Hell – Heredity

Hell

hel (see SHEOL; HADES; GEHENNA):

1. The Word in the King James Version:

The English word, from a Teutonic root meaning "to hide" or "cover," had originally the significance of the world of the dead generally, and in this sense is used by Chaucer, Spenser, etc., and in the Creed ("He descended into hell"); compare the English Revised Version Preface. Now the word has come to mean almost exclusively the place of punishment of the lost or finally impenitent; the place of torment of the wicked. In the King James Version of the Scriptures, it is the rendering adopted in many places in the Old Testament for the Hebrew word she'ol (in 31 out of 65 occurrences of that word it is so translated), and in all places, save one (1 Corinthians 15:55) in the New Testament, for the Greek word Hades (this word occurs 11 times; in 10 of these it is translated "hell"; 1 Corinthians 15:55 reads "grave," with "hell" in the margin). In these cases the word has its older general meaning, though in Luke 16:23 (parable of Rich Man and Lazarus) it is specially connected with a place of "torment," in contrast with the "Abraham's bosom" to which Lazarus is taken (16:22). 2. The Word in the Revised Version:

In the above cases the Revised Version (British and American) has introduced changes, replacing "hell" by "Sheol" in the passages in the Old Testament (the English Revised Version retains "hell" in Isaiah 14:9,Isaiah 14:15; the American Standard Revised Version makes no exception), and by "Hades" in the passages in the New Testament (see under these words).

3. Gehenna:

Besides the above uses, and more in accordance with the modern meaning, the word "hell" is used in the New Testament in the King James Version as the equivalent of Gehenna (12 t; Matthew 5:22,Matthew 5:29; Matthew 10:28, etc.). the Revised Version (British and American) in these cases puts "Gehenna" in the margin. Originally the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, Gehenna became among the Jews the synonym for the place of torment in the future life (the "Gehenna of fire," Matthew 5:22, etc.; see GEHENNA).

4. Tartarus:

In yet one other passage in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:4), "to cast down to hell" is used (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) to represent the Greek tartaroo, ("to send into Tartarus"). Here it stands for the place of punishment of the fallen angels: "spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits (or chains) of darkness" (compare Jude 1:6; but also Matthew 25:41). Similar ideas are found in certain of the Jewish apocalyptic books (Book of Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Apocrypha Baruch, with apparent reference to Genesis 6:1–4; compare ESCHATOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT).

On theological aspect, see PUNISHMENT, EVERLASTING. For literature, see references in above-named arts., and compare article "Hell" by Dr. D. S. Salmond in HDB.

James Orr

Hellenism; Hellenist

hel'-en-iz'-m, hel'-en-ist: Hellenism is the name we give to the manifold achievements of the Greeks in social and political institutions, in the various arts, in science and philosophy, in morals and religion. It is customary to distinguish two main periods, between which stands the striking figure of Alexander the Great, and to apply to the earlier period the adjective "Hellenic," that of "Hellenistic" to the latter. While there is abundant reason for making this distinction, it must not be considered as resting upon fortuitous changes occasioned by foreign influences. The Hellenistic age is rather the sudden unfolding of a flower whose bud was forming and maturing for centuries.

1. The Expansion of the Greek Peoples:

Before the coming of the Hellenic peoples into what we now call Greece, there existed in those lands a flourishing civilization to which we may give the name "Aegean." The explorations of archaeologists during the last few decades have brought it to light in many places on the continent, as well as on the islands of the Aegean and notably in Crete. When the Hellenic peoples came, it was not as a united nation, nor even as homogeneous tribes of a common race; though without doubt predominantly of kindred origin, it was the common possession of an Aryan speech and of similar customs and religion that marked them off from the peoples among whom they settled. When their southward movemerit from Illyria occurred, and by what causes it was brought about, we do not know; but it can hardly have long antedated the continuance of this migration which led to the settlement of the coast districts of Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean from about the 13th to the 10th centuries BC. In the colonization of these new territories the Hellenic peoples became conscious of their kinship, partly because the several colonies received contingents from various regions of the motherland, partly because they were in common brought into striking contrast to the alien "Barbarians" who spoke other untintelligible languages. As the older communities on the mainland and on the islands began to flourish, they felt the need, arising from various causes, for further colonization. Among these causes we may mention the poverty of the soil in Greece proper, the restricting pressure of the strong tribes of Asia Minor who prevented expansion inland, a growing disaffection with the aristocratic regime in almost all Greek states and with the operation of the law of primogeniture in land tenure, and lastly the combined lure of adventure and the prospect of trade. Thus, it came about that in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, two great movements of colonial expansion set in, one toward the Hellespont and to the shores of the Pontus, or Black Sea, beyond, the other westward toward Southern Italy, Sicily, and beyond as far as Gades in Spain. To the 7th century belongs also the colonization of Naucratis in Egypt and of Cyrene in Libya. Then followed a period of relative inactivity during the 5th century, which was marked by the desperate conflict of the Greeks with Persia in the East and with Carthage in the West, succeeded by even more disastrous conflicts among themselves. With the enforced internal peace imposed by Macedonia came the resumption of colonial and military expansion in a measure before undreamed of. In a few years the empire of Alexander embraced Thrace, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Asia eastward beyond the Indus. The easternmost regions soon fell away, but Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt long continued under Greek rule, until Rome in the 1st century BC made good her claims to sovereignty in those lands.

2. The Hellenic State:

Throughout this course of development and expansion we speak of the people as Greeks, although it is evident that even such racial homogeneity as they may have had on coming into Greece must have been greatly modified by the absorption of conquered peoples. But the strong individuality of the Hellenic population manifested itself everywhere in its civilization. In the evolution from the Homeric kingship (supported by the nobles in council, from which the commonalty was excluded, or where it was supposed at most to express assent or dissent to proposals laid before it) through oligarchic or aristocratic rule and the usurped authority of the tyrants, to the establishement of democratic government, there is nothing surprising to the man of today. That is because Greek civilization has become typical of all western civilization. In the earlier stages of this process, moreover, there is nothing strikingly at variance with the institutions of the Hebrews, at least so far as concerns the outward forms. But there existed throughout a subtle difference of spirit which made it possible, even inevitable, for the Greeks to attain to democratic institutions, whereas to the Hebrews such a development was impossible, if not unthinkable. It is difficult to define this spirit, but one may say that it was marked from the first by an inclination to permit the free development and expression of individuality subordinated to the common good; by a corresponding recognition of human limitations over against one's fellow-man as over against Deity; by an instinctive dread of excess as inhuman and provoking the just punishment of the gods; and lastly by a sane refusal to take oneself too seriously, displaying itself in a certain good-humored irony even among men who, like Socrates and Epicurus, regarded themselves as charged with a sublime mission, in striking contrast with the Hebrew prophets who voiced the thunders of Sinai, but never by any chance smiled at their own earnestness. Even the Macedonians did not attempt to rule Greece with despotic sway, leaving the states in general in the enjoyment of their liberties; and in the Orient, Alexander and his successors, Roman as well as Greek, secured their power and extended civilization by the foundation and encouragement of Hellenic cities in extraordinary numbers. The city-state, often confederated with other city-states, displaced the organization of tribe or clan, thus substituting a new unit and a new interest for the old; and the centers thus created radiated Hellenic influence and made for order and good government everywhere. But in accordance with the new conditions the state took on a somewhat different form. While the city preserved local autonomy, the state became monarchical; and the oriental deification of the king reinforced by the Hellenic tendency to deify the benefactors of mankind, eventuated in modes of speech and thought which powerfully influenced the Messianic hopes of the Jews.

3. Hellenic Life:

The life of the Greeks, essentially urban and dominated by political interests fostered in states in which the individual counted for much, was of a type wholly different from the oriental. Although the fiction of consanguinity was cultivated by the Hellenic city-state as by the Semitic tribe, it was more transparent in the former, particularly in the newer communities formed in historical times. There was thus a powerful stimulus to mutual tolerance and concession which, supported as it was by the strong love of personal independence and the cultivation of individuality, led to the development of liberty and the recognition of the rights of man. A healthy social life was the result for those who shared the privileges of citizenship, and also, in hardly less degree, for those resident aliens who received the protection of the state. Women also, though not so free as men, enjoyed, even at Athens where they were most limited, liberties unknown to the Orientals. In the Hellenistic age they attained a position essentially similar to that of modern Europe. There were slaves belonging both to individuals and the state, but their lot was mitigated in general by a steadily growing humanity. The amenities of life were many, and were cultivated no less in the name of religion than of art, literature, and science.

4. Hellenic Art and Letters:

As in every phase of Greek civilization, the development of art and letters was free. Indeed their supreme excellence must be attributed to the happy circumstances which suffered them to grow spontaneously from the life of the people without artificial constraints imposed from within, or overpowering influences coming from without: a fortune which no other great movement in art or letters can boast. Greek art was largely developed in the service of religion; but owing to the circumstance that both grew side by side, springing from the heart of man, their reactions were mutual, art contributing to religion quite as much as it received. The creative genius of the Hellenic people expressed itself with singular directness and simplicity in forms clearly visualized and subject to the conditions of psychologically effective grouping in space or time. Their art is marked by the observance of a just proportion and by a certain natural restraint due to the preponderance of the intellectual element over the purely sensuous. Its most characteristic product is the ideal type in which only enough individuality enters to give to the typical the concreteness of life. What has been said of art in the narrower sense applies equally to artistic letters. The types thus created, whether in sculpture, architecture, music, drama, history, or oratory, though not regarded with superstitious reverence, commended themselves by the sheer force of inherent truth and beauty to succeeding generations, thus steadying the course of development and restraining the exuberant originality and the tendency to individualism. In the Hellenistic age, individualism gradually preponderated where the lessening power of creative genius did not lead to simple imitation.

5. Philosophy of Nature and of Conduct:

The traditional views of the Hellenic peoples touching Nature and conduct, which did not differ widely from those of other peoples in a corresponding stage of culture, maintained themselves down to the 7th century BC with comparatively little change. Along with and following the colonial expansion of Hellenism there came the awakening intellectual curiosity, or rather the shock of surprise necessary to convert attention into question. The mythology of the Greeks had contained a vague theology, without authority indeed, but satisfactory because adequate to express the national thought. Ethics there was none, morality being customary. But the extending horizon of Hellenic thought discovered that customs differed widely in various lands; indeed, it is altogether likely that the collection of strange and shocking customs which filled the quivers of the militant Sophists in the 5th century had its inception in the 6th and possibly the 7th century At any rate it furnished the fiery darts of the adversary until ethics was founded in reason by the quest of Socrates for the universal, not in conduct, but in judgment. As ethics arose out of the irreconcilable contradictions of conduct, so natural philosophy sprung from the contradictions of mythical theology and in opposition to it. There were in fact two strata of conceptions touching supernatural beings; one, growing out of a primitive animism, regarded their operations essentially from the point of view of magic, which refuses to be surprised at any result, be it never so ill-proportioned to the means employed, so long as the mysterious word was spoken or the requisite act performed; the other, sprung from a worship of Nature in her most striking phenomena, recognized an order, akin to the moral order, in her operations. When natural philosophy arose in the 6th century, it instinctively at first, then consciously, divested Nature of personality by stripping off the disguise of myth and substituting a plain and reasoned tale founded on mechanical principles. This is the spirit which pervades pre-Socratic science and philosophy. The quest of Socrates for universally valid judgments on conduct directed thought to the laws of mind, which are teleological, in contradistinction to the laws of matter, which are mechanical; and thus in effect dethroned Nature, regarded as material, by giving primacy to mind. Henceforth, Greek philosophy was destined, with relatively few and unimportant exceptions, to devote itself to the study of human conduct and to be essentially idealistic, even where the foundation, as with the Stoics, was ostensibly materialistic. More and more it became true of the Greek philosophers that they sought God, "if haply they might feel after him and find him," conscious of the essential unity of the Divine and the human, and defining philosophy as the endeavor to assimilate the soul to God.

6. Hellenic and Hellenistic Religion:

The Homeric poems present a picture of Greek life as seen by a highly cultivated aristocratic society having no sympathy with the commonalty. Hence, we are not to regard Homeric religion as the religion of the Hellenic peoples in the Homeric age. Our first clear view of the Hellenic commoner is presented by Hesiod in the 8th century. Here we find, alongside of the worship of the Olympians, evidences of chthonian cults and abundant hints of human needs not satisfied by the well-regulated religion of the several city-states. The conventionalized monarchy of Zeus ruling over his fellow-Olympians is known to be a fiction of the poets, having just as much--no more--foundation, in fact, as the mythical overlordship of Agamemnon over the assembled princes of the Achaens; while it caught the imagination of the Greeks and dominated their literature, each city-state possessed its own shrines sacred to its own gods, who might or might not be called by the names of Olympians. Yet the great shrines which attracted Greeks from every state, such as those of Zeus at Dodona (chiefly in the period before the 7th century) and Olympia, of Apollo at Delos and Delphi, and of Hera at Argos, were the favored abodes of Olympians. Only one other should be mentioned: that of Demeter at Eleusis. Her worship was of a different character, and the great repute of her shrine dates from the 5th century. If the Zeus of Olympia was predominantly the benign god of the sky, to whom men came in joyous mood to delight him with pomp and festive gatherings, performing feats of manly prowess in the Olympic games, the Zeus of Dodona, and the Delphian Apollo, as oracular deities, were visited in times of doubt and distress. The 7th and 6th centuries mark the advent--or the coming into prominence--of deities whose appeal was to the deepest human emotions, of ecstatic enthusiasm, of fear, and of hope. Among them we must mention Dionysus, the god of teeming Nature (see DIONYSUS), and Orpheus. With their advent comes an awakening of the individual soul, whose aspiration to commune with Deity found little satisfaction in the general worship of the states. Private organizations and quasi-monastic orders, like those of the Orphics and Pythagoreans, arose and won countless adherents. Their deities found admission into older shrines, chiefly those of chthonian divinities, like that of Demeter at Eleusis, and wrought a change in the spirit and to a certain extent in the ritual of the "mysteries" practiced there. It was in these "mysteries" that the Christian Fathers, according to the mood or the need, polemic or apologetic, of the moment, saw now the propaedeutic type, now the diabolically instituted counterfeit, of the sacraments and ordinances of the church. The spirit and even the details of the observances of the "mysteries" are difficult to determine; but one must beware of accepting the hostile judgments of Christian writers who were in fact retorting upon the Greeks criticisms leveled at the church: both were blinded by partisanship and so misread the symbols.

If we thus find a true praeparatio evangelica in the Hellenistic developments of earlier Hellenic religion, there are parallel developments in the other religions which were adopted in the Hellenistic age. The older national religions of Persia and Egypt underwent a similar change, giving rise respectively to the worship of Mithra and of Isis, both destined, along with the chthonian mysteries of the Greeks, to be dangerous rivals for the conquest of the world of Christianity, itself a younger son in this prolific family of new religions. Space is wanting here for a consideration of these religious movements, the family resemblance of which with Christianity is becoming every day more apparent; but so much at least should be said, that while every candid student must admit the superiority of Christianity in moral content and adaptation to the religious nature of man, the difference in these respects was not at first sight so obvious that the successful rival might at the beginning of the contest have been confidently predicted.

See GREECE, RELIGION IN ANCIENT.

As with other manifestations of the Hellenic spirit, so, too, in matters of religion, it was the free development of living institutions that most strikingly distinguishes the Greeks from the Hebrews. They had priests, but were never ruled by them; they possessed a literature regarded with veneration, and in certain shrines treasured sacred writings containing directions for the practice and ritual of the cults, but they were neither intended nor suffered to fix for all time the interpretation of the symbols. In the 5th and 4th centuries the leaders of Greek thought rebuked the activity of certain priests, and it was not before the period of Roman dominion that priests succeeded even in a small measure in usurping power, and sacred writings began to exercise an authority remotely comparable to that recognized among the Jews.

A most interesting question is that concerning the extent to which Greek civilization and thought had penetrated and influenced Judaism. During three centuries before the advent of Jesus, Hellenism had been a power in Syria and Judea. The earliest writings of the Hebrews showing this influence are Da and the Old Testament Apocrypha. Several books of the Apocrypha were originally written in Greek, and show strong influence of Greek thought. The Septuagint, made for the Jews of the Dispersion, early won its way to authority even in Palestine, where Aramaic had displaced Hebrew, which thus became a dead language known only to a few. New Testament quotations of the Old Testament are almost without exception taken from the Septuagint. Thus the sacred literature of the Jews was for practical purposes Greek. Though Jesus spoke Aramaic, He unquestionably knew some Greek. Yet there is no clear evidence of specifically Greek influence on this thought, the presuppositions of which are Jewish or generally those of the Hellenistic age. All the writings of the New Testament were originally composed in Greek, though their authors differed widely in the degree of proficiency in the use of the language and in acquaintance with Hellenic thought. Their debt to these sources can be profitably considered only in connection with the individual writers; but one who is acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek literature instinctively feels in reading the New Testament that the national character of the Jews, as reflected in the Old Testament, has all but vanished, remaining only as a subtle tone of moral earnestness and as an imaginative coloring, except in the simple story of the Synoptic Gospels. But for the bitterness aroused by the destruction of Jerusalem, it is probable that the Jews would have yielded completely to Hellenic influences.

William Arthur Heidel

Helm

helm.

See SHIPS AND BOATS.

Helmet

hel'-met.

See ARMS, ARMOR.

Helon

hel'-on (chelon, "valorous"; the Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus, Chailon): The father of Eliab, the prince of the tribe of Zebulun (Numbers 1:9; Numbers 2:7; Numbers 7:24,Numbers 7:29; Numbers 10:16).

Help

With the sense of that which brings aid, support, or deliverance, "help" (noun and vb.) represents a large variety of words in Hebrew and Greek (noun 7, verb 16). A principal Hebrew word is `azar, "to help," with the corresponding nouns `ezer, `ezrah; a chief Greek word is boetheo (Matthew 15:25; Mark 9:22,Mark 9:24, etc.). True help is to be sought for in Yahweh, in whom, in the Old Testament, the believer is constantly exhorted to trust, with the renouncing of all other confidences (Psalms 20:2; Psalms 33:20; Psalms 42:5; Psalms 46:1; Psalms 115:9,Psalms 115:10,Psalms 115:11; Psalms 121:2; Isaiah 41:10,Isaiah 41:13,Isaiah 41:14, etc.). In Romans 8:26 it is said, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity," the verb here (sunantilambanetai) having the striking meaning of to "take hold along with one." In the story of Eden, Eve is spoken of as "a help meet" for Adam (Genesis 2:18,Genesis 2:20). The idea in "meet" is not so much "suitability," though that is implied, as likeness, correspondence in nature (Vulgate, similem sibi). One like himself, as taken from him, the woman would be an aid and companion to the man in his tasks.

James Orr

Helpmeet

help'-met.

See HELP.

Helps (1)

(antilempseis, 1 Corinthians 12:28): In classical Greek the word antilempsis means "remuneration," the hold one has on something, then perception, apprehension. But in Biblical Greek it has an altruistic meaning. Thus, it is used in the Septuagint, both in the Old Testament Scriptures and in the Apocrypha (Psalms 22:19; Psalms 89:19, /APC 1Esdras 8:27; 2Macc 15:7). Thus, we obtain a clue to its meaning in our text, where it has been usually understood as referring to the deacons, the following word kuberneseis, translated "governments," being explained as referring to the presbyters.

Henry E. Dosker

Helps (2)

(boetheiai, Acts 27:17).

See SHIPS AND BOATS, III, 2.

Helve

helv (`ets "wood," "tree"): The handle or wooden part of an ax. "The head (margin "iron") slippeth from the helve" (margin "tree," Deuteronomy 19:5). The marginal reading suggests that "the ax is supposed to glance off the tree it is working on."

Hem

(kraspedon): The classic instance of the use of "hem" in the New Testament is Matthew 9:20 the King James Version (compare Matthew 14:36), where the woman "touched the hem of his (Christ's) garment." The reference is to the fringe or tassel with its traditional blue thread which the faithful Israelite was directed to wear on the corners of the outer garment (Numbers 15:37 Deuteronomy 22:12). Great importance came to be attached to it, the ostentatious Pharisees making it very broad or large (Matthew 23:5). Here the woman clearly thought there might be peculiar virtue in touching the tassel or fringe of Jesus' garment. Elsewhere the word is rendered BORDER (which see).

See also DRESS; FRINGES.

George B. Eager

Hemam

he'-mam (Genesis 36:22 the King James Version and the English Revised Version).

See HEMAN; HOMAM.

Heman

he'-man (heman, "faithful"): The name of two men in the Old Testament.

(1) A musician and seer, a Levite, son of Joe and grandson of the prophet Samuel; of the family of the Kohathites (1 Chronicles 6:33), appointed by David as one of the leaders of the temple-singing (1 Chronicles 15:17; 2 Chronicles 5:12). He had 14 sons (and 3 daughters) who assisted their father in the chorus. Heman seems also to have been a man of spiritual power; is called "the king's seer in matters of God" (1 Chronicles 25:5; 2 Chronicles 35:15).

(2) One of the noted wise men prior to, or about, the time of Solomon. He was one of the three sons of Mahol (1 Kings 4:31 (Hebrews 5:11)); also called a son of Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6).

Psalms 88:1–18 is inscribed to Heman the Ezrahite, who is probably to be identified with the second son of Zerah.

Edward Babgy Pollard

Hemath

he'-math.

See HAMMATH (1 Chronicles 2:55).

Hemlock

hem'-lock.

See GALL.

Hen (1)

hen (chen, "favor"). In Zechariah 6:14, English Versions of the Bible reads, "And the crowns shall be to Helem .... and to Hen the son of Zephaniah." But as this person is called Josiah in Zechariah 6:10, the Revised Version, margin "and for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah" is probably right, but the text is uncertain.

See JOSIAH.

Hen (2)

(ornis): Mentioned in the accounts of the different disciples in describing the work of Jesus (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34).

Hena

he'-na (hena`; Ana): Named in 2 Kings 19:13, as one of the cities destroyed by Sennacherib along with Sepharvaim. It does not appear in a similar connection in 17:24. The text is probably corrupt. No reasonable identification has been proposed. Cheyne (Encyclopaedia Biblica, under the word) says of the phrase "Hena and Ivah" that "underlying this is a witty editorial suggestion that the existence of cities called h-n-` and `-w-h respectively has passed out of mind (compare Psalms 9:6 (7)), for hena` we`iwwah, clearly means `he has driven away and overturned' (so Targum, Symmachus)." He would drop out h-n-`. Hommel (Expositors Times, IX, 330) thinks that here we have divine names; Hena standing for the Arabic star-name al-han`a, and Ivvah for al-`awwa'u.

See IVAH.

W. Ewing

Henadad

hen'-a-dad (chenadhadh, "favor of Hadad"; Septuagint Henaad; Henadad; Henadab; Henalab (Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 3:18,Nehemiah 3:24; Nehemiah 10:9)): One of the heads of the Levites in the post-exilic community.

Henna

hen'-a (Song of Songs 1:14; Song of Songs 4:13): An aromatic plant.

Henoch

he'-nok (chanokh; Henoch; in 1 Chronicles 1:3 the King James Version the Revised Version (British and American), "Enoch"; in Genesis 25:4, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "Hanoch"; 1 Chronicles 1:33, the King James Version "Henoch," the Revised Version (British and American) "Hanoch"): The name of a Midianite, a descendant of Abram.

Hepher

(chepher):

(1) Septuagint Hopher (Joshua 12:17), a Canaanitish town mentioned between Tappuah and Aphek, unidentified.

(2) In 1 Kings 4:10 a district connected with Socoh, and placed by Solomon under the direction of Benhesed of Arubboth, unidentified.

Hepher; Hepherites

he'-fer, he'-fer-its (chepher, chephri):

(1) Septuagint Hopher (Numbers 26:32 Numbers 27:1; Joshua 17:2 f), the head of a family or clan of the tribe of Manasseh. The clan is called the Hepherites in Numbers 26:32.

(2) Septuagint Hephal (1 Chronicles 4:6), a man of Judah.

(3) Septuagint Hopher (1 Chronicles 11:36), one of David's heroes.

Hephzibah

hef'-zi-ba (chephtsi-bhah, "my delight is in her"):

(1) Septuagint Hopseiba, Hapseiba, Hophsiba, the mother of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1).

(2) The new name of Zion (Isaiah 62:4); Septuagint translates Thelema emon, "my delight."

Herakles

her'-a-klez (Herakles).

See HERCULES.

Herald

her'-ald: The word occurs once (Daniel 3:4) as the translation of the Aramaic word karoz (compare kerux): "Then the herald cried aloud."

See also GAMES.

Herb

hurb, urb:

(1) yaraq, "green thing" (Exodus 10:15; Isaiah 15:6); a garden of herbs" (Deuteronomy 11:10; 1 Kings 21:2); "(a dinner, the margin portion of) herbs" (Proverbs 15:17).

(2) `esebh; compare Arabic `ushb, "herbage," "grass," etc.; "herbs yielding seed" (Genesis 1:11); "herbage" for food (Genesis 1:30; Jeremiah 14:6); translated "grass" (Deuteronomy 11:15; Amos 7:2); "herbs" (Proverbs 27:25, etc.).

(3) deshe', translated "herb" (2 Kings 19:26; Proverbs 27:25; Isaiah 37:27; Isaiah 66:14 the King James Version), but generally GRASS (which see).

(4) chatsir, vegetation generally, but translated GRASS (which see).

(5) 'oroth, 'owroth (plural only), "green plants" or "herbs." In 2 Kings 4:39 the Talmud interprets it to mean "colewort," but it may mean any edible herbs which had survived the drought. In Isaiah 26:19 the expression "dew of herbs" is in the margin translated "dew of light" which is more probable (see DEW), and the translation "heat upon herbs" (Isaiah 18:4 the King James Version) is in the Revised Version (British and American) translated "clear heat in sunshine."

(6) botane (Hebrews 6:7).

(7) lachana = yaraq (Matthew 13:32).

See also BITTER HERBS.

E. W. G. Masterman

Hercules

hur'-ku-lez (Herakles): The process of Hellenizing the Jews which began at an earlier date was greatly promoted under Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC). Jason, who supplanted his brother Onias in the office of high priest by promising Antiochus an increase of tribute, aided the movement by setting up under the king's authority a Greek palaestra for the training of youth in Greek exercises, and by registering the inhabitants of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch (2 Macc 4:8 f). Certain of these Antiochians of Jerusalem Jason sent to Tyre, where games were held every five years in honor of Hercules, that is, the national Tyrian deity Melcart, identified with Baal of Old Testament history. According to Josephus (Ant., VII, v, 3) Hiram, king of Tyre in the days of Solomon, built the temple of Hercules and also of Astarte. Jason s deputies carried 300 drachmas of silver for the sacrifice of Hercules, but they were so ashamed of their commission that they "thought it not right to use the money for any sacrifice" and "on account of present circumstances it went to the equipment of the galleys" (2 Macc 4:18-20).

J. Hutchison

Herd

hurd.

See CATTLE.

Herdsman

hurdz'-man (boqer; the King James Version, the English Revised Version "herdman"): A cowherd (Amos 7:14). The same word is used in Syria today. ro`eh, has its equivalent in the language of Syria and Palestine (Arabic ra'i), and is a general term for any kind of a herdsman (Genesis 13:7,Genesis 13:8; Genesis 26:20; 1 Samuel 21:7). noqedh, occurs in one passage (Amos 1:1); literally it means one who spots or marks the sheep, hence, a herdsman. Spotting the wool with different dyes is still the method of distinguishing between the sheep of different flocks. The herdsman is seldom the owner of the sheep, but a hireling.

See SHEEP; SHEEP TENDING.

James A. Patch

Here

her, in composition:

Hereafter

her-aft'-er (here (this present) and after) represents Hebrew 'achar, "hinder part," "end" (Isaiah 41:23), "the things that are to come hereafter" ('achor after, behind the present), with den, "this," 'achare dhen, Aramaic (Daniel 2:29,Daniel 2:45), 'achar, "after," "behind," "last" (Ezekiel 20:39), Greek ap' arti, "from now" (Matthew 26:64), "Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven," which does not mean "at a future time" according to the more modern usage of "hereafter," but (as the Greek) "from now," the Revised Version (British and American) "henceforth"; Tyndale and the chief versions after him have "hereafter," but Wycliff has "fro hennes forth." John 1:51, "Hereafter ye shall see the heaven opened," etc., where "hereafter" has the same meaning; it is omitted by the Revised Version (British and American) after a corrected text (Wycliff also omits); eti, "yet," "still," "any more" "any longer" (John 14:30, the Revised Version (British and American) "I will no more speak much with you," Wycliff, "now I schal not"); meketi, "no more," "no longer" (Mark 11:14, "no man eat fruit of thee hereafter," the Revised Version (British and American) "henceforward"); apo tou nun, "from now" (Luke 22:69, the Revised Version (British and American) "From henceforth shall the Son of man be seated at the right hand of the power of God," Wycliff "aftir this tyme"); meta tauta (John 13:7, "Thou shalt know (the Revised Version (British and American) "understand") hereafter," Wycliff "aftirward").

Hereby

her-bi', represents bezo'th, "in or by this" (Genesis 42:15 "Hereby ye shall be proved"); ek toutou, "out of this" (1 John 4:6, the Revised Version (British and American) "by this"); en touto, "in this," "by this means" (1 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 2:3,1 John 2:1; 1 John 3:16,1 John 3:19,1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:2,1 John 4:13).

Heredity

he-red'-i-ti:

1. Physiological Heredity:

Heredity, in modern language, is the law by which living beings tend to repeat their characteristics, physiological and psychical, in their offspring, a law familiar in some form to even the most uncultured peoples. The references to it in the Bible are of various kinds.

Curiously enough, little mention is made of physiological heredity, even in so simple a form as the resemblance of a son to his father, but there are a few references, such as, e.g., those to giants with giants for sons (2 Samuel 21:18–22; 1 Chronicles 20:4–8; compare Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33; Deuteronomy 1:28, etc.). Moreover Deuteronomy 28:59–61 may contain a thought of hereditary diseases (compare 2 Kings 5:27). On the psychical side the data are almost equally scanty. That a son and his father may differ entirely is taken for granted and mentioned repeatedly (especially in Ezekiel 18:5–20). Even in the case of the king, the frequent changes of dynasty prevented such a phrase as "the seed royal" (2 Kings 11:1; Jeremiah 41:1) from being taken very seriously. Yet, perhaps, the inheritance of mechanical dexterity is hinted at in Genesis 4:20–22, if "father" means anything more than "teacher." But, in any case, the fact that "father" could have this metaphorical sense, together with the corresponding use of "son" in such phrases as "son of Belial" (Judges 19:22 the King James Version), "son of wickedness" (Psalms 89:22), "sons of the prophets" (Amos 7:14 margin, etc.), "son of the wise, .... of ancient kings" (Isaiah 19:11; this last phrase may be meant literally), shows that the inheritance of characteristics was a very familiar fact.

See SON.

2. Hebrew Conception of Heredity:

The question, however, is considerably complicated by the intense solidarity that the Hebrews ascribed to the family. The individual was felt to be only a link in the chain, his "personality" (very vaguely conceived) somehow continuing that of his ancestors and being continued in that of his descendants. After death the happiness (or even existence; see DEATH) of this shade in the other world depended on the preservation of a posterity in this. Hence, slaying the sons of a dead man was thought to affect him directly, and it would be a great mistake to suppose that an act such as that of 2 Samuel 21:1–9, etc., was simply to prevent a blood-feud. Nor was it at all in point that the children might repeat the qualities of the father, however much this may have been realized in other connections. Consequently, it is impossible to tell in many cases just how much of a modern heredity idea is present.

The most important example is the conception of the position of the nations. These are traced back to single ancestors, and in various cases the qualities of the nation are explained by those of the ancestor (Genesis 9:22–27; 21:20,21; 49, etc.). The influences that determine national characteristics are evidently thought to be hereditary, and yet not all of them are hereditary in our sense; e.g. in Genesis 27:1–46, the condition of the descendants of Jacob and Esau is conceived to have been fixed by the nature of the blessings (mistakenly) pronounced by Isaac. On the other hand, Ezra (9:11,12) thinks of the danger of intermarrying with the children of a degenerate people in an entirely modern style, but in Deuteronomy 23:3–6 the case is not so clear. There a curse pronounced on the nations for their active hostility is more in point than moral degeneracy (however much this may be spoken of elsewhere, Numbers 25:1–3, etc.), and it is on account of the curse that the taint takes ten generations to work itself out, while, in the case of Edomite or Egyptian blood, purity was attained in three. Hence, it is hard to tell just how Exodus 20:5,Exodus 20:6 was interpreted. The modern conception of the effect of heredity was surely present in part, but there must have been also ideas of the extension of the curse-bearing individuality that we should find hard to understand.

3. Abraham's Children:

The chiefest question is that of the Israelites. Primarily they are viewed as the descendants of Abraham, blessed because he was blessed (Genesis 22:15–18, etc.). This was taken by many with the utmost literalness, and physical descent from Abraham was thought to be sufficient (especially Matthew 3:9; John 8:31–44; Romans 9:6–13), or at least necessary (especially Ezra 2:59; Ezra 9:2; Nehemiah 7:61), for salvation. Occasionally this descent is stated to give superior qualities in other regards (Esther 6:13). But a distinction between natural inheritance of Abraham's qualities and the blessing bestowed by God's unbounded favor and decree on his descendants must have been thoroughly recognized, otherwise the practice of proselytizing would have been impossible.

4. Heredity and the New Testament:

In the New Testament the doctrine of original sin, held already by a certain school among the Jews (2 Esdras 7:48), alone raises much question regarding heredity (compare 1 Corinthians 7:14). Otherwise the Old Testament concepts are simply reversed: where likeness of nature appears, there is (spiritual) descent (Romans 4:12; Galatians 3:7, etc.). None the less, that the Israel "after the flesh" has a real spiritual privilege is stated explicitly (Romans 3:1,Romans 3:2; Romans 11:26; Revelation 11:13).

See BLESSING; CURSE; FAMILY; SALVATION; SIN; TRADITION.

Burton Scott Easton