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Baptism – Beast
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Baptism
This term, which designates a NT rite, is confined to the vocabulary of the NT. It does not occur in the LXX, neither is the verb with which it is connected ever used of an initiatory ceremony. This verb is a derivative from one which means ‘to dip’ (. ). but itself has a wider meaning, = ‘to wash’ whether the whole or part of the body.whether by immersion or by the pouring of water (. ). The substantive is used (a) of Jewish ceremonial washings (. ) (b) in a metaphorical sense (. ; cf. ‘plunged in calamity’); and (c) most commonly in the technical sense of a religious ceremony of initiation.
1. The earliest use of the word ‘baptism’ to describe a religious and not merely ceremonial observance is in connexion with the preaching of John the Baptist, and the title which is given to him is probably an indication of the novelty of his procedure (, Mk . ; cf. , ). He ‘preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (), i.e. the result of his preaching was to induce men to seek baptism as an outward sign and pledge of inward repentance on their part, and of their forgiveness on the part of God. ‘Baptism is related to repentance as the outward act in which the inward change finds expression. It has been disputed whether the practice of baptizing proselytes on their reception into the Jewish community was already established in the 1st cent. ; probably it was. But in any case the significance of their baptism was that of ceremonial cleansing; John employed it as a symbol and a seal of moral purification. But, according to the Gospel record, John recognized the incomplete and provisional character of the baptism administered by him:’ I indeed have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost’ ().
2. Jesus Himself accepted baptism at the hands of John (), overcoming the reluctance of the Baptist with a word of authority. That Jesus Himself baptized is nowhere suggested in the Synoptic Gospels, and is expressly denied in the Fourth Gospel () but His disciples baptized, and it must have been with His authority, equivalent to baptism by Himself, and involving admission to the society of His disciples. On the other hand. His instructions to the Twelve and to the Seventy contain no command to baptize. Christian baptism was to be baptism ‘with the Spirit,’ and ‘the Spirit was not yet given’ (Jn It is recorded in Acts (!’) that the Risen Lord foretold that this promised baptism would be received after His departure, ‘not many days hence.’
3. Christian baptism, although it finds a formal analogy in the baptism of John, which in its turn represents a spiritualizing of ancient Jewish ideas of lustration, appears as in its essential character a new thing after the descent of the Holy Spirit. It is a phenomenon ‘entirely unique, and in its inmost nature without any analogy, because it rises as an original fact from the soil of the Christian religion of revelation’ (von DobschUtz). It has been customary to trace the institution of the practice to the words of Christ recorded in . But the authenticity of this passage has been challenged on historical as well as on textual grounds. It must be acknowledged that the formula of the threefold name, which is here enjoined, does not appear to have been employed by the primitive Church, which, so tar as our information goes, baptized ‘in’ or ‘into the name of Jesus’ (or ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘the Lord Jesus’: ; cf. , ). without reference to the Father or the Spirit. The difficulty hence arising may be met by assuming (a) that Baptism in the name of Jesus was equivalent to Baptism in the name of the Trinity, or (6) that the shorter phrase does not represent the formula used by the baptizer (which may have been the fuller one), but the profession made by the baptized, and the essential fact that he became a Christian — one of Christ’s acknowledged followers. But it is better to infer the authority of Christ for the practice from the prompt and universal adoption of it by the Apostles and the infant Church, to which the opening chapters of Acts bear witness; and from the significance attached to the rite in the Epistles, and especially in those of St. Paul.
4. That baptism was the normal, and probably the indispensable, condition of being recognized as a member of the Christian community appears from allusions in the Epistles (. ). and abundantly from the evidence in Acts. The first preaching of the Spirit-filled Apostles on the day of Pentecost led to many being ‘pricked in their heart’ ; and in answer to their inquiry addressed to ‘Peter and the rest of the apostles,’ Peter said unto them: ‘Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (, ). ‘They then that received his word were baptized’ to the number of ‘about three thousand souls.’ At Samaria, ‘when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women’ (). — the earliest express statement that women were admitted to the rite. In this case the gift of the Spirit did not follow until Peter and John had come down from Jerusalem, and ‘prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.’ ‘Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost’ (). Saul was baptized by Ananias () in accordance with instructions recorded by himself (). and that he might ‘be filled with the Holy Ghost.’ In these cases the gift followed upon baptism, with or without the laying-on of hands. In the case of Cornelius and his friends, the gift followed immediately upon the preaching of the word by Peter, and presumably its reception in the heart of those who heard ; and it was after that that the Apostle ‘commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord’ (). It was on the ground of this previous communication of the Holy Spirit that Peter subsequently justified his action in admitting these persons to baptism (l li’-‘s).
5. The preaching of St. Paul, no less than that of St. Peter, led to the profession of faith through baptism, though the Apostle seems as a rule to have left the actual administration to others () ‘for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.’ At Philippi Lydia was baptized ‘and her household’; there also the jailor, ‘and all that were his’ (, ) ; at Corinth, Crispus and Gaius, and ‘the household of Stephanas’ (1 Co ").
6. The conditions antecedent to baptism are plainly set forth in Acts, viz. repentance and profession of faith in Jesus as Messiah or as ‘the Lord,’ following on the preaching of the word. The method of administration was baptizing with water in or into the name of Jesus. Immersion may have been employed when the presence of sufficient water made it convenient; but there is nothing to show that affusion or sprinkliiig was not regarded as equally valid. That baptism was ‘in the name of Jesus’ signifies that it took place for the purpose of sealing the new relationship of belonging to. being committed to, His Personality. The blessing attached to the rite is commonly exhibited as the gift of the Holy Spirit; the due fulfilment of the condition of baptism involved ipso facto the due fulfilment of the condition of receiving the Spirit. In the Epistles, this, the normal consequence of Christian baptism, is analyzed into its various elements. These are in the main three: (a) the ‘remission of sins’ (. i Co ; cf. . i p ). (6j In baptism the believer was to realize most vividly the total breach with his old life involved in his new attitude to God through Christ, a breach comparable only with that effected by death (. ) he was to realize also that the consequences of this fellowship with Christ were not only death to sin, but a new life in righteousness as real as that which followed on resurrection (). (c) Baptism conferred incorporation in the one body of Christ (). and was thus adapted to serve as a symbol of the true unity of Christians (). The body with which the believer is thus incorporated is conceived of sometimes as the corporate community of Christians, sometimes as the Personality of Christ; ‘for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ’ ().
Conversely, as with the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, all the elements both of qualification and of experience are sometimes summed up in a pregnant phrase and without regard to the order in which they emerge. may find its best interpretation through comparison with (cf. ). i.e. as referring to the continuous cleansing of the Church by the word; but if the reference is to baptism, then the phrase ‘by the word probably alludes to the profession of faith by the baptized, whether it took the form of’ Jesus is Lord’ (; cf. ). or whether it expressed the content of the faith more fully. In . while baptism is the instrument by which salvation is realized, ‘regeneration’ and ‘renewal’ are both displayed as the work of the Holy Spirit. And here the Apostolic interpretation of the rite touches the anticipation of it in our Lord’s words recorded in . Faith wrought by the Spirit and faith professed by the believer are alike necessary to entrance into the Kingdom of salvation (cf. , ).
In Paul refers to the practice of persons allowing themselves to be baptized on behalf of the dead. Such a practice appears to have had analogies in the Greek mysteries, from which it may have crept into the Christian Church. As such it may be regarded as ‘a purely magical, and wholly superstitious, vicarious reception of the sacrament.’ Of such a practice the Apostle expresses no approval, but ‘simply meets his opponents with their own weapons without putting their validity to the proof (Rentdorff).
7. The NT contains no explicit reference to the baptism of infants or young children; but it does not follow that the Church of the 2nd cent, adopted an unauthorized innovation when it carried out the practice of infant baptism. There are good reasons for the silence of Scripture on the subject. The governing principle of St. Luke as the historian of the primitive Church is to narrate the advance of the Kingdom through the missionary preaching of the Apostles, and the conversion of adult men and women. The letters of the Apostles were similarly governed by the immediate occasion and purpose of their writing. We have neither a complete history, nor a complete account of the organization, of the primitive Church. But of one thing we may be sure: had the acceptance of Christianity involved anything so startling to the Jewish or the Gentile mind as a distinction between the religious standing of the father of a family and his children, the historian would have recorded it, or the Apostles would have found themselves called to explain and defend it. For such a distinction would have been in direct contradiction to the most deeply rooted convictions of Jew and of Gentile alike. From the time of Abraham onwards the Jew had felt it a solemn religious obligation to claim for his sons from their earliest infancy the same covenant relation with God as he himself stood in. There was sufficient parallelism between baptism and circumcision (cf. ) for the Jewish-Christian father to expect the baptism of his children to follow his own as a matter of course. The Apostle assumes as a fact beyond dispute that the children of believers are ‘holy’ (). i.e. under the covenant with God, on the ground of their father’s faith. And among Gentile converts a somewhat different but equally authoritative principle, that of patria potestas, would have the same result. In a home organized on this principle, which prevailed throughout the Roman Empire, it would be a thing inconceivable that the children could be severed from the father in their religious rights and duties, in the standing conferred by baptism. Thus it is because, to the mind of Jew and Gentile alike, the baptism of infants and children yet unable to supply the conditions for themselves was so natural, that St. Luke records so simply that when Lydia believed, she was baptized ‘with her household’; when the Philippian jailor believed, he was baptized, and all those belonging to him. If there were children in these households, these children were baptized on the ground of the faith of their parents; if there were no children, then the principle took a still wider extension, which includes children; for it was the servants or slaves of the household who were ‘added to the Church’ by baptism on the ground of their master’s faith.
8. Baptism was a ceremony of initiation by which the baptized not only were admitted members of the visible society of the disciples of Christ, but also received the solemn attestation of the consequences of their faith. Hence there are three parties to it. The part of the baptized is mainly his profession of faith in Christ, his confession ‘with his heart’ that he is the Lord’s. The second is the Christian community or Church (rather than the person who administers baptism, and who studiously keeps in the background). Their part is to hear the profession and to grant the human attestation. The third is the Head of the Church Himself, by whose authority the rite is practised, and who gives the inward attestation, as the experience of being baptized opens in the believing soul new avenues for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. C. A. Scott.
Bab
Aram, word for ‘son’; used, especially in NT times, as the first component of personal names, such as Bar-abbas, Bar-jesus, Bar-jonah, etc.
Barabbas
Barabbas ( = = = ). — A brigand, probably one of those who infested the Ascent of Blood (wh. see). He had taken part in one of the insurrections so frequent during the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate; and, having been caught red-handed, was awaiting sentence when Jesus was arraigned. It was customary for the procurator, by way of gratifying the Jews, to release a prisoner at the Passover season, letting the people choose whom they would; and Pilate, reluctant to condemn an innocent man, yet afraid to withstand the clamour of the rulers, saw here a way to save Jesus. His artifice would probably have succeeded had not the malignant priests and elders incited the people to choose Barabbas.
Barabbas, like Bartholomew and BaHimceus, is a patronymic, possibly = ‘the son of the father’ (i.e. the Rabbi). According to an ancient reading of . the brigand’s name was Jesus. If so, there is a dramatic adroitness in Pilate’s presentation of the alternative to the multitude:’ Which of the two do ye wish me to release to you — tlesus the bar-Abba or Jesus that is called Messiah? ‘
David Smith.
Barachel
Father of Elihu, ‘the Buzite’ (Job 322-
Barachiah
See Zachabiae.
Babak
(‘lightning’). The son of Abinoam; he lived at a time when the Canaanite kingdom of Hazor, having recovered from its overthrow by Joshua (Jos llio-i5)_ was taking vengeance by oppressing Israel. He is called from his home in Kedesh-naphtali by Deborah to deliver Israel. He gathers an army of 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. With this force, accompanied by Deborah, without whom he refuses to go forward, he encamps on Mt. Tabor, while the enemy under Sisera lies in the plain on the banks of the Kishon. At the word of Deborah, Barak leads his men down to battle, and completely defeats Sisera. The latter flees; Barak pursues him, but on reaching his hiding-place find^ that he has been already slain by Jael, the wife of Heber. The glory of the victory, therefore, does not lie with Barak, but with Deborah, who was his guiding spirit, and with Jael who slew the enemy’s leader (. 5).
W. O. E. Oestbrley.
Barbarian
The Eng. word is used in , . . . to translate a Gr. word which does not at all connote savagery, but means simply ‘foreign,’ ‘speaking an unintelligible language.’ The expression first arose among the Greeks in the days of their independence, and was applied by them to all who could not speak Greek. When Greece became subject to Rome, it was then extended to mean all except the Greeks and Romans. There may be a touch of contempt in St. Luke’s use of it, but St. Paul uses it simply in the ordinary way; see esp. . A. Souter.
Barber
See Haih.
Barchus
1 Esdras 5:32 of .
Barhuu
Barhuu nTE.- See Bahurim.
Bariah
A son of Shemaiah ().
Bar-jes
Bar-jes nS. — The name of ‘a certain Magian, a false prophet, a Jew’ () whom St. Paul, on his visit to Cyprus, found in the retinue of Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul. The title Elymas () is equivalent to Magus (). and is probably derived from an Arabic root signifying ‘wise.’ The knowledge of the Magians was half-mystical, half-scientific; amongst them were some devout seekers after truth, but many were mere tricksters. In the Apostolic age such men often acquired great influence, and Bar-jesus represents, as Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveller, p. 79) says, ‘the strongest influence on the human will that existed in the Roman world, an influence which must destroy or be destroyed by Christianity, if the latter tried to conquer the Empire.’ The narrative implies that the proconsul was too intelligent to be deceived by the Magian’s pretensions, the motive of whose opposition to the Christian teachers is expressed in a Bezan addition to . which states that Sergius Paulus ‘was listening with much pleasure to them.’ In St. Paul’s judgment on this false prophet () there is a play upon words: Elymas was full of deceit and not of wisdom; Bar-jesus, i.e. ‘son of Jesus.’ had become a ‘son of the devil.’ This is Pauline (cf. ).
J. G. Taseeb.
Bar-jonah
See Bab, and John (No. 6).
Barkos
Ancestor of certain Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel (. ; called Barchus in 1 Esdras 5:32).
Barley
(se’ Sraft). As in ancient times, so to-day barley (Arab, sha’ ir) is the most plentiful cereal of Palestine. It is the chief food of horses (). mules, and donkeys, oats being practically unknown. It is still used by the poor for making bread (. Jn &‘■ " etc.) in the villages, but not in the cities. Barley was the special ritual offering for jealousy (). The barley harvest () precedes that of wheat: it begins around Jericho as early as March, and in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood at the end of May.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Barn
See AOBicnLTUHE, 3, and Gaeneb.
Barnabas
A surname given by the Apostles to Joseph, the Levite, whose first recorded deed () was the selling of his property and the devotion of its proceeds to the needs of the Christian community. In this generous act St. Luke sees a proof that Barnabas is, in accordance with the popular etymology of his name, ‘a son of comfort.’ His kindly introduction of Saul to the Christians at Jerusalem disarmed their fears () his broad sympathies made him quick to recognize the work of grace amongst the Greeks at Antioch (). and to discern the fitness of his gifted friend for that important sphere of service (). After a year’s fellowship in work at Antioch, Barnabas and Saul were appointed to convey ‘the relief sent thence to the brethren in Judaea (). From Jerusalem they brought back, as a helper, John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (, . cf. ).
The church at Antioch solemnly dedicated Barnabas and Saul to missionary service (13) with John Mark the two friends sailed for Cyprus, and from this point, with three exceptions, their names occur in the order ‘Paul and Barnabas.’
Harnack iPRE^ ii. 411) explains these three passages thus: 14 is accounted for by and IS^^- 26 by the closer association of Barnabas with the Jerusalem church.
At Lystra (14). as doubtless at other places, Paul was the chief speaker; he was also the more prominent figure at the Jerusalem conference (15: : See Paul). Between Paul and Barnabas ‘there arose a sharp contention’ concerning John Mark (15). ), and they agreed to work apart; also records Paul’s adverse judgment of Barnabas’ attitude in regard to the circumcision controversy. But the interesting reference to Barnabas in affords welcome proof of St. Paul’s familiarity with the work of his friend. AH that is definitely known of Barnabas after he bade Paul farewell is that with his cousin Mark he ‘sailed away unto Cyprus’ (). For the spurious Epistle attributed to Barnabas, see Canon of NT, § 2.
J. G. Tabker.
BAR0DI8.— A name occurring in 1 Esdras 5:34 (om. in Ezr. and Neh.).
BARREL, , , . The large earthenware jar (so Amer. RV) used for fetching water from the well, storing grain, etc., elsewhere rendered pitcher. See House, 9.
Barrenness
See Child.
Barsabbas
See Joseph (in NT), 6. and Judas (in NT), 6.
Bartacus
Father of Apame (1 Esdras 4:29).
Bartholomew
One of the Twelve, mentioned only in the lists of the Apostles ( ). Jerome says that he wrote a Gospel, preached to the Indians, and died at Albanopolis in Armenia. Bartholomew is really not a name, but a patronymic — Bar raimai=‘son of Talmai’ (cf. 2 S13"). See Nathanael.
David Smith.
Bartibm
Bartibm iirS (). A blind man whom Jesus, on His way to the last Passover, healed at the gate of Jericho — as He was leaving the city, according to Mt. (20") and Mk. (10<»), who condense the story of what befell at Jericho; as He approached, according to Lk. (la’s), whose fuller narrative preserves the proper order of events. Bartimaeus is not a name but a patronymic (cf. Bartholomew), and St. Mark, for the benefit of his Gentile readers, gives the interpretation of it, ‘the son of Timseus.’ David Smith.
Baruch
(‘blessed’). 1. Son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah and brother of Seraiah () ; known from . 45. , ; by Jeremiah’s side in the conflict with Jehoiakim (b.c. 604), again during the last siege of Jerusalem (587-6), and again amongst the Judseans left behind after the Second Captivity. ‘Baruch’ the scribe, named in along with ‘Jeremiah the prophet,’ is already the recognized attendant and amanuensis of the latter; he seems to have rendered the prophet over twenty years of devoted service. He belonged to the order of ‘princes,’ among whom Jeremiah had influential friends ( ) Baruch’s rank probably secured for Jeremiah’s objectionable ‘roll’ (ch. 36) the hearing that was refused to his spoken words. When he cast in his lot with Jeremiah, Baruch made a heavy sacrifice; he might have ‘sought great things’ for himself, and is warned against his natural ambition (). The promise that Baruch’s ‘life shall be given’ him ‘for a prey’ wherever he goes, placed where it is (). suggests that he survived his master, to act as his literary executor. The Book of Jeremiah (see art.) owes much to this loyal secretary, though the final arrangement of the materials is far from satisfactory. Tradition adds nothing of any certainty to the references of Scripture; see, however, Jos. Ant. X. ix. 1, 7. For the Apocryphal writings attached to his name, see Apochypha and Apocalyptic Litebatube. 2. One of the wall-builders (). 3. A signatory to the covenant (). 4. A Judahite (ll").
G. G. FiNDLAY.
Barzillai
1 . The name of a chieftain of Gilead who brought supplies to David and his army at Mahanaim ( ff.). After the death of Absalom, Barzillai went across Jordan with the king, but declined to go to court ( ff.). On his deathbed David charged Solomon to ‘shew kindness to the sons of Barzillai’ (). His descendants are mentioned in . . 2. The Meholathite whose son Adriel is said () to have married Michal [read Merab, cf. ), the daughter of Saul. J. G; Taskeb.
Basaloth
1 Es 53i=Bazluth of or Bazlith of .
Basgaua
An unknown town of Gilead (1 Maccabees 13:23).
Base
To be base is in mod. English to be morally bad, but in AV it is no more than to be of humble birth or lowly position. In the RV, however, the word is sometimes used in the sense of morally low, mean, as .
Basemath
1. One of the wives of Esau. In (P) she is called the daughter of Elon the Hittite, while in ) (prob. R) she is said to have beenlshmael’s daughter, and sister of Nebaioth. But in (P) Esau is said to have taken Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife; and in the first mentioned of Esau’s wives is Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. There is manifestly a confusion of names in the text, which cannot be satisfactorily explained. 2. A daughter of Solomon, who became the wife of Ahimaaz, one of the king’s officers ().
Bashan
The name of the territory east of the Sea of Tiberias. It was the kingdom of Og, the Eephaite opponent of Israel, and with his name the country is almost invariably associated (. . etc.). The territory was given to the halt-tribe of Manasseh, with a reservation of two cities, Golan and Be-eshterah (Ashtaroth in ). for the Gershonite Levites (). In the time of Jehu the country was smitten by Hazael (). it was noted for mountains (). lions (). oak trees (. . Zee ). and especially cattle, both rams () and bullocks () the bulls and kine of Bashan are typical of cruelty and oppression (. ). The extent of the territory denoted by this name cannot be exactly defined till some important identifications can be established, such as the exact meaning of ‘the region of Argob’ (included in the kingdom of Og, etc.), where were threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars, administered for Solomon by Ben-geber of Ramoth-gilead (). It included Salecah (.Salkhat, on the borders of the desert), Edrei (ed-Der’ at), Ashtaroth (perhaps Tell Ashareh), and Golan, one of the cities of refuge, the name of which may be preserved in the Jaulan, the region immediately east of the Sea of Tiberias. R. A. S. Macalistee.
Basilisk
See Serpent.
Basket
The names of a round score of baskets in use in NT times are known from the Mishna (see Krengel, Das Hausgerat in der Mishnah, pp. 39-45). They were made of willow, rush, palm-leaf, and other materials, and used in an endless variety of ways, for purely domestic purposes, in agriculture, in gathering and serving fruit, and for collecting the alms in kind for the poor, etc. Some had handles, others lids, some had both, others had neither. In OT times the commonest basket was the sal, made, at least in later times, of peeled willows or palm-leaves. It was large and flat like the Roman canistrum, and, like it, was used for carrying bread ( ff.) and other articles of food (). and for presenting the meal-offerings at the sanctuary (). Another (dud), also of wickerwork, probably resembled the calalhus, which tapered towards the bottom, and was used in fruit-gathering (). In what respect it differed from Amos’ ‘basket of summer fruit’ () is unknown. A fourth and larger variety was employed for carrying home the produce of the fields ( ‘blessed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough,’ RV), and for presenting the first-fruits ().
In NT interest centres in the two varieties of basket distinguished consistently by the Evangelists in their accounts of the feeding of the SOOO and the 4000 respectively, the kophinos and the sphyris. The kophinos () is probably to be identified with the exceedingly popular kapha of the Mishna, which ‘was provided with a cord for a handle by means of which it was usually carried on the back’ (Krengel), with provisions, etc., and which, therefore, the disciples would naturally have with them. The Jews of Juvenal’s day carried such a provision basket (cophinus). The sphyris or spyris (. ). from its use in St. Paul’s case (). must have been considerably larger than the other, and might for distinction be rendered ‘hamper.’ A. R. S. Kennedy.
Bason
(Amer. RV ‘basin’). Chiefly the large bowl of bronze used by the priests to receive the blood of the sacrificial victims ( . etc.). It is only once found in secular use, if the text is correct (. otherwise LXX, see Bowl). Similar bowls or basins of silver were presented by the princes of the congregation ( ff.) those destined for Solomon’s Temple were of gold (). The basins of . were probably of earthenware. A special washbasin was used by Jesus for washing the disciples’ feet (). A. R. S. Kennedy.
Bassai
Bassai (AV Baasa), 1 Es Si«=Bezai, . .
Basthai
Basthai (AV Bastai), 1 Es 5"=Besai, . .
BAT C atalleph). — The bat is a familiar object in Palestine, where no fewer than seventeen varieties have been identified. The two commonest are the horse-shoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrum equinum) and the long-eared bat (Plecotus aurilus). All varieties in Palestine are insectivorous except one, the Xantharpyia mgyptiaca, which eats fruit. Bats flit about on noiseless wings by the score on warm summer evenings, especially in the Jordan Valley, and they are to be found in great numbers in ruins, old tombs, and caves all over the land, giving rise to many tales of ghostly habitation (). They are counted as unclean ‘fowl,’ though a little separate from the birds, in , .
E. W. G. Masterman.
Bath
A liquid measure; see Weights and Measdhes.
Bath, Bathing
The latter term is most frequently used in our EV in connexion with purification from ceremonial defilement — contact with holy things, with the dead, etc. (see article Clean and Unclean) — and in this sense denotes the washing of the body vyith water, not necessarily the total immersion of the body in water. Hence RV has rightly introduced ‘wash’ in many cases for ‘bathe.’ Bathing in the modern and non-religious sense is rarely mentioned ( Pharaoh’s daughter, [RV] Bathsheba, and the curious case ). Public baths are first met with in the Greek period — they were included in the ‘place of exercise’ (1 Maccabees 1:14) — and remains of such buildings from the Roman period are fairly numerous. Recently a remarkable series of bath-chambers have been discovered at Gezer in connexion with a building, which is supposed to be the palace built by Simon Maocabseus (illust. in PEFSt, 1905, 294 t.).
The Hebrews were well acquainted with the use of mineral and vegetable alkalis for increasing the cleansing properties of water (. RV ‘soap,’ ‘lye’). In the History of Susanna is a curious reference to ‘washingballs.’ A. R. S. Kennedy.
Bath-rabbim
(‘daughter of multitudes’). The name of a gate of Heshbon, near which were pools, to which the Shulammite’s eyes are compared ().
R. A. S. Macalisteb.
Bathsheba
Bathsheba ( Bathshua: this may be a mere textual error). — Wife of Uriah the Hittite, seduced by David (). and afterwards married to him (). The child died (). but another son, Solomon, was subsequently born (). Bathsheba, instigated and supported by Nathan, successfully combated Adonijah’s attempt to secure the throne (). Acting as Adonijah’s intercessor in the matter of Abishag, she was most respectfully received b,y Solomon, but her unwise request was refused ().
J. Taylor.
Bathshua
1. See Bathsheba. 2. See Shua.
Battering-ram
See Fortification and Siegecraft.
Battle
See War, also names of places where the chief battles were fought.
Battle Axe
See Armour, 1 (f).
Battle Bow
See Armour, 1 (d).
Battlement
See Fortification, House.
Bawai
The son of Henadad () rebuilt a portion of the wall of Jerusalem; called In v.^* Binnui.
Bay
See Colours, 3.
Bayith
(‘house’). Occurs as a proper name la . but the true sense is uncertain.
BAT-TREE CesrUch, ) is probably a mistranslation for ‘a tree in its native soil’ (RV). Many authorities, however, would here emend the Heb. text to read ‘eree,’ cedar.’ E. W. G. Mastehman.
Bazlith
Bazlith (), Bazluth (Ezr 2M= Basaloth, 1 Esdras 5:31). — Founder of a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel.
Bdellium
The probably correct tr. of the Heb. bedslach, which in is classed with gold and onyx as a product of the land of Havilah, and in is described as characterizing the ‘appearance’ (RV) of manna. Bdellium is the fragrant yellow resin of the tree Balsamodendron mukul, growing in N.W. India, Afghanistan, Beluchistan, and at one time perhaps in Arabia. E. W. G. Masterman.
BE. — To be is to exist, as in ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question.’ This primary meaning is found in ‘Enoch walked with God; and he was not’; ‘he that cometh to God must believe that he is.’ The auxiliary use is later. In 1611 ‘be’ and ‘are’ were interchangeable auxiliary forms in the pres. indie, plu., as ‘Then are they glad because they be quiet.’
BEALIAH C J" is lord’). — A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag ().
Bealoth
Bealoth (). An unknown town in the extreme south of Judah. See Balah.
Beam
1. A tree roughly trimmed serving as support of the flat roof of an Eastern house (, . RV, ff.: f.). or more elaborately dressed ( RV, ) and gilded (). See House, Mote. 2. The weaver’s beam (see Spinning and Weaving). 3. See Balance.
Beans
(,pdl, Arab. fffl). A very common and popular vegetable in Palestine, used from ancient times; they are the seeds of the Vicia faba. The bean plant, which is sown in Oct. or Nov., is in blossom in early spring, when its sweet perfume fills the air. Beans are gathered young and eaten, pod and seed together, cooked with meat; or the fully mature beans are cooked with fat or oil. As the native of Palestine takes little meat, such leguminous plants are a necessary ingredient of his diet (). In we read of beans as being mixed with barley, lentils, millet, and fitches to make bread. E. W. G. Mastehman.
Bear
(£(56). The Syrian bear (Ursus syriacus, Arab. dubb) is still fairly common in Hermon and the Anti- L§banon, and is occasionally found in the Lebanon and east of the Jordan; it is practically extinct in Palestine. It is smaller and of a lighter colour than the brown bear i Ursus arctos). It is a somewhat solitary animal, eating vegetables, fruit, and honey, but, when hungry, attacking sheep () and occasionally, but very rarely, to-day at any rate, human beings (). The fierceness of a bear robbed of her whelps (. . ) is well known. Next to the lion, the bear was considered the most dangerous of animals to encounter (). and that it should be subdued was to be one of the wonders of the Messiah’s kingdom ().
B. W. G. Mastehman.
Beard
See Haih.
Beast
1. In OT (1) behSmah, commonly used for a quadruped, sometimes tr. ‘cattle’; see . , etc. (2) chayyah, used of animals in general but specially ‘wild beasts’; see etc. (3) be’ lr sometimes tr. ‘beasts’ and sometimes ‘cattle’; see . etc. (4) ^z, ‘wild beasts,’ .
2. In NT (1) thSrion: . (a viper). Tit I12, . . and over 30 times in Rev. (2) zBon, of the ‘beasts’ (AV), or ‘hving creatures’ (RV), round about the throne (. 6. 8. 11, etc.).
E. W. G. Mastehman.
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.