P
Pit – Pochereth-hazzebaim
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Pit
Of the dozen Heb. words, besides two Gr. words in NT, rendered ‘pit’ in EV, the following are the most important.
1. The term bar is responsible for nearly half of all the OT occurrences. It is the usual word for the cistern with which almost every house in the towns was supplied (see Cistern). Disused cisterns in town and country are the ‘pits’ mentioned in ff. (that into which Joseph was cast [cf. art. Prison]), (RVra ‘cisterns’ etc.). In some passages, indeed, the context shows that ‘cistern,’ not ‘pit,’ is the proper rendering, as in . f. with reference to an uncovered and unprotected cistern; cf. , RV ‘well’ for AV ‘pit.’ The systematic exploration of Palestine has brought to light many aeries of underground caves which were used at various periods as dwelling-places (cf. ) hence by a natural figure, ‘pit’ became a synonym of Sheol, the under world (, , . and oft.; cf. ff. and Sheol).
2. A second word rendered ‘pit’ (shachaiK) seems to have denoted originally a pit in which, after concealing the mouth by a covering of twigs and earth, hunters trapped their game (, ). Like the preceding, it is frequently used in a figurative sense of the under world; so five times in (RV).
3. A hunter’s pit, denoted by pachath, also supplied the figure of f. and its parallels f. and RV — note the association with ‘snare.’ Such a pit served as a place of concealment () and of burial ().
4. In RV rightly recognizes ‘a pit for the winepress,’ where the reference is to what the Mishna calls ‘a cement- vat,’ i.e. a pit dug in the soil for a wine-vat (cf. . where the same expression ‘digged’ is used), as contrasted with the usual rock-hewn vats (see Wine and Strong Drink, § 2).
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Pitch
See Bitumen.
Pitcher
The earthenware jar (cf. ‘earthen pitchers ‘) in which in all ages the women and maidens of Palestine have drawn and carried the water from the village well ( ff.). In wealthy households this task was performed by a slave or other menial (. ). For illustrations of water-jars found in ancient cisterns, see Macalister, Bible Sidelights, etc., fig. 22, and the works cited under House, § 9.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Pithom
One of the ‘treasure cities’ built by the Israelites in Egypt ( etc.). It is the Egyptian Petdm (‘House of Et5m’), the site of which is now marked by Tell el-Maskhuta in the Wady Tumilat. The researches of Naville and Petrie indicate that the city dates as far back as the 12th Dyn., and was occupied down to very late times. It was capital of the 8th nome of Lower Egypt, and in it was worshipped a form of the sun-god under the name of Etsm.
F. Lii. Griffith.
Pithon
A grandson of Merib-baal ( ).
Pity
This word is entirely synonymous with compassion both in OT and NT, except, perhaps, in . where ‘sympathetic’ would better express the meaning of the original word (see RVm). Pity was regarded by OT writers as holding an essential place in the relations of God and His people (see se’* . ; cf. ). One of the ways in which this Divine feeling became active on their behalf reveals an incipient belief in the dealings of Jehovah with nations other than Israel; for He is often represented as infusing compassion for His chosen into the hearts of their enemies (cf . , . . . . ). An objective manifestation of the feeling of pity in the heart of God was recognized in the preservation of His people from destruction ( f.). and in the numerous instances which were regarded as the interventions of mercy on their behalf (cf. , , , , 2 Ch 36). The direct result of this belief was that Israelites were expected to display a similar disposition towards their brethren (cf. , , Jer , ). They were not required, however, to look beyond the limits of their ovm race (. Zee ) except in the case of individual aliens who might at any time be living within their borders (see , etc.).
In the parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus inculcates the exercise of pity in men’s dealings with each other, and teaches the sacredness of its character by emphasizing its identity with God’s compassion for sinners (; cf. , ). The teaching of Jesus, moreover, broadened its conception in the human mind by insisting that henceforth it could never be confined to the members of the Jewish nation (cf. the parable of the Good Samaritan, ). At the same time His own attitude to the thronging multitudes surrounding Him was characterized by profound pity for their weaknesses ( =Mk ) cf. ). Under His guidance, too. Divine pity for the world was transmuted into that Eternal Love which resulted in the Incarnation (). Side by side with this development, and in exact correspondence with it, Jesus evolves out of human pity for frailty the more fundamental, because it is the more living, quality of love, which He insists will be active even in the face of enmity ( f.: ff.). J. R. Willis.
Place of Toll
In AV ‘receipt of custom.’ See Customs and Tribute, 2.
Plague
See Medicine, p. 598’‘.
Plagues of Egypt
There are not many references in the Bible to the plagues outside the Book of Exodus. They are epitomized in and lOS^‘-". In God’s treatment of Pharaoh is dwelt upon, to show His absolute right to do what He will with the creatures of His own handiwork. And in . 9. 16 much of the imagery in the visions of the trumpets and the bowls is based upon the plagues — hail and fire ( f.), water becoming blood, and the death of the creatures that were in it ( f. f.), darkness ( ). locusts (), boils (). frogs ().
The narratives of the plagues demand study from three points of view: (1) their literary history; (2) the relation of the several plagues to natural phenomena; (3) their religious significance.
1. The sources. — For a full discussion of the reasons for the literary analysis reference must be made to
the main agreed, is as follows:
16. 17a IS 21a U.2S gl-4 8.16a
16 17b 201) 23
P
19. 20a 21b. 22 6-7
R
J
18 17. IS 28b 24b
E
22. 23a 21a 26a
P S’s"
19 8-12
R
14-10 19-21
J 9’^"-
160-19
E
86 12. 13a 14a 16b 20. 21-23
P
R
lb. 2
J
26 28. 29 4-8 23 29. 80
E
P
R
If the sources have here been rightly separated, becomes probable that the original account of JE contained eight and not ten plagues. The 3rd and 4th are insect pests, the former kinnlm, kinnam, i.e. gnats or mosquitoes (P), the latter ‘SrSb/i, i.e. swarms of flies (J). These may with probability be considered duplicates. And similarly the 5th and 6th, murrain (J) and boils (P). It this is so, all the eight were originally contained In J’s narrative; E has elements in the 1st, 7th, 8th, and 9th, and m the 9th E’s narrative has largely displaced that of J.
2. Relation to natural phenomena. — The hostility which used to exist between religion and natural science is rapidly passing away, as it is becoming more clearly recognized that science is concerned solely with the observation of physical sequences, while religion embraces science as the greater includes the less. Nothing can lie outside the activity-of-a God^ who is both a transcendent Person anil an immanent sustaining Power in the univers&.’^nd therefore to point out a connexion between some of the ‘miracles’ of Scripture and ‘natm’al phenomena’ does not eliminate from them the Divine element; it rather transfigures an unreasoning ‘faith in the impossible’ into a faith which recognizes the ‘finger of God’ in everything. Thus the following discussion of the plagues may claim to be entirely constructive; it seelss to destroy nothing, but aims at showing it to be probable that the providence of God worked in Egypt by means of a series of natural phenomena, upon which the religious instinct of the Hebrew writers unerringly seized as signs of God’s favour to their forefathers, and of punishment to their oppressors. This religious conviction led m process of time to accretions and amplifications; as the stories were handed down, they acquired more and more of what is popularly called the miraculous. The earliest stage at which they emerge into writing is in J; in the remains of E the wonders have increased, while in P they are greatly multiplied.
1st Plague. — According to J, this consisted in the smiting of the river by J", and the consequent death of the fish, causing the necessity of obtaining water by digging in the neighbourhood of the river. Nothing is here said of blood, but that is introduced in the next stage of development. In E the marvel is performed not directly by J" in the ordinary course of nature, but through Moses’ wonder-working staff, and the river is turned to blood. Two suggestions have been made as to the natural phenomena which might give rise to the story. When the Nile rises in June, its waters become discoloured from fragments of vegetable matter, which gradually turn to a dull red colour as the river rises to its height in August. This is confirmed by
733 emitted at the later stage. Others refer the reddening of the water to enormous quantities of minute organisms. Whatever may have been the actual cause, J comes the nearest to the natural fact; a fetid exhalation killed the fish, or in Hebrew language J" smote the river. And the ease with which the belief could arise that the water was turned to blood is illustrated in . In P’s final amplification, every drop of water in Egypt was turned to blood.
2nd Plague. — From whatever cause the river became fetid, a mass of organic matter and of animal life would be collected. And these conditions would be suitable to the rapid multiplication of frogs. In J, J" foretells that He will Himselt smite Egypt with frogs; in the ordinary course of nature ‘the river shall swarm with frogs.’ In P, Aaron (as usual) is bidden by Moses to bring the plague by stretching out his staff. Plagues of frogs were not unknown in ancient times; and Haggard tells of a plague in the upper Nile valley in modern times ( Under Crescent and Star, p. 279). Frogs are most plentiful in Egypt in September. y^ 3rd and ith Plagues. — The mass of dead frogs collected it , ‘in heaps () would lead to the breeding of innumerable insects. In J, J" Himself sends ‘swarms of flies’; in P, through the stretching out of Aaron’s staff, ‘all the dust of Egypt became mosquitoes’ (EV lice [wh. see]). The ‘mosquitoes’ cannot have been, according to any natural sequence, distinct from the ‘swarms’; P particularizes the general statement of J. Stinging gnats of various kinds are common in Egypt about October. The insects come to maturity after the waters of the Nile inundation have receded, and the pools in which the larvae have lived have dried up. Note that in the ‘swarm’ and the ‘mosquitoes’ are coupled in one sentence; and omits the ‘mosquitoes’ altogether.
5th and 6th Plagues. — The decomposing bodies of the frogs would produce pestilential effects; and bacteriological research shows that some insects, especially mosquitoes, are a serious factor in the spread of disease. Thus the murrain (J) is amply accounted for. In the preceding narrative J relates that Goshen enjoyed complete immunity from the insects. It is not impossible that the direction of the wind or other natural causes, under God’s guidance, prevented them from reaching the Israelite territory. And if the insects, which spread disease, did not enter Goshen, the statement that the murrain did not touch the cattle of the Israelites is also explained. P, on the other hand, departs from natural causes. Moses and Aaron fiung soot into the air, which became boils on man and beast. Cattle plagues, causing enormous mortality, are reported in Egypt. One such in a.d. 1842 killed 40,000 oxen.
7th Plague. — Thus far the series of plagues have followed one another in a natural sequence. But at this point a new series begins with a destructive thunderstorm, accompanied by hail. Such storms are rare in Egypt, but are not without example. Those which have been reported in modern times have occurred about January; and that is the point of time defined in ; ‘the barley was in the ear, and the fiax was in bud, but the wheat and the vetch . . . were not grown up.’ Thus the cattle plague had lasted about two months and a half (Nov. to the middle of Jan.) when the storm came; and the first five plagues (reckoning 3, 4 and 6, 6 as duplicates) occupied a period of about five months.
8th Plague. — The atmospheric conditions which resulted in the storm also led to other plagues. A strong east wind (the sirocco) was sent by J", and brought a dense mass of locusts (J). In E, Moses brought them by lifting his staff. The lightness and fragility of the locusts render them helpless before a wind (cf. ). And when the wind shifted to the west, they were completely swept away into the Red Sea (J); cf. .
9th Plague. — Only a fragment of J’s narrative has been preserved, which relates the effect of the ‘darkness’ upon Pharaoh. E, as before, says that it was due to the lifting of the staff by Moses. But it is not impossible that it was a further consequence of the west wind. Dr. A. Macalister (art. ‘Plagues of Egypt’ in Hastings’ DB iii.) writes: ‘The condition of darkness referred to is strikingly like that brought about by the severer form of the electrical wind liamsin. This is a S. or S.W. wind that is so named because it is liable to blow during the 25 days before and the 25 days after the vernal equinox (ftamsin =50). It is often not so much a storm or violent wind as an oppressive hot blast charged with so much sand and fine dust that the air is darkened. It causes a blackness equal to the worst of London fogs, while the air is so hot and full of dust that respiration is impeded. . . . Denon says that it sometimes travels as a narrow stream, so that one part of the land is light while the rest is dark.’ And he adds that three days is not an uncommon duration for the hamsin.
10th Plague. — Malignant epidemics have at all times been the scourge of Bible lands; and it is worthy of note that many authorities state that pestilence is often worst at the time of the hamsin wind. In the Hebrew narratives, however, all thought of a ‘natural’ occurrence has passed away. Only the firstborn are smitten, as a just retribution for Pharaoh’s attempt to destroy the firstborn of the Israelites.
3. Religious value. — This is manifold. Considered from the point of view of natural phenomena, the narratives teach the all-important truth that God’s providential care of men is not confined to ‘miracles’ in the commonly accepted sense of the term, else were God’s providential actions unknown to-day. The lifting of Moses’ staff to bring the plagues, and his successive entreaties for their removal, teach that prayer is not out of place or unavailing in cases where natural laws can be co-ordinated and guided by God to bring about the wished-for result. And from whatever point of view the plagues are regarded, the same great facts shine through the narratives — that J" is supreme in power over the world which He made; that He has an absolute right, if He so wills, to punish Pharaoh in order to show forth in him His power; that He does so, however, only because Pharaoh is impenitent, and consequently ‘fitted for destruction,’ for 3" is a God who hates sin; that if a man hardens his heart, the result will be as inevitable as results in the natural world — so inevitable that it may truly be said that J" hardens his heart; that the sin of Pharaoh, and so of any other man, may entail sufferings upon many innocent men and animals; and finally, that J" is mindful of His own, and delivers them from the ‘noisome pestilence,’ ‘the pestilence that walketh in darkness,’ and ‘the destruction that wasteth at noonday,’ so that ‘no plague can come nigh their dwelling’ ().
A. H. M’Neile.
Plain
This word is given by the AV as the equivalent of 8 different terms, 7 Heb. and 1 Greek; but is retained by the RV in the case of 4 only, all Hebrew.
(1) biq’ah is translated in the RV by ‘plain’ in , , , , S’, ; but elsewhere by ‘valley.’ It generally designates a broad vale between hills; among the localities to which it was applied the most notable are the pass between Lebanon and Hermon (‘the valley of Lebanon,’ ), and the plain of Esdraelon (‘the valley of Megiddo,’ . Zee ).
(2) mishor is usually translated by ‘plain’ or ‘plain country,’ sometimes accompanied by the mg. ‘table land’ (. , etc.); but m the poetical and prophetical books by ‘even place’ () or ‘straight’ (). . Its primary sense is level land ; and the word, with the article, was specifically used of the high plateau on the E. of the Dead Sea.
(3) ‘drabah is ordinarily rendered in the AV by’ plain’ (‘plains’) and ‘desert’ (or ‘wilderness’), but in it is transliterated ‘Arabah.’ The RV also sometimes translates by ‘plain(s)’ and ‘desert’ (. etc.), but retains the Heb. expression wherever it denotes the deep valley running N. and S. of the Dead Sea. The distinctive sense of the word is that of a bare, sterile plain, or (if between hills) an unfertile floor.
(4) kikkar, unlike the preceding, characterizes not the surface of the locality to which it is applied, but its shape. It is used specifically of the lower part of the bed of the Jordan, where it flows into the Dead Sea, and possibly also of the depression S. of the same sea; and should be rendered by ‘circle’ rather than by ‘plain’ (as in RVm in ). Cf. next article. In it seems to refer to a district around Jerusalem, and is translated in RVm by ‘circuit.’
(5) Of the other Heb. words sometimes rendered in the AV by ‘plain,’ one (shephelah) is uniformly translated in the RV by ‘lowland,’ and designates a group of ‘low hills’ on the E. of the Maritime Plain, which are separated from the hills of Judaea and Ephraim by a series of valleys (. etc.). Of the remaining two, one (‘3650 is transliterated in the RV (), and the other CeWn) is rendered by ‘oak’ (mg. ‘terebinth’) ( etc.).
(6) The only passage where the word ‘plain’ is employed in the NT occurs in St. Luke’s account () of one of our Lord’s discourses, which, ace. to St. Matthew, was delivered on a moimtain () the RV substitutes ‘a level place.’ G. W. Wade.
Plain, Cities of the
These were five in number, namely, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (or Zoar), situated in the plain (‘circle’) of Jordan. ■Their inhabitants being guilty of great wickedness, the first four of the above-named five were overthrown by fire. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, who had made his home in Sodom, was warned by the Lord to withdraw from the city before it was destroyed; and he accordingly escaped to Zoar, which, at his entreaty, was spared the fate of its neighbours (. 19).
The situation of the five cities has been variously placed at the N. and the S. end of the Dead Sea. The Biblical statements are generally in favour of the former site, which is supported by the facts: (1) that the circle of the Jordan, which is also called the circle of the valley of Jericho (), is appropriate only to the broad basin of the Jordan, near its mouth; (2) that it was visible from near Bethel () (3) that the cities were N. of Hazazon-tamar (usually identified with En-gedi), since this place was passed by Amraphel when he marched from Kadesh against the king of Sodom and his allies (, ). On the other hand, (1) it is implied in that Sodom was on the right (i.e. south) of Jerusalem, whereas if it were at the N. end of the Dead Sea it would be almost due E.; (2) Zoar, which must have been near the other cities (), is placed by Josephus in Arabia (.BJ iv. viii. 4), and by Eusebius at the opposite end of the Dead Sea to Jericho; (3) the name Sodom is generally identified with Jebel Usdum, a cliff of rock-salt near the S.W. corner of the Dead Sea; (4) Hazazon-tamar may be, not En-gedi, but the Taraar of , which has been identified with a locality 20 m. W.S.W. of the lake, and therefore on the road between Kadesh and Sodom if the latter were at its S. end. If this view is right, the site of the cities is probably the marshy flat es-Sebkha, E. of Jebel Usdum. But the statement that the plain (or circle) of Jordan was near Jericho seems incompatible with a situation S. of the Dead Sea; and if the name Sodom survives in Jebel Usdum, that of Gomorrah seems to linger in that of Tubk Amriyeh, a place at the N.W. corner of the lake; so that, though the evidence is conflicting, the preponderant weight appears to support a N. site. (For
The nature of the catastrophe which destroyed the cities can only be conjectured. It may perhaps be suggested that the bitumen which abounds in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea was ignited by lightning, and that this caused an extensive conflagration in which the cities perished. G. W. Wade.
Plaister, Plaster
1. See Arts and Cbafts, § 4. House, §4.
2. The ‘plaister’ (; Amer. RV etc., ‘plaster’) which Isaiah prescribed for Hezel^iah’s boil was a figpoultice, according to the text of , but the parallel passage above cited reads literally, ‘let them talie a cal^e of figs and rub it upon the boil.’
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Plane
only; see Arts and Cratts, § 1. For ‘plane tree’ see Chestnut Tree, Pine Thee. , PLEAD. — In AV ‘plead’ always means to ‘argue tor or against a cause’ as in a court of justice, never to ‘pray’ or ‘beseech.’ The substantive ‘pleading’ Is used in the same sense in ‘Hearken to the pleadings of my lips.’
Pledge
The taking of a pledgefor there-payment of a loan was sanctioned by the Law, but a humanitarian provision was introduced to the effect that, when this pledge consisted of the large square outer garment or cloak called sinUah, it must be returned before nightfall, since this garment often formed the only covering of the poor at night (; f.; cf. . Job 22 24, , , f. ). it was forbidden also to take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge (). In the reference is to a pledge to be forfeited if a wager is lost (cf. RVm). In ‘take their pledge’ probably means ‘bring back a token of their welfare’ (Driver).
Pleiades
See Stars.
Pleroma
The transliteration of a Gr. word which is generally rendered ‘fulness’ in the NT. plSrBma is derived from the verb pl^oun, which means either (o) ‘to fill,’ or (6) ‘to fill up,’ hence ‘to fulfil.’ The corresponding meanings of the noun are (a) ‘fulness,’ (6) ‘fulfilment.’
1. pleroma=‘th&t which fills.’ — The word has this meaning in the LXX version of (cf . LXX . ) quoted in ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; also in (cf. S^"), where the fragments of the loaves are described as amounting to’ the fillings of twelve baskets.’
2. pleroma=‘tha,t which fills up.’ — The word has this meaning in (cf. ) which refers to the effect of sewing a piece of undressed cloth on a worn garment: ‘That which should fill it up (to plSrSma) taketh from it, the new from the old, and a worse rent is made.’ Lightfoot says the patch ‘must be called’ the pUrdma ‘not because it fills the hole, but because it is itself fulness or full measure as regards the defect.’ His paraphrase is ‘the completeness takes away from the garment, the new completeness of the old garment’ (Com. on Col., Note on ‘The meaning of plSrBma’). The obscurity of this statement is removed by the active interpretation: the supplementary ‘unfulled’ patch takes away from the original garment. The new piece used to fill up the rent ‘tears itself away by contraction when wetted, taking a part of the old garment along with it’ (Bruce, EGT i. 153).
To this section belong: (a) , which contrasts partial fulfilment of the Law, secured by obedience to this or that commandment, with love’s complete filling up of the measure of neighbourly duty. (6) . which contrasts the enriching of the Gentiles through Israel’s loss with what Dr. Armitage Robinson (Com. on Eph.) happily describes as ‘wealth in store tor them in the great Return, when all Israel shall be saved — in which the coming in of’ the fulness of the Gentiles’ refers to the completing of their whole number. The same idea is expressed in the phrase ‘the fulness of the seasons’ ( RVm; cf. ‘the fulness of the time,’ ).
3. p;eroma=‘that which is filled,’ or ‘that which is filled up.’ — In its passive use pllrOma means ‘plenitude,’ whether fulness is contrasted with incompleteness or with emptiness. As the plenipotentiary of Christ, St. Paul () is confident that he will come to Rome ‘In the fulness of the blessing of Christ.’
Six important passages remain; they may be classified according as ‘the plenitude Divine’ is said to be (o) in Christ, (6) imparted by Christ to His Church, (c) imparted to believers.
(a) In St. Paul declares that in Christ ‘dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.’ The assertion ‘negatives the Alexandrian " philosophy" with its cloud of mediating angel-powers and spiritual emanations’(Findlay, Pulpit Com., in loc). The defining phrase’ of the Godhead ‘is not found in . which bases the pre-eminence of Christ on the indwelling in Him of’ all the fulness.’ Instead of making this expression identical in meaning with the more definite statement in . it is better with Meyer (Com., in loc.) to expound pleroma as referring to ‘the whole treasure of Divine grace’ with which the Son of God was endowed. A suggestive parallel to these Pauline sayings is furnished by . ‘of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace.’ The fulness is ours, if we are Christ’s. ‘In him,’ says St. Paul (). ‘ye are made full.’
(6) In it is probable that St. Paul describes the Church as ‘the fulness of him that fiUeth all in all.’ The main thought is what Christ is to the Church; He is its Head and in Him it is complete. Dr. Armitage Robinson (op. dt.) regards the Church as ‘the fulfilment of the Christ who, all in all, is being fulfilled.’ According to this interpretation the main thought is what the Church is to Christ. Moreover, the adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ seems inadequate to express the meaning of the emphatic assertion: He filleth ‘the all with all things.’ The objection to the active rendering of the verb (pUroumenou), which is middle or passive, does not apply to Dr. Salmond’s exposition of the reflexive middle: it conveys ‘the idea of filling the totality of things for Himself (EGT iii. 281).
(c) To individual believers as well as to His Church Christ imparts the plenitude of His grace. gives the measure of the stature of the ‘full grown’ Christian; it is nothing less than the fulness which belongs to Christ, by which is meant ‘the full possession on our side of that which Christ has to impart — the embodiment in us, the members, of the graces and qualities which are in Him the Head’ (Salmond, EGT iii. 333). An earlier passage in this Epistle ( ff.) teaches that this exalted ideal may be attaiined. When, as the result of the Holy Spirit’s inward strengthening, Christ dwells within the heart, and His knowledge-surpassing love is known, the only limit to spiritual excellence is ‘to be filled unto all the fulness of God.’ J . G. Tasker.
Plough
See AGRicaLTUEE, § 1.
Plumbld
Plumbld fE, PLUMMET.— Thelatterisadiminutive of ‘plumb,’ from Lat. plumbum, ‘lead,’ and denotes the combined cord and weight, by suspending which against a wall it can be seen whether or not the latter is perpendicular. On the strength of Zee 4i» (lit. ‘the stone, the tin,’ not ‘lead’; cf. AVm) it has been inferred that the Hebrew masons used a plumb-bob of lead, but the text of this passage is undoubtedly corrupt (Wellh., Marti, Nowack). The Hebrew plummet (. ) more probably consisted of a stone ( AV, but RV ‘plummet’) suspended by a cord, the ‘plumbline’ of f.: Cf. Arts and Crafts, § 3.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Pochereth-hazzebaim
Amongthe’ children of Solomon’s servants’ who returned with Zerubbabel. = ; called in 1 Esdras 5:34 Phacareth.
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.