Ezekiel – Eoph

Ezekiel

Ezekiel (=‘Jahweh strengthens’). I. The Man. — Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, a priest of the family of Zadok, and was carried into exile with Jehoiachin, B.C. 597 (2 Kings 24:8 ff.). Josephus (.Ant. x. vi. 3) states that he was a boy at the time; but this is doubtful, for in the fifth year from then he was old enough to be called to the prophetic oflice (1:2). and could speak of his youth as long past (4:14) in the ninth year his wife dies (24:16) his acquaintance with the Temple is best explained by sifpposing that he had officiated there, and the predictions in ch. 38f . read as though he remembered the inroad of b.c. 626. He and his fellow-exiles formed an organized community, presided over by elders, at Tel-Abib, on the banks of the canal Chebar (3:15). Ezekiel lived in a house of his own (3:24). and, for at least 22 years (1:2 29). endeavoured to serve his people. His call was prefaced by an impressive vision of the Divine glory, and the expression, ‘the hand of J" was upon me’ (1:3 8:1 37 40), indicates that the revelations which he received came to him in a state of trance or ecstasy; cf. also 3:15, 25 with 24. His message met at first with contemptuous rejection (3:7), and the standing title, ‘a rebellious house,’ shows that he never achieved the result which he desired. Yet there was something in his speech which pleased the ears of the captives, and brought them to his house for counsel (8:1 14:1 20:1 SS’"-‘‘). No doubt his character also commanded attention. His moral courage was impressive (3:8) he ever acted as’ a man under authority,’ accepting an unpleasant commission and adhering to it in spite of speedy (3:14) and constant suffering (3 33) ; even when he sighs it is at God’s bidding (21:6, 7). and when his beloved wife dies he restrains his tears and resumes his teaching (24:15–18). Part of his message was given in writing, but the spoken word is in evidence too (3:10 II26 20:3 24:18 33). It has been said that he was ‘pastor rather than prophet,’ and this would not be far from the truth if it ran, ‘pastor as well as prophet,’ for he both watched over individual souls and claimed the ear of the people. Again, he has been called ‘a priest in prophet’s garb,’ for the thoughts and principles of the priesthood controlled his conduct (4:14). come out amidst the vigorous ethical teaching of chapter 33, and give its distinctive colouring to the programme unfolded at the close of the book. We know nothing of his later life. Clem. Alex, refers to the legend that he met Pythagoras and gave him instruction. Pseudo-Epiphanius and others assert that he was martyred by a Hebrew whom he had rebuked for idolatry. His reputed grave, a few days’ journey from Baghdad, was a pilgrimage resort of the medieval Jews.

II. The Book. 1. Division and Contents. — Two halves are sharply differentiated from each other in matter and tone. The change synchronized with the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem (24:1, 2). Chs. 1-24 contain denunciations of sin and predictions of judgment; 25-48 are occupied with the hopes of the future. In the first division we distinguish: 1. The Introduction (I-32’). 2. The first series of prophecies in act and word (3:22). 3. The abominations practised in Jerusalem (8-11). 4. Sins, reasonings, stern threats (12-19). 5. ‘The same subject, and the beginning of the end (20-24). In the second division: 1. The removal of hostile neighbours (25-32). 2. The moral requirements now to be met; the destruction of the last enemy (33-39). 3. A sketch of the community of the future (40-48). In both parts there is a scrupulous exactness of dating, unexampled In any earlier prophet (!’■ 8:1 20:1 24:1 26 29 30 31 32 33 40).

Ezekiel’s verdict on the national history is of unmixed severity. From their starting-point in Egypt the people had behaved ill (cf. 20:5–13 with Jeremiah 2:2). Jerusalem — to him almost synonymous with the nation — was pagan in origin and character (16). The root of their wickedness was an inveterate love of idolatry (passim). Even Eaekiel’s own contemporaries longed to be heathens: their God could hold them back only by extreme violence (20). The exiles were somewhat less guilty than their brethren in Jerusalem (li^‘). But, on the whole, princes, priests, and people were an abandoned race. They loved the worship of the high places, which, according to Ezekiel, had always been Idolatrous and illegitimate. They ate flesh with the blood in it, disregarded the Sabbath, polluted the Temple with ceremonial and moral defilements, committed adultery and other sexual abominations, were guilty of murder, oppression, the exaction of usury, harshness to debtors. The list can be paralleled from other Prophetic writings, but the stress is here laid on offences against God. And this is in accordance with the strong light in which Ezekiel always sees the Divine claims. The vision with which the whole opens points to His transcendent majesty. The title,’ son of man,’ by which the prophet is addressed 116 times, marks the gulf between the creature and his Maker. The most regrettable result of Israel’s calamities is that they seem to suggest impotence on Jahweh’s part to protect His own. The motive which has induced Him to spare them hitherto, and will, hereafter, ensure their restoration, is the desire to vindicate His own glory. In the ideal future the prince’s palace shall be built at a proper distance from Jahweh’s, and not even the prince shall ever pass through the gate which has been hallowed by the returning glory of the Lord. Hence it is natural that the reformation and restoration of Israel are God’s work. He will sprinkle clean water on them, give them a new heart, produce in them humility and self-loathing. He will destroy their foes and bless their land with supernatural fertility. It was He who had sought amongst them in vain for one who might be their Saviour. It was He who in His wrath had caused them to immolate their children in sacrifice. God is all in all. Yet the people have their part to play. Ezekiel protests against the traditional notion that the present generation were suffering for their ancestors’ faults: to acquiesce in that is to deaden the^ense of responsibihty and destroy the springs of action! Here he joins hands with Jer. (Jeremiah 31:29 f.), both alike coming to close quarters with the individual conscience. He pushes almost too far the truth that a change of conduct brings a change of fortune (33:14–16). But there is immense practical value in his insistence on appropriate action, his appeal to the individual, and the tenderness of the appeal (IS^^‘" 33:11). Nowhere is Jahweh’s longing for the deliverance of His people more pathetically expressed. And, notwithstanding their continual wrong-doing, the bond of union is so close that He resents as a personal wrong the spitefulness of their neighbours (25-32. 36). The heathen, as such, have no future, although individual heathen settlers will share the common privileges (47).

The concluding chapters, 40-48, ‘the weightiest in the book,’ are a carefully elaborated sketch of the polity of repatriated Israel — Israel, i.e , not as a nation, but as an ecclesiastical organization. In the foreground is the Temple and its services. Its position, surroundings, size, arrangements, are minutely detailed; even the place and number of the tables on which the victims must be slain are settled. The ordinances respecting the priesthood are precise; none but the Zadokites may officiate; priests who had ministered outside Jerusalem are reduced to the menial duties of the sanctuary (cf. Deuteronomy 18:8). Adequate provision is made for the maintenance of the legitimate priests. Rules are laid down to ensure their ceremonial purity. The office of high priest is not recognized. And there Is no real king. In ch. 37 the ruler, of David’s line. seems to count for something; not so here. True, he is warned against oppressing his subjects (45 46). but he has no political rdle. A domain is set apart to provide him a revenue, and his chief function is to supply the sacrifices for the festivals. The country is divided into equal portions, one for each tribe, all of whorn are brought back to the Holy Land. No land is to be permanently alienated from the family to which it was assigned. God’s glory returns to the remodelled and rebuilt sanctuary, and Ezekiel’s prophecy reaches its climax in the concluding words, ‘The name of the city from that day shall be, Jahweh is there.’ It would be difficult to exaggerate the effect which this Utopia has produced. Some details, such as the equal division of the land, the arrangements respecting the position and revenue of the prince, the relation of the tribes to the city, were impracticable. But the limitation of the priesthood to a particular class, the introduction of a much more scrupulous avoidance of ceremonial defilement, the eradication of pagan elements of worship, the exclusion of all rival objects of worship, went a long way towards creating Judaism. And whilst this has been the practical result, the chapters in question, together with Ezekiel’s visions of the chariot and cherubim, have had no little infiuence in the symbolism and imaginative presentment of Jewish apocalyptic literature and Christian views of the unseen world.

2. Style. — Notwithstanding the favourable opinion of Schiller, who wished to learn Heb. in order to read Ezekiel, it is impossible to regard this prophet as one of the greatest masters of style. His prolixity has been adduced as a proof of advanced age. Repetitions abound. Certain words and formulas recur with wearisome frequency: ‘I, Jahweh, have spoken,’ ‘They shall know that I am Jahweh’ (66 times), ‘Time of the iniquity of the end,’ ‘A desolation and an astonishment’; Ezekiel’s favourite word for " idols’ is used no fewer than 38 times. The book abounds in imagery, but this suffers from the juxtaposition of incongruous elements (17:3–6 32:2). a mixture of the figurative and the literal (31:17 f.). inaptness (11:3 15:1–5) that in chs. 16 and 23 is oflfensive to Western but probably not to Eastern taste; that of the Introductory Vision was partly suggested by the composite forms seen in the temples and palaces of Babylonia, and is difficult to conceive of as a harmonious whole. But as a rule Ezekiel sees very distinctly the things he is dealing with, and therefore describes them clearly. Nothing could be more forcible than his language concerning the sins that prevailed. The figures of 29:3 f. 34 37 are very telling. There is genuine lyric force in 27 32, and other dirges; there is a charming idyllic picture in 34. The abundant use of symbolic actions claims notice. Ezekiel’s ministry opens with a rough drawing on a tile, and no other prophet resorted so often to like methods of instruction.

3. Text, integrity, and canonicity. — Ezekiel shares with Samuel the unenviable distinction of having the most corrupt text in the OT. Happily the LXX, and in a minor degree the Targum and the Pesh., enable us to make many indisputable corrections. Parallel texts, internal probability, and conjecture have also contributed to the necessary reconstruction, but there remain no small number of passages where it is impossible to be certain. The integrity of the book admits of no serious question. Here and there an interpolation may be recognized, as at 24:22 f. 27ii’>-»». One brief section was inserted by the prophet out of its chronological order (29:17–20). But the work as a whole is Ezekiel’s own arrangement of the memoranda which had accumulated year after year. Although the Rabbis never doubted this, Ezekiel narrowly escaped exclusion from the Canon. Chag., 13o, informs us that but for a certam Hananiah it ‘would have been withdrawn from public use, because the prophet’s words contradict those of the Law.’ Mistrust was also aroused by the opening which the Vision of the Chariot afforded for theosophical speculation; no one might discuss It aloud in the presence of a single hearer (.Chag., 11 6).

J. Taylor.

Ezel

The spot where Jonathan arranged to meet David before the latter’s final departure from the court of Saul (1 Samuel 20:19). The place is not mentioned elsewhere, and it is now generally admitted that the Heb. text of this passage is corrupt. The true reading seems to have been preserved by the LXX, according to which we should read in v. 19 ‘yonder cairn,’ and in v. 41 ‘from beside the cairn.’

Ezem

Ezem (1 Chronicles 4:29). See Azmon.

Ezer

1. A Horite ‘duke’ (Genesis 36:21. 1 Chronicles 1:38). 2. A son of Ephraim who, according to 1 Chronicles 7. was slain by the men of Gath. 3. A Judahite (1 Chronicles 4:4). 4. A Gadite chief who joined David (1 Chronicles 12:9). 6. A son of Jeshua who helped to repair the wall (Nehemiah 3:19). 6. A priest who ofBciated at the dedication of the walls (Nehemiah 12:42).

EZION-GEBER, later called Berenice (Jos. Ant vm. vi. 4). — A port on the Red Sea (on the Gulf of Akabah) used by Solomon for his commerce (1 Kings 9:26). Here also the Israelites encamped (Numbers 33:35. Deuteronomy 2:8).

A. J. Maclean.

Eznite

See Adino.

Ezora

The sons of Ezora, in 1 Esdras 9:34. take the place of the strange name Klaclmadebai (or Mabnadebai, AVm) in Ezra 10:40. where there is no indication of a fresh family.

Ezra

Ezra (perhaps an abbreviation of Azariah = ‘Jahweh helps’), 1. — A Jewish exile in Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes i. Longimanus (b.c. 464-424), who played, as is well known, a prominent part in Jerusalem during the critical period of reform associated with the governorship of Nehemiah. Our sources of information regarding him are (1) the autobiographical narratives embodied in Ezr 7-10, and Neh 8-10; and (2) later tradition as embodied in the narrative of the compiler of Ezr.-Neh., and the accounts in the apocryphal books.

According to Ezra 7:1–5. Ezra was of priestly descent, and in fact a member of the high-priestly family (a ‘Zadokite’). But the Seraiah there mentioned cannot be his father, as this Seraiah had been executed by Nebuchadnezzar in b.c. 586 (133 years before Ezra’s appearance). The genealogy may only intend to assert that Ezra belonged to the high-priestly family (cf. also 1 Esdras 4:40, 49). But his priestly descent has been called in question. His work and achievements rather suggest the character of the ‘scribe’ (sSpfter) par excellence* In the apocalyptic work known as 2 (4) Esdras he is represented as a ‘prophet’ (2 Esdras 1:1).

In order to form a just estimate of Ezra’s work and aims, we must picture him as a diligent student of the Law. He doubtless stood at the head — or, at any rate, was a leading figure — of a new order which had grown up in the Exile among the Jews of the ‘Golah’ or captivity in Babylonia. Among these exiles great literary activity apparently prevailed during the later years of the Exile and onwards. The so-called ‘Priestly Code’ — which must be regarded as the work of a whole school of writers — was formed, or at least the principal part of it, probably between the closing years of the Exile and the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem (B.C. 536-458), and was doubtless the ‘law of God’ which Ezra brought with him to Jerusalem. The centre of Jewish culture, wealth, and leisure was at this time — and for some time continued to be— Babylonia, where external circumstances had become (since the Persian supremacy) comparatively favourable for the Jews. In this respect the position of the Jerusalem community, during these years, afforded a painful

He is described as ‘Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven,’ in Ezra 7:11–21; as ‘Ezra the priest, the scribe,’ in Nehemiah 8:9 12; and as ‘the priest’ alone in Ezra 10, Nehemiah 8:2. In all these places ‘the priest’ may easily be due to a redactor’s hand. contrast. The tiny community in Judaea had to wage as a whole a long and sordid struggle against poverty and adverse surroundings. Its religious condition was much inferior to that of the ‘Golah.’ Moved by religious zeal, and also, it would seem, with the statesman-like view of making Jerusalem once more the real spiritual metropolis of Judaism, Ezra conceived the idea of infusing new life and new ideals into the Judsean community, by leading a fresh band of zealously religious exiles from Babylonia back to Judaea on a mission of reform. With the aid, possibly, of Jews at court, he enlisted the goodwill of Artaxerxes, and secured an Imperial firman investing him with all the authority necessary for his purpose. This edict has been preserved in an essentially trustworthy form in Ezr. 7:12–26. all Jews who so wished could depart from Babylon; offerings were to be carried to the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Law of God was to be enforced. In the 7th year of Artaxerxes (b.c. 458) Ezra collected a band of 1496 men (Ezra 8:1–14; in 1 Es 8 the number is given as 1690), besides women and children, and started on his journey across the desert. In four months they reached their destination.

Here, after the sacred gifts had been offered in the Temple, Ezra soon learned of the lax state of affairs that prevailed in the holy city, and among the Judaean villages. The ‘holy seed’ (including even priests and Levites) had ‘mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands,’ and ‘the hand of the princes and deputies’ had ‘been first in this trespass’ (Ezra 9:2). Ezra’s consequent prayer and confession, in the presence of a large assemblage of the people, leaid to drastic measures of reform. A general congregation of the community authorizes the establishment of a divorce court, presided over by Ezra, which finishes its labours after three months’ work: ‘and they made an end with the whole business’ (10:17) [corrected text]), many innocent women and children being made to suffer in the process.

In the present form of the narrative Ezra does not emerge again till after an Interval of 13 years, after Nehemiah had arrived in Jerusalem and re-erected and dedicated the city waJls. Shortly after these events (according to the usual chronology, in B.C. 444) the Book of the Law was read by Ezra before the people in solemn assembly, who pledged themselves to obey it. Within the same month (i.e. Tishri, the seventh month) the first of its injunctions to be carried out was the due celebration of the Feast of Booths (Nehemiah 8:13–18).

The sequence of events as described above is not without difficulties. How is the long interval between Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem (b.c. 458) and the promulgation of the Law (B.C. 444) to be explained? It may be, aa Stade has suggested, that the compulsory divorce proceedings alienated a conaideiable body of the people, and that the opportune moment for introducing the code was in consequence postponed. Or — and there is some probability in this view — the chronology niay_ have become dislocated in the present composite narrative, and Ezra may really iiave accomplished the Dulk of his work before Nehemian’s arrival. Perhaps with even greater plausibility a case may be made out for

elacingEzra’s worksubsequent to Nehemiah’s governorship, heyne (JRL p. 54 f .) places it between the two visits (445 and 432). See, further, Nehemiah [Book of], § 3. It is certainly remarkable that in their respective memoirs Ezra and Nehemiah mention each other but once.

Ezra’s is an austere and commanding figure, which has left a lasting impress upon the religious life of the Jewish people. Ezra is the true founder of Judaism. By investing the Law with a sanctity and infiuence that it had never before possessed, and making it the possession of the entire community, he endowed the Jewish people with a cohesive power which was proof against all attacks from without. G. H. Box.

2. Eponym of a family which returned with Zerub. (Nehemiah 12).

Ezra, Book of

Our present Book of Ezra, which consists of 10 chapters, is really part of a composite work, Ezra-Nehemiah, which, again, is the continuation of Chronicles. The entire work — ChronicleB-Ezra- Nehemiah — is a compilation made by the Chronicler. See, further, Nehemiah [Book of], § 1.

1. Analysis of the book. — The Book of Ezra falls into two main divisions: (a) chs. 1-6; (6) chs. 7-10.

(a) Chs. 1-6 give an account of the Return and the re-building of the Temple. Ch. 1 tells how Cyrus, after the capture of Babylon in B.C. 538, issued an edict permitting the exiles to return; of the latter about 40,000 availed themselves of the opportunity and returned to Judaea under Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel, a member of the royal Davidic family, who was appointed governor (pechah) by Cyrus (b.c. 538-537). Ch. 2 contains a list of those who returned and their offerings for the building of the Temple. Ch. 3 describes how in October 537 the altar of burnt-oflering was re-erected on its ancient site, the foundation-stone of the Temple laid (May 536), and the work of re-building begun. Ch. 4 tells that, owing to the unfriendly action of neighbouring populations, the building of the Temple was suspended during the rest of the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses. It contains the correspondence between Rehum, Shimshai, and their companions, and king Artaxerxes. In 6«-‘2 we are informed that, as a consequence of the earnest exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the building of the Temple was energetically resumed in the second year of Darius i. (b.c. 520). In 6»-6’* we have the correspondence between the satrap Tattenai and Darius. We read in 6^3-22 of how the Temple was successfully completed on the 3rd March 515 b.c. [An interval of silence, lasting nearly sixty years, ensues, of which there seems to be little or no record elsewhere.]

(6) Chs. 7-10 deal with Ezra’s personal work. In ch. 7 the silence of nearly sixty years is broken in the year B.C. 458, when Ezra, the tmcher of the Law, at the head of a fresh band of exiles, leaves Babylonia bearing a commission from Artaxerxes r. to bring about a settlement in the religious condition of the Judsean community. Ch. 8 gives a list of the heads of families who journeyed with him, and tells of their arrival in Jerusalem. Ch. 9 describes the proceedings against the foreign wives, and contains Ezra’s penitential prayer. In ch. 10 we read that an assembly of the whole people, in December 458, appointed a commission to deal with the mixed marriages. The narrative abruptly breaks off with an enumeration of the men who had married strange women.

2. Sources of the book. — In its present form the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah is, as has been pointed out, the work of the Chronicler. The compilation, however, embraces older material. The most important parts of this latter are undoubtedly the autobiographical sections, which have been taken partly from Ezra’s, partly from Nehemiah’s, personal memoirs.

(a) Extracts from Ezra’s memoirs embodied in the Book of Ezra.— The long passage Ezra 7:27 (except 8) is generally admitted to be an authentic extract from Ezra’s memoirs. The abrupt break which takes place at 9:15 must be due to a compiler. ‘The events of the next thirteen years were clearly of too dismal a character to make it desirable to perpetuate the memory of them’ (Cornill). [It is probable that an even larger excerpt from these memoirs is to be seen in Nehemiah 9:6.]

It seems probable that these memoirs were not used by the Chronicler in their original form, but in a form adapted and arranged by a later hand, to which Ezra 10 is due. This latter narrative is of first-rate importance and rests upon extremely good information. It was probably written by the same hand that composed the main part of Neh 8-10 (see Nehemiah [Book of], § 2).

The Imperial finnan — an Aramaic document (7) — t^g essential authenticity of which has now been made certain — is_ an extract from the memoirs preserved in the same compiler’swork, from which Ezra 2 ( = Nehemiah 7:6–73) also derived. The introductoiy verses (7:1–11) are apparently the work of the Chronicler.

(6) Other sources of the book. — The other most important source used by the Chronicler was an Aramaic one, written, perhaps, about b.c. 450, which contained a history of the building of the Temple, the city walls, etc., and cited original documents. From this authority come Ezra 4:8–22 5:1 (cited verbally).

The CThronicler, however, partly misunderstood his Aramaic source. He has misconceived 4:6., and assigned a false position to the document embodied in 4.

(c) Passages written by the Chronider. — The following passages bear clear marks of being the actual composition of the Chronicler: Ezra 1. 3:2 4:24 6:16 8:35, 36.

3. Separation of Ezra from Chronicles. — It would appear that after the great work of the Chronicler had been completed (1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah), the part which contained narratives of otherwise unrecorded events was first received into the Canon. Hence, in the Jewish Canon, Ezra-Nehemiah precedes the Books of Chronicles. In the process of separation certain verses are repeated (Ezr n-3» = 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23) V.22 seems to have been added in 2 Chronicles 36 to avoid a dismal ending (v. 21).

For the historical value of the book of. what is said under Nehemiah [Book of], § 3. G. H. Box.

Ezrah

A Judahite (1 Chronicles 4:17).

Ezrahite

A name given to Heman in the title of Psalms 88, and to Ethan (wh. see) in Psalms 89. It is used of Ethan also in 1 Kings 4:31.

Ezri

David’s superintendent of agriculture (1 Chronicles 27:26).

Ezril

1 Es 9M=Azarel, 4 (Ezra 104).

F

Eebas

Eebas (1 Esdras 5:29) =Ezr 2:44 and Nehemiah 7:47 Keros.

Eebchiefs

Eebchiefs (from the Fr. couvrechef, a covering for the head) are mentioned only in Ezekiel 13:18, 21, a somewhat obscure passage having reference to certain forms of divination or sorcery, which required the head to be covered. They evidently varied in length with the height of the wearer (v. 18), and perhaps resembled the long veils worn by the female captives from Lachish represented on an Assyr. sculpture, see Dress, § 6 (6). A. R. S. Kennedy.

Eere

Eere or QERE.— See Text of OT.

Eetab

Eetab (1 Esdras 5:30). Head of a family of Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel. There is no corresponding name in the lists of Ezr. and Neh.

Eiriath-sannah, Kiriath-sepher

See Debir, No. 1.

Eish

1. The father of Saul the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 9:1 lO" 14:51, Acts 13:21). His home was at Gibeah (rendered ‘the iiill of God’ and ‘the hill’ in both AV and RV of 1 Samuel 10:5 and 10:10). 2. The uncle of the foregoing (1 Chronicles 8:30 9:36). 3. The eponym of a family of Merarite Levites (1 Chronicles 23:21, 22 24:29. 2 Chronicles 29:12). 4. A Benjamite ancestor of Mordecai (Esther 2).

Eitron

A Canaanite town in the territory of Zebulun (Judges 1:30). See Kattath.

Eittim

Eittim (AV Chittim, which is retained by RV in 1 Maccabees 1:1 8:5) designates properly the island of Cyprus, and is to be so understood in the geographical list of the descendants of Javan (wh. see), that is, the lonians, ill Genesis 10:4. The name is based on that of the settlement on the south-east of the island, called Kition by the Greeks, the modern Larnaka. ‘This was the first trading post of the Phoenicians on the Mediterranean, hence it is vaguely used in Ezekiel 27:6 as the mother-city of all the maritime settlements westward. The connexion with the lonians or Greeks is not quite clear, since these were not the first settlers on the island. There were, however, undoubtedly Greek colonists there in the 8th cent. B.C., as we learn from the inscription of the Assyrian Sargon of 720, pointing to a settlement of Ionian Cyprians in Ashdod. A use of the word, still more vague, is found in Daniel 11:30, where it refers to the Romans, while in Numbers 24:24 (as in 1 Mac 1:1 8:5) it is applied apparently to the Macedonians.

J. F. M’ CUHDT.

Eoph

TheniueteenthletteroftheHebrew alphabet, and as such employed in the 119th Psalm to designate the 19th part, each verse of which begins with this letter.