Esf – Edrei

Esf

Esf orts have been made to break up Dt 5-26 into several sections, and to trace their origin. These have not been very convincing: they have rehed too much on a proof of difference of origin derived from the use of the singular or the plural number in forms of address to the people. But they have proved that older elements and varied elements have been fused together into this Law-book.

Under Manasseh there followed a strong reaction, which resorted even to persecution. The reformers’ Law-book was forgotten, the reformers themselves may have been martyred. But the code itself survived to be discovered under Josiah, and to become the basis of a pregnant reform.

Opinion is divided as to whether chs. 1-3 are by the hand which wrote the main work. The fact that In ll^f- Moses is represented as speaking to men who had witnessed the Exodus, while in 2»<*- that generation is represented as dead, seems decisive that they are not. The chapters may have been added as an historical introduction to a separate edition of the code. The fact that their history is based on JE proves that this must have been early.

Chapters 4>-<" 29 f. belong together, and are a later addition in view of new circumstances, viz., the prospect or the reality of exile.

The Song (32’-^‘), with its double introduction (3Ha-!2. 30) and close (32"), is a didactic poem, giving an interpretation of Israel’s entire iiistory, and bearing traces of influence from the Wisdom literature. It may date from the 7th cent, or the Exile.

The Blessing (ch. 33) dates from a time when N. Israel in the flush of its vigour could anticipate further conquests (v."), since Eastern Israel had regained part of its lost territory (v.^"). It may belong to the reign of Jeroboam ii. (b.c. 782-43), by whom the Syrians of Damascus were defeated.

Ch. 27 is difficult to assign. It evidently breaks the connexion of 26 and 28, and as evidently is composite. The Levites in v.’*^- carry out what in v}^- the tribes are commissioned to do, and there are no blessings uttered at all. ‘There may be early elements in v.^-, but it is best to confess that the chapter is still a crux.

2. Main principles. — (a) The fundamental principle of the book is the unily of Jahweh, who is God of the whole earth (10"), and who is more than the God of Israel, since He has relations to other nations apart from their relations to Israel (9* 123’). This carries with it the consequence that idolatry is the supreme sin (6" 172^- etc.). To avoid even the possibility of such a crime, intercourse with other nations is severely restrained (7"‘- etc.), and older customs of worship are forbidden (162’ etc.). — (6) As He is God of the whole earth, Jahweh’s will is the moral law, and in connexion with its requirements He rewards and punishes (cf. the teaching of Amos). As God of Israel, the fundamental principles of His relation to His people are also ethical. — (c) Yet Jahweh is not merely a lifeless moral principle or glorified code. His love to His people was shown, before they could prove any desert (9"- etc.). Hebrews 8 them their land — a gift they must not imagine themselves to have merited (8:7 ff.). Hence love is the supreme return for His love (6:4 f. etc., and cf. Hosea). Hence also there is room for worship and for prayer. Their cult, an expression of their loving gratitude, is to be joyous in character, not like the darker superstitions to which national disaster and foreign rites were making them incline (12:18 etc.). — (d) A religion, the heart of which is loving gratitude, naturally expresses itself in humanitv towards all with whom men live, and even towards the lower animals (22 etc. etc.). A religion also with so strong a sense of the Divine personality brings with it respect for human personality (24).) — (c) As personal and loving, Jahweh can and does rexieal Himself. Through His self-revelation He is the historic God of Israel. This is emphasized in contrast with the baalim , who, as gods of Canaan, had no historic connexion with Israel. Jahweh has made known Himself and His will by the deeds He has wrought for and among His people. (Hence it was a right instinct which led to the addition of chs. 1-3 with their record of Jahweh’s past guidance.) — (/) This element enters now into the cult. It gives fresh historic associafions to the national festivals and weds them to the great events of their past. See especially ch. 26, where all Israel’s past is made to enter into the worship of the individual Israelite, and where also emphasis is laid on the truth that the fruits of the land are not from the baalim, but from Jahweh’s bounty (cf. Hosea 2:8).)) — (ff) Such a religion, with its strong sense of the historic unity of God’s dealings with His nation, and its conviction of the reasonableness of God’s demands, can and ought to be taught. Children are to have it explained to them (6:6 f. 11) and means are to be used to bring it to men’s thoughts daily (6:9 ll^"). Most of the outward observances are thus brought into connexion with great vivifying principles, so that this code becomes the finest illustration of an effort made to bring religious principles home to a nation in its entire work and life.

A. C. Welch.

Eagle

(1) neaTier, Deuteronomy 32:11 etc., Leviticus 11:13 RVm ‘great vulture.’ (2) rOcham, Leviticus 11:18, AV ‘gier eagle,’ RV ‘vulture.’ (3) ae(os, Matthew 24:28)) Lis 17 (RVm ‘vultures’). Revelation 4:7 12:14. The Ileb. nesher is the equivalent of the Arab, nisr, which includes eagles, vultures, and ospreys. It is clear from Micah 1:16 ‘enlarge thy baldness as the eagle,’ that the vulture is referred to. There are eight varieties of eagles and four of vultures known in Palestine. The references to nesher are specially appropriate as applied to the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), a magnificent bird, ‘the most striking ornithological feature of Palestine’ (Tristram), found especially around the precipitous gorges leading to various parts of the Jordan Valley. Job 39:27, 30 and Jeremiah 49:16 well describe its habits; and its powerful and rapid fiight is referred to in Isaiah 40:31. Deuteronomy 28:49. Habakkuk 1:8. RacMm corresponds to the Arab, rakh&m, the Egyptian vulture, a ubiquitous scavenger which visits Palestine from the south every summer. E. W. G. Masterman.

Ear

Both In OT and NT the spiritual disposition to attend, which issues in obedience, is thus designated (e.ff. Isaiah 6. Matthew 11:15. Revelation 2:7). Hence ‘to uncover the ear’ (RVm, 1 Samuel 9:15 etc.)=to reveal; the ‘uncircumcised ear’ (Jeremiah 6:10) ear which remains unpurifled and clogged and therefore unable to perceive: hence ‘mine ears hast thou opened’ (Psalms 40:6) Thou hast enabled me to understand. The perforated ear was a sign of slavery or dependence, indicating the obligation to attend (Exodus 21:6. Deuteronomy 15:16 f.). The tip of the priest’s right ear was touched with blood in token that the sense of hearing was consecrated to God’s service (Exodus 29:20. Leviticus 8:23). J. Taylor.

Earing

Genesis 45:6. ‘There shall be neither earing nor harvest.’ ‘Earing’ is the old expression for ‘ploughing.’ The verb ‘to ear’ (connected with Lat. arare) also occurs, as Deuteronomy 21:4 ‘a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown.’

Earnest

In 2 Corinthians 1:22 S’, Ephesians 1:14 St. Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the believer’s ‘earnest.’ The word means ‘part-payment,’ the deposit being the samein kind as what is to follow. Cf. Tindale’s (1533) use of ‘earnest-penny’ : ‘that assured saving health and earnest-penny of everlasting life.’ Rabbi Greenstone {JB v. 26) quotes Kid. 3a to the effect that the payment of a perutah, the smallest coin of Palestinian currency, on account of the purchase, was sufficient to bind the bargain. The Gr. word was probably introduced by the Phoenicians. Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 108 f .) shows that in 2 Corinthians 1:21 the verb ‘stablisheth’ connotes a legal idea and stands In ‘an essential relation’ to ‘earnest’ in v. 22. St. Paul represents the relation of God to believers under the image of ‘a legally guaranteed security.’

J. G. Tasker.

Ear-ring

See Amulets, 2; Ornaments, 2.

Earth

Earth in OT usually stands for one or other of the Eeb. words ‘eretz and ‘addmah. In AV these are rendered Indiscriminately’ earth’ and ‘ground,’ but RV distinguishes them by using, to some extent, ‘earth’ for the former, and ‘ground’ for the latter. Both words have a wide range of meanings, some of which they possess in common, while others are peculiar to each. Thus ‘eretz denotes: (a) earth as opposed to heaven (Genesis 1:1), and (b) dry land as opposed to sea ,(12°). ‘adamdh is specially used : (o) for earth as a specific substance (Gn 2:7. 2 Kings 5:17) ; and (B) for the surface of the ground, in such phrases as’ face of the earth.’ Both words are employed to describe: (a) the soil from which plants grow, ‘adamSh being the more common term in this sense; (6) the whole earth with its inhabitants, for which, however, ‘aMvMh is but rarely used ; and (c) aland or country, this also being usually expressed by ‘eretz. In one or two eases it Is doubtful in which of the two last senses ‘eretz is to be taken, e.g. Jeremiah 22:29 (EV’ earth,’ RVm ‘land’).

In NT the Gr. words for ‘earth’ are gl and oikoumerd, the former having practically all the variety of meanings mentioned above, while the latter denotes specially the whole inhabited earth, and is once used (Heb 2:5) in a still wider sense for the universe of the future. See, further, art. World. James Patrick.

Earthquake

The whole formation of the country running in a straight line from the Taurus range to the gulf of Akabah, which therefore includes Central Judaea, reveals a volcanic character of a striking kind. That this large tract was, in days gone by, the scene of frequent and terrible earthquakes, admits of no doubt. Apart from the actual occurrences of earthquakes recorded in the Bible and elsewhere (e.g. at the time of the battle of Actium, in the seventh year of the reign of Herod the Great, Jos. Ant. xv. v. 2), the often-used imagery of the earthquake bears eloquent testimony to a fearful experience.

It is necessary to distinguish between actual earthquakes and those which belong to the descriptive accounts of theophanies or Divine manifestations of wrath, etc. Of the former only one is mentioned in the OT, that which occurred in the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1. Zee 14) among the latter must be included such references as Exodus 19:18. 1 Kings 19:11, Numbers 16:31. Psalms 18:7 68:8 77:18 104:4, Isaiah 29:6 etc. In the NT it is recorded that an earthquake occurred at the Crucifixion (Matthew 27), at the Resurrection (Matthew 28:2). and on the night of St. Paul’s imprisonment in Philippi (Acts 16:26) further, it is foretold that there shall be earthquakes at Christ’s second coming (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11) their mention in Rev. is characteristic of apocalyptic literature.

W. O. E. Obsterlet.

East, Children of the

A common designation of the inhabitants of the Syrian desert, who were partly Aramsean and partly Arabian (Judges 6:3 8:10, Ezk 25, Isaiah 11:14, Jeremiah 49:28. Job 1:3). Certain of them had obtained great renown for wisdom (1 Kings 5:10).

J. F. MoCUBDY.

Easter

(AV of Acts 12:4; RV ‘the Passover’). The anachronism of AV was inherited from older VSS which avoided, as far as possible, expressions which could not be understood by the people.

Ebal

1. Name of a son of Joktan (1 Chronicles 1:22,) 10 Obal), probably representing a place or tribe in Arabia. 2. A son of Shobal sou of Seir (Genesis 36:23, 1 Chronicles 1).

Ebal

Now Jebel eah-Shemali, a mountain north of NaUus (Shechem), 1207 ft. above the valley, 3077 ft. above the sea. Ruins of a fortress and of a building called a ‘little church’ exist on its summit, as well as a Mohammedan shrine said to contain the skull of John the Baptist. The mountain commands an extensive view over almost the whole of Galilee, which includes points from Hermou to Jerusalem and from the sea to the Hauran. On this mountain Joshua built an altar and erected a monument bearing the law of Moses (Joshua 8) and the curses for breaches of the moral law were here proclaimed to the assembled Israelites on their formally taking possession of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 11:29 27:4, 13. Joshua 8:33).

R. A. S. Macalibteb.

Ebed

1. The father of Gaal (Judges 9:26–35). 2. One of those who returned from Babylon with Ezra (Ezra 8:6) called in 1 Esdras 8 Obeth.

Ebed-ibeleoh

An Ethiop. eunuch, by whom Jeremiah was released from the pit-prison (Jeremiah 38:7 ff. 39:15 ff.). It is possible that the name Ebed-melech, which means ‘servant of [the] king.’ may have been an ofiBcial title.

Eben-ezer

Eben-ezer ( the stone of help’ (LXX ‘of the helper’]). — 1. The scene of a disastrous battle in which the ark was lost (1 Samuel 4:1 5:1). 2. The name of the stone erected tocommemorate anegually glorious victory (7:12). The precise situation is uncertain, but if Shen (7:12). i.e. Yesliana (according to LXX and Syriac), is the modern ‘Ain Semije a little N. of Bethel, the locality is approximately defined. Samuel s explanatory words should be read thus:’ This is a witness that Jahweh hath helped us.’ J. Taylor.

Eber

1. The eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews (the first letter in both words being the same in the Heb.), the great-grandson of Shem, and ‘father’ of Peleg and Joktan (Genesis 10:21, 25 ll’«). The word ‘eber signifies ‘the other side,’ ‘across’; and ‘ibri.’ Hebrew,’ which is in form a gentile name, denoting the inhabitant of a country or member of a tribe, is usually explained as denoting those who have come from ‘iter han-nahOr (see Joshua 24:2, 3). or’ the other side of the River’ (the Euphrates), i.e. from Haran (Genesis 11:31). in Aram-naharaim the home of Abraham and Nahor (Genesis 24:4, 7, 10) . According to Sayce, however {Exp. T. xviii. [1907] p. 233). the word is of Bab. origin, and denoted originally the ‘traders’ who went to and fro across the Euphrates. In the genealogies in Genesis 10. 11 the district from which the ‘Hebrews’ came is transformed into an imaginary eponymous ancestor. Why Eber is not the immediate, but the sixth ancestor of Abraham, and why many other tribes besides the Hebrews are reckoned as his descendants, is perhaps to be explained (KOnig) by the fact that, though the Israelites were in a special sense ‘Hebrews,’ it was remembered that their ancestors had long made the region ‘across’ the Euphrates their resting-place, and many other tribes (Peleg, Joktan, etc.) had migrated from it. ‘What Eber means in Numbers 24:24 is uncertain: most probably perhaps, the country across the Euphrates with Asshur, i.e. Assyria).

2 A Gadite (1 Chronicles 5:12). 3. 4. Two Benjamites (1 Ch 8 6 Head of a priestly family (Nehemiah 12).

S. R. Drives.

Ebez

A city of Issachar (Joshua 19). Possibly the luin el-Beidhah, east of Carmel.

Ebony

Ebony (hobnlm, Ezekiel 27:15) is the black heart-wood of the date-plum, Diospyros ebenum, imported from S. India and Ceylon. It was extensively imported by Phcenicians, Babylonians, and Egyptians tor the manufacture of valuable vessels and of idols.

E. W. G. Mabterman.

Ebbon

Ebbon (Joshua 19:28). A town in the territory of Asher, elsewhere called Abdon (wh. see, 6), which is probably the correct form. It was a Le’vitical city (Joshua 21:30, 1 Chronicles 6:74). The site has not been identified.

R. A. S. Macalister.

Ecbatana

See Achmetha.

Ecclesiastes

1. Title and Canonicity .-The title has come to us through Jerome from the LXX, in which it was an attempt to express the Heb. nom de plume ‘Koheleth,’ i.e. ‘one who speaks in an assembly’ (katal) — the assembly being all who give their hearts to the acquisition of wisdom. The book is one of the third group in the Heb. Bible — the Kethubhlm or ‘Writings’ — which were the latest to receive recognition as canonical Scripture. It appears to have been accepted as Scripture by c. B.c 100. At the synod of Jamnia (c a.d. 100) the canonicity of Ec, the Song of Songs, and Esther was brought up for discussion, and was confirmed.

2. Author and Date.— The book contains the outpourings of the mind of a rich Jew, at the beginning of the 2nd cent. B.C. We may perhaps gather that he was in a high station of life, for otherwise his very unorthodox reflexions could hardly have escaped oblivion. He could provide himself with every luxury (2<-‘i’). But he had private sorrows and disappointments; 726-28 seems to imply that his life had been saddened by a woman who was unworthy of him. Hebrews 7 apparently an old man, because his attempts to find the summum bonum of life in pleasure and in wisdom, which could hardly have been abandoned in a few years, were now bygone memories (l’2-2"). And he lived in or near Jerusalem, for he was an eye-witness of events which occurred at the ‘holy place’ (8:10). That is all that he reveals about himself. But he paints a lurid picture of the state of his country. The king was ‘a child’ — much too young for his responsible position; and his courtiers spent their days in drunken revelry (10:16) he was capricious in his favouritism (vV.’-‘), ‘Violent in temper (v. 4). and despotic (S**- •). The result was that wickedness usurped the place of justice (3:16). and the upper classes crushed the poor with an oppression from which there was no escape (4:1) the country groaned under an irresponsible officialism, each official being unable to move a finger in the cause of justice, because he was under the thumb of a higher one. and the highest was a creature of the tyrannous king (5:7) and in such a state of social rottenness espionage was rife (lO^"). The only passage which distinctly alludes to contemporary history is 4:13–16. but no period has been found which suits all the facts. In 8:10 an historical allusion is improbable, and 9 is too vague to afford any indication of date.

The book, or, more probably, 1-2" only, is written under the guise of Solomon. In 2:12 (according to the most probable interpretation of the verse) the writer appears to throw off the impersonation. But the language and grammatical peculiarities of the writing make it impossible to ascribe it to Solomon. The Heb. language, which had been pure enough for some time after the return from Babylon, began to decay from the time of Nehemiah. There are signs of the change in Ezr., Neh., and Mai., and it is still more etddent in Chron., Est., and Eccl., the latter ha’ving the most striking Mishnic idioms. It must therefore be later (probably much later) than Esther (c. b.c. 300), but before ben-Sira, who alludes to several passages In it (.;. B.C. 180). It may thus be dated c. b.c. 200. 3. Composition. — One of the most striking features of the book is the frequency with which a despairing sadness alternates with a calm pious assurance. Many have seen in this the struggles of a religiously minded man halting between doubt and faith; e.g. Plumptre compares this mental conflict with Tennyson’s ‘Two Voices.’ But the more the book is read, the more the reader feels that this is not so. The contrasts are so sudden; the scepticism is so despairing, and the piety so calm and assured, that they can be explained only on the assumption of interpolations by other hands. Moreover, in the midst of the despair and the faith there are scattered proverbs, somewhat frigid and didactic, often with no relevance to the context. The literary history of the writing appears to be as follows: (a) The gnomic character of some of Koheleth’s remarks, and the ascription to Solomon, attracted one of the thinkers of the day whose minds were dominated by the idea of ‘Wisdom’ — such a writer as those whose observations are collected in the Book of Proverbs. He enriched the original writing with proverbs culled from various sources, (b) But that which attracts also repels. The impression which the book made upon the orthodox Jew may be seen in the Book of Wisdom, in which (2:1–9) the writer collects some of Koheleth’s despairing reflexions; and, placing them in the mouth of the ungodly, raises his protest against them. There were living at the time not only gnomic moralizers. but also men of intense, it narrow, piety — men of the tempei afterwards seen in the Maccabees. One of these interpolated observations on (i.) the fear of God. (ii.) the judgment of God. In every case except 5:1–7 [Heb. 4] his remarks explicitly correct some complaint of Koheleth to which he objected. 12:11, 12 is a postscript by the ‘wise man,’ and vv. 13, 1 by the pious man. The additions which appear to be due to the former are

4:5, 9–12 6:7, 9 7:1. 4-12. 8:1 9:17 f. 10. 15. 12.,

and to the latter 2 3 S’-‘T’s""- " ‘•■ s-

11. 12:1. 13f.,

4. Koheleth’s reflexions. — (a) His view of life. — After the exordium (1-2"), in which, under the guise of Solomon, he explains that he made every possible attempt to discover the meaning and aim of life, the rest of his writing consists of a miscellaneous series of pictures, illustrating his recurrent thought that ‘all is a vapour, and a striving alter wind.’ And the conclusion at which he arrives is that man can aim at nothing, guide himself by nothing. His only course is to fall back upon present enjoyment and industry. It is far from being a summum bonum; it is not an Epicureantheory of life ; it is a mere modus vivendi, ‘whereby he shall not take much account of the days of his lite’ (5). And to this conclusion he incessantly returns, whenever he finds life’s mysteries insoluble: 2?i’- S’^t. 22 6:17–19 gis 9:7–10 11:1–10 (exc. 1"=) 12"‘-‘.

(6) His religious ideas. — It is improbable that he came into immediate contact with any of the Greek schools of thought. It has often been maintained that he shows distinct signs of having been influenced by both Stoic and Epicurean philosophy. Of the latter it is difiBcult to discern the slightest trace; but for the former there is more to be said. But there is nothing at which a thinking Jew, of a philosophical temper of mind, could not have arrived independently. And it must not be forgotten that even Stoicism was not a purely Greek product ; its founder Zeno was of Phoenician descent, and his followers came from Syria, Cilicia Carthage, and other Hellenistic (as distinct from Hellenic) quarters. Koheleth occupies (what may be called) debatable ground between Semitic and Greek thought. He has lost the vitahty of belief in a personal God, which inspired the earlier prophets, and takes his stand upon a somewhat colourless monotheism. He never uses the personal name ‘Jahweh.’ but always the descriptive title ‘Elohim’ (4 times) or ‘the Elohim’ (16 times), ‘the deity’ who manifests Himself in the inscrutable and irresistible forces of Nature. At the same time he never Commits himself to any definitely pantheistic statements. He has not quite lost his Semitic belief that God is more than Nature, for His action shows evidence of design (3:11, 18 B’^‘‘7:14 8 11:5). Moreover, God’s work — the course of Nature — appears in the form of an endless cycle. Events and phenomena are brought upon the stage of life, and banished into the past, only to be recalled and banished again (1:4–11 3:15). And this, for Koheleth, paralyzes all real effort; for no amount of labour can produce anything new or of real profit — no one can add to, or subtract from, the unswerving chain of facts (I’s S’-s- 7:13) no one can contend with Him that is mightier than he (e’"). And he gains no relief from the expectation of Messianic peace and perfection, which animated the orthodox Jew. There are left him only the shreds of the religious convictions of his fathers, with a species of ‘natural religion’ which has fatalism and altruism among i s ingredients

5. The value of the book for us lies largely in its very deficiencies. The untroubled orthodoxy of the pious man who corrected what he thought was wrong, the moral aphorisms of the ‘wise man,’ and the Weltschmerz of Koheleth with his longing for light, were each examples of the state of thought of the time. They corresponded to the three classes of men in 1 Corinthians 1:20 — the ‘scribe’ (who clung faithfully to his accepted traditions), the - wise man,’ and the ‘searcher of this world.’ Each possessed elements of lasting truth, but each needed to be answered, and raised to a higher plane of thought, by the revelation of God in the Incarnation. A. H. M’ Neile.

Ecclesiasticus

See Apocrypha, § 13.

Eclipse

See Sun.

ED. — In the Hebrew (and also in the Greek) text of Joshua 22:34 the name given by the two and a half tribes to the altar erected by them on the east bank of the Jordan has dropped out. Our English translators have filled the gap by inserting Bd as the name of the altar in question. For this they have the authority of a few MSS.

The location of this altar on the east bank of the Jordan is required by the whole tenor of|the narrative. The west bank is suggested by v. 10 in its present|form, and maintained also by RV in v. 11. by a translation of doubtful admissibility, ‘in the forefront of the land of Canaan, mi the side thai pertaineth to the children of Israel.’

Eddinus

One of the ‘holy singers’ at Josiah’s passover (1 Esdras 1:15). In the parallel passage 2 Oh 35:15 the corresponding name is Jeduthun, which is read also, contrary to MS authority, by AV in 1 Esdras. The text of the latter is probably corrupt.

Eden

2 Chronicles 29:12 SI", a Levite, or possibly two. It is not certain that Eden is the true form of the name: LXX has Jodan in the first, Odom in the second passage. When it transliterates Eden elsewhere it is usually in the form Edem. J. Taylor.

Eden, Children of

The people occupying Bit- Adini (2 Kings 19:12. Isaiah 37:12; for Ezekiel 27:23 see Canneh). See Eden [House of). Telassar (2 Kings 19:12) may perhaps be TU Bashir of the inscriptions. J. Tatlor.

Eden, Garden of

Gn 2f . relateshow God planted a garden in the East, in Eden. A river rose in that land, fiowed through the garden, and then divided into four streams. Within the enclosure were many trees useful for food; also the tree of life, whose fruit conferred immortality, and the tree of knowledge, which gave power to discriminate between things profitable and things hurtful, or, between right and wrong. The animal denizens were innocuous to man and to each other. When the first man and woman yielded to the tempter and ate of the tree of knowledge, they were expelled, and precluded from re-entering the garden.

In this account Genesis 2:10–14 3:22, 24 seem to be interpolations. But the topographical data in 2:10–14 are of especial importance, because they have supplied the material for countless attempts to locate the garden. It has been almost universally agreed that one of the four rivers is the Euphrates and another the Tigris. Here the agreement ends, and no useful purpose would be served by an attempt to enumerate the conflicting theories. Three which have found favour of late, may be briefly mentioned. One is that the Gihon is the Nile, and the Pishon the Persian and Arabian Gulfs, conceived of as a great river, with its source and that of the Nile not far from those of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Another regards Eden as an island not far from the head of the Persian Gulf, near the mouths of the Euphrates the Tigris, the Kerkha. and the Karun. The third puts Eden near Eridu (once the seaport of Chaldaea on the Persian Gulf), and takes the Pishon to be the canal afterwards called Pallakottas, and the Gihon to be the Khoaspes (now Kerkha). In support of the last-named view a cuneiform tablet is quoted which speaks of a tree or shrub planted near Eridu by the gods. The sun-god and ‘the peerless mother of Tammuz’ dwell there: ‘no man enters into the midst of it.’ But the correspondences with the Biblical Eden are not sufficiently striking to compel conviction. At the same time it can hardly be doubted that the Biblical writer utilized traditional matter which came originally from Babylonia. The very name Eden, which to him meant ‘delight,’ is almost certainly the Bab. Minnu = ‘plain.’ The Bab. author would conceive of the garden as lying in a district near his own land, hard by the supposed common source of the great rivers. And this, to the Hebrews, is in the East.

Eden, or the garden of Eden, became the symbol of a very fertile land (Genesis 13:10. Isaiah 51:3. Ezekiel 31:9, 16, 1 f., Ji 2:3). The dirge over the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13 ff.) is founded on a Paradise legend which resembles that in Gn., but has a stronger mythological colouring: the ‘garden of God’ (v. 13) is apparently identified with the well-known mythical mountain of the gods (v. 14) the cherub and the Idng of Tyre are assimilated to each other; the stones of fire may be compared with the flame of a sword (Genesis 3:24: see also Enoch 24:16). In later literature we find much expansion and embellishment of the theme: see Jubilees 3:9 4. Enoch 24’- 32. 60. 61. 2 Esdras 8:52. Assump. Mos. ix fl., Ev. Nic. xix. etc. NT thought and imagery have been affected by the description of Eden given in Genesis 2 f.: see Luke 23, 2 Corinthians 12:4. Revelation 2:7. The Koran has many references to the garden of Paradise Lost, and the gardens of the Paradise to come (ix. xiii. xlvii. Iv. Ixvlii. etc.). J. Taylob.

Eden, House of

A place or district connected politically with Damascus (Amos 1:5 RVra Beth-eden). Of the five suggestions for locality the likeliest is ‘Eden or Ehden, 20 miles N.W. of Baalbek, on the N.W. slope of Lebanon. Its most formidable competitor, Bit-Adini, a district on either bank of the Middle Euphrates, frequently mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions, is too far — 200 miles — from Damascus, and in the days of Amos had long been subject to Assyria. J. Taylor.

Eder

1. Genesis 35:21 ‘And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.’ ‘Eder means’ a flock’; and the phrase Midgal-eder (‘flocktower,’ cf. Micah 4:8) would have been the appellation given to a tower occupied by shepherds for the protection of their flocks against robbers (cf. 2 Kings 18:8. 2 Chronicles 26:10). The tower here mentioned lay between Bethlehem and Hebron (cf. vv. 19, 27). Jerome mentions a Jewish tradition that this Eder was the site of the Temple, but himself prefers to think that it was the spot on which the shepherds received the angels’ message. 2. Joshua 15:21. The name of one of the towns of Judah in the south,’ close to the Edomite frontier; perhaps Kh. el-‘AdOr, 5 miles S. of Gaza. 3. 1 Chronicles 23:23 24. The name of a Merarite Levite in the days of David. i. A Benjamite (1 Ch. 8:15).

Edna

Wife of Raguel of Ecbatana, and mother of Sarah, who became wife of Tobias (To 10" 11<). See Apocrypha, § 8.

Edom, Edomites

The Edomites were a tribe or group of tribes residing in early Biblical times in Mount Seir (Genesis 32:3, Judges 5:4). but covering territory on both sides of it. At times their territory seems to have included the region to the Red Sea and Sinai (1 Kings 9. Judges 5:4). Edom or Esau was their reputed ancestor! The Israelites were conscious that the Edomites were their near kinsmen, hence the tradition that Esau and Jacob were twin brothers (Genesis 25:24). That the Edomites were an older nation they showed by making Esau the firstborn twin. The tradition that Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright (Genesis 27), and that enmity arose between the brothers, is an actual reflexion of the hostile relations of the Edomites and Israelites for which the Israelites were to a considerable degree responsible.

Before the conquest of Canaan, Edom is said to have refused to let Israel pass through his territory (Numbers 20:18, 21). Probably during the period of the Judges, Edomites invaded southern Judah (cf . Paton, Syria arid Palestine, 161 ff.).’ Possibly Edomites settled here and were incorporated in Judah, for Kenaz is said in Genesis 36:11 to be a son of Esau, while in Judges 3:9 he is counted a Judahite.

During the monarchy Saul is said to have fought the Edomites (1 Samuel 14:47) David conquered ‘Edom and put garrisons in the country (2 Samuel 8) Edom regained its independence under Solomon (1 K ll"-22); Jehoshaphat a century later reconquered Edom (cf. 1 K 22:47, 48). and Edomites helped him in his war with Moab (2 Kings 3); in the reign of Joram, his successor, the Edomites regained their independence after a bloody revolution (S^"- ^i); at the beginning of the next century Amaziah reconquered them for a short time, capturing Sela, and slaughtering a large number of them (2 Kings 14:7). A little later Amos (Amos 1) accuses Edom of pursuing his brother with the sword. During the next century Edom was independent of Israel, but paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser in., Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, kings of Assyria (cf. KIB ii. 21, 91, 149, 239).

In connexion with the wars of Nebuchadnezzar, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 586, many Jews migrated to Edom; but the Edomites rejoiced in the overthrow of the Jews. This deepened the old-time enmity, and called forth bitter denunciations and predictions of vengeance from Israel’s prophets (cf. Ezekiel 26:12–14. Ob Isaiah 63:1–7). A little later great suffering was inflicted on the Edomites by the Nabatseans, who overran the country and crowded the Edomites up into southern Judah. This invasion of Nabataeans is probably referred to in Mai I*"-, for by 312 they were in this region, and Antigonus and Demetrius came in< contact with them (cf. Diodorus Siculus, x. 95, 96, 100).

The Edomites, because of this, occupied the territory of Judah as far as the town of Beth-zur, to the north of Hebron, which became the Idumeea (wh. see) of the NT period. Here Judas Maccabaeus fought with the Edomites (1 Maccabees 5:3, 65). and John Hyrcanus shortly before the end of the 2nd cent. B.C. conquered them, and compelled them to be circumcised and to accept the Jewish religion (cf. Jos. Anl. xiii. ix. 1, xiv. i. 3, and XV. vii. 9). This was the end of the Edomites as a nation, but they obtained a kind of revenge on the Jews by furnishing the Herodian dynasty to them. Georqe a. Barton.

EDOS, 1 Esdras 9:35 = Iddo, Ezra 10:43.

Edrei

1. A royal city of Og, king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 1:4 3:10, Joshua 12:4 13:12), the scene of the battle at which Og was defeated (Numbers 21:33. Deuteronomy 3:1) assigned to the eastern division of Manasseh (Joshua 13:31). It seems to be the modern ed-Der’ a, where are several important remains of antiquity, including a great subterranean catacomb. 2. A town in Naphtall (Joshua 19:37). not identifled. R. A. S. Maoalister.