Mammon – Manasseh (1)

Mammon

mam'-un (Mamonas): A common Aramaic word (mamon) for riches, used in Matthew 6:24 and in Luke 16:9,Luke 16:11,Luke 16:13. In these passages mammon merely means wealth, and is called "unrighteous," because the abuse of riches is more frequent than their right use. In Luke 16:13 there is doubtless personification, but there is no proof that there was in New Testament times a Syrian deity called Mammon. The application of the term in Matthew is apparent and requires no comment. In Lk, however, since the statement, "Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness," follows as a comment on the parable of the Unjust Steward, there is danger of the inference that Jesus approved the dishonest conduct of the steward and advised His disciples to imitate his example. On the contrary, the statement is added more as a corrective against this inference than as an application. `Do not infer,' He says, that honesty in the use of money is a matter of indifference. He that is unfaithful in little is unfaithful in much. So if you are not wise in the use of earthly treasure how can you hope to be entrusted with heavenly treasure?' The commendation is in the matter of foresight, not in the method. The steward tried to serve two masters, his lord and his lord's creditors, but the thing could not be done, as the sequel shows. Neither can men serve both God and riches exalted as an object of slavish servitude. Wealth, Jesus teaches, does not really belong to men, but as stewards they may use wealth prudently unto their eternal advantage. Instead of serving God and mammon alike we may serve God by the use of wealth, and thus lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. Again, the parable is not to be interpreted as teaching that the wrong of dishonest gain may be atoned for by charity. Jesus is not dealing with the question of reparation. The object is to point out how one may best use wealth, tainted or otherwise, with a view to the future.

Russell Benjamin Miller

Mamnitanemus

mam-ni-ta-ne'-mus (Mamnitanaimos; Codex Vaticanus Mamtitanaimos; the King James Version, Mamnitanaimus): 1 Esdras 9:34, where it represents the two names Mattaniah and Mattenai in the parallel Ezra 10:37, which probably represent only one person. It must be a corruption of these names. The Aldine gives a still more corrupt form, Mamnimatanaimos.

Mamre

mam'-re (mamre'; Septuagint Mambre):

(1) In Genesis 14:24 Mamre is mentioned as the name of one of Abraham's allies, who in 14:13 is described as the Amorite, brother of Eschcol and Aner.

1. Biblical Data:

The name of the grove of trees is evidently considered as derived from this sheikh or chieftain. The "oaks" ("terebinths") of Mamre where Abram pitched his tent (Genesis 14:13; Genesis 18:1) are described (Genesis 13:18) as "in Hebron." Later on MACHPELAH (which see) is described as "before," i.e. "to the East of Mamre" (Genesis 23:17; Genesis 25:9; Genesis 49:30; Genesis 50:13), and Mamre is identified with Hebron itself (Genesis 23:19).

2. Traditional Sites:

While Mamre has always been looked for in the vicinity of Hebron, the traditions have varied greatly, determined apparently by the presence of a suitable tree. The one site which has a claim on grounds other than tradition is that called Khirbet and `Ain Nimreh (literally, the "ruin" and "spring" of "the leopard"), about 1/2 mile North-Northwest of modern Hebron. The word Nimreh may be a survival of the ancient Mamre, the name, as often happens, being assimilated by a familiar word. The site is a possible one, but, beyond this, the name has not much to commend it.

Tradition has centered round three different sites at various periods:

(1) The modern tradition points to a magnificent oak (Quercus ilex, Arabic Sindian), 1 1/2 miles West-Northwest of the modern city, as the terebinth of Abraham; its trunk has a girth of 32 ft. It is now in a dying condition, but when Robinson visited it (BR, II, 72, 81) it was in fine condition; he mentions a Mohammedan tradition that this was "Abraham's oak." Since then the site had been bought by the Russians, a hospice and church have been erected, and the tradition, though of no antiquity, has become crystallized.

(2) The second tradition, which flourished from the 16th century down to the commencement of the 19th century, pointed to the hill of Deir el Arba`in (see HEBRON) as that of Mamre, relying especially, no doubt, in its inception on the identity of Mamre and Hebron (Genesis 23:19). A magnificent terebinth which stood there was pointed out as that of Abraham. The site agrees well with the statement that the cave of Machpelah was "before," i.e. to the East of Mamre (Genesis 23:17, etc.).

(3) The third and much older tradition, mentioned in several Christian writers, refers to a great terebinth which once stood in an enclosure some 2 miles North of Hebron, near the road to Jerusalem. It is practically certain that the site of this enclosure is the strange Ramet el-Khalil. This is an enclosure some 214 ft. long and 162 ft. wide. The enclosing walls are made of extremely fine and massive masonry and are 6 ft. thick; the stones are very well laid and the jointing is very fine, but the building was evidently never completed. In one corner is a well--Bir el-Khalil--lined with beautiful ashlar masonry, cut to the curve of the circumference.

It is probable that this enclosure surrounded a magnificent terebinth; if so, it was at this spot that before the days of Constantine a great annual fair was held, attended by Jews, Christians and heathen who united a pay honor to the sacred tree, while the well was on the same occasion illuminated, and offerings were made to it. Similar customs survive today at several shrines in Palestine. Constantine suppressed these "superstitions," and built a church in the neighborhood, probably the so-called "Abraham's house," Beit Ibrahim of today. The tree which stood here is apparently that mentioned by Josephus (BJ, IV, ix, 7) as having continued "since the creation of the world." At this enclosure, too, Jewish women and children were sold at auction after the suppression of the revolt of Bar Cochba. Whatever the origin of the veneration paid to this terebinth--now long centuries dead and gone--early Christian tradition associated it with Abraham and located Mamre here. This tradition is mentioned by Jerome (4th century), by Eucherius (6th century), by Areulphus (700 AD) and by Benjamin of Tudela (1163 AD). Among the modern Jews it is looked upon as the site of "Abraham's oak." It is probable that the view that Abraham was connected with this tree is one attached to it much later than its original sanctity; it was originally one of the many "holy trees" of the land venerated by primitive Semitic religions feeling, and the nearness of Hebron caused the Bible story to be attached to it. Judging from the Bible data, it appears to be too far from Hebron and Machpelah to suit the conditions; the site of Mamre must have been nearer to Deir el Arba`in, but it has probably been entirely lost since very early times.

For a very good discussion about Mamre see Mambre by Le R. P. Abel des Freres Precheurs in the Conferences de Saint Etienne, 1909-10 (Paris).

(2) An Amorite chief, owner of the "oaks" mentioned above (Genesis 14:13,Genesis 14:14).

E. W. G. Masterman

Mamuchus

ma-mu'-kus (Mamouchos): One of those who put away their "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:30); identical with "Malluch" in Ezra 10:29.

Man

See ANTHROPOLOGY.

Man Of Sin

(ho anthropos tes hamartias; many ancient authorities read, "man of lawlessness," anomias):

1. The Pauline Description:

The name occurs in Paul's remarkable announcement in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–10 of the manifestation of a colossal anti-Christian power prior to the advent, which some of the Thessalonians had been misled into thinking of as immediately impending (2:2). That "day of the Lord," the apostle declares, will not come till, as he had previously taught them (2:5), there has first been a great apostasy and the revelation of "the man of sin" (or "of lawlessness"; compare 2:8), named also "the son of perdition" (2:3). This "lawless one" (2:8) would exalt himself above all that is called God, or is an object of worship; he would sit in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God (2:4). For the time another power restrained his manifestation; when that was removed, he would be revealed (2:6,7). Then "the mystery of lawlessness," which was already working, would attain its full development (2:7,8). The coming of this "man of sin," in the power of Satan, would be with lying wonders and all deceit of unrighteousness, whereby many would be deceived to their destruction (2:9,10). But only for a season (2:6). Jesus would slay (or consume) him with the breath of His mouth (compare Isaiah 11:4), and bring him to nought by the manifestation of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

2. The Varying Interpretations:

Innumerable are theories and speculations to which this Pauline passage has given rise a very full account of these may be seen in the essay on "The Man of Sin" appended to Dr. J. Eadie's posthumous Commentary on Thessalonians, and in Lunemann's Commentary, 222 ff, English translation).

(1) There is the view, favored by "moderns," that the passage contains no genuine prediction (Paul "could not know" the future), but represents a speculation of the apostle's own, based on Daniel 8:23 ff; 11:36 ff, and on current ideas of Antichrist (see ANTICHRIST; BELIAL; compare Bousset, Der Antichrist, 93 ff, etc.). This view will not satisfy those who believe in the reality of Paul's apostleship and inspiration.

(2) Some connect the description with Caligula, Nero, or other of the Roman emperors. Caligula, indeed, ordered supplication to be made to himself as the supreme god and wished to set up his statue in the temple of Jerusalem (Suet. Calig. xxii.33; Josephus, Ant, XVIII, viii). But this was long before Paul's visit to Thessalonica, and the acts of such a madman could not furnish the basis of a prediction so elaborate and important as the present (compare Lunemann and Bousset).

(3) The favorite Protestant interpretation refers the prediction to the papacy, in whom, it is contended, many of the blasphemous features of Paul's representation are unmistakably realized. The "temple of God" is here understood to be the church; the restraining power the Roman empire; "the man of sin" not an individual, but the personification of an institution or system. It is cult, however, to resist the impression that the apostle regards "the mystery of lawlessness" as culminating in an individual--a personal Antichrist--and in any case the representation outstrips everything that can be conceived of as even nominally Christian.

(4) There remains the view held by most of the Fathers, and in recent times widely adopted, that "the man of sin" of this passage is an individual in whom, previous to the advent, sin will embody itself in its most lawless and God-denying form. The attempts to identify this individual with historical characters may be set aside; but the idea is not thereby invalidated. The difficulty is that the apostle evidently conceives of the manifestation of the "man of sin" as taking place, certainly not immediately, but at no very remote period--not 2,000 years later--and as connected directly with the final advent of Christ, and the judgment on the wicked (compare 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9), without apparently any reference to a "millennial" period, either before or after.

It seems safest, in view of the difficulties of the passage, to confine one's self to the general idea it embodies, leaving details to be interpreted by the actual fulfillment.

3. The Essential Idea:

There is much support in Scripture--not least in Christ's own teaching (compare Matthew 13:30,Matthew 13:37–43; Matthew 24:11–14; Luke 18:8)--for the belief that before the final triumph of Christ's kingdom there will be a period of great tribulation, of decay of faith, of apostasy, of culmination of both good and evil ("Let both grow together until the harvest," Matthew 13:30), with the seeming triumph for the time of the evil over the good. There will be a crisis-time--sharp, severe, and terminated by a decisive interposition of the Son of Man ("the manifestation of his coming," the Revised Version margin "Gr presence"), in what precise form may be left undetermined. Civil law and government--the existing bulwark against anarchy (in Paul's time represented by the Roman power)--will be swept away by the rising tide of evil, and lawlessness will prevail. It may be that impiety will concentrate itself, as the passage says, in some individual head; or this may belong to the form of the apostle's apprehension in a case where "times and seasons" were not yet fully revealed: an apprehension to be enlarged by subsequent revelations (see REVELATION OF JOHN), or left to be corrected by the actual course of God's providence. The kernel of the prediction is not, any more than in the Old Testament prophecies, dependent on its literal realization in every detail. Neither does the final manifestation of evil exclude partial and anticipatory realizations, embodying many of the features of the prophecy.

See THESSALONIANS, THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE, III.

James Orr

Man Of War

See WAR.

Man, Natural

nat'-u-ral, nach'-u-ral (psuchikos anthropos): Man as he is by nature, contrasted with man as he becomes by grace. This phrase is exclusively Pauline.

I. Biblical Meaning.

The classical passage in which it occurs is 1 Corinthians 2:14 King James Version: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." In his anthropology Paul uses four groups of descriptive adjectives in contrasted pairs:

(1) the old man and the new man (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10);

(2) the outward man and the inward man (2 Corinthians 4:16; Romans 7:22; Ephesians 3:16);

(3) the carnal man and the spiritual man (Romans 8:1–14; 1 Corinthians 3:1,1 Corinthians 3:3,1 Corinthians 3:4);

(4) the natural man and the spiritual man (2 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 3:3,2 Corinthians 3:4; Ephesians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Corinthians 15:46; Galatians 6:1).

A study of these passages will show that the adjectives "old," "outward," "carnal," and "natural" describe man, from different points of view, prior to his conversion; while the adjectives "new," "inward" and "spiritual" describe him, from different points of view, after his conversion. To elucidate the meaning, the expositor must respect these antitheses and let the contrasted words throw light and meaning upon each other.

1. The Old Man:

The "old man" is the "natural man" considered chronologically--prior to that operation of the Holy Spirit by which he is renovated into the "new man."

The old house is the house as it was before it was remodeled; an old garment is the garment as it was before it was re-fashioned; and the "old man" is man as he was before he was regenerated and sanctified by the grace of the Spirit. "Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6 the King James Version). Here the "old man" is called the "body of sin," as the physical organism is called the body of the soul or spirit, and is to be "crucified" and "destroyed," in order that man may no longer be the "servant of sin." "Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt. .... Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:22,Ephesians 4:24 the King James Version). Here the "old man" is said to be "corrupt," and we are called upon to "put it off." The figure is that of putting off old clothes which are unclean, and putting on those garments which have come from the wash clean and snowy white. We have the same idea, in different language and with a slightly different imagery.

When Paul calls the "natural man" the "old man," and describes it as the "body of sin" which is "corrupt" in its nature and "deeds," and tells us that it must be "crucified" and "destroyed" and "put off" in order that we may "not serve sin," but may have "righteousness" and "true holiness" and "knowledge" and the "image" of God, we get some conception of the moral meaning which he is endeavoring to convey by these contrasts (Galatians 5:19–24). He has reference to that sinful nature in man which is as old as the individual, as old as the race of which he is a member, which must be graciously renovated according to that gospel which he preached to Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians, Romans and all the world.

See OLD MAN; MAN, I, 3.

2. The Outward Man:

The apostle also establishes a contrast between "the inward man" and "the outward man." "Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). Now what sort of man is the "outward man" as contrasted with the "inward man"? In Greek, the exo-anthropos is set over against the eso-anthropos.

See OUTWARD MAN.

"The contrast here drawn between the `outward' and the `inward man,' though illustrated by the contrast in Romans 7:22 between the `law in the members' and `the inner man,' and in Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9 between `the old man' and `the new man' is not precisely the same. Those contrasts relate to the difference between the sensual and the moral nature, `the flesh' and `the spirit'; this to the difference between the material and the spiritual nature" (Stanley, in the place cited.).

"The outward man" is the body, and "the inward man" is the soul, or immaterial principle in the human make-up. As the body is wasted by the afflictions of life, the soul is renewed; what is death to the body is life to the soul; as afflictions depotentiate man's physical organism, they impotentiate man's spiritual principle. That is, the afflictions of life, culminating in death itself, have diametrically opposite effects upon the body and upon the soul. They kill the one; they quicken the other.

"The inward man" is the whole human nature as renewed and indwelt and dominated by the Spirit of God as interpenetrated by the spirit of grace. As the one is broken down by the adverse dispensations of life, the other is upbuilt by the sanctifying discipline of the Spirit.

3. The Carnal Man:

There is another Pauline antithesis which it is necessary for us to interpret in order to understand what he means by the "natural man." It is the distinction which he draws between the "carnal mind" and the "spiritual mind." The critical reference is Romans 8:1–14. In this place the "carnal mind" is identified with the "law of death," and the "spiritual mind" is identified with the "law of the Spirit." These two "laws" are two principles and codes: the one makes man to be at "enmity against God" and leads to "death"; the other makes him the friend of God, and conducts to "life and peace." The word "carnal" connotes all that is fallen and sinful and unregenerate in man's nature. In its gross sense the "carnal" signifies that which is contrary to nature, or nature expressing itself in low and bestial forms of sin.

4. The Natural Man:

The "natural man" is the "old man," the "outward man," the "carnal man"--man as he is by nature, as he is firstborn, contra-distinguished to man as he is changed by the Spirit, as he is second-born or regenerated. There. is an "old" life, an "outward" life, a "carnal" life, a "natural" life, as contrasted with the "new" life, the "inward" life, the "spiritual" life, the "gracious" life. The "natural man" is a bold and vivid personification of that depraved nature which we inherit from Adam fallen, the source and seat of all actual and personal transgressions.

II. Theological Meaning.

We know what we mean by the nature of the lion, by the nature of the lamb. We are using perfectly comprehensible language when we speak of the lion as naturally fierce, and of the lamb when we say he is naturally gentle. We have reference to the dominant dispositions of these animals, that resultant of their qualities which defines their character and spontaneity. So we are perfectly plain when we say that man is naturally sinful. We are but saying that sinfulness is to man what fierceness is to the lion, what gentleness is to the lamb. The "natural man" is a figure of speech for that sinful human nature, common to us all. It is equivalent to the theological phrases: the "sinful inclination," the "evil disposition," the "apostate will," "original sin," "native depravity." It manifests itself in the understanding as blindness, in the heart as hardness, in the will as obstinacy.

See MAN.

Robert Alexander Webb

Man, Old

See MAN; OLD MAN.

Man, Outward

See MAN, NATURAL; OUTWARD MAN.

Man, Son Of

See SON OF MAN.

Man-Child

man'-child (American Standard Revised Version; "man child," the English Revised Version; not in the King James Version; mashtin beqir): The expression is used with the meaning of "male," but is found only in the description of the extermination of a whole family, where it is employed to express every male descendant of any age. It occurs in 1 Samuel 25:22,1 Samuel 25:34; 1 Kings 14:10; 1 Kings 16:11; 1 Kings 21:21; 2 Kings 9:8.

Man; New

(neos anthropos or kainos anthropos): Generally described, the "new man" is man as he becomes under the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, contrasted with man as he is by nature. The phrase has (1) its Biblical, and (2) its theological, meanings.

I. Biblical Meaning.

There are four Biblical contrasts which must be considered as opposites:

(1) the "old man" (palaios anthropos) and the "new man" (neos anthropos or kainos anthropos);

(2) the "outward man" (exoanthropos) and the "inward man" (esoanthropos);

(3) the "carnal man" (sarkikos anthropos) and the "spiritual man" (pneumatikos anthropos);

(4) the "natural man" (psuchikos anthropos) and the "spiritual man" (pneunatikos anthropos).

These are not four different sorts of men, but four different sorts of man. Take up these antitheses in their reverse order, so as to arrive at some clear and impressive conception of what the Biblical writer means by the "new man."

1. The Spiritual Man:

The "spiritual man" is a designation given in opposition to the "carnal man" and to the "natural man" (Romans 8:1–14; 1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1,1 Corinthians 3:3,1 Corinthians 3:4; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Corinthians 15:46; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:3). All three of these terms are personifications of human nature. The "carnal man" is human nature viewed as ruled and dominated by sensual appetites and fleshly desires--as energized by those impulses which have close association with the bodily affections. The "natural man" is human nature ruled and dominated by unsanctified reason--those higher powers of the soul not yet influenced by Divine grace. The "spiritual man" is this same human nature after it has been seized upon and interpenetrated and determined by the Holy Spirit. The word "spiritual" is sometimes used in a poetic and idealistic sense, as when we speak of the spirituality of beauty; sometimes in a metaphysical sense, as when we speak of the spirituality of the soul; but in its prevalent Biblical and evangelical sense it is an adjective with the Holy Spirit as its noun-form. The spiritual life is that life of which the Holy Spirit is the author and preserver; and the "spiritual man" is that nature or character in man which the Holy Spirit originates, preserves, determines, disciplines, sanctifies and glorifies.

2. The Inward Man:

The "inward man" is a designation of human nature viewed as internally and centrally regenerated, as contrasted with the "outward man" (2 Corinthians 4:16; Romans 7:22; Ephesians 3:16). See MAN, OUTWARD. This phrase indicates the whole human nature conceived as affected from within--in the secret, inside, and true springs of activity--by the Holy Spirit of God. Such a change--regeneration--is not superficial, but a change in the inner central self; not a mere external reformation, but an internal transformation. Grace operates not from the circumference toward the center, but from the center toward the circumference, of life. The product is a man renovated in his "inward parts," changed in the dynamic center of his heart.

3. The New Man:

The "new man" is an appellation yielded by the contrasted idea of the "old man" (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). The "old" is "corrupt" and expresses itself in evil "deeds"; the "new" possesses the "image of God" and is marked by "knowledge," "righteousness," and "holiness." There are two Greek words for "new"--neos and kainos. The former means new in the sense of young, as the new-born child is a young thing; the latter means "new" in the sense of renovated, as when the house which has been rebuilt is called a new house. The converted man is "new" (neo-anthropos) in the sense that he is a "babe in Christ," and "new" (kaino-anthropos) in the sense that his moral nature is renovated and built over again.

In the New Testament there are 5 different verbs used to express the action put forth in making the "old man" a "new man."

(1) In Ephesians 2:10 and 4:24, he is said to be "created" (ktizo), and in 2 Corinthians 5:17 the product is called a "new creature" (kaine kisis), a renovated creature. Out of the "old man" the Holy Spirit has created the "new man."

(2) In 1 Peter 1:3,1 Peter 1:13 and elsewhere, he is said to be "begotten again" (anagennao), and the product is a "babe in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1). The "old man" thus becomes the "new man" by a spiritual begetting: his paternity is assigned to the Holy Ghost.

(3) In Ephesians 2:5 and elsewhere, he is said to be `quickened' (zoopoieo), and the product is represented as a creature which has been made "alive from the dead" (Romans 6:13). The "old man," being `dead in trespasses and sins' (Ephesians 2:1), is brought forth from his sin-grave by a spiritual resurrection.

(4) In Ephesians 4:23 he is represented as being made "young" (ananeoo), and the product is a child of the Spirit at the commencement of his religious experience. The "old man," dating his history back to the fall in Eden, has become, through the Spirit, a young man in Christ Jesus.

(5) In 2 Corinthians 4:16 and in Romans 12:2, he is said to be `renovated' (anakainoo). The "old man" is renovated into the "new man." Sinful human nature is taken by the Spirit and morally recast.

II. Theological Meaning.

The "new man" is the converted, regenerated man. The phrase has its significance for the great theological doctrine of regeneration as it expands into the broad work of sanctification. Is the sinner dead? Regeneration is a new life. Is holiness non-existent in him? Regeneration is a new creation. Is he born in sin? Regeneration is a new birth. Is he determined by his fallen, depraved nature? Regeneration is a spiritual determination. Is he the subject of carnal appetites? Regeneration is a holy appetency. Is he thought of as the old sinful man? Regeneration is a new man. Is the sinful mind blind? Regeneration is a new understanding. Is the heart stony? Regeneration is a heart of flesh. Is the conscience seared? Regeneration is a good conscience. Is the will impotent? Regeneration is a new impotentiation. The regenerated man is a man with a new governing disposition--a "new man," an "inward man," a "spiritual man."

(1) The "New Man"--the Regenerate Man--Is Not a Theological Transubstantiation:

A being whose substance has been supernaturally converted into some other sort of substance.

(2) He Is Not a Scientific Transmutation:

A species of one kind which has been naturally evolved into a species of another kind.

(3) He Is Not a Metaphysical Reconstruction:

Being with a new mental equipment.

(4) He Is an Evangelical Convert:

An "old man" with a new regnant moral disposition, an "outward man" with a new inward fons et origo of moral life; a "natural man" with a new renovated spiritual heart.

See MAN, NATURAL; REGENERATION.

Robert Alexander Webb

Manaen

man'-a-en (Manaen, Greek form of Hebrew name "Menahem," meaning "consoler"): Manaen is mentioned, with Barnabas, Saul and others, in Acts 13:1, as one of the "prophets and teachers" in the recently rounded Gentile church at Antioch, at the time when Barnabas and Saul were "separated" by Divine call for their missionary service. He is further described as "the foster-brother (suntrophos) of Herod the tetrarch" (i.e. Herod Antipas (see HEROD)). He was probably brought up and educated with this Herod and his brother Archelaus. An earlier glimpse of Christian influence in Herod's court is afforded by Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuzas, among the holy women who ministered to Jesus (Luke 8:3). Manaen may have been related to the older Manaen, the Essene, who, Josephus tells us, foretold the greatness of Herod the Great, and was afterward treated by Herod as his friend (Ant., XV, x, 5). His position in the church at Antioch was evidently an influential one, whether he himself ranked among the "prophets," or perhaps only among the "teachers."

James Orr

Manahath

man'-a-hath (manachath; Machanathi):

(1) A place to which certain Benjamites, victims, apparently, of intra-tribal jealousy, were carried captive (1 Chronicles 8:6). Of this town the Manahathites were probably natives. It is possibly denoted by Manocho which Septuagint adds to the list of towns in Judah (Joshua 15:59). This place is named along with Bether (Bittir). The name seems to be preserved in that of Malicha, a large village not far from Bittir, Southwest of Jerusalem. The change of "l" to "n", and vice versa, is not uncommon. The same place may be intended by Menuhah (Judges 20:43 the Revised Version margin), where the King James Version reads "with ease," and the Revised Version (British and American) "at their resting-place."

(2) One of the sons of Shobal, the son of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:23; 1 Chronicles 1:40), the "name-father" of one of the ancient tribes in Mt. Seir, afterward subdued and incorporated in Edom.

W. Ewing

Manahathites

man'-a-hath-its (menuchoth (1 Chronicles 2:52), manachti (1 Chronicles 2:54); Septuagint: Codex Vaticanus Monaio; Codex Alexandrinus Ammanith (1 Chronicles 2:52); Codex Vaticanus Malathei; Codex Alexandrinus Manath, (1 Chronicles 2:54); the King James Version, Manahethites): These men were the inhabitants of Manahath. They were descendants of Caleb, one-half being the progeny of Shobal, and the other of Salma. In 1 Chronicles 2:52 the Revised Version (British and American) transliterates "Menuhoth," but Manahathites is preferable.

Manahethites

man-a-he'-thits, ma-na'-heth-its.

See MANAHATHITES.

Manasseas

man-a-se'-as (Manasseas): One of those who had married "strange wives" (1 Esdras 9:31); "Manasseh" of Ezra 10:30.

Manasseh (1)

ma-nas'-e (menashsheh, "causing to forget"; compare Genesis 41:51; Man(n)asse):

(1) The firstborn of Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On. See next article.

(2) The tribe named from Manasseh, half of which, with Gad and Reuben, occupied the East of Jordan (Numbers 27:1, etc.). See next article.

(3) The "Manasseh" of Judges 18:30,Revelation 18:13 the King James Version is really an intentional mistake for the name Moses. A small nun ("n"), a Hebrew letter, has been inserted over and between the first and second Hebrew letters in the word Moses, thus maNesheh for mosheh. The reason for this is that the individual in question is mentioned as priest of a brazen image at Dan. His proper name was Moses. It was felt to be a disgrace that such a one bearing that honored name should keep it intact. The insertion of the nun hides the disgrace and, moreover, gives to the person a name already too familiar with idolatrous practices; for King Manasseh's 55 years of sovereignty were thus disgraced.

(4) King of Judah. See separate article.

(5) Son of PAHATH-MOAB (which see), who had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:30). Manaseas in 1 Esdras 9:31.

(6) The Manasses of 1 Esdras 9:33. A layman of the family of Hashum, who put away his foreign wife at Ezra's order (Ezra 10:33).

In the Revised Version (British and American) of Matthew 1:10 and Revelation 7:6 the spelling "Manasseh" is given for the King James Version "Manasses." The latter is the spelling of the husband of Judith (Judith 8:2,7; 10:3; 16:22,23,24); of a person named in the last words of Tobit and otherwise unknown (Tobit 14:10), and also the name given to a remarkable prayer probably referred to in 2 Chronicles 33:18, which Manasseh (4) is said to have uttered at the end of his long, unsatisfactory life. See MANASSES, THE PRAYER OF. In Judges 12:4, the Revised Version (British and American) reads "Manasseh" for the King James Version "Manassites."

Henry Wallace