in 48 a.d., was born on IS Dec. in the year 37 a.d. On adoption by his step-father on 25 Feb. 50 he received new names, by one of which, Nero, he has since been known. On the murder of Claudius his sole rule began in 54, and during it he was officially known as Imperator Nero Claudius Csesar Augustus Germanicus. His death took place on 9 June, 68, in his thirty-first year.

Nero inherited evil qualities from his father and mother, which for the first five years of his reign, when he was a mere youth, were kept in check by his two tutors, Burrus an experienced soldier, and Seneca the distinguished philosopher. His mother, a woman of very strong will, who had successfully schemed for his advancement, had no good influence on him, and, when of age to throw off all restraints, he plunged into follies and excesses which suggest that madness had unhinged his mind. His defects, however, seem to have done little more than scandalize and amuse Rome: the prosperity of the provinces, thanks to the excellence of the bureaucratic machine, continued. Space permits only a reference to some important events in his reign.

The question of the Eastern frontier, which was a problem ever present to the Emperors, demanded settlement from Nero. The safety of this frontier could be secured only if Armenia were under the suzerainty of Eome. It was therefore the object of their perpetual rivals, the Parthians, to obtain this suzerainty. The Romans dared not annex Armenia, because it would inevitably become necessary to annex also the whole of the country on the west of the Tigris. At the opening of Nero’s reign, Tiridates, a Parthian, had established himself securely on the throne of Armenia, and the possession of Armenia by the Romans was thus seriously threatened. The ultimate intention of Rome was to offer Armenia to Tiridates as a gift, but as a necessary preliminary to this they made the most vigorous preparations for war. Cn. Domitius Corbulo, one of the ablest generals of the 1st cent., was appointed by Nero to conduct the campaign, and the governor of Syria and the other ofScials and client-princes in the neighbourhood of Armenia were instructed to co-operate with him. The condition of the Eastern troops caused a delay of two and a half years. After a terrible winter passed in tents in the uplying plain of Armenia, Corbulo was ready to strike in spring 58, and as the result of this first campaign Tiridates asked for terms. He was offered his kingdom as a gift from Rome, but refused to accept it, and in the second campaign (59) the Roman general marched upon Tiridates’ capital Artaxata, which surrendered, and proceeded thence by a long and difficult march to Tigranocerta, the second capital, in the extreme south, which in its turn surrendered. In the year 60, which was occupied in pacification, Tigranes, who was educated in Rome, was placed on the throne by Nero. The folly of this king and the cowardice and incompetence of the Roman general Psetus threatened to undo all that Corbulo had achieved; but Corbulo, as supreme commander-in-chief for the whole Eastern frontier, retrieved the loss in the year 63 and following on this successful campaign Tiridates received the crown as the gift of Rome. The long peace with Armenia which followed is to the credit of Corbulo’s consummate generalship and Nero’s skilful diplomacy. The Roman hold on Britain, which his predecessor Claudius had obtained, was further strengthened under Nero. It was in his reign that the justly aroused rebellion under Boudicca (better known by the incorrect form Boadicea) in East Anglia was crushed, after terrible massacres by the Britons, by the governor Suetonius Paulinus (60). There was henceforth, for a considerable time, peace in Britain. The Germany and Danube frontiers also engaged attention in Nero’s time.

In the city Nero exercised a wise care’for the corn and water supplies. He also increased the power of the Senate, and may be said to have constituted an Imperial Cabinet. He was fond of the arts, especially music and poetry, but he never attained more than a respectable standard in either. On 19 July, 64, fire broke out in Rome, and raged for nine days in all, leaving great parts of the city in ashes. On the evidence Nero must be acquitted of all connexion with the fire, which was due to chance. The populace, however, suspected the Emperor, and were anxious to bring retribution on the originators of the fire. Nero selected the Christians as scapegoats, and he may have believed them guilty, as some of them were understood to have confessed their guilt. They were subjected to every imaginable variety of cruel death. These punishments did not remove suspicion from Nero, and, as the populace soon became sated, other charges had to be brought against them. Of these charges, hostility to civilized society was the chief. At a later stage in history we find evidence to justify the conclusion that the name ‘Christian’ was held to be a sufficient charge in itself. A conspiracy against the Emperor’s life, in which some of the chief men in the State were implicated, failed of its purpose through treachery in 65; the effect on the Emperor’s mind issued in a reign of terror, and a number of the noblest persons, particularly Stoics, were put to death. The later days of Nero saw the rise of the Jewish insurrection against the Roman power, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the massacre of countless Jews in a.d. 70. Two years before that, however, the revolt of Gaul under Vindex had been the prelude to Nero’s death. His hfe of ease and luxury had weakened a nature never inured to hardship, and when the hour of danger came he sought a refuge in suicide. Not long after his death there arose a curious rumour in the East, that he had come to life again, or had not really died. The East had seen nothing but his best side, and this rumour, born of a desire to see him emperor again, seriously endangered the peace of the Empire, as more than one person came forward claiming to be Nero.

Of the trial or trials of St. Paul we know nothing certain. It is highly probable that his appeal was heard either before a committee of the Emperor’s privy council, or before the Emperor’s deputy, the prefect of the city. A. Souter.

Nest

(gere). Used UteraUy of birds’ nests (Deuteronomy 22:6 32", Job 39:27, Psalms 84:3 104:17, Proverbs 27:8. Isaiah 16:2) meta^ phorically for a lofty fortress (Numbers 24:21. Jeremiah 49:16. Ob ‘, Habakkuk 2:9) Job refers to his lost home as a nest (29) in Genesis 6:14 the ‘rooms’ of the ark are (see mg.) literally ‘nests’ (.qinnlm). In Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58 our Lord contrasts His wandering, homeless life vrith that of the birds which have their ‘nests’ (kataskinSseis, RVm ‘lodging-places ‘). E. W. G. Masterman.

Netaim

A place situated probably in the Shephelah of Judah. See Gederah.

Nethanel

1. The ‘prince’ of Issachar (Nu 18 2S 718- 28 1016). 2. One of David’s brothers (1 Chronicles 2:14). 3. A priest in the time of David (1 Chronicles 15:24). 4. A Levite (1 Chronicles 24:6). 6. One of Obed-edom’s sons (1 Chronicles 26:4). 6. A ‘prince’ sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7). 7. A chief of the Levites under Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:9 [1 Esdras 1:9 Nathanael]). 8. A priest who had married aforeign wife (Ezra 10:22) Esdras 9:22 Nathanael]). 9. A priest in time of Joiakim(Neh 12:21). 10. A Levite musician (Nehemiah 12).

Nethaniah

1. The father of Ishmael the murderer of Gedaliah (2 Kings 25:23, 25, Jeremiah 40:8, 14, 1 41:1 f. 6f. 9. loii. isf. 18). 2. An Asaphite (1 Chronicles 25:2, 12). 3. A Levite (2 Chronicles 17:8). 4. The father of Jehudi (Jeremiah 36:14).